1908 Tasting Notes
I’m typing this up as I wait for the first trick-or-treaters to ring the doorbell and I figured I’d make myself something autumn-y to get in the spirit.
I love the strong, ‘real’ apple flavouring of this tea but the black tea base is just so flat that it takes away from the whole thing. Oh well.
Preparation
So based on my last experience with this tea I decided to go out and buy some goji berries from the health food store. Having tried them I’ve concluded that they and this tea have only a passing aquaintance. They both have a bit of a tartness to them, but when I drink this tea I keep thinking ‘tart strawberry’ instead of ‘goji’.
Preparation
I resteeped the leaves from last night and they were plenty strong enough to provide me with another cuppa this morning. This tea does lose a lot of its unique qualities on the resteep I’ve noticed, and it tasted more like a slightly smokey generic (but still high quality) black tea.
Preparation
Halloween party tonight and what better way to make sure I’m bright and awake? I think I used a bit too much dry leaf because it has a slightly bitter aftertaste but oddly enough it almost seems to work with the smokiness of the tea. (And sorry, still not tasting any pepper.)
Preparation
Oh thank you! Finally someone else who can find the smokiness in Yunnan! I think of it as sort of in the vein as Lapsang Souchong, only milder, but that if you don’t like one, chances are you won’t like the other either. I’ve stopped mentioning that because people kept looking funny and started talking about pepper. I can’t remember having found any pepper either. I was beginning to think my memory had been playing tricks on me.
Exactly! I had pepper on my pasta for lunch and it sure the heck didn’t taste anything like this tea does. It reminds me more of the Russian Caravan teas that I drink – although it has different undertones.
Has anyone — other than the guys who write the descriptions for the tea companies — ever tasted pepper or spice? With Yunnans, I taste maltiness and a caramel thing. But spice? I haven’t found one Yunnan that matches that description. I think we’re onto something here.
I have on occassion encountered something that I’ve described as having a spicey taste, but how we perceive flavour is so individual so that might easily be my own definition of a spicey taste that someone else would describe differently.
Sometimes I pick up a taste that tastes like my pepper mill smells. I assume that’s what they’re talking about and go ahead and call that ‘peppery’, but that’s the closest I’ve really gotten (because the way a pepper mill smells and tastes are two different things… not that I go around licking pepper mills or anything).
I steeped this for slightly less time than before and that helped a bit. It has an interesting odor reminiscent of spiced apple cider or maybe those ‘Christmas scented’ potpourries. Taste-wise the chai spices are still too much for this tea unfortunately and they’re just too harsh on the tongue to be really enjoyable.
Preparation
This isn’t tasting as strong as last time, maybe because I blew out my tastebuds with hot pepper. Note to Self: When de-seeding jalapeno peppers DO NOT give into temptation to try eating the seeds. >.<
One thing I’ve noticed is that the leaves are a lot more broken up than those shown in the picture on the H&S website, although this is probably due to it being a sample packet and possibly getting crushed a bit in the mail.
I resteeped the leaves and the sweetness of the white tea came through more, though the bergamot was dulled. There was also a strange sort of vegetal taste to it.
Preparation
Meh, like I said before, not nearly as good as Adagio’s Thai Chai. My boyfriend and I made a cup of each and tasted them side by side and he agreed with me. I’m half thinking of offering this tea up for adoption.
Preparation
The boyfriend and I went out for breakfast this morning and I ordered this at the restaurant. Just taking a sniff of the tea revealed a heady fragrance of sweet fruit. I didn’t have a timer of course, so I tried to use my watch to time the steeping. The package recommended 3 minutes so that’s what I went for.
Upon tasting I found the tea to be quite delicate and slightly sweet in the way that white teas (particularly bai mu dans) can be. The fruitiness was only a faint echo but it still made a good impression. Part of the problem might be that it was steeped in one of those little metal teapots which had more than a cup’s worth of water, thereby diluting the tea a bit. Despite that it was a still an enjoyable cuppa and it made my breakfast feel very decadent. :D
Preparation
I added two heaping teaspoonfuls this time and I think I might be closer to the correct amount. It has a distinctly flowery scent, almost like you smell in a field of wildflowers after a light rain. The tea starts out tasting rather light, slightly sweet, and fruity and finishes in a slightly cooked/baked taste, though the latter isn’t nearly as prominent as in the Formosa Oolongs I’ve tried.
Preparation
I know black teas generally aren’t much good for resteeping, but I’ve noticed that there is a smattering of green tea leaves in this tea suggesting that it might be a blend of black and green (although definitely more of the former than the latter). So I decided to go for it with the leaves from this morning.
I added on an extra minute to this morning’s steeping time, I think it worked out to about 5.5 minutes. The result is a little thin but still nice and drinkable. I know tea is supposed to be a warming beverage in general, but there’s something very ‘warm’ about the taste of this particular blend.
