Chroma Tea

Sipped on a mug of this on Tuesday while working late.

I don’t remember all of the ingredients in this blend, but I have to say that I don’t think it would have made much of a difference if I had. There’s not really any “off” flavour to the cup that turns me off as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of heavily spiced teas – but it’s very muddy without clarity to any of the ingredients. I felt like I tasted chicory, maybe, and lots of warming spice notes versus spicy spice notes – but hard to pin down aside from the standard cinnamon/ginger. A little orange in the undertone, but it doesn’t manage to cut through the blob of spices IMO.

So, nice enough – easy to drink back. Memorable? Nah.

Snuck a mug of this in to a very chaotic work day – which means I probably didn’t afford it the level of attention that so far these Chroma Tea blends have so far been worthy of.

Unfortunately I keep reading the name as “Senna” which is the herbal ingredient that basically makes you crap yourself; not a good thing to associate with a tea. Unfortunate mental connection aside, for what is essentially a Chai blend I thought this was pretty nice. It’s clove dominant, always a personal win. Also reminded me of gingerbread, but very fancy gingerbread.

Gonna try to pay more mind with the next mug.

This was my post-work late night cuppa yesterday.

Aside from the heavy handed sweetness and molasses-y flavours of the star anise that dominated this cup in a deliciously decadent and spicy way, the primary note I got was the sandalwood. It reminded me a lot of walking into those types of shops that carry shelves full of incense and crystals. They always smell amazing for the first couple of minutes, and then I get a headache. This is more like bottling (or, I guess, steeping) that aroma from the first few minutes and putting it in a mug. No headache; just wonderful complex aromas and a deep, soothing taste.

I don’t think I’m ever going to top describing this tea any more than how I did for the Geek Steep episode about V for Vendetta – which I did write a tasting note for. Like, to me, that is the exact feeling I get as I taste this tea and I don’t think that’s changing any time soon. However I will add that I steeped this up on a cold morning when I wanted to feel a sense of importance, and in addition to the distinct and aromatic sandalwood I got quite a hit of anise in this mug though that did not detract from the taste analogy I’ve made in the past.

Morning cuppa from today!

Overall just a beautifully nuanced and complex cup of tea with so many dynamic and well integrated flavours. However, my mind has basically been like a pin ball machine ever since I woke up today so – even though I could taste and appreciate some of those elevated flavour combinations with some sips – I don’t think this was a good choice for me to steep this morning. I just couldn’t focus, and as a result for most of the mug I hyper focused on the anise and sandalwood flavours and that’s really what the overall infusion has been reduced to in my memory.

Geek Steep S1E15 – V for Vendetta

This was my second tea pairing for the graphic novel read through, after my fumble with the first pairing. We talk about this much more detailed in the podcast episode, but the tone of the graphic novel is very well conveyed right off the bat so it was SUPER easy to figure out what to try as my next tea.

Chroma Tea has this mastery when it comes to creating such nuanced and layered flavour profiles with their blends, and that seemed so perfectly reflective of the story and its characters so I really felt like I wanted to choose something from this company as my second tea. What made me chose this one specifically, though, is that one of the main flavours is sandalwood. I get this very specific “feeling” when I smell or taste sandalwood and it was almost eerily applicable here.

I’m going to paraphrase what I said on the podcast, but basically…

“The notes of sandalwood evoke this feeling of smelling the musk of exuberantly wealthy, cigar smoking and pin suited white men in their old parlors and studies – surrounded my ornate bookshelves fashioned of exotic woods that display antique books they’ve never read and exorbitantly priced knick-knacks and bobbles that only serve to display their excess wealth.”

…and if that doesn’t just sum up the corrupt future painted by V for Vendetta.

I ended up liking this pairing so much that I continued with it for the remaining two sessions of reading I had, making a total of three cups of this I enjoyed over the graphic novel.

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DB topic:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast

On the fence as the whether or not I enjoyed this tea…

The things that intrigued me were the use of sandalwood and aloeswood, both of which are common flavours in incense, and the honeysuckle – which is a flavour I adore, but is rare to see in a tea in terms of actually being and ingredient and not just being an observed flavour note.

I’m actually ultimately not sure why the honeysuckle is in here though – it’s beautiful, but the flavour of honeysuckle is so light and delicate and it’s entirely swallowed up by the thick and heavy flavours from the other aforementioned ingredients. Is it just aesthetic? Honeysuckle isn’t cheap to blend with, so it’s not the most cost effective choice for a purely aesthetic ingredient…

So, what this tea does taste like is insense. Like, straight up the kind of incense that makes you think of creep old book stores or that fills the kind of places you go and buy overpriced amethyst and other “crystals” in clouds. It’s really strong and intense, and definitely builds in your mouth dramatically as you drink the cup – it’s just a lot of sandalwood combined with a more mineral, spicy, and woody oolong and that strong aloeswood oil. I rarely view tea as gendered, but I have to admit that my thought when drinking this cup was that it felt very masculine.

I didn’t particularly love the flavour, but I also couldn’t stop drinking the cup either! That’s part of why I feel a little confused about my feelings towards the blend. Perhaps this is one of those teas that’s really an acquired taste? I look forward to further exploration and clarification of my feelings about this tea in subsequent cups.

It’s SUPER unique though, regardless.

Geek Steep S2E26 – Ms. Marvel

Cold Brew!

I’ve been basically patiently waiting for this Geek Steep episode since our first season. It was one of the first things I put on my list to eventually explore, and to my delight it ended up being suggested by a viewer so I didn’t even have to use one of my coveted fandom slots to get to talk about! (Thanks Jackie Allen for the fandom suggestion!)

I chose this tea for my recording tea for very little reason other than the name of the tea makes me think of super heroes. It’s not really a favourite tea or a least favourite tea of mine, but this was a good excuse to dig out the sample. It’s got a really lovely bright and tart top note with some stand out schisandra notes. It’s also weirdly just a little bit savory, and I can never put my finger on exactly why – but not enough so to completely throw me off.

Just finishing a mug of this tea right now – but it’s taken me over an hour to get to the bottom of the mug (very slow, for me!) because I keep putting off sipping on it. I’m just not vibing with the flavour; there is a lot going on! The top of the sip is cloying and overly licorice sweet with both a distinct hibiscus and a general “red berry” note, but the finish is almost brothy in its umami and spice notes and the mix of that unpleasant fruit sweetness with the soup-y finish is a hard pass for me today…

Gonna have to retaste to better capture thoughts because, when I steeped this up, I let it cool down to much so I only tasted it at just above room temperature – but my snap impression based on that wasn’t super positive. I found it really sharp and the fruit more in line with a sour, underripe strawberry/red fruit profile rather than a pleasant, tangy/juicy ripe berry note – combined with the weird juxtaposition of the allspice and coating rose and I just didn’t mesh with this blend.

Another snuck in tea early advent season…

I didn’t actually remember much what this tasted like the first time I had it, but Marika drank it for one of the podcast episodes (She-Ra) and she spoke really pleasantly about it so I wanted to revisit. There’s a lot going on, but all of it is pretty soothing and comforting. I tasted a bunch of spearmint, but mixed with roasty/oxidized mineral oolong notes, cacao nib, and a thick fennel undertone that seemed to “lift” the sweetness of the spearmint.

I… actually agree with my initial rating of 78, even though I don’t really remember that cup…

Holy marigolds!!

I got my Chroma Tea order earlier in the week; Aquamarine is the first tea I’ve tried so far and my jaw dropped when I saw all these intensely beautiful full marigold blossoms in it – what a killer visual!

It also tastes quite nice too; The unique and refreshing combination of woodier, but still a little spicy, cinnamon & spearmint was both really playful and really grounded; sort of a “hot and cool” kind of vibe. Fennel is sometimes chewed on as a breath freshener, and I liked the more herbaceous sweetness is contributed to the blend combined with the minerality of the oolong that is used as part of the base. The cocoa was very light and a little bit bitter, but I did think it contributed some depth and body. This is certainly a more sophisticated approach to a tea blend, & I’m excited to taste through the rest!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBs3urkABox/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC1XZZxcJKU