Kenyan Tinderet

Oh wow does this ever remind me of coffee! wheeeeew!
Sadly though, for some reason… the maltiness that I love so much was missing. Maybe because it was only a 10g sample that I’ve had in my cupboard for almost a year now!
Oh well. I did enjoy the cup! but I feel obliged to lower the rating a few points. Between this and their Assam, I think the Assam wins hands down.

Continuation of my tea a day journey. I actually left this sitting on the counter as I walked out the door to go to work. I was tealess at work all day :(( In hind site this might not have been such a bad thing.
So I came home, and made some of this. Package says 98C water 4-6minutes. 4-6 for black, that seemed aggressive to me, so I did just under boiling for 3 minutes.
EWWWWWWWW sorry I don’t have the vocabulary to explain. Ewwwww and yuck are pretty much my thoughts on this. Dump. Try again – second steep same leaves – again I did 3 minutes but since it’s a second steep thought it might be ok. NOT. Ewwwwwww is still my reaction to this. Dump. Try again. New leaves just under boiling 2 minute steep. This is not getting any better. I still hate it.
I’m not wasting anymore time or energy on this tea. NOT FOR ME. It is way too bitter, way too astringent, and doesn’t taste anything like any black tea I’ve ever experienced. If someone handed me a cup of this, I’m not sure TEA would be the first thing that comes to mind. The good news is, if you want to call it that….this makes the darjeeling seem like candy. That is NOT my least fav tea anymore.

After commenting on a post about how I don’t like CTC teas, I decided to give this one another try now that I have evolved a bit. The dry leaf looks like grapenuts, and it also kind of smells like grapenuts. Ha! I could get malty and fruity notes from the aroma. I decided to steep it for 3 minutes, instead of the recommended 4-6 minutes, at 205 degrees, instead of 208 degrees. I added my usual sugar and a splash of soymilk. Well, it was better than my previous tries. Or maybe I just have evolved to appreciate it more? Malty and a little fruity were the notes I could taste. It still was a little bitter and astringent. Maybe a 2 minute steep would be better? What a finicky tea!

This is different. It seems as though it’s bolder than other black teas, and I can see why people say it reminds them of coffee. Yowza! I think I’ll pass the other half of this sample on to ozli as she enjoys coffee more than I, and this may be more her thing!

It’s a nice enjoyable cup. I don’t think it would be a staple, but I might grab 10-20g sometime.

Thanks CrowKettle. I was curious about this tea, and it’s round little balls.

Oh, and… Sipdown!

This is one of the straight blacks from Davids that I was always hesitant about, largely because of the size of the leaf. That and it always smelled a bit more bold than I might prefer. Luckily, a colleague of mine is entering the wonderful world of loose leaf and shared a bit of this with me so I can finally try it out. Thank you!

Steeped it for about 3 minutes (my standard for blacks) and it smells very much like the bagged teas of my youth. My Dad was a Red Rose drinker (with a tonne of milk and sugar) and it reminds me of that. It smells bold but not necessarily astringent. First sips confirm the thoughts I got from the smell. This is bold and strong, a step up from traditional bagged teas but not the sort of loose leaf I would drink a lot of. This is very hearty and would stand up to flavouring, milk and sugar very well but isn’t really for me. I prefer my honeyed Chinese blacks with cocoa and sweetness in every sip. That said, this is a little sweet and not at all bitter but it’s too vigorous for me! : )

I wanted something strong but this seems like it might be TOO strong. I don’t think I even steeped it more than 2 1/2 minutes before I was like this is too strong. Now with milk in it it looks like a ginger tinged cup of coffee rather than some tea.

It is definitely lighter in taste than it is in smells. I could probably have let it go to three minutes, but it totally needs the milk for my tastes. I can tell that without it, it would be really malty and I probably wouldn’t care for it.

It’s really rather honey sweet, along with what seems like bittersweet, dark chocolate. Almost tastes like a chocolate cereal to me too.

I bet if you can get this all the way to 4 minutes, it will get you on your feet in the morning.

Thanks, Reasoned_Melody!

Oh, wow. I steeped at about 98C for 3 minutes like I usually do with black teas. The colour is a gorgeous red-brown, and looks like it would be a perfect base for a spiced Thai iced tea recipe.

The tea? Oh geez. Bitter AND astringent. Behind the blech are some lovely malty and floral notes.

I ended up adding a bunch of milk and more honey than I usually do, but I think I’m going to dump this and try brewing with much cooler water for 2 minutes.

Edit: And as I sat here applying for work and eating my stew, the tea is gone. Maybe I don’t dislike it as much as I thought it did? Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention and would have drank pretty much anything.

Whoa! To say this tea was a strong start to the day would be an understatement! Full-bodied, earthy, malty, and tannic- do NOT oversteep this! I need to try this again steeped for a shorter time.

First sip tastes like bitter mushrooms. As it cools it gets slightly less bitter, more malty and tannic. The earthy mushroom flavor stays and it gets sweeter. Some honey tones start to come out. Surprisingly though, it doesn’t leave me with a really dry mouth.

I’m wishing I had some milk or something to add to this tea because it could definitely use it. Maybe I can find my co-worker’s secret stash of honey since she’s not in yet? I don’t keep sweeteners at work.

I definitely love this one. I think it may almost be my favourite straight black. Had a nice big pot of it to nurse all afternoon. Mmmm.

Probably should have done this one in the finer of my two infusers AND also turned the volume up on my phone so I’d hear the steep alarm? YOWZA, that’s a strong tea! Nothing coffeeish about it, imo, but it could PROBABLY strip paint. :D?