I saved this Teapigs sample until second last (last will be Earl Grey Strong because I think I’ll need milk with it and I have none this week. Also because I’m just a tiny bit scared of it for reasons mostly unknown). The reason this one got bumped is because it’s ginger, which I’m not massively keen on, and it contains liquorice root which is my absolute nemesis. Why did I buy it, you’re thinking? Well, because new tea is like a challenge. I have to try it. And because if I never question my ideas about taste, I’d probably never try anything new…also, my tastes might have changed. I doubt it, but you just never know. I might only put myself out of my comfort zone with tea, but at the moment that’s absolutely enough.
So. The tea. I gave the bag 4 minutes in boiling water. As expected, I’m not really a fan of this one. The flavour is stem ginger and sticky sweetness, with an underlying chai-like flavour. I actually don’t mind the ginger too much. It reminds me a little of ginger cake, and it’s not too hot or overpowering. The cinnamon is pleasant, too, and the sweet/spicy aspect works well. What I hate with a passion is the liquorice root. For me, it absolutely ruins what could have been a nice cup. The ginger/cinnamon combo is up front and quite nice-tasting, and then the over-sweet liquorice hits me in the back of the throat and stays there in all its artificial sweetener-like glory. It’s just too much, and I rarely say that because I’m quite a fan of sweet in general. Liquorice root is the devil, I tell you. I wish it wasn’t in this one.
