Tea Blog

Not too long ago, I mentioned online that when I drink some teas, the aroma and/or taste stay with me for a day or two. It’s one reason that I tend to minimize my intake of teas with strong flavors added as well as ones that have naturally strong flavors. That “ghostly” taste and aroma can be as annoying as an itch you can’t scratch!

So, what are some of these teas that can haunt your tastebuds and tickle your nose for days afterwards? That will vary from person to person. My own list of specter-ish teas includes the following:

• The more sweetish cinnamony versions of chai, especially the kind you get at those chain coffee shops, and generally spiced teas such as Pumpkin Spice Black, Holiday Spice Black, and Indian Spiced Chai.
• Lapsang Souchong with that pine smoke flavor, and teas with some of it blended in, including Czar Nicolas Russian Caravan.
• Young Pu-erh, whose earthiness can last for days in my sensory memory, and the sweeter Scottish Caramel Toffee Pu-erh.
• Any tea flavored with oil of bergamot (Earl Grey, Buckingham Palace Garden Party, Earl Grey Cream Metropolitan Blend), and British Earl Grey White.
• Fruity teas that tend toward the sweet side, like Bohemian Raspberry Green, Japanese Sencha Kyoto Cherry, and Lychee Congou.
• Teas with mint and/or chocolate like Chocolate Mint Tea and Night Iguana Chocolate Chai.

The last time I had some Lapsang Souchong, I could smell that smokiness through lunch, and even after a vigorous tooth brushing, and then through dinner and another brushing. The next day as I was drinking some wonderful Snow Dragon White Tea, it took on that smoky character. Some folks who saw my comment online said that they, too, had such apparitional tea experiences, while others said they had not.

Certainly, having the flavor and aroma of tasty teas endure can be a very good thing. The only problem is when it hangs around forever. I’m thinking that the best cure is chocolate, but it’s a theory I’ll have to test out vigorously! Let’s see — I’ll start with some semi-sweet dark and then some milk chocolate, followed up by more of that dark chocolate, and then some chocolate truffles and some…

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