2912 Tasting Notes
This is another one that needs to be treated gently, or it’ll grow muscles and walk off without you. I think I slightly overdid/oversteeped, but even with that said, this has a nice fruity background note that adds a little sophistication to the morning Assam kick.
This came to me during the Shabby House months, so it was forgotten and stored poorly. Found the rest of the sample while pawing through a basket. (Of course, this has never happened to you.)
The first time I had this, I noted that it went bitter pretty easily, so I kept everything on the light side—just barely 3 minutes—and it came out nicely. Good black tea base with the juicy fruit as an afterthought. More papaya than pineapple, I think.
Wish I had time to make one more batch and throw it on ice this morning — we’re having a bizarre spring heat wave — but I need to get the morning started. First Sunday with my fifth graders in three weeks, and since it’s April Fools, our story this morning will come from the book of Hezekiah.
(The sequel)
This stuff has a mind of its own! Left to its own devices in my fridge, it darkened three shades to dark walnut and strengthened three notches as well. I think this is going to be a go-to iced tea at our house.
For hefty tea lovers only…oops, I meant hefty tea lovers, not hefty tea lovers. I’m medium and I like it just fine.
In the tin, this looks almost identical to PG tips loose leaf…tiny, crumbly, and dark. Ashmanra advised that all you need to do with Bewley’s is “show the water to the tea.” I let the introduction linger for a little under three minutes, and wow! What a nice, stiff-upper-lip morning wake-up! First flavor equivalent that hit me was “dark wheat toast.” Hefty enough to be breakfast on its own, and by lunchtime, I believe the pot will be strong enough to walk itself to the refrigerator.
Looking forward to trying some on ice after some manual labor.
After nearly two weeks of junk food, meals on the fly, not eating at all, or sad tired leftovers, I actually cooked tonight. Sauted and chopped and everything. Lemon pepper pasta primavera. This was an excellent after-dinner pairing. My mouth is happy and dancing with all that cheerful lemon flavor. This is one of my favorite-ever 52teas teas.
Two parts Holy Basil (Tulsi) + 1 part lavender; saw this particular blend in the latest Stash catalog and realized I had the means to make it (for pennies, Cheapster Steepsters)using the bulk raw ingredients I get for less than $1.25 an ounce at my favorite health food hangout.
It smells luscious and very, very floral—-good enough to bathe in. And what a nice flavor pairing…the lavender sweetens up the spicy bite of the tulsi without tasting like you’re drinking a Mother’s Day bouquet.
As for the relaxation factor…my day included a marathon software training session that required full-on concentration and refereeing by phone a walker fight between two octogenarians. Don’t know which helped more, the anti-stress adaptogens in the tulsi, or stealing fifteen quiet minutes with no demands on my time. But I’m thinking I may have found a pretty effective evening medicinal.
OMG. I can so relate. If you heard just my side of my conversations with my mother, you would …laugh or cry… I dunno. But my coworkers laugh and I always have to tell them what the “other side” was about because my answers are always so absurd sounding! (My mom has MS and lives in a wheelchair community for people with spinal cord problems. Between disagreements w caregivers, other residents, and the kitchen – coupled with the fact that she can’t hear what I say so I have to shout – and since she doesn’t get out much she doesn’t have much to talk about – I’m just glad my coworkers know I’m not enjoying myself on a personal call but rather trying to deal with impossible situations! Yesterday it was a 10 minute conversation about which of our dogs (throughout both of our lifespans) kissed the most. I better get some of that Tulsi.
I’m also grateful for kind coworkers who have to listen to my (yelling to be heard) side of increasingly frequent family calls. If you weren’t several states away, I’d invite you over for a cuppa and to swap war stories.
…and then I’d read you a book :) xoxoxo
Review’s up—this is one of those teas you’re not quite sure how to describe. It left me neither revitalised, sensuous, nor romantic as advertised by the supplier; just a little puzzled. Still have a bit left, I’m going to keep lightening up the leaf and steep time until something happens.
…until something happens…..LOLOLOL! I will have the giggles for the rest of the afternoon!
Guess I’d better notify the spouse, eh? (Told Mike—the allabouttheleaf guy—that he would have had a good laugh at this Baptist Sunday school teacher trying to…uh…find a little colorful background on Kama Sutra for the review that didn’t make me pass out!)
my comment is no comment… :)
After a week of high-intensity, minimal-sleep geriatric caregiving away from home, I am a puddle o’nothing. Found this for just over a buck an ounce at local health food hangout. And if Wikipedia is right (tulsi is considered to be an adaptogen, balancing different processes in the body, and helpful for adapting to stress), and if this even hints at being effective, I shall buy it by the pound.
I expected it to be a little bitter, especially after noting the bronzey-green color after a five minute steep. Surprisingly, it isn’t—more like a combination of lemon and cloves. Lovely herb-y smell to it, too. Between this little herbal pick-me-up and a beautifully mild day overflowing with sunshine (after a week of local flooding), I hope to feel marginally human by day’s end.
I think it helps me. :)
Lemon and cloves? yeah, that’s what I got from Fusion’s Tropical Tulsi. I thought the clove was an unlisted ingredient. Interesting. My only other tulsi was a bagged (Organic India). I don’t remember it having the same characteristics.
Went and checked my notes. I did note the clove taste but I wasn’t overwhelmed by the bagged version.
Yep. When handled with kid gloves this is one of my favorite Assams. I use a lower steep temp and time and add milk and sugar and then we get along juuuust fine!
shouldn’t the fact that this is “Irish” be a signal that it might need…special treatment?
:)