230 Tasting Notes
I got a sample of this tea for free from Angel at Teavivire.
The dry leaf was beautiful – wiry, long, and golden. The smell as it brews is very sweet and malty.
As I drank the tea I tasted the sweet notes immensley. Honey, toasted rice, warm barley all came to mind. As the tea cooled I got more of the astrignent flavor. I drank this tea as I was on my way to work in traffic — I have enough of my sample to try again when I can cocentrate more on the tea and less on outside annoyances like traffic jams.
The flavor is very Honey. The leaves are very tippy and golden. Tea brews to a medium brown.
This note is from the two times I reached for this tea in the last 20 hours. The smell is perfectly cranberry and almond. I am pushing this score higher.
In order for me to truly enjoy a flavored black tea all the elements need to come together – flavoring, quality tea, mouthfeel, etc. In this tea the flavor is great, the tea itself tastes good and the mouthfeel does not have a sensation of artificialness.
This is a great find for me from a local teashop. I am not sure where she sources this from.
This is the first Keemun that I have tasted on its own. I have drank tea blends that are made partly with Keemun.
The dry leaves smell somewhat smokey.
At the first sip I found the smokey note and as a sweet fruity flavor. As the tea cooled I smelled and got more of a honey flavor. The color of the tea was a dark brown when brewed. This tea has a subtle smokiness that I like.
This is such a great basic flavored tea. Oddly, I LOVE honey teas but rarely put honey IN my tea. The flavor tastes very crisp and clean. As an aside, this tea does perfectly well when made using microwave water (as the micro is my only option at work).
The honey is strongest at the beginning of each sip. As the taste cools the black tea becomes more powerful and the honey flavor more slight. The flavor is very natural and does not taste artificial.
(See previous notes for more info)
Drank this on the way to work today. It was much more minty then the last time I drank it. This was a great start of the day! The combination of mint, buttercream and black tea is great. The owner of virtuous teas, Eo, informed me that this was a blend made in house.
I love that even though the most prominent flavor is mint I can still taste the other notes (buttercream, vanilla, hearty black tea) underneath.
That sounds delicious. And well balanced, which is nice.
Ooooooo!
I’d share it with you ladies but this was my last cup! Do you know of any mint teas that are balanced without the Mint overpowering?
I can think of some that are mixed with another flavor where the mint isn’t too over powering…like Apple Mint from McNulty;s for example or are you thinking straight-up mint and black tea???
I think both would be good. I LOVE mint but don’t always want to feel like I am drinking mint gum!
I LOVE this tea. Anyone have some good recommendations for other Violet Tea?
Read the review here: http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=19586
Preparation
Rose Violet Calendula Oolong by Butiki Teas was nice. It was sent along my order as a small sample, so I didn’t have the chance to try it many times; but I did enjoy it
I’ve been considering this one for a while, primarily because I really really really want that TIN! :p I’m not super-happy about very floral scented teas, though. On a scale from one to five, how perfumed would you say this was?
Rmark: Thank you for the suggestion! I want to order from Butaki in the near future.
Angrboda: This tea is probably a 4….I opened the tin and gave it a smell to for you and refresh my memory. You can smell/taste is very floral although you can also taste the black tea….I hope this helps!
