Sarah R. Send Message

This was the last of my tea samples from Christmas. It actually tastes pretty good. I wasn’t sure if I would like it because I tried Adagio’s Ceylon and Assam too and well, didn’t fall in love with them. But they seem to work pretty well together. Maybe I just brewed them wrong last time, but there was almost no bitterness to the Irish Breakfast. Just pure, yummy tea flavor. Mmmm… Plus, most things Irish are just cool. :D

So I didn’t care much for darjeeling on its own, but it sure makes some good chai! Here’s my basic recipe for chai:
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
1-2 T sugar (to taste)

2 tsp or so tea of your choice (black or green; i like it with green tea too)
2-3 cardamom pods (i imagine you could use ground cardamom if that’s what you can find)
10 cloves
10 black peppercorns (i never taste pepper in my chai, but it gives it a tad more spice)
1/2 star anise pod (or a whole one if it’s pretty small)
1/4 cinnamon stick (i’m not too picky with this cuz it’s hard to get exactly how much of one you want broken off)
dash of ground nutmeg
dash of ground ginger

Bring water to boil in a small saucepan. Dissolve sugar. Add tea. Drop heat and simmer for 5 min. Turn heat back up. Add milk. Bring to boil. And be careful when boiling anything with milk or it’ll boil over. Not that i would ever do such a thing. ahem Once it’s boiling, drop down to a simmer again and simmer for 5 more minutes. Strain and serve. I like to strain it twice because that seems to get more of the little grainy stuff from the bottom. I usually just strain the whole thing back into the measuring cup i used to measure the milk and water, rinse the strainer, then strain from there into whatever cup i’m using. Also, the amounts of liquid i use ends up filling my really big mug just right. So you may want to cut down on both.

So my mom gave me this one for Christmas because i was almost out of my Rishi Earl Grey, and I just now got around to trying it. I love it! I’ve tried Rishi’s Earl Grey and Lavender Earl Grey, and I really liked the Lavender one, but this EG definitely beat the regular EG from Rishi. It’s been too long since I tried the Lavender to compare them, but I really like EG Bravo. I finished up my first pot while I was taking down the Christmas tree. I like the bergamot flavor; there seems to be a good balance.

2nd steep: 4 min 30 sec
Still pretty good, but not as… fresh tasting. But it seems to have even more of the citrus flavor. huh.

This is another one of the teas I got for Christmas. :D
Well, I probably wouldn’t have picked out the peppery taste on my own, but I can see what people mean when they say Yunnan has a peppery taste. It’s like the taste of pepper without the spiciness. Sorta. Ish.
I just used the time they wrote on the packaging, but I think next time I’ll maybe go just a little bit shorter. It’s pretty good, but I think the Keemun’s still my favorite.

Edit: 2nd steep was better. and i added just a little sugar.

Doesn’t have a very strong smell, but nice. but i suppose my nose is kinda stuffy. mmm, there’s something there i just can’t quite put my finger on.

Well, it seems to have a fairly light taste, at least when it’s still tongue-burning hot. Not that i would ever burn my tongue… ahem. Anywho, it’s got a bright taste that i like. Doesn’t taste really heavy like some stuff can. Yup, pretty good.

Mmmm… smells good. well, this is my first darjeeling. My mom gave me two Adagio Tea samplers for Christmas, so I’m getting to try a bunch of different teas.

I’m not sure if I like it. It has sort of a sharp taste that I don’t think I care for. Now, this isn’t against Adagio’s Darjeeling, but really just darjeelings in general, I guess. But I finished the cup. Don’t think I’ll brew the leaves again though.