Swallowtail

Sipdown!

This is a nice “in-between” oolong. I am enjoying it as a “between students” pick me up with some Andes Toffee Crunch chocolates, formerly known as Ting-A-Lings. I could eat the whole pack at once and it is a testament to my maturity that I do not do so. At least, not while anyone is looking.

This oolong does not have a deep roasted flavor but a real mid-point between green floral and vegetal oolong and roasty toasty deep dark oolong.

I really like it. Looks a little hard to source now but available from Red Rooster Coffee, it seems. This was another from the box that just never got added to my cupboard because they weren’t already listed and lost track of which I had added and which I had not. Good tea. Good for a couple of resteeps Western style.

From the Samurai TTB
A bit gritty, but the anise trumps the chicory and makes it drinkable. I could do with some more cinnamon or a bit of mint to balance it out. It’s heavily anise and I have tried other teas that do anise better.
Another interesting tea from the box!

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #3

Normally would have completely ignored a tea positioned/promoted as a coffee alternative, but something in me said to smell the sample before passing it up and I’m glad I did. The smells STRONGLY of anise/black licorice and that immediately made me want to try it.

Visually, this is a mix of SUPER finely grounded “dust” and some slightly larger pieces of what appears to be cinnamon and star anise. It steeps up into one heck of a murky and clouding looking cuppa with tons of sediment. However, the taste was quite nice – really strong black licorice flavour with some complimenting cinnamon. Minimal chicory too, which was appreciated.

Coming from someone who does NOT like coffee, this really didn’t remind me of it at all. Win for me, but probably means that the company failed and what they’re set out to do.

This blend from the tea box advertises itself as being a non-caffeinated substitute for coffee, yet the main flavor and ingredient is anise?? I mean I like anise in general, but it’s a little weird in this context. I’d rather have a Traditional Medicinals anise-based tea than this one. Everything is ground up very small to be the texture of coffee, which comes out of even my infuser with the tiniest holes. This blend just makes a super murky cup that tastes completely like anise and leaves me confused.