412 Tasting Notes
This is interesting, but not for me I think. I can smell the sandalwood, and there is an oddly sweet honey aftertaste, but it’s still too bitter in the mouth – too much like a Darjeeling – for me. Milk helps a little, but it still tastes kind of weak and bitter to me at the same time.
If I wanted a smooth honey-like black tea, I’d go for either GM’s Honey Pear or Life in Teacup’s Yunnan Golden Buds over this.
1.6g leaf
4oz boiling water
1st infusion: 3 minutes
2nd infusion: 5 minutes, noticeably weaker
Preparation
Sandalwood? Uuugh, that sounds amazing. Looks like a lot of ‘meh’ reviews though. Maybe I should just buy good incense instead.
I’m going to have to get some of this to try!
Yeah, unless you’re already a fan of Darjeelings, I’d go for the incense :/ The sandalwood is there, it’s just not that noticeable against the odd combination of bitter and watery
I tried a dash of sugar in this today, and… it was TOO SWEET. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that happen with a black tea before. It turned into this weird sickly-sweet artificial flavor. Lesson learned :(
The second steep was still good though!
Preparation
Hoo, that brews up dark! (And I even used less leaf than recommended). Normal for puerh, I suppose, but the strongly minty smell makes for a disconcerting combination. The taste is very minty also. As in, I can taste the pu-erh, but barely – I have to hunt for it. There is a faint dash of cinnamon in there, but I’m not really getting the vanilla. I can’t taste the licorice either, but that’s a good thing.
Second steep (6 minutes) is still quite dark, and smells more cinnamony. I like it better than the first – the mint flavor blends in a bit instead of completely overpowering everything else.
Third steep (10 minutes-ish) is better still – I can actually taste the cinnamon now.
A fourth steep was also good, but getting weaker.
This is interesting, and hard to rate, because I loved the third steep, and liked the 2nd and 4th well enough, but the 1st was just overpoweringly minty. Unless I have someone on hand to drink that first, I won’t be reaching for this too often. Or I suppose I could rinse and dump? It seems wasteful, but might fix the balance issue for me.
1tsp (2.1g) leaf to 4oz water
Preparation
I’ve been debating getting a sample of this one, but was worried about the licorice. Nice to know you can’t taste it!!
Yup – I hate licorice, so this is the sample I was most dubious about. I really wanted to try the Emerald Lily and Moonlight White, though, so it was cheaper to just get the Mannong Manmai sample set
I have never noticed the licorice either. It plays nicely. But, I also enjoy the first infusion.
Yay! My Rishi order just arrived. It’s mostly samples, but I got 4oz of this because I already knew I love it (and it’s an amazing price for organic, fair trade tea). It is delicious, sweet, and full-flavored. Taken with a bit of milk, it’s likely to be my breakfast staple for awhile now.
A second steep at ~6 minutes is just as aromatic and tasty.
2.25g leaf, 8oz water
Preparation
A very nice, sweet, jasmine white. Fresh hay and flowers. A little chalky as it cools, but very good while hot. The silver needles are much better than Adagio’s base white tea. I used 2 grams for 4oz water, have steeped twice so far.
ETA: Lasted well through 4 steeps, increasing time by 1 minute for each. For $8/oz, that’s… starting to get reasonable, but only just.
Preparation
Just finished my tin of this, and I definitely need to buy some more. For one thing, it’s a black tea that is smooth and sweet enough to drink plain. It never even occurs to me to add milk or sugar after taking a sip. The character changes on me a little every time I drink it; usually I get apples, sometimes berries, but today I’m getting a very creamy vanilla flavor and something tart, like tropical fruit.
I generally get a second steep that is weaker but still very much worth drinking. At $2.18/oz (for the large tin) this might need to be a staple in my cupboard.
Preparation
Got a couple bags of this form Jaime (thanks!) and tried icing one today, since that’s how I usually prefer my fruity green teas. It’s kind of a reddish color, almost like blood orange juice. I can smell the mandarin, even iced, and I taste mandarin and honey while sipping. But, then it fades into this really strong ginseng flavor and aftertaste, which I find rather unfortunate. Aftertaste is important, and this one is much too herb-y.
If it weren’t for the ginseng I’d happily drink this again – it is nice and sweet without needing to add anything – but as is? :(
Preparation
A very tasty strawberry black tea. I was disappointed by the weakness of the flavor compared to the scent (which is amazing), but that is somewhat normal for flavored teas. I get more of the flavor when exhaling after a sip than while actually drinking. I usually take my black tea plain, or with just milk, but this seems to taste best (i.e. the strawberry is strongest) with just a pinch of sugar. It is smooth enough to drink plain, though. I still need to try it iced sometime.
2nd steep (~6 minutes) is weaker, but drinkable.
2.5g, 8oz water
