545 Tasting Notes
I have steeped the Ceylon leaves again. The wet leaves smell more strongly of dusty cinnamon when I removed them from the tea as well as of dried old paper. The tea smelled of dust, paper, and old under its natural tea-y smell. It still tastes good, but much weaker. I will steep it longer the second time next time. I don’t think it will manage a third steep.
Preparation
This morning I moved on to the next tea in my A&D DFT Series 1 set – the Ceylon. The leaves are dark chocolate colored with hints of red tones on some. They are medium in length and cylindrical in shape. The smell is rich, sweet, and dusky when I put my nose above the open tin. The tea is a medium golden brown. It smells warm and tea-y, not strongly though. The leaves have unfurled to a consistently medium chocolate shade and smell like light cinnamon dust with a hint of fresh artichoke hearts. I know, odd, but I’m new to tasting notes and I keep sniffing and thinking what does this smell like, how can I describe it. I’m better with colors than smell and taste. This tea was a smooth, enjoyable black to drink. It had a slightly drying in a good way mouth feel, much like the Dragonwell from the set. I can see how these two teas were picked by the same people. This tea is another hit for Series 1.
Preparation
Last night, I had a second and third brewing from my Dragonwell leaves. They were both as tasty and enjoyable as the first, if not better. I think I could have gotten more brewings but it was quite late and I needed to get to bed.
2nd brewing: 5 min
3rd brewing: 7 min 30 sec
Preparation
You didn’t save the leaves for this morning?
I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving tea leaves out on the counter over night. Refrigerating does not seem like the right thing to do either. So I drink what I can during the course of an afternoon or morning. Cofftea, I think you should some of this tea and see how many steepings you get from the leaves. You are the multiple steepings master!
I agree with you about leaving the leaves overnight chrine. Wet leaves get moldy very quickly so I only use them for my initial steepings and if sitting around for more than a few hours they are thrown out.
@chrine- I definitely would, but I have absolutely no storage room left. As far as multiple steepings, I’ve never had a problem leaving them out (I NEVER refrigerate). I’ve even left dragon well and needle teas out for 2 nites due to them refusing to die.
I was so excited and surprised when my A&D DFT Series 1 arrived today, only three days after I had ordered it.
The Dragonwell came in a medieval green and white labeled tin. The leaves are flat and varies in shade from light-medium to very dark green. The smell is green tea, vegetal, musty, and soft. The tea is a pale yellow and oh so good! The leaves became long and thin and muted deep spring green. The smell was fresh and tea-y. The tea tastes green and light and a bit bitter in a good way. It’s Damn Fine and I’m about to brew the leaves again for a second cup.
Preparation
Sounds great! I caved and had bought these as well! I can’t wait to try them out! :)
I’m looking forward to seeing your Tealogs when you do!
Excellent! I need to try this at a lower temperature. I think I had mine around 177-178 and I think it was a tad too high. Will try it around 170.
This morning, I continued on my clearing out of the tea cupboard. My mom brought this Earl Grey back from Charlotte, NC, where she was visiting my uncle, for me. I remember it being a strong black with no Earl Grey flavors when I first had it. I brewed it for a shorter time this morning and it was much the same. The second brewing produced a cup of good strength.
Second brewing: 6 min 30 sec.
Preparation
I’m having another cup of Sugar Plum Spice for a late evening herbal tonight. I brewed it for a min longer, which didn’t make the taste a lot stronger. I saved the bag for a second brew but will probably not have anymore tea tonight.
Preparation
I had the second brewing of this morning’s Vanilla Bean with a leftover chicken enchilada for lunch then some pineapple for dessert. Warm and tea-y. That’s all I have to say about this cup.
Preparation
I got a sample of this in my Mighty Leaf order that came yesterday, and will be trying later. All these bad reviews are making me nervous.
I’m interested to hear what you think, Bethany. It’s not a bad tea, as in yucky, it’s just not something I’d drink and say that was some good tea.
I posted a review yesterday morning – I really didn’t like it. The black tea in it was kind of bitter and tasted cheap, and the only place I could place I could get any vanilla was in the aftertaste. Bleh.
I totally agree with you.
I tried the Vanilla Bean with milk this morning, per Jillian’s suggestion, and it was much better this way and more drinkable. It still has the strong vanilla smell and only a general black tea taste. I will finish the box as a morning black though. This does not make me interested in buying more Mighty Leaf teas.
Preparation
Auggy sent me some Colonille from SerendipiTEA and it was absolutely delicious. I did a review of it a few days ago (Auggy and takgoti have reviews of it too), and it’s a really, really awesome vanilla black!
Mmm… That one does sound yum, teaplz. I’ve noted it in my Shopping List. Thanks. I don’t always get to go back and read all the tealogs of those I am Following. I do like blacks with what I’ll call “baking flavors”. I tried the Might Leaf tea because it was on sale and I’d seen it mentioned here before.
Hey chrine- I’ve never tried the Vanilla Bean but if your out for a flavored black, give the Orange Dulce a try. Verrry good even without anything added!
Adding a comment to say if you want to try any decaf ML go for the African Nectar or Chamomile Citrus.
So you’re saying there is hope for Mighty Leaf yet, RM? I also got the Orange Dulce instead. If they are sill on sale on Sat, maybe I’ll pick it up.
I’d recommend the Orange Dulce and the African Nectar in particular, but then, since I also liked the Vanilla Bean, I’m not sure our tastes really coincide! ;)
There is that too. We can always run and hide from each other’s favored teas.
This tea is another from a sampler pack of bagged tea on my quest to reduced some of the nearly finished boxes of bagged tea in my tea cupboard. I brewed a cup of Gunpowder Green Tea earlier while waiting for dinner to cook at the same time I made the husband the Vanilla Bean. It tasted lightly of green tea with no bitterness. I saved the bag, in case the re-steeping the Vanilla Bean experiment went well, to try re-steeping. Since it did, I’m glad I did. I’m surprised I never tried to re-steep bagged tea before.
Preparation
I made the husband a cup of Vanilla Bean while we were waiting for dinner to cook (chicken enchiladas – yum!). The husband is a coffee drinker and I wanted to see what he’d think of the strong tea. I did brew it for a min less for him – three min instead of four. He said it had a lovely vanilla smell but no vanilla taste which was discerning to him because it seems like it should taste of vanilla if it smelled so much like it. He said the tea wasn’t overly strong so the decreased steeping time seems to have helped.
I don’t ever re-steep bagged teas. But this one was quite strong and I brewed it for less time than recommended so I decided to try brewing it a second time. I was much surprised to be right when it turned out tasting much like it had this morning with a little less strength. It still has little vanilla taste and is still bitter.
