C-chan

Day 31 of my #101daysoftea challenge. 1 tbsp in my… larger teapot.

I know this tea can oversteep easily, but I think I might have understeeped it this time. However, putting the bag in for another minute or so with each cup helped as I nursed this along.

The jasmine and rose create a floral taste that boarders on fruity. I found that a bit of honey brings out the full body of the tea perfectly.

I still don’t think I have the secret of a perfect brew of Three Wishes perfectly down, but I enjoy it more and more as I get closer to mastering this tea.

Day 30 of my 101 days of tea challenge… complete with mood music! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6_wLhUaJWw — the clip is also a perfect length of time for which to let the tea steep! Tee hee!)

2.5-3 tsp in my two cupper. This tea gets a higher rating than I would have given it on my own for one reason: my sister, a non-tea drinker, would actually drink it. If that is not high praise, I don’t know what is. (I was only going to give it a rating of a few percentages lower, but still.)

I did not find that it lived up to its claim of tasting like chocolate. I felt a little hint of it, more in the scent than anything, but not to the extent that the packaging seemed to suggest. A bit of milk adds the creaminess, adding to the illusion and making it taste very vaguely of a white hot chocolate.

Claims aside, this was a subtle but delicious tea. I would prefer something with a slightly stronger personally, but the taste was very pleasant. The coconut is the strongest taste, and apparently I enjoy it much more in tea than I do eating it. The Roman chamomile is beautiful to look at (I wish I had a clear teapot to watch them bloom and dance in the water!). Resteeped, it was even more subtle, though the flavours were still quite there and beautiful.

The gentle, subtle flavour of this tea is best drank on its own rather than with anything, I think, but is certainly worth getting, in my humble opinion.

Day 29 of my 101 days of tea. Had this today (well, I suppose technically yesterday now) at the DAVIDsTEA on Queen Street West. Steeped for around 6 minutes.

I found the taste to be quite floral — more than I’d like, really. Perhaps someone who enjoyed that sort of taste might find this delightful, but it wasn’t quite my thing. It also seemed rather one-note-ish, perhaps because I’m used to flavoured whites and this was straight.

I resteeped it with a half-full cup (the DAVIDsTEA cups are pretty big, after all….), and found the taste to even perhaps get stronger than the first time around. So, still didn’t like it, but was glad to see that the flavour was quite persistant at least.

Not my favourite tea, probably wouldn’t buy more of it (especially at $20/50g). However, it’s my first straight white tea of this challenge, so I’m glad I gave it a try.

Day 28 of my 101 days of tea challenge.

I picked some of this up back in spring because the ingredients sounded VERY inticing, and the scent was quite nice. However, I’ve never found myself overly liking the way it tastes made.

I have to say, this is probably the best brew I’ve made of it so far, and I still found the sweetness and orange flavour a little strong, and the creaminess of the aftertaste off-putting. As a hot tea, it really… just doesn’t work too well, I think. It’s bearable, but it’s not something I would choose over most of the other teas available too me.

I’m hearing that this tea tastes better cold if not iced. I might try making some ice cubes out of this later, and see if it is better that way.

The scent of this tea actually reminded me of Buckleys. You know. The cough syrup.

Thankfully, it tastes a lot better. It has the… good part of the aftertaste — I think it’s a mix of the coconut, cinnamon, ginger, and almond. The sweetness of the apples adds a nice touch as well.

Made this with two generous [table] teaspoons in my two-cupper teapot. Put the loose leaves in and used a strainer — even though my second cup was quite a bit later, I didn’t find this negatively affecting the taste at all. Always a nice sign.

I definitely am glad I have more of this — I’ll be looking forward to making this again.

Got some more of this for Christmas, so I made it for my grandparents. My Nana liked it, so I’m leaving the packet I’ve just got with them and will continue through my stash at home. s had. The chillis add a nice kick to it, though. It is an enjoyable cup, to be certain!

Resteeping the tea leaves now for a second round.

Day 25 of my 101 days of DAVIDsTEA challenge. Had to do this one today because it met the requirements of being a) not in the calendar, and b) being a Christmas-themed tea.

IT SMELLS SO MUCH LIKE A CHOCOLATE ORANGE, IT’S REDICULOUS. And delicious. And wonderful.

Around 2 [tablware] teaspoons in my 2-cupper teapot. I honestly wish it tasted more like it smells — I remember brewing it before and enjoying the taste better. Still pleasant, but not quite as good as the last time. Thinking it might be better if brewed for an individual cup, but we’ll have to see about that another day.

It does get bitter if steeped too long, but not overly unpleasantly so — it brings out the taste of the orange. Still better fresh, unless you add milk to cut the bitterness (the good ol’fashioned British way).

Putting this down as 81 for now, may raise the rating later if I’m correct and it tastes a lot better brewed in-cup.

On the 24th day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me….

Actually not drinking from my sampler, but a tin I got last year that was supposed to be a Christmas gift but never got delivered due to not seeing that person for a long time… (eep!). Two heaping [tableware] teaspoons in my two-cupper pot for this sample. Drank straight the first time, with milk the second after it had sat for a while longer.

This is a VERY enjoyable tea. The mint is refreshing but not at all overpowering, and the candy bits make it just sweet enough. Lovely!

Usually I drink blacks with milk, but this seems to mute the mintiness a bit too much for me.

It’s as low as it is merely because the minty flavour is not my favourite — I prefer fruity and spiced teas. But for what it is? Excellent.

My first cup of this was nice. Around 4 minutes (trip from DAVIDsTEA to my car, I know it was around 4-5 minutes), a mild but clear flavour. I definitely could drink a lot of this, if given the chance, though as far as straight oolongs go, I think I prefered the milk oolong.

Unfortunately, I messed up my resteep, so it was somewhat bitter and nowhere near as good. (Note to self: try increasing steep time by smaller amounts with this one — it doesn’t need a longer amount of time like the milk oolong!)

On the 22nd day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me…..

On its own, I find the tea a little too smoky and overwhelming. (It may have been slightly bitter, but I brewed it for the time suggested — 4:15 is on the low end of the recommended 4-6 minutes). Milk tends to mellow it out nicely, and saying how I generally drink my blacks with milk, it’s not bad. However, it’s not my ideal good-with-or-without-milk black tea.

This tea has a rather intriguing flavour. It doesn’t seem quite like a traditional chai (which makes some sense — it has coconut and peppercorns, and is missing the traditional nutmeg). I didn’t find it quite as comforting as a traditional chai would be. Still, it was enjoyable — more enjoyable straight than a normal chai, though I prefer the other when mixed just right.

Steeped for 4:45 the first time, 8 minutes the second, gonna make a third brew with these leaves now.

To be honest, on its own I find the honey and lemon a little cough-syrop-y. However, paired with something more sour or savoury, like crackers and cheese, it makes a delightful compliment.

On the 19th day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me….

If Elf Help was too much like rockets, then Exotica reminded me of fruit loops. There was a citrus overtone with an interesting sweetness to it.

Not precisely my favourite tea, but not bad either.

On the eighteenth day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me…..

Steeped for 1.5 minutes the first time, 5 minutes the second. Let the kettle sit, so I don’t know about the exact temperature….

This tasted… almost exactly like rockets (smarties for the American contingent). Unfortunately, that has never been a favourite candy of mine, and I found it a little too… tart-sugary-sweet as a result.

I guess elves like their candy.

On the 17th day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me….

I don’t think I made this quite strong enough (eyeballed the amount — just over half of the little container in my 2-cupper teapot and steeped for around 5 minutes), but I still am getting the wonderful white chocolate aftertaste. This is still my favourite tea for travel mugs — it steeps really well without bittering even through my “travel mug abuse” and, well… I LOVE IT. …I’m going to have to pony up the cash one day to get myself a large amount of it… it will be expensive but hopefully VERY worthwhile.

This tea tasted quite good. Subtle, mellow… I’m not sure if I’d recognize the flavour as walnut, but enjoyable nonetheless. It’s not my favourite tea ever, but I think this is more a matter of personal taste than the tea itself — it’s quite nice, I just prefer some other flavour combinations.

Steeped it for 3 minutes the first time, and… longer the second time, but enjoyed it through original and re-steeping.

I… really need to work on how I brew blacks from David’s. It says 4-7 minutes on the package. I brewed it for 6, and, well… the first few sips were nice, but the bottom of the mug in particular was quite bitter. Added milk the second time, and that mellowed the flavour nicely, but I’m still unable to get the bitter flavour out of my mouth.

Hopefully going to brew this again eventually, with a much shorter brewing time. However, as I did follow the directions as written, I’m going to rate it based on my experience anyway. 70 because the flavour was nice to begin with, but I can’t give it higher when the bitterness is what I remmber the most.

I think I used too much tea, or steeped it for too long this time. Probably both. Which isn’t a problem I’ve had before, but then I think my pallate has been developing.

I can tell you though, it’s still WONDERFUL with milk and sugar. But not as good straight as I remember.

On the 13th day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me….

There’s a fruity sweetness to the tea, which pairs nicely with the nutty tone it has overall. The apple and cinnamon notes are nice, and make for a nice flavour. While the beetroot makes it pink, it is less pink and more mellow than, say, Sleigh Ride or Pink Flamingo.

Emptied my entire sample in my pot, as I seem wont to do for the herbal samples. Glad I did — it was a nice strength. Might even brew it a bit longer next tme.

Oh. My. Goodness.

The scent of this this tea is amazing. Strong, rich, the almond and fruity notes melding to create something reminiscent of cherry.

This comes through in the taste, though it was more subtle than I’d have liked it. I definitely want a longer steep and/or more tea in next time, and see how that changes the flavour. Still, especially with the scent, which blew me away both in the can and in the cup, and the lovely almondy notes, I can’t find much fault with this tea at all.

Not putting preparation details down because I was literally handed a full cup of this when I went into DAVIDsTEA today — an extra had been brewed and I was offered the results. I was down at in the dumps at the time, so this was the best pick-me-up I could’ve possibly ask for. While it didn’t affect the flavour at all, it certainly made the cup much more cheerful than I ever could have expected.

On the 11th day of tea-mas, DT gave to me….

This tea seems to me to have a very mild flavour. Somewhat grassy, but light.

I just finished my third steep, and it still was quite lovely. I might steep it for a bit longer next time I make the tea, I think my first brew might have been a little shorter than optimal, but I’ve been having bad luck with green tea lately, so I decided to go short rather than risk it.

On the tenth day of tea-mas DAVIDsTEA gave to me….

I ended up using my entire Advent calendar sample in my small pot, and have brewed it twice so far.

The original tea is bright red, like Pink Flamingo, but has a much fruitier flavour. I was surprised at how dry the tea seemed — and how rich the flavour was (perhaps my putting the entire sample in was a bit much for the pot). Still, it was quite good — one thing I love about herbal tea is that it seems quite hard to go disasterously wrong with it.

The second brew was much lighter in colour and taste, but certianly still enjoyable.

Definitely thinking of purchasing some more of this, since my sample’s now all gone.

The smoky flavour was strong and intriguing, so I decided to try a cup of this today.

Honestly, when brewing, the smoky scent reminded me of bacon. …I never thought I’d find a tea that reminded me of bacon….

It is certainly a unique tea. I find the flavour a little better with milk, but it’s not a favourite of mine. I can imagine someone else really loving it, but smoky teas apparently aren’t [quite literally] my cup of tea.

Had a cup of Sencha Ashibuko this evening.

The scent was wonderful. Musky. The “grassy” scent came through as well, but in a pleasant way.

I found the taste to be less appealing, however. I didn’t think I steeped it for too long, but it was already becoming a little bitter. I suppose an even shorter brewing time would be best. Although I finished the cup, I found myself becoming bored of it halfway through. Not a bad tea at all, but not one of my favourites to date.