the tea swapping taste evening

Anledningen till att detta inlägg är på engelska är för att jag länkar till det inne i facebook.

Saturday me and some friends were testing some teas that were sent to me by a tea swapping through Facebook where I am swapping tea with a woman in USA. We who were drinking tea and evaluated it was (from left):

Archont drinks rich spicy teas with me in the evenings, but he is also a big lover of Earl Grey and lapsang.

Frenko is more of a coffee drinker but he has nothing against enjoying a cup of tea once in a while.
MrsData is a yoga master and often cleanses her body’s inner with spicy teas and she knows which spice is good for what part of the body and soul
Penko is not the spontaneous tea drinker but he often enjoys himself with a cup together with his wife in the evenings, often a spicy chai.
Me (not shown in picture), I'm the type of person who likes the spicy kind of tea, the kind of tea that tingles on the tongue

These where the criteria for the evaluation of the teas that were sent to me which means that if someone reads this and doesn’t like the same tea as we do, the tea experience could be somewhat different.

The first tea to be tested was
”Tropical roasted mate”.
(tropiskt rostad hane)

The first scent of the leaves made us think about rosehip and creamy vanilla. The colour of the tea was light and the scent was stronger than the taste. A very light taste of rosehip, otherwise a somewhat modest taste for a group of people that is used to a lot of taste and spicy flavours in tea.

The second tea was
“Houji cha tea”

The first scent of the leaves was dry and chocolaty and made us think about grass. A very light taste that reminded us of “suchite” a Japanese tea. Nice tea for food, maybe sushi. This tea, as the first one, was a little light, but the potential food tea point gave it a plus.

The third tea was
“Bankok”

The first scent of the leaves was flowery and creamy. A little smoky scent with a hint of ginger. The scent was stronger than the taste that was a little to modest for us. .

The fourth tea was
“Historic royal palaces”

The first scent of the leaves was cinnamon, cinnamon and cinnamon. The colour of the tea was darker then the prior teas. This tea had a stronger taste than all the other teas, a strong and sweet taste of cinnamon.

The fifth and last tea was
“Pomegranate oolong”

The first scent of the leaves made us think about citrus, berries, fruits, flowers and raspberries. The taste made us think about a Swedish drink called raspberry soda. It was sweet but the taste was a little modest for the group.

We ended the tea tasting with a cup of one of our own teas, “lapsang suochong” which is a smoked tea. The scent reminded us of tar and a fishing boat. The taste was round, strong and could be felt in the whole mouth. As I drunk the tea that I am used to, that the teas that I have sent over to her reminds of, I couldn’t help but wondering how she will react to the teas she will get from me. They are like night and day and if this is what she is used to, she might be facing a shock of tastes that she will have trouble to enjoy. I'm looking forward to hear what she thought of them.

Swapping tea was fun and I’m looking forward to doing so again, you are often blind to the tastes that you have around you every day.