433 Tasting Notes
Was very careful not to over-steep this today and it made a difference, but I still find this blend quite disappointing. It smells wonderful but doesn’t quite live up to expectations taste-wise. Good coconut flavour (there are real coconut pieces in the tea), but I don’t get any cream, vanilla or pie notes. It’s kind of just a coconutty black blend. Good but not great.
Preparation
Something in this blend is a bit too strong for me and makes it kind of unbalanced. One of the spices, but it’s not cinnamon or clove. Maybe it’s the citrusy tang? I’m not totally sure. Anyway, I want to love this but I don’t because there’s a bit too much of whatever-it-is for me. It’s certainly different from other holiday blends I’ve tried because of that, and I can appreciate that at least. It’s not awful but it’s not a blend I crave or reach for frequently.
I felt like just plain vanilla black tea today, so I brought this to work to drink. I have to say, I don’t remember this blend being as blah as it tasted today! Definitely a huge disappointment based on my memouries of liking it a lot in the past. Not sure what’s different today, but I’m kind of glad I only have a bag or two more left now.
I’ll give it another try before adjusting my rating permanently, but I really over-rated it based on how it tasted today.
Preparation
I was kind of craving this today (which doesn’t happen often), so it tasted especially good. I really appreciate the strong banana note with the much more subtle chocolate in the background (I’m not a huge chocolate fan, especially in teas). I think the two flavours work really well together though. Perfect for a not-quite-spring-but-still-could-be-around-the-corner kind of day.
Preparation
Nothing much to say about this one… it tasted especially blah today for some reason. Only a couple of bags left, and I’m not sad about that!
Preparation
I custom blend my straight earl grey black loose leaf with my raspberry ceylon black loose leaf – and the flavor is through the roof! Not sure if you want to go to the effort. Just wanted to offer my personal experience. :)
What brands do you use? I would definitely love to try a blend I could actually taste the raspberry in at some point!
I use The Metropolitan Tea Company. It’s a wholesaler, and a lot of retailers repackage their tea and name it something different, or keep the same name. I order all of my Met tea (which is sold as Met company tea) through a wonderful, dependable online retailer: www.jollygoodtea.com She’s based in Washington I believe, and she often throws in complementary samples with your order! She’s very professional, and completed and shipped my orders promptly every time.
You can also check out my steepster cupboard for the raspberry ceylon tea for a quick peek about it. Her prices for flavored ceylon hover between $10 – 12 for 8 oz!! Definitely the best deal I’ve found so far. :)
Cool, thanks a lot for the info!
Second time trying this blend, and I’m afraid I’m not any more impressed with it than I was the first time. I don’t get much vanilla out of it… just kind of a creamy average black tea blend, really. The “cream” leaves a strange taste on the back of my tongue (not just in this blend—I’ve had that happen with others as well) and that’s kind of undesirable. Overall, not something I can recommend. I’ll probably make it through the package I bought but it’ll take me a while. So sad, I had much higher hopes for this.
