Culinary Teas

I received this as a sample…the package did not say anything about earl grey and neither did the smell. However, the taste…all I got was the bergamot and I am NOT a big fan.

Not giving this one a rating because I should have checked online first!

Brewed this with 200°F water for 3 minutes and then put the pitcher in the refrigerator overnight. I did not add any additives. Enjoying a thermos of it iced today.

The flavor is good, more chocolate to me than caramel. I also notice a sort of alcohol like quality to it. It tastes a little like a good truffle actually. For me, though, the aftertaste undermines it. It’s got that strange aftertaste that I detect in many flavored teas, and it just lingers. I just don’t like the aftertaste.

Liberteas thanks to you for this!
I tend to add a bit more loose leaf to the water – or the water to the loose leaf…than most as I enjoy a sturdy, dark, bold cuppa…this one seems a little bitter to me. I don’t think I will rate it yet and try less next time I try a cup.

Thanks TeaEqualsBliss!

I made this iced yesterday to take along with me but it wasn’t impressive at all so I stuck it in the fridge and drank it today with lunch. I don’t taste much of anything beyond green tea. I thought maybe letting it sit overnight would do something but it’s still just maybe vaguely fruity.

Also it helps to post your tasting notes before you take a nap.

Thanks, darby!

I brewed this pretty strong and then added milk and ice to it. It is very strange…it tastes like it’s alcoholic and not in a bad way at all like many other times things taste like alcohol. It tastes like a mudslide…or a mudslide made with rum. So weird! I think it’s the pecan and caramel together. Or at least the caramel, because it tastes like caramel and then fades into rum. I enjoy it very much because no drinking is actually required for such a flavor!

I think that’s the best way to describe it…like a mudslide. I was hoping more like melted chocolate caramel ice cream in flavor right now, but I won’t complain about this!

Could use a bit more chocolate…but it has the perfect amount of caramel. The nuttiness adds just the right touch too.

I got so excited about studying my notes I almost forgot about this tea. This is so true to its flavors without me even adding anything to it. I have enough for another two cups, so I may have to try it sweetened in the future. I imagine it brings out the berry even more.

The strawberry is stronger than the chocolate, and just slightly sweet, which makes me think it could be pushed a little more. It seems like the chocolate also plays into the black tea. Not bad at all.

For some reason, I was completely freaking out before I made this tea. And somehow when I walked back to my bedroom with it, I felt completely okay about just jumping into my notes. I love you, tea.

Thanks for some of this one, Ian, wherever you have gone!

Thanks, TeaEqualsBliss!

Since second flushes are pretty much my most favorite black tea ever, I definitely enjoy this. It’s not the best one I’ve ever had, but Darjeelings are like pizza. Even the average ones are super tasty. This one somewhat lacks the good, strong muscatel flavors I like in second flushes, but it has nice astringency. It seems far more savory than others I’ve had.

I prefer others, but I wouldn’t turn this one down. I bet it would be a great iced tea, so I’ll have to try that too.

I wanted to use up some Amazon credit so I got a Takeya iced tea pitcher and a set of 2 Finum filters. I’m wondering how I have been living without these filters, wow. It’s like a serious eye opening experience.

I also realized why I’m usually not a fan of chai. They remind me too much of the smells when I worked at a craft store in high school…sometimes they remind me a lot of those horrible cinnamon brooms that always were left in the vestibule so people walk in one door and they’re just attacked by cinnamon, that’s how I feel with chai.

And that’s what this one feels like. I am drinking the brooms and the seasonal wax melts in a tea. Ugh I want to like chai so much. (shakes fist at craft store)

Once it’s cooled it’s a bit more drinkable for me, but it’s still hard to drink without thinking of the craft store. Shudder. You know what I had to do in July there? Start setting up Christmas merchandise…those horrid picks covered in glitter. I loved getting covered in glitter though, not gonna lie.

On the other hand, I can give the rest to my mom since she does like it. Thank you nonetheless, TeaEqualsBliss!

I just added a ton of teas to the swap post on the discussion boards. Now the next step is to try everything I’ve yet to try so I can probably add even more…joy.

This one however will not be going there. I know I have 11 billion strawberry shortcake type teas but this is so good. The black tea is really good, it’s a nice base for the flavors. This tastes just like strawberries and whipped cream, and there’s even a cake flavor. I haven’t added anything to this, and I probably won’t (because I’m lazy) but I bet it might make it even better.

This one is definitely better than the DavidsTea version. Of course I had that one cold and I’m having this one hot, but I’ll definitely make this as iced tea soon.

Thanks for sending me this tea, darby!

I decided to switch it up to drinking it cold since it cooled off a lot while I tried to figure out what on earth the government was doing to my FAFSA in conjunction with my idiotic school. Turns out most of my loans get to be federal ones since I’m “independent” so this is beyond pleasing because the private ones always have such horrible interest rates. Cold now it’s getting kind of a bitter aftertaste, and I’m not sure why since I went with the low end of the steeping time to begin with. But the strawberry now seems even sweeter. I’ll definitely try this one out cold brewed to see if that cuts that bitterness, along with maybe a 2 1/2 minute steep instead.

A big thanks to darby for swapping this one! This is my first experience with Culinary Teas. :)

The smell was big and bold upon opening up the package.

“Hhhhhhhhhiiiiii, I’m Pumpkin Cream!”, it exclaimed as I pulled the chock-full, snack-sized bag out of the postal packaging.

I can tell I’m going to have to repackage her. (Yes, this tea is definitely female in my mind.) I’d hate for her to get overly friendly with my other less perfumey teas in my corner cupboard. Finding her a more suitable container to call her own, I dug up a nice canning jelly jar.

The smell is spicy, sweet and creamy – there’s definitely the smell of cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in there. I’d assume the sweet is maybe some vanilla and cream flavor. There’s also something that smells a little burnt – is that the smell of canned pumpkin?

Using dry tea leaf that wavers between 2 and 3 grams for 9 ounces of water, I wait until the infusion looks like a nice pumpkin-orange color – about 3 minutes and 45 seconds. The smell of the dry leaf transfers to my cup.

After waiting a few minutes, I try a taste. It sort of tastes like unsweetened pumpkin pie filling. The spices are well balanced and smooth. Yet the pumpkin flavoring is not dominated by them.

I did try this with a little simple syrup, but it seems to muddle the taste for some reason. I like this better pre-sweetener.

I look forward to playing around with this tea. The smell of the dry leaf scared me a little, leading me to not use as much leaf as I initially planned on. Next time I’ll try a little longer infusion with just a few more dry leaves.

This is another sample from Azzrian. I hope to try several of these new samples today since I finally have time. :)

I am not very knowledgable about senchas. I steeped this gong fu style and based my time and temps on Azzrian’s note.

The first steep was deep yellow and there was a strong cherry cough syrup aroma, but the taste was not medicine- y. The Sencha base was not in the least hidden by the flavoring, and was a little tart and sour…the good kind that clears the palate and refreshes. The rose is the kind I think of as peppery rose or spicy rose. Second steep was similar but a little weaker on each aspect. Third steep….oh my! This is my favorite so far! Now the cherry flavor is teasing me! It smells light, it tastes light on the sip, but after you swallow your whole mouth is floating with bubbles of light cherry, not like a kid’s candy that is super sweet and artificial, but like a grown up version of kids’ cherry candy. And now the rose is tasting even rosier and the three flavors – the Sencha, the cherries, and the rose – are all playing very nicely with each other.

Now I have mixed all three steeps together in the pitcher and the Sencha base is stronger again, but I think the cherry and rose flavors are balancing nicely with each other. I guess this is what the tea would have tasted like just steeped western fashion.

Thank you, Azzrian, for expanding my horizons with this exotic Sencha!

Will save to rate later after another steep. I am thinking I need twice the leaves and to stepp 5 full minutes rather than 4. After I do this if it is still not impressive I will rate.

So I was looking at my teas and decided to find one that I’ve had for awhile. Before I get to the new ones. Dry this smells like faint apple and steeped the apple smell becomes much stronger and this tastes and I added sugar kind of like a tart granny smith like apple and then the black tea. I did not taste the buttersotch chips though. And I think this is pretty good although abit on the tart side for me. I got this from a buddy awhile back so thank you.

Okay…this is SO bitter and undrinkable that I’m sure I must have done something wrong. So I’m not going to rate it at this time, until I can tweak some things and try again.

It’s always a good sign when you steep a new tea twice on two different mornings and its equally good both times. This one looks like it’s going to be consistent and reliable. Oh, how we all need that in a tea, in a vehicle, in a friend…

Philosophizing aside, this is really lighter than what most of us consider strong morning tea. Each element is pretty gentle on its own, but good, and just enough rosiness to make it genteel. Recommended for good china and an afternoon chin-wag with a buddy.

Yankee Candle has come up with a clever marketing trick this Christmas; they’ve packaged candles to evoke the scents of everything from “My Favorite Things” (Sound of Music, which even though it talks about packaging and mittens, I still have trouble associating with Christmas.)

Anyway, this tea fits the “bright copper kettles” lyric. Not metallic in taste, that sounds unpleasant; but clear and sharp. The rose petals add a little sweetness that makes further sugar unneccessary.

Undermeasured a little this morning (oversized Tervis mug) so this didn’t come out a strongly as I’d intended. However, in doing so, I hit the fruity end of the flavor spectrum. A little grape-juicy. Works well on a sunny spring morning.

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you with chicks in your nest. My mom will get to spend her day at home after more than a month of hospitals and nursing home care; we’re praying it’ll be a peaceful one. May you be reminded all day of what clever, phenomenally unique, and pretty-doggone-thoughtful children you have.

I’m not sure it’s an absolute and univeral rule, but I’m thinking “longer steep is better” with Keemuns. This one, due to usual morning ADD, steeped for nearly 6 minutes, and even with a bleary sinus-cold fug, I’m picking up all that deep, rich, burgundy, cedary background flavor.

A really good Keemun from a reasonably priced source.

Another treat from JacquelineM with a blissful unscheduled couple of hours to enjoy it in. Decadence.

Interesting to read all the adjectives that folks have used to describe this one - winey, leather, pine, orchid, fruity…and what’s funny is that they are all somewhat accurate. My addition to the adjectival kaleidoscope is this: it tastes what my mom’s wedding cedar chest (our coffee table at House that Was) smelled like when you opened itl.

Pick a flavor. It’ll be in there. And you’ll probably like it.

A couple of times I have made this tea forgetting that there is green tea mixed in with the black. I treated it like a black tea and it became astringent. My fault, not the tea’s fault. Since I have messed it up several times, I decided I would give it a chance as a cold steep. It stayed in the fridge for one whole day! The color is so light, clear, and pure. The flavor is light and good, too. A tiny bit fruity, a tiny bit floral.

I add simple syrup and pour it into my Zoku Slushy and Shake Maker and VOILA! I have a beautiful tea dessert! YUMS! I can’t wait to try lots more tea like this. Tea slushy on a sticky summer day? Yes, please!

I am loving my Zoku stuff. It is so hot and humid where I live that you have to do something to cool off!

This was the final tea of tea party today. I forgot that it has green in it and we made it like a plain black tea. If you like assertive black tea with a little astringency, that is fine. I do not! The tea smelled lovely, though, and made properly to my tastes would be a really good tea. Next time around I will treat it more like a green and give it a shorter steep. It was drinkable, but not as enjoyable as it could be!