No. 23 Kandy

I received this tea thanks to the wonderfully generous Scribbles Thank you so much.

I was drinking this at work this morning. I was really quite impressed. Not at all what I was expecting from a Ceylon blend. Light and bright without being too astringent. There was a bit of a fruity note. I really liked it, and this isn’t in my normal favorite flavor profile. If Steven Smith can do this with a Ceylon, what can he do with teas that I really like? May have to pick some others up and check it out. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy this one.

Giving this one a whirl again, the Steven Smith mesh teabags are packed with tea and I was a little afraid of overleafing this cup. I decided to leave it in for only 3 minutes instead of the recommended 5. Smells like caramel and tastes bright and citrusy. I bet this would be really good with a squeeze of lemon but I still don’t love it and I’m off to go find some sugar. I think it will be good for a resteep.

Another sample from TastyBrew. Thanks!
I’m not a big fan of Ceylon teas. They tend to taste like the ice tea of my youth, & like green tea, they tend to make me sick on an empty stomach, probably due to astringency. Their flavor profile also doesn’t appeal to me nearly as much as some other teas. They lack a low end.

Having said all that, this is a decent cup. Nothing memorable about it, very ‘even’, slightly floral, slightly oaky, a hint of citrus, slightly astringent. Not bad, not exciting.

NEXT!

Got this as a free sample with my Steven Smith order that arrived today. It was good. I’m glad I got it as a sample. I almost ordered it but didn’t, knowing that Ceylons are not my most favorite thing. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. Lighter than I like and if I get the astringency then I want a Darjeeling instead. :) But it wasn’t super astringent or bitter, decently smooth and very… tea like. Nothing I’ll order but I’m glad to have tried it.

(Hey, at least I had a sipdown on the Kusmi Golden Yunnan today – and that makes an empty slot plus an empty tin to store the Steven Smith Yunnan in…)

A lovely share from Terri HarpLady! Thank you so much for letting me try more Steven Smith Teamaker teas!

The smell of the tea is sweet – light and a bit honeyed. The taste is soft and honeyed with a bit of light cardboard… more cereal box cardboard than shipping box cardboard. (I’m guessing that’s a light malt note?) There is a slight woodsy note that is not twiggy, but still there, like it has been stored in a wooden cask so it has a bit of the flavor of wood but doesn’t actually contain wood. That’s the level of woodsy this has. (And now I have the mental picture of large oak casks storing cereal boxes. Remove the cereal box, drizzle lightly with honey and bam, this tea.)

It’s not an overwhelmingly distinct cup – it’s a little bit this, a little bit that – but it’s not as bad as cereal-boxes-stored-in-casks-and-drizzled-with-honey may sound. It’s actually nice. It has a bit of a dry/astringent prickle on the end of each sip that I could do without, but that is mellowing and rounding out as it cools (though as I get to the bottom of the cup, that note is taking a tarter turn). All in all, a nice (but not spectacular) way to start the day!

Many kind people have sent me sample, but I can’t remember exactly who sent this sachet of Kandy. Whoever you are, thank you! This brewed up nice and strong, with bright floral notes and astringency. It reminds me of the sun tea my mom used to make. I bet it’d kick ass with a little honey and lemon.

Good cup, would drink again—though I would probably not order it for myself.

With a name like Kandy, you’d think that the blend would have nothing to it but overwhelming saccharini-tea. Yet as we’ve seen with other teas in this collection, names can be misleading. A Ceylon by any other name would indeed smell as sweet. We have to keep in mind that the natural sweetness of an un-doctored black tea is it’s own brand of confection. If you’ve got the palate of a compulsive sugar-adder, then Kandy’s inner complexity might go over your head. The nice thing about it is the statement it makes when steeped; a distinct fruity aroma that doesn’t hide away in the auburn liquor.

Some really nice orchard notes come out on first sip: roasted apples and lush plums ready to burst off the tree. There’s the South Asian muscatel hovering about the edge of your tongue as well. Kandy rests on your shoulders as a robe of the most valuable, richly-made silk–but of a simple hue… Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/07/16/snooty-tea-review-steven-smith-tea-round-1/

If you like classic Ceylons, this should fit the bill.

I was just about to watch out of Chapters when I realized they’d started carrying Steven Smith again. Only two blacks, two greens and two herbals, of course. But they had Kandy, which they hadn’t had the last time; I almost walked out with another box of Lord Bergamot too, but decided I didn’t feel like dumping ALL my money on tea and books today.

Hadn’t had this one yet, though it was on my list. I do occasionally like plain Ceylon blends. I still miss Tealicious’ Scottish Delight. This one isn’t quite as strong as that, and and I amused myself while sitting it and thinking that it reminded me more of Murchie’s Uva Highland, before realizing that’s one of the teas listed on the back. Probably a coincidence, because I don’t ACTUALLY have the ability to tell the difference between Ceylon growing regions.

It’s not quite as sharp as some Ceylons can be. Light, but definitely still strong, but sharp, honeyed. Kandy aint a bad name.

Weirdly, I picked up raisin—or something like it—in this cup. It doesn’t appear that others have had that sensation, but it was really noticeable to me. Also, much better piping hot than after sitting out for a little while.