Kusmi Tea

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 21

What a pretty wrapper! It’s a lovely coral color.

It’s actually quite a bit blander than I expected, given that I used a small amount of water. It does have a nice peach candy flavor with a bit of tartness, it reminds me of slightly sour Peachie-Os. I can taste some apple as well, and a bit of apricot. There wasn’t a ton of hibiscus in my sachet, so it’s tart but not sour.

I do like the combination of peach and hibiscus here, so I’m happy to finish the cup.

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJELciWgFOJ/)

Advent Day 20

What makes this N°37? Is it the 37th tea Kusmi offered? The 37th darjeeling they tried before they found the perfect one? Does it just sound fancy?

This is a lovely cup of tea. No astringency or bite, very light malty flavor. Slight tobacco finish. Light to moderate dry mouth feeling after each sip. It’s super easy to drink straight! A nice cup if you want something simple, but I don’t imagine it would be something I’d turn to if it were in my cupboard.

Kusmi Advent Day 15
I’m a bit behind on some of my advent teas. There are quite a few that I just haven’t been in the mood for.
This is pretty much as expected- hibiscus. It smells a bit buttery. Tastes like butter and hibiscus.

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 20

Lots of black teas today! This is the only straight black so seemed a good choice for the morning. But then I had puglets in my lap while we were watching The Expanse, so it sat for a couple of hours before I actually drank it.

This is very mellow and tasty. There are a lot of white tea characteristics, including soft hay and oat notes and a light autumn leafy flavor. Slightly more malty than a white tea, however, and there are also some nice floral characteristics. I’m not sure I can identify muscatel notes in Darjeeling, but this does have a light golden raisin-like dried fruit note.

Very soft and pleasant, perfect for the afternoon!

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJBt5wqA7_Q/)

Kusmi Advent Day 19
I’m finding this pretty average in flavor. Tastes like an English breakfast. But, it’s drying my mouth out quite a bit, which is really unpleasant.

Kusmi Advent Day 7
So, this was actually my day 7 tea, and English breakfast showed up today. I waited until today to publish the note, as not to spoil it for anyone.
I was disappointed to see a rooibos this morning, as I generally dislike them. So, I brewed this as my first cup of the day to get it out of the way.
Smells like almond flavoring. I love almond flavored things. This is a good sign.
Tastes like rooibos and almond flavoring…but I like it? This is one of the few rooibos blends that the stick-y flavor of the rooibos working with the added flavor rather than competing with it. It’s pretty simple, but I’m really enjoying it, and I would actually consider repurchasing.

Advent Day 19

This had a nice almond flavor to it. I happily drank the whole cup while chatting with some neighbors tonight. The rooibos seemed either pretty mellow or to blend into the almond enough that it wasn’t distracting. I also didn’t notice the rooibos dry mouth feel.

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 19

I’m kind of over almond-flavored teas at the moment, or at least marzipan/amaretto-tasting ones, so I’m not too excited for this… Dry scent is very amaretto.

Surprisingly, I’m actually finding this quite pleasant. It definitely does have an amaretto-like flavor to it, but it’s not too strong and I can still taste the woody, caramel-y rooibos underneath.

It’s certainly not something I’d buy, since this flavor just isn’t my jam, but I would definitely drink it again if offered.

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI_SUdFAQD3/)

Advent Day 5

I skipped this tea a while back. Dry grass and citrus. That’s all I get. I’m totally not into it.

Advent Day 17

It’s an EG. It’s nice and smooth. Easy to drink straight. Tried adding some cream but the berg couldn’t hold up to it. It doesn’t stand out in the world of EG for me.

Kusmi Advent Day 17
Much like the jasmine green from yesterday, I found this to be a pretty average earl grey. The bergamot was a bit too mild for my liking, and it just didn’t really standout as being anything special.

Kusmi Advent Day 16
I love jasmine teas, and this one is pretty average. A bit of a hay flavor, and the jasmine is somewhat muted.

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 17

Interesting, I’m surprised to see this in the advent calendar. I mean, they have so many more interesting bergamot teas with their Russian Blends. I think we’ve only seen Anastasia (and the white version) so far so I hope they’ve at least included St. Petersburg somewhere in here… Looking at the website, it looks like they may not even carry Troika anymore, which is a shame.

I was surprised to see a recommendation of 190°F on the wrapper, so I figured I’d follow it. It came out rather tasty. The bergamot is subtler than I expected, and the base tea has a nice smooth malty and woody flavor to it. There’s definitely Ceylon here, and I’m wondering if there are others as well. I taste a soft earthiness that says Chinese black tea to me. Anyway, it’s a mellow black base but still has a good flavor. The bergamot is lovely and light with bright citrus notes.

Very tasty! Though I don’t think I’d ever have a reason to want a plain Earl from Kusmi…

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI56irkAw4b/)

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 16

Well this isn’t very exciting, but I do like jasmine teas so I don’t mind sipping on it this evening. At least there’s no hibiscus, right Dustin? XD

It’s not great. The jasmine itself is fine, it’s actually rather light and has a sweet and natural-tasting flavor. I’m just not a fan of the choice of base – it’s a very mineral green tea with a hint of smoke. I just feel like it doesn’t go well with the lighter, more ethereal jasmine notes. It reminds me of a gunpowder green tea.

Meh, it’s fine but certainly not a jasmine green that I would buy.

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI3UsUyAU_Z/)

Advent Day 16

Glad to have this to start my morning. The jasmine is bright. It dominates the sip and the finish, but the green base starts to peek through a little in the finish. It doesn’t quite have that intense level of jasmine that some teas do. It also doesn’t have the pure crisp jasmine flavor that I notice in silver needle jasmine. After several sips there seems to be a light accumulating soapiness to the sides of my tongue in the finish. Strange. Overall a very nice cup.

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 15

Well here we go again, another fruit tisane with hibiscus… At least it has a nice biscuity smell in the sachet.

Okay, this is just weird. I do get a buttery sort of biscuit flavor, but then I also get a tart, slightly fruity hibiscus flavor. The two just do not work together for me… I mean, butter and tart? The biscuit feels a bit tacked on as well.

Nope, not for me. Maybe we’ve tried all of Kusmi’s hibiscus teas at this point…?

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI0x3pugvaO/)

Back in 2016 I organised a pretty casual, laid-back wedding under the open sky in my family garden. We wanted to celebrate with a small crowd of our closest people. For the evening, we prepared a wide selection of drinks. Of course, for me personally, the most exciting task was choosing the tea. I went to the Kusmi store in city centre of Berlin and with the help of an extremely handsome assistant that made me blush on multiple occasions we chose 8 types of which I bought huge quantities. I disdain all fruit tisanes and wanted to completely omit this category but the gorgeous guy made me aware it’s a mistake, as people generally tend to love them. He chose this one for me. I frowned but took his advice and invested in a few boxes of AquaRosa as well. During the dances in the evening, of course I tried all teas that we chose and how big was my surprise – when I discovered that AquaRosa was the only one that we run out of! Shocking. People really don’t mind the devil called Hibiscus, as much as I do.

For me this tea is nothing but underwhelming. Heavy on the berries, quite sweet, but also sour. You can feel the apple (meh, another meh ingredient). Honestly, it doesn’t taste like much! I would never repurchase. But then, hey, given a choice of 7 lovely Kusmi teas and this funky one, somehow this one turns out to be the crowd pleaser. Well, life is full of surprises.

Advent Day 15

Sweet break?! From what? Apparently not from hibiscus. This tastes like sour berries and then metal. Is this what cilantro tastes like to some people? It has a sweet and sour scent that I get a whiff of every time I go in for a sip. I hate it.
Cold steeped overnight.

Kusmi Advent Calendar 2020 – Day 5

The sampler size comes in a lovely light blue sky-like sachet. I think the colour of the wrapper fits the tea perfectly! It’s fresh and zingy.

You can instantly feel mate, grassy notes, citrus flavours (grapefruit? lemon?) and a bit of guarana and green tea (but just a hint).

If you need a morning pick-me-up and can’t drink or don’t like black tea for some mysterious reason – it would be a great choice!

I love mate and drink large quantities of it and I have to say, Kusmi did it well. It’s not a boring mate blend, there’s a surprise factor to this lovely mixture. Worth trying!

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 14

What a pretty wrapper! I love the ones with two contrasting colors, they look so graphic and yet elegant. I’ve been nursing/ignoring a small cup of this all day while working, not on purpose just how my day went…

I will say, it’s pleasant for a breakfast blend. I can taste all three teas – the malty raisiny intensity of the Assam, the soft and smooth earthiness of the Yunnan, and a bit of sharp citrus from the Ceylon. Still tastes tea-ish, but with a bit of interest as well. There’s a hint of mineral smokiness for me as well, likely from the Yunnan tea.

I dig it. I can’t see myself every ordering a breakfast blend though, so I likely won’t have it again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIypy7YA0Kh/

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIyI3bGAi3z/)

Kusmi Advent Day 14
I was excited to see a straight black tea as an advent offering today. Unfortunately this one is not my favorite. It actually tastes a lot like the sun tea my grandma used to make when I was a kid. It’s a nice nostalgic flavor, but not particularly good.

Advent Day 14

I’m a little confused by the name of this tea. All the other teas I’ve had with Russian in the name have some sort of a smoky note. This one does not. It’s a good breakfasty blend. Balanced enough that I’m not getting astringency. Added a little cream and that didn’t do much to change it other than it being creamier. I’m not understanding what is special or unique or Russian about this blend. It’s not one I’d buy. :/

Kusmi Advent Calendar – Day 13

Lol, this sachet wrapper is so vague. It says something like “blend of herbs” instead of mentioning rooibos by name, which is odd. Dry scent is deliciously orange, yum.

I like the orange flavor here, it’s a good balance between sweet and zesty and it doesn’t taste artificial or like vitamin tablets. I get a little bit of caramel, but most of it is just coming from the rooibos itself. There’s a little taste of apple as well. I definitely don’t get lemon balm though.

Overall, I like it. I don’t think I like it quite enough to order it, but I’m really enjoying this one cup tonight. :)

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIvvvDxAx9V/)

Advent Day 13

Rooibos, orange, other vague flavors. It tastes like every other rooibos with orange I’ve tried. There was nothing that stood out about it.