135 Tasting Notes
Perfectly balanced black. Such a high quality tea, like Bellocq is known for. It’s not just for breakfast, but for anytime you want a solid, grownup, serious black that’ll get you wide-eyed and energetic. And it’s delicious with a bit of milk in it.
Preparation
This is an extremely special tea. It’s a limited edition, plus it’s only available in Kyoto. That being said, it’s quite nice, but not mind-blowing. Very subtle plum flavor, even more subtle yuzu citrus notes. Adorable packaging of a maiko in cherry blossom season. If I hadn’t picked it up at a Lupicia store in Kyoto on a trip to Japan this past spring, it most likely would not have made a strong impression at all.
Flavors: Citrus, Plums
Preparation
As good iced as it is hot. Cranberries do not overpower the taste of the tea – just add a bit of slightly fruity sweetness. Love this iced – may be my new go to for colder weather iced tea. An all around delicious black.
Flavors: Cranberry, Sweet, Vanilla
Preparation
This tea’s been languishing in my cupboard for entirely too long. It just never seemed the right time to drink it because cranberry. Such a colder weather kind of thing. So now that we’re solidly in October, I thought I’d drag it out to go along with my homemade cranberry orange scones. What an awesome flavor this is! Just the right amount of fruitiness, nice body, fragrant without going over the top, and best of all, the PERFECT flavor to go with almond milk! I mean, cranberries and almond – duh ! Why did I wait so long to try it (insert face palm here)? I’ll be downing this stuff regularly for the next few months without question.
Flavors: Almond, Berry, Cranberry, Sweet, Vanilla
Preparation
OK, so I’m a bit late on this, since I got it last year as part of a David’s Tea fall sample pack. I’m enjoying it immensely, and am sad to say it’s almost finished – yet another limited edition that may or may not pass this way again. It’s just downright yummy. All the apple cinnamon goodness is so THERE that green tea drinkers may be disappointed that the green-ness of the tea tends to disappear. But, since I adore dessert-y teas, I love this one! I’ve actually added almond milk to it (I can almost hear that collective gasp out there! So scandalous!), and it makes it taste almost like apple pie a la mode.
Flavors: Apple, Butter, Cinnamon
Preparation
This tea is a bit of a workhorse for me. It’s a well-balanced blend of assam and ceylon, but it brews strong, so if you’re not a fan of strong tea, it’s better to just “scare it” with the hot water rather than brew for a full 5 minutes. I use this tea as a base for my homemade chai, I drink it iced when I want a nice, strong black iced tea without flavoring, I drink it hot when I’m not feeling well or just looking for a well- balanced, unfussy black tea. So, to summarize, very versatile, very balanced, solid, but not a showstopper.
Preparation
Got this from hapatite awhile ago (many thanks, again!) but just got around to drinking it. I would say the vanilla and coconut flavors are very subtle, unless I simply didn’t use enough of the tea or didn’t steep it long enough. All in all, very nice, almost sophisticated, but if you’re in the mood for strong vanilla and tropical flavors, you won’t get a big hit of those flavors from this tea.
Had this at the retail store near my workplace. Iced with nothing added. Nice cherry flavor, a tiny bit of tartness that added a refreshing note, definitely brought back memories of Fla-Vor-Ice cherry. A grown-up way to enjoy the flavor of childhood summertime! Too bad it’s a limited edition.
Flavors: Cherry, Fruity, Tart
This is my second favorite tea to drink iced during the hottest months (Bamboozled is my hands-down, absolute favorite). Clean, refreshing – great coconut flavor with not a lot else going on to detract from it. Nice and light. I’ve yet to try it hot and most likely won’t – really can’t see the point – it’s a great summer iced tea.
Flavors: Coconut, Grass