382 Tasting Notes
I consider the fact that this came out the week of my birthday to have been fate. Earl Grey, my favorite tea, combined with cheesecake, one of the more delicious desserts. Of course I grabbed it.
I was surprised when my order came today although I guess it has been 4 business days. Still, the post office has not exactly been inspiring confidence of late.
Leaving the strawberry matcha for tomorrow, but I HAVE to try this tonight. Handily enough, I made slow cooker bread pudding last night, so I even have a dessert to try it with – not something that happens very often due to lack of self control (which leads to obsessive sweet eating when I buy them, which leads to lack of buying sweets)
The tea looks quite nice with yellow petal looking things which are probably…something. The smell was a bit worrying – it had an air of the kind of papery Earl Grey that I don’t really like and I can’t say as I was getting cheesecake as such. Still, I had faith!
The tea brewed up pretty dark and the scent remained that of papery Earl Grey, BUT when I tried it, while it WAS a very solid Earl Grey it was not papery at all (score!) in fact, considering I don’t currently HAVE an Earl Grey, if that had been all, I would have been fine with it since it is a VERY nice balance of Earl and Grey (as it were :P). However, the cheesecake, while faint, is definitely there, right around the edges, as you finish the sip. It’s like Earl Grey, Earl Grey, Earl Grey, Earl Grey…cheesecake! A nice little surprise at the end. I would assume that, as with the cheesecake chai, the addition of milk will bring out this flavor more. I am usually very against adding milk to Earl Grey, but…for cheesecake, sacrifices must be made.
I added some (almond) milk once I got halfway through the cup. Can’t say that I really noticed the cheesecake more…well maybe a little more but still more with the aftertaste – and the milk unfortunately brought out the latent paperiness of the Earl Grey…think I’ll be drinking this straight.
The last of this batch. My mother took it upon herself to bring me a bunch of Polish stress relief stuff (a lot of which just straight up has Valerian root in it so…) so I won’t be in a position to need more of something like this in a hurry, still if I ever run out, I will probably get more, since I’ve found this stuff to be quite effective.
I’ve got maybe one more serving to go after this one. I will miss you malted chocomate. I was thinking of getting more, but I have decided that life (and money) is too short to go around repeating teas unless they are a particularly delicious Earl Grey (:P) Considering that basically every time I receive the 52teas newsletter I want what’s in it…it’s time to seize the day! or the tea! That’s right! (are you ready for it?
it’s gonna be bad…
better mentally prepare now….
I’ll give you a few more seconds…
ok, time’s up!)
Carpe Tea-em!
I find a lot of the Celestial Seasonings teas to be too strong/too hibiscustastic for my tastes, but this is a very nice all purpose soothe the belly tea. (Could use some ginger though! mmm, ginger)
well this one doesn’t have any of it, it’s just that most of my celestial seasonings experience comes from the “X Zinger” teas (Red Zinger, Cranberry Zinger, Cranberry Apple Zinger, Red Cranberry Apple Zinger, Potato Zinger – I may have made some of those up) which are full of teh hibiscus. The lack of it here is probably why I liked it ;D
I thought I’d finished this off long ago, but no! The very last little bit was sitting in a sample pouch asking to be finished off. I mixed it with some Assam Melody. Well, ok, a lot of Assam Melody. Really it was mostly Assam Melody with a tiny bit of Sally’s Secret on top. Then I promptly forgot to set a timer on it, so it came out as REALLY strong Assam Melody with a tiny bit of Sally’s Secret on top. Still, not bad. I like the little hints of flavor, although mostly they are dominated by the Assam.
I adore the way this tea looks, not gonna lie. However, definitely need to be careful with steeping times as the astringency was much higher this time around. I’m trying to figure out whether to try this or the Fujian Baroque for iced tea once my Black Currant Bai Mu Dan runs out and I think the Fujian will come out better. Interestingly, I did get a bit deeper, kind of earthy taste this time around. Nice!
Used my very last bit of this for a strawberry smoothie this morning. Unfortunately, there was SO little left that I can’t even tell that it’s there :( Which is a shame because I finally got a smoothie that was actually smoothie consistency. I have finally cracked the smoothie code! Go me!
I need a DISLIKE button. This is just WRONG. (:D)
I bite you!
Wrong? How could it be wrong? :)
(he’s a tea purist, the idea of adding cheesecake to Earl Grey makes his monocle pop out :P)
It is SO popped out, it’s in another county.
Drinking assam.
This sounds SO good! And eagerly awaiting your matcha review:)
Yes, but imagine what the world would be like if the pre-Earl Grey tea purists had their way! (Begamot in my TEA? That’s just wrong!) Earl Grey is just another flavored tea. It has just been around longer than the rest.