513 Tasting Notes
I have no good explanation for why it took me half a year to consider tossing this in a pitcher and cold steeping it. Surprise super, it make for a great tea when cold steeped. The orange peels do still come through (and get bitter if it steeps too long), but this overall flavour is a nice, tart, natural orange. Overall, this is a wonderful orange tea with just enough natural sweetness that I don’t feel the need to toss in additional sugar.
We brewed this up cold to try yesterday. My fiance is absolutely crazy about melon drinks, but not a huge fan of more fruity teas, so I wanted to see how this would go over. Long story short, he adores is, loves it, is so enraptured with it we had to order more, like right that minute. To be honest, I really like it to. The watermelon is nice and light and naturally sweet and the tea has a good strong flavour to the cup. I am really impressed with this tea and can see it being drunk a lot at our house in the summer.
I wish this tea had not been a limited time kind of deal! I actually really like the balance between refreshing mint flavour and the smoothness of the chocolate underneath. Also, the stevia in this one lends a nice hint of sweet without getting ridiculous. Overall, a great chocolate mint that is different from the usual black based mint chocolates. However, I have yet to work out what the presence of the peppercorns is supposed to do for me…
As the weather finally starts to warm up, I like to start having this tea cold steeped. Surprisingly though, I also really, really like having a cup hot. I find that drinking this tea hot really helps to bring out the yogurt flavour in the blend. The strawberry notes are still there, the rhubarb is tart, but their is an underlying smoothness from the yogurt that really completes the flavour. This is always a win when I brew it up!
What can I say, this tea is wonderful. I must admit, I like chocolate- raspberry pretty much anything, but this tea does balance the flavours beautifully. Add a hint of sugar and I have a chocolate truffle in a glass.
In other news, I have small batches of three teas steeping for the boy and I to try today, so that should make for an exciting Saturday. And a crochet pattern to try out, does life get much better than this? :-P
Flavors: Berries, Chocolate
I finally found back my sample and this is amazing! I am not the world’s biggest oolong fan, but, in this case, I can make an exception. The oolong is rich and buttery smooth, the maple and pecan are easily recognizable and compliment the flavour of the oolong beautifully. This was perfect without sweetener as is has more than enough natural sweetness all on its own. Hot, the oolong flavour was the dominant flavour but, as the tea cooled the pecan became more and more apparent.
This tea totally made my evening!
God I love this tea! I don’t own any, but my friend has a bag she is not drinking. She has offered it to me a time or two, but I don’t want to steal her bag. Instead, I am methodically making my way through it ever time I visit. (Because that is so much better, right?)
I have a lot of fruit based greens, but there is just something about this one. I think it is the strength of the fruit against the green base and how it can take less than precise steep and water temperature without getting ridiculously bitter or not drinkable.
I know the bag will not last forever, but for now it is such a treat to get to sit with a mug every time I go to her house for a knitting afternoon.
As per the suggestion on the DT website (and their new blend products), I mixed this with some Big Apple and gave it a shot this morning (apparently it is going to make me apple pie). Overall, I liked the blend plan, but I really need to think about how to brew it. I brewed it at the white tea parameters, and the tea is good, but a little weak. I get strong apple notes from the white tea and a hint of sweetness that I think is the beginning of the Forever Nuts. I do get apple pie from this, tart fruit on a sweet base. However the Forever Nuts didn’t really brew as strong as I would have liked it to. I liked the blend, I think with a stronger touch of Forever Nuts it could be amazing. I will have to play around with brewing parameters to try to draw out the herbal without the white getting bitter on me.
Prior to trying this, I would not have expected a grassy green to work with a grape flavour. Now, having brewed this a couple of times, I think it absolutely does. I find that the green and the grape actually wind up complimenting each other very nicely and make for a simple, but refreshing cup. I think this is perfect for me as a spring tea. I am not sure how much I would reach for it in the summer but, for now, while things are just starting to warm up, this is one that I keep reaching for!
Flavors: Grapes, Grass
