Tea tasting: David's Teas' Stormy Night

Now that my taste buds have returned, I was all ready to do a full review of a tea worth tasting.  Unfortunately, this very interesting tea isn't currently available from David's.  It may be seasonal, or it may be that it simply was not very popular.  I picked it up in May in Quebec City.

The tea smells like German chocolate cake -- chocolate, cinnamon and coconut, with a hint of vanilla.  Cinnamon and coconut dominate the flavor when brewed mildly.  When brewed more strongly, the chocolate chunks mixed in with the leaves can make the tea seem muddy. but they do intensify the chocolate flavor.  The chocolate chunks also make cleaning out the tea ball or tea strainer quite the pain in the butt.

This is really an afternoon or evening tea; I can't see being able to appreciate something this complex in the morning.  Since I try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening, I don't dip into Stormy Night very often.

If your taste runs this way, and David's decides to bring it back, it's worth picking up a small pouch.

Tea-flavored things that aren't tea

I apologize for the lack of tea tasting for the past week.  I've had a horrid head cold and my sense of taste is completely off.

Trying to soothe my itchy, scratchy throat, I cracked open a package of Bali's Best Green Tea Latte candies that I was given for the holidays.  (http://www.fusiongourmet.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1_4).  They're very interesting and could easily become addictive.  They remind me a lot of green tea ice cream.  And I love green tea ice cream (which is unexpected, given that I hate milk in tea).  The slightly bitter herbal taste combined with the smooth creamy texture is unlike anything else.

Green tea ice cream is something I used to find only in Asian restaurants or small specialty ice cream stores.  However, Hagen-Daaz now sells green tea ice cream (http://www.haagendazs.com/Products/Product/2781).  It can be found in most of the middle- to high-end grocery stores around me.

I've found a couple of recipes for cooking with tea as an ingredient.  Bromley's website has some interesting ideas that I intend to try: http://www.bromleytea.com/recipes.html

If anyone else attempts any of these recipes, please let me know so I can share it with the group!

Guest review: Adagio's Dragonwell Green

+Camille des Jardins  has provided me with another guest review, this time for Dragonwell Green (http://www.adagio.com/green/dragonwell.html) :

"I first tried Dragonwell tea many many years ago, when I first realized that tea was a Thing, and started to pay more attention. Mom had discovered Stash Tea, and was finding all sorts of interesting varities. I wanted to try Dragonwell because of the name. And it sounded good, but mostly because dragon. I don't remember if I liked it or not. Figured I'd try it again, given the opportunity.

Adagio's Dragonwell brews a pale green cup of tea when done according to recommendations. Earthy, 'green' scent, but not super strong. Lovely light, slightly smoky flavor. Nicely warming after shoveling the walkway in single-digit temperatures. I forgot about the second steeping I had started in the evening with the morning's tea leaves for about 10 minutes, and figured I'd ruined it, but there is none of the bitterness I usually associate with over-steeped green tea, and the flavor is just as nice as the morning's cup. A wonderful, wonderful tea."

Tea tasting: Teavana's Black Dragon Pearl

In keeping with the theme of unflavored teas, today's tea is Teavana's Black Dragon Pearl (http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/black-teas/p/black-dragon-pearls-black-tea).  It's a lovely, textured black tea, with a malty undertone.  The tea is presented in little rolled "pearls" of about 30 leaves.  It takes about 3 of the little pearls to make a medium brew for a 16-oz cup.   Using more or fewer pearls will make a stronger or weaker cup with a slightly different flavor profile.

This is also a tea that can be re-used after the first brewing.  I've used the same leaves up to three times without negatively impacting the flavor of the tea.  It is slightly different on each brewing, but tasty nevertheless.  The first brewing is maltier, the later brewings are more simple.

The website claims it has chocolate tones, but I don't taste them.

Tea for those who don't like flavored teas

I've been focusing primarily on flavored teas and up-market blends.  Today I want to talk about how to find good, basic tea for people who don't like or want flavors or who simply want to be able to buy something off the shelf in the market.

You can never go wrong with Twinings for simple, basic tea.  Twinings English Breakfast and Twinings Irish Breakfast are good, solid, basic teas, without non-tea flavors.  They can be found in pretty much every supermarket I've ever visited.  Both are blends; Irish Breakfast tea tends to have a heavier mix of Assam tea than English Breakfast.   If you're able to find it, Twinings does sell a pure Assam tea that is excellent.  I've not been able to find it in supermarkets, but Amazon sells it for $12.00 for 50 bags.  (http://www.amazon.com/Twinings-Assam-Strong-Mighty-Bags/dp/B004YADQZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389729465&sr=8-1&keywords=Twinings+Assam)

Mighty Leaf carries some excellent basic black teas, including Organic Breakfast and Darjeeling Estate (http://www.mightyleaf.com/tea-pouches_black-tea-classic/).  I've been able to find Mighty Leaf in stores like Shop Rite, King's and Wegmans.  Mighty Leaf's Organic Black is my go-to tea for when +Rhiannon theCurious , who loves extremely strong dark tea, visits.

Republic of Tea's British Breakfast (http://www.republicoftea.com/british-breakfast-black-tea/p/V00586/) can also be counted on to deliver a flavorful, solid, dependably quality cuppa.  I find that Republic of Tea blends are very good for busy people who can't always watch the clock to take the tea bag out.  I've gotten called to an hour-long meeting just after making a cup of tea, and found the resulting cup to be highly drinkable despite having left the tea bag in.

I find Bigelow's teas to be very hit or miss.  Some are excellent; some are cloying, nasty and over-flavored ("Constant Comment" being the ur-example of a bad Bigelow tea).  Still, Bigelow's basic blacks are a huge step above having to drink Lipton.

Starbuck's Tazo Awake tea is serviceable if nothing better is available, but you need to be very careful about how long that tea bag steeps.  It moves quickly into undrinkable sludge if brewed too long, and there's a small window of opportunity between "not strong enough" and sludge.

Revisiting White Cucumber Tea

I brewed the remainder of the Adagio White Cucumber Tea (http://www.adagio.com/white/white_cucumber.html), choosing the option for the strongest brew.  I then chilled it and served it iced.  What a vast improvement on the hot version!  Stepping up the brewing strength increased the tea flavor of the white tea.  Serving it iced made the cucumber flavor elements refreshing, not soupy.  For people who are fond of grassy teas, I think White Cucumber iced tea would work particularly well with mint.

Tea tasting: Tea Forté's Raspberry Nectar

Tea Forté does an excellent job with fruity teas, making them sweet and flavorful without becoming cloying.  Their Raspberry Nectar (http://www.teaforte.com/store/gourmet-tea/herbal-tea/raspberry-nectar/) is no exception.  It is rich and brilliant with raspberry flavor.  I dislike having too much hibiscus in my fruit teas; this blend uses the hibiscus well without letting it take over the taste completely.  Raspberry nectar indeed.  Hot or iced, it's got a nice tart-sweet fruity glow.

Adding sweetener to this tea would be far too much.  It doesn't require it; the natural raspberry flavor is sweet enough.  However, I'm wondering what a bit of raspberry syrup, like the kinds they use in coffee shops, would do to this tea.