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Stay with me on this one… Last night we had meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I washed it down with a iced tea brewed from random black teas. It gets interesting. My wife makes her meatloaf with oats (no bread crumbs) and uses chili sauce and Splenda brown sugar instead of ketchup. When I grabbed the tea it tasted for all the world like a really good rose tea. We made a gallon of the tea poured into a dispenser. I filled a glass bottle to drink. I used the same bottle before dinner and the tea was a normal tasty blend of teas. Same with the bottle after dinner. The flavor change with dinner was so unique and unexpected I thought I would share. Looking forward to trying again with leftovers.

I was sitting on the porch enjoying a beautiful day when the need for a hot cup of tea hit me. I am so loaded up on iced tea that I slosh but when the mood hits… Read any of my other 17 notes on this one and you’ll read “my favorite from The Persimmon Tree” in about all of them. Since TPT is gone, it sadly makes this one a little more precious. I’m trying not to hoard it as what good is stale tea. I used 180 f water and a 4 minute steep. Creamy vanilla – more so than I remembered – and gentle anise, along with lovely floral notes. Then there is that Vietnamese green tea. Yep, still one of my all time favorites. Right up there with Earl Grey, jasmine dragon pearls, golden monkey, and anything Yunnan.

Another ancient open sample found in a drawer. At least I had the sense to store this one in a ziploc bag. Also another intended to be iced that never made it to the kitchen. I have a new plan for next time – I’m taking a glass of ice to the den. At least I stand a chance of iced tea that way.

This, even though old, is nicely balanced between a pleasant green oolong and a light strawberry taste and fragrance. It really is a nice easy to drink cup. My experience with it today matches my notes from when this was new, so looks like it handled my unintentional abandonment rather well.

An unrelated note: For the last several months my loose tea drinking has been limited to random scoops of black teas mixed to make iced tea by the gallon. What I have discovered is if you mix enough variety together (a little Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, etc) it starts to become a bit generic in taste. I’d stop but it is the only way I’m ever going to make progress getting my tea under control. Not to worry, my Yunnans, and Golden Monkey will never see the generic pot.

It is 96 F here. Feels like 111 F. My intent was to ice this, but it smelled so good it never made it from the den to the ice dispenser. Crazy I know. More insanity – the sample was open, folded closed with a paper clip, but 3 years old! It showed, though not as badly as I expected. Peach was just as I remembered – pleasant and kind of light. I detected no jasmine but my only other note, while this was new, said the same. Strangely, because of the age of the sample I could taste the green tea. No bitterness, no astringency. Under the worst conditions this was still a tasty cup that disappeared to quickly.

I started my day with my usual matcha and cold milk. I went out on the porch to enjoy the peace of the early morning. The birds were happy. The bugs were making their sounds in the distance. Beautiful start. I finished mu tumbler and decided it was just a little chilly – mid 60’s F. Went i and prepared a big mug of Yunnan Black. I poured it into an empty RTD glass bottle (I keep some around for just such times), and went back outside. What a perfect fit for my morning!

The warmth of the tea warmed my insides until the sun began heating the air. The tea has no hint of bitterness. There is a slight dryness. Mostly this is honey and malt. Today I am catching notes I hadn’t noticed previously with this one. I’m catching warm baked dark bread flavors. This is nicely sweet but can handle a little extra added sweetness if you desire. Just a lovely little porch sitting tea.

Looks like I’ve written over 50 tasting notes for this one… sorry, here’s another ;)

It’s beautiful outside here today. Low 80’s F, gentle breeze, and mostly sunny. So I decide to fix a cup and chill on the porch. As I open the tin, the stout bergamot fragrance hits me and makes me smile. Then out of nowhere Sil and her dislike of all things blergamot pops into my head… At the same time I start hearing Santana’s cool rhythm playing along with the line from the song, “You’ve got to change your evil ways” (hehe sorry Sil). I didn’t dwell because the volume in my head hit 11 as Carlos broke into a lengthy solo.

Made it to the porch. Raised my clear mug. The ruby red brew against the spring green background and blue sky was not lost on me. The pungent blergamot dominates but the Ceylon base is brisk enough to stand up and be noticed. Much happiness followed.

I love my high dollar teas, but a $7 tin of this will always be in my collection – well unless they do something stupid (hello Twinings) and mess with it.

This afternoon I waded through the boxes upon boxes of tea in my den. I was sorting out the straight black teas to use in mystery iced tea mixes this summer. OK, I’ve been doing it all winter as well but I needed to replenish the supply. Anyway, stumbled upon this one. It does not go in the mix. 3 years old and still tastes like day one. This one smells strong of pine smoke. Scary strong to the uninitiated. The cup is beautiful orange/red. The taste is so different from the aroma. It is nicely sweet and the smoke is pleasantly subdued. No BBQ. No bacon. No ashtray. Just sweet pleasant woodsy smoke. I totally miss The Persimmon Tree, and I will miss this one terribly when it is gone.

I’ve had this a couple times now. It’s meh at best. Whatever they are doing when they brew this – it’s wrong. I think they are counting on the sugar syrup to make up for the tea. I order it unsweetened. It is bitingly bitter and puckery astringent. It appears to be white peony – at least mostly. Yet it is devoid of most of the flavor that should be present. I realize I have been spoiled by tasting some of the best white teas available. This might as well be grocery aisle tea. I am not above grocery aisle tea but Starbucks/Teavana is too pricey for meh tea.
I add a packet of Splenda to make it palatable. It is nice and cold at least.

I’ve had Gold Peak tea at the local Mexican restaurant and the unsweetened black tea was actually kind of tasty. Sure generic by Steepster standards but way above much of what is out there. So, I saw this green RTD in the store and brought home a 6 pack. The bottle is plastic and I think you could drive a truck over it. A nice change of pace from the super thin water bottles we’ve been getting. Anyway, so the tea is okay. What they don’t tell you on the label is this is not straight green tea. It has a peachy flavor added. Not overbearing but not what I wanted. It is also sweetened. 130 calories per 16.9 oz serving.

I would love to see a green RTD that is straight up green tea with no sweetener or flavors added.

It is drinkable. I would buy it again for grab and go. I will say I prefer Lipton Citrus Green Tea for such occasions.

Found a half sample that apparently I opened 9 months ago (Eeeek!). Not to fear, this brewed up beautifully. i read my original tasting note and stand by it. I’ll add here that as I poured, the aroma was quite intense and along with the corn and butter notes I thought of milky. I notice it is out of stock but definitely a lovely tea. Just enough bite to remind you it is a green tea. A great choice while playing some guitar.