Carstensens Te-handel

Hey, we used up some stuff! I have made it a rule that things must be used up before we’re allowed to open the new things. This has historically been the only way to make sure that things get used up and the selection doesn’t swell uncontrollably because of, well, let’s be honest, greed.

So, Miss Marple Tea Pie. Again, not a name translation. Just a really odd name. Does Miss Marple have this pie with her tea, or does just make pie with tea, and does Miss Marple even like pie? Or is there such a thing as a Miss Marple pie?

Whatever it’s got to do with Miss Marple, it contains apple-, almond-, and cinnamon flavours. When smelling the leaves, it just smells like tea with some kind of generic fruit in it. After it’s been brewed up, however, you can discern the apple and cinnamon. I can’t really find the almond in there.

Tastewise, I can find the apple, but only a hint of cinnamon and almond. This is good. I was a bit concerned about the cinnamon when I bought it because I find cinnamon can easily take over. This really is just a hint, and it works better for it. I wish there was more almond, though.

However, it seems kind of thin. I’m kind of having the same problem here that I tend to have with teas that have chocolate flavouring in them. It can taste like chocolate all it wants, but it still doesn’t work for me because it’s the wrong consistency. This feels like it’s got the slightly wrong consistency. It’s a nice flavour, don’t get me wrong, but I want more thickness, more creaminess.

I’ll have to remember to try and milk it next time. I think maybe a bit of fat in there might help give it some substance.

Received as a gratis sample from Carstensens Tehandel.
This tea looks totally kitschy with those pink hearts, but this is so in line with the name that I actually like it.
It smells very strongly and a bit sweetish with strawberry, partly natural, partly artificial.
And it is bit sweetish, but fortunately only slightly. Here in taste the strawberry seems much more natural, and the base black tea is of really good quality.
Not exactly my proverbial cup of tea, but I find it much better than I anticipated.

My eighth and final teabag form Carstensens Tehandel.
I already know their black walnut tea and I like it, so I was very curious to check the green variety.
And it has wonderful, very strong nutty aroma, both from walnuts and from hazelnuts with just a bit of coconut and almonds added. I know it’s in part artificial, but I don’t care, s long as it smells brilliant.
And I really like the taste. It’s very rich and complex, with various shades of nuts (I can even sense the green peel of young walnuts). Great winter warmer indeed.

My seventh teabag bought at Carstensens Tehandel.
Very warming aroma, with fruity rhubarb and cream flavouring equally in the foreground and base green tea in the background.
And so is the taste, very balanced, not overdone with adjuncts, but at the same tim full of character. Great dessert, mellow tea.

Sixth teabag ordered from Carstensens Tehandel.
Very fruity, mellow, summer aroma. No toasted rice here.
Ad very nice taste. One can mainly sense the base green tea plus a trace of toasted rice and a bit of fruits in the background.
Very good tea, not overdone with adjuncts.

My fifth teabag bought at Carstensens Tehandel.
Very strong fruity (pineapple and mango), flowery aroma, honey-like, sweet and rich.
Sweet taste, mainly fruity, with various petals constituting the solid background.
Very good tea, would probably taste perfectly in summer as coldbrew.

Fourth teabag ordered at Carstensens Tehandel.
Lovely jasmin, apricot and cherry aroma with a honey/flowery background.
Slightly sweet, very mellow taste.
Nice casual tea.

Third teabag bought at Carstensens Tehandel.
Very nice aroma, because candied pineapple blends perfectly with roasted and popped rice. Plus subtle aromas of base green tea.
Distinct sweetness in taste (sugar from candied pineapple), solid fruitiness, firm background made by rice and base tea.
Nice, casual tea. Would probably taste perfect as cold brew on a hot summer day.

Second teabag from the assortment bought at Carstensens Tehandel.
Very rich and warming aroma. I can mostly smell cherries, coconut and a bit of jasmine plus good quality base tea (especially green).
Only slight sweetness in taste, and the base teas are not overwhelmed by the additives.
I appreciate this tea, but I think that one teabag is enough. This is not my proverbial cup of tea, I prefer other flavours.

The first of the assortment of teabags bought at Carstensens Tehandel.
Strong, malty aroma with traces of honey.
Nice, distinct taste, slightly astringent, slightly bitter, very malty.
I wish I had more teabags of this tea or, even better, a bag of loose leaves.

Ah, real breakfast tea. This one is a mix of Ceylon and Assam and we have it milked.

It’s hard to really write a proper post on a milked tea, because for this sort of cup it’s mostly just a question of, “Is it good and strong, yes or no?”

The answer is yes, and unlike those emergency twinings bags, it can be resteeped.

I haven’t had an LS in such a long time that I can’t actually remember.

Oh heavens, yes.

That is literally all I can find to write about this right now.

Or maybe more something along the lines of, yaaaaaaaaaaaassssss!!!

I so needed this.

So I got this as a free random sample with a previous order. (I still haven’t heard anything about my most recent one and have now tried to chase them in what I’m hoping is not an impatient sounding way)

It’s basically just a strawberry black with tiny sugar hearts in it. In which case I’d have rather just had a regular strawberry black to be honest. Those little coloured sugar additions whether their shaped like hearts or stars or unicorns have always felt rather gimmicky to me. They add nothing of value.

Luckily they don’t actually make it taste like it’s got sugar in it, because I don’t like sugar in my tea. Some people find that a little sugar in a flavoured tea enhances the flavouring. I find sugar in tea, any sugar, just adds a weird sort of nearly astringency and a kind of cloying syrupy mouthfeel.

When viewed as simply a strawberry tea, it’s not bad. Tastes rather strongly of strawberry and a bit of toning it down probably wouldn’t hurt it, but it’s not overwhelming either. It’s okay, but not something I would order. I would just go for the strawberry tea, plain and simple, and leave the unnecessary sugar and colouring agents for someone less curmudgeonly.

Hey, I never wrote about this when I got my latest lot of flavoured teas and made a return to the site. I must have forgotten. I’ve had it several times since then, I believe, and whenever I see the tin in the cupboard Kate Bush starts singing in my head.

This is a citrus-y one. Although it does contain bergamot oil, I would say there’s not really enough of it for this to qualify as a member of the EG family. It also has lemon, lime and orange blossom, and maaaaaybe a bit of orange flavouring as well? I’m not sure.

The result is sweet and citrus-y, with a creamy sort of texture to it. I feel like lime is the most dominant flavour here. I suspect the bergamot oil is actually working to temper the tartness of the lemon and lime. This is also why I think there might be some orange flavouring added to it apart from just the blossoms. It feels too sweet for there not to be anything to balance it out.

I’m quite happy with this one. It’s delicious as a post-lunch tea.

I also rather enjoy Kate Bush on occassion, but I could live without the earworm. :)

My third and last leaf tea ordered at Carstensens.
I know Chinese teas, Indian teas, Kenyan teas, Japanese teas, but I’ve never had the chance to drink a Georgian tea before. Yes, they had used to be available sometimes in the communist Poland, but I had been too young back then, so I didn’t hesitate after I came across it at Carstensens.
The aroma is not very strong, round, mellow, slightly earthy.
As well as the taste. It is a very mellow drinking experience, with only low tannins, which surprises me a little, because somehow I expected something a bit harsher, a bit more feisty. I don’t know why, I just did.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad tea, far from it. Next time I’ll try to brew it stronger, to bring out more of it, but I’m surely going to drink it with pleasure.

Another loose leaf tea from Carstensens.

Very nice aroma, dominated by the black base tea, very earthy, rich and malty, but the cream flavouring is also evident, although not overpowering (fortunately).

And the taste is also very rich and balanced. Solid base tea with no astringency mixing with subtle cream notes that ust add complexity, not overshadow what is the most important here – the tea itself.

I got interested in this tea after reading a review written by Angrboda. Several days and one delivered-fast-as-lightning-order later here I am with a mug of freshly steeped nuttiness.

Actually the sticker on the package doesn’t mention walnuts, only black tea, almonds and aromas.
The smell is very strong, equally divided into almonds and walnuts which must come from the flavouring. I don’t care, because the tea smells natural, not artificial.

The base black tea is of really good quality, rich and malty (but not too strong). It’s not overpowered by the aromas, which reside in the background. There is a low residual sweetness and I think it comes from the flavouring, but it only compliments the general profile.

I really like this tea which doesn’t cross the thin line between the good, seemingly natural flavouring and the bad, artificial one.

Hanging out on the Explore page at the moment, tidying up spam bots while watching the latest episode of Critical Role. A futile endeavour, I know, but on the other hand, every little helps. I was a little amused earlier today by the spam bot that posted it’s spam in the ‘spammers on Steepster’ thread.

So I’m having a cup of this tea and I’ve (somewhat accidentally) made it good and strong. Good and strooooooong. I can see the flavouring oils on the surface of the tea. This is one of those blends that means I’ll never get the tin clean again because it’s going to be so very very sticky.

At this strength, the elderflower aspect isn’t really too present, It still smells strongly anise-y despite not having anise in it (unless it’s black ops anise, of course), but it still isn’t the sort of off-putting sort of pseudo-anise. I mean, it’s hard to explain.

I’m not sure I’ll (purposefully) make it at this strength again. This means I’ve now tried it at regular strength and super-strength. I wonder what happens if I make it intentionally quite weak? Maybe that’ll make it super elderflowery? It’s worth a shot.

It’s probably fairly obvious, but the name of this one translates to ‘nostalgia blend’. It’s flavoured with elderflower and contains a flower called ‘catfoot’ which I’ve never heard of before (but which sounds adorable). I’m not sure what this is supposed to make me nostalgic for, but there you are. Perhaps whoever thought of using elderflower here grew on Granny’s home made elderflower cordial or something.

I’ll be honest here. It stinks. It reeks to high heaven of star anise, despite not containing any. And it’s not a sort of ‘ooh, that sort of reminds me of something’ sort of smell. It’s more like star anise pods jammed up your nostrils sort of smell. It absolutely pongs. Especially when one is not at all very keen on star anise.

So I was worried.

As it turns out, though, elderflowers and star anise are very similar flavours. I can absolutely tell it’s flavoured with elderflower. But that same note feels like it can go both ways. A light a summer-y elderflower or a heavy, sticky star anise. This sounds really weird but it seems to very much depend on the attitude with which it’s approached.

I haven’t the faintest how this catfoot (my fingers keep wanting to write cat food here) is supposed to taste. I suppose it’s possible that this stuff is anise-y in flavour and that this is actually what’s at play, but because it really feels like I’m looking at two sides of the same coin here, I’m going to blame the elderflower.

I really wish something lemon-y had been added to this. Some lemon grass or some lemon flavouring. I feel like this would have elevated the elderflower-y aspect and freshened it up, while curbing the anise-y tendencies. I’ll have to try it with a bit of lemon juice, I think.

I don’t think I would buy this again, but who knows? Sometimes the strangest things can grow on you given the chance.

This one means ‘multi fruit’ which possibly isn’t difficult to guess, really. It has blackberry and either raspberry or strawberry. Description says one thing and ingredients the other, so… shrug

You know multi fruit juice? Like basically orange juice with a lot of other fruits in it. This is a bit like that. It’s very fruity tasting, very juicy tasting. It’s fairly sweet, so while it’s not like actually drinking candy, it does remind me strongly of multi fruit juice. And that’s it really. It’s not a tea that inspires big thoughts and paragraphs of purple prose. It’s just serviceable.

So is it raspberry or strawberry? Well, mostly it’s just generally juicy and generic berry-y, but the after taste has a tang to it that makes me lean towards raspberry.

Either way, it’s perfectly enjoyable. Nothing that will knock your socks off, but perfectly drinkable berry tea.

(Also, total proof that it is possible to have a very berry flavoured tea without the dreaded hibiscus. )

peers at cup

Why does this taste strongly of banana today?

It’s walnut! It has never even seen a banana!

I want a banana now.

I have a bit of a soft spot for a nutty tea. Particularly hazelnut which seems to be unreasonably difficult to find. And I mean just hazelnut, not hazelnut and whatever. Just hazelnut. Maybe it’s because it’s not very easy to come by that makes me want it. Though I never seem to want it badly enough these days to really go and search outside of what these days counts as my usual haunts. So I get an almond tea or a walnut tea or even a hazelnut and whatever tea and make do. Should I come across a straight up hazelnut one I would definitely try it. And let’s be fair here, I would probably also be a little disappointed, but then at least I’d have got it out of my system.

So this one is a walnut tea. Shop says to expect a base tea a bit on the strong side and that is just what I want. Unlike the Easter tea that was supposed to taste like eggnog and (kinda thankfully) didn’t, this one actually tastes like nuts. It’s very clearly walnutty with that slightly woodlike flavour that they have, but there’s also a smidge of sweetness involved. In the ingredients they also list almond, which I think is just the bits of almonds in the blend itself. I’m told these sorts of bits of nuts or fruits or whatever generally doesn’t actually impart all that much flavour on their own, so I hesitate to blame them for the bit of sweet, but it would sort of fit well with the sweetness of almonds.

In short, this is a bit strong and clearly walnutty without being overpoweringly flavoured (I tend to favour a somewhat subtle yet detectable flavouring), and I might well purchase this one again.