1088 Tasting Notes

90
drank Walnut Truffle by Tea Desire
1088 tasting notes

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90
drank Walnut Truffle by Tea Desire
1088 tasting notes

Yes, I think this tea is best with cream or milk. Today, I added a bit of evaporated milk to it. Good. I’d like to try it as a latte one day, but for me, any dairy is a bit of a thrill.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, people! It is also St. Gertrude’s Day, as in St. Gertrude patron saint of cats. So Happy St.Gertrude’s Day to you too!

Kittenna

There’s a patron saint of cats? I feel like my cats would like to know this, and would like me to celebrate this event with treats…

Evol Ving Ness

Not too late to celebrate and treasure the kitties.

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90

One of my very favourite honeybush blends from Anne at 52Teas. Most remarkable here is that the cream, as in dairy, element comes through as well as the chocolate and the strawberry. A masterpiece.

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70

There’s already an entry of this tea under Tealyra’s old name, Tealux, but I bought it from Tealyra, so I am going with that designation.

The leaf appears to be Taiwanese Tieguanyin treated with milk and possibly sweetener and mixed with coconut flakes. The smell out of the bag is soapy, so I have my doubts.

Nonetheless, after the rinse, the coconut comes through and so does the gentle milkiness. Each subsequent steep becomes more floral, moving towards vegetal.

I would prefer a thicker milk thing going on here.

It’s ok. Perhaps it would be better fresher. But it is certainly satisfying the craving after all this talk of mixing milk oolong with genmaicha. Perhaps that is the next step for me.

oh, and I went through about five steeps with this. All but the first one, ie. the rinse, were pretty good.

That said, I need to get busy with this one just in case that soapiness is the harbinger of bad coconut news.

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70

I still have some evaporated milk left, so I thought it’d be lovely to have a black tea with berry overlay with it this morning.

Now, I suspect I must have at least fifteen or so black base berry teas. At least.

After a fair bit of digging, this is the only one I could find. That would be the choice then.

It was ok. I liked the evaporated milk addition, but the flavour of both the strawberry and the black base could’ve been more intense. Age aside, I don’t recall it ever being better. Still, craving was satisfied.

This is not the best strawberry black tea out there, but it was fine. Just fine.

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I posted the other day about this addiction that I developed for Hong-Kong style milk tea at Crimson Teas in town.

Since I cracked open a tin of evaporated milk yesterday when I made the turmeric golden milk tea, I thought that I’d play around with HK style milk tea with the rest of it.

This packet of leaf is past its prime. First, age, but more importantly because the pouch unhinged at the bottom early on—-pretty but useless pouches—and the leaf has been exposed to air for, well, probably since I purchased it.

Regardless, I thought there might be potential here. Vanilla black leaf. Vanilla bean honey. You get me?

Now, milk tea is strong, that is to say, intensely brewed, almost to the point of mistake. So I heaped up almost 2 teaspoons of leaf and let it steep for ooooh maybe 4 minutes, which for me it long.

After I made the milk tea with a huge glug of evaporated milk and at least a teaspoon and a half of vanilla infused honey, I googled the recipe for milk tea. Ayup, that’s how I roll—enthusiasm and action first, research later.

It turns out that HK style milk tea is made with English Breakfast, strongly steeped, and then all the other things.

My experiment, however, is still darn good though. Though, true enough, the base could be a bit friskier.

Also, these neighbours of mine—-whereever I go, there they are, yakking all at once, kids, adults, making noise. I move to another room and there they are again. Ugh!

tea-sipper

Oh gosh, I’m so sorry about your neighbors. headphones? music? for a break?

Evol Ving Ness

Thanks, me too. This is just how they are. And since I’ve spoken with them more than once about this situation, especially when they are waking me when I am sleeping, it seems that they are making an effort—ie. for them, not what normal people do or how normal people live. Gah!

I blast my music when I can’t take it anymore, just so that I can have a break from them and not have to have them in my face every single minute of my day. But still, gah.

LuckyMe

I can sympathize, I’ve lived in places with paper thin walls and it makes you feel like there’s no privacy. Wish they constructed homes with better sound proofing.

Evol Ving Ness

Thanks. Seriously!

Kittenna

Your experiment sounds tasty!

Evol Ving Ness

It was, but stronger base would have made things much much better.

Kittenna

I have a couple crazy strong CTCs. That would probably do the trick? Haha.

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Well, I take curcumin supplements regularly for their anti-inflammatory effect, but an unopened pouch of this blend has been hanging out in my stash waiting for the moment I need to haul out the big guns.

That moment has arrived. I am sick with a cold or the flu or whatever this is. It’s been several days now and I feel like hell.

This is a straight herb and spice powder. I made it up with boiling water, evaporated milk, and a dab of vanilla honey. And wow. Exactly what I needed. Beautiful medley of turmeric, fennel, anise, ginger, and cinnamon and they all seem to be coming through strongly. My throat is being soothed and I predict this will be having an effect on all the things.

Ayup, just what I needed.

LuckyMe

Wow, I just battled the worst cold ever and this sounds so soothing. I’d forgotten all about the anti-inflammatory powers of turmeric. My usual tisane is a blend of fresh ginger, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, fresh mint, saffron, and a little honey or sugar. It works pretty well and I bet it would be even better if I swapped out the saffron for turmeric next time.

Evol Ving Ness

Hmmm, that blend sounds good!

Must say, nice balance here and potent. Here are the details. I didn’t add coconut oil though that would be soothing too. https://amodatea.com/products/golden-turmeric-ginger

This cold/flu started off with over a week of harsh sore throat which then blossomed into all the things, including extreme weakness and fatigue. I may be ready for the world tomorrow as today has been much better.

Kittenna

Hope you feel better soon! I have a full-blown cold as of today, which really sucks when trying to deal with a little one as well – can’t just sleep the day away!

Evol Ving Ness

Ugh! Thank you, Kittena. Sorry that you are under the weather too.

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drank Peche et Thyme by Fauchon
1088 tasting notes

Another really lovely cup with equal balance of peach and thyme. And again I am shocked that the flavours are coming through despite this full-blown cold or flu.

This is the end of this baggie, sadly, so I am calling it a sip down, but I suspect that there’s another wee bit of this in another squirrelled away pouch from Sil.

Thank you, Sil! Really enjoying this one, especially today.

And it’s a sip down!

Sipdown 74
(14 of 2019)

Sil

Glad to Hear It!

Kittenna

This one is sitting on top of my samples basket, giving the the stink eye every time I pass it over. Haha. I don’t think I disliked it or anything, yet there it sits. #toomuchtea

Kittenna

*giving me

Evol Ving Ness

hehehe, I must say that it was not the most welcoming name for my tastebuds to pounce on. That said, now with your cold, this could be just the thing. I certainly appreciated it.

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drank Peche et Thyme by Fauchon
1088 tasting notes

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Profile

Bio

Note to self—-you do not actually need any more tea.

My real tea obsession began in February 2015.

Not, sadly, when I had been living and working in China, though I very much enjoyed sampling a variety of teas during my travels there as well. No, no, that would have been far too sensible.

I am a reformed coffee drinker. I still enjoy a long double espresso with a good quantity or milk or cream from time to time, but for now, tea is my thing. All day.

*note—this is way out of date, so if we are doing a swap and you are checking to see what I like and dislike, mostly never mind what you find below. One of these days, I will update this. In the meantime, check what I’ve been drinking and use your own judgement. I like all the teas. Well, I am open to trying all the teas.

I tend to drink black, green, or oolong tea in the morning to early afternoon. Rooibos or
Honeybush or herbal in the evening. And perhaps some sort of sleepy-type tea in the wee hours.

This year, I’ve been discovering flavoured teas, so it may look like that is all I drink although that would provide a false impression.

Not a big fan of chocolate or mint in teas, but I will try them and, from time to time, have been pleasantly surprised. Also, usually I dislike a prominent cinnamon flavour, if untempered with other things, in teas. Again, I say usually, because there are exceptions.

Also, please note that haven’t quite gotten into the habit of updating my tea cupboard on Steepster, and it is unlikely that I will do this on any kind of regular basis.

I drink my tea black and unsweetened. If there comes a rare moment that I add something to it, I will mention it.

Finally, while I thank large and successful tea companies for tantalizing and beckoning me to the world of tea, I prefer to support independent ventures with real people, real enthusiasm and commitment, and real dreams.

Currently, I am researching monthly tea subscriptions. Perhaps it will keep me out of tea shops.

And here is Shae’s rating scale— which I am using with permission, of course— which more or less describes the way I have been rating teas. I am going to make more of an effort to stay very close to these parameters now.

Rating Scale

1-20: By far, one of the worst teas I’ve tasted. I most certainly will not finish my cup and will likely “gift” the rest to my sweet husband who almost always enjoys the teas I dislike (and vice versa).

21-40: This tea is not good but if I mix it with another tea or find another steeping method I might be able to finish it.

41-60: This one is just okay. I might drink it again if someone were to give it to me, but I probably won’t be buying more for myself.

61-75: This is a consistently good tea. It’s reliable but not necessarily special.

76-90: This one is a notch above the rest and I would gladly enjoy a cup of it any day of the week. I’ll likely be keeping this in my cupboard, but it isn’t one of my all-time favorites.

91-95: One small change and this tea would be perfect. I’ll definitely have a stash of this in my kitchen if you come over for tea.

96-100: No words can describe this tea. It’s an experience, an aha moment. Closed eyes, wide smile, encompassing warmth. Absolutely incredible. Perfect.

Location

Mostly, but not always, Toronto, Canada.

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