3250 Tasting Notes
I wonder why I don’t drink this one more often? This is truly delightful – delicate, complex, smoother than smooth. There is absolutely NO astringency, a light vegetal aroma but not much vegetal flavor, and sweet light raisin notes. I served it to a friend who is new to teas and doesn’t like greens, and she loved this one even though it is very similar to an oolong in many ways. Even the second steeping was applauded, making this tea an even better bargain. Some people say they re-infuse up to five times, but I find three is my limit.
Preparation
Good stuff! Drank this right on the heels of a pot of Irish breakfast from the same source. This was a little stronger, somewhere between an Irish and English Breakfast in taste and temperament. I think I will be keeping this around.
Preparation
Tried this one iced yesterday because it was so everloving hot here! Served it with a plain but very creamy homemade cheesecake. I thought it made a lovely iced tea. Gentle flavor, not so sweet that it becomes difficult to pair with foods.
Preparation
Definite improvement now that I have weighed the leaves. It takes about 4 1/2 teaspoons to make the appropriate weight for my 22 oz. pot. I steeped it for the full five minutes this time, added milk and sugar, and all three who shared it said they liked it. It is a good evening tea for when I am not wanting the sweetness of Vanilla Comoro. (Has that happened yet, though?) This one was really a gift for my youngest daughter since she loves Irish breakfast but I don’t like giving it to her in the evening.
Preparation
I really want to love this tea. I am hitting “like” at best right now. For the first pot I made I just scooped out three teaspoons of leaves for my 22 oz. Beehouse pot, not filling it to the top with water. The tea had a nice flavor but was VERY weak. I thought I might be the problem and I was! These leaves are large and light, so when I actually weighed the leaves, it took four teaspoons to equal standard testing weight. (That would be about the same weight as three dimes.) That made it stronger and the flavor is good, but still not quite strong and rich enough for me. I may be spoiled by original Irish Breakfast. I will try it again, and again…no doubt, until I get better results, but in the meantime I would say that if you want decaf tea, the best I have found so far is decaf Orange Pekoe by Southern Season or Decaffeinated by Harney and Sons. The best FLAVORED decaf black tea I have tried is…sigh….Vanilla Comoro. By the way, I added sugar but no milk. I will try again with even more leaves and see if that fixes it.
Preparation
Just tasted this one side by side with Irish Breakfast by Harney and Sons. I like this one better than Irish Breakfast. It is a little milder than IB but has lots of flavor. This is similar to a really good English breakfast tea. Not astringent, but with that heady tea flavor that goes up into the nose via the back of the throat – a little smokey. This will be my new go-to tea for breakfast. A keeper! My daughter, who prefers Irish breakfast most of the time, was quite delighted with this tea.
Preparation
A friend just hit the nail on the head. This tea is a bit smokey, the word I was looking for and didn’t find! Not as much as a lapsang souchong, but definitely smokey, perhaps because the tea Queen Catherine had would likely have been somewhat smokey, as the Dutch often drank it that way.
My youngest daughter loves Irish breakfast tea from A Southern Season, so I thought I would get this for her to try. She likes it quite well. I am not as much a “breakfast tea” person, but I did think this one was good. It is strong enough to be bracing and, shall we say, strengthening in the morning and has quite enough body and flavor to take on milk and sugar if you like to add it. I think I am still partial to the Irish Breakfast from A Southern Season over this one. Don’t brew this one as long unless you want coffee style strength, as the leaf particles are smaller than SS Irish breakfast.
Preparation
Maybe I shouldn’t have tried this on the heels of two other new teas! My first impression is – this is a very good tea, but I like (love! LOVE!) Vanilla Comoro better. The vanilla flavor is not quite as strong and sweet in this one, which means that my daughter will like it better than Vanilla Comoro. To each his – or her – own!
Preparation
Thanks for comparing the two! I’m still deciding between them both, which to order. I guess Vanilla Comoro is more sweet vanilla-y because there is no caffeine to make it bitter?
That could be it, but Vanilla Comoro has more of the caramel flavor to me, and I wondered if Harney and Sons adds a bit of extra flavor and sweetness to make up for some of the loss of tea flavor that occurs during the decaf process. And perhaps they feel that a decaf tea is probably for night times and would be more of a dessert tea and deserves the extra boost of caramel and sweet! It is my favorite!
