WhiskTEA

Bird & Blend advent, day 2

heavy sigh

A red rooibos claiming to taste of whiskey, two things I don’t enjoy. My hopes were not high for this cup, despite the promise of a smoke flavor that I often love.

The smoke and ginger tried to save it for me, and I probably drank a lot more of it than I would have as a result. The ginger in particular was sharp and spicy. I wouldn’t associate any of it with whiskey, which was probably for the best from my end. Ultimately, the red rooibos was too overwhelming, and I mostly felt sad for the waste of lapsang souchong as I tossed the rest of the cup.

Sipdown! (43 | 79)

I really did not enjoy this one…

First off, it tastes nothing like whiskey. It mostly tastes like a very gingery rooibos with a dash of smoke. It actually tastes like it has chile in it, but it doesn’t so I guess it’s just the ginger being bitey.

But for some reason, something in here is tasting very soapy to me. Not floral, but almost chemical in a soapy way.

Not a fan.

Because of her love of it, I now always associate this tea with Marika. I actually haven’t made it in a long time, so when I steeped this late night cuppa up I decided to put on my empathy hat and really try to drink it with her in mind. Y’know, just trying to see it from her eyes and get some more appreciation for why she loves it so much.

To be honest, it might have worked! I’m still not convinced that this really tastes like whisky to me but I thought the cup had a lot of nice flavours when viewed more individually. The smoke is light but pleasantly woodsy and I thought it suited the subtle honey and more mineral notes of the rooibos itself. Just the right amount of cinnamon, too!

PS. I know I mentioned in a previous tasting note that I had a TTB that I’d be sending out soon. For anyone who’s not checking the discussion board regularly (which is understandable) I have the thread up now for that.

https://steepster.com/discuss/45199-strange-variatea-traveling-tea-box

I don’t want to wait much longer before sending it out, but I realized that many people who only pay attention to their dashboard may have missed it. It would be great if anyone who’s previously expressed interest or just now finding out about it could leave a comment in the thread letting me know!

Thanks!

I’ve had a couple cups of this now and I can’t decide what I think of it. To me it is warm water. I can’t taste anything . Of course, someone else probably could taste it perfectly well, but with no sense of smell, I rely on the ‘feel’ . Like, peppermint and ginger and other spices leave a sensation on my tongue. I can taste sweet. I can taste bitter or sour. At least it is not bitter. That really ruins a tea for me. Or things like hibiscus are so tangy that it is unpleasant.

This is not at all unpleasant. I just don’t taste anything. Maybe I’ll double the amount I use next time.

Sipdown. One of the few rooibos blends I actually enjoy (mainly because it doesn’t taste anything like rooibos). Smoky, ginger, cinnamon. So cozy. Sad to see this one go.