“This tea smells really good, you know?”
Ah, the innocent words of a not-so-innocent 5 year old who just knocked over my cup of tea.
Ruby Black is indeed a nice-smelling tea. It smells like tea. I really do like the way it smells. When I opened the package, as usual, I held it to my nose and sniffed. Very nice. It’s a nice toasty scent. The tea’s color… beautiful! Like a reddish-black. Love it! I appreciate the aesthetics of tea, the whole experience.
I followed the instructions and used the Breville at 200 degrees for two minutes.
The scent when brewed changed, but it’s still very nice. It has developed into a more vegetal scent, but still with that hint at toastiness.
Now, for the taste. It’s definitely a black tea and I’m not (in general) a black tea lover. I don’t add milk or sweetener to tea. It’s bold, but an understated, not so in-your-face bold. It’s like an underlying strength. It tastes very vegetal. So much so that I almost feel like it could be something on my plate. (That’s not a plus in my book.) Still, it’s a mysterious taste with a hint at spiciness, but not really. Just a tiny touch. It’s almost a thick taste, without the feeling of weight. There is a maltiness to it.
Overall, it’s nice. I do like it, but it hasn’t converted me to black tea. (I’ll keep trying them all, though!)
We need to think about an order from these guys…maybe August. I think I’ve narrowed my birthday orders down to verdant, butiki, mandala….and maybe the tea spot. I think I can hold off on American tea room for now…
Sounds good. I know I’ll be ordering from Mandala in July, as I’ve already drank up most of the samples I got & I HAVE TO HAVE that teapot. I’ll need more chocolate O from Teaspot, & probably some other things too.
I’ve never gotten this tea to do what I want it to. I read reviews of it and other people seem blown away and I’m totally underwhelmed by it. I hope you like the methode noir. It’s really sweet and smooth.
Ooh maybe tasty can be our 4th? ;)
I’d rather be the 4th than the 3rd!
(What are we talking about?)