Tried it again, this time with a freshly cleaned teakettle, basket, and mug. Still smoooooth and creamy. Definitely nutty. It almost tastes like there’s some milk in there…and it has a little note of what might be cinnamon. It’s as rich-tasting as green tea ice cream. How does this work? Regardless, I love it.
I’m a college tea drinker.
I cook feverishly.
I draw.
I make movies.
I knit.
Someday I wish to own chickens.
I love tea because of the complete sensory experience it offers me. Clock time fades away as I lean into my cup, watching the delicate cascades of steam waft up from the brew. Peace. Stillness. Feeling centered. It’s my meditation…
To give you a little background on my tea preferences (which will put my ratings into perspective)…
I love teas that are strong without bitterness and have earthy flavors to them, like rooibos or a really good black tea. (A few favorites in this category: Toffee Almond Supreme, Popped Rooibos, Oh Canada, Nutcracker Sweet.) Vanilla, cinnamon, and nutty are some of my favorite flavor notes. After about a year of warming up to greens, I absolutely love them—from the sweet, nutty, green-tea-ice-cream-like to the bold, grassy earthiness of Gunpowder Temple of Heaven. I also enjoy a nice white every once in a while. Fruity teas aren’t my favorite. I do have a few fruity teas that I love though, like TeaSource’s Green Tea with Pomegranate, Lemon Solstice, and Blueberry Fields.
I drink all of my teas unsweetened; if a tea needs sweetening, I usually don’t like it. A couple of notable exceptions: I sometimes sweeten straight green teas and matcha, and I drink my chai with soymilk (but no other sweetener). I sometimes like my black tea with a little dollop of soymilk.
Northfield, MN
I have to add that this baby gives a SOLID three steeps Western-style—I’m about to try the fourth. Also, these leaves are simply beautiful—big, very intact, a lovely shade of green, robust. I want to press them between the pages of a big old book.