1598 Tasting Notes
Interesting! Not one I would have bought directly but it’s good. It’s only partially an EG with subtle bergamot notes and creamy caramel and rooibos woodiness. I think of creamy lemon custard even though that may all just be in my head!
It’s Friday, you guys! Friday!
(170)
Not sure if I’m grumpy or what, but I don’t feel like talking about tea today. Too bad because this one is great. SO great. I’ll just sip it in silence.
(unrelated: I’m at home today and after cleaning the house all morning, I’m now relaxing in a sundress because I want to enjoy spring, and sweat pants, because i’m cold!)
Thank you Kat Maria! I cold-brewed this overnight and am enjoying it right now. I just took a bit as the rest will go to TK. (yay! decaf!) It’s really good. Naturally sweet without being crazy about it, and I can taste the fruit. I don’t know why I didn’t expect this to taste as good as it does, but I’m very pleasantly surprised.
Y’know what? Just because it’s highly unlikely I’ll hit 150 this month doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. So I will. I am. (174)
Thanks to Sil for passing this one on to me. It’s a nice orangy-chai that’s quite good! I like orange, and it matches well with all these spices. It makes me think of holidays!
Another sipdown! (175)
I don’t think I’ll hit 150 this month. I ended up doing more swaps than I had planned, but it’s cool. I’m cool with that. :D
This is a nice green. I can definitely taste the strawberry and vanilla. I don’t think I’d purchase it – I don’t drink many greens to begin with – but it IS nice.
I’m drinking this today instead of A&D’s Assam because I’m trying to rotate it out before it hits the 1 year mark. I’ve had it 9 months now and I don’t think it’s lost any flavour at all, but sadly, it just can’t compete with my Tiger Assam. It has a Tiger on the tin! I’m suggestible and that gives it extra BAM for that.
Still this is a nice cup, and doesn’t require anything to enjoy it!
I am a former design student and I am also a sucker for packaging. I want to collect all of the labels for the Sherlock teas even if I don’t drink them. I want to wallpaper my tea cabinet with them.
Glad I’m not the only one! I’m happy I kept my old Tiger Assam tin – I divided my new order between the two tins nad now I have one Tiger for work and one for home. :D
I love the Adagio tins too, but I don’t know what to do with mine once they’re empty… :|
can you still get tiger assam? if so, from where?
You can! A&D sell it here: http://damnfinetea.com/
It’s a little expensive, but it’s good.
The Zen Tea Assam Mangalam Second Flush FTGFOP1 is an excellent Assam and a terrific value compared to A&D at $80/LB!
Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with it. It was an excellent introduction to Assam teas when I first starting drinking loose leaf. I just don’t enjoy it as much as I do the A&D one. (and not just bc of the pretty tin)
What do you like most about the flavor of the A&D compared with Zen Tea?
It’s been a while since I had them back to back, but I did a comparison earlier and this is what I wrote:
“So in summary, I think the Tiger Assam is preferable. Although I said I expected it to be stronger in my other post, it does taste stronger than the Zen Assam, while being slightly less astringent – both good things. Zen’s Assam is still good though – I’ll drink it on days where I don’t need quite as much kick.”
Cavocorax, Thanks for your comparison!
You’re welcome :D I should probably do an updated one sometime before I finish the Zen Assa, but that might not be fair since the A&D tea is brand new, and the Zen has been around for 9 months (sealed, but still?). Zen Tea is nice because they offer some really great sales so you can pick up a lot for a really good price.
thanks for the above discussion….I’ve ordered the tiger (as I got free shipping) and will find a reason to order from Zen as soon as I have a bit of spare change for tea again. Can’t wait to compare!
I hope you enjoy it! It seems to be a popular one so I’m sure I didn’t steer you wrong. :D
As long as it takes milk well, I doubt it will go to waste! I also ordered the ltd. spring Keemun from them…. Here’s hoping it’s interesting!
I over-steeped it this time, but it’s still rather good. It’s very roasty and sweet and creamy, and I can definitely tell it’s a green houjicha tea. I like it. I don’t know if I’d drink 50g of it, but I do like it when I’m in the mood for it!
Thanks Kat_Maria! (179)
I wonder how this compares to my caramel houjicha from Bird Pick.
I’m not sure? I don’t think I’ve had any other caramel houjicha.
I didn’t give you any at the swap? I thought I gave everyone some. Maybe I didn’t?
You might have? Ican’t find a note for it though. :| Sorry!
It’s ok. I’m sorry if I missed you!
Gosh this is so dark and roasty. I gotta remind myself it’s not coffee… it’s safe to drink before bed. It’s so dark and thick – I’m worried it’ll stain my teeth black. :O I added milk to tone it down a bit and it’s awesome. Sweet caramel, milk and barley.
I approve, Steepsterian’s. I approve.
Sipdown! (180)
This one would have been 1 year in July but I made sure to drink it now before it got stale! I’ve only got 3 teas now that are over 1 year: Tardis, a Russian Caravan and an echinecea herbal blend that I drink only when I have to. I’m happy about that.
I dropped the rating on this one because I’m not so excited about rooibos as I was when I first got into tea. It’s good – but I so rarely crave this one.
Friday makes me sad…..
Awww. No more vacation?
Last day, but man it was effing amazing!