251 Tasting Notes

84

BrutaliTeas advent, day 2

This was an interesting tea. Caramel is a favorite flavor of mine, but I worry when I see it in tea – it doesn’t always come off well. This was sweet and warm caramel, but not cloying or artificial. Ginger and cinnamon also came to mind. I enjoyed that I could still taste the tea itself through the flavoring, even as it cooled. I’m not sure I noticed anything that reminded me of pumpkin or the other standard pumpkin pie spices, but I’d be willing to give it another shot.

Flavors: Caramel, Cinnamon, Ginger, Sweet

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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62

nerdfelt advent, day 2

A tea called Second Breakfast felt like a good place to start my day.

It honestly didn’t seem like black tea at all. The mint and lemon were so strong, the color so light, that it seemed like an herbal. I liked the lemon peel – it was less artificial than a lot of lemon teas. In all, a pleasant cup, but it didn’t stand out for much but the name.

Flavors: Lemon, Mint

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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65

Bird & Blend advent, day 1

I finished yesterday with two cups of this brewed separately. The first bag had a noticeably higher number of peppercorns, and this showed in the taste. While the first was a powerful mint with a subtle peppery note underneath and a touch of sweetness, the second was really only a slightly sweet mint.

Flavors: Mint

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec
tea-sipper

YAY, I was hoping at least one person was making notes about B&B’s ultimate advent. (Living vicariously and all…)

whosbradpitt

Hopefully I can play some catch up here for you, but it has been my favorite of the 4 I chose this year!

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78
drank DecompROSE by BrutaliTeas
251 tasting notes

BrutaliTeas advent, day 1

The scent is rose and strawberry when dry, but the strawberry disappears when steeped. The rose scent is strong enough that it’s surprising the initial flavor is a slightly fruity black tea. The rose comes back at the end though, and it lingers. This is lovely hot, though less enjoyable the more it cools.

I’m a floral tea fan and love rose in particular, so this is a win for me. It’s not an exciting blend, but it is absolutely a pleasant rose I’d come back for.

Flavors: Fruity, Rose

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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80

nerdfelt advent, day 1

This advent is my first experience with nerdfelt teas, and I’m looking forward to the experience. I think a favorite part so far is you can’t spoil the teas for yourself by perusing the package, since the tea labels are inside the packages of tea.

I opened yesterday with this, which made an excellent morning tea and would have also been pleasant for dessert. The scent of cinnamon is strong, and the flavor is also clear and present but doesn’t overpower the smooth black tea (until you’re down to the very end of a cold cup). The cacao nibs lend a light hint of chocolate. I did oversteep it, but it seemed to come out okay despite – I missed the alarm doing other things! In all, an opening I quite enjoyed.

Flavors: Chocolate, Cinnamon

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 8 min or more

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86

I love rose as a scent, as a flavor, as a flower… and this one is solid in flavor, not hiding within the tea, and not overwhelming either. I’d be excited to have more.

Flavors: Rose

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82

A strong, solid breakfast tea I’d recommend to others who like the type; it’s not really my preference so I quickly turned it into an iced tea. This is a tea that would hold up well to an Arnold Palmer, which is a favorite of mine.

Preparation
Iced

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80

Funny that I didn’t pull this from an advent, given how much it makes me feel like I’m drinking a candy cane. The dry leaf has a potent mint chocolate scent. It’s much more subtle in the cup; instead of an overpowering peppermint, it’s as if I dropped a small candy cane into a cup of straight tea and let it dissolve. I get a little cream but no obnoxious sweetness. I don’t know if I’m noticing any chocolate in the flavor at all, honestly. But it is certainly a tasty cup!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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30
drank Kings Light by Trankebar
251 tasting notes

Somehow I missed the note on the bag that this was both a black tea and an herbal infusion, and I was expecting a straight black from the bag. This is definitely not that.

There is a lot happening here and not all of it feels great together. When hot, there’s a bit of a sweet, floral black tea happening. I didn’t drink enough of it hot to get more defined than that; it tasted absolutely awful with my food so I put it aside! Cool, the apple is much more apparent, with a bitter herb and light mint finish. All I get in the aftertaste is the woody rooibos. sigh

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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Bio

College instructor, mom of 2, and general homebody in California.

Great at buying tea, good at drinking tea, bad at timely reviews. Drawn to fruit, floral, spice, smoke, and flavored teas in general; prefer those that stand well without milk or sweetener. Black is fine, green is better, and red rooibos is trash.

I aim to rate when I finish a package or a complete sipdown, except in advent season.

My ratings are for me, so I don’t accidentally buy something that sounds amazing but I’ve already tried and disliked. I struggle a bit with wanting to be “fair” to a tea that other people would probably like, but then my system won’t work!

90-100 A: loved it; would make this a permanent member of my stash
80-89 B: tasty; would pick it up again
70-79 C: good; could grab with a good deal or to try in a different style
60-69 D: okay; would keep in a set but probably would not repurchase on its own
1-59 F: various shades of bad; would not purchase; closer to 1 means may not even drink again if offered.

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