Jaf Tea

Forgot I was brewing this and so it got a long steep. Maybe that’s part of why I kind of only got banana in this cup and not any mango, but it was a really good banana so I’m not complaining. Plus, it’s impressive that the cup stayed as smooth and non-astringent as it did considering the brutally long steep time.

So previously I’ve purchased a Soursop tea from this bagged tea company because it stood out to me as incredibly unique, and now the most recent time I went grocery shopping prior to going to LA I was pleased to see that my local store had drastically expanded their range of teabags from Jaf – almost all of them as unique and interesting as the Soursop (which is very good)! It was tempting to get them all to try, but I managed to maintain some restraint and I only picked up this one.

It’s also pretty damn good! I think I still like the Soursop a little more, but this does pretty distinctly taste like sweet, tangy ripe mangos and tropical banana. The banana is maybe a tiny bit creamy, and does venture a little into that banana candy territory but I reallllyyyy enjoyed it paired with the mango! My only complaint is that the mouthfeel was pretty thin to me, and I thought the finish of each sip came off as a tiny bit flat. However, for a grocery store bagged tea I found this refreshingly novel and interesting in terms of flavour and honestly quite tasty for the very accessible/low price point.

I have prepared this tea from colours of Ceylon set twice already. One as a family pot tea with fillable tea bag, for second time I have prepared in in French press. I remember more from second preparation as it was today, and actually I have a little rest in my cup while writing those lines.

While steeped, for approximately 3-4 minutes, I have noticed bergamot naturally and quite surprisingly, red fruits and malt from the base I assume.

The flavour of Earl Grey… yes, I mean the bergamot, is very different between those preparation method. While I had it from pot, it was mellow, smooth and nice level of it. However, when brewed in French press, it is rather very lemony, rough and very strong. Tongue tingling. I am not fan of this level of bergamot. Maybe I will need to shake the bag which is it in, as maybe the flavouring isn’t spreaded evenly.

It is shame, because the base seems very fine. And I want to notice more from the base than from bergamot only.

I bought a set Colours of Ceylon to my brother maybe an year ago and he brought them to the work. Sadly, I wasn’t able to visit him in the office for a whole year, but now their office is being under renewal, so he brought the box back home.

So I finally have a chance to try at least some from this set! Yay!

He has decided to brew this tea as an afternoon-evening tea for a family. So, family pot, unknown amount of blend, unknown brewing time.

But turned out delicious. First of all, it is not that brown as pictured (btw, I like the pic because it shows container, blend itself and liquor), but rather on the green side. Maybe the lightest green on the container.

It is pretty much lemongrass forward, however there is a little fiery ginger in aftertaste. Smooth and lightly lemony… from the lemongrass. Doesn’t taste medicinal nor herbal. It is amazing combination of two simple ingredients. And it’s just blended just right. It doesn’t need any base tea at all.

This tea is so weird and so good. It is creamy and floral and sweet with these tangy and exotically fruity notes alongside a slightly tannic and full bodied black tea. There’s just a lot going on for a bagged tea, but as soon as I start sipping I cannot help but down that mug lickity split!

Bought my first tea of 2021… and I didn’t even realize it in the moment.

As someone who works in R&D for tea, whenever I go grocery shopping I always check the tea aisles as well as the RTD section of the store to see if any new tea brands or new flavours for existing brands pop up – it’s important for me to always pay attention to what flavours reach “grocery store level” commercial sale level. I pay attention to a lot of other stuff too, like what limited edition flavours of other very established brands pop up and if new flavours/ingredients seem to be making more of a presence overall.

Well, my local store had a big end of aisle display for this company Jaf Tea, which I had never heard of, so of course I spent a stupid amount of time reading all of the tea boxes. Without really thinking about it much at all, I ended up adding a box of the weirdest/most interesting sounding flavour to my shopping cart and it wasn’t until I got home and was unpacking groceries that I realize that this was technically my first tea buy of the year and that I had technically broken my “no buy”. Oops!

This is really interesting tasting though! The black tea isn’t the best quality; there’s some roughness to it and it steeped pretty quickly with some noticable astringent bite and a bit of bitterness. However the “creamy soursop” flavouring!? Dang that’s weird, but good too! It’s not creamy in mouthfeel/texture but it does taste like a full fat cream with this sweet and a bit tangy kind of “tropical fruit” flavour. Just a bit waxy/artificial but decidedly quite unique in the tropical notes – and it works in a strange but fun way with that cream taste. I was skeptical, but the name… Right on the money.

For $4.99 I think this was worth buying – I don’t have a lot of bagged teas in my stash, but this was a really unique one and I like the flavouring in it a lot. It’ll be good for having something so unique, tasty, and interesting for travel or convenience.

This tea is actually better than I have expected.

I don’t know if the mango and papaya flavours are right; but certainly some fruit ones which are tropical. I mean, it was quite similar to banana and mango, but not distinctive enough to say: Oh, have I took a bite of banana/mango? But it is flavoured just right (and not feeling artificial) and base tea is still very present too, although no notes from tea itself. Not tannic or astringency, but without it it would be somehow bland.

Quite surprised with this one.

I had a cup of this with dinner and it’s not bad. The smell is really good—I’m not sure what kind of fruit is in here but it smells and tastes good with the Ceylon. The cup is a little bit bitter but it’s not terrible. I’ll have to see if they have more of this set out at breakfast tomorrow.