1738 Tasting Notes
Advent Day 7
I’m playing advent catch up today. This is good. I love a good Lapsang. It’s strong, but somehow still light. The smoke is really prominent at the start of the sip and then fades out nicely in the finish. It has a bit of that leather taste to it, which I like. It is super easy to sip on. If I didn’t have two other top lapsang loves, I’d consider this as a cupboard staple.
Preparation
Advent Day 8
This smells a little malty and like chocolate. The flavor seems really light on the sip. The coconut comes through as creaminess, but the cocoa part is pretty muted. I do like the malt flavor. There is something in this that is irritating my throat and it has a slick of oil on the top. I’m trying to ignore it, but between the flavor being super light and the tea causing irritation, I don’t think I’m going to finish this cup. Next!
Preparation
Advent Day 7
Wow! Lots of hazelnut in this! This is the most hazelnutty tea I think I’ve had. The start of the sip is a little confusing, but mid sip the hazelnut flavor comes through loud and clear. I’m getting beet at the back of the sip, which I think is a user error since I just finished off a beet drink ten minutes before having this tea. The description on the bag includes hazel leaves. No clue what those taste like or how they are contributing to this cup. It also says there is some vanilla in here, but it must be merging so much that I can’t pick it out. I do wish that they had chosen to mix another flavor in here to make it more complex, like a fruit or something else that pairs well with it. It’s good as is and I’d drink it again, but wouldn’t put it on my shopping list.
ALSO…. How are we already a week into December?! I’m not ready!
Preparation
Advent Day 5
I didn’t get to this one yesterday and today I missed one from my other advent. I spent too much time away from my kettle… with PEOPLE. SOCIALIZING. Gah.
I really like this tea. Totally reminds me of Turkish Delight, especially the kind that a local food stall makes. It has a slight tang that could be the smallest amount of hib, but it doesn’t bother me. The rose scent is strong as well as the flavor. There is a hint of an alkaline flavor somewhere in the sip, especially when I’m sipping too frequently, but it isn’t enough to bother me either. The chamomile comes out a little more as it cools, but was hard to notice for the first part of my cup. Thumbs up on this one.
Preparation
Advent Day 6
I swear this is the same tea that was mistakenly put in the Earl Grey Creme box. This is a solid breakfast tea that I’m having with creamer, but it doesn’t have that extra special something that are in my favorite breakfast teas and make me take notice in a sea of breakfast teas.
Preparation
Advent Day 4
I oversteeped and drank this on the go yesterday. It was okay and easy to drink. I’m having it again today although instead of forgetting it while steeping I forgot it after I steeped it and it’s almost cold now. It has a bit of a flat taste that I’m attributing to the temperature. It smells very malty. I get chocolate first on the sip and then some malt. I tried reheating it and then got distracted by earthquake alerts two minutes before I felt a slight rumble from a 7.3 a few hours north of me. Microwaving seems to have killed some of the flavor of this tea. What is the science behind that?! It was an okay cup before I nuked it. I think the combo of me and this tea are doomed to distraction.
Preparation
Advent Day 5
Orange is the first thing that hits my senses when going to sip this tea. I get a little artificial honey flavor in the back of the sip, merging with the orange which makes the orange seem more candy like. The finish is all honey scent, the kind of honey scent that people who make scents and flavorings think honey tastes like. I’m a bee keeper and I’m a wee bit snoody about my honey. This flavoring doesn’t pass. What it does remind me of is this “honey” scented luxury bubble bath we got once when I was a kid that left us smelling faintly like this for a day. Soap isn’t a great association with tea! I like the idea of honey and orange for a tea, but the honey could use improvement. It is an interesting cup of tea that I would drink more of, but not buy.
Preparation
Advent Day 4
They don’t have this tea listed on their website! Each tea bag has a number and I’m assuming it’s a designation for each individual tea blend. This one is 0275458. I’m finding this tea very interesting. I don’t think I’ve come across a peach orange combo tea before. The first few sips were dominated by bright orange flavors that hit the nose as soon as I draw my cup close to my face. It smells like orange juice, but the doesn’t have the bite like the juice. As I sip on and the cup cools I can taste the peach. It reminds me of Lupicia peach flavor. Very light, bright and candy like. There is something a little creamy in the mix coming out in the end of the sip, like vanilla to soften things. I bet this would be brilliant as an iced tea! It makes me sad I only have the one bag and can’t experiment. I haven’t been taking sugar with my tea for some time, but I could see the addition brightening and rounding out the fruit flavors well. I don’t know that I’d buy this at this point, but if I had a little more to play around with I could see it growing on me.
Editing to add that I found the tea on their site. I was reading the wrong part of the label. Language barrier mistakes.
Preparation
Advent Day 3
It’s late and I’m tired from picking persimmons all day. I’m forgetful, easily distracted, plunked the bag of this in my cup, set a timer, walked away and totally spaced that I had something steeping. I think it’s been sitting 30m or more, but it tastes more than fine. It has that soft mint flavor that you associate with the buttermint candies. It tastes like a there is a little vanilla to round out the mint. It’s almost slightly sweet. I like this one!
Preparation
That’s impressive that it’s still tasty after such a long steep!
I was surprised! This advent comes with two teabags per day, so I’ll have another go with this tea and can do a proper steeping for comparison.
Persimmons? Wow! I haven’t had one in years! Paw paws were more common in our part of Missouri. (I have a really vague childhood memory of Grandma Schubert making paw paw cobbler.)
Ooh, picking persimmons?! Delightful!
I now have SO many persimmons! We picked hundreds of them off a neighbor’s tree who can’t keep up with the amount of fruit their tree produces. It’s a fuyu, so not the native kind which are much smaller.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a paw paw. They don’t seem like a west coast thing as far as I can tell. We are more citrus and avocado focused here.
Ooh you’ll have to let us know what you plan to make with them!
Advent Day 3
Sencha, oolong and red fruit. Okay! This does have a very red berry taste to it. It is a little creamy, no bite. I keep getting hints of something slightly roasted. I can’t quite pick out the red currant, it’s just an overall flavor of red fruit which is such a weird think when I think about it. Flavor association with colors! I know it’s normal for people with synesthesia, but it’s not something I’ve noticed my brain linking before. But back to the tea… I can’t quite ID the sencha or oolong, which probably means they are blended well together. This is an okay cup, not exciting enough for me to seek it out again.
Off to pick persimmons!
