141 Tasting Notes
Somewhat bland – some aroma of lemon and a faint taste of it, even though I steeped it an extra minute beyond the directions. I don’t taste the black tea at all. Real lemon is not used, but soy lecithin instead. I doubt I will finish the cup. It is not offensive, just bland. Apparently today is not a good day for trying new teas. I have liked 0 out of 4 new teas so far, though Numi golden chai was okay.
Preparation
I can taste the strength and maltiness of the Assam, but the other teas in the blend are drowned out. I don’t taste anything resembling Darjeeling or Ceylon, though it does have some of the smokiness of the Keemun. It is defintely not a naturally sweet tea. It is most similar to Ridgways’ pure Assam, though I prefer that tea to this one.
Preparation
Mainly I taste the cardamom and cinnamon, very similar to Ahmad’s Cardamom tea. I am surprised that the Assam tea does not come through more. The spices are not particularly bold; I don’t really taste the ginger or anise at all. It is a pleasant cup of spice flavored tea, but it is not really strong enough to be a chai. I drank it with half and half and sugar.
Preparation
This is my first puerh. I wanted to try an unflavored one first to get a sense of the tea by itself. The bag smells a little bit fishy, but not overpowering, and it continues to smell that way as it is steeping. As the steeping progresses, it smells like dirt. It tastes like a mixture of dirt and a little bit of fish-food, even with cream and sugar. I don’t think I will finish the cup.
Preparation
Not a bad tea, but not great either. It had the grassy taste of green tea, but some sugar and a teaspoon of acacia honey brought out the lemongrass and ginger flavors. The lemon was the stronger flavor of the two; the ginger lurked in the background, so I added a pinch of ground ginger, which I felt improved the tea and balanced the flavors. I just don’t feel that a tea should need this much doctoring to taste good. It did feel good, however, on my throat, which is still hoarse from a cold.
Preparation
I had Twinings Darjeeling a couple times yesterday, and having Bigelows otday, it seems somewhat harsh in comparison. The muscatel flavor is there, but the the natural sweetness of Darjeeling is not. Adding more sugar helps, both in bringing out the flavor and in reducing the harshness, but I prefer Twinings with less sugar.
Preparation
Very strong, very malty, unmistakably Assam. If I handed this to someone and did not tell them what it was, they might think it was coffee. Milk and sugar was not enough to tame this beast; it required some agave nectar as well. A definite wake you up kind of tea.