390 Tasting Notes
hmm, brief view of the other reviews of this blend and those are not the experience i have had!
reading their reviews i overleafed and extended the steep time….whew! strongly marzipan!!! no problem!!! makes me wonder if they revamped the blend since then?
added a half teaspoon of agave syrup… noooooooot necessary, lol. a bit of cream with it was very nice.
smooth, not astringent. naturally sweet…. i think it might make a nice latte, and might be even nicer with a bit of contrasting spice added— nutmeg? i seem to be on a nutmeg kick!
so far this one is my least favourite TG tea…. not bad, just not as remarkable as the others i’ve tried. this also doesn’t follow my definition of a chai.
impressions: a vanilla tea. quite subtle. fruit tones that are very mild… some orange, less apple. some spice, but again not strong.
i do find this vendor impressive… i won’t ascribe numbers yet. i need to play with methods, timing and temperature.
=0) we will come to an understanding…. i am certain of it.
WOW!
i taste ripe, golden orange mangoes sliced and adorning the tea cup my son served me with….
i didn’t think i would get to try this one. i bought it for him (he likes all things mango and i don’t expect this bag of tea to last long, lol).
this blend is happily rooiboos free (!!!), light, fresh, i get an aroma of mangoes on the tree, of rind, but within the taste fruit and texture are the only layers. the mild fibrous tissue, juice spilling over my fingers and getting under my nails, the mild piquant but not spicy aspect of mango…. absolutely brilliant!
the very best tea blenders give spielberg and houdini…. they are illusionists and absolutely persuade me to suspend my disbelief. TGTeas…. you are among them. wow oh wow.
Preparation
Sounds delish
They really are magic-makers. I think everything I’d enjoyed so far, I’ve really loved.
there is only a single regret affiliated with my EU tea addiction (seeing as i have now officially branched out from france) is that i am also roped into SHIPPING charges. sigh.
Was shipping yuck? I found mine reasonable when I grabbed my first order.
no, it was totally fine actually! under 10$ =0)
and just so you know, there appears to be no shipping charge with zen tea at the moment?
I’ve yet to ever pay shipping with Zen. :) They’re wonderful!
smells divine…. absolutely, evilly, amazingly, calorie carryingly like a chocolate mousse with a perfectly ripened raspberry reduction decadently dripped over top. i’ve never smelled the like.
but the taste has a curl. no. no no no no. maybe if i say it backwards: ON ON ON ON!
rooiboos!
dammit. literacy only works if you use it =0(
new tea companies are so much fun to sort through… maybe even more so on low down dirty bad days like today.
i had concerns. it has been that bad a day….. but the tea smelled sooooooooo gooooooood. i mean wow. new germany tea company getting-to-know-you tap dance. should i? shouldn’t i? maybe i should just leave it for a better day….. aw, hell! maybe the tea would turn everything around! i put the kettle on.
the smell only got better. i was reminded of my gran’s kitchen with stewed rhubarb on the stove. it had the kind of smell that burned my fingers and my tongue, got me yelled at and lectured….. of course with standards like that (and the day i’ve been having) of course the smell and the taste didn’t match. sigh.
and then i had a moment. i was such a pest as a kid…. always wanted sugar on everything and thusly got it on virtually nothing. so when i ate my stewed rhubarb it was always with plain cream… no sugar, no nothing. and i always thought i was so hard up.
i really was a pest… i added plain cream. my day is much better. if you like stewed rhubarb this, my friends, is your tea.
smooth, tart but not bitter. cream component with no random chemical inflections. believe the 2 min steep.
sorry i’ve been a grouch today. don’t know what my problem’s been.
Preparation
Not enough sil. ;)
I love stewed rhubarb also! Haven’t tried it with cream though, only sugar. :-)
not enough what, sil?
@caile, i highly recommend rhubarb and cream. =0) quite awesome.
Your problem…. You said you didn’t know what it was… Clearly. Not enough sil :)
i know why MissB sent this to me. 1) not a caramel note in sight. 2) the smell!!!!!! wowza! the name is totally accurate too.
when i was a kid my gran would have a tin of cassis sucking candies in her mammoth sized purse…. opening the tin smelled just like this blend! juicy, tangy, robust, intriguing! a hint of astringency from the assam which is the perfect compliment to the black currant. i genuinely do get a sense of juiciness.
nice balance. definitely drinking a tea vs juice…. very nice. this blend makes me happy. i’ve had a number of ‘meh’ experiences lately. this was not one of them!!
thank you MissB!
Preparation
I bet you would love black currant jam. Too bad this fruit is banned in US. I buy imported occasionally in Russian stores.
Banned in the US???
I believe JustJames is based in Canada, where black currant isn’t banned. But also, the fruit isn’t technically banned in the US. Growing it is banned in some states. I’m still trying to figure out whether that ban extends to black currant products manufactured elsewhere, but I suspect it doesn’t.
Also, many black currant products are available for sale on Amazon, though that’s not a guarantee of legality :)
banned in the states? REALLY? now i have to look that up….. must know why. hmmmm.
It was banned as a vector for a pine tree disease. :) I looked it up too, then got distracted on the internet!
something to do with white pine specifically, buuuuuuuuuuut the ban was overturned in NY? not done yet….
Thanks for the link. I still don’t find it in Brooklyn so I didn’t know about ban overturn.
dunno, but apparently NY is one of the states allowed to grow them…? but we’re also outside observers, boychik ;-) just because it’s on the interweb don’t make it so! lol.
I live in the area where I don’t have to buy groceries in supermarket. I mostly shop in ethnic markets and lots of exotic fruits and veg available super fresh. That is why I’m a little puzzled. But I will look it up on web maybe it’s special orders.
rules and regulations also change according to who’s in power. might be that legally it’s allowed on a federal level, but not on a municipal level.
Wow. I’m thrilled you enjoyed this, and even more thrilled at the ensuing (and fascinating) discussion. Definitely learned something new today!
i know! who woud have thought black currants could constitute the tree equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction?!! lol.
It’s definitely nutmeg season!