The Republic of Tea
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FINALLY got my catalog so I’m drinking and logging this as I page thru it. Based on the reviews I’m not expecting much, but a free sample that’s easy for me to make when I’m sick is always good. And I’m hoping at least the name of it will give me some comfort and joy.
Observations: FREE +, convenience for 1st infusion +, convenience for multiple infusions -, bagged (not my personal preference -, environmentally friendly bag +, bag that’s difficult to fish out w/o an aid -, comes w/ a catalog +, tempts me to buy things I shouldn’t -, weight – (way too light for a 6oz cup especially considering spices take up some of the weight), contains licorice -.
Serving: in 6oz water. Hot and clean.
I’m absolutely SHOCKED at how dark the liquor is based on the weight. It looks just like black coffee. Maybe this won’t be bad after all- considering I’ve already had 1 tisane today that had licorice in it and wasn’t bad.
As for the aroma, I smell the black tea, the spices, and the apple. This smells more like an apple chai than Adagio’s apple chai does.
Hmmm… interesting… It’s not nearly as weak as I expected it to be based on the weight and the flavor is definitely in good proportion to the liquor. I taste all 3 components: the black tea, the spice (but no licorice thank GOD!), and the fruityness you’d expect from a chai w/ apple in it… if someone had given this to me w/o telling me what it was I’d swear it was MarketSpice chai because the fruityness is citrus- orange. Not what I expected, but good!
Conclusions: Good free tea. Nice to have around for when you aren’t up to making loose tea. Full of surprises in strength of flavor and in what flavors you get. If you don’t mind that it’s an orangy and not an appley chai, you’ll really like this one. Not sure how it’ll taste w/ milk because MarketSpice chai tastes like a hot dreamscicle when I add milk.
Preparation
The only one of this brand’s line that I don’t like. It has the oddest flavor – I suppose that’s the rice?
Most likely it is the rice :) Japanese green tea is more bitter than Chinese green tea, so they often add toasted rice. The tea is known as genmai and it is an acquired taste :) I’ve tried it, but it’s not a staple of my tea cupboard.
Maybe the ‘Inquiry’ part of the title is supposed to be ‘enquiring’ why the hell they made this tea?!" ;D
Yeah you gotta like chai. I guess I’m the only one that got the orangy flavor.
Oh no on the apple dish detergent! My only thought would be vinegar, but then you might need something to get the vinegar taste out! And yeah, C&J = eeeevil. And I like chai (but dread thinking of this is chai… I will just think of it as ‘awful’).
That apple detergent is evil! So half of my lid smells like chai now… the other half smells like detergent. o.O Vinegar would kill me, I hate the taste / smell. I heard vinegar would do the trick. I think I’m going to make some jasmine tea and soak the lid in it! Actually… hey dragon pearls….. xD
The Tea Farm actually has a vinegar black tea.
I have put some Arm & Hammer in a former EG tin (with a plastic lid) after a good soaping to soak up the residual smell. It can take a little time and I don’t know if you’d be willing to wait, but if the jasmine doesn’t work, you could try that!
Did you mix it with boiling hot water? I let it soak for like 30 mins, I’ll have to try to see if the smells out tomorrow. I mean eventually the smell will disappear, but for now it still annoys me =/
The lid smells like SPICES! AHH, the bottom of the lid anyways.
I actually just put the dry stuff in there and shook it up every so often. But I would imagine that it would work mixed with a little bit of hot water so that it makes a paste, then spreading it on the lid thickly until it dries and then rinsing it off and seeing how much that helps.