(no subject)

[the_rck]

Today, I tried Adagio's Thai chai. It's notable for having coconut and lemongrass in it. The coconut comes out strongly in the scent, but the flavor is primarily lemongrass. This had a five minute steeping time and is bitter. I added stevia, and that helped the bitterness a bit, not a lot but some. I'm not entirely sure what I think of this one. The lemongrass is peculiar but not unpleasant. I can't taste the coconut, so I'm not sure what it's doing in there.

I think I've figured out why the masala chai wasn't overly bitter yesterday. I think I used half as much tea as I should have for the size of my mug (holds a bit more than two cups of liquid). I did look at the ingredients, and cloves are listed. They're lower in the list of ingredients than I expected, based on how strongly the brew smelled of cloves.

Comments

[kyrielle]

For what it is worth, I often find I like teas - greens and herbals mostly - better if I steep them for shorter periods of time than recommended. I still taste them strongly enough, but I am also very sensitive to other tastes compared to what some of my friends/family report experiencing.

But if something is too bitter, I would try less heat, shorter time, or both - as long as you have enough of the tea to reattempt it.

[the_rck]

I have enough of these teas to try again at least once.

I'm not necessarily sensitive to flavors. I can smell that these teas are different, but they don't taste all that different to me.

I have a tendency, with herbals, to over-steep because I like the resulting strong flavors. I'm still working on remembering that black and green teas aren't herbals and need fairly precise steeping times. Over-steeped black tea is no good for me, much too bitter.