:( I tried this one after my massive lack of success with DT’s Cherry Cola tonight, and unfortunately, don’t like this one much better. The aroma is fairly light and mild, with a bit of a familiar and slightly unpleasant aroma. I feel like it’s an aroma I’ve associated with a black tea in the past, but I can’t for the life of me remember which. The unpleasant-ish aroma follows into the flavour – I’m left with quite a light blend, where I can taste a touch of sweetness that’s unfortunately coming off as something a bit rotten, alongside a pleasant black base. I wonder now if it’s the rooibos causing this…
Anyhow, I was certainly hoping for a whole lot more than I got from this blend :( Although there was a lot of orange peel, that’s certainly not a dominant flavour in the blend (in fact, I can’t even really taste it). I can only catch the barest hint of smokiness; given that this is a “campfire blend” I would have expected more. There is a creamy, pleasant aftertaste, which I wish had more impact upon the rest of the blend, but that’s its only redeeming factor (though, I say that as this tea grows on me a little… I’m trying to give it a chance by drinking the whole cup, which does seem to be improving my opinion of it, but not enough to ever re-purchase.)
Anyhow, I do wish I had better things to say about this blend, but it’s fairly bland (I used 2 tsp for ~10 oz. water, and it got a full 5 minute infusion in boiling water) and has a bit of an odd flavour (although I’m wondering if cross-contamination from other samples from Whispering Pines could be a partial cause of this). Oh well!
ETA: Although I just burnt my tongue on a different tea…. grumbles, the re-steep of this one is fairly decent. Half the water, 6-minute infusion at boiling. I’m tasting light spice, perhaps a hint of citrus, and none of yesterday’s wierdness. I will try this one again soon and hopefully it will be better then! Perhaps let it air out a touch.
Preparation
Comments
Hmm. I’m really wondering if there’s sample cross-contam in the bag of stuff I got from you. I think one of the teas may be quite strongly flavoured in a way I don’t like, and it may have affected the others. I should go through and try all 5 tonight to see if there’s a common flavour or something. I really want to like your teas! :(
Hmm…I just checked out the other stuff you ordered and nothing that I can think of would have effected it. You ordered campfire on August 1st though, right? That may have just been too long for stuff to sit together so that might be it. It could be chamomile from the coconut chamomile, which i have noticed doesn’t sit well with black tea.
Hmm, strange. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this one! Can’t win ’em all! :D
Hmm. I’m really wondering if there’s sample cross-contam in the bag of stuff I got from you. I think one of the teas may be quite strongly flavoured in a way I don’t like, and it may have affected the others. I should go through and try all 5 tonight to see if there’s a common flavour or something. I really want to like your teas! :(
Hmm…I just checked out the other stuff you ordered and nothing that I can think of would have effected it. You ordered campfire on August 1st though, right? That may have just been too long for stuff to sit together so that might be it. It could be chamomile from the coconut chamomile, which i have noticed doesn’t sit well with black tea.
Remind me to add a free sample of the new (final) version of this on next time you order. The base tea has been changed. It’s gone through about 300-400 versions in the past year – and i’m glad its finally done :)