Ikaati

Another raided complimentary sample tea bag. For more info on the story of Ikaati and my finding it, see my Black Orchid tasting note.

The dry leaf aroma actually smells quite good! By the look of the leaves, it has lemongrass and some kind of red berry in it. I poured boiling water over the bag and the water immediately turned bright golden yellow. I bobbed the bag around and that’s when I saw it: red liquid seeping out of the tea bag. Oh no! Those red berry looking things must be the dreaded hibiscus! Agh!

Well, I suppose I should have seen that one coming. But I honestly didn’t. I thought it was going to be a lemongrass berry tea, which I guess it kind of is in retrospect. Anyway, the tea liquor is a golden brown color now. The aroma of the brewed tea is kind of off-putting. What is this?

The flavor isn’t nearly as offensive as the aroma. It actually tastes okay! The hibiscus is at first tart, then sweet. The lemongrass complements the hibiscus well. It’s not bad. I’m enjoying this cup although I probably wouldn’t re-stock it. I’m just not an herbal gal.

On another note, has anyone watched the last season of The Office? It’s HILARIOUS! I’ve never laughed so hard in my entire life. My husband is away on a business trip for 4 days. So I’m alone at home with my cat, laughing hysterically. I didn’t think it’d be very good without Michael. But it is freaking funny!

Another raided complimentary sample tea bag. For more info on the story of Ikaati and my finding it, see my Black Orchid tasting note.

Mmm, the dry leaf aroma is lovely, vegetal green tea! I didn’t follow the steeping instructions because the ingredients list says this is dragon well. So I brewed it at my normal dragon well parameters plus 30 seconds because the liquid brewed up very pale yellow at first. Now it’s more of a golden yellow color, and the aroma coming off this cup is butter! Yummy buttery vegetables!

The taste is rather lovely as well. It’s not grassy like I usually find dragon well. Instead, it’s just a delicious cup of green tea that doesn’t taste bagged at all! There’s no bitterness and only a slight astringency. This is a very solid choice to keep stocked at the office. If only I had more. :( The second infusion is a bit weaker but still tasty. I really like this one! :)

Another raided complimentary sample tea bag. For more info on the story of Ikaati and my finding it, see my Black Orchid tasting note.

The dry leaf aroma here is very perfume-y bergamot. The brewed tea aroma is classic dirty diaper Keemun followed by bergamot. Unfortunately, the dirty diaper aroma has made its way into the taste. This is just nasty. Blech. :( You know, this tea says it has Yunnan and Keemun in it, so you’d think I’d like it better than the all Keemun Black Orchid tea. But I’m really only getting Keemun here. Weird.

I’ll have to add milk and sugar to see if this cup is at all redeemable. I added quite a bit of milk and only a little sweetener. This seems to have killed most of the Keemun yuckiness. Now I’m left with a pretty good cup of earl grey! If you like Keemun, then you’d most definitely like this tea. There’s nothing wrong with the Keemun here. I’m just not a fan of that particular base.

The bergamot oil is not overdone either. It’s blended nicely and reminds me of my visits to Paris. OMG! I’m going to Paris again in less than 6 months!!! Ahhhh!!!! I better buy our plane tickets! :D Damn, prices have really gone up lately. I should have bought them in March. Dang it! I knew they were good prices back then! Agh!

Oooh, but flying into London is cheap! Hmm, I need to go revise our travel plans. Maybe we’ll do London AND Paris. ;)

First cup of the day! It’s time to continue drinking down all of these one sample tea bags!

This is a sample I grabbed up at the Spa Terre at Hotel Viking in Newport, RI. I went the day before the wedding to get a French manicure with my mom. It was just the two of us, and the total bill came to $132! Needless to say, I felt a little cheated. So on the way out, I raided their complimentary tea stand. ;)

I’ve never heard of Ikaati. And apparently neither has Steepster, as I was the first one to add these teas to the database. I grabbed two black teas, one green, and one herbal. My hopes were a little dashed as upon Googling the black teas, I discovered they’re both Keemun. Blech! My nickname for Keemun is “dirty diaper tea.”

I went ahead and brewed them up anyway. First up, Black Orchid! The dry leaf aroma is just weird. I can’t really tell what’s going on here. It’s not bad necessarily, just unidentifiable to me. The tea bags are hand-tied pouches. Honestly, they didn’t seem particularly stable. Think taking a square piece of mesh fabric, putting some tea leaves in the center, and then pulling all the edges together and tying it off by wrapping a piece of string around it. O_O

But upon steeping, they held together well. Ooh boy, that Keemun is making itself known! I’m getting a lot of dirty diaper scent in the brewed tea aroma. (Sorry to all of you who actually enjoy Keemun.) I’m actually a little afraid to take this first sip…but the more I sniff it, the more recognizable it’s becoming. In fact, I think this smells a little like strawberry Twizzlers! Or Red Vines.

Okay enough stalling…first sip…hmm…second sip…this is surprisingly not bad! It does kind of taste like Red Vines too. Interesting. Hmm, I rather like this! The vanilla is coming through strongly, followed by a glimmer of orange, and then finally what must be a ylang ylang flower. I can’t say I’ve ever tried that before, but it’s rather tasty and leaves a wonderful aftertaste: a natural, soft sweetness with no bitterness or astringency.

Yay! This tea is a winner! Oh, I’m so relieved! I’m even enjoying the cup sans additions, which is rare for me. What a treat! I can now say that I recommend Ikaati to the Steepster community! Well, this tea at least. ;) It’s very unique.