127 Tasting Notes
I have not had tea at work in a week, I think. Our air conditioner is out, so hot tea is basically like torture instead of a delight. One more week… and it should be fixed. sigh.
But today I just needed some hot tea, so I went for it.
This smells like an freshly unwrapped Werther’s candy. Definitely full of caramel and vanilla and a bit of burnt sugar. It’s a very nice sweet black tea. I think this is one of my favorites from the bunch of Harry Potter teas.
I was already sipping on a cup of this when my mom dropped by a flat of fresh picked local strawberries. I continued sipping it while I was cutting up strawberries to freeze and munching on a few. This combination was divine! Who would have thought? I will have to sip another cup of this before I finish off my flat of strawberries this weekend. <3
no, just no. I have mentioned this tea is finicky and has to be watched very closely, so I’m not sure why I decided to try and make it this morning when my brain felt foggy. Slightly over-steeped it and it tasted like I has steeped ground up cigarette butts. Two sips and I dumped it out.
I’m having a rough go of it this morning. Getting out of bed was not easy for a reason I am not entirely sure of. There really isn’t any reason I should be as tired as I feel this morning.
My first attempt at tea this morning was a big fat fail. I tried to make the Harney’s Moroccan Mint, which as previously stated is very finicky. Not sure why I tried that tea when my brain is so clearly not with it today, but I did and it fail.
So I grabbed this one and tried a second go at tea this morning. Much better. comforting, sweet and caffeinated. I’m giving this a thumbs up because that’s all I’m capable of at this point this morning. ugh.
I drank this a few hours ago and didn’t make any notes… and now I can’t remember anything about it except that I didn’t finish it and that it just felt like a weak cup of tea. This is probably the most forgettable tea that I own. Its not that its BAD, it just isn’t something i have any real desire to drink. I keep meaning to try it cold and possibly sweetened, but even if that’s better… I’m definitely adding this to the swap pile.
The dry leaves scent remind me of my favorite black from Adagio, Yunnan Jig. The steeped cup is vaguely similar to that tea, but this one has a nice subtle chocolate note. Definitely a wonderful full bodied tea. I prefer Golden Orchid over this one, but this is still a nice everyday black, whereas I feel like I need to make time to savor Golden Orchid when I drink it.
Early crew calls on Monday mornings should be illegal…. especially on foggy miserable mornings like today. I didn’t drink much tea this weekend, despite being home all weekend and the rainy weather. You’d think that was perfect tea weather, but I was just super busy alternating between cleaning my house and watching Grease on ABC Family… twice.
Anyways, I grabbed this tea this morning on my way out the door basically because it steeps at 180 degrees, so I get the actual flavor using our water cooler at work. Still a delicious green tea with a slightly roasted, toasted flavor. Just what I needed on this miserable Monday morning.
One thing I have noticed about Nina’s teas is they are very perfumey and have a ton of flavor. Which makes sense when you factor in the roots of the company. So far I haven’t been a fan of the strong flavors in the two teas I have tried.
This one is quite floral and smells like a nice bubble bath. Which is interesting when drinking. Not my favorite tea, but I liked it a lot more than Nina’s Japon.
Sipping down samples all day and I all I wanted when I got home was this tea. I’m in serious trouble here… only 2 cups worth left. I WILL be restocking, but its just a matter of when…
On another note, I am dying to try DAVIDsTEA’s Pistachio Cream for comparison. I need to find someone who will swap or sell me some. It has officially become an obsession of mine to find some of that tea.
Pretty sure I have some here I can send you; if not, I live just a few blocks from a DT and will grab you a small package to compare.
I would love that!
I think it’s discontinued isn’t it?
Yeah, whatshesaid, I think it might be seasonal from what I understand, though it might very well be discontinued for good. I know it’s not on their website anymore.
I went looking because the idea of it intrigued me, hopefully it will be back in the fall or whenever!
I saw hibiscus as the second ingredient and was not particularly stoked about trying this sample. And for good reason. Hibiscus, why do you ruin everything?! This tea smells like apple cider… or Christmas. It does not taste like apple cider, at all. Sad day. I wish it tasted the way that it smells because I would be in heaven. But as it is… its definitely not for me. Too much hibiscus not enough everything else. The cinnamon does shine through nicely, but its just not enough to win me over.
Oh no, hibby strikes again! :(
haha, yes… the hibby definitely strikes again.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about hibiscus! In the traveling tea box I got just a few weeks ago I didn’t even bother to try the teas that had hibiscus as a first ingredient.
I’m with you on that one for sure, madametj, let someone else take a swing at those!
I hope they get the AC fixed quick! Sounds miserable.
We’re on week two without it, but they say June 4th it should be fixed… we’re in the home stretch! It could be worse, for sure.
Ugh. Almost there.
Feel for you there. Ironically I like hot tea when it’s hot. I find i actually makes me feel cooler for a time. I learned this in Rajhastan, the theory is it slightly raises your internal temp for a while so there is less difference between you and the external temp, so you feel cooler.