20monkies

So yummy…. milky and creamy without the actual milk and cream….

I had this a couple of days back, and had done the same as I did with the coconut oolong from DT. I’m really taking a liking to oolongs, but unsure which one I would settle on as a long-term drink since I like to just stick with a couple of different teas.

I’m still in my experimenting stages… :D

I picked up 20 grams of this, just because it’s oolong and because it’s coconut (and because my 4 year old daughter just LOVES coconuts!)

I drank this last week I think and wasn’t sure about it completely. So I gave this another go today while I was cooking dinner. I have this small ceramic cooking pot (holds about 6-7 oz’s comfortably) that I made into a make-shift gaiwan. I put in a heaping tsp and filled the pot with water about halfway (between 3-4 oz’s). I wanted a stronger flavour to get the best out of it.

1st steep – about 2 minutes 45 seconds. Wow. This was so good. MUCH better than the first time I had it. More coconut flavour. I think I have figured out the best way to enjoy the flavour now.

2nd steep – about 3 minutes 45 seconds – sooooo yummy! I think I like this steep the best. Creamy, coconuty flavour. Even after having drank the brew, I could taste coconuts in my mouth. Like, real coconut. As if I had just bitten and chewed on some of the flesh.

3rd steep – 4 minutes 45 seconds – just as good as the seconds steep.

4th steep – 5 minutes 45 seconds – Still a hint of the coconut there, and creamy oolong.

5th steep – 6 minutes 45 seconds. By this point, I can still taste the oolong and there is color but the coconut flavour is quite weak and I can tell that it’s becoming more watered down in flavour now.

Not going to push for a 6th steep.

But I really enjoyed that session! Very refreshing!
(4th and 5th steeps I used boiling water).

$3 for a box of 100 bags from the Chinese grocery store… can’t go wrong with that!

Just your basic green tea, which I drink quite often, so it’s a great price. I’ve been putting two tea bags in my teapot. I also used to just oversteep this teabag, liking the stronger taste of this green tea. :)

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Very tart and apple cidery, as most people have noted.

Not sure if I like it, but I don’t hate it. But it’s a nice tisane, or ‘herbal’ tea.

Edit: For the 12g sample I had, I got 2 cups out of this. Reminds me of the Apple Cinnamon oatmeal I usually give my kids. No… I don’t like the tart, bitter flavour of the apples in this. Not going to get this again, but glad I tried it to see what the fuss was about. My cousin had also gotten a sample of this and rather enjoys it.

You know what?

I think I like ‘chai’ teas! I’ve had ‘masala’ teas before, but now I know for sure I like them. And this, being one of the first masala teas I’ve made myself, in loose leaf form, is pretty good!

Just to note, it feels weird for me to say ‘chai’ because in hindi/urdu language, ‘chai’ is ‘tea’ – so saying, ‘chai tea’ is like saying, ‘tea tea’. So for the specific ‘chai’ type teas (sounds so weird to me!), I’ll just consider it a ‘masala’ tea because thats what it is! :)

I prepared this on the stove in a saucepan, 1 cup water boiling with the tea added and let it boil for about 2 minutes. Then I added 1/2 cup milk and let it simmer for several more minutes and then brought it up to a boil for another couple minutes. Then, I strained and poured into a cup, added just about a tsp of sugar and voila!

I can definitely taste the ginger, cinnamon and peppercorn mingling together! The peppercorn really stood out with it’s spiciness and adding just a bit of sugar gave it a great sweet and spicy taste.

So good!

I think I’m going to prepare some more tomorrow, and share with my husband and see what he thinks of it!

I’m trying to see what types of teas I like and enjoy, and as far as my cupboard would go, I would definitely keep oolong, green tea, herbals and some masala tea!

Sorry, to those flavoured black teas out there… if I wanted tea with milk and sugar, which is what I do with blacks anyways, I would go with the masala teas instead! (and straight up tea would be green, oolong and herbal!)

Not sure if I like white and pu-er yet…

I love it! So yummy!!!!

I can drink this one straight up as it is without any additions!

Sadly, got this as a sample. I might just go get myself a larger size of this!

All I tasted in this was orange and banana. And the orange notes were VERY strong. The smell was delicious though! But I don’t think I’m gonna get anymore of this. Thankfully, I only picked up a sample to try out.

This was not bad!

Again, enjoy my tea with sugar and milk (latte!) and it was delicious and juicy!

I also tried this out in some blueberry muffins (infused it in milk, on a stove, simmered for about 10 minutes) and oh my! Made the muffins so delicious!

My hubby, who also normally doesn’t eat blueberry things, enjoyed them so much! He asked what the secret ingredient was, and I just told him, “an aphrodisiac”. ;) Yup, just as the package says!

Mmmmmmm so goooood!

Although, to be honest, I think I like my black teas with a little sugar and milk. I’ve just grown up drinking tea like that (Orange Pekoe).

I never used to be a tea drinker much, but would always make tea for my parents. When I started drinking tea, I used to add at least 2 tsp of sugar and would be satisfied with that.

But this, this is sooooo delicious. I even shared with a cousin of mine, and we finished up the sample bag that I had picked up. Tempted to try this out in a baked item!

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I’ve never had Earl Grey before, so this is my first experience. I can’t really compare it to anything except just plain black tea.

Bergamot-y. Very. I wasn’t expecting that. Has a bit of an oily feel in the mouth, I don’t know. I went ahead and added a little bit of fresh lemon juice and honey to it and it became a refreshing detoxifying drink.

The resteep of this was actually more to my liking. I think next time I make it, I will add less of the leaves because my tongue liked the not-as-strong taste of it.

Edit: So, I used 1/2 a tsp of this instead of the full tsp and I actually prefer it better like this. :)

Okay, so I went to Davids Tea yesterday and picked up some more tea, as I intended. I even picked up the new Spring collection paisley tea pot. It’s so cute, I love it!

And, can I note, that they are awesome and helpful? My DS was crying and was sleepy and hungry and I had a bottle with some of the powder formula in it. I just needed warm water. So I asked the lady for some water and she gave me some willingly! (first she gave me boiling hot water in a cup thinking I needed to submerge the bottle in it. Then she realized, “Oh!” to the formula. lol so kind!)

Anyways – I tried this today. I think I put too much water in, cause it felt watery. I couldn’t taste much, save for a slight hint of the caramel and salt. I think I have to try this again another time.

I did a resteep of it with less water and some more time, and added a pinch of sugar and a tsp of milk. I liked it, but the taste had weakened.

So yah… I can’t rate it because I messed up making the first time. Will redo it.

Oh Jasmine, how I love the smell of Jasmine!!!! And green tea too! I really, REALLY enjoyed this tea a lot.

I always enjoy drinking jasmine green tea at the chinese and japanese restaurants, so I wanted to get some for myself. I think this will be my go-to, unless I find something better.

Vanilla. I can sense some of the vanilla in this, but I don’t know… I’m not sure how to rate this. Not sure if I really like this, as I’ve tasted better. Thankfully I don’t have too much of this. I split the small amount with a cousin of mine.

Holy moly. Another first for me – I heard a lot about oolong and really wanted to try it out and see for myself.

Mmmm! I LOVE it! So yuummmmy! I am definitely going to go out and get some more next time I take a trip to Davids Tea. I got about 15 grams of this just to try out. I can also get about 3 infusions out of 1 teaspoon, so thats a plus for me too! Awesome :D

First tea tried of David’s Tea. I really love the aroma of this – peachy! I love fresh peachy and lemony scents, so this attracted me when I first went into the store and asked for help.

Taste wise, it’s very light but not as I was expecting in taste. The scent just throws me off. I don’t know – maybe I’m not an ‘expert’ in tea tasting yet? lol, but I’m steadily developing my sense of taste.

I do drink a lot of green tea, so this was in a sense my first time drinking white tea, not having anything to really compare to.