1737 Tasting Notes
Today I was very scrupulous with temperature and timing in brewing this sencha from Thé Santé. The water was less than 80C and the steep lasted precisely three minutes (the package recommends 3-4). The brew was the usual beautiful citrine-peridot hue and tasted oh-so-sencha satisfying. There’s a reason why the entire population of Japan is addicted to this tea…
second infusion: Usually I wait until later in the day for a second infusion, but I did one very soon after my first infusion because I was still craving another cup. It was good!
third infusion: I do not always make it to a third infusion, though I recall from my trip to Japan that they use the same leaves over and over again. This one was faint and lighter colored, but still a nice post-dinner, caffeine-free (or close) thirst quencher.
Preparation
This a pretty consistent experience for me. Definitely much preferable to the original Sleepytime—at least in its current formulation.
Here’s a small tidbit of tangentially relevant information: I went to school in Boulder, where Celestial Seasonings is located—actually it’s on the periphery of the town, so you’d have to make an effort to visit, which I never did while an undergraduate. However, my mother and stepdad happen also to live in Boulder, and during one of my trips out to visit them we went on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings headquarters! It was one of those touristy-type set ups, but I enjoyed walking by the rooms where they store literally tons of their herbal ingredients. The spearmint room was especially unforgettable!
Looking back, I am wondering whether the people working there may have developed a tolerance to spearmint, which is what led them to overdose that herb in the latest batch of Sleepytime. Just an idea…
Whoops: perhaps I really am comparing bergamot with oranges, because it turns out that the Tea Forte Earl Grey filter bag contains orange zest, which the Tazo Earl Grey filter bag lacks!
But does it help? Does the orange improve the flavor? Honestly, the Tea Forte version smells much more like tea (ceylon, I’d guess) than either bergamot or orange! The brew is less strong (in part no doubt due to the smaller amount of tea in the filter bag), less red, and generally less appealing. It does taste pretty good for a grocery store bag tea (faint praise…), but I prefer the Tazo.
I drank both of these brews with light cream, and the Tazo is much creamier and smoother than the Tea Forte. This Earl Grey seems to be geared more for people who dislike bergamot, given that the dried filter bag does not smell like perfume but like tea. My question: do people who dislike bergamot buy Earl Grey tea???
I stand by my earlier evaluation. The Tea Forte Earl Grey is potable, but I will not be purchasing it again.
Preparation
In today’s steep-off chez sherapop, two filter bags of Earl Grey are going head to head, sip to sip: Tazo Earl Grey and Tea Forte Earl Grey. Both are filter bags, important to emphasize that point, for we are not comparing apples with oranges in this test!
As usual, I was impressed by the heavy perfuming of the Tazo. It literally smells like perfume! The brew was slightly redder than that of the Tea Forte, and I noticed that the spent Tazo bag was heavier than the Tea Forte… But what about the taste????
one last thing: I forgot to mention that this appears to be a sip-down! Both a steep-off and a sip-down!!
To my surprise, Silver Sprout brews up orange—a very peachy color, to be more precise. My second surprise was the flavor, which to my palate is something like cooked vegetables. Not roasted vegetables, but more severely cooked vegetables. Perhaps like canned green beans? I was very meticulous in preparing this brew: 3 minutes at low water temperature (just over 70C), so I know that the flavor is true and not an artifact of the brewer’s incompetence…
What is really interesting, however, is the smoky quality on top—rather like a condiment—which is vaguely reminiscent of Lapsang Souchong. It is very light, so those who find that tea overpowering might enjoy this one for a change of pace. Definitely unique!
The dried leaves are wiry and strongly scented. I noticed a fair number of twigs among the spent leaves.
second infusion: still peach colored, but now the smokiness is a bit more marked as the vegetal quality has diminished. Still good. I might try a third infusion…
third infusion: still peach colored, though a bit lighter. The flavor is now very mild. This is the end of the line for these leaves!
Preparation
So my friend was late, presenting me with the opportunity for a second refill at Starbucks this afternoon. I decided to venture out of my Refresh comfort zone and try Vanilla Rooibos Parfait once again.
The last time I tried this tea, I had very low expectations—as in: fully prepared to toss the contents of my cup. Honestly, the name just sounded repulsive to me. Would it be some horrible foodish atrocity? No, it was not. Far from it, in fact.
I would love to know how many tries it took the folks at Tazo to come up with this blend. The various components harmonize well together and definitely were not thrown together hastily.
Today, too, I was happy with the brew, even though my evaluation no longer was skewed by my negative expectations. I remembered that I had really enjoyed the cup last time (also while in a Starbucks), and so I was expecting to once again, and I did.
This might even be my favorite rooibos tea. Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that I’m not the biggest fan of rooibos infusions, being one of those who prefers blends in which the taste of rooibos is camouflaged by something more appealing. In Vanilla Rooibos Parfait, it’s partly the vanilla, but the brew is also sweet because of licorice root and dried fruits, and spicy because of cinnamon. Chamomile also adds some extra interest. Again, I realize that it sounds like a mess, but somehow it works!
I add no adulterants to this infusion, and it tastes sweet and creamy anyway!
Preparation
Today’s trip to Starbucks began with a tall Americano with long shots. Pretty simple and pretty small, since I knew that I’d be lingering around for refills—I was meeting a friend visiting from out of town.
For my first refill, I finally decided to put the Earl Grey full-leaf sachet to the test. I had already tried the Tazo Earl Grey filterbags (in the dark purple envelopes), and also the older version of loose leaf, which came in a cylindrical yellow can. In fact, I believe that I may still have a bit of that on hand…
I have been pretty happy with the Tazo Earl Grey, and was wondering whether the sachets would be better, since they feature large leaf pieces. My first observation was that the sachet is generously loaded with leaves, which is important to me because I do not drink black tea weak, especially not Earl Grey and Assam, since I prefer to add cream. So the sachet in a tall (12 ounce) cup was a good match for me, though the same sachet is used for customers who order a grande tea (16 ounce). For me, that might be too weak, but the resultant liquor in the tall cup was nice and dark golden brown.
I added half and half, and the brew tasted pretty good, but interestingly enough, it was not as strong on the bergamot as I remembered the filterbag and loose leaf (non-sachet) to have been. The quality of the black tea seemed just okay—a little scratchy, but that may be because I have become spoiled by Earl Grey Blanc (also Tazo), which includes a dollop of delicious vanilla.
All in all, my first Tazo Earl Grey sachet experience was not bad, but I feel that I have to do this again before attaching a number to this tea.
Preparation
What can I say? This stuff is delicious—and smells wonderful, too! A fitting tribute to the olfactorily gifted HRH Emperor Oliver…
The fruity peach and blueberry flavors sit perfectly atop delicate white tea. The blue cornflowers impart a bit of haute couture pizzazz to the dried leaves.
second infusion: I drank this after dinner. It was just as good as the first, but hopefully with less caffeine…
