Tea Review Tuesday - A Review of Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea "Tiger Assam" Black Tea

Looking forward to another great tea from Andrews & Dunham, today's cup is filled with "Tiger Assam," part of their Damn Fine Tea line. My last review of an offering from them, their "Visit Mount Gray" black tea, was really enjoyable. Time to see how their Assam tastes!

Pouring twelve ounces of just-boiled water over a teaspoon and a half of Tiger Assam, I set my tea timer for four minutes and waited. (The official recommendation is one teaspoon of loose leaf to eight ounces of water.) Four minutes later (plus some time waiting for it to cool down), I had a nice cup of Assam in-hand. Taking a whiff, I note that the aromas are smooth. There is little astringency wafting from the cup and the malty notes smell a bit floral and pleasant.

The first sip glides over my tongue, leaving a malty aftertaste. The maltiness of this Assam has just a bit of a bite in the finish, but it is otherwise rather calm. Too many malty black teas devolve into astringent finishes, but this one has just the kick to finish. A spot of milk could finish the cup well, but, despite its strength, I find that Tiger Assam stands perfectly well on its own. Much like the aromas, the flavor profile is quite smooth, and I question for a moment, if I have not picked up a malty Darjeeling instead!

Tiger Assam by Andrews & Dunham provides a great cup of tea that does not overwhelm the drinker with its strength. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate it a 91/100, and I highly urge you to give it a try!

Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea "Tiger Assam" is available from their website, here.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
Text is copyright 2015, Built from Ink and Tea.

Stained Fingers on Thursday - A Review of Pilot Varsity Black Ink

The Pilot Varsity serves as a great intro to fountain pens for many folks. The color is solid, and the nib is fairly smooth for a disposable pen.

This scan was done on an HP Deskjet F4280 at 600dpi.
Note: Because these scans are done with a light emitting printer, actual colors will, more likely than not, be slightly darker than they may appear, here. The colors shown, here, are probably a bit more reminiscent of what the ink would be like under a bright light or if it were held up and viewed with a light behind it.

Tea Review Tuesday - A Review of 52teas' Pineapple Bacon Rooibos

This week's review will certain turn heads, as it brings a combination of two foods, rarely seen together, and adds their flavors to a hot drink! 52teas' Pineapple Bacon Rooibos simply sounds very, very strange, until the realization that this is the forte of 52teas - taking flavors from the world, never before consumed in a hot beverage, and blending them with tea! (See last week's review of 52teas' Butterbeer black tea.) That said, I tend to enjoy most rooibos, so I figured I might like this one (bacon being another favorite flavor, while pineapple is simply okay).

Measuring about a teaspoon and a half in to the filter for my twelve ounce mug, I boiled the water and, when it finished, immediately poured it over the rooibos. The smells that wafted from the mug intrigued me. Before becoming too distracted, I set a timer for seven minutes. Returning to the mug, I took another smell. The scents of pineapple were very noticeable. They reminded me of pineapple juice, from a fresh pineapple - sweet, just the slightest hint of sticky, but not cloying or syrupy. Rooibos was also present in the aroma, underlying the pineapple, pleasantly. But what about the bacon? The aroma contained only a little bacon smell. A slight saltiness with a whiff of the barest meat, like bacon bits, spread through the rooibos. At this point, the timer had ended, and I was very excited to try the pineapple bacon rooibos.

Even after seven minutes, the flavors of the rooibos blend seemed mellow. On a sweetness level, the pineapple was no sweeter than the base rooibos, so the overall blend was rather light. The initial tastes were definitely pineapple and rooibos, coming together pleasantly. At first, I could not notice the bacon in the flavor. Then, I realized that the bacon was there, but it tasted very subtle. One could just barely detect it in the body of the flavor. Where it came through more prominently was in the aftertaste. While that sounds strange, it was not that the aftertaste was purely bacon. Rather, the flavors spread across the tongue, and hints of bacon were left, along with the pineapple and rooibos. Rooibos tends not to have a strong aftertaste, so the remaining flavors primarily involved pineapple and bacon, the sweetness of one balancing the saltiness of the other. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.

Well done, 52teas, for tackling this blend and coming out on top. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this rooibos an 86/100.




Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
52teas' Pineapple Bacon Rooibos is available from their website, here.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
Text is copyright 2015, Built from Ink and Tea.

Stained Fingers on Thursday - A Review of Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki Ink

Enjoy this review of another Pilot Iroshizuku offering! For comparison, the reviews of Organics Studio Jules Verne and Noodler's Baystate Blue have been updated to include Kon-peki samples.

This scan was done on an HP Deskjet F4280 at 600dpi.
Note: Because these scans are done with a light emitting printer, actual colors will, more likely than not, be slightly darker than they may appear, here. The colors shown, here, are probably a bit more reminiscent of what the ink would be like under a bright light or if it were held up and viewed with a light behind it.

Tea Review Tuesday - A Review of 52teas' Butterbeer Black Tea

This week's review vies for the top spot as one of the most unique blends to be reviewed, here at Built from Ink and Tea. Butterbeer by 52teas takes its name from the iconic drink of the Harry Potter world, yet being a fan of wizards is not necessary to enjoy these flavors!

The addition of licorice root and chicory root to black tea simply sounds like a delicious combination to me. In my twelve ounce mug, I added about an ounce and a half of the blend, and then poured-over the just-boiled water. For steep time, I estimated that it would need about five minutes, so I set the timer accordingly. In the mean time, I took a whiff of the aromas from the packaging. They are a bit buttery, but primarily I find them to have a sweet tangy-ness, like a soda. Perhaps "buttery rootbeer" is a good descriptor (though it sounds quite strange)!

At first, the flavor surprises me. I am impressed by how well blended it seems. The black tea is very noticeable, as are the additional flavors. Yet, neither seem to overwhelm the others, and the merge well. The black tea tastes rather brisk, and the sweetness of the "butterbeer" mixture helps to balance the blend. The aromas are sweet, slightly licorice, and definitely buttery.

Having never tried real butterbeer, I can only imagine what it must taste like. Since the blend here is butterbeer tea, I think 52teas has done a great job of melding the two drinks into one. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate 52teas' Butterbeer a 74/100. Cheers!

Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
52teas' Butterbeer Black Tea is available from their website, here.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
Text is copyright 2015, Built from Ink and Tea.

Stained Fingers on Thursday - A Review of De Atramentis Dark Blue Ink

This scan was done on an HP Deskjet F4280 at 600dpi.
Note: Because these scans are done with a light emitting printer, actual colors will, more likely than not, be slightly darker than they may appear, here. The colors shown, here, are probably a bit more reminiscent of what the ink would be like under a bright light or if it were held up and viewed with a light behind it.

Tea Review Tuesday - A Review of Stash Tea Company's Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea

This week's tea review involves something different. For once, it seems, the tea I am reviewing came to me, rather than me seeking after it. The office in which I work has a decent amount of bagged tea - mostly Peet's, Stash, and Bigelow - which I typically overlook in favor of my own "stash" of loose leaf tea, kept in a desk drawer. However, when the latest restock of the break room occurred, one of the new offerings caught my eye - this Lemon Ginger Herbal "Tea" (quotation marks added by me to emphasize the misnomer).

An herbal blend, created by the Stash Tea Company, ginger root and lemongrass have been combined with lemon flavor, safflower, hibiscus, and citric acid for what is sure to be an intense cup. Personally, I am not entirely certain about the purpose of the citric acid in this blend, but the hibiscus should be an interesting touch. I boil a cup of water, pour it over the teabag in a mug, and set the timer for five minutes.

The packaging suggests three to five minutes, but as is my normal tendency, I go for the longer steep time, both for the sake of the intense flavors and to see if the upper-end leads to any over-steeping. Expecting aromas of lemon and ginger, the presence of hibiscus in the pre-steeped scent surprises me. However, when the steeping is done, the aromas are almost entirely ginger and lemon. The lemon scent noticeably comes from both lemon grass and added lemon flavor. In fact, they actually smell quite different.

Even though I steeped the blend for five minutes, my first sip does not hit me with a blast of ginger, as I expected. Instead, the ginger first bites the tongue, then subdues as the lemon slides over the taste buds. They merge in the finish, leaving a smooth aftertaste. On the sides of the tongue, hibisicus moves quietly in the background.

While I like the initial flavor and most of the body, the finish disappoints. It tastes thin and weak. Yes, I did mention it was smooth, but as I work my way through the cup, the aftertaste seems like I drank this an hour ago, not just a few seconds. I wonder, if this has to do with the freshness of the ingredients. While my teabag did say to enjoy by August of 2017, I have had other blends that used both lemongrass and ginger root together, and the ginger, at least, was a powerful flavor throughout the tea. That said, I did enjoy this cup, and I would rate it a 72/100 on my personal enjoyment scale. Looking for something totally different for your non-caffeinated cup? This might be to your liking.



Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
Stash Tea Company's Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea is available from their website, here.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
Text is copyright 2015, Built from Ink and Tea.