1403 Tasting Notes
For a person who is not all that keen on mint, mint in tea seems to find me.
This one in scent and flavour reminds me very much of 52Teas Peppermint Marshmallows in Hot Chocolate. The only flavours absent are the marshmallows and laoshan black. The mint insinuates itself gently, gently.
Black tea and vanilla is a win. The vanilla mellows the frostiness of the mint out. The cacao nibs do too. The assam base is punchy. Another win.Flavors: Chocolate, Cream, Mint, Vanilla
Preparation
I’m not a huge mint person myself, but for some reason it takes on a different life in tea. And coffee! I loooove it in coffee?! so confused…
Ouf, coffee and mint—for me, a bit nope.
I usually say the same. Or rather, I did… until I learned that coffee and a “shot” of peppermint is so very different. Or rather different than how peppermint presents itself in the lattes sold at xbux or second cup etc. No idea if it is a different peppermint they use but it tastes rather opposite to what I recall in the latte blended versions. For me. I was pleasantly surprised.
Hmm, thanks for explaining this. It helps me keep an open mind. :)
Np! I need to remember to do the same myself! Esp since I find various combos good/bad. Like mint in chocolate? Bleh. Hate it. But mint chocolate chip icecream? I adore it. So yeah. I confuse me!
I spent the day drinking multiple steeps of oolong from last night. It was delicious and the leaves were not quite spent, but I had had enough. I cold steeped the leaves for tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.
As the day drew to a close, I was craving a black tea before my caffeine cutoff point: not any particular one, just something frisky and black and delicious. This fit the bill though it is totally a surprise as it is my first cup of it. The name pretty much sums it up: creamy and sweet smoky coconut, buttery and lovely. The smoke is on the gentle side, but definitely present. This one is a winner.
I wonder whether I can manage a second steep before my tea deadline approaches.
Flavors: Coconut, Smoke, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Finally diving into this that I picked up in Montreal when I was there some time ago. Such a beautiful store to shop in. I should have written down which vintage this was. No idea. Spring 2016? Autumn 2016? Earlier?
Currently on the first steep and don’t think I’ll manage beyond the second today. Caramel sweet and milky and a bit vegetal, but delicately so.
Thank goodness for tea. I find that there’s such heaviness in the air post-election next door. Fear and heaviness. Panic too, perhaps. And anger. And upheaval. My heart goes out to those living in it.
Flavors: Caramel, Milk, Vegetal
Yeah, stevia.
I am one of those people who likes hibiscus, straight up. In Egypt, where it is native, I used to drink it often. It’s tasty and good for you.Mind you, my mother was a big fan of sour and tart things, so my palate got accustomed to these tastes early, even though I was not much of a fan.
Enter Hibiscus Punch. I love Hibiscus, so when this went on sale, I thought what could possibly go wrong here? Thus, I ended up with mountains of this. Stevia, cinnamon, and hibiscus, ouf, no. Ginger too, I think.
I applied my Sleigh Ride approach of half leaf and half pure hibiscus, and now I am happy with it. The non-hibiscus flavours have thus been toned down. I quite like this now. This is my second day cold-steeping it this way for a refreshing afternoon drink. My rating reflects the low side of my doctored version, not the straight tea.
Also, who puts rooibos into a fruit or herbal tea? Who?
Flavors: Cinnamon, Ginger, Hibiscus
Preparation
Last night I sent my neighbours a note asked them to tone it down with exercising—running, jumping, doing weights, and so on— on wooden floors. It took me a year and a half of it driving me crazy to mention it to them because I didn’t want to be the crazy lady next door. So I sucked it up. 7 am, 10 am, 3 pm, 4 pm, 5pm. And this week, I lost my ^%&t.
My note was polite. I have no problem with their newborn—sometimes it feels like I have a newborn alongside—and their six-year-old. Or their extended family and large friend network. But for the love of God, with the running and the kettlebells and motivation soundtrack against our adjoining wall and repeated thuds and thuds and thuds and boom and boom and boom and who knows what all else that makes the floors jump and the walls vibrate and me want to crawl out of my skin. And why do all this when you have perfectly good concrete floors too that will muffle the sound and not make your neighbours want to kill themselves? So I hated having to send the note, but nope, couldn’t take it any. more. I so much hope that they will understand instead of thinking that I am a lunatic.
ok ok, I may be a lunatic, but in a good way.I have often thought about this tea. When it is good, it is really really good. I misplaced it. It wasn’t in the place where I usually store it because I had included it in a swap with a tea friend and it got buried among other teas I had put aside to create swap samples. So, now, yay! Such bitter coffee and burnt caramel deliciousness. It is super lovely with milk, but I am drinking it straight up. And deliriously happy. Until I begin thinking about my neighbours.
Was this from the amoda box? sounds amazing!
Ugh noisy neighbours are the WORST. Our former neighbours had six kids. When they played outside? each invited a friend over, and there was chaos. I swear they were opera divas in training. Working from home or studying was literally not possible. I feel your pain. Here’s hoping they respond with a compromise that works!!
Initially it was and then I ordered it.
Ah, so you know the pain. I have a set of truly despicable neighbours on the other side who have six kids with the same situation. Years and years of them outside. all. the. time with friends, of course, with no supervision. So yeah, I was not able to do any of my studying or work at home. Thankfully, most of that set are teenagers now.
I am certainly not prepared to go through that situation again. Nope. But I also want to be fair and understanding, which I think I am being with these new neighbours.
Unsupervised, yup!! they had an inground pool, which means summer was absolute torture. So glad they moved away. I’m glad you’re neighbours kiddos are grown now!
It sounds totally reasonable to me. I’d bet it hasn’t even occurred to them and they will be horrified. Kudos to them for being healthy though. Do they know about tea? it might be a nice olive branch :P
No pool, but I raise you two pit bulls and an antique car, truck, and Harley collection in addition to the other vehicles. And only three are teenagers. And they are all still here. However, after I began researching and reporting various bylaws they were breaking on a daily basis, they learned how to play nice. For now.
I don’t know. Nice idea though. Let’s see how things go. I think this is a period of reflection, hopefully. My mistake is that they don’t hear me, but in my note, I illustrated the reasons why that is.
Thank you for being supportive. It helps.
thankfully our neighbours toned it down before i had to write a note explaining that if you’re going to be uh…enthusiastic…for over an hour…ONE of you is probably faking it..so could that be done before midnight instead of at 2am. heh
also i’m with IB – this sounds good
hhahahaaha! It’s always something.
The tea or the note, Sil?
@Sil Oh dear! hah.
@Evol You win on that one. Not sure if that is good…
We have other neighbours with a pool. Two kids with autism and a teenager who loves having friends over. And a hottub. They try to keep it down unless it is a special occasion, but sometimes the kids have tantrums. Oh and the adults go into their hottub topless sometimes. Not sure about the bottom bits, I try not to stare.
We’ve bumped heads with those neighbours before, but I can’t complain much now. They are much nicer now. Long story :P
Anything that keeps people outside and making noise of any kind is potentially troublesome, if the people are neanderthals to begin with. Topless and bottomless bits don’t faze me. Lack of respect for others makes me go ballistic, however.
I don’t care if they do go topless but my neighbour on the other side squawks and causes more drama haha. Desperate housewives, I know.
:)
I don’t care what ppl do as long as it’s quiet. heh
Me too. However, I’d object to a meth lab next door though. So, quiet and something that doesn’t infringe on any of my senses, health, and sanity. Otherwise, absolutely cool.
Totally agreed on that front! and I don’t want my property damaged either (neighbours emptied their pool and it went through part of our yard. eroded the soil)
People sometimes, ugh.
grumbles People.
I hope they’ve come back with an apology. Or something.
Apology, yes! And a whole lot of ideas on how we can compromise in this situation.
oh wow yay!! faith in humanity revived*
Well, not so fast. I’ve been woken up by the exercise and their infant four times in the last five days.
So clearly we are not there yet.
Oh dear. Can you record it for them? Or maybe the decibels, so you can show them comparable noises? http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Decibels
Thank you for this, Indigobloom. I will take a look when I have some brain cells to work with.
I hope it works. Good luck!
Thanks. Currently, making an effort to write a note in response to them in a polite reasonable way without sounding like a crazy lady. They have taken steps, but I don’t think they understand the impact of the kids, and the tv, and the exercise thuds and thumps on top of all the rest of life noises.
Tried this as a cold steep two or three days in a row. Really really good. If you get the right amount of leaf in. Only if you get the right amount of leaf in. Too much and you are in store for an imitation flavour bonanza. Just enough and a buttered rum lifesaver explodes in your mouth in every sip. Underleafing is the way to go with this one.
I need to double check what’s left of the samples you sent me, though I swore I finished this one off and wrote a note about it. Anyway, underleafing worked better for me on that one too.
There was a nice assortment of black teas that I haven’t heard you effervesce about, if I recall. :)
The scent is orange or tangerine-y with pillows of marshmallow.
Initially, when I had first tried this, the base seemed quite a bit more astringent than I am used to 52Teas blends tasting though I had steeped briefly. The base did become a bit more mellow once the marshmallow took over with the barest whisper of citrus.
Marshmallow and vanilla are big wins for me. I enjoyed my cup.
Flavors: Citrus, Marshmallow
Preparation
The past couple of days, I’ve been revving up for a cup or two of milk oolong, preferably a good one. This is a good one. I have a small assortment of various ones that I enjoy. I tend towards thicker creamier ones. Perhaps that makes me a neanderthal in the tea world. If so, so be it.
This one is a flavoured milk oolong. However, the floral qualities of the oolong base shine through the sweet milk/cream flavour overlay. Currently, I am only on the first steep. I might not make it to the next one, but if I do, I will add to the post.
Currently on steep three. Number two was the thickest and the sweetest, but three is still holding with all the essential cream and floral flavours with no weakening detected.
Steep four was still a good one, but with the flavour beginning to fade a bit. I stopped at four.
Today started off poorly and usually that doesn’t augur well. I needed an afternoon pick-me-up and this tea was it. I needed an understanding hug, in fact, and this tea was the closest thing that was available.
It may not have been initially, when I first had it, everything I had hoped for—perhaps I had had unrealistic expectations of a luscious chocolate nut fantasy in a cup, but it is a solid blend that delivers delicious chocolate nut comfort. I could trust in that and that’s exactly what I got in this particular cup.It is even better with milk or cream and a wee bit of honey, but currently, given my nutrition plan, I am drinking everything black and unsweetened.
Flavors: Chocolate, Nuts
Preparation
Sorry to hear about your bad day. Tea is such a wonderful comfort sometimes.
Wow, this sounds absolutely fantastic! I’ll have to keep it in mind if I ever order from them again.
Evol I hope it takes a good turn for you.
Sorry for the bad day. I feel your pain. Tea isn’t a cure, but it helps.
Thank you all. There have also been some good bits, so I’ll try to hold onto that. And yes, tea does help. Even though some days need a hell of a lot of tea to take the edge off.
Hope it got better for you! bad days suck :(
Today is thankfully looking much better. Thank you everyone for your kindness.
Nice! I’ve smelled this a few times in their shop, always meaning to pick it up, but never did. Glad you enjoyed it.
Yeah, I have been enjoying this one. It’s got a very juicy berry thing going on. I hope it works for you too.