985 Tasting Notes
Backlog from yesterday afternoon…..
This one is really pretty good. It has almond flavor with a note of vanilla. Very relaxing and great on a chilly day. I am sorry I waited so long to try this one. It was part of my HoppiTEA swap from Dinosara! Thank you, Dinosara!
24 oz pot, 4 1/2 actual tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 3 minutes. Lightly sweetened.
Preparation
Tea of the morning with a little experiment…..
I have a jar! I decided to make up a mug of this and try it with some frothed skim milk. I think I will probably have to play around with it a little… I did skim milk in the jar in the microwave this time around. I might try half & half next time. What I ended up with was a chocolately tea that was mostly just frothed on top. It probably could have used a little more sweet, too.
12 oz mug, 2 tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetend and made into a latte!
Notes on the froth: about 2/3 c milk in a jar. Microwave 1 minute with the lid off. Put the lid on and shake! Poor man’s froth! (I did just use the foam on top….I hope that was the right thing to do as I have not had that many lattes in my life!)
Preparation
You people and your froth. I don’t own a microwave (by choice) and am so jealous. I’ll have to see if there is a way I can do it with things I already own. Like a whisk and a stove. : )
If you go with the stove, I would put the open jar (with milk in it)
in a shallow pan of water to heat it up. Then put the lid on the jar and shake. I think manual frothing with a whisk sounds like way too much work.
yep the foam is like the gold of the frothed milk! Yum.
ChOTD
Yes, I forgot this one was in transit….
This one is lightly chocolate, and definitely has a heat to it. I think it might be the ginger. It is good if you like a spicy chai with a little twist. Very enjoyable, but not top on my list as I tend to shy away from the more spicy blends.
1 1/2 cup water, 3 heaping tsp chai, simmer 3 minutes. Add 3/4 cup skim milk and simmer for 2 more minutes. Strain. Lightly sweetened.
Preparation
Tea of the morning….
I recently ordered from Zhi to stock up on Gong Fu Black, and this was a 20 g free sample. Smell is of coconut, and the steeped tea is rather smooth, slightly malty, lightly coconutty. There is a good balance between the base and flavor. Even though this one is also slightly buttery, it is much more subtle in flavor than something like David’s Buttered Rum. I would call it more sophisticated. I do think this will be up for condsideration the next time I order at Zhi, but it is not the kind of tea you plan an order around, if that makes sense.
24 oz teapot, 6 actual tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 3 minutes. Lightly sweetened. Second steep at 5 minutes was just as good as the first.
Preparation
I decided to give this blend a go today since I am enjoying the Holy Basil so much. This turns out to be lemony, spicy, and a little minty all at once. I do like both herbals on their own, but decided to blend them for one pot of super powers!
24 oz teapot, 3 tsp Holy Basil Purple Leaf, 3 tsp Vitality, freshly boiled water, 8 minutes.
Preparation
Tea of the afernoon…..
I was hoping to do some frothed milk for this ala DaisyChubb’s new found method, but I need a jar. I am too good at recycling them these days! I have some jarred sauce in the fridge (I know, the horror!) that is almost empty. At this point, if I don’t like the frothed milk in the microwave, it makes no sense to spend much on the equipment to froth. So I must wait for the jar to be empty and clean…….
This is still really good…bergamot and creamy vanilla. I did add a tiny spash of half & half just to see how creamy it could taste, and I do think the bubbly milk would be nice.
Preparation
ChOTD….
I added some chocolate tea to this mix to mellow it out a little. It is much better. Right now, I only have this mix (just over 4 ounces worth) and the Tipu Chai, so there are now only two choices. This will be my last log of this one until I get some new chais! (I do have enough for one more try of Harney’s Indian Spice, though!)
ChOTD…..
This one is interesting….it is essentially a catch-all tin for anything chai-ish. It started with about 1 or 2 ounces of Adagio Thai Chai, the end of my Adagio Masala Chai sample, the end of my Naturally Flavored Cinnamon Tea sample from Upton, And the ends of my Tropical Chai and Hearthside Chai samples. I decided to make this tin my Franken Chai, because I can just keep adding things, using some up, and it will evolve into its own type of chai, no matter how perfect, or imperfect. Now, I keep thinking of things I could add…..
My cuppa today…. tastes a little more lemongrassy than I would like (that would be from the Adagio Thai Chai). I think I will try less chai mix next time…
Edit to add Folks….this is the 80,000th tasting note on Steepster! (about 6:40 am EDT, September 19, 2011…at least I think it was. I checked the number of tasting notes right after posting this and it said 80000….)
Tea of the early morning…..
I added some organic Keemun again. I guess I need a little more of a full flavor and the Keemun seems to make it perfect. Lucky for me, I have at least 5 versions of Keemun from several price points in my cupboard (some are samples). I think it might be time for Keemun Class…..just to see what changes with the pricetag! I love a little experiment!
Anyway, I love this one…the raspberry, the chocolate, the mate, and the chicory all rounded out with a little Keemun in my pot. Plus, the Keemun allows me to use a little less Chocolate Rocket, which means I can hold off for longer on making an order. (I really have got to stop adding so much to my cupboard……. and relax…….. and drink some tea!)
24 oz teapot, 4 tsp Chocolate Rocket (this has lots of bits with the mate), 1 1/2 tsp organic Keemun, freshly boiled water, 5 minutes. Lightly sweetened.
