Culinary Teas
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First Review. March has been awesome! The weather has been high 60’s and 70’s and this Saturday we Northern Coloradans end with a burst of heat over 80 degrees! Time to go to my garage and take my outdoor carpet out of storage and fix up a place to sit and sip tea on the patio. I have a nice table and chairs and space to grow herbs and MINT (my favorite). When it’s hot I like a good Mint Tea…usually fresh Mint in the Middle Eastern/Egyptian manner with a pot full of leaves very hot and sweet…but dry tea leaves in regular tea form is fine too. When I read about this tea it sounded like a winner for year round use. Nice for cold days in the Winter and cooling for hot Summer.
The first thing you notice is the dry scent which will knock you down it’s so Pepperminty! I cautiously steeped for 4 minutes. Hum…a first sip without additions like sugar or cream proved just a little bit sweet and drinkable but thankfully not as pungent as expected. After the first taste which is mint, there is brandy in the background.
Whoever the blending guru was for this tea showed restraint and did not overdue the flavoring. Good thing too. It would have been gross, fake, gag me bleh with too much brandy. The taste is just right and interesting! Very Flavorful and rich. I’m liking this tea! Add sweetening and cream for a very special dessert tea. I like dessert! Cool and refreshing. I want to see what happens when the temperature decreases. Can this be iced? I’d love it iced if it can be done and add a little real mint. Pretty in a tall glass!
Experience buying from Culinary Teas http://steepster.com/places/2981-culinary-teas-online-milford-indiana
Date of Purchase/Age of Leaf/Date of Steeping: I bought this in late 2011; there is no harvest date available; I steeped this in March 2012.
Appearance and Aroma of dry leaf: Smells roasted, vegetal, fresh (better than another Young Hy-son I tried in a local shop); standard appearance for an inexpensive green tea: dark green, curly leaves with a few lighter green and light brown leaves mixed in.
Brewing guidelines: Glass Bodum pot, leaf free to roam; stevia added; 6 tsp dry tea = 6 cups water.
……….1st: 160⁰F (OOPS! I was shooting for 170F); 1’
……….2nd: 170⁰F; 1.5’
……….3rd: 185⁰F; 2’
……….4th: 183⁰F; 2.5’
Color and Aroma of tea liquor: Light, yellow-green color; vegetal aroma.
Flavor of tea liquor: Not much flavor on the first steeping, but that’s probably because the temp was too low. On the second steeping I accidentally used too much water (a series of unfortunate events!), so it was weak tasting, but it still had a reasonable amount of flavor, with some sweetness; the third had mild flavor, and the forth had very little. I’ll have to do this one again with better temperatures and amounts of water!
Appearance and Aroma of wet leaf: Interesting to watch as there was lots of movement while steeping; there were a number of stems, only a few buds, and the color seemed a little faded, but almost all of the leaf was whole; standard aroma.
Value: This green tea is a great value at $7.05 for 4 OZ (That’s well under $2/OZ).
Overall: There are very few inexpensive green teas that I have come across that have what this tea has to offer: smooth, sweet flavor in the cup and leaf that is from a decent pluck (not too astringent tasting or too chopped as many green teas as this price range seem to be). I can bet this would blend well with other green teas. A final note about why I like this tea: I can buy some of it to help us get over the free shipping hurdle when we buy our next round of flavor-added black teas from Culinary Teas!
Preparation
But…when you drank it did you like it?
Very good question. I looked back over my review, and I can understand why you would ask that. Yes, I liked it (what I remember best about the taste was that it was slightly sweet), but I am still uncertain as to how much I will like it when I brew it properly. I speculate it will taste even better, but I could be wrong. Thank you for asking me to clarify. I guess I spend so much time on the data and trying to be as objective as I can that I sometimes I forget to include my own perspective! I hope that helps answer your question. : )
Thank you and yes. Having worked as a Systems Analyst…I do appreciate technical detail oriented people. I tend to do the opposite and review how the tea tastes and just go on and on about my day in a touchy feely way. Must make people like you gag! Ah well. Pour another cuppa and add something stronger to it!
“… review how the tea tastes and just go on and on about my day in a touchy feely way. Must make people like you gag!’ Not at all. There are all kinds of ways to write reviews, and I think the best ones are when we write using our strengths to honor what we find most important about our experience (I find that some of the best reviews are those when someone opens up about their day and how they are feeling). My adding the more technical stuff is often times simply done out of habit, and not necessarily because I want to. That’s why I appreciate it when others ask me questions that tend to force me to look a little differently at what I am doing. I understand many may not be interested in the technical details (which is fine to me) and thus skip straight to the Overall part in my review (one person even told me she does that). It seems to be in my nature to analyze things (I was a software engineer decades ago), and especially for samples, the details may help me to make a decision later on whether or not to buy it, and/or they help me the next time I steep a tea (especially the really finicky ones, as green teas often are). I really appreciate that you are interested enough to exchange your ideas and thoughts (and feelings) with me! : – )
This teabag (from oOTeaOo I think) produced a rich, dark red cup this morning. I’m not sure if I’d call it malty – not as much as I would Assam anyway, but I could definitely taste some slight berry notes. It was a nice, solid cuppa that perked me up out of my usual morning zombie state.
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My first experience with Ice Wine tea was a Design a Tea Sample.
I got this because I LOVED the Design a Tea Iced Wine and well I was giving Culinary Teas a sample go around.
I am at that stage of deciding my favorite teas but also which vendors I like best.
I must say Culinary has some wonderful teas but I feel they are a bit hit and miss at times.
This is a very good tea.
Fruity, Sweet but not overly so, and I get the ice wine flavor I was hoping for … but … I do prefer Design a Tea’s ice wine over this one.
There was just a bit more flavor to it. I got far more of the wine flavor.
Now I will say the grape flavor in this is very very good – absolute NO artificial flavor at all and no astringency! There is nothing wrong with this tea at all so if you are going to make an order with Culinary Teas and want an iced wine go for it!
It smells very good – grapey but not fake grape like most soft drinks and juices!
Now I did end up adding a touch of sugar to this and it did help bring out the flavors nicely which they suggest.
I did not however have to add any sugar to Design A Tea’s Ice Wine.
Its all a matter of what one likes though. If you prefer a little less BAM in your tea I would suggest this one.
Preparation
Received this tea in an exchange. I absolutely love the atmosphere of Christmas time and all the yummy edibles at that time. So I love finding teas and other drinks that bring back that feeling at any time of the year. I had high hopes for this tea. However, when I opened it, I wasn’t hit with the minty smell I was expecting. No, there was a very strong smell of cherry cold medicine. It turns out, there are dried cherries in this tea. The cherries overwhelm any sense of the peppermint. After steeping, the mint smell was just detectable over the weakened cold medicine smell. However, the taste is quite the opposite. The very first taste is an overwhelming minty-ness. The mint fades away right at the end, so that I barely get a taste of tea. The aftertaste is just barely fruity, but I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t already known the cherries were there. Very pepperminty, but doesn’t have that candy cane flavor. I think this would be good just as a mint tea, but I went in expecting candy canes, which I did not get.
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Backlog from last night….
I don’t think it’s fair for me to rate this. To start off with my mom had a lot of this, and by the time I could get to it it was at the bottom of the cup and it was cold and slightly bitter. I had some of it while it was warm and it was pretty good. To top off the cold bitterness, however, my mother added a full pack of stevia because she likes her teas horribly sweetened and so I couldn’t really detect all the flavors. For now it gets a rating from what I tasted, but when I get a chance to make more, I will definitely re-review the tea.
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It sounds good, at least. Can’t go wrong with chocolate covered strawberries, right?
Haha never! I really would like to like this tea though, I’m always a sucker for a chocolate-fruit tea
Sounds tasty! Waiting for the re-review :)
bleh on the stevia for me…makes so many things go BITTER! I’d rather die of sugar! But then…I use the other packet a bunch that’s yellow…uh…yep…but itz not bittah at all…so there!
Really nice! I love roses and I love chocolate, so this is a nice combo. The roses taste sweet in this blend. The taste is very floral – I get more rose than chocolate, but the chocolate is there, keeping the rose from tasting of perfume. At 5 minutes the taste is perfect. I am slightly allergic to roses, so I get the sniffles when I drink this, but occasionally it is worth it!
Preparation
Not bad… pretty much tastes like what it says (with milk and sugar, because who ever heard of bitter white chocolate?) I’m not excited by it, but it certainly is drinkable. The tea base is perhaps a touch astringent, but milk smooths it out nicely. I wouldn’t buy a full size, but I will finish my sample.
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I thought I would enjoy this tea, as I enjoy jasmine and earl grey, but it was not to be. The initial aroma of the dry leaves is mostly of bergmot. Upon steeping however (4 minutes at boiling) the jasmine rears its head and dominates completely. This is exactly like drinking perfume, and not in a good way (I do like floral and scented perfumes, so I was surprised at my reaction!) I would have liked a tea that was more about the bergmot, as promised by the dry leaves, but the jasmine is too much here. I’m willing to try again iced, as I usually prefer jasmine on ice, but I’m not too hopeful. I also think that a shorter infusion might be a good idea – following the package instructions nets a really strong brew!
Preparation
This tea may be a little lost on me, as I add milk to almost all black teas. It has a warm, malty character that is not overwhelmed by the touch of creaminess. I wouldn’t say the cream is vanilla exactly – it just rounds out the boldness of the tea. It did taste just a touch artificial towards the end of the cup, but overall I thought it was very nice – bold, but still polite for difficult mornings.
Preparation
Chai seems to be a pretty individual thing. I myself prefer a chai that’s heavy on the black pepper and cardamom, but I wouldn’t mind if there weren’t any cloves at all. I also want the tea itself to be robust, able to stand up to stovetop preparation (and the accompanying milk and sugar!) This is a great chai for my preferences. The smell is strongly of black pepper and cloves, but when brewed the cloves take a backseat to the pepper and cardamom. I gave it 5 minutes, and it’s perfect! The pepper has bite, but it isn’t too much. I really like this – it reminds me of Tazo’s chai, for reference, but it’s better!
Preparation
The smell of strawberry candies hits my nose when I open the bag. This tea certainly smells more fruity than I was expecting! I can smell the assam as well, which makes me happy – perhaps it won’t be all fruit!
Steeped for 5 minutes at boiling. Without additions the black tea base is strong and a little bitter. The fruit flavors come in at the end, making me think this would be lovely iced.
I added my usual milk and sweetener and tried it again. The addition of sweetness changes the character of this tea a great deal, but not in a bad way! It doesn’t taste of strawberries or lemon – instead it tastes exactly like candied violets. I love that taste, so I’m pretty excited to get violets from what I assumed would be a standard fruity tea. It’s definitely floral – I’d recommend this to anyone who loves rose tea or earl grey (though it isn’t as sharp as either of those blends.) I gave my husband some as a blind test, and he hated it (he hates floral tastes) but definitely did not identify it as being fruity. I really like this one!
Preparation
This tea is the answer to a common conundrum of mine… what should I drink in the morning when I’m feeling under the weather? I need some caffeine to wake up, but I don’t want the astringency that I usually do in a morning cup. This tea is the answer – cooling peppermint blended in with malty assam (my favorite breakfast tea.) Now, you will note that I completely forgot that this contained black tea and had it at 10 pm… but never you mind. It will be great for mornings!
The tea leaves are really pretty, with the contrasting dark black and bright green colors. The smell is 100% peppermint, so I was expecting the mint to dominate. I let it brew 5 minutes – longer than I would usually let an assam go, but I like my tea strong. To my surprise, the mint doesn’t dominate at all. In fact, without any additions it’s mostly malty assam, with a cool finish. I added milk and sweetener, and the assam stood up nicely while allowing a little more mint through. This is not a mint tea, though as it cools I do get a little more mint. I think it would be decent iced, but it might be too minty. I like this much more than I thought I would, though it doesn’t replace my beloved “Read my lips” for a black tea/mint blend.
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Dessert tea of the night! Gingerbread lattes are one of my biggest indulgences around the holiday time, so I thought I’d try this tea. I brewed the tea for 4 minutes, and then added 1/4 cup steamed milk and a little sweetener.
At first, I was a little disappointed at the taste, which I found timid. I put the leaves back in for another minute, and reminded myself that it may not be as strong as Starbucks, but it’s a whole lot better for me! Luckily, both worked. The extra minute brought out a little heat from the ginger, and I stopped wanting it to have coffee in it!
I can taste the ceylon base, so this tea isn’t totally about the flavoring. There is a nice bit of ginger and some cream. I’d still like it to be sharper tasting, but that’s just me. It’s nice and soothing, especially as a dessert!
Preparation
I love white chocolate, but I’m not sure how the taste translates to tea, since I think it just tastes like sugar and cocoa butter. I threw this into my order because it sounded interesting. The samples from Culinary teas are huge – twice the size of most companies!
The smell of the dry leaves is dusty, and intensely of cloves. I was not excited as cloves are almost my least favorite part of chai (though still, better that than star anise!) I brewed up a whole pot of this to share with my husband. There is an oily sheen to the top of the tea, likely from the melted white chocolate chips. First sip (no additions) is really all about the cloves. It’s sharp and a bit unpleasant. But chai needs milk and sugar, so I added both to my cup.
It’s nicer with the milk, which tames the clove a bit. I still think the flavor is unbalanced. There is a slight creaminess, but I can’t really taste the white chocolate (that’s ok, I didn’t think I would!) I do like the bite of black pepper at the end. My husband, who is far more sensitive to bitter tastes than I, took one sip of his tea and then immediately headed to the fridge for his cinnamon coffee creamer. I don’t believe in non-dairy creamer, so I can’t say, but he said the cinnamon made it much better. I can’t really recommend this one – I would like more spice, but less cloves. Drinkable, but a bit of a last resort tea for me!
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Not as assertive as I thought it might be, but still a good cup for breakfast! I thought I totally oversteeped this (left the infuser in for 6 minutes while answering some computer questions) but it’s fine. Apparently it can handle longer steeps than most breakfast teas that I have had! I’m not getting much malt, and it’s not super astringent (with milk and sugar, as I take all breakfast teas.) Not my favorite, but I wouldn’t turn it down!
Preparation
I received this one in a swap from TeaEqualsBliss. MMMM, strong, delicious strongness. Just what I need to get me up and going. I normally try not to have anything new so as not to spoil my tasting with food contamination (oh, who am I kidding. I have no taste!). Anyway, I was in the mood for something completely different, so I descended on my sample stash and picked this one out. I was kind of skeptical, looking at all those little tiny pellets of tea, but I am convinced! There is a bit of astringency, which isn’t too bad, and something vaguely bready about the scent. I’m drinking it sans additions, so it is good I only steeped it for two and a half minutes instead of the three plus that they recommend. Even at the lower than recommended steep, it is still plenty strong. I think the assam dominates the cup, with its astringency and maltiness.
Also, I have to say, I had this with grapefruit this morning, and the grapefruit completely knocked out the astringency and robustness of the tea. Taking a sip right after a bite of grapefruit was a completely different experience than taking a sip a few minutes after I had finished the grapefruit. It was mellow and smooth, considerably less in your face right after the grapefruit. Interesting, what tea and food pairings do for each other.
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YUM!
What a lovely chocolate and rose flavored tea. No, it isn’t as good as Chocolate Rose Romance, but, then, I do think I’m a little biased there. But it is good. The rose and the chocolate are pretty evenly matched. Both are strong components, but I like that I can still taste black tea there too.
This is very, very good!
