Starry Night

Last night, I dropped 5 teaspoons of Starry Night into my Hario Filter-in Cold Brew Tea Bottle, and left it to steep on the counter overnight, because it’s too blasted hot where I am right now, and I really wanted to be sure I had tea in the morning. (Jetlag is a horrible thing, and tea is a partial solution.)

In retrospect, I needed to put a bit more in the bottle; 5 tsp is not sufficient for 750ml of water when brewed cold, though it definitely is for a hot brew. Still plenty delicious though. Still a favorite. Not changing my rating at all. :-)

I approve of this tea, with just a few caveats.

First of all, believe the steeping time on this one. You want to steep it for 5 minutes to get the proper flavor. Otherwise the coconut and almond flavors don’t come out strongly enough to distinguish it from any other good quality black.

Second of all, if you’re going to use it for iced tea, either think again or double the amount of tea and triple the steep time. It doesn’t hold up to icing otherwise.

Honestly, I think this one is best used for hot tea anyway. Fortunately, the weather here turned gray and cool and rainy enough that hot tea seemed like a good idea today and I was finally able to get this tea at its best. The almond and coconut flavors aren’t strong. They build up and enhance the tones of the black tea. This quality comes out best when the tea is hot. (People who don’t like coconut still won’t like this tea, though).

This is a solid B+ tea, definitely will buy some when I finish working through the many generous tea samples people have sent me.

I’m really sad that I’m out of this one. Lightly sweet, not overly bitter from the almonds – this was a good work tea and is sorely missed.

How come I only run out of the teas I really enjoy drinking?!

Starry night is a favorite of mine. The coconut is the dominant flavor and gives it a slight sweetness, and the almond contrasts nicely. It doesn’t need sugar, but isn’t too desserty.