336 Tasting Notes
Day Two working remote. This was supposed to be the last week of training at the office, but my cars are still stuck in the driveway. Fortunately, the city sent a report and said that they are going to plow all the side streets this afternoon. I’ve managed to get all the snow off the sidewalk, and the driveway salted; however, the road is untouched. I saw my neighbor, in their pickup, struggling to gain momentum on the road at 06:30, so I knew that there’d be no way getting the wife out onto the road and going. I was correct because we spent 35 minutes pushing the car back into the driveway.
I brewed a cup of the Winter White Earl Grey after that failed attempt. I had a cuppa last night for the YouTube channel, but this is one of those morning teas that I like to enjoy—especially before my typical wakeup time. It was quite lovely. I added nothing to the cup. I never desire any cream or sugar for this Earl Grey. I will add honey to almost every other Earl Grey that I sip on, except for this tea.
The following notes:
Dry leaf: bergamot, citrus, & floral notes.
Flavor: mellow, sweet, warming, vibrant, citrusy, floral, and that smooth bergamot note throughout the cup.
PS. I know that this wasn’t quite the “deep dive” into the session, but it’s a simple tea that doesn’t need too much explanation. Sorry for the long venting at the top : )
Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Sweet
It snowed a lot in NE Ohio today. I spent most of the morning shoveling the sidewalk and driveway. My boss wanted me to work at home, but silly me, I left the laptop at work. I couldn’t move my tiny car out of the driveway, so my parents were kind enough to lend me their AWD. Even with that, the drive to the office took over an hour. After the long morning/early afternoon, I wanted a tea to sip while starting the shift off. I grabbed for this one and it was immediately the perfect choice.
This tea is bursting with that strong orange juice vibe. There’s a hint of cream, reminding me of an orange Julius. I really enjoy this cup. I had this one hot, but I’m going to make a batch of cold brew tonight for the office tomorrow.
Flavors: Citrus, Cream, Orange, Sweet
Gongfu’d
After reading another review, I realized that my palate may be off or I’m just feeling the energy a bit too much from the tea from earlier in the day.
I got a slight note of lemon and kale from the wet leaf aroma. I tasted more of the kale, sweet, ever so slight smoky elements, but that lingering flavor had a touch of lemon peel and custard. I compared it (verbally to a friend) to an IPA. You taste the citrus, but something else is blocking it from completely sticking out. I’m definitely fully tea drunk at this point, so at least I can confirm it’s a qi-filled treat.
Side Note: I’m going to make it a goal to eventually compare the 2020 with the 2021.
Flavors: Kale, Lemon, Smoke, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
This is one of the teas that my wife gifted for Christmas. I was excited to see what she would think that I’d enjoy. I drank this one plain and I got notes of dark chocolate covered almonds. It was a little bitter on the tongue, so I want to give it a try as a latte. I think the milk would add more creaminess to the tea and it’d taste more like a milk chocolate bar.
Flavors: Almond, Dark Chocolate
One of my top 5 favorite teas from Harney & Sons, although the hazelnut/almond flavor is more subtle than I expected when I tasted it the first time. I primarily get chocolate and vanilla from it with a hint of nuttiness. ‘Chocolate covered almonds’ is a good description. Glad you liked it!
Thank you! I liked it quite a lot :)
Sipdown
I’m drinking leftovers from my Tea and Me Blog Advent. I had reviewed this one on the vlog, but I am just going to go off of my current feelings with the cup. The aroma of the dry/wet leaf reminds me of beef jerky. It’s ‘meaty’ and ‘seasoned’ notes on the nose are off putting.
The flavor profile is alright. Passable at best, but definitely not the cup of rooibos I’d go for again, unless it were to lessen the load of my stash. I never give up on an unpopular tea in my stash, but I may not enjoy sipping it down. I added a tad bit of honey and it extracted the clove a touch. Again, it didn’t really hit home for me. I think this was the only tea of the advent that left me somewhat unimpressed. 24/25 is a pretty good outcome though.
Flavors: Clove, Meat
Backlog & Sipdown
Notes (1/5/22): I didn’t really like the tea base. The vanilla in the tea and creamer added was the only thing keeping me from dumping out the cup.
Ok super interesting because I’ve been eyeing Adagio’s flavored oolongs lately. Can you say what it was about the base that put you off?
I’ll do my best. I was working midnights at the time, so my mind was on autopilot. What I think it was that this is the possibility of oversteeping of the tea OR I didn’t like the base. It was bitter and malty. I like some malty notes, but not in oolongs. I expect to find that is some black teas.
I think they use the same base in their grapefruit oolong, which isn’t my favorite either unless cold brewed. I only had enough of this for one cup, so I can’t say how it’d do cold brewed.
Thanks, that’s helpful! Hope you have a better shift now!
Backlog & Sipdown
Notes (1/10/22): Dry leaf aroma: Woody/hay
Wet leaf aroma: Nutty, woody, sweet
Flavor profile (gongfu’d): I managed to actually brew tea in a teapot and stack the infusions without getting too distracted at work. I forget that tea is steeping, and that can really ruin the evening when wanting to brew more tea; therefore, it becomes a coffee night, and that’s not fun.
Anyway, I got strong notes of grain alcohol. I noted “Scotch-Whiskey, minus the intense burning.” This tea can brew kind of sweet, if you throw 180-185F water into the pot, but I have no control over the temp at work, so having 200F+ water can make these things difficult. I made sure to be conscious of the tea session, so I flash brewed every infusion. The tea was partially bitey, but manageable. I like this tea quite a lot, so I can appreciate the bite from time to time. I’d definitely avoid brewing this for my non-tea friends because it can go well, or not at all. Toward the end of the session, I noted, “Alfalfa hay.” I think the flavor reminded me of the aroma profile of the alfalfa hay bedding that our gerbil loves.
Sipdown
I’m not typically into mate. I had a non-tea friend mention that this was their favorite from Ohio Tea Co. Naturally, I got a little curious. I bought their 1oz bag at the shop, brewed it up, and was immediately hooked. Mate is normally mildly bitter and unfriendly to my tastebuds. The mango in this blend really mellows the tea out a tad and it is bearable. However, the game changer is when you brew it iced. I taste mango and peaches. I liked it iced to the point that I went back to Ohio Tea Co the following week and bought 4oz.
That was in the summer and had allowed the remaining 3 teaspoons-ish sit in the cabinet since that time. I honestly forgot about it. This was a rare situation where I wasn’t hoarding a tea because I didn’t want to finish it off (it’s local, so I could drive the 15 mins if I really needed more). I discovered it while gathering teas for the work week at the office. I needed a jolt of caffeine to power through the remainder of the training week, and today happened to be the day that I needed it the most. I love this tea. I sipped the rest cold brewed in my thermos and had comparable notes to previous sessions. I’ll definitely have to grab more when we head over to the shop next week (it’s a monthly journey where my wife stocks up on her tea…and I try new teas, too).
Flavors: Mango, Peach
