53 Tasting Notes
I feel uncomfortable writing about chai, as I have practically no experience with the stuff. This is my third cup ever. Once was in an Indian restaurant (and that was amazing). The second time was with this stuff. I made it myself (didn’t follow any proper steeping techniques), I added oat milk and no sweetner, and I hated it. This time I tried vanilla soy milk (a bit too much actually), and steeped it correctly (well, as close to correctly without a thermometer) and it was really really good.
I recognize the cardamom, but beyond that, I find the flavors blend together, and are bit masked from my overabundance of soy milk. I will have to try some other chais to compare, because I am SOLD on this stuff now!
Preparation
This is the last of my white peony, a friend had given me a sample. It is the only white tea I’ve had, so I can’t compare it to anything. I just threw the leaves into my travel mug, as that was my only option. (I really need something with a basket).
The leaves are darker green than I would expect based on the picture. When steeped, most of the leaves unfurled, although some stayed rolled up. It smells mostly of hay, and for the first while tasted like sweet hay (or at least, how I imagine hay tastes). The longer it steeps, the more bitter it is getting, but it’s not even close to being unbearable.
I used to think it was really creamy, which compared to my chinese green tea, it is. It’s quite thick, in a good way. I can’t really get much of a feel for the colour in my mug, but it seems quite dark, and amber. Again, it’s now been steeping about half an hour.
I will definitely get more white tea!
ETA: second steep. The water was not so hot this time around.
There is no longer any hay taste, and it is not bitter at all. The taste is very mild and “green” tasting (not green tea, just green). It is definitely thick, and maybe not so creamy as I remembered. This cup is much better than the first.
Preparation
Brewed up a quick cup because I was craving something sweet, but all I had handy was a dried cotton tea bag that I had used for the pecan tart black tea yesterday… Sooo… I shouldn’t say much about this tea just yet, especially about the colour.
But. I can say that this tea is very very tasty. The mint is definitely stronger than the chocolate. I’m not entirely sure about the chocolate, but the chocolate-esque taste comes out at the end of a sip. This reminds me a lot of York Peppermint Bites, which is pretty awesome, because I love those!
This is my second time having this tea. I enjoyed the first cup, but wasn’t paying much attention to it. So I am giving it more attention today.
Upon opening the bag, it has a very refreshing smell (which it’s supposed to!). I can smell peppermint, ginger, and fennel most of all. After a few minutes, a second smell is predominated by licorice/fennel and cloves. I did not smell cinnamon. To be honest, I don’t know what holy basil smells like, but I don’t smell anything basil-ish.
After steeping, the tea is a very clear, pale yellow. It smells somewhat medicinal, I think because it reminds me of my Traditional Medicinals “Breathe Easy” tea… so it must be the licorice.
The taste is definitely spicy, but I wouldn’t say it is overly flavorful. The taste is predominately ginger and black pepper. It is a little bit watery-tasting, but I may have been a bit skimpy with my measurement.
Preparation
Made some iced tea with this; cold steeped.
For being a black tea, it is a very light yellow colour… similar to white tea.
On it’s own, I can taste the nuttiness, which is nice. But it is quite bitter.. I’ve managed to make a bitter, cold-steeped tea. But, mixed with some homemade lemonade it is very enjoyable.
Preparation
I seldom drink black tea, but husband was having English Breakfast this morning so I did, too. It was steeped a liiittle too long, so was bitter. But at the top of the cup it was decent. I will give black tea another try.
Tea bag. Drank black. My low rating is mostly due to my tastes (not liking black) and the bitterness.
