1789 Tasting Notes
Late Sunday night I went on a shopping spree and snagged 7 teas from Murchie’s.com. They showed up today! This blend was one that a friend bought for me a few years ago so I thought I would start here.
I’m staring at Murchie’s description while I sample it. Is this a “strong flavourful cup?” Well, the first few sips taste like… black tea. But half a cup later and I can detect hints of smoke, and the rest of the blends mentioned, although I couldn’t tell you which flavour is what type of black tea. It’s good though. No cream or sugar required, although I’m certain I would enjoy it that way too.
Can’t wait to see how this compares to the rest of the black teas I purchased. I imagine my ratings will jump around as I get familiar with the flavours. I guess I can see why some people wait before reviewing.
Preparation
This is such an odd blend that I was intrigued, and I had to pick it up. It was either this or the root beer one, but the cherry cola smelled better and I bought a tin. It wasn’t worth it, but that’s what I get for being irresponsible and impulsive!
Drinking it plain, this tea offers little flavor. I don’t really notice the sweetener and it doesn’t have much to offer but a weak cherry flavor. I added a bunch of milk and sugar and it didn’t really help.
It’s okay as an iced tea. It’s even better as an iced tea with milk and sugar. Or with rum.
I just want to drink it so that I can empty the tin and fill that up with up. Next time, I’ll pass.
Preparation
By some sort of magic this tea tastes just like smoke. :P It’s so rich and flavorful that I could enjoy it without adding anything else. Maybe I’m getting used to drinking tea this way. #adultlife The smoke is strong yet it doesn’t overpower the flavours of the black tea.
While I really like it, I think it would best be enjoyed as an occasional drink so that I savour the flavours. I wouldn’t want this rich blend to become ordinary. At some point I’ll need to pick up some of this instead of pilfering from my roommate! (To be fair – I asked…)
The smell, taste, and aftertaste are all consistent too! I hate it when a tea doesn’t taste as good as it smells.
As I emptied the teapot, I thought I would try it with milk and sugar to see how it worked out. It’s good, but I didn’t think the milk added much to it. Maybe with just the sugar?
Preparation
Tried it again with milk and brown sugar and it was a definite improvement. Too bad I only had 2% milk as cream would have been pretty luxurious.
Update: Half-way through this cup and it’s just getting better. The pumpkin taste seems stronger – perhaps I’m just more aware of it but….. YUM. I need to get back to David’s before they stop selling it.
(Medium Caffeine)
Preparation
Really good. I had it plain, although I like the suggestion of using steamed milk and brown sugar. I’ll have to try that next!
As it is, this tea has a strong pumpkin spice smell and a rich earthy taste. I was on the fence with the first few sips but can now appreciate the flavours with each sip! It’s not as OMGPumpkinPIEEEEE as I thought it would be, but it does taste strongly of pumpkin and the various spices used inside.
I guess it’s a chai because it has some of the same spices, but honestly it didn’t make me think of chai teas at all. Maybe the pumpkin/squash were stronger than I thought. Or maybe it’s just because I didn’t add any type of milk/cream like I normally do with chai.
I think this will be a new fall favourite! I sorta wish I’d picked up more than 30g, but so long as I nab a refill before they pull it, I’ll be ok.
(Medium Caffeine)
Preparation
So I don’t know anything about Darjeerling except that it’s a complicated black tea, but I liked the smell of it so I gave it a try. The “truly the champagne of teas” tagline caught my attention too, and as I’m impressionable like that I always think about that as I sip. Classy! :P
It smells really good. The description just says that it is made of “Estate Black Teas” but it smells like there’s more than that in there. I haven’t really developed a palatte for this yet either, so I while I can say that I really enjoy the taste of it, I can’t really describe it.
But… “Truly the champagne of teas” + a rich black that goes down smoothly without milk and sugar means that this will probably be a staple in my cupboard for a while.
Maybe I’ll update this review once I get a better idea of what it tastes like. :D
(Medium caffeine)
Preparation
The ingredients sounded like a great combination so I picked up 50g based on that and a whiff of the sample in-store.
Brewed 1 1/3 tsps of it for 5 1/2 minutes as I prefer my teas a bit stronger, but I didn’t want to risk it turning bitter. I actually measured it this time as to follow the directions so I think I ended up with less than I would have put in had I just ‘eyed’ it.
You can really smell the chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla.
The first few sips made me think of a really weak hot chocolate which was disappointing. Further sips helped me to appreciate the cinnamon and vanilla mixing in. I don’t really notice the coconut but maybe it’s just there to make the blend sweet. I didn’t have to add any sweetener which is unusual for me and black teas.
Overall it was good but not great. I suspect that if I add cream or milk to it, I would enjoy the blend a lot more.
(Medium caffeine)
Preparation
Prepared in-store with agave nectar added.
Very smooth and tasty while it was hot and the agave helped bring out the flavour. It’s pretty sweet to begin with though, so I might not have needed it.
I can definitely taste the melon and apples but I can’t really distinguish the other ingredients. It has a pleasant fruity/flowery taste and I would definitely drink it again in the future.
I let it sit for a few hours and came back to it then. It was still really tasty – I imagine this would be a great iced tea!
(low caffeine)
nighty night
:)