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Anna drank Monk's Blend by English Tea Store

303 tasting notes

This will be an uncharacteristically short tasting note, because this is so nondescript. It both looks and smells good in the bag – nice big leaf with petals, vaguely sweetfruity scent.

In the cup, though, it just sort of… sits. Sure, there’s a vague fruitness about it, and a subtle vanilla I think Angrboda might possibly like, but then there’s also a slight burnt note I don’t like at all. I think it’s the tea base. The aftertaste is the best part of the sip, but no, this is not really for me. I don’t like fruity blacks much in the first place, but I will keep sampling, because there has to be one I enjoy.

Just not this one.

Thanks for sharing, KittyLovesTea!

[Sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]

Preparation

Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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4 comments

Angrboda
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Yes, I’m also coming to the conclusion that anything you rate low will probably be right up my alley. :p We don’t have matching tastes, we have opposite tastes.

Anna
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I know, right? It’s surprisingly helpful!

Angrboda
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I just found this post again and I LOLed so much! And I quote, “which Angrboda will probably like”
I’m drinking it now and thinking omnomnomnom!

I’m not getting any burnt-ness from the base, but then again, I never make flavoured blacks with boiling water either, so that might make the difference. I feel flavours perform better for me with around 90°C.

Anna
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Hahaha. Oh man. It NEVER FAILS.

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Comments

Angrboda
Delete

Yes, I’m also coming to the conclusion that anything you rate low will probably be right up my alley. :p We don’t have matching tastes, we have opposite tastes.

Anna
Delete

I know, right? It’s surprisingly helpful!

Angrboda
Delete

I just found this post again and I LOLed so much! And I quote, “which Angrboda will probably like”
I’m drinking it now and thinking omnomnomnom!

Anna
Delete

Hahaha. Oh man. It NEVER FAILS.

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Bio

I’m going to try all the teas.

Then I will choose a lucky few perfect specimens, and we will live happily together in my tea cupboard.

Forever.

* *

2015

This will be a year of in-betweenness and logistics. Where to put the teas. How to arrange the teas. Which teas to replenish – which ones to say goodbye to.

Still doing Project Green.
Still doing Project Jasmine.
Still doing Project Peach.

Dr. Tea is the name, I’m ahead of my game
still, steeping my leafs, still f*ck with the temps
still not loving Assam (uh-huh)
still rock my Bosch kettle with its high-pitched shriek
still got love for the greens, repping Lupicia
still the cup steams, still doing my thang
since I left, ain’t too much changed, still

(With apologies to Mr. Young.)

2014

This year, all bets are off. I am going to drink both peppermint and chamomile and possibly suffer a little. But it’s okay – it’s for science.

I’m doing Project Jasmine, Project Peach and Project Unflavoured Green.

In terms of flavoured teas, Lupicia and Mariage Frères have become my massive favourites, and I have learned that Dammann Frères/Fauchon/Hédiard and Butiki aren’t really for me.

The O Dor, Adagio and Comptoir des thés et des épices are all on this year’s I’d like to get to know you better list.

2013

Getting back into tea drinking last fall, I was all about rooibos. This past spring has been all green tea, all the time, with some white additions over the summer. Currently attempting a slow, autumnal graduation to black teas. Oolongs are always appropriate.

The constant for me, flavour wise, is the strong presence of fruity and floral notes. Vanilla is lush, as long as it’s not artificial. Peach, berries, mango. Cornflower, rose, lavender.

No peppermint.

No chamomile.

No cinnamon.

Ever.

* *

My ratings don’t reflect the ‘What does this tea do for me?’ standard, but rather my own ‘What would I do for this tea?’ scale.

100-90
My absolute favourites. Teas I would travel for – or, in any case, pay exuberant postage for, because they simply have to be in my cupboard. Generally multi-faceted teas with complex scents and flavours. Teas with personality. Tricky teas.

89-80
Teas I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again if and when I came across them. Tea purchases I would surreptitiously weave into a travel itinerary (Oh! A Lupicia store! Here?! My word!).

79-70
Teas I enjoyed, but don’t necessarily need to make any kind of effort to buy again.

69-0
Varying degrees of disinterest and contempt.