362 Tasting Notes
I was right – this is awesome iced. Really awesome. I was not too crazy about it hot, but brewed a pot to chill and it is even better than I hoped. A totally different experience from the hot drink, chilled you get the balance between the green tea underneath, the sharpness of the mint and feel the bergamot just adding some oomph.
I did not brew it exactly right, I should have been much more generous with the tea quantity, it is a bit waterybut awesome.
Upping the rating on this a lot ;)
Preparation
A tea bag sample kindly sent in a Harney order. I was not crazy about the other sample but this one, which did not seem too promising ( I usually like Chinese tea better than Japanese) is delicious, maybe my favorite of the lot, even better than what I had aqctually ordered (apart maybe from Queen Catherine). A nice simple sencha in a convenient tea bag format. Very nice. Staple-ish tea potential and to buy if/when I order from them again (transatlantic shipping costs being responsible for there being an IF).
A small note – I brewed this with about twice as much water as recommended (hmm, about .7l, enough for two mugs worth) and it was perfectly to my taste just like that – I did use mineral water though! Brewed a second steep and it held up to that as well. If you are making this, or using the loose leaf, might be worth experimenting with being less generous with tea quantity than advised, might work for you as well.
Preparation
What sort of shipping did you end up paying for this?
Just checked and I paid 13.17 for two tins (one with 125 grams, another with 20 or 30 sachets), a few samples (and it came in a cardboard box, so i guess a few samples or a few grams more of tea will not alter it much). The site estimate for the shipping was higher, around 18 dollars, but they corrected it before sending. My country was not on the list of countries, they told me to just pick closest one and put it on comment field while ordering. It was pretty fast as well, from order to it getting to my hands it was maybe 10 days?
Just to ass 13.17 USD, not euros! It sounds more reasonable as it should in euros. And if you are not a tin fetichist like I am, they sell loose tea in ziplocs bags which I am sure will lower shipping. Their 2USD samples are a nice size as well.
But still, much as I loved this sencha the shipping costs are an issue. But I will probably order again from them one of these days just because of it, let me be good and use some of my stash before!
BTW If you want to try Queen Catherine, Vanilla Comoro decaf or Paris, I can send you a sample by mail, no problem!
Well, this was a dud for me. I tried a teabag sample, and I love the teabags and the hermetical packaging of that sample, but this is just not for me.
I can only detect the “cinnamon” on the tea, not the tea and not the advertised cloves and orange. Just cinnamon in tea, not a good thing. And I got to admit, to myself foremost, that I am a cinnamon snob. I did not know such a thing existed, but apparently I am one. I used to dissociate the “chewing gum” cinnamon flavour from “real” (to me) cinnamon flavours. And then I found out the reason why, turns out chewing gum uses what is the prevalent “cinnamon” in the USA annd that is a whole different spice (cassia) than the stuff I call cinnamon. (Real cinnamon to me. Ok, wikipedia calls it ceylon cinnamon. It is different seriously). And besides the fact it fails the expectation and that anything flavoures too strongly with cassia will always remind of cinnamon chewing gum than “real” cinnamon, I got to admit that I do not like cassia much on its own, tastes sort of thin and aggressive to me.
This tea being just so one note, and that note being cassia (Not cinnamon! wish we could unleash the pedantism of the european comission on them), this tea was really not meant for me.
Preparation
You’re making me question my love of cinnamon. Any tell-tale ways of determining whether you’re being sold cinnamon or cassia?
I suppose a “but they smell/taste so differently” is not too helpful? ;)
Ok, first thing, cassia is usually much cheaper. The “bark” is easy to distinguish, usually those pretty solid, rolled quills of bark are almost always cassia. (and usually not a problem, since they are not meant to be powdered). Real cinnamon strips are usually much thinner, less rolled and not pretty (hence makes sense to sell cassia bark, since it is is usually much prettier for things where you use. Found a pic
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/blog1/pics/cinnamon-1.jpg
on this blog post http://www.henriettesherbal.com/blog/cinnamons.html
ah, and cassia is more reddish usually.
But we usually buy ground cinnamon. And that is much harder to tell apart from look alone. Cassia is usually redder. The real big difference is the taste. Cassia is sharper, spicier (in the piquancy sense, not in the sense of being more aromatic or richer), more one-note to my nose, more overpowering. Though, to be fair, for recipes for savoury things, to combine with garlic or peppers or ginger, I think cassia is better. Cinnamon is just different, I can not explain, like a much creamier scent, much smoother, and much better for anything sweet IMO.
I think maybe the best way is to check out yourself (and if what you love so far is cassia, that is great, you can keep on loving it but now check its cousin in case you also love it ;)). Usually asian stores got it reliably. if google does not fail me, in the USA maybe you can find it sold for the mexican market under its spanish name canela?
I may have to look for it. I checked Amazon for Ceylon Cinnamon as well, and there were a fair number of options to choose from. I’m really quite curious now.
It is worth comparing, and yes, it is one of those things which is different but not really possible to describe how much so.
Out of curiousity, do you have any recommendations regarding a good orange/cinnamon tea? Orange Spice (from Stash) was really my ‘first love’ when it comes to tea. At the moment, I’m drinking the version from MarketSpice, and I’m quite fond of it. But, if there’s something out there that might be better, I’d be more than willing to give it a shot (pretending for a minute or two that I didn’t just order half a pound of it)
If you got a first love when it cames to tea, those often stick!
And I can not really advise any particular, though orange and cinnamon are usually christmas teas. I think IKEA black christmas tea is mostly orange and spices (not just cinnamon). And maybe a few more (but all I can think is mostly european stuff which might be at all easy to find in the USA)
For Orange/cinnamon combination my favourite so far goes to Soderblandning from The Tea Centre of Stockholm http://www.theteacentre.se/p/soederblandning/993 This tea has a combination of honey, cinnamon, orange peel and dried fruits.
Here in Portugal it’s quite usual to drink it together with a glass of Port Wine. I actually bought it in North Portugal (Douro Region) in a special package with a bottle of Taylor’s 10 year old Tawny port.
Obrigada, Teresa, that sounds like a very interesting tea! And I never had tea with Port wine, it is a good idea, particularly if a fruit and cinnamon mix.
I found out Mariage Fréres´ Christmas tea (thé de Nöel) is orange-cinnamon, but I never had it, if I ever do, will write a tasting note.
Hrmmm… I don’t think I’ve ordered a tea I can’t pronounce before…
LOL, sooner or later you will ;) Even just some origins or types, I am not sure I know how to pronounce them. Like the chineses origin in English is sometimes called Keemun, I have seen it written Qimen as well, and I am sure pronunciation is pretty different from either.
Hee – Eu bureaucracy has to be good for something! I’m quite pleased now, as I rushed to check my (organic) cinnamon and it is proper cinnamon, not cassia! (Also discovered another tea that sounds delicious in the comments, of course.)
Smells sublime when dry, Marco Polo-ish almost. But steeped, just a cup and I am quite uncertain. I feel the bergamot putting it firmly with earlgrey-ish territory (and out of Marco polo territory) and a vanilla/caramel taste. Base tea has some oomph but maybe too much oomph, it is tasting astringent to me. This is just not working for me. Tap water today smelled horribly of bleach, that can not help, must try this with bottled water and shorter steeping time.
Preparation
I thought I had already tried this! So curious about it, thought I had tried it and find the very generous sample Angrboda gave me unopened. I do have too many teas, it is now confirmed.
I am not too crazy about oolong normally. I do love raspberries though, and this red fruit oolong from a local tea seller works for me in a good way. In all good omens.
The tea did not disappoint – it smells incredibly strongly of raspberry, in a way that seemed a little bit artificially flavoured (but I am paranoid). But when infusing the taste is pure natural raspberry, a little bit tart which is just right for things with a raspberry taste. Lovely! Though I think I should have been more generous with the dosage or skimpier with the ammount of water – and this will definetely get multiple steeps just to see how it goes.
Preparation
Funny, I could have sworn I had seen you post about it too! Odd. Anyway, I’m sure you can see why this is my favourite one to share. :) I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I was pretty sure I had opened it and tried it, but found the sample unopened. Oh well, either I confused it with the cranberry-vanilla black tea you sent me or with the redfruitsooolong I had! But I can not find any previous reviews, so yeah weird, particularly if there are two of us thinking that!
(still got to try the tanzania, though I did open it, it smells pretty different from the mozambique, a bit more intense, muskier even)
Perhaps you just told me about it by email? But yeah, it’s possible I got them mixed up as well. :)
It must have been my mail! or a mutual hallucination :)
It is lovely, and I am not usually a fan of oolongs! thanks for sending such a generous sample, i will have fun experimenting with brewing it.
In my country we distinguish between the flavour/scent of almond and bitter almond. Bitter almond is not a depreciative, special trees are grown particularly for them (though bitter almonds do show up naturally in every batch). The bitter almond is the one with the strong smell and taste, sometimes you need a little of the bitterness to make the sweet better. Normal, sweet almonds are lovely, their skins usually holding almost all the flavour, but for that almond scent and a bit of bite, usually we need a little bit of bitter almonds to provide that. Nobody wants to have bitter almonds on their own,besides being bitter they are mouth numbing and I think poisonous as well, but they are needed.
All this to say, that bitter almonds are what we usually think of when we think of almond scents, sweet almonds being almost scentless. This tea is, to my taste, strongly scented with bitter almond. With I think some vanilla, cinnamon and coriander in the background, very subtly. The black tea is not wimpish but I got no clue what kind of tea it is, the almond is STRONG. I like it. Particularly with a little bit of milk. But do avoid if you do not like that bitter almond thing (or almonds in general).
PS – just to add, the tea I got does not at all look like the photo here on steepster. No blue (cornflowers?) flowers at all.
Preparation
I’ve heard that bitter almonds are somewhat toxic as well, but for some reason I always assumed that it was a different sort of plant entirely.
Bitter almonds are toxic, a bit – but it is one of those things, they are so bitter and mouthnumbing that anybody is unlikely to eat enough of those for any real damage. Apricot kernels or apple seeds as well – they are also toxic, same compound or something similar and same taste.
But bitter almonds occur naturally in sweet almond trees, one in a hundred or a thousand (something like that) almonds will naturally be bitter. Though it only turns bitter when exposed to humidity, chewing them or something (really). But there are also other kinds of almond tree, which are not the normal sweet almond, which give just bitter almonds.
You usually need some ammount of bitter almonds mixed with sweet almonds for a few recipes – in the south of Portugal for marzipan (or amarguinha liqueur), in Italy for amaretti biscuits.
it is really weird you didn’t get the blue cornflowers in your blend.
That’s right Pleine lune dry leaves smells like Amaretto
I went and double checked and Ok I take that back. It has got the cornflowers indeed, though in mine they are pretty faded, and I recognize the almond and the other thingies I can not quite name (Coriander? peel of something?). Cornflowers were just much less blue, oh well, this tea must have oxidized some, I bought by weight from a tea shop. It is still awesome though!
I should write another review, I think I have cracked how to do this, with honey and milk, and I think this is becoming a staple for me.
I think I got it right this time, not too hot water, plenty of tea, and not letting it oversteep. And it is very refreshing, strong mint, hint of bergamot to just amplify the mint. The tea, well not feeling the tea strongly.
Very nice if you like this sort of thing – right now, not quite my thing, but maybe I will like it better as I use the rest of the sample. Or when the weather gets hotter and refreshing will be more valued than right now. We shall see.
Preparation
This was a tea I just had to try based on name alone. A tea named after a Portuguese woman, a Lisbon neighbour so to speak, the woman responsible for some very cute unicorns (with lions) on occasional bits of the city (I got a weakness for those unicorns). And she liked her tea, so I do have a big fondness for her.
The fondness extends to the tea. This is such a chinese black tea, and that by my book is a very good thing and just my kind of tea. It reminds me a bit of Twinings´s Prince of Wales, the same sort of chestnutty taste, hint of smoke. But for proper taste note, must brew it a few more times and skip the milk. A very nice lady, this queen of England.
Preparation
Hmm, now I have been kinder when brewing this, and it is indeed lovely. Very very strong, lovely gorgeous natural mango scent in the tea mixture. After brewed, the mango is much less overpowering, just this perfect balance of nice green tea with fruit, not too much fruit and not too little (for my taste). Lots of sunflower petals, not sure what they do to the taste (add texture?).
I did a second steep of this and it was a great idea. The wet leaves smell totally differently after the steep, like cut grass almost, almost a minty tone, and I got very curious about what a second steep would be like. Maybe because I used hotter water and left the tea for longer, it was more mango-ish. The tea also tasted greener, though not the minty-grassy tones the leaves smelled of! Just lovely, at both steeps.
