6106 Tasting Notes
Sipdown! 138/365!
Second (and final) bag of this was average. I drank it without even realizing I’d finished it, so I must have brewed it better than last time, but it also didn’t wow me with anything unique. Not too surprising, as it was a bagged tea; this is probably about how it has tasted the whole time. Thanks to whoever this is originally from!
This is exactly what you’d expect. Creamy lime flavouring with toasty rice, and a bit more flavour in the green tea than genmaichas usually have. I may actually like the genmai-chunmee base more than the regular genmaicha with matcha. I don’t think I’m a fan of the matcha for whatever reason.
Anyways, really nothing to say here because this tea delivers exactly what it’s supposed to.
Oh hello, another B&B tea I’d already tried. Did I seriously not look up my own reviews beforehand? (I did, and deliberately ordered some I’d had before, but I might have passed on this tea, given that I’d rated it 52…)
Anyhow, wasn’t a big fan of this one. I actually thought it was an herbal, as I couldn’t taste any oolong at all. I drank it a few days ago, so can’t really describe it anymore, but it was watery and herbal-y, not very strong. I’m not sure what I expected, but something with a bit more flavour, and certainly a bit more of the base tea!
Sipdown! 137/365!
Also drank this while I was sick (while I could still taste). It’s really not too bad, mostly tastes like a fake-honey-sweetened oolong with some extra flavourings (tastebuds not 100%, haha). My favourite part about it, though, is the oolong. Especially in later infusions, the oolong comes through and is quite tasty. I wouldn’t buy this again, but I did enjoy this last cup of it, if only for the base tea!
I always appreciate medicinal teas more when I’m sick, so I figured I’d have this one. I am one of those weird people who actually doesn’t like drinking anything when they have a sore throat as it typically feels worse, but this tea + honey actually felt amazing when I had it this time. However, I couldn’t taste anything. I had a resteep, though, and was pleasantly surprised – it tastes like genmaicha with ginger. Quite nice, actually. I’ll save the rest of this for the next time I’m sick, I think!
The ingredients: Vanilla Orchid (DavidsTea) and Lady Lavender (Bird & Blend)
I used 3/4 tsp of each for an 8oz mug, brewed with about 200F water for 2-3 minutes.
Outcome? Apparently Lady Lavender is a very strong tea. I’m going to have to drop my infusion time down for it, as well as the leaf. This blend was actually pretty astringent, which seemed surprising to me, and actually needed more VO as opposed to the other mix I tried with Laoshan Black. The vanilla was hardly noticeable amongst the heavy florals and bergamot, and astringency. I’m more interested in trying this blend again as I think Lady Lavender is just a bit much for me to handle (whereas LB is perfectly fine on its own!)
Oh – baby’s up. I guess that’s it for note writing for the moment!
I finally did it! I remember to try “blending” a few teas together to create something interesting and yummy! (I did it twice, in fact. Other combo to be detailed in a separate note.)
The ingredients: Vanilla Orchid (DavidsTea) and Laoshan Black (Verdant)
I used 3/4 tsp of each for an 8oz mug, brewed with about 200F water for 2-3 minutes.
Outcome? Not too bad, but the first thing I noticed was that the mix needed to be a bit heavier on the LB, as it was almost drowned out a bit by the strength of the oolong + vanilla in Vanilla Orchid. That said, I think the combination of the oolong and LB was a little weird – while vanilla flavours pair well with roasty, chocolatey teas, green oolongs maybe don’t quite so much. I may try this again with less VO, but it was not quite what I was hoping for. An interesting experiment, nonetheless!
ETA: Ok, third infusion of this was fantastic. Tasted like burnt toasty marshmallows. Yesssss.
Maybe today will be the day I catch up on tasting notes, both reading and writing? Probably too much to hope for, but I’ve been enjoying the absolute bliss of a baby napping for 2 solid hours. (His morning nap was half an hour; I assume that’s the only reason he’s still going.) Relative bliss, I suppose, since I’m actually rather sick (so is he).
Anyhow, I had more of this tea because it’s yummy. I just love the creaminess with the lavender, so good. (I’m really looking forward to trying DT’s Lavender Buttercream; hoping it’s along the same lines of delicious!)
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms and would-be moms out there :) It’s my first Mother’s Day (yay!) and my husband made me the sweetest card from my little munchkin. I’m basically spending the day doing nothing of note, as it’s dreary outside and bonus – I woke up with a very sore throat. Sigh.
Anyhow, I brewed up a few teas today, this being one of them, and I just had to write about it right away. I don’t think I got the full flavour of this tea in the sample I had a few years ago, because it’s much tastier than I remember. Kind of like a sweet, mild apple cider (unspiced) type tea but with a strong (but not overwhelming) smokiness. Really unique, and really good. Definitely best to sip and savour, as the smokiness can get a little overwhelming otherwise. It’s good plain, but I feel like a splash of milk could make it a bit more easy-drinking, if one desired that.
Bumping rating from 73 to 83. Not a tea I’d be likely to keep around, but I’ll thoroughly enjoy it while I have it (and would perhaps add it into a future order if it was available).
