TE82 -- Imperial Orange Spice
Bought: Sample pack from Upton Tea Imports a month or two ago.
Brewed: Full boil (203° at altitude). 12 ounces of water to heaping serving teaspoon of tea in my ingenuiTEA for four minutes.
Leaf Characteristics: Big, bold black tea leaves, lots of orange zest chunks, and the zing of cloves. I'd been looking for a Constant Comment taste-alike at loose-leaf tea costs and this certainly had the scent characteristics of that old tea.
Liquor: Dark, deep orange, with all the spice and orange tang. It's probably right on the old taste profile of the tea I'd been looking for. But it's now... hmmm... too tangy for me. Too... "tastes/smells like something other than fundamental tea" for me any more. I'm saddened by that change in me and my tastes. It doesn't hit my tea spot any more. I ended up dumping it and rinsing out my mug and having a mug of the Irish CTC to clear my mouth.
Rating: 10 of 10 for being just like Constant Comment, as that was what I was originally looking for, but a 3 of 10 for my present needs with respect to tea.
Brewed: Full boil (203° at altitude). 12 ounces of water to heaping serving teaspoon of tea in my ingenuiTEA for four minutes.
Leaf Characteristics: Big, bold black tea leaves, lots of orange zest chunks, and the zing of cloves. I'd been looking for a Constant Comment taste-alike at loose-leaf tea costs and this certainly had the scent characteristics of that old tea.
Liquor: Dark, deep orange, with all the spice and orange tang. It's probably right on the old taste profile of the tea I'd been looking for. But it's now... hmmm... too tangy for me. Too... "tastes/smells like something other than fundamental tea" for me any more. I'm saddened by that change in me and my tastes. It doesn't hit my tea spot any more. I ended up dumping it and rinsing out my mug and having a mug of the Irish CTC to clear my mouth.
Rating: 10 of 10 for being just like Constant Comment, as that was what I was originally looking for, but a 3 of 10 for my present needs with respect to tea.