618 Tasting Notes
[Backlog] – I am usually a big fan of Lupicia’s fruity blends, but there was something gross about this one. The peach seemed very artificial and the floral notes made it a bit more confusing — difficult to grasp what this tea was supposed to be! It was sweet, fake, floral, grassy. I was also not a fan of the green tea base, something about it was off. I really disliked this blend and dumped the rest of the cup.
I love blueberries and am always willing to try a blueberry tea. The dry leaf smells like yummy blueberries, but there is also a whiff of hibiscus. The blueberry is the dominant scent, so I’m not too concerned about the hibiscus taking over. I am getting a strange note of… bubblegum? I feel like this might be because of the flavoring.
Sipping… There is definitely a tart hibiscus note. For those of you that dislike hibiscus, I recommend you steer clear of this tea. It changes into a rather nice blueberry flavor — sweet. There is also something a little bready in the background, a bit like a pastry. It quickly fades, though. I don’t know how I feel about the finish. It’s got a bit of a cooling effect, almost as if there is mint in the blend. There is also something artificial about it as well. This isn’t my favorite blueberry tea, but it isn’t terrible. It might make a nice iced cup.
What? I had this tea ages ago and I thought that I had finished it off and written tasting note. Two surprises: I found a little tuocha today in my collection AND I guess that I haven’t logged this at all.
Puerh and I have an odd relationship — sometimes it’s brilliant and a nice change from my usual cups and sometimes it’s too earthy, dirty, fishy. I never know which to expect, but I usually know right after the water has been added. Giving this cup a sniff, it’s starchy, very much like cooked, dry rice. You know the rice that is a bit dried, but not toasted? That’s what I picture with this tea. I’m surprised that it calls for a 30 second steep time. It’s like dipping your toe in the water, hardly enough time or area for a dip!
Sipping… most of the flavor comes at the very beginning of the sip. I don’t find there to be much substance as the sip fades. It’s reminiscent of rice, but there is something leafy.. almost a little dried & and hay-like in the background. I almost want a little bit more of that starchy, sweetness.. but it is quite yummy the way it is. I’m sad that Chicago Tea Garden isn’t around any more… so I’m going to have to find an alternative supplier of sticky rice tuocha. I could definitely see myself drinking more of this kind of tea in the future.
Even though this tea interested me and I was THIS close to buying it, it didn’t officially make it into my shopping cart. Looking at my tea collection, I have SO many darn teas that I need to drink that I couldn’t justify making another purchase (unless it was a tea that I could not live without). Scheherazade shared a bit of this with me (THANK YOU!) so I will either regret or celebrate my passing up on this tea when it was on sale.
The scent of this tea is nice… a bit of a frilly raspberry, some floral note and a bit of black tea. I’m interested in seeing how this compares to other raspberry blends. Raspberry is such a lovely flavor in tea, but it has to be just right… Sipping.. a nice and light raspberry flavor that slides into into something like vanilla ice cream.. or maybe just an artificial vanilla note. I have to be looking for the creamy aspect as it’s not terribly evident. This blend leaves a strange and unpleasant aftertaste: a bit like stale tea leaves and chemicals.
I am very glad to have tried this blend and am happy I didn’t buy a whole pouch of it. I’ll certainly finish the cup, though.
I’m finishing off the last bit of this tea that I have. It has that very familiar fruity scent that so many of these fruity blends have. It’s nearly impossible for me to separate the individual fruit from the hibiscus, but this blend seems to be a jumbled mess of hibiscus + fruits, all topped with strawberry. I don’t mind hibiscus as long as it doesn’t overwhelm all of the other flavors in the cup.
Sipping… to be honest, I don’t taste anything all that different from other fruit blends. The only thing that distinguishes this one from the others is the presence of the strawberries. The strawberries are actually very nice and sweet. The hibiscus adds a very tart note, but it doesn’t smother the other flavors. It reminds me a little bit of strawberry lemonade only without the heavy lemon. Overall, this is a nice blend for those who like strawberries. I don’t think that I will be buying any more of this tea, but it definitely made a very nice cup for the summer.
Do you ever have those teas that you keep coming back to despite them not actually mixing well with your tastebuds? This tea and I have have a bit of a strange relationship because it was the first milk oolong I ever tried, it inspired me to try other milk oolongs and because it carries quite the high reviews and ratings. Despite all this, I haven’t been able to really taste what everyone else tastes with this tea. I have actually moved on to other milk oolongs since first trying this tea, but still… this one always creeps back up in my mind and grabs my attention and I think, “maybe THIS time I’ll make that cup everyone else has loved!” I know that tea tasting is very subjective, but with so many wonderful reviews, you would think there would be a large chance that I would follow suit. I’m not necessarily broken up about it, just curious!
Moraiwe was kind enough to share some of this tea with me in a recent swap (Thank You!) and I’m giving it another shot. Giving this tea a sniff, it seems much more like a regular green oolong than other milk oolongs I’ve had. There isn’t much of that buttery/milky scent that usually hits you in the face. Sipping… hmm… I am getting a nice milky note. It’s not as “obvious” as other teas, but it’s not bad. There is also a lovely sugary sweet finish that blossoms into something lightly floral. In the background is that leafy oolong flavor that ties everything together. Quite nice indeed! I suppose when you aren’t looking for the explicit milky notes that they slowly come out anyway.
This is a very nice oolong and if it weren’t so expensive, I would definitely add some to my collection. I don’t think it’s my favorite milk oolong, but it is one of my top oolongs to have in the cupboard now. Happy to have tried, retried and tried this tea again!
Preparation
Big thanks to Scheherazade for sharing some of this tea with me! I’ve always loved the reviews about Marco Polo, but unfortunately didn’t have the same experience. I found the black tea version to be disappointing at best. I love rooibos and knew I just had to try the rooibos version of Marco Polo!
Giving the tea a sniff… I notice the woody rooibos scent followed by a bit of berry and sweetness… quite promising! Sipping… ooh, this is lovely! I taste fruit, flowers and the rooibos all mixed up together. There is also something a bit like vanilla that adds the nicest bit of sweetness. How tasty! I wish that I had been able to detect all of these notes in the black tea version, but I actually think that given the choice, I’d still like this one more. As far as the floral note is concerned, I can’t put my finger on what it tastes like.. I’m thinking of a bunch of flower petals, to be honest. So very happy to have tasted this blend! Will definitely purchase this in the future.
The weather has been SO hot here for the past few days.. It’s the kind of weather that makes it nearly impossible to have hot tea…a dry sort of heat that lingers! I’m still not out of hot tea mode and much prefer it to any sort of iced tea. It’s night now and I can drink a cup of tea whilst in front of a fan. I have an early morning tomorrow so a decaf blend it is!
I am usually not a fan of peppermint teas… and when I do drink minty teas they are typically mixed with other things. I thought I’d give this one a try since I like SerendipiTea. They usually do a fine job with dessert teas. Sipping… this one isn’t actually all that bad! It’s got a rather floral peppermint note that is nicely toned down by the creamy vanilla. The first part of a sip actually reminds me of a swimming pool.. I can’t tell you what it is, though. Maybe it’s the scent… something that so clearly reminds me of chlorine. The tail end of the sip is the best part – smooth, minty and soft. Would I repurchase? Perhaps. I still think I owe this blend a few more cups before coming to any solid decision.
Lately I’ve been trying to recreate the incredibly delicious cups of tea that I had when I first tried this blend. I haven’t really been all that successful.. something is just not right. It’s much more.. tart and there is less of that raspberry/chocolate cream that I had tasted originally. I’m glad that I didn’t buy a ton of this blend as I would probably be even more disappointed! I’ll continue to experiment and see if anything changes. It’s not undrinkable, just not the lovely tea I remember!
I’m happy that I’m finally getting around to tasting this tea! This was one of the blends that I most wanted to try. I have been a bit preoccupied with some other black tea blends that I’ve been having in the morning with a splash of milk. I also placed an order with Serendipitea for some caffeine-free blends as I’m running out of choices for my evening/nighttime cuppa.
This tea is a very nice, smooth raspberry blend. What I mostly taste is the lovely black tea base. It’s not bitter at all and is awfully tasty! I’ve found that Bluebird Tea Co. uses very nice bases for their blends. The raspberry comes next and is not terribly prominent, but it’s there. I’m missing the whole cake aspect of this tea, though. I thought that there would be some kind of hint at a sponge cake… but unfortunately there is just the raspberry jam! It’s still yummy, sweet and almost a little bit floral. Would I purchase some of this tea? Maybe if it had more cake flavor, but this was a nice cup to have this afternoon!
