Tea tasting: Tea Forte's Coconut Chocolate Truffle

A little bit of the islands seemed like an excellent way to celebrate my last work day before vacation, so I picked up a sample of Tea Forte's Coconut Chocolate Truffle black tea.   When first brewed, the coconut aroma is strong and delightful, perfect for summer.

I drank the tea hot first, then iced the second cup.  Both were excellent.  The predominant flavors are the coconut and the tea.  The chocolate truffle comes out in the aftertaste, a mellowing influence on the sweetness of the coconut and the bite of the black tea.   The flavor balance handles being iced without any loss of quality.

What the tea doesn't do well is tepid.   I accidentally let half the hot tea brew sit too long.  It had a very detrimental effect on the flavor.  So ice it or drink it hot!

Tea Forte Orange Jasmine Green Tea

Jasmine is one of those scents/flavors that has to be handled with care in tea.  Too much jasmine and you're gagging on liquid incense.   As a result, I'm very unimpressed by this tea.

All I get out of Tea Forte's Orange Jasmine Green tea is jasmine.  Really strong and overwhelming jasmine at that.  As in, it's going to crawl into my nose, beat me up and take my lunch money jasmine.  Like fourth season of Angel Jasmine.

The orange is fairly well-hidden.  I had to brew it a second time with the same bag to get the orange notes in the aftertaste.  I liked the second brewing far better than the first. Some honey also helped beat the jasmine back into submission.

 My takeaway is that this is a tea best briefly steeped, unless you *really* like jasmine.  I don't like jasmine quite enough. Having finished the sample package, I won't be buying it again.

Making your own tea blends

Throwing this here so I can find it again:  http://www.bulkherbstore.com/blog/2013/03/how-to-make-your-own-tea-blends/

I think this is something I want to pursue when I have free time: making my own tea blends.

Tea tasting: Tea Forte's Peach Rhubarb Preserve

I picked up a sample package of fruity white teas from Tea Forte.  One of the favorites of the samples so far is Peach Rhubarb Preserve.  It has a fruity cinnamon aroma that screams peach pie to me.  The flavor is definitely fruity, but not overly sweet.  That could be the effect of the rhubarb moderating the sweetness of the peach.  After the first initial sweetness, there's a lingering tartness plus the smooth aftertaste of light cinnamon.

I wish it were an herbal rather than white tea, because I'd love to be able to drink this in the evening to relax.  

It's a strong enough flavor that this tea would be splendid iced.  I don't think sugar would help it at all.  Honey yielded with a light hand, however, could work quite nicely.

Tea tasting: Tea Forte's Darjeeling Quince

I'm a real fan of quince flavoring in tea, so I was excited to try Tea Forte's Darjeeling Quince tea.  It's smooth and slightly floral, with the tea remaining the predominant flavor.  The sweetness is tempered by the tartness of the quince and citrus elements.   I think the lighter floral nature of a darjeeling makes a good match with the fruit flavoring.

It's a lighter scent and flavoring that the Republic of Tea's very similar Raspberry Quince black, which is one of my absolute favorite teas.  I'll definitely order and drink this again.

Tea tasting: Tea Forte's Lemon Lavender

Tea Forte's Lemon Lavender herbal tisane smells amazing, rich with lavender and hints of citrus.  By smell alone, it's the perfect tea to drink while contemplating the possibility of sleep.

The base of the tea is chamomile, with lavender, lemon, apple and linden leaves added.  The chamomile is definitely there.  However, the tisane is overwhelmingly lavender in aroma and taste.  Lemon seems to be the middle ground, present in the background and the aftertaste.

This tea is not going to be to everyone's taste, but I adore lavender and it completely works for me on all the necessary levels.  It's calming and soothing, while also being brisk and palette-clearing.  I suspect it would be remarkable in iced form.

Tea tasting: Teavana's Passion Tango

Teavana's Passion Tango herbal blend is one of the blends available through Starbucks these days.  It bills itself as "bright tropical notes of papaya and mango with bright citrus lemongrass with a hint of cinnamon."

Bright is a fair description of the tea.  A sharp and tangy citrus flavor dominates.  The cinnamon note is in the background, very lightly blended in.  It reminds me of a hot version of the plantation iced tea I had in Hawaii.  It's only very slightly sweet; adding honey or sugar would probably work nicely.

This tea does not have the over-engineered quality that many Teavana blends have.  Some reviewers have recommended that it be blended with Teavana's Youthberry or with it Wild Orange Blossom.  As I have both of those tisanes, I'm going to give that a try.