1908 Tasting Notes
Sometimes I think this smells like cough medicine, sometimes I think it smells like apple cider; it changes for sniff to sniff, which is quite odd. It also brews up a surprisingly dark reddish-brown colour for a rooibos-based tea.
Each taste seems to be divided into three distinct parts. First there’s a bit of vanilla-ish sweetness right on the tip of the tongue, this quickly fades into a distinct, but not overwhelming, peppery bite. Then the aftertaste carries the distinct tart-earthy flavour of rooibos.
It’s interesting and I’m leaning toward liking it, though like most rooibos teas this one will have to work at it a little to gain my affections. ;)
Preparation
I’m officially giving up on this tea. It tastes sort of like weak, heated fruit punch, but it still has a bit of that mouth-drying quality that I don’t care for. I might chuck this into the Travelling Teabox – maybe someone else down the line will like this better than I do!
Preparation
I want to know more about the Traveling Teabox :-)
Rena, the Travelling Teabox is a box of tea that is sent from person to person. Each person then takes something out and puts something else in. I’m afraid sign ups are closed now, I took sign ups all through December, but it seems from your posts that you’ve been away a lot, so maybe you hadn’t seen. I’m definitely not counting on this being the only one ever, though, but I don’t know when a second one will get sent out. It depends on how long it takes for this one to make it through 29 people and four countries. :) But you should definitely have the chance to sign up, if you’re interested, another time. :)
Rena, here’s the thread http://steepster.com/discuss/102-travelling-teabox. Unfortunately the route has already been planned out, but maybe if you email Angrboda something can be worked out.
(Smacks self in head) Yes, I see it now. I should have checked in Discussions, but I usually look at new Tasting Notes first. Thanks for answering.
One of the teas my boyfriend gave me for X-mas (I suppose I’ll keep him afterall ~_^).
The tea, both dry and when it’s brewing, smells likes one of those oranges with cloves stuck in it (is there a name for those?). The liquor is surpringly light, starting with a slightly sweet, orangy flavour and ending with a bit of light, gentle spice (I’m thinking cloves with a bit of cardamon and cinnamon).
Preparation
I like the scent of this – it’s quite tantalizingly fruity. There aren’t any mango pieces in it, to my disapointment, but according to the seller they use ‘real mango oil’ in this tea, so I suppose that gives it some authenticity.
I took the first sip of tea while it was still quite hot and I didin’t really taste much except the Ceylon base. Naturally I felt rather cheated, but when I let the tea cool down a bit the mango flavour started to come in. It’s not very strong, more like a pleasent hint to compliment the black tea than the main event.
Not bad, but I was expecting a bit more out of this tea than I got.
Preparation
Moar Backlogging:
Another tea I had while I was in Vancouver. The downtown has a couple of nice tea shops within a small area so naturally I made it my mission to check them out. I sat down to lunch at Murchie’s with a pot of this tea and a chicken salad croissant.
This is a very light, smooth tea that has little to no astringency or harshness. It also goes well with a splash of milk. It’s maybe a little ‘normal’ tasting for me, though I imagine that drinkers of traditional, straight black tea would think that it’s quite good.
Preparation
More Backlogging:
Oh. My. God. This tea tastes absolutely incredible! I visited the Urban Tea Merchant in Vancouver and O Dor is the brand they carry in their teahouse/shop. I ordered a cup and a couple of the freshly-made, sweet truffles that were also for sale.
When I first took a sip the tea tasted quite buttery but at the same time rather vegetal – in a good way. But then I took a bite of truffle and had another sip and the explosion of flavour was incredible. It tasted so sweet and creamy with notes of vanilla that I could hardly believe that this was a pure, unflavoured tea. So if you ever have this tea I’d really recommend having it with something sweet – it really enhances the experience, I know I was in absolute heaven.
And I went to buy a tin and was told that it was $84 for a small tin. Maybe next time when I’m feeling (much) richer. 0_0
I just had my first milk oolong a few days ago and I know exactly how you feel.. I hate that it’s so expensive, because it’s SO GOOD.
Milk Oolong…haven’t had milky oolong…must google
What do they mean ‘milk’ oolong? Is it something to do with the way it’s produced like jade oolongs, or the way it’s brewed, or an additive or something to holds up to adding milk?
@ Angrboda…I was wondering the same thing!
It has to do with the way it’s produced, actually. According to teaspring, it’s made from tea leaves at certain time, temperature, altitude, soil conditions to get the milky silky texture.
Cool. I’ve never knowingly had any of that. Maybe I’ll give it a go in the not too distant future. :)
Ooooooh this sounds good. Like, inappropriately good.
@Angrboda, @Bethany I believe there are two kinds of “silk oolongs” (the name for milky oolong teas)—some that are naturally milky tasting because of the way they are produced, and some are actually made with a milk infusion. The milk sugars give the tea a caramelized, buttery taste.
Thanks Shanti, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for that.
The O Dor is now my favorite tea company. If you’ve never checked out The Urban Tea Merchant’s website, you should. There are some truly unique teas from The O Dor, including some with tomato and other vegetable flavors. I want to try every one of them. J’Taime is also good – a green with marzipan and, I think, a cherry flavor :)
Cool, thanks for the rec. I had a quick look at their tea collection when I was in the shop but I didn’t see that one. This is why I love visiting Vancouver! XD
Backlogging:
I had a cup of this last night at my aunt’s house – she has quite a nice tea collection aswell. ;)
There as too much sweet licorice root in this tea for my tastes though. It’s a taste that I’m used to associating with medicinal tea so that’s what this tea reminded me of.
Preparation
Backlogging:
Blech! This tea was pretty nasty. I picked up a bottle on my trip to Vancouver on the 26th because I needed something cold. The first thing you taste is a wave of very artificial-tasting blueberry flavour. Then there’s a bitter, slightly astringent, tang which to me seems to indicate improperly brewed white tea. Then there’s sugary sweetness on the tail end; it’s like they try (and fail) to cover up the tea’s short-coming by drowning it in sugar.
