Since I am quite fond of teas of many different flavors and brands, I have decided to have taste testings where I take them quite seriously that you may be cautioned away from, or recommended towards different types and brands of tea.
Water Type: Hard Tap (Lots of Minerals)
Steeping Time: 00.04.00
Steeping Heat: Reg. Boiling - Scalding
Additives: 2 Teaspoons of sugar originally. Added 3rd after a couple sips.
Initial Taste = 7.5
After-Taste = 7.5
Aroma = 7.0
Originality = 7.0
Taste Throughout = 8.8
Average = 7.7
Initial Taste: Black tea. Enough said, but I will expand anyway. It was nothing past the way the average cup of black tea tastes. But it earns .5 points as it was not quite the average cup of black tea, tasting cheap and weak.
After-Taste = Again, black tea, nothing special other than the taste was more rounded and did not have that slightly sharp bitter taste that the cheapest teas get.
Aroma = Black tea,
Originality = This, along with "Aroma" will mostly be used on teas that have strange additives or extra flavors. So with regular black tea: 7.0
Taste Throughout = This was where I thought "Tazo" had outdone the average cup of black tea. Although the flavor of black tea is currently my favorite, I have always found that the last fourth of the cup of tea tends to become increasingly weak and bitter, as a timid kid reciting something he has not been well versed in. Although "Tazo"'s black, this was not the case. The taste of the tea, surprisingly, did not change through the cup in the least. It was just as strong and flavorful to the very last drop as the initial sips.
Other Notes: 4 Minutes is too long a brew for this tea, at least at the heat level I had. It was slightly bitter which is why I added the extra sugar so I could continue my taste test unhindered.
Bottom Line: As far as black tea goes this seems nothing original; But if black tea is all that you crave, this brand will not let you down.
1 comment:
Joel, if you want to get into this a little more, you could also start looking at specific origin teas. It's similar to specific origin coffee. One of my favorite varieties of coffee is Peruvian because of the distinctive flavor that Peruvian grown coffee has. Tea is similar. Darjeeling tea is grown in the Darjeeling region of India which gives it the unique flavor it has. That goes for other teas such as Assam and Ceylon (Assam happens to be one of my favorites). Most black teas are a blend of regions. Then there's oolong, green, and white which are different preparations of leaves from the same plant that produces your usual black tea. Then, there are varieties of tea such as red tea and many herbal teas, which come from a completely different plants. And there's so much more that I just don't know. My point is that tea is wonderfully complicated and since you really enjoy it you'll probably enjoy trying different varieties, learning distinctive tastes, and you won't have to be so disappointed with decidedly weak blends from Tazo, etc. Keep it up!
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