Re-visiting this, more than a year later. To avoid smell contamination I had put my bag into an empty tin and promptly lost it at the back of the cupboard. I remember it being bitter and over-bearing, so I’m steeping it in slightly cooled water for about 2.5 minutes. I’m using a tea-sac as there’s no way this could go in my strainer. I have raw sugar on hand to sweeten as necessary – I’m prepared, right?
First sips are spicy and bitter, puts me in mind of gingerbread men, I’m picking up ginger/nutmeg/cinnamon spices. A bit of sugar later, and I’ve got a cup that’s more bitter. What? Okay, let’s add more sugar…Well, it’s sweeter. It’s too sweet, actually. It’s covering up any potential flavour. This tea has always been finicky for me. Weirdly, I get a tonne of astringency underneath the sugar so it didn’t even work. If anyone has expert tips on making this one work, I’d love to hear them. I wish I had honey at work as that might have helped more, but alas..
EDIT to add: I don’t like milk, which is why I didn’t do the obvious and add milk to it. I can stand a little bit in my tea but it needs to be very small otherwise blech!
