6444 Tasting Notes
I am returning to Toronto tonight for Thanksgiving weekend so I explored what in my fridge was going to expire while I was away. One of those things was whipping cream so in an effort to not waste it I decided to make an earl grey hot chocolate. I also might have inverted the 2:1 ratio of milk to whipping cream, thereby using double the whipping cream compared to the milk. That is probably why I got one mouthful and just couldn’t bring myself to drink anymore. Turns out I wasted the whipping cream after all as well as milk, tea, and semi-sweet chocolate.
Yesterday I explored a cafe in London. I got a nutella cream cruffin and a London Fog. It was weird b/c they kept asking me if I had a London Fog before and kept explaining what it was. Anyways, both were delicious. The London Fog had a great vanilla flavor and while at times the bergamot got quite strong, it was nicely balanced by the vanilla.
Sipdown (221)
Made this as a tea lemonade with some tangerine lemonade. The lemonade definitely helps this a great deal by drawing on the sweetness and covering the herbs and hibby slightly. It is still not a favorite though so the last little bit of this got put into my swap box.
Sipdown…of sorts (222)
I am trying this now to make sure it is still palatable because it is old but I want my vegan friend to try it. I am preparing a package of teas for her after she expressed interest in trying the Black Bean Oolong tea I had a couple weeks back courtesy of Roswell Strange. I figured once I am sending ONE tea, I should send others as well. Since she is a New Yorker, she has access to a lot of different things so I am trying to send her stuff she would not get elsewhere. This qualifies for sure.
It is not as good as it once was but it is still interesting. I get faint smoke and mostly pineapple and rooibos. Less meat than I used to get which seems like it should be a positive but I miss it.
The rest of this is off to my friend, with a warning that it is old and a little less meaty than it once was. As a vegan, something tells me she won’t mind more pineapple than bacon.
Sipdown (223)
This came from either Evol Ving Ness or Sil. Thank you!
I made this the usual way I make a latte, using 3 perfect tsps of leaf in about 6 oz of water and topped it with 6 oz of frothed milk. That clearly was not the right way to go because this tastes like spicy dirt :(
Unfortunately this one is not for me. I tried this gongfu and it had that typical darjeeling dryness. That was after a rinse and several steeping attempts. Eventually it ran out of flavor around the same time that astringent quality went away so I gave up and tried making it Western style. It’s better than the gongfu but still has a strong metallic quality. Into the swap box for someone who would appreciate it more.
Thank you Evol Ving Ness for sharing! I made this in a tea thermos to accompany me to my rare early morning class. Alas, this tea either isn’t great to begin with or just can’t hold up to the thermos b/c this tastes like nothing. Will wait to rate at a later date.
