333 Tasting Notes
It’s not anybody’s wedding (that I know of), but this was a nice little sample to try. It has a soft lemon and vanilla aroma that translates into exactly those flavors when brewed. The blend also contains plenty of flowers, which would make it look quite festive and wedding-appropriate, though they don’t really add to the flavor. The mild, creamy lemon flavor of this tea reminds me of one of my favorite blends, Lemon French Macaron by Butiki Teas, which is no longer available but remembered fondly. Unlike that blend, though, the tea leaves in this one are smaller and more crushed, perhaps due to being in sachet form. This creates a more astringent brew, but overall the white tea base is good and quite fresh. A nice little treat that reassures me that while it’s hard to get a flavored white tea right, it can be done!
One of the handful of Harney samples I got recently. This one has the chocolate flavor similar to their Florence blend. I wasn’t too fond of Florence, but the chocolate works much better in this one. As for the coconut, I honestly thought this blend was supposed to taste like some kind of alcoholic drink before I read the description. There’s a definite heady, boozey aroma to it! While teas that taste like a dessert aren’t everyone’s…wait for it…cup of tea, this one is quite decent instead of just being a mishmash of flavoring.
After my previous Lupicia order, I had thought it was a safer bet to stick with old favorites from them than to order too many new teas, but reading the description of this one, I just had to give it a try. And I’m very glad I did!
This tea has a fresh, sweet lemon drop scent right out of the bag. While steeping, the aroma of the tea base itself also came out. My last few flavored teas from Lupicia had fairly unobtrusive but also unremarkable bases, but this one seemed to be a cut above the rest. It had the definite qualities of a good black tea that is just this side of malty, and lighter than the bases of some of the other blends I’d tried from them. Combined with the lemon, it made for a nice refreshing cup. I’ll try this one iced as well!
Cold steeped at caile’s suggestion, and it came out very nicely! As a cold tea it’s light in color, nice and crisp, with some of that almost “fuzzy” maltiness that I enjoy in Yunnan black teas. The malty note is not dominant, so that the honey sweetness easily comes through as well. Overall I do recommend trying this both cold/iced and hot!
Another sample from my recent order. GABA is not really something I’ve heard about, so I went in with no preconceptions. The dried tea leaf looks like little pellets, and the liquor brews up to be a light golden color. It’s honey-sweet, with a touch of ripe fruit, maybe plum or muscatel. On the second steep, the honey note takes over completely. This is a very light-bodied, smooth tea. As to whether it has a calming effect, it’s too early to say, but it definitely doesn’t have much of a kick as most other black teas, and is a nice cup to enjoy slowly.
A sample that was kindly included with my Mandala order. This has all the makings of a a great malty black tea. Very smooth, full-bodied, with an inviting fragrance, and right along the lines of other great Yunnan black teas I’ve tried (many also with “gold/golden” in the English names). I accidentally added a bit more leaf than I intended to, but to no detriment at all.
I just had this today too! :)
And oddly I was sure I wrote a review but can’t find it..
I was on my way to a meeting and stopped by one of the local coffee shops that uses our Black Gold for their iced tea. What a treat. Plenty of depth, absolutely no sweetener needed. A wonderful tea that the man I was meeting with really enjoyed! Thanks for your review! Grateful, Garret
caile: I hope you enjoyed it! :)
Garret: Iced tea sounds like a great idea! Thank you for bringing us delightful teas!
I did enjoy it very much, Mikumofu. :))
Oh yes, I bet it would make good iced tea…. hmmm,I think these are the leftover leaves cold steeping in my fridge! Five days ago though, oh no.
Ok, I just went to the fridge to check. I thought I would need to dump this brew out but I tasted it first and wow, it is delicious and perfect! No unpleasant tannin at all, just sweet honey! I can see why that shop Garret mentioned uses it for their iced tea!
You were brave to taste it! I think I’ll give the cold steeping (for a shorter time) a try too, it’s looking to be a warm holiday weekend here!
haha, I was thinking the same as I took the first sip. ;)
I’m actually not sure now if it was this tea or the gaba black that I was steeping, as I had both that day, but oh well, it turned out good whichever one it was.
Nice you are going to try the cold steeping – perfect timing for warm weekend weather – hope you enjoy it!
Another great tea from Mandala. The dry tea has a lovely cocoa-like aroma, and it brews up to be unbelievably silky and smooth, light but substantial. The cocoa notes are a major part of the charm, in addition to a fresh petrichor and mineral notes. It’s not one of those black teas that are big-bodied or particularly malty, but highly worth savoring slowly. I enjoyed this even in spite of the intense summer heat today.
(On that note, I have been at my dream job for two months today—it’s definitely worthy of a nice cup of tea to celebrate!)
I’ve brewed this a few times since it came in the mail, but haven’t written a proper review yet. Maybe my expectations were too high due to the description (and how long it’s been on my wishlist), and there just isn’t much to say. It’s a nice flavored black tea, though a little too sweet—I can see pink sugar crystals in the mix before steeping. The base is decent and smooth, as is always the case with Lupicia. Not really extraordinary, but not bad either.
At this point, I’ve tried enough of their repertoire to know which teas are my favorites, so I won’t need to do as much hit-or-miss exploration. And summer means more barley teas!
