768 Tasting Notes
Celebrating the cool-ish weather with hot tea today. This was my afternoon cup. Man, I forgot how much I enjoy this one. Smooth and mild, and perfect with sugar cookies. I am not planning any tea orders in the near future, but this one is certainly worth a re-order.
Still one of my very favorite breakfast teas. This summer hasn’t been unusually hot. In fact, we’ve only gotten above 90 like 8 or 9 times. But it’s been consistently warm. Normally we’ll have a week of 75 here and there, or even some days in the upper 60s. This year it’s been in the mid to upper 80s just about every day. And I positively loathe hot weather. Add some humidity to it, and I am DONE. The last thing I want is a hot beverage.
But this weekend it is supposed to be low to mid 70s! And low to mid 50s at night!!! It will be very cool in the mornings in my apartment this weekend! See me? I’m the one with my cup ready to go. Tea drinking weather is coming!
(And winter. Yeah, winter is coming too. Sigh)
Oh, and though it wasn’t as cool as I wanted this morning—stupid humidity!— I had a couple of cups of this tea this morning. Nummy.
I received a single bag of this with a fiber arts swap. Have a mentioned that I have had a consistent slight sense of smell for a little over a month? It’s very slight, and a lot of the time I can’t even tell what it is that I’m smelling (although somehow I always know what I’m smelling when I clean the cat box) When I tore open the packet, I could smell cinnamon. Mmmm. One of my favorite scents. Really, it smelled delicious. It smelled good brewing too. The taste, however, is disappointing. I can taste cinnamon, and I think I can taste a tang of apple, but I’m not a fan of chamomile, and I think that might be what tipped this for me. Also, I get a sort of dry mouth feel that I sometimes get from cinnamon. All in all, glad to have tried it, but I won’t be buying any more.
I thought I was out of this tea! Turns out I had enough for this cup, and I think I can squeak one more out.
Even though it was 92 today with 83% humidity, I was a bit chilly in my apartment this afternoon. (Yes, my ancient air conditioner is LOUD, but it works!) I decided to brew a cup of tea instead of drinking more coffee. Ah, heaven. I forgot how good this tea is! Smooth, sooooo smooth, and mellow, and almost sweet. I know this is a bit on the spendy side, but so worth it.
I’m behind in my tea notes! I’ve been drinking tea but not writing about them. That is wrong of me, because some of those teas are ones I haven’t had before. My sense of smell, though weak, is hanging on, and I’m enjoying smelling and tasting tea. This is one that I received in my recent 52 Teas order, and I quite like it. I don’t detect the pistachio although I saw some in the leaf, but as I said, my sense of smell is weak. For me that isn’t a loss, since I’m actually not a huge fan of pistachios. Orange and cardamom, though, float my boat. I can definitely smell the orange, and taste it too. It’s a little sweet, a little tangy. It’s a nice balance with the mild bite of the cardamom. I have decided that cardamom might be one of my favorite tea additives. Usually when I think of tea with cardamom I think chai on cool autumn days. But this tea is great for warm summer evenings.
Flavors: Cardamom, Orange
Preparation
I got my order from 52 Teas today! I know, I know, I wasn’t going to order any more tea … Yeah, yeah. But I only ordered a few sample sizes. And I have a teeny bit of a sense of smell! And I remember how wonderful all of the 52 Teas I’ve had have tasted.
I had a hard time deciding which tea to try. All the teas sound awesome. I finally settled on this one because the directions said to allow the tea to cool for 5-10 minutes before drinking. It’s pretty hot here even with the air on, so I figured a cooling tea might be more refreshing.
It was refreshing. The scent was wonderfully like bananas and chocolate. (boy, I love being able to say that! This sense of smell is weak and will probably last only another week or so, but I’m enjoying it. It brews up a lovely dark apricot color. The odor was really like bananas and chocolate. I let mine cool for 5 minutes. My first sip was slightly woody. I’m not sure if that is quite the word, but I let it sit another couple of minutes and then it was perfect. The flavor was very subtle. That might be because my sense of smell is weak. I could definitely detect banana, and the chocolate was not so strong. Again, someone with a strong sense of smell might get different flavors. What mattered to me was that the woodiness was gone. The tea was slightly sweet on its own, no sugar or honey needed. This is a wonderful afternoon or evening dessert tea. This was the generous sample 52Teas sent along with my order. I wasn’t expecting an sample, since myh order was so small. But i’m grateful for it. Thjs one is definitely a winner!
Preparation
hate to say this, but I found a Mariage Freres tea I don’t like. This one was okay while it was hot, but as it cooled it turned bitter. I glanced through other notes, and most people seemed to enjoy it, so it’s probably me, not the tea. Perhaps the leaf is old, or maybe it brewed too long. At any rate, in the interests of being fair, I’m not going to rate this one. I’m glad I got to try this. Someday, probably in the very distant future, I plan to place an order with MF.
If it is like Marco Polo, it is fabulous when made just right, and the dickens when it isn’t! I have to keep those at a slightly lower temp, slightly short steep, and drink it before it gets cold. But it is great when everything is done just right!
I love Marco Polo! I guess I must have made it right when I had it. Thank for the tip about the lower temp and shorter steep, ashmanra. I have enough for another couple of cups and I hate to throw away tea. I’l try it that way next time and hopefully I’ll enjoy it a lot more.
I finished this sample off earlier today. Wow, is there a tea that Mariage Freres doesn’t do well? I really like this one. Smooth, mellow, creamy. Someday, when I finally get down to my dream tea chest of only 20 teas -hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?- I always want a Mariage Freres tea to be in there. And maybe more than one.
Nice. Mellow, slightly sweet. I haven’t had this one in months. Today is freaking hot out there. 92 and 60% humidity is probably nothing for a lot of you, but I hate hot weather! But my air conditioner is doing a stellar job (knock on wood. Don’t jinx the darned thing). It’s so loud that I can’t hear my TV, but that’s okay, as long as it is cool enough in my apartment to enjoy hot teas.
