2975 Tasting Notes
Amazing what happens when you actually read the label! This is an Assam green tea! No wonder I was mystified at the scorched-flowers scent and taste in the first mangled cup!
More properly prepared, it has drastically improved. Beautiful champagne color; still a scent that reminds me of lilac. Assam greens have always been very finicky for me—the perfection zone is so skinny that half a degree or three seconds too much pushes it over the edge. I’ve still just about fallen off the cliff here—still a little bitterness on my tongue—but now that I know what I’m working with, I will continue to practice restraint until I get the hang of it.
I really like this mellow cranberry gem and have been experimenting with its summer potential. Conventionally steeped on ice, it’s very nice—authentic cranberry, but no nasty tartness.
Last night, I threw some random spoonfuls into a quart jar and left it unattended in the fridge overnight. This sloppy method results in a more bitter brew, but I don’t mind that with an iced tea. Steeped like this, it would be a better base for some Ocean Spray cranberry juice to make a juicy tea cooler.
This was on the mandatory restock list when we went to Savoy a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, since that particular storefront was winding down before it closed, the only option for purchase was tea sachets.
I generally dislike sachets for two reasons: portion control (never enough tea) for my 12 ounce go-to-work tumbler and the strings are always, always too short. Yeah, I could’ve cut two bags open and freed the leaves, but I was in a hurry. So to compensate for the scant amount of tea, I bumped up the steep time to 5:30. Didn’t accomplish the desired results—just a watered-down version of the original. This is still an excellent tea of the wheat-and-bread crust variety when you are in control of the spoon.
I will agree that too many teabags and sachets don’t really hold enough tea. (This is especially true of Republic of Tea products.) But my dear, after reading through how you tried to compensate, I did not get any flavor notes beyond “…of the wheat-and-bread-crust variety”, which still didn’t tell me exactly what kind of tea this was. I had to click on ‘Golden Snail by Savoy tea Co’ to get your lovely initial review of it! So now I know. And it sounds tasty. I even appreciate why it’d be on your mandatory restock list! Will put this one on my Wish List.
Oh. I have had this one, says my tealog. And I thought I was sampling something new! The memory’s going, y’all. Any volunteers to push my wheelchair up and down the hallway?
Rum, pineapple, coconut in equivalent proportions. I felt like I needed a maraschino cherry speared with a drink umbrella when I had a cup this morning. The flavoring is much more prominent than the tea base. Cheerful and tasty and no doubt more so on ice…this week’s weather forecast looks to be perfect for experimentation.
Confirmed. Very good as a cold bevvy.
oh it’s easy to forget the thousands of teas you have tried! However, the name on this one is quite unique. I don’t remember anyone logging this, if that means anything. :D
AH but I do see you are the only one that has a note from seven years ago!
Eavesdropping on one of your conversations about lavender prompted me to make a little Franken-blend of my own: 2:1:1 generic bulk China black, chamomile, lavender. Fridge-steeped, cool, and tasty after some yard work today.
I have been craving something low-caf or decaf and lemony, so this caught my eye when we were at Savoy last week. Alas and alack, there is definitely a lack of lemon here—it’s a decent sencha base with flavoring that’s kinda raspberry, kinda Hawaiian Punch. It’ll be a tasty summer cooler on ice, but not what the name led me to expect.
This was on the “essential restock” list when we hit Savoy last week. It’s brash and brassy, especially when it’s overleafed and oversteeped, which I purposely did this morning. Enough of a bite to get the eyes open (first half of the tumbler) and sufficiently strong to accommodate ice (second half—our office AC has been off all weekend).
Savoy tea is in business and thriving, but the storefront we visited yesterday is preparing to relocate, so what we found there yesterday was a little hodge-podgey. (Mind you, this did not keep me from restocking several favorites.) This was the only one of its kind on the sample rack; I saw “Assam” and grabbed without examining it closely.
At any rate, it is one of the least Assam-y Assams I’ve sampled in the recent past…has a fresh floral smell (lilacs from across the yard, not lilacs under your nose) and that carries over to the flavor. It’s more oolong-y than Assam-y and needs a lighter touch than I gave the first cup…is a little bitter now that I’m toward the bottom. Next time I’ll back off the steep time to 3 minutes instead of the sloppy 4 I gave it.
Last word; it’s a tea party-pinky up Assam. Not for sleepy mornings.
I would love to hear how you like it with new steeping parameters! Are they relocating to a place where you can still easily access them?
Sounded like they were looking for a nearby option. They have another storefront in Fayetteville (AR) about 30 minutes further south—we just generally have no need to venture that far.
What a strange sensation to find green tea in your cup when you are expecting malty Assam. My brain would rebel a bit.
I keep calling it “perpetually distracted,” but I think I’m getting senile :)