26 Tasting Notes
I am on a black tea kick so this tea was right up my alley. I love cream of Earl Grey, so I thought I would try something different. I liked the taste of fruit in it because it doesn’t over power the taste of the tea, but it adds a nice touch. For me, this isn’t an everyday kind of tea, but something I have to be in the mood for.
Unfortunately I found this tea to be very tart. I could not taste the strawberries at all. I tried two different steeps, but found both to be disappointing since this tea seems to be very popular. I will be returning this for something else.
Wow, really? Huh, I adore this one. Is it very tart…can’t recall now! Curious to know your steeping time/temp for this?
With my kettle, I can’t control for temperature. The first steep was after boiling (I know a crime, but I was running late this morning) and I gave it five minutes (I like my tea strong). The second steep, the water was boiled, but I let it cool down to a manageable temperature and still let it steep five minutes.
Any thoughts to make it better?
Whoa, no wonder! Nooo to just boiled water. You probably shouldn’t steep a white at hotter than 80-85 degrees C. If you don’t have a tea thermometer, try putting some water in a pan on the stove. Take it off the heat JUST as you start to see bubbles forming – that should be about 80 degrees.
And 5 minutes is way too long for this one – I’d maybe start at 1.5 or 2.
Black teas I tend to like strong and I grew up leaving the bag in for 5 minutes or more. But I’ve found loose leaf – especially more delicate teas – to be stuff you need to experiment with. I remember now…when I first tried this one I started with too LOW a temp because I was concerned about scorching the leaves (68 degrees or so), so I let it sit in the water longer to compensate and make it “stronger.” It was naaaasty.
Thank you for the advice! I would have never thought about heating water in the pan.
Haha, I’m stuck doing nothing but since our kettle broke. It was a sad moment, but in the time since I’ve realized how many temps I was screwing up when my only two options were boiling (kettle) or 68 degrees (hot water dispenser).
Well at least some good tea will come out of it!
Loved this seasonal tea. I found that the jellybeans add a different kind of flavour to it. I did steep the jellybeans, instead of eating them, and found that it put just enough sugar in the tea and made it good. Though I did find that the bottom of the cup was not the best cause it had all sunk to the bottom and had gotten cold. But I love the coconut and pineapple taste perfect for spring.
I had previously gotten a cup of this to go and I thought it was pretty good. So I bought 100g in a tin. Unfortunately when I had a taste this morning, ick! I think I need to steep it for longer. I felt the 5 minutes was not long enough. I tasted more apples than maple, I don’t think there was enough actual tea in mine. I’m going to do a second steep to see how I feel about it and then decide if I want to take it back.
