440 Tasting Notes
I don’t mind teas with hibiscus. Sometimes it adds that little note that makes a tea into perfection. Here? It’s the bully that demands the entire playground. Dry, this tea smells absolutely amazing, like Christmas and birthdays and homemade apple pie all rolled up into one magic bag of tea. But once it is brewed you get . . . hibiscus. There are undercurrents of the other flavours but it is like they’re very tiny children trying to peek out from behind an elephant and a hippopotamus. Dear David, please please please lay off the hibiscus in your blends for a bit. I’ve been very uninspired lately, and it scares me that all of these uninspiring flavours are becoming permanent wall tins.
Preparation
Aha, we found the lemon! Second time is a charm? This time when I tried the tea was much better than the first. It is a light tea, almost too light. The earl notes are prominent, although there is definitely a side of perfumey here. Upping rating slightly this time but I won’t be restocking.
Was running behind this morning so snagged one of these so I could tea at work. So glad I did, it was the only thing that got me through the morning. Made it in an extra large mug today, so it was less strong than usual and extra milky, but still delicious.
Preparation
Second tasting note for this one, and this time I’m doing it without any sweetener. There’s a definite tartness here, offset by the sweetness of the bamboo but still very apparent. The colour of the brew is beautiful, as is the scent of the dry leaves (and the steeped, actually). I can totally see the appeal of this iced on a hot summer’s day on a beach. But hot and in January I’m still not sold.
Preparation
{backlogged review}
More banana, David? Really? Can’t we have some new fruits for a change? I promise there’s a world of raspberry and blueberry and so many other amazing flavours out there! And this one wasn’t even a great banana. Sorry David, wasn’t sold on this one. The notes didn’t blend well for me at all, and it left me with a cup of rotten nuts. Which left me saying “Nuts”!
Wait, there’s mint in this? Maybe I got a bum bag or something, because I didn’t get a single trace of anything other than a slightly spiced black tea. No mint at all. I ended up mixing it with pure spearmint and it still managed to bury most of that with a 50/50 blend!
{backlogged review}
This was the tea that finally convinced me that I’m still not at the point where I enjoy overly strong teas. I tried this one a couple times and still, no luck. All I could taste was what seemed like overly strong black. I didn’t get any other notes. :( Not rating it since it isn’t fair to the tea.
Sipping this one tonight along with some leftover pad thai. Culture clash perhaps, but delicious together! This sencha is just strong enough to have the flavour peep through the spices in my meal. Grassy and delicious.
Once my meal was done and I was getting the pure tea flavour, some toastiness crept in, making it even more lovely. I may actually be restocking this one!
(Also, spell check? You really should recognize the word Sencha on a tea site!)
Preparation
Mmmm. I’ve fallen in love with this one this winter. Not because it is chili or chai flavoured though, if anything I get neither of either of these two flavours. I get a lovely chocolate flavour, instead. And a chocolate tea that actually tastes like chocolate is always a good thing for me.
Tonight’s cup was my first attempt for this one as a latte. I have to say it stood up well. As I was sipping I was very chocolate happy, but now as I’m sitting here I’m realizing that it is chili notes and not chocolate left in my mouth. My latte finally found the chili in the tea!
