3077 Tasting Notes
My internal clock must be set to “eggnog;” looks like the last time I drank and reviewed this was last year’s Tea and Cocoa Sunday with my church kids. This year’s was today, too. I love to watch my fifth grade girls prowl through my mismatched chest of tea bags and my sixth grade boys winching up their faces after their first sip of lapsang souchong. (I’ve always got a kettle in my hands and never have the camera handy, but it’s priceless!)
I’ve been drinking this seasonally for years. The black/green combo makes it just a little finicky (light touch needed on time and temp). Without a little help from milk, there isn’t much to resemble the dairy part of the eggnog, but the spice combo is spot on. Fortifying myself with feet up and cuppa before Kid Day Part 2—we’re taking a group to Ronald McDonald House to make dinner and decorate cookies for the families staying there. Wanna come?
Still making beverage choices for medicinal purposes; grabbed this one after noticing black pepper in the ingredient lineup.
My tastebuds are not calibrated properly due to the cruds I’m toting around in my head and throat, but it’s not coming through as very peppery. Just a decent, predictable chai; acceptable with a little honey and no milk.
Cold office; scratchy throat, so I just keep pouring hot water on top of whatever I just had. In this case, I warmed up the dregs of Sweater Weather (Savoy; chai with mint) with a bag of inexpensive wei-chuan green tea in the cup. The results were surprisingly tasty! A little sweetness coming from somewhere and soothness from the mint. (If that’s not a word, I just made it up.)
Ancient sample packet and I was feeling adventurous. So many chocolate teas have that alcoholic/medicinal thing going on in the background, and it was noticeable right off the steep. (Age may have had something to do with that … I know I’m getting more medicinal as I get older!)
However, a little milk and a squoodge of honey covered up the flaws nicely.
I’ve written a dozen notes on this one over the years, so you’d think I’d run out of things to say about it, but I continue to discover ways to garnish this chamomile/apple nightie. Last night’s mix ins: a quarter teaspoon of masala chai spice and a driz of honey. So nice!
For the first time in 40 years, we decided not to put up a Christmas tree—not because of gloom and humbug, but because we still have half an apartment’s worth of detritus in the garage and can’t get to the bin. We’ve wreathed and decorated, but to compensate for the lack of trim-tringlers and Who-hummers, I’ve spent the afternoon breaking out some Christmas favorites, this being one of them.
A blend that includes black, green, and oolong is tricky and I’ve botched the recipe before. The tin recommends boiling water; 5 minutes in the cup, but a slightly lighter touch both on time and temp makes it a success. Peachy and a little floral as expected, but the scent reminds me a little of the Christmas pomanders we used to make by sticking whole cloves in oranges.
Enjoying it with feet up and “Christmas in the Clouds” on the TV … think “Hallmark—ish movie with geezers, tribal bingo, and a stubborn vegetarian chef (Graham Greene) at a tribal-owned resort out west.” Perfect December brain candy.
We split the difference between holidays and made a trip to see to the wellbeing of octogenarian mom-in-law earlier this week. One of the perks of that particular road run is the opportunity to shop at World Market, at which I may have gone a little overboard. “We need to grab that because we can’t find it at home” is a stro-o-o-o-ong retail motivator.
So this box sort of just jumped into the basket while we were there. I have recently fallen in love with Twinings’ Lady Grey, which is a highly respectable Earl Grey with a lovely orange twist. The opportunity to enjoy the same flavor profile caffeine-free just puts buttercream on my cupcake.
As long as I have been a devotee of Constant Comment, both leaded and unleaded versions, I’ve always had it straight up without additives. Brought a couple of bags on a road trip and to mask potential hotel water weirdness, I added a little tub of their coffee station half and half. The orange rind and spices still rise to the top, but this makes my favorite soother even a little more soothing. A blessing…it’s been a long day!
