We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“You are not seeing this post. This post does not exist because I am totally working on writing and totally not posting on Steepster. If you can see this post, you need to get your eyes checked....” Read full tasting note
“I woke up early this morning and needed something to help that waking up process along, so of course I reached for my favorite breakfast tea. And it is perfect, as always. Every time Davids comes...” Read full tasting note
“Somewhat smooth but a bit of an aftertaste. A bit mellower than other Irish Breakfast Teas I have had.” Read full tasting note
You are not seeing this post. This post does not exist because I am totally working on writing and totally not posting on Steepster. If you can see this post, you need to get your eyes checked. Cause it ain’t here.
That said, TeaEqualsBliss sent me a sample of this when we swapped earlier and I can’t really remember why I rated it so low, but I gather that I rated it that way in comparison to the Adagio IB which I can’t currently remember what tastes like, so I’m not going to tamper with the rating.
I used 50% more leaf for this pot because I thought I could finish the sample off that way. Turns out the sample was larger than I had expected and now I’ve only got an estimated amount of leaf left for half a pot. By the time I discovered that, though, it was of course too late to do anything about it.
The tea actually carries the extra strength quite nicely. I can’t tell in the flavour that it’s stronger than usual, and reading my previous comment on it, I still completely agree with myself.
So evidently what we’ve got here is a pretty forgiving blend, which kind of surprises me a little considering that it must surely have Assam in it, and in my experience you can call the Indian blacks many things, but ‘forgiving’ generally isn’t one of them. It’s possible that the Assam aspect is a bit more astringent this way, but it’s not something that really mars the flavour on the whole.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the Irish Morning Blend from A C Perch’s hold up to this and to Adagio’s equivalent.
Back to work (HA!) for me, and remember, this post does not exist, it isn’t here and I never wrote it.
I woke up early this morning and needed something to help that waking up process along, so of course I reached for my favorite breakfast tea. And it is perfect, as always.
Every time Davids comes out with a new batch of perfect/nordic mugs, I always find one I “can’t live without” which is why we have 15-16. The thing is, if my wife and I are both home and both in a tea-drinking mood, by the evening we will find ourselves completely without any mugs clean. There is well hydrated and painfully hydrated, ha!
I only bring this up because I am trying to talk myself out of Davids color changing deer mug. Honestly, I wish it wasn’t color changing, because that makes it a huge PITA. My color changing whales mug barely lasted a month before the whales began to peel. On the other hand, I have a color changing tree mug from ages ago that has survived just fine.
I unno. Maybe the holiday teaware will present me with a better option.
This has been Tea Reviews That Have Nothing To Do With The Tea. This is aisling, signing off! Tune in next week when I discuss Bubble Teapots in a review for Ginger Sparkle. Good night, everybody!
I was just looking into color changing pigments today! I wonder if the maker switched brands and that is why the whales peeled? I hope they fixed it because I got my brother to pick up one of their Halloween color changing mugs for me! Did you ever put it in the dishwasher or always hand wash?
Always handwash. Seriously, it sat in my sink for 5-10 minutes and the whales began to just fall off. I was so sad. DAVIDsTea came through as usual, though, letting me replace it with the non-color changing one. Since then, with my color changing tree and my gold leaf elephant perfect mugs, I wash them out as soon as they are empty.
Thanks for the tips! Gold leaf sounds gorgeous on a mug! I wonder if I could do that at home.
It is gorgeous, it is one of my favorite mugs. http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/26/70/b6/2670b652040adf5a4d5f3121b10da459.jpg
Oooooooh, nice!
They should do more in gold leaf!
I know, right? But that was Spring 2013, so they may have decided it wasn’t worth it or something, because that’s the only gold leaf I’ve seen from them.
Couple of thoughts:
~ Much like coffee, people tend to think “more leaf” (or grounds) means “harsher”. People say “I don’t like strong coffee” but what they mean is “I don’t like bitter coffee”. They then make coffee with fewer grounds, which actually makes the cup more bitter because there is more water per grounds and the extraction becomes more efficient, and as a result, undesirable stuff gets pulled out. Similarly, more tea leaf may make a “bolder” cup but it won’t make it more harsh, it will actually make it softer, because the steep will be less efficient and the harsh bits never get pulled into suspension. This is why hardcore tea use LOTS more leaf than casual drinkers use.
~ Assam’s astringency is likely to be exacerbated by over-steeping rather than by upping the leaf. Again, more leaf, less efficient pull, actually less astringent. Whereas over-steeping means time to pull out the bad stuff. (Although, Assam’s astringency is not seen as a negative when balanced properly with other notes.)
~ Blends, by definition, should be more forgiving, that’s kind of the whole point: consistency and ease of use. Just like blended coffee, blended whiskey, blended tobacco, &c.
~ Get to work!
Excellent comment Jim!
“There is no spoon…” ;P
Hey! The tea’s extra fancy! o.O
Oh how we’ve all strayed off in the comments…
Waiting to hear your post for a while Jim. It’s reaffirmed my own thoughts about the inner workings of tea. More is better! Thanks for boldly sharing your thoughts and experiences with us! :)
Any time.
nice comment jim…pretty cool stuff.
That’s great and all, Jim, but I do actually have a sufficient amount of experience to know what I like and how I tend to like it best. I can assure you, I know what I’m doing.
Wow.
Not enough tea love going on here. I think the tannins have taken over. Must…inject…more…love.
Spreading the love.
Now children gather around. Sit down, hold hands with the people next to you. Tell them how much you love them. If it’s a stranger or somebody you don’t know, just tell them what you love about them. Yes, I understand it’s a strange, but you can be like, oh what a wonderful name you’ve got. Any compliment will suffice. If you don’t want to speak, a simple hug will do.
Okay, that was just weird….