ThinkGeek

Forgot about this for a little while. . . . Turned out surprisingly okay.

This makes me even happier if I don’t overbrew it. :)

Actually a good tea! It has whole leaves and stuff!

I purchased this tea for myself earlier this year because I wanted the tin to house my regular Earl Grey. To be clear, this is not the one depicted in the picture (although the tea inside is the same), but the one that came in the licensed tin. (See here: https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f07b/)

Having drunk some this morning, this is not my favorite Earl Grey. I enjoy Earl Grey in general, so it’s certainly not a loss, but this tastes very weak to me. After steeping it for three and a half minutes, there was a bit of bergamot and only a very weak tea flavor. I will attempt to steep it longer next time in the hopes it will bring out more flavor, but ultimately I am unimpressed. Luckily, it’s the tin that I was really excited for!

I really like this EG. I haven’t found a lot of EGs that I like, but this one is balanced really nicely and the bergamot isn’t overwhelming. I’m sad that I can’t buy this by the ounce, but I just placed a massive sample order with Adagio (I had a lot of frequent cup points and ordered about 15 different samples for about $8, including shipping!). I’m hoping their Earl Grey Bravo is similar.

I still have have about half an ounce left of this, so no need to cry just yet!

Steeped 3tsp/16oz, poured over ice with a teaspoon of rock sugar and a splash of milk.

This is the last tea from the ThinkGeek sampler… I hadn’t tried it because I haven’t found a plain Earl Grey I’ve liked in a long time. But A and I had a tea tasting yesterday for our tea party (decided on a Darjeeling, Cream of Earl Grey, Gunpowder and Rooibos), and we did a comparison of this against DAVIDs Cream of Earl Grey.

This wins! I’m hoping it’s the same as Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo (or at least exceedingly similar), because I really want more of this. It’s balanced well, without too much bergamot but with just enough to give it that coolness. Added milk and sugar as per.

This was probably the one I was least excited to get in the sampler pack from ThinkGeek. I’ve had Adagio’s Blood Orange before and wasn’t thrilled with it. This doesn’t appear to be the same thing though… there are definitely some green leaves in there, yet ThinkGeek describes it as an herbal tisane. Whatever the mystery is, it’s actually really good.

I brewed about half the tin (~0.5oz – just eyeballed it) as directed (212 for 5 min), then poured it over ice and added a splash of orange vanilla seltzer. Oh, it’s fantastic. I think I may actually order more Blood Orange from Adagio and keep it in my summer stash!

It’s tart from the orange and the sour apple, but the vanilla seltzer gives it a little bit of creaminess. Delicious!

Ooh! A nice mellow chai!

It may be that this TARDIS mug actually IS bigger on the inside… It says 16oz, but I fill up the ingenuiTEA all the way to the top and there’s still lots of space. I knew I was going to be adding milk to this, so I brewed about 12oz, and I may have added a bit more milk than expected.

BUT THAT’S GOOD. Because I don’t particularly like chais – too spicy.

Although now that I think of it, my problem might have been that I was leery of adding milk to tea (don’t know why, really).

But yum. 2tsp/12oz, 1tsp German rock sugar and a liberal splash of whole milk. I think I’ll add more tea next time, since I’d actually like it a bit spicier!

Dry leaf smells really warm. Lots of cinnamon and clove, ginger and cardamon… smells like a typical chai to me. Steeped, it’s got an yellowy-orange taste that sort of fades into darker orange towards the sides, surrounding my taste buds. It’s very warm. It smells fairly spicy, but doesn’t have any of the bite.

Sipdown. Took two sips of this and poured it out. Far too much jasmine.

Hm… this is a sipdown.

I think I was just too excited about getting Mario tea, along with my TARDIS mug.

It’s not bad, but I’m finding that the jasmine is overpowering, especially in the first few steeps. I’m on steep 3 or 4 at the moment, and it’s sweetly green with just a hint of the jasmine scent… I wish it would start out this way!

I’m just going to keep drinking this until my little sample is out. I think I’ll order more from Adagio when it’s out… I definitely like it on the lighter side, with 1tsp/8oz at 212 for 4 minutes instead of 5 – more green tea, less jasmine.

This just came in, along with my TARDIS mug (http://teatime—at—221b.tumblr.com/post/24204571395/i-have-a-tea-mug-now-tea-mugs-are-cool-you)

I’m so excited. I’m also such a fangirl.

Um. Right.

The directions on this tea say to steep at 212 for 5 minutes. I was a bit skeptical, as this is a green, so I did 180 for however long it took me to brush my teeth and let the dog in… so probably a minute or two? The next time I make this, I’m going to try it the way it says, because it’s weak. It’s not bad, just weak. The green tea is really nicely smooth with that little bit of sweetness towards the end of the sip / tip of the tongue that I really love, and the jasmine isn’t overpowering (which I’m usually wary of).

Does anyone know if this is the same Jasmine Green as I can order on Adagio? I don’t want to buy the sampler again, since it’s expensive and the tins are small and I’m not totally enamored with the other flavors… but I do like this one.

Update: Went to work, boss told me he had a cover for me (I’d been looking for one so I could hang out with my sister, but couldn’t find one) and that he didn’t need me, so I went home and made another cup of this.

Second steep: I steeped 4min/about 195

The jasmine comes out more predominately, and the green is a bit more vegetal this time. Also, I think it’s funny that I’m drinking 1 Up tea out of a TARDIS mug. (cough) Okay. I’m done now.