This is the tea of the week for July 4, 2022 (it was just added to the website) & since I have yet to complete May’s scavenger hunt (and a Strawberry Tea is one of the prompts for May’s scavenger hunt) I decided to post here as I do my final taste test of this tea & also post it as part of my scavenger hunt teas. :)
This is so good. I love how it turned out (I know I say that a lot.) The solid Assam base is hearty & malty. It’s the primary flavor of this tea – however, as I continue to sip, the flavors of strawberry shortcake continue to develop & make themselves known. It starts off as a very gentle note of strawberry & hints of vanilla & butter. By mid-sip, I can taste buttery shortbread & a more pronounced strawberry note & a lovely note of cream. The butter really becomes defined as it continues to cool & I continue to sip.
Because this is an Assam, attention to the steep time is important. I recommend somewhere between 2 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes, but not beyond that because the longer this one steeps, the more risk of bitterness. When you do hit that sweet spot (for me, it is 2 minutes 45 seconds) you get a really rich, flavorful, malty black tea that is exactly the flavor I look for in a breakfast tea.
The cool time is also essential for this particular tea. It needs at least 10 minutes to cool before you start sipping. If you drink it fresh & hot right out of the teapot – it’s going to taste like black tea. A really flavorful, delicious black tea but if you want that strawberry flavor, wait a few minutes (at least 10) – the flavor will continue to develop..
It’s also a delicious tea to come back to about an hour later after you’ve forgotten that it’s waiting for you on the counter – (this is my way of saying it’s a good iced tea!)
Flavors: Butter, Malt, Rich, Strawberry, Vanilla
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That’s the joy of creation — seeing your finished product come out as intended!
Yeah, it doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes (not often) the blend just does not work and I need to go in a completely different direction. Sometimes it didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted to but it is still tasty (sometimes even better than expected). It’s hard to know how the leaves will react with the ingredients sometimes.
Applies to yarn, cutting and gluing, concocting kids’ activities…(I’m laughing at “the blend just does not work.” Describes the kids I’ve been teaching for two years two a T! Love them all individually, but oh, the combined chemistry!)
That’s the joy of creation — seeing your finished product come out as intended!
Yeah, it doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes (not often) the blend just does not work and I need to go in a completely different direction. Sometimes it didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted to but it is still tasty (sometimes even better than expected). It’s hard to know how the leaves will react with the ingredients sometimes.
Applies to yarn, cutting and gluing, concocting kids’ activities…(I’m laughing at “the blend just does not work.” Describes the kids I’ve been teaching for two years two a T! Love them all individually, but oh, the combined chemistry!)