Ankara Apple

Phew, spents a chunk of the day dealing with crochet commissions. I get some interesting buyers for my cutesy, big eyed crochet amigurumi dolls. Today was a violent neon pink giant squid for someone’s office.
Though, weirdest I’ve had was squids, to be thrown at each other at a LARP and foxes, in various colours, to match each person’s furry costume. Never a dull moment!

Tea time! Wow, this came out nice and spicy! The apple pops right at first sip and is lightly sweet! yum!

See previous notes for review.

Unfortunately my area is under amber alert for snow blizzard warnings after experiencing the worst weather for March in over 50 years. What a nice welcome to spring that has been. A snow warning means it’s time to take advantage of the situation and curl up on the sofa with a blanket and a pot of tea to keep warm. A great excuse to double my tea intake. :D

Spiced apple tea is always warming and hearty which is something I could do with on this frozen night.

This blend smells amazing! You have the sweet and juicy apple mixed with spicy cinnamon and clove to create a very strong and potent blend of Turkish goodness. In appearance you have the wonderful mixture of green, yellow and red colours with the ingredients varying in size for a pretty contrast. Everything looks fresh and natural. :)

Once steeped this tea is yellow in colour with a strong clove and apple aroma. The first few sips reveal: clove, apple, cinnamon. There is also a sweetness from the apple to match the spices whilst leaving you with a clean after taste. This blend is warming and comforting without being too heavy or rich yet still full on flavour.

I will admit that I’m not a fan of cloves at all but there is no thick, sticky clove flavour that makes me pull a face like a child eating vegetables. Instead the clove is more refreshing and mellow which when paired with the sweetness from the apple just lifts it that bit more to make it clove-licious.

I can feel a glow of warmth already :) Super delicious.

Istanbul was the last port on a very cold rainy cruise, part of my working vacation 5 moth experience. We were at port on the European side. I had three full days to explore the city go to hammans etc. Anyways the city is amazing, but I ended up soaked and on the first day I ended up being hosted by the’ Jean King " of the Grand bazaar who plied me with many warming cups of apple tea while drying my coat with a blow dryer borrowed from a neighbouring stall. What hospitality, great stories, a great sense of humour, and lovely spiced sweet tea.

Although this tea smells a little bit like it, with the apple and clove being the dominant fragrance, it doesn’t really taste like it to me. However it does pay a nice homage to Turkish cuisine. Pomegranates as a favourite condiment, cloves, and sage make me think of there many spiced meat dishes and apple for the iconic tea. The sage in it makes it a nice substitute to have in the cupboard for when your sick as it is great for calming sore throats. After three minutes the sage is a little more dominant than I may like for this blend, but this may also be due to the age of this tea as sage can intensify as it gets older. Sage and apple, are underlayed by a slightly bitter green tea cinnamon, and cloves, pomegranate is there as a reference. A tea to bring back memories and drive me to search for more tulip glasses.

do.not.like. Maybe it’s the past experience with cloves from the tea i snuck a sample of from cavocorax’s teas but this has a distinctive smells reminiscent of those adagio blends i don’t like…combined with too much clove for my liking. Apparently i only really like clove in some chais. Which is what this ends up reminding me of, and apple chai. Ah well, i don’t have to love them all! :)

Additional notes: Inspired by Martin writing a tasting note for this, I wanted to find mine and have some. So this is another from StarFevre! Thanks so much! It is lovely to revisit this B&B classic. The flavor is fantastic for this being such an older pouch. I’m tasting crisp apple, spices, and wisps of sage. Exactly the cup I was hoping for yesterday. A lovely blend that apparently ages very well! (Thanks also Martin!)

Apple chai? interesting. and by that I mean… not for me.
It was ok, but I wouldn’t ever order it for myself. The apple popped a little but tasted a bit dusty, probably because of the spices and such. I’m not sure I tasted any pomegranate either.
Honey helped dull the clove taste, which I can enjoy only in very minimal quantities.
All of that said, it was drinkable and comforting, so not all is lost.
Also, atleast I know now what Ankara tastes like, kindof!

I received my samples/order!

This green tea is enjoyable. It starts off apple-y, and finishes with a ton of cinnamon/spices. It’s very warming – I can see that this would be a great tea in the autumn. I don’t taste the pomegranates at all though.

And I agree with everyone – the packaging on these teas is adorable! I’m happy I bought a pack of Vicky’s Sponge Cake so I can look at more little bluebirds. I guess I won’t put that one in a tin – that’d be a shame!

1 tbsp for 248 ml

Thanks to Mike Turner for the sample!

Well, I did it again and used too much water for the packet, so no rating. Dry leaf smells appley & spicy, with the clove becoming more dominant during steeping. Taste is mostly clove, with a faint apple & cinnamon background, and I couldn’t detect the pomegranate or sage. The clove is a bit more gentle on the second steep. May try for a third.

Another chance to this tea went well.

The green base isn’t phenomenal, it is pretty much boring but I noticed apples, pomergranate and earthy sage. There was some hints of cloves and cinnamon, which made it warming effect a bit which I liked this quite cold morning (around 15 °C only) and overall it was nice. Expected more fruity though.

I checked Steepster after two days again, 40 notices… many tasting notes. And I feel meh. I fel like I ran out of my passion writing them. Like who cares about same teas I am drinking? I don’t have any new ones. But you all care. Is it some panic attack effect?