6 Tasting Notes
Once again, I’m incapable of producing an elaborate set of comparisons, but I love this tea, which is rich without bitterness, slightly cocoa-ish. I steeped it once for two minutes, the second time for three, and that was it. I drank the entire bag steadily through, pausing for no other varieties of tea because I liked it so much.
Preparation
I’m not a fan of this one, even though I started out with high hopes, being ever on the alert for a citrusy tea for icing. There’s something bitter to it, that I could swear was chamomile, a flavor I loathe, but it’s not in the list of ingredients, so it must be something else. The lavender? Perhaps that’s it. If not for that bit, I think I’d like this just fine.
I hesitate to review this tea, given that my palate and/or my ability to articulate how tea tastes lags so far behind the other contributors. But I bought a modest quantity of this the last time it became available and found that it tasted primarily of mushrooms. You wouldn’t think that this would be particularly alluring (in a tea, that is, I like to eat mushrooms). Yet now that I’ve used it all, I find often find myself craving it — in vain, since it’s only ever available in limited quantities. It’s a lovely darkish golden brown color and the pale brown spindly leaves are cool-looking, but I just miss that mushroomy flavor. I steeped it for about 1 minute, and got 3 good infusions out of each batch.
Preparation
I’ve been looking for a citrusy herb tea that did not contain hibiscus or rose hips — not easy. I first tried this iced in a NYC cafe, and iced is its best incarnation. It’s minty and the tartness is not too sour or fruity. The citrus is more lime than lemon, and more zest than juice. It makes the perfect unsweetened, uncaffeinated iced tea, but it’s also my go-to herbal when I’m feeling a cold coming on. I know this isn’t the lime-blossom tisane that Proust’s aunt used to give him, but it tastes exactly as I imagined that tea to have tasted.
