Bistrotea

The tea stick is pretty cool, first time trying it. However, while this tea was good, I thought it was lacking. Not enough bergamot and just…light, in general. Would have preferred stronger, but it isn’t bad by any means.

I have been drinking this one at work. I found that doubling up on the tea pods actually makes it quite delicious. The bergamot is strong and sweet, the black tea is bold but not overpowering. I was a little worried it would be too astringent or bitter with double the tea, but it isn’t. I think because the holes in the pods are so small, it does not diffuse very good. So double the tea, double the not so good diffusion. Almost done this one which is ok with me, but I am glad I found a way to enjoy it.

So I totally impulse bought this at the store yesterday. Advertised as loose leaf on the go. But really it is a fancy looking tea bag. The tea is in a long stick shaped foil wrapper. There are very tiny perforations on the bottom 3/4 of the tea bag. The idea is you stir it in your hot water for 3-5 minutes then remove and drink.

The foil sticks smell like a traditional earl grey. On first putting it into the water, after about 3 seconds, I could see the orange colour of the Ceylon infusing into the water. I didn’t stir, but I left it there for 2 minutes. It created a light brown orange coloured liquid. It tasted very much like a traditional earl grey. I would consider the bergamot to be on the light side. It it blended well with the Ceylon base. Slightly sweet, not astringent. I could have used another minute of infusion time though, that might be why they instruct to stir with the stick. Overall a decent cup of earl grey, not the best, but certainly consumable.

I cut open the foil packet after I was done and there was tightly packed CTC tea. It did not have much room to expand because the foil stick was too small.

Essentially I find this to be a glorified tea bag. Which is unfortunate because the tea was not too bad.

http://instagram.com/p/YDWCnlIc-F/

I bought this because of the smartly designed TPOD! The tea leaves are put inside this soft unique translucent envelope which is allegedly aroma and fragrance protective, moisture-proof and tear resistant. TPOD also serves conveniently as a stirrer. I really love the design!

Yet, I don’t enjoy the tea at all… among all the peppermint teas I’ve tried, this is the one I like least! It has a strong vegetal taste that reminds me of damp, fallen leaves… :( I hope the other teas by Bistrotea will have a better taste!