421 Tasting Notes
I have to thank ashmanra for getting me hooked on this tea! This is my go to afternoon tea. It also happens to be my go to tea to sip wile I’m writing. I took today off to write my little heart out. Which worked to a point. But then the dread pirate writers block hit and hasn’t really let go. Sure it let up to allow me to write this…but that’s about it!
As for the tea…I LOVE the smoke! So yummy. Also so glad I ordered more (and it arrived today). Really nice to refill my tin! If your looking for a tea with smokey tones, but not a full on Lapsang this is the stuff!
This isn’t the best cup of tea I’ve had, but it certainly isn’t the worst. I like it, don’t get me wrong and it was one of the cheaper blends Upton offers. So I thought I’d give it a go. There just isn’t anything that stands out for me. Heck I can’t even get a distinct scent from the cup. But as I said I like it. So there’s that. I might try it iced a little later see if that helps.
Preparation
I have to tell you sometimes I am more excited about the samples I’m getting from Verdant than the tea I actually ordered. I say this because ever time I’ve ordered the samples have been spot on to my taste in tea even if they were way off base from what I ordered!
This time around this tea was included with my order of Golden Fleece. Is it as good as Golden Fleece? Not in my opinion, but it’s up there on my list of top favorites from Verdant.The dry leaf hints at malt and chocolate for me. I have to tell ya, I am a sucker for a malty tea. Always have, always will be. As it steeps there’s still that malty smell with a slight hint of honey. Mmmm honey.
The taste? Again the malty flavor is right there in my face but I do get some passing tastes of chocolate and honey. This gets an a in my book. A sample size of it MAY have also fallen into my cart too. I like it, but it isn’t a tea I have to have in the house all the time. At least not in large quantities.
I love Verdant teas! But they’re just so expensive, it’s hard rationalizing it to the fiance.
Agreed! Thankfully my MIL gave me a gift card for Christmas….hello tea money! I’m also glad that Verdant offers a lot of their tea in 2.00 sample sizes. I hate buying a large amount of something and hating it, then being stuck with it!
Yeah, samples are for the win! And grats on the gift card! I’ll pretend not to be jealous…grumble grumble. LOL!
mmmm looking forward to this one. I too, love a nice malty black.
Ha thanks! It’s not a huge gift card, but it bought me some samples from Verdant. I might have enough to get something from Upton. Sigh why can’t I just win lotto! LOL!
@Sil, I’m being so sparing with the tea from our swap you sent! I’m in love with it!
Well if you can’t make it up in February ill send you more :)
:)
Many thanks tattooed_tea for this 6th Day of many Christmas teas. I’m waiting on my husband to wrap up the last of his gifts and then head off to celebrations two of many between now and tomorrow. :) All I have to say about this tea is IT’S BACON! Yummy bacon! Like KeenTeaThyme mentioned it has it all minus the crunch. But for me it doesn’t take away from the awesome flavor or experience of this tea. Thank you again for including it in the batch of teas!
On the 11th day of Christmas I give many thanks to Sil for sending us this particular tea. Well, here we are Christmas Eve and I’m still waiting on packages to arrive (before the hubbins gets home) to wrap. But Amazon assures me they will arrive today…fingers crossed! So I got up when I normally would for work knowing I had wrapping and cooking in my future.
We’re going to my hubbins “Aunt’s” house for dinner and she never has anything gluten free for me to eat. So I made up a cup of this tea (in a new hot pink mug from our friend’s daughter) and then I got down to making some gluten free turkey meatballs and sauce. (Which smell/taste awesome.) This tea had a nice smokey kick to it…this must have been the tea I was smelling when I thought it was Day 9! Oddly enough I also enjoy a good single malt whisky and this is just wow. I see where the comparison comes in!
Sorry this review is all over the map…I think I’ve had too much of this tea this morning! :)
Preparation
Well at least two of us enjoy this so far…i consider that a rousing success even if no one else does. It’s smoother and more interesting than i thought it would be lol
Yeah I would love to get my hands on more. But the shipping is a killer!
well worse case scenario we may be able to do a swap in the new year and i can just go buy some for you.
Oooh! I’m game for that! Or you know I could just drive to Toronto. Whatever. :P
ooh.. yea! drive to toronto! we can meet up… there’s a february tea convention thingy lol
ooh.. yea! drive to toronto! we can meet up… there’s a february tea convention thingy lol(also…now you feel the shipping pain of canadians everywhere ordering from most US places lol)
I DO!! Message me more about this tea convention. I’d love to take a trip to Toronto!
YAY! that’d be so much fun, if you made it up here :D
Btw, what does magot mean? I’m curious, sounds like a fun word!
That was totally a typo on my part! Thanks for catching it!! Should have read (and now does)“then I got to making” ooopsie!
I want to go to toronto for the tea convention too. I just worry it will be so cold.
Rachel, worse case scenario you can borrow some of my multiple jackets for teh duration. Lol
Have you ever been before? Do you know how big it is?
This is the first year. We aren’t sure how big it will be just yet but there are tons of tea companies in the city.
The guy who heads the Tea Guild also teaches the sommelier program at George Brown so he knows alot of people.
aha makes sense! I make typos all the time lol
Ok being a huge Firefly fan I HAD to order this tea! Shiny! Besides the idea of adding chocolate to Genmaicha really got my curiosity going.
This is an interesting one…dry leaf smells like toast and chocolate. While the steeped tea smells more like traditional Genmaicha with a slight hint of chocolate. The taste? A weird blend of chocolate and toasted rice. Not my favorite two things together, but it isn’t my least favorite either. Different is the best way to put it and I do like it. Way to go Frank!
Preparation
Thank you Alphakitty for this yummy blend! I can taste the lavender and rose in this blend as well as hints of the cream on the finish of this tea. The funny thing is for the longest time I thought this package would contain a Lapsang. At least that’s what the package smelled like (I didn’t open…just sniffed the wrapping paper). So this delicate EG was a super nice surprise! And I LOVE the added Toffee which goes REALLY well with the tea. I might need the recipe! Ok no might I do if you are willing to share!
The recipe is quite easy and works great with matcha! I posted it here: http://steepster.com/Alphakitty/posts/137400
You could also infuse the butter with tea, I’ve tried it before with chai and it’s delicious
Mmm maple! Thank you Liberteas for this 3rd tea for the third day of Christmas! I’m really craving pancakes after trying this tea…seriously I want to pour it on my pancakes it tastes so yummy. I’m just going to go have a moment with my tea over there for a moment…
This tea comes across as pretty mellow for me. I like it and the floral notes add a bit of awesome to the mix too. It’s so funny that it looks like a black tea, but smells more like a green/herbal mix. Def. different! Many thanks LiberTEAS for this 2 of 3 teas on the 3rd Day of Christmas. Yes I know I’m behind. But I was out of town and away from proper brewing tools!
Many thanks to LiberTEAS for including this as one of her Day 3 teas! This was so sweet and creamy and well sweet and creamy! I love a good vanilla flavored tea and this was just great. I’ll be adding it to the tea want list. Yum! Can’t wait until I get home to try the other two. :)
