Sloane Tea

I’m not a huge fan of jasmine but this is such a lovely, delicate tea that I can’t help but love it. It’s not too strong or floral, but it’s not too weak either. Just right!! I really appreciate that you aren’t hit over the head with the jasmine flavour like with some teas.

I just got back into Steepster and realized I have Sloane teas that I haven’t rated!!

I am almost always a fan of citrus and this is no exception! The dry leaf reminds me of Mother’s Little Helper by DavidsTea, but it’s got more citrus notes.

Backlog:

This was in my Amoda Tea Box from December. As I mentioned in my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/12/31/celebration-medley-rooibos-blend-from-sloane-tea-company/ the strong apple-y fragrance made me happy. It smelled like apple cider as it steeped.

The apple notes are strong, the cinnamon and clove add warmth, and there’s a little bit of that spicy-hot cinnamon taste that gives it a bit of a ‘red-hot’ taste. Like maybe someone dropped a couple of the little red hot candies into my teacup and let them dissolve. The nutmeg adds a nutty note and the earthy notes of the spices accent the rooibos in a pleasant way.

The rose isn’t particularly strong, but every once in a while, I’ll taste a whisper of rose that’s quite nice.

I enjoyed this.

Cameron B mentioned bubblegum and she is spot on with that description. Somehow the rose floral and apple sweetness came together to make a weird bubblegum taste coupled with spices. It’s not my favorite though still fun to try, especially as brewed as an eggnog latte using my new milk frother in my new latte mug. Yay!

Today I received my first-ever Amoda subscription box! The box itself was quite cute – stamped with their logo on the front and their name along the sides. (You can see it here: http://amodatea.com/) My teas were wrapped in tissue paper with was sealed with logo sticker. There was a very nice glossy info sheet just explaining their general concept, and also a companion sheet for the teas describing their flavors. Also included were a few disposable filter bags and a chai-flavored marshmallow. Very well-packaged and snazzy overall. This is a rooibos tea with apple, orange, and spices. I can see big chunks of fruit and some rose petals mixed in with the rooibos itself. Dry scent is kind of bubblegum-esque with a spicy edge.

I can definitely smell the clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the steeped it, with just a little bit of sweet apple aroma. Hm… It also tastes like bubblegum a little bit, which is not appetizing. I can definitely taste the clove over everything else. Next strongest are the cinnamon and apple flavors. I can’t drink this without thinking bubblegum… :/

Sipdown. Thanks so much for sending some of this my way, Christina! I agree that this is a very savory brew. It smells like roasted rice. The flavor is also roasted rice, though the rice flavor is balanced with the savoriness. The aftertaste is all roasted rice. I’m still learning my preferences when it comes to genmaicha, but this one’s decent. It falls somewhere below Butiki’s but miles above Say Tea’s.

Oooh, so close to a sipdown on this!

I had a little bit of my sobacha from Yunomi.us left, but not enough for a single cup, so I added the remainder to my pot. It makes the tea smell nice and toasty, but I didn’t notice an appreciable change in flavour. Also, the second steep of this seems very sencha-y compared to the first. Looking forward to finishing this off and freeing up some room in my stash.

And this tea rounds out my “green-tea-only” efforts for the day. Something warm and soothing with low caffeine.

This one tasted a bit more bitter and less rice-y than normal today. Still comforting, though. I probably have enough left to do 1 or 2 more pots of tea. I’ve got a few genmaicha samples coming from Yunomi.us, and once I have those I’ll see if I like this one as much.

You know, I didn’t have the vocabulary to describe this tea well until I joined Steepster. Now that I know better, I can more accurately describe this tea as being very brothy and savoury. Perhaps it’s a bit too heavy on the rice, especially since I think I overleafed it yesterday. Although the rice is roasted in this tea, none of it is popped, so there’s not much of a salty, light, popcorn flavour to this.

This is a very strong-tasting genmaicha – it’s a much bolder flavour than the kind of tea that you’ll be served at a Japanese restaurant. It seems a lot “ricier” than other varieties I’ve tried. Only a very small amount is needed for a good-tasting cup.

However, I don’t think that this tea takes well to multiple infusions. Perhaps this is because I tend to leave the damp tea leaves in the strainer overnight, but the subsequent infusions taste kind of limp in comparison.

0.5 tbsp used for 187 ml

Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing!