338 Tasting Notes
I like Messmer because it has lots of interesting blends in addition to the classic choices. This white tea has to be my favourite! Though the vanilla and peach flavours come from flavouring, they are subtle enough to make you think they are natural. And who wouldn’t like the combination of vanilla and peach?? I keep sniffing the tea because the scent is just too lovely! ;P
The liquor is delicate and decidedly flowery, which is exactly what I love about white teas. It is peachy too – Reminds me of Snapple or Twinings peach tea, only better. :) Was talking about spring blend with Winter Salo yesterday, and I realize that this really matches the image of spring in my mind. :) Beautiful. We really need more good quality, inexpensive tea bags like this!
Preparation
My fourth cup of tea today! That would be a new record for me. :)
It’s the beginning of autumn, my favourite season, and I celebrated it with a pot of Autumn Blend. It has a wonderful scent – like the air on an autumn morning, it is clean, crisp, and infused with the sweet aroma of harvested fruits. The fruity note of Ceylon tea adds complexity to the fruitiness. This flavoured black tea is really great for people who enjoy fruity flavours but find fruit infusions too tart for their liking.
In sum, I love this tea. It’s both delicious and romantic. Would certainly sample more teas by Betjeman and Barton in the future! ;)
Preparation
I love a good seasonal blend – when done right it really does capture the mood of the season. You described this one so well I’m enviously imagining drinking it … it’s a good thing it’s Spring here or I’d go utterly green!
Haha… there’s no need to be envious as there are plenty of teas for spring! To me a spring tea will be something floral and fruity – this combination always reminds me of sunshine (I don’t know why), which is the image of spring in my mind. Though spring in Melbourne didn’t seem exactly sunny to me… the weather was totally unpredictable when I was in Melbourne 2 weeks ago! :P
Totally agree with your comment on good seasonal blend. It’s beautiful when a tea captures the mood of a season/holiday. I am now looking for a good blend for the coming Christmas… :)
Classic Melbourne for you, four seasons in a day, I’m sorry the weather wasn’t great for your visit… but I have to admit I do love that… yesterday was burst out of the box sunny like everyone in shorts and t-shirts and and today it hasn’t stopped raining, like real rain, heavy rain. So nice, the perfect cool down to yesterday.
You really captured a spring blend – fruity and floral – I imagine berries or cherries, fresh cherries in spring are awesome, and smell of lavender and freshly cut grass. It’d be awesome if there was a tea store that let you type in an idea and came up with a result. The spring blends I’ve seen around are all floral and no fruit, and seem very lacking to me.
I love that Christmas is coming because there really is nothing quite as special as a good Christmas blend – cinnamon, marzipan, raisins, cranberries… I can’t wait to see what stores come up with this year.
Love the spring blend you described, especially the idea of freshly cut grass! Yes, most spring blends are floral, which are good but just a bit boring. Similarly, Christmas blends are all about cinnamon. Cinnamon is indeed Christmas-y, but since I am not a big fan of spices I really hope there will be Christmas blends without cinnamon. :P Marzipan and cranberries sound great! I am hoping for something chocolatey too, just like the Cocoa Haven that you’ve reviewed.
The idea of mood-based tea search is fun! Do you know Adagio? It seems to have something similar to that as it allows customers to create their own blends. So there are lots of interesting creations and you will likely find something that suits your mood! ;) I have yet to tried their tea though.
Wow. Adagio rock. I didn’t know you could do that, thanks for pointing me in their direction. But ouch the shipping charges are really high for poor little Australia. I do love the idea though maybe someone here will start it up.
Cinnamon and Christmas really do go hand in hand when it comes to tea blends or actually any Christmas inspired drink, I’ve even seen Cinnamon infused soft drinks at Christmas and as a lover of cinnamon not even I could stand them. I do think cinnamon is more effective as a subtle flavour than as the main flavour I think it can give a tea warmth but you shouldn’t leaving you thinking ’mmm that was a nice bit of tea with my cinnamon drink." So hopefully there will be a perfect blend put out this year with chocolate, marzipan, cranberries and a slight dusting of cinnamon – maybe by Lupicia so you we can both have it :)
Yes.. same problem here, it’s expensive to buy non-Chinese tea here in Hong Kong too. There are lots of interesting teas out there but I can’t do much apart from browsing their websites. I do look forward to Lupicia’s Christmas teas this year! Their teas often carry candy/dessert flavours and with little spice added! :) Not to mention the super gorgeous tea tins, haha… though I may need to buy my cousin dinner before he’s willing to buy the teas for me in Japan :P
Yes.. same problem here, it’s expensive to buy non-Chinese tea here in Hong Kong too. There are lots of interesting teas out there but I can’t do much apart from browsing their websites. I do look forward to Lupicia’s Christmas teas this year! Their teas often carry candy/dessert flavours and with little spice added! :) Not to mention the super gorgeous tea tins, haha… though I may need to buy my cousin dinner before he’s willing to buy the teas for me in Japan :PYou’re right, it’s nice when cinnamon adds warmth to the tea. I’ve seen some “pie teas” around (like Apple Pie tea, Pumpkin Pie tea) and I believe a pinch of cinnamon can make the tea more like a hot pie! :)
Oh I love Lupicia’s tins – their stoe in at QV in Melbourne is gorgeous I really love getting to chose a pretty label it’s so special. Plus I have a real bee in my bonnet when tea places don’t give you a tin – I mean you just have to buy one anyways grumble so it’s a delight getting tea from them. I also love giving them as presents because it’s kind of like personalised tea.
I actually haven’t had the pleasure of trying their Christmas blends but if they’re as delicious as they sound – candy & spice equals everything nice with my taste buds – I’m really looking forward to what they bring out.
I must admit I’d probably want a dinner too for buying some tea or …. afternoon tea hee hee…. My Mum is always asking me to pick her up Henry Langdon’s Lemongrass and Ginger which has to be the hardest to find tea around, when I find it for her she always gives me a cupcake which I love, but I’d do it anyway ;)
Btw thanks for the ‘hot pie’ reference it’s that is exactly the the wording I’ve been looking forward to describe this toffee apple combination I’ve been drinking lately it’s like warm apple pie.
Read the English translation of the tea description just now – so this is a pure black tea. Now, I strongly suspect that the tea bag I used this morning was contaminated because I could smell vanilla in it! I am not too surprised though, cos the tea bag came in a thin paper packet, and it was stored in a box (I got the tea bag from a B&B in Germany) along with other highly aromatic Messmer teas which had the same packaging. I believe the tea bag had been in the box for some time too. It seemed to have lost some of its flavour and was not as strong as it’s supposed to be. BUT I did enjoy the tea as I love vanilla and lighter teas!! :P
Preparation
My first encounter with rooibos was just wonderful. It was Rooibos Vanilla Tea-Butler by Teekanne, which was sweet, caramel-y and had the aroma of biscotti. It became the “prototype” of rooibos in my mind – I thought all rooibos were as yummy as that.
Wrong. The disillusionment was brought by this Rooibos and Vanilla from M&S. The dry leaves had the smell of herbs and… that’s all. Where’s the vanilla?? Sadly, there’s no answer to this question even after brewing. The liquor was mildly sweet but at the same time strangely vegetal/herbal. It took me a while to recognize that it tasted like bread. Damp bread, to be more precise… so it was not all that pleasant. :( Since this is a rather pure rooibos tea, I begin to think maybe it’s what rooibos really tastes like. I hope I am wrong again!
Preparation
I feel your pain Devilish! I’ve tasted plain rooibos good and bad so don’t despair. Teas.com.au do a delish vanilla rooibos. More than any other tea-type I find rooibos are either absolutely divine or incredibly putrid, for me it’s the hardest tea-type to buy without trying. I am truly amazed by the disparity around and almost hope one day to find a mediocre one.
Oh thanks so much for the tip Winter Salo! Seems the quality of rooibos can vary a great deal. I will tell myself to be hopeful and continue to sample rooibos by different companies! :)
I admire your courage and look forward to reading your results! :)
When this tea was served hot, the caramel was aromatic – kinda like caramel or toffee candies – but this didn’t translate into the flavour, unfortunately. I had the feeling that I was just having a cup of plain black tea. Imagine the disappointment! I was going to give this tea just a bare pass, but then I noticed a bright note of sweetness in my cup as the tea turned cold. The caramel was there, after all!! Perhaps I would try this with milk next time (or more radically, iced?).
It’s true that Lupicia’s teas are generally not strong, and this tea is no exception. remember to add more tea leaves when you think it is enough! Trust me! ;)Preparation
Delicate-as-morning-dew green tea + fragrant jasmine = DIVINE. This is definitely what I would like to drink while enjoying dim sum in a Chinese tea house. :) Clean, calming and refreshing, it is also my choice of drink when doing reading or meditation in quiet evenings. Too bad I only have a sample of this from T2 as it’s too expensive…
Oh by the way, T2 recommends using 3-4 tears per cup, which I think is too little. Double that unless you prefer weak tea!
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I ordered a small pot of this in Birdman Eating, Melbourne. The teapot for 1 used by this hip cafe was way too lovely!!! :D
I must admit that I went to the cafe for tea more because of the beautiful teaware (this sounds really crazy, doesn’t it). I picked this tea sort of randomly from the menu, completely unaware of its nature. It’s only after my first sip that I realized it was something I had never tried before – green rooibos!
I am pretty new to rooibos and therefore I don’t think I have got a good grasp of its characteristics. But I am certain that green rooibos is totally different from rooibos, or anything else. It is very delicate… the flavour is hard to describe, which is sweet and perhaps slightly vegetal? Reminds me of wheat or straw. Not sure whether the sweetness is from the rooibos or vanilla though. I was definitely bewildered, yet I was also excited to have tried such an unusual tea! It’s not something I would buy for my cupboard, but it’s a pleasant drink for a lazy, quiet afternoon as it really puts you in a relaxed mood.
