2252 Tasting Notes
I didn’t add a picture, because the photo on the TeaMaze website looks like a full-leaf tea, and the contents of my package are little nubblins and granules, like my old faithful PG Tips.
Which is the best comparison I can provide for this strong breakfast tea. The fresh cup was deep ebony, and at first, I thought it was milder and gentler in flavor than the usual British builders’ tea. However, it strengthens as it sits, and now that it has cooled, it’s downright sharp and puckery. Not for the faint of heart.
I anticipate a perfectly acceptable second steep, and next time around, I believe this one will welcome a splash of millk.
I’ve had pretty good luck with the Loyd teas I’ve stumbled upon at our local Tuesday Morning Store and this cheerful little box was just begging to go home with me. So I let it.
The citrus tastes primarily orange-y and the ginger has quite a snap to it, especially if you drink it bag-in. Like Constant Comment with a little attitude. I’m thinking this will be great for seasonal sniffles and sinus cruds (just around the corner)!
Most Basilur black teas I’ve tried need a longer steep, but this one is just a trifle touchy. The base went a little bitter when I let it go five minutes. Even so, it smells like buckwheat pancakes with syrup and the maple scent-sation stays in your mouth after you swallow.
Can’t wait to find the sweet timing spot. When I do, this will be excellent.
We’ve been talking a bit—or I have, anyway—about ungoofables; dependable tea you can make in your sleep or in unfavorable circumstances. Hubby brought a box of Awake bags home (not sure why), and after a good strong wake-up tumbler, I think I’ll nominate this one for the short list, too. A little sharp on your tongue if you oversteep, but good and drinkable with or without milk.
This is another selection from my new favorite little purveyor in southwest Missouri. It is precisely what the package says: a classy blend of rich chocolate and tangy orange. Extra points for the orange not being tart or bitter; extra extra points for the chocolate being strong and not watery.
I tried a little milk in mine this morning; didn’t ruin it, but this is best straight up and strong.
If I were consistent and scientific enough to numerically rate what I drink, the gold standard would be 33.3% malty/bready flavor, 33.3% enough caffeine to get my eyes fully open within 10 minutes of the first sip, and 78.7% UNGOOFABLE. Can’t ruin it no matter how distracted you get trying to decide what to take to work for lunch.
We have a winner here. I accidentally let my travel tumbler stew for a good seven minutes this morning (oh, look! a bunny!) and was sure the first sip would take the skin off my tongue.
Skin is still intact and this is still tasty. Instead of three-grain wheat bread, we’ve got dark rye here (with cherry preserves?) but still sippable, even without diluting with ice.
Oh, and lunch is going to be a Lean Cuisine frozen glazed chicken entrée and lemon meringue Greek yogurt. I’m not sure that was worth almost ruining a perfectly good tumbler of tea.
Hmph. I could’ve sworn I’ve reviewed this one … because I know y’all are impatiently waiting for my official pronouncement before you decide whether to imbibe or not.
Do. It’s quite pleasant. Subtle Granny Smith apple peel, but neither unpleasantly bitter nor painfully tart. Perfect on a scratchy throat induced by heat wave + inconsistent AC at work. I’ve been either sweltering or shivering for two solid weeks.
Yesterday was a hit-the-ground-running Saturday; despite my feeling like I was just running on a hamster wheel, I do have a tidier living room and a finished writing project to show for it. But before I started scrambling, I sat down and savored a good cuppa and this was in it.
My first taste and first review emphasized the baked bread notes, which I see listed in the flavor thesaurus that goes with this tea, but with a little more leaf and a little more time to let it cool, I got a sweet molasses vibe as well. Delicious, and a hint that autumn is waiting in the wings. (A pleasant thought on a day with an expected heat index in the low boil range.)
I have too much tea. I mean, tins-and-jars-gathering-dust-much. Surely this describes none of you; you promptly drink all you have and none ever gets shoved to the back corner of a cabinet and forgotten.
Like this one.
But even after six years, according to my notes, this has retained its character. Heavy in texture, light in taste, tea first, then the hint of mint at the end. Since Nature’s Tea Leaf has disappeared, I’m glad to have stumbled onto this little cup of nostalgia for one of my (formerly) favorite purveyors.
Oh yes. My tea never collects dust or gets forgotten about in a corner. Never.
Glad it withstood the neglect!
What I need to do is conduct a flat-out campaign to use up, share, or pitch the flavored stuff because it doesn’t weather the neglect as well. I don’t mind drinking unflavored tea, if it has been reasonably maintained, that’s been around the block a time or twelve.
Too much tea is NOT A THING. If it is, I DEFINITELY HAVE THAT THING.
What does this “too much tea” thing mean?
Too much tea? I hear it every day and I disagree. My mother does not understand that some tea is stored as a wine – thus older means better.
Not all teas though.
#NotAllTeas
That’s why I love you people! We’ll just all have this Thing together. (Anybody interested in starting a Too Many Books support group?)
I wish I could show you the entire back room of my house. I definitely buy books faster than I read them, as I buy teas faster than I drink them. My husband doesn’t complain aloud; it’s better than buying fancy clothes or cars or whatever else people blow their money on, I guess?
