359 Tasting Notes
I just do not *get*Kusmi. I love the tins. I love the descriptions of tea. I am often tempted to take the plunge and buy of the better reviewed teas. People with taste, far better palates than me, love these.
But whenever I try it it´s just so meh to my particular palate. This one was correctly brewed, no tap water taste discernible, and the tea shop seemed generous in their dosage. Nice, but I have had so many better flavoured teas and sold far cheaper and with less fanfare that I can not help comparing.
Preparation
I managed to restock this and I am so happy! The taste is slightly different than what I remembered back when it was called Bourbon Vanilla, but the packaging is also different ( 50 teabags in that british no-string format rather than 20 envelopes teabags) but let´s give a discount to differences in memory, packaging and tea being a natural product which might have some variations in taste.
This is a camouflaged flavoured tea. The vanilla is really imperceptible, more noticeable in smell than in taste. But it does give a resonance to the tea taste, adds a sort of sweetness to it. I do love this tea, even if I do not usually like vanilla teas. Though if you want a very intense vanilla (or vanillin, most probably) tea, this is not it. The vanilla is hiding pretty subtly!
Preparation
Moderately expensive (4 euros for 15 teabags), not quite as expensive as some teas, but a bit more expensive than regular stuff. But oh so nice. Tea-bags are individually packaged in foil envelopes, which I think helps to keep the flavour fresh. I do think this tea bags are filled a smidgeon less than the british norm, I just brew a slightly smaller cup.
A very very good simple Ceylon tea but then I think Ceylon might just be my favorite tea origin for breakfast blends. I am probably not the only one because this seems to be the bestseller at the store I bought it.
Brews very red, and full bodied but in a delicate way.
Preparation
A sort of subtle everything-but-the-kitchen sink. I expected some sort of delicate Lapsang Souchong, but in reality composition is:
China Black Tea, Bergamot, Darjeeling, Jasmine Flowers
all slightly smoked. It is all quite delicate and even nice, but after a number of cups, the combination still does not quite convince my palate.
Preparation
It is shallow of me to start by how a tea looks, but I need to remark: this tea is incredibly pretty, both the dry leaves but particularly the soaked remaindered, pretty open leaves, the marigold petals and whole cornflowers and little pieces of fruit in the middle. All Yumchaa teas are pretty with big fresh leaves, but whenever I brew this I am struck again by how pretty this is.
The taste is also very pretty – while the presence of marigold and cornflowers is visually obvious, I am not sure I can detect their taste, but the apricot-strawberry flavour is delightful and tastes natural. The tea underneath does not feel too strong, though perhaps one can up the dose a bit. It´s not one of my Yumchaa favorites, but competition is fierce for that and it is a lovely flavoured tea indeed.
Preparation
I really should know better than to buy tea without smelling it first and from home&decor type of shops. But it sounded so good I could not resist.
It is medium-strength black tea with very very strong (artificial to my nose) violet scent. A bit overpowering. But if you got a weakness for violet, even if artificial, it makes for a nice cup now and then.
Preparation
I love this tea, it is my go to tea, which I always buy and rebuy. I am not particularly fond of earl grey, any earl grey, but this works so perfectly for me. It is also a great tea to serve non-tea lovers, almost invariably they love it.
I have drunk this from the black box british teabags, the european (rest of europe that is) blue box teabags and the european (or perhaps rest of the world) blue tin loose. It will sound heretical but I think I enjoyed the teabags best. One warning, i think this is one tea which particularly fades with age particularly, don´t stockpile it, buy as recent as possible to consume. I thought the british (black box) teabags were stronger but that the continental (blue) teabags are more aromatic. I love it in any incarnation.
Preparation
Terrible news for someone who just bought a 50 pack of it…
Our independent grocer has 5 or 6 different Twinings teas that they carry 50 count boxes of, and I couldn’t resist!
Oh, even the black british box is (IMO) sublime! And I am not really sure if the variations in taste are not a) subjective or b) different batches and all that or c) likely freshest, newest tea is more vivid and older (obviously) has lost more taste.
50 bags of Lady Grey in my house do not last very long, do enjoy! And maybe you will like better the british than the blue kind!
Is that the difference? That’s exciting, then! The British box was far more cost efficient than the blue box. I do love the taste, but I tend to drink caffeinated tea sparsely, only once or twice a day at most, and preferably not at all. I think I need to split some of this tea between home and work to make sure it is all enjoyed while ‘fresh’ : )
This is just subjective but I think the british box is slightly more tanninic, “stronger” – so maybe less brewing time.
The british box also has those loose little paper teabags so I think the tea ages a faster. The non-british box has the tea in little paper envelopes, which while not ideal are better than the british box – also pricier obviously. And do enjoy, I think it is a brilliant tea.
I’m a sucker for those little paper envelopes – Possibly because it just makes it so easy to toss in my bag for emergency tea.
Kusmi seems more subtle with it’s flavors compared to other brands. Do you like plain teas or flavored teas more?
Flavoured usually, though not if too artificial (apparently I sometimes like artificial flavouring) or too strong.
I don´t like too strong, too tanninic teas. I have tried a few Kusmi flavoured teas and so far they have all been nice, or nice-ish, but they always left me a bit disappointed. I do not think it is the intensity of the flavour, but the balance of blended flavours and the tea underneath. I will keep trying cups here and there and not buy any tin unless I try it first and love it.I think it sounds like it’s the base tea that just doesn’t appeal to you. I’ve found that this is something that can’t really be rescued with flavouring, the result will still be boring.
That is almost surely it Angrboda. The flavouring has sort of work the base flavour, and if the base flavour is not to your taste, no rescuing.
Though maybe my expectations might be off as well – I kept comparing (unfavourably) Anastasia with my beloved Lady Grey, and that is surely not what is intended.