2904 Tasting Notes
The nice thing about the Easter Elephant is that he doesn’t forget how hard it is to ooze back into work after a lovely Easter weekend, so he occasionally leaves a small little post-Easter treat by the kettle after an icky Monday. You really need to get to know him.
In this case, it was a lovely little box of rooibos goodness from a seller I can’t find much about online at all—just one little “coming soon” site with a really cute logo.
I’ve mentioned before that rooibos was just made for ice cream flavors—so in this case the double whammy of chocolate/vanilla is really nice. Lots of chocolate scent in the dry teabag; heavier on the vanilla when you steep it. And decaf enough that it doesn’t muss up bedtime.
Another surprise from the Easter Elephant. A nice bagged morning blend (EE knows that mornings are always a rush and it’s easy to ruin good loose tea). Not as strong as I had anticipated. I’d place it just past Yorkshire Gold on the plain hot water——>PG Tips left to stand 30 minutes scale.
The Easter Elephant came (he’s WAY better than the bunny because he can sneak in and out undetected as big as he is) and left this in my kitchen!
This gets off-the-scale wacky cool points for the color alone. PINK green tea. Box recommends a very low temp (I actually used a thermometer and kept it around 160) and short time (2 min) and by golly, it’s pink! Website tips you off to the trick, there’s just a bit of hibiscus in there, but you can’t see it in the pyramid teabags, and you can’t taste it at all. Pink!
Now, as for flavor—I’m still working on it. I used a clear mug for the christening cup because I wanted to watch the color, and the mug is oversized, so when it was full, I didn’t taste much but dishwater. (Nifty pink dishwater, mind you.)
The Kandula folks say each pyramid bag is good for 2-3 steeps, so the second time around, I didn’t top off the cup, did 2 more minutes and got some really nice flavor. Light, fresh hay. Second steep color wasn’t as pretty, more of a pale rosy beige.
So, if I don’t overdo on the H20 next time, I anticipate a lovely balance of color and flavor. This has been fun to play with! (Thank you, Easter Elephant. I will never forget how thoughtful you are.)
LOL the Easter Elephant… love it!
So this is a green Ceylon?? Cool!
Do you know if the Easter Elephant can make it to Ecuador? So far only the Easter Llama has come…
I’m not sure if Easter Elephants can fit on a plane—even in first class ;) He did, after a little begging, tell me that he does his shopping, of all places at TJ Maxx (never found a stitch of clothing in there I cared to pay for, but fast becoming one of my favorite unusual tea sources).
Here’s the link to the Kandula site: http://www.kandulatea.com/Shop.aspx?id=103&t=kandula.pink.tea.bags.15&r=&rb=0&ret=?p=pink.tea They also advertise an ivory tea that sounds kind of intriguing.
Happy Easter! Forget the eggs…may you find Joy today instead!
The more I drink ToL, the more I like it, and the more I like it, the more I’m puzzled, because bergamot is not usually on my preferred flavorings list, and there it is, right smack in the list of ingredients. Can’t detect it for the life of me. I guess there’s just so much good fruit-n-honey going on, the berga-meister just doesn’t assert itself much.
After a month of temps dancing 10-20 degrees above normal, we’ve plummeted back into a wet, raw, typical early April day and I am chilled to the bone.
This not-quite-coffee with a little sugar and milk is hearty enough to stick to your ribs and warm you a bit.
(Hope it warms up for tomorrow—thinking about my poor, skinny little fifth graders who will insist on wearing their sleeveless Easter dresses to church regardless of the weather and will show up with frostbitten little arms and legs :)
A rare just-the-two-of-us excursion for hubby and me yesterday. Springfield, MO. Home of THE Bass Pro Shop (for you outdoor enthusiasts) and a plethora of yummy used bookstores. Lunch at Zio’s…chicken manicotti that’ll put you in an alfredo coma.
And since I spent all my discretionary fundage on books, when we hit the Seoul Oriental Market, I couldn’t not try a new tea, but it had to be a Cheapster. So at $2.15 for 25 bags…why not?
Very little English on the box, so it was a mystery steep. And a nice one! This is a really pleasant bagged oolong. Given oolong-ish parameters (< boiling, about 2 1/2 min), it has a golden oak furniture finish and tastes uncannily like Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit.
Woah what an odd combination – juicy fruit and oak?? LOL I kinda want some now!
Clarification—oak refers more to the color than the flavor. I have a candy barrel I use for an end table that I was staring at when I wrote that. But for a cheap bagged oolong, it’s surprisingly tasty.
Cookies for breakfast!
At least that’s what this tastes like—those fine little tea biscuits that come in tins. And for a such a light tea, the sweetness stays on your tongue an amazingly long time. Enjoying mine straight up, but I’m thinking a little milk would make this spectacular.
Fine stuff. Not for hurry-up mornings. Enjoy this one on a Good Friday as you watch the fog lift from Turkey Creek and revel in a morning of cool spring sunshine while you listen to a sparrow sing. Count your blessings while you drink it. (This leisurely tea moment made possible by the always-thoughtful and encouraging ashmanra.)
This time, I let Clipper Gold just barely shake hands with the water (2 min), and it was still sharp and wakey-uppy, but I could taste the subtler notes (burgundy/fruit) and my tongue wasn’t numb ;)
Shorter steep time is a plus when you oversleep and you’re dashing around to get out of the house, huh?
Look at you! Finding that silver lining! :) I am happy to hear you got a little extra sleep, sorry you have to rush, though.
Well, maybe I should be a little more accurate. Alarm went off as usual, eyes opened, the rest of me just loitered longer than necessary.
I dozed a little too long myself this morning, no cup for the ride, had to wait till I got to work for my first one…Yorkshire Gold is doing the trick though :)
Holy Basil/Tulsi + chamomile (2 parts tulsi to 1 part chamomile)
I’m discovering that tulsi is a really nice and versatile base to lots of herbal combinations, especially for a clumsy alchemist like me. Its sharp lemony flavor nicely balances with chamomile, which doesn’t adapt to much and always tastes like chamomile.
A good evening unwind and very inexpensive when you buy both in bulk.
Go for it.
Yes, I think vanilla would be lovely!