Kusmi Tea

In the mood for something a little out of the ordinary this morning. I didn’t add my usual half teaspoon of sugar (forgot to replenish my work stash!), and it’s a teensy rough around the edges. That little bit of sugar really makes the berries, citrus and caramel pop. Still, an enjoyable treat.

I was in the mood for something with a little pizzazz this morning, and I thought this would be a good candidate. I prepared it at a slightly lower temperature than I have been doing, and wow! The flavors have popped! I finally taste some vanilla :) The berry, caramel, and citrus are even more flavorful and delightful, and the tea is perfection – flavorful, medium bodied as to blend and not compete with the flavors, and no bitterness.

I love when I finally get a tea just how I like it. I have a couple servings left, but this is definitely one of my must buy I love it keepers. Ratings nudge!

This tea has decided to be especially delicious today. A half teaspoon of sugar seems to have brought out the flavor: berry (lots of berry today!), then citrus, then caramel. Good tea; no bitterness. Two steeps of wonderful!

I am entirely too grumpy today for a gal who has found out that she earned an A in her class! I am hoping that this tea full of delightful things – berry! caramel! bergamot! – will calm my cranky mood. Many thanks to the quiet life for this sample!

I am taking it with just a pinch of sugar, and I think this is the way Kusmi teas like to be drunk! The tiny bit of sugar brings out all of the flavorings and the tea is pronounced and delicious. Last time I made it at 5 minutes but put in milk and sugar, and it overwhelmed the tea and subtle flavors. I like it much better this way! A bit of sweet berry, something citrus-y, a warm sweetness, and good tea. This is SUCH a nice treatment for a sourpuss!!! I’m going to inch up the rating a bit. :)

I made another steep at 5 minutes, just hoping for some more warmth really, but it’s very flavorful. I’m going to need a tin of this when I run out. The quiet life was super generous with her sample and I have a few more cups worth of anti-grump medicine at hand!

This one courtesy of thequietlife!

Taken with a teaspoon of sugar and splash of half and half.

This tea has a little bit of everything I love in a tea: berry, bergamot, caramel! I am sitting quietly and picking out each delightful flavor. They come in that order – a burst of berries, leading into the citrus, and you end with a faint caramel warmth. The only thing keeping my tea rating out of the 90s is that I would like a little more of a tea taste. Perhaps my next cup should be taken without milk.

Love this hearty blend – a real get up and go tea

I was thirsty but I couldn’t decide on a tea. I had my boyfriend choose for me. :) Almond green tea was a good choice. Yum!

Smooth and delicious almond green tea. There is something refreshing about this tea. Almost like a mint in the background but I know my taste buds are deceiving me. Yum!

Yum! This is great except it got bitter the longer i had it sitting there…

This tea is so forgiving! I accidentally left the leaves in the water for a little longer than I intended since I was cooking! It still tastes good!

After this, I have enough leaves left for one more steeping session!

Jillian sent me a sample of this a few months ago, and it wasn’t until now that I tried it! I knew I was in for a nice treat.

Sweet almond… it reminds me of those almond cookies I used to get at a Chinese restaurant I used to go to when I was younger. I love the sweet scent of the wet leaves. It is so light and fragrant. I can’t assess the color since I made the mistake of using a dark colored cup. I noticed that this green tea had small-medium sized leaves and short stems. I could also taste the green tea distinctly, and the aftertaste was a mix of sweet almond and green tea. It is very nice. The nutty taste was enjoyable!

This was the first almond flavored green tea I’ve had. I’ve come to the conclusion that I like almond flavored green better than black tea. The combination of green tea with almond wasn’t overbearing or strong, which was nice. Good cuppa in the afternoon – yes! :)

I got a spoonful of this particular tea from TeaEqualsBliss (I think – I have so many little samples from various people floating around).

There are bits of something green interspered with the black tea – are they green tea leaves or something different? I’m mostly getting cloves and cardamom flavours in the tea with a hint of anise maybe. It’s nice enough, but I tend to like my chais bolder and spicier. This tea is quite smooth, and there’s a hint of a “leafy green” taste to it aswell. Nice but I think I like my Tazo chai better.

Traveling Tea Box Tea!!!!!! Very excited to be trying my first tea from Kusmi!

This tea is smelling fantastic whilst it brews! A cloud of berries around my desk!

I’m taking it with half and half and sugar.

sip, sip…I’m getting a nice tea flavor, and the fruits I’m tasting the most are redcurrant and cherry…a little raspberry…not much strawberry. It’s delicious! I’ve read that Kusmi is subtle and that is something I’m noticing and delighting in!! As it cools I’m getting more cherry. This is SUCH a nice afternoon tea. How I wish I was curled up with my book of the moment (The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. Did you read The Historian!? I LOVED it! This is her new one!!! VERY hard to put down!!) and not sitting at my desk. What! A! Treat! My cup is now empty and I’m not even done rambling. Wow.

Chai teas have definitely been growing on me. I now know the specifics in which I enjoy them and try to stick to those guidelines.

I like my blander chai teas to be hot with no additives. I like my spicy chai teas (ones that are heavily spiced, very aromatic) dirty. This chai, while not being overwhelmingly spicy, I do smell some cardamom, I see a clove, and maybe a hint of ginger, does smell very strongly of licorice. Blegh. I do not like licorice, this tells me that making this chai dirty will be the way to go.

My recipe was: boiling water + German rock sugar = simple syrup, add I scoop of tea, allow to boil 30 seconds, then turn heat off (but do not remove from heat source) for 2 minutes. During the two minutes, add splash of coffee, stir. Strain mixture into glass, add milk to taste. (In this case a fair amount of milk).

While still smelling strongly of licorice, I have added enough things so that I do not mind the flavor of it. When the sugar and milk and maybe even the coffee are added to the chai, the flavors seem to marry, I can taste cardamom up front, and a gingery note in the middle, followed up by a clove flavor, all smothered in a milk base. Overall, decent.

I do prefer chai tea when it has an additional flavor added, in this case it was chai with licorice, though that did not sound or smell so pleasant it turned out to be pretty good.

The second of my Kusmi splurge. :)

The first time I smelled this, I definitely got a sense of the citrus, and vanilla, and spices (the clove comes out strongly). But then I had a revelation: This tea smells like Coca-Cola! So now all I smell is Coke. :P

Brewed, it smells more like black tea with clove. Mmmm.

It kind of tastes like Coke, too, but spicier (not overly spicy, though). It’s smooth and warm. Mmm. It has a little bit of sweetness to it too, but it’s not anything overpowering. It’s not overly anything, and the flavors just work really well together. I like! :)

Since my St. Petersburg turned out a bit strong this morning with a steep time of 3 mins, I thought I’d try this at 2 to see how that would be, and it works! Yay!

This was so yummy yesterday, I decided to have it again today!:D

Used even more leaf than yesterday, so it’s dark and coppery. Even more delicious! :)

I decided I was in the mood for this today. :) Last time, with 2 mins, it worked out too weak (though 3 mins was too strong). I wanted to stick with the 2 mins, though, so I added more leaf. Win! :D

Tried this one again today with a shorter steep time. 2 mins down from 3, since it was a bit too strong with 3. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough with 2, so next time, I’ll have to try 2.5 mins. :P (Or more tea!) But it was still a tasty cup! :)

In other news, I’m wondering if this snow will ever stop. o_o