16396 Tasting Notes
One of about ten teas I recently picked up from Silk Road; most of them were sample amounts (including this one) but a couple were larger restocks. This wasn’t a planned sample though; generally I don’t really go for Earl Greys and I’ve had so many vanilla Earl Greys now that there’s just nothing really exciting about them to me…
So why did I end up with a sample of this one? I think I must have just been really craving vanilla the day that I ordered – otherwise I would have skipped over this one like I normally do when companies offer vanilla Earl Greys. When I cracked open the tin it smelled really good though; strong whiffs of vanilla bean with mild, fresh bergamot undertones to it! I’ll admit, even I was excited to try it.
I steeped it up this evening to watch while checking out Netflix’s new Magic School Bus reboot! I was totally excited to talk about the new show with The Boyfriend but he hasn’t started it yet, and apparently he’s excited enough about it that he’s placed a ban on discussing it with him until he catches up. I didn’t realize Magic School Bus was such a big deal that ‘spoilers’ would ruin the experience.
Since I was riding the nostalgia wave watching the new reboot, this was a good tea to sip on since it provided a sense of comfort and familiarity even if this was just my first time trying it. Unlike the dry aroma, I think this is more bergamot than vanilla but both are really pleasant flavours. I like that the bergamot doesn’t seem to push past being a medium bodied flavour; that doesn’t make it too intense/make me feel like I need to add milk to it to soften it, but it’s strong enough that if I DID add milk I don’t think I’d lose the flavour. The vanilla is so creamy and fresh tasting, I really liked it too.
I think for this to be a perfect London Fog kind of flavour representation for me it would have had to be a little bit sweeter though, but all in all it’s a satisfying enough flavour and even though it’s not something I generally find myself craving I think it’s pleasant enough I’ll be able to finish it off no troubles.
And I guess I should give you all a spoiler warning since I’m going to let out my thoughts on the first few episodes of the Magic School Bus reboot here since The Boyfriend doesn’t want me ruining anything for him and I REALLY want to talk about it:
- Not digging the new animation style thus far, though I’m sure I’ll adjust
- I absolutely LOVE the redone theme; Lin Manuel Miranda singing it is PERFECT
- The new Mrs. Frizzle is great; and I love the explanation for WHY she’s taking over
- The fact they got Lily Tomlin back for the OG Frizzle is equally wonderful
- And based on the few episodes I’ve seen, she IS reoccurring throughout the show
- That or they’re just gently easing us into the new Frizz, which is fine too
- THEY KEPT THE PHONE SEQUENCE AT THE END OF THE EPISODES
- Where they explain more of the science/things they depicted that were a bit inaccurate
- OG Frizzle’s new sidekick “Goldie” is the fucking best
- Arnold’s cousin Janet is in episode two which is pretty cool!
- The new kid is neat; I liked the ecosystem explanation/tie in for her & new Frizz
- Is that really the only explanation we get for Pheobe being written out!?
- Like, it’s realistic but also unsatisfactory…
Cold Brew!
Strained this one this afternoon to sip on; it’s basically just a raspberry/blackberry black tea so I was expecting a very clear berry flavour and maybe a little bit of tartness? That sounded like it’d make for an interesting cold offering.
I found it very, very boring almost immediately though – sure, it had a mixed berry sort of flavour to it but it was really flat/dull and kind of watered down tasting. I’m not exactly sure where the black tea base comes from but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just a run of the mill Ceylon; it’s got that sort of generic/mild and relatively flavourless black tea taste (though with a hint of something floral) that makes Ceylon teas such a good canvas for added flavour. It was like sipping at blackberry with all the life sucked out of it though; I knew I had to do something to give this some life.
So, I made it into a “Brambleberry Lemonade” of sorts. I cut a lemon in half and juices the one half straight into my strained cold brew and then I took the other half and sliced it up into wedges which I just dropped into the mix to infuse alongside everything else. Obviously, the flavour of the tea is now really lemon heavy with some tartness – BUT the blackberry and raspberry notes that come through after that wave of lemon suddenly feel like they’ve been given new life! They come off as sweeter, and more pronounced. And the contrast between the two flavours – lemon and berry, is exactly what this needed to feel fresh, and interesting.
Actually worth the time it takes to drink it.
It’s a shame I had to take such drastic steps to get there though; and you can’t really rate a tea on how good it is when you’ve done so much to change it up from its natural state. On its own, this just isn’t a pleasant tea and that counts for A LOT. I’ll try it again though and see if it’s any better as a hot tea.
Hopefully…
First tea of the morning today; just a little teacup of it.
I’m still tweaking how I brew this one, trying to eliminate the bitterness and chemical tasting elements. This morning, I used about a third less tea leaf than I have been using and steeped it with 70C water hoping that would do the trick. It actually wasn’t bad! Not bitter at all, but still a little chemical/artificial tasting. Flavour profile was mostly lemon, with some mandarin orange undertones. It was pleasant enough, and a nice gentle start to the morning.
Hot, last night – with some lemon infused honey that I purchased yesterday from the farmer’s market! Since there’s already some lemongrass in this, I thought the honey would play up the citrus in the blend while also sweetening it, and hopefully that would temper some of the spice.
It wasn’t a great mug though; I think I must have over steeped it because even with the honey it was pretty bitter with a very, very dark looking liquor. The ginger was also really, really strong and the degree to which it was “tickling” the back of my throat actually kind of felt a little more like scratching. The rest was ok though; I liked the bright lemon/citrus notes and the coconut undertones were good too. Just a few too many cons overall, despite some nice elements.
I think I’ve got one more cup of this left, so I’ll probably try to find the happy in between of my first cup of this and this one – with the lemon honey.
Second tea from my Sipsby subscription!
If you missed my overall review of the service/thoughts on that you can check that out in this tasting note: https://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/365171#likes
Both this tea and this company are new to me, but looking at the smell/appearance of this tea and the ingredients this instantly reminds me of a tea that I do have familiarity with: Jessie’s Tea from DAVIDsTEA. No clue which of the two came first, and I know other blends like these two exist as well but that’s just my immediate association.
I made my mug of it hot with a little added milk; honestly? It tastes exactly like Jessie’s Tea for me. I imagine it would be great for the evenings, and I like the coconut notes in it but I’m having the exact same issue with this that I had with Jessie’s Tea – the lavender notes in it are far too strong and I just don’t love them. They remind me of soap or lotion, and also kind of give me the hiccups? So, not my favourite thing in the world.
I’ll probably use the rest of the sample as an evening/bed time tea on nights I’m feeling especially desperate because I do find the lavender relaxing – it just tastes bad too. Definitely recommend this as a dupe for Jessie’s Tea though, if you’re looking for something to replace that one now that it’s not carried anymore.
Another from AU’s new winter line up.
Everything about this one sounds really interesting to me, except for the prune. However I think if the rest of the tea works well I can probably overlook that element so long as it’s not the main flavour. Dry, the leaf smells very intensely perfumed: I totally get the same artificial/boozy kind of flavour quality that I got from AU’s Metropolitan blend which is a little weird because they don’t really have any ingredient overlap.
It’s so intriguing brewed up. The flavour is just so… odd?
I don’t dislike it though, I’m just rather perplexed by it. It definitely starts off nice and thick/creamy with some definite white chocolate notes. I think that’s a pretty solid way to start the sip, but then thick sort of transitions to oily and the flavour gets a little weird. I do get cherry notes from this, but they’re very very dark cherry notes and they remind me a lot of booze and perfume. Like, brandied cherries with a floral finish? If that makes any sense at all. There’s nothing floral in this blend though which is part of where that confusion comes from – it’s almost like the bergamot/lavender combo in Metropolitan though. I don’t hate it, but I wish it was a little mellowed out.
The prune comes through more in the undertones and finish but I actually like it a fair bit. I mean, as someone who doesn’t love prune notes in my tea (or even the fruit in general) it’s not bad. I think it’s not heavy handed and has just a hint of sweetness that is needed to kind of be a check to the more intense cherry/alcohol thing kind of going on. It reminds me a lot of the prune in Dammann Freres Noel a Prague black tea, and since that’s a black tea that I enjoy A LOT the comparison is definitely a good one.
Overall, I think this is a really interesting/complex full bodied flavoured black. I like the layers to the flavour and I definitely found the cup mostly pleasant. It’s not without faults though, and I think the flavours are a little intense and competitive. Next time I have this one I’m going to try under leafing and hopefully that will help smooth some things out. I also think it suffers from some texture issues too, from the white chocolate. Milk could be a solution to that problem, though.
EDIT: I just noticed this also has plum in it! That actually is a shared ingredient between this one and Metropolitan so maybe it’s the plum flavour that I’m associating with both blends. Not totally sure, though.
From yesterday.
Did this one up in a mix of cold water and coconut milk. I was trying to recreate that sort of “Mango Coconut Sticky Rice” flavour that I love so much, but you know without the rice element of that. I thought I could probably get it close/similar enough for it to be really satisfying though.
It was decently good overall; definitely a mix of mango, coconut, and grass notes. It would have been better with a little bit of a sweet element; as it was it had a bit of astringency/dryness in the top of the sip – a pucker without the sour element, if you will. The mango also has that strong pine flavour to it that I associate with underripe mangoes. I normally like that taste a lot, but I don’t know that it worked with the coconut as much. Mango Coconut rice doesn’t use underripe mango – it’s sweet, often over ripe stuff that’s like dripping with sweet fruit juices. So, it just wasn’t quite the same.
Still pleasant enough though; totally drinkable. I just wouldn’t do this particular milk and matcha pairing again unless I had something to boost the sweetness and sort of replicate that juicy overripe mango taste.
Cold Brew!
I’m so, so close to be finished with this tea now and that’s just such a disappointing thought. This cold brew was wicked good though; really rich and robust flavours. The sweetest, creamiest vanilla and custard flavours that just coat the entire surface of the mouth. The rhubarb is juicy, and playfully tart and sweet. It’s a delicious, creamy combination – really beautifully highlights the best part of either flavour.
It’s a happy, beautiful drink.
Picked this one, and the rest of August Uncommon’s Winter Collection, up in a special sneak peak/pre order promo – everything for this season actually looks really good, so I’m excited to try them all.
This is the first one from the collection that I’m trying; I usually end up leaving the straight tea for last and I didn’t want to do that this time. I made it up as a Western style pot of tea, to sip on throughout the day. It was honestly not really anything unique or different at all. Just, a very thick velvety mouthfeel and really smooth mixture of malt and cocoa notes with some soft woody undertones. Really delicious, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that at this point I’ve come to expect unique/distinct flavours/profiles from AU, even with their straight/pure teas.
This just reminded me of a really nice, rich Dian Hong with lots of chocolate notes. I’ll totally enjoy finishing off the rest of the sample, but this isn’t something that I’ll need to get more of at all. It’s great, but not unique.
Sipdown (373)!
Second Kombucha that I picked up at the farmer’s market. There are actually so many different vendors at the farmer’s market that do raspberry mint flavoured things. Kombucha, freezies, yogurt cups, iced teas, etc. I usually like raspberry and mint a fair bit – but it’s almost excessive how much the local vendors seem to get into it.
I’m enjoying sipping on this one though; the raspberry is really nice and bright with a very natural sweetness. Plus, the tang/acidity of the raspberry mixes really well with that natural vinegar/tang that kombucha usually has. It makes that vinegar sort of aspect a lot less jarring. The mint is actually my least favourite part of this one – I think it’s a little too strong, and combined with the sugar in this it’s reminding me A LOT of those spearmint leaf five cent gummy candies that were just coated in straight up sugar.
These things: https://goo.gl/images/7y53Go
I’ve never really liked those, so the connection to them in flavour is a bit of a negative for me. I kind of wish it was more of a peppermint flavour too; that’s what I was expecting when I cracked into this one instead of the spearmint. Apart from that, there’s also a bit of a licorice/anise sort of flavour in this that I don’t mind but that I do find really weird alongside the spearmint and the raspberry.
Not the worst kombucha I’ve tasted, for sure – but I’m not in love and I probably wouldn’t purchase it again either.
