Tespresso Tea Powder (Black Teapresso, 250 Grams Jar (Pack of 1))

Chaimati Tespresso is not a bad product in itself (and in fact it tastes pretty good) but I'm not really sold on the preparation method.I actually do own and use a 3-cup Moka pot, so I've been following the provided instructions on the label to prepare this product. Brewing Tespresso is a very similar process to brewing coffee in the Moka pot, but I did notice that it tends to percolate a bit faster than coffee so make sure to watch your stovetop temperature. Medium-high heat worked well for me.I add hot water to the resulting "shot" of tea (the same way I do with Moka pot coffee to make an Americano) and the resulting drink is basically like a cup of normal, but decently strong, malty Assam tea. Assam is my favorite variety of tea so this does actually taste pretty good with a splash of milk and some sweetener.Caffeine content seems to be reasonably high for tea. I feel pretty similar to how I feel after drinking a cup of coffee when I drink a Tespresso beverage (prepared as above). I might be imagining it, but I think this does have more caffeine per serving than what you'd get out of a normal cup of tea, so if that is what's important to you, you should be happy.While the taste of the drink is fine, it just seems really pointless to me that it is so convoluted to make. I can just use regular tea in a teabag or my teapot much more easily than fiddling with the Moka pot to make this. I will finish up the jar of Tespresso because I do like the taste, but I definitely don't see myself purchasing it again just because of the brewing method.Cost is also a factor here as well. My go-to breakfast tea is only about $4 for a 20-count box of tea bags. This costs significantly more than that per serving.I really wish this product had some alternative brewing instructions on the package. Most people do not own a Moka pot and the product listing made no mention that one would be required to brew the Tespresso. Luckily for me, I had a Moka pot to make this but it is far from the ideal way to brew tea. I would recommend this ONLY if you have a Moka pot already and don't mind using it to make some pretty good (but honestly average-tasting) tea.

Flavor Name: Black TeapressoAs one who has always appreciated a fine cup of tea, with black teas usually being my favorites, I have to say that this was a new experience for me. One that took a couple brewings to master the art of. It's a very different tea for me in relation to all of the loose and bagged teas that I'm use to using.This is a very fine powder that is not meant at all to be an instant tea. You need to brew this and allow water to stream through this powder. There might be more ways to work with this than I'm familiar with, but I chose to brew this in my moka pot traditionally used for brewing espresso coffee. Works quite well and is very easy to do once you master how much is right for your taste. That part took me a little experimenting since the directions are given using grams. Ended up having to eyeball this and go from there. I'm usually good working that way, but I did need a couple trial and error sessions to get the right feel for this. By my third pot, I had it down with ease.The taste is quite different from what any loose or bagged black teas have ever tasted to me. It's definitely a black tea taste, but with a consistency closer to a Greek or Turkish coffee, especially considering that you will have some tea silt at the bottom of your cup. In some ways, it seemed a bit like a black tea matcha. The black tea flavor is condensed which makes is somewhat strong tasting, though without all of those tannins that can make some teas very acidic or astringent tasting. This does not have any of those astringent aspects which makes it so much gentler on the tongue and digestive tract.Because this tea has deeper and richer black tea qualities, some may prefer to add some sort of sweetener to this. I would suggest that you stick with only a small bit of honey because you do not want to damage the integrity of the tea itself. For me, I cannot stand any sort of sweetener in my teas, especially when drinking higher quality teas, though I do add a good simple half and half. My first cup, which admittedly was overly strong, did take me off-guard a bit, but as I continued to drink, I developed what one might call an acquired taste. By the time I finished my moka pot, I found that I really loved this tea. My second pot was less potent and tasted just right. No matter how strong I made this tea, one common thing that I distinctly noticed was that once consumed, I had an extremely satisfying experience. Incredibly pleasant, calming and felt fully balanced. This black teapresso is now one of my new loves in the exquisite world of finer teas.

I am disappointed because the only instructions on the jar are for use with a Moka pot and I don't own one. I did not see this requirement in the description, it simply states down low in the product description that it's ideal for a Moka Pot. I think it should be more clearly stated that this is not instant or easily made. I tried to brew this using a reusable K cup pod but it didn't work. The brew was coming out in drips and I was afraid I might damage my machine so I stopped it. It appears as though the grind is too fine and water couldn't flow through the pod. When I tried to empty the pod and clean it, the powder had created a consistency similar to packed sand so it was difficult to get it out of the pod.I was able to taste it from the little bit that dripped through and it tasted like a nice strong black tea. I love the idea of it and I think I would like the flavor if I could brew it properly.