305 Tasting Notes
Thank you TTB1.2 for this nice selection!
The smell of the dry leaves is of sugar, a nice natural sweetness though, not a fake over the top sweet.
Today I brewed this up in my Dr. Tea glass teapot. I just love watching the leaves unfurl:)
The smell of the tea… I know that smell, can’t put my finger on it. Sugar cookie dough? No, but I do like this smell. Very soothing, calming.
First infusion yields a mild tea with a delicate taste. I LIKE IT! I am very surprised by this since my past attempts with green oolongs were down the kitchen drain before I could say YUCK…but this oolong is different. I will post again as my day goes with this tea. Stay tuned to this Bat channel for updates….
Preparation
This is the second time I have drank this tea. The first time, I just steeped in my cup and added a splash of milk and drank. It was good. This time I made it stovetop with 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup milk, 1 1/2 spoons of chai. Brought it all to a rolling boil, reduced heat and simmered 3 minutes. The ratios are not quite right. Any suggestions would be appreciated:) OK, Dumb question: When you make chai on the stovetop like this can you resteep the leaves?
I recommend no less than a 1:1 ratio of milk to water. You could bump it up to 2:1 milk to water. You could… resteep the leaves, but if you do, I suggest making the additional batches immediately as the milk spoils insanely quickly. That’s the one down side to the traditional prep.
How much chai would you use for the 1:1 ratio? 2:1 ratio?
The tea latte / chai latte recipe we use at our brick and mortar shop is: 1 can fat-free sweetened condensed milk:3 cans of skim milk, apply low heat and combine until uniform (scrape the bottom of the pot and make sure the sweetened condensed milk gets mixed in well). Then brew your tea as normal. In your mug, put equal parts latte and tea. ENJOY! The leftover latte can be kept in the fridge and reheated or used in iced tea lattes. You can also use whole milk and non-fat-free sweetened condensed milk if you like.
threewhales, no matter what the ratio, I suggest using one heaping tsp for every 6oz of liquid (3oz of each for a 1:1 ratio). The steeping time may also need adjusting. I never steep my chai for less than 5 min, and that’s when I drink it clean. I suggest upping the steeping time for 1 min when using a 1:1 milk to water ratio and 2 min when using a 2:1 ratio. For this chai you could probably 2x the amount of leaf you use- I find w/ the Mayan Chocolate Chai the cayenne gets too strong if I 2x the amount of leaf. Using S.C. milk makes it way too sweet for my personal tastes- and I’ve also found that sweetness can really dumb down the flavor of chocolate. I prefer a more traditional preparation (sans sugar).
@52teas, that latte mix sounds great! I will be picking up the ingredients within the next few days, thanks for sharing!
The smell is just like coconut cream pie. The taste is more like a coconut tea. Really good. I am so glad I purchased this tea for my dessert shelf in my tea cupboard!
Preparation
Ooh, this sounds good! I’ll have to remember to try this next time I’m around.
I also got in the chocolate chai!
Oh yea, I forgot you ordered those two on special. Let me know if the chocolate chai is good, I like the Mayan Chocolate Chai but I think I may like it better without the cayenne – it seems to give me heartburn…
mrawlins2, do you drink your Mayan Chocolate Chai clean or with milk? Milk or creamer may help.
@Cofftea – with milk. I think I’m just prone to heartburn, I guess I’ll start to take my meds before enjoying my chai – but I don’t have problems every time, just about every other time…strange.
I did a side by side comparison this morning of this tea with Samovar Breakfast Blend:
PG is bolder and benefits greatly from a milk & sugar addition. PG is good, economical and you gotta love that monkey:) http://www.pgtips.co.uk/
BB is sweeter smelling and tasting and slightly more astringent, no need for additives. Good plain. It does get bitter as it cools. Which is big draw back for me, at school my tea tends to cool before I can get it all drank.
All in all, I prefer the PG Tips. They just say “good morning” to me. Simple. Good. Affordable. No shipping charges. I think I am going to purchase a JoeMo thermos to keep this tea hot all day at school.
Started my day with this tea. Sweet, but not too much. Really delicate for a yunnan. Someone mentioned they thought it was more like a ceylon, that is probably why I like it. While reading the reviews for this tea, I noticed someone said it reminded them of PG Tips, so I did a side by side comparison this morning.:
BB is sweeter smelling and tasting and slightly more astringent, no need for additives. Good plain. It does get bitter as it cools. Which is big draw back for me, at school my tea tends to cool before I can get it all drank. BB is good. Pricey. But good.
PG is bolder and benefits greatly from a milk & sugar addition. PG is good, economical and you gotta love that monkey:)
Threewhales recipe for a GREAT cup of morning tea:
Place one pyramid in favorite tea cup, add hot water for a 1-2 minute brewing time. Add milk and rock crystals or brown sugar. Sip, Sit back and enjoy:) Ooh, Aww only with PG TIPS..
A second infusion is not only possible but highly recommended…why not get more bang for your buck!?!
The loooong search is over for my breakfast tea! This will do quite nicely, thank you. I do prefer to add milk and sugar to cut through the wee bit of bitter, but with a short brew time of 1-2 minutes, the bitter is barely noticeable. I was glad to read the other reviews about the second infusion on the pryamids. Good to know.
Preparation
Again, this morning! I may have found my breakfast tea. This morning I prepared it stovetop in my Corningware sauce maker pan. Much easier cleanup than the teapot. Since discovering this stovetop method, I don’t find myself constantly wanting another cup of tea. It seems I was always on a search for a particular taste…which ironically was in my cupboard the whole time!
That pot can be so annoying. I takes forever to decant, the lid falls off easily, and the leaves (especially for black teas) gets stuck up in the lid easily.