Also made this in the morning (well, technically early afternoon) in a timolino, and then left it until I was at the movies and it had cooled down in the timolino to the perfect drinking temperature.
Parameters were about 2 tsp. (just a little more) steeped in boiling water for just shy of four minutes. When I took the brew basket out and had a trial spoonful when it was still stupidly hot, mostly everything just smelled and tasted really bitter – so I was quite worried I’d screwed up and oversteeped the whole timolino worth. When I started drinking at the theatre, however, that seemed to thankfully not quite be the case.
This still smells quite bitter and unappetizing, but taste wise it’s much better than before. The black tea taste is really rich and strong, and is something I would normally be tempted to soften with just a splash of milk. Surprisingly I also taste a lot of vegetal and unwelcome green tea taste. I had to double check the ingredients list and turns out that yes there is green tea in this blend which disappoints me because it’s quite present and this was advertised at The Vintage Tea Room (where I purchased it) as a purely black tea blend with black currant notes – and that is what I wanted; not black/green tea with currant. Boo.
Anyway, speaking of the currant – I can taste it. Initial and mid sip it just sort of comes out as a slightly masked generic fruitiness, but towards the end of the sip and in the aftertaste as the green and black tea mellows out I do get distinct notes of currant that thankfully don’t lean towards a medicinal quality. That sort of redeems this one.
Overall feelings? I’m not sure. I should have been more diligent in looking at the ingredients list because the green tea in this is definitely a let down and, in my opinion, takes away from the taste. Furthermore, it’s not what was advertised. However, despite being a touch astringent (possibly from over steeping) the black tea base is pretty lovely and the sweet touch of black currant is a lovely aspect.
I need to drink more of this to make up my mind.
Re-brew at a lower temp to see if that helps next time? Blends that have teas that require different brew temperatures always get me on how to make them come out right.