1118 Tasting Notes
There was a time when I could drink caffiene any time and still sleep like a baby. Apparently those days are over, so I’m drinking more tisanes in the evening. Since I am not a fan of decaf coffee I have stayed away from decaf teas, but I might give those a try as well. At any rate, I bought a few new herbals and tisanes and gave a couple a try last night.
I really wanted to like this one, but I’m just not feelin’ it. There was a bitterness that tasted like the pith of an orange rather than the peel. The strength of it made my jaw clench. I added a bit of sugar, and, while it did bring out more of the orange flavor, the bitterness was still there. I checked out the ingredients: orange peel, apples, rosehips, hibiscus, cranberry, rooibos, and natural flavor. Maybe it was the cranberry that did me in?
I can’t see myself drinking this one, so if anyone would like to try it let me know. It’s not a bad tisane, it’s just not for me.
I was in a cinnamon mood, and this is most definitely a cinnamon tea. While the cinnamon is the main flavor there are notes of orange and clove as well which give a bit of balance at the end of the sip. Love it!
This is a happy tea for me. I don’t drink it to re-energize or relax. I drink it because it makes me smile. Every. Single. Time. (Side Note: I can’t believe I’ve only logged this tea three times. I’ve used one and a half canisters since joining Steepster!)
Afternoon tea. For fun I dropped a piece of candied ginger in the bottom of my cup. The tea takes the flavor of the ginger so well that I might have to do this more often.
Preparation
This is getting a bit eerie. It’s like South Jersey mind meld, or something. I was just thinking that I want to try dropping a bit of some sort of ginger candy in my tea. I was thinking that a hard candy would dissolve, distributing the flavour and sweetness throughout the tea better than the other types of ginger candy. It’s so cool that you tried this! =)
Lol. A South Jersey mind meld… I love it. I only have the soft candy, so mine did not dissolve. Thankfully it stayed in one piece rather than breaking up into globs. As an experiment it was a definite success. Give it a try!
The dry leaves smell spicy. I’m thinking allspice and white pepper. This is not what I was expecting, but I like it. After brewing for three minutes the liquid is indeed a copper color. Very pretty. The tea is creamy, almost buttery but… blah. It’s alright, but definitely nothing to write home about.
I won’t have a problem finishing this, but it is not a tea I’ll go out of my way to find and purchase.
Preparation
I really like this tea, and I can can see it becoming part of the regular rotation in my house. It’s everything a chocolate chai should be: sweet, spicy, chocolate-y, and, when milk is added, smooth and creamy. Yum.
Wegmans? The…supermarket? They blend their own teas? Or is there a tea seller who goes by the same name?
Yes – I’d love to know about this as well. I know they sell their own bagged varieties, but if they offer loose tea…why not in my local shop?! :) Please let us know!
Yep, they sell loose tea at my Wegman’s. I don’t know if it is their blend or if they buy it from another company. If I had to guess I’d say it’s the latter. The store has its own little tea alcove, so it’s like a little tea shop within the store (except it’s all self serve).
Yep, I’ve seen the alcove, it’s one of the things that made me fall in love with the place. :D But I had no idea that they sold loose tea under their own name (whether they blend it or not). Thanks for the info! I’ll have to check it out the next time I do my shopping. I think that Wegmans is the only thing I’ll miss when I leave Jersey. Best supermarket ever.
Nik, which Wegman’s do you go to? I usually go to the one in Cherry Hill.
Oh wow, no way. You mean the one on 70, off Haddonfield Rd? Because that’s my Wegmans, too!
That’s the one! It’s a small world. :) I love shopping there. It doesn’t feel like a chore, and I used to hate grocery shopping.
Wow, that’s pretty incredible. Whodathunk? =) I love it, too. Since discovering Wegmans, I hardly ever have to go to Whole Foods. And their produce is no worse than the other place near me that’s supposed to be direct from farmers or whatever. It’s Whole Foods, farmer’s market and regular supermarket in one. =) I like coming back from each trip with at least one new-to-me thing to try.
My only problem is that I used to have one grocery budget. Now I have a budget for various places within the store (cheese counter, tea, olive bar, etc…). If I have to have a problem I guess that’s a good one to have!
Every summer a dear friend of mine goes on a family vacation to Ocean City, NJ. While she is away I tend her garden, take care of her pets, and a few other little things. In return I get to eat anything from her garden that happens to be ripe. Given that her family’s vacation is in August, when her garden is in full bloom, I consider this a very generous payment. However, she always brings me back some little treasures. This year one of my gifts was five bags of loose leaf tea. She did the same thing for me last year, and I think she could see how happy it made me just to look at the little bags!
This is a nice tea. I’m not sure what the base tea is, but it is smooth and not at all bitter. The flavor of the tea is not so much peach or apricot as it is orchard. It’s like walking in a fruit orchard and taking a deep breath. The smell of the bark, the grass, the leaves, and the fruit all combines to create a clean, fresh flavor. I like this much more than I would if it were just peach and apricot.
This is definitely a tea begging to be ice brewed, so I’ll probably do that this weekend. I’m also thinking about using it as part of a glaze for a roasted chicken. How yummy would that be?!?
Preparation
Today is the first full day of school for both of my kids, and I am enjoying the quiet (and attempting to not worry about them too much) with one of my favorite teas. I don’t think I can adequately describe how much I love the smokiness of the green tea and the flavor of the mint combined. Although I am usually more of a peppermint fan I think the spearmint here is perfect. It lends a sweetness that plays well against the gunpowder green tea.
If there is a downside it’s that I’ve used the last of my stash, so I’ll need to make a trip to the mall (ugh.) to get more.
Preparation
This is one of those days when I’m feeling blah (sinus infection), and I want something soothing but simple. The Honey Vanilla Chamomile is perfect. It’s warm, comforting, and is an herbal, so hopefully I can be in bed a sleeping sooner rather than later.
As much as I love autumn (and I do) I hate what it does to my respiratory system!
I love the smell of this. The smell is strong (really, really strong) and reminds me of a chocolate cinnamon cake that I used to enjoy at a little coffee house in Utah. The taste is significantly more mellow than the smell of the dry tea, but it is still good. Warm and spicy with with taste of chocolate from start to finish.
This tea might stop me from snitching my some of my son’s M&Ms. Maybe.
Preparation
Goodness, it has been a while since I’ve logged anything. My summer tea drinking has been banal to say the least. Pitchers and pitchers of iced tea, and most of them have been made from Teavana’s English Breakfast.
I tried this tea hot and found it disappointing because it tasted rather bland. However, as an iced tea it’s nice. It takes on other flavors such as mint or lemon very well, but it is also good on its own. When cold brewed it is smooth. When hot brewed it has the tiniest hint of an edge. It’s not bitter, but the smoothness that comes out in the cold brew is missing. Adding a bit of simple syrup or a lemon wedge helps to balance things out. That and sitting on the porch in the evening watching my son catch fireflies. Somehow that always makes iced tea taste better.
