Gyokuro Black has opened my eyes and made me realize that I’ve been making a tremendous mistake. For months, I’ve been drinking my black dessert teas with milk, and I kept thinking to myself, “Why does everything taste the same, and not very good?” I noticed that dessert teas I once loved all of a sudden had a weird cloying artificial note to them. And it made me question why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks I ever liked X tea.
Then along came Gyokuro black. I steeped this up and tried a cup hot. Eh, it’s a little too earthy for me. It’s decent, but there’s something dark about it. But at the same time, the slight maltiness in the background makes me appreciate this. So then I wondered how this would taste with milk. Sometimes I love a plain black tea with cream and sugar, so milk should be a good thing here.
I added the milk, took a sip, and thought to myself how this tea possibly tastes artificial all of a sudden. Rancid almost? THEN IT FINALLY DAWNED ON ME. We’re not talking about ordinary cow’s milk here, folks. We’re talking about coconut almond milk. The same milk I swoon over when I have it with my morning cereal, or in a cold matcha latte. It’s the coconut almond milk that’s been ruining every hot tea it touches! Then I did some research and found out that people have been finding the same issue with pure coconut milk in tea or coffee. Perhaps the oils go rancid due to a chemical reaction between the heat and components in the tea/coffee. So voilà. Thank you very much, coconut almond milk, for turning my back on some of my beloved dessert teas.
I’m enjoying this tea with 2% milk now, and it’s much better. Reminiscent of that comforting feeling I normally experience when sipping on black tea with cream and sugar.
Moral of the story: coconut milk is nasty in hot tea. Additionally, Gyokuro black is decent with cow’s milk, but underwhelming on its very own.
