My quest for a good, strong apple-flavored tea continues. Harney & Sons' Hot Apple Spice, while a very nice cuppa, is still not that tea. It bills itself as a blend of apples, cinnamon, orange peel and ground cloves. All of the latter flavors are fully represented. The apples are noticeably absent. It smells of apples in the tin, but that's about the only association with apple I get here. It's more or less like drinking a variant of Harney & Sons's Hot Cinnamon Spice. While this is not a bad thing, it's not what I signed up for.
It's possible that the tin I got was old (as I bought it off a shelf at a small shop, and who knows how long it had been there). Since cinnamon, orange peel, cloves and black tea make for a fine holiday-time brew, I'll finish the tin regardless.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Adagio's Candy Apple Black Tea
Adagio's Candy Apple black tea bills itself as a combination of apple, caramel and cinnamon flavors. As apple-flavored teas go, it is far inferior to both Adagio's Spiced Apple Chai and to my own custom Adagio blend Mackyntoich Apple Crisp. Whatever they put into the Candy Apple tea to create the caramel flavor is overwhelming -- it eats the apple qualities in both the aroma and the flavor. There is also a slightly chemical or waxy quality to the caramel flavor that is immensely off-putting. Adding sugar or honey helps a bit, but it then becomes too sweet for my palate.
But, if you combine 3/4 of a mug of a strong brew of Candy Apple black with 1/4 of a mug of apple cider, you get a highly drinkable winter/late fall treat! The apple cider gives power back to the cinnamon and apple qualities of the tea, making the weirdness of the caramel just an aftertaste. Blending the tea with apple cider also avoids making the brew too sweet for my taste.
I can only assume that the same result could be favorably achieved with alcoholic apple cider. Someone who can drink booze will have to taste-test that for me!
But, if you combine 3/4 of a mug of a strong brew of Candy Apple black with 1/4 of a mug of apple cider, you get a highly drinkable winter/late fall treat! The apple cider gives power back to the cinnamon and apple qualities of the tea, making the weirdness of the caramel just an aftertaste. Blending the tea with apple cider also avoids making the brew too sweet for my taste.
I can only assume that the same result could be favorably achieved with alcoholic apple cider. Someone who can drink booze will have to taste-test that for me!
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Bottled iced teas for summer's end
I'm baaaaaack! Since April my life has sort of gone off the rails, and I'm just now finally get around to blogging and other not-work writing. I've got a lot of new teas in the queue for posting!
Today I'm talking about some of the wonderful new bottled iced teas that are generally available. There's so much more choice now than the bad old days of lemon-flavored HFC sweetened Lipton in a can.
Pure Leaf's Tea House collection of bottled iced teas has proven surprisingly good overall. My new favorite is their Strawberry and Garden Mint black tea. The initial flavor is a nice balanced strawberry, not too sweet and without the overly chemical quality found in many bottled fruit teas. The mint is a very strong aftertaste (hardly a hint), but it's quite good -- clean and palate-cleansing. Given a choice between this and any other bottled iced tea, I will buy this one every time.
Honest Tea also seems to be experimenting with upscale brews in glass bottles. I'm very fond of their Peach Oo-La-Long Tea, and not just because it has Opus the Penguin on the bottle. It's a blend of oolong and black tea with organic cane sugar, peach puree, and agave syrup, but it is not strongly sweet like Snapple, etc. It's primarily tea-flavored, with sweetness and peach-ish flavor. I personally would like the tea better if it were more strongly peach (not sweet, as such, but peach). That's not to say that it is bad. I like it. It's just not perfect.
The other Honest Tea I've enjoyed is their Moroccan Mint Green, featuring peppermint, spearmint and honey. Again, it's not perfect. But it's pretty darn good. I would like to be just a tiny amount sweeter because there is an odd almost bitter aftertaste to the mint. That almost-bitterness isn't a problem because it has a clean quality too it that is perfect after eating strongly-flavored foods.
Today I'm talking about some of the wonderful new bottled iced teas that are generally available. There's so much more choice now than the bad old days of lemon-flavored HFC sweetened Lipton in a can.
Pure Leaf's Tea House collection of bottled iced teas has proven surprisingly good overall. My new favorite is their Strawberry and Garden Mint black tea. The initial flavor is a nice balanced strawberry, not too sweet and without the overly chemical quality found in many bottled fruit teas. The mint is a very strong aftertaste (hardly a hint), but it's quite good -- clean and palate-cleansing. Given a choice between this and any other bottled iced tea, I will buy this one every time.
Honest Tea also seems to be experimenting with upscale brews in glass bottles. I'm very fond of their Peach Oo-La-Long Tea, and not just because it has Opus the Penguin on the bottle. It's a blend of oolong and black tea with organic cane sugar, peach puree, and agave syrup, but it is not strongly sweet like Snapple, etc. It's primarily tea-flavored, with sweetness and peach-ish flavor. I personally would like the tea better if it were more strongly peach (not sweet, as such, but peach). That's not to say that it is bad. I like it. It's just not perfect.
The other Honest Tea I've enjoyed is their Moroccan Mint Green, featuring peppermint, spearmint and honey. Again, it's not perfect. But it's pretty darn good. I would like to be just a tiny amount sweeter because there is an odd almost bitter aftertaste to the mint. That almost-bitterness isn't a problem because it has a clean quality too it that is perfect after eating strongly-flavored foods.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Tea tasting: Adagio's Eternal Spring White Tea
It's April and I got 4' of snow on Monday. What the bloody hell?
In a bid to bring about the end of the Fimbul Winter, I brewed up a pot of Adagio's Eternal Spring white tea. Maybe it's because I'm desperate for anything suggesting spring, this blend of fruits, rose hips and rose petals works quite well for me.
The aroma is highly floral, distinctly rose, but manages to avoid the "pot potpourri" quality that afflicts so many rose-based teas. The rose largely drops out of the flavor, leaving behind a fruit blend with notes of pineapple and mango. There's apparently apple in there too but I don't taste it.
It's not a strong enough fruit tea to make into iced tea. It's a bit light and airy behind the fruitiness, almost, dare I say it, spring-like.
In a bid to bring about the end of the Fimbul Winter, I brewed up a pot of Adagio's Eternal Spring white tea. Maybe it's because I'm desperate for anything suggesting spring, this blend of fruits, rose hips and rose petals works quite well for me.
The aroma is highly floral, distinctly rose, but manages to avoid the "pot potpourri" quality that afflicts so many rose-based teas. The rose largely drops out of the flavor, leaving behind a fruit blend with notes of pineapple and mango. There's apparently apple in there too but I don't taste it.
It's not a strong enough fruit tea to make into iced tea. It's a bit light and airy behind the fruitiness, almost, dare I say it, spring-like.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Tea tasting: Adagio's Peach Bellini
What a good idea! What a lovely aroma! What a lousy tea!
Adagio's Peach Bellini tisane has a lush, fruity peach aroma that promises a delightful taste to come. It lies. Even using 2 heaping tea spoons of the tisane (twice the recommended amount) and twice the normal steep time, all it yielded was bland, slightly peachy hot water. It's not even bad tea because it doesn't have enough character to be properly bad.
Adagio's Peach Bellini tisane has a lush, fruity peach aroma that promises a delightful taste to come. It lies. Even using 2 heaping tea spoons of the tisane (twice the recommended amount) and twice the normal steep time, all it yielded was bland, slightly peachy hot water. It's not even bad tea because it doesn't have enough character to be properly bad.
Tea tasting: Tea Forte's Black Currant
Black currant is one of those flavors that goes quite nicely in a good black tea. I've not yet had a bad black currant flavored tea. Tea forte's black currant black tea continues that trend nicely, adding some sweet blackberry to go along with the currant flavors.
The base black tea is a really good Yunnan tea, with flavor notes of its own, which makes the resulting brew all the better. The fruity qualities are lushly aromatic but less strong in the taste. It's not overly fruited, like the horrid cough medicine quality black cherry tea from Tea Forte I tried a few months ago, for which I thank all the household gods of tea.
It's not remarkable, life-changing, revelatory tea. It's a basic fruited black tea that has a nice balance of fruit and tea -- an above the ordinary caffeine delivery system.
The base black tea is a really good Yunnan tea, with flavor notes of its own, which makes the resulting brew all the better. The fruity qualities are lushly aromatic but less strong in the taste. It's not overly fruited, like the horrid cough medicine quality black cherry tea from Tea Forte I tried a few months ago, for which I thank all the household gods of tea.
It's not remarkable, life-changing, revelatory tea. It's a basic fruited black tea that has a nice balance of fruit and tea -- an above the ordinary caffeine delivery system.
Tea tasting: Bohea Tea
The Spice and Tea Exchange in Mystic, CT sells something they call "Bohea Tea," which they describe as a smokey orange tea that replicates as closely as possible Colonial-era tea of the type dumped into Boston Harbor. It's a blend of Assam black tea, lapsang souchong, cinnamon chips, orange peel, cloves and unspecific "cinnamon" and "orange" flavoring.
Obviously, given my love for both history and tea I *had* to try this.
When I say it is very good for what it is, I'm trying not to damn this tea with faint praise. Imagine if Constant Comment, that bane of my existence, were actually good tea. Bohea Tea is far more smokey than orange-y. The cinnamon and the smokiness work very nicely together. The orange sneaks up to tap you on the shoulder in the aftertaste.
Unfortunately, this tea is not to my personal taste. I want more tea flavor elements than smoke. I want a stronger orange element. There are people who read this blog who are going to *adore* this tea. I'm just not one of them.
I'm going to fiddle a bit with adding honey and Sugar in the Raw to see what sweetener does to the flavor blend. If any of my readers are fans of milk in tea, I'm willing to donate a bit of my sample to flavor-test that (I can't stand milk in tea). If I have any revelations of note, I'll update this entry.
While I can enjoy Bohea Tea as an intellectual exercise, I won't be ordering more after I finish my sample package.
Obviously, given my love for both history and tea I *had* to try this.
When I say it is very good for what it is, I'm trying not to damn this tea with faint praise. Imagine if Constant Comment, that bane of my existence, were actually good tea. Bohea Tea is far more smokey than orange-y. The cinnamon and the smokiness work very nicely together. The orange sneaks up to tap you on the shoulder in the aftertaste.
Unfortunately, this tea is not to my personal taste. I want more tea flavor elements than smoke. I want a stronger orange element. There are people who read this blog who are going to *adore* this tea. I'm just not one of them.
I'm going to fiddle a bit with adding honey and Sugar in the Raw to see what sweetener does to the flavor blend. If any of my readers are fans of milk in tea, I'm willing to donate a bit of my sample to flavor-test that (I can't stand milk in tea). If I have any revelations of note, I'll update this entry.
While I can enjoy Bohea Tea as an intellectual exercise, I won't be ordering more after I finish my sample package.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Guest review: Adagio's Bella Luna Blue
When there is a Blue Moon in the night sky, Adagio Teas offers, for 24 hours, a product called “Bella Luna Blue”. Your humble blogger failed to notice the moon and order a sample. However, +Camille des Jardins did, and helpfully provided this guest review:
You need a white or clear teacup to fully appreciate this drink. Bella Luna Blue. Made with Butterfly Pea Flower, Lemongrass, and flavored with natural blueberries, the tisane has a strong blueberry scent when the bag is opened. When made, the water instantly colors a beautiful sapphire color which deepens as the steeping progresses. Blueberry with lemon wafts through the air.
I found that it did not have as strong a flavor as I like when drunk hot, and the taste improved considerably as it cooled. This would be a delightful iced tea. Adding a little lemon juice enhances the flavor nicely, and turns it a glorious fuchsia color! A teaspoon of honey deepens the color to either a dark indigo or deep purple, depending on whether lemon preceded it. Hot, I definitely prefer it with both lemon and honey, and I am sure it would taste nice cooled with these additions as well.
You need a white or clear teacup to fully appreciate this drink. Bella Luna Blue. Made with Butterfly Pea Flower, Lemongrass, and flavored with natural blueberries, the tisane has a strong blueberry scent when the bag is opened. When made, the water instantly colors a beautiful sapphire color which deepens as the steeping progresses. Blueberry with lemon wafts through the air.
I found that it did not have as strong a flavor as I like when drunk hot, and the taste improved considerably as it cooled. This would be a delightful iced tea. Adding a little lemon juice enhances the flavor nicely, and turns it a glorious fuchsia color! A teaspoon of honey deepens the color to either a dark indigo or deep purple, depending on whether lemon preceded it. Hot, I definitely prefer it with both lemon and honey, and I am sure it would taste nice cooled with these additions as well.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Elmwood Inn's Wild Strawberry Green Tea
Now that I have finished off some of my tea packages, I can start drinking and writing about new teas. I picked up Elmwood Inn's Wild Strawberry Green Tea when I was in Meridies for KWHSS this past summer. Elmwood Inn is a new tea vendor for me -- I spent hours today crawling through their website, which is chock full of great stuff.
Their Wild Strawberry uses green tea from Japan with strawberry and papaya flavors. The particular green tea used here is one of the floral varieties, giving the brew a very flowery aroma both in the tin and after brewing. I don't notice the papaya flavor in the brew. The strawberry is nicely strong, however, fairly competing with the floral qualities of the tea. It's a very soothing brew, not overly sweet, and a great antidote to gray February days.
Their Wild Strawberry uses green tea from Japan with strawberry and papaya flavors. The particular green tea used here is one of the floral varieties, giving the brew a very flowery aroma both in the tin and after brewing. I don't notice the papaya flavor in the brew. The strawberry is nicely strong, however, fairly competing with the floral qualities of the tea. It's a very soothing brew, not overly sweet, and a great antidote to gray February days.
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