CHAroma

This tea seems to bring out the storyteller in me. Soooo, crazy story first! Tea review second! I just got home from buying lunch. I walk in the door and my cat jumps off a chair to greet me. I walk into the other room for a second and come back. My cat is in the corner, hunched over. I recognize that hunch instantly. He’s caught something.

I figured it’s probably just a mouse. Sure enough, he picks something up in his mouth and walks towards me. He drops it at my feet and steps back. All I saw was a bunch of legs in the air, and I turned and ran for the kitchen! That is no mouse!! What is it?! What is it??? I tried to make myself look at it, but he’s brought me things before that aren’t entirely dead. What if it’s a giant spider and it jumps at me! AHH! I kept trying to look at it, but I hadn’t even turned all the lights on in the room yet and it was GIANT!! I’m convinced it was a giant spider. Like a wolf spider or something.

I went back to the kitchen and grabbed a big Tupperware thing. My idea was I’ll put the Tupperware over it and slide a piece of paper underneath. Then I’ll be able to take the carcass, dead or alive, outside and dump it. I finally found Tupperware that was big enough and walked back into the other room. And what do I see?? My cat EATING the spider!!! AHHHH!!!! I couldn’t even bring myself to get close to him until it was completely eaten. So gross! OMG! What if it’s poisonous??! What will it do to him?! AHHH!!!!! I’m soooo freaked out!!! I immediately called my mother and she told me to call the vet. So far, my cat is acting perfectly normal so I think he’s okay. I’m just going to watch him carefully for a few hours.

Oh oh ohhh! So gross. I’m so grossed out. I HATE spiders and that thing was gigantic! I can’t believe he ate that. Shiver He was really chewing it too. Crunch crunch crunch. Blech! And that thing was in my apartment!! What if there’s more?! I’m going to have creepy crawlies all day. We have a centipede infestation right now. Maybe the spider came in to eat them! Ugh, I’d take centipedes over spiders any day.

Okay, now on to the tea review. I’m just finishing up what’s left of this sample from the 52teas Christmas sampler. Yes, I know. Christmas was over 6 months ago. But this tea’s held up surprisingly well! It’s very spicy, and I’m getting a strong caramel flavor. I think the vanilla is in there somewhere contributing to the overall splendid flavor. But the caramel and spice notes are the strongest to me. Yum! I’m so glad I got to enjoy one last cup of this tea. It’s delicious! Raising the rating from 78 to 82.

I don’t make much iced tea. This became ever more apparent as I tried to brew up this new teabag from 52teas’ spin-off brand, Southern Boy Teas.

The instructions say to steep the teabag in 16 oz of water. I had to look up what 16 oz was, and it turns out it’s 2 cups. Okay, now what do I have in the house that can hold this gigantic teabag and 2 cups of water and is preferably made out of glass, not plastic? Searching…searching…mixing bowl? I guess that’ll work. I suppose this is why people have teapots.

Now I just have to measure 2 cups…AHHHHH!!!! Okay, the mixing bowl idea was not a great one. I just spilled boiling hot water on my foot. *Sigh. I was smart enough to put a dishwashing glove on my hand, so that was protected. Damn you, cute peep toe shoes!! There’s also quite a bit of water on my counter…ugh.

I’m okay. No permanent damage. Now I need something to pull this gigantic teabag out of the bowl…hmm…searching…grilling tongs? And now all I need is a pitcher. I have one of those! But it’s made out of flimsy plastic and there’s no lid…hmm, that’s okay. I’ll just make a lid out of plastic wrap and a rubber band.

Jeez, this is a lot of work! And I made quite a mess too. I do not recommend that you follow my brewing strategy. This barely worked out. I was able to pour the steeped tea from the mixing bowl into the pitcher without further incident. Now I just have to wait a couple hours for the tea to cool in the fridge.

Finally, I can try it! I carefully poured myself a glass and added ice. First sip…oooh wow! This is cotton candy all right! Yum! Super delicious! Totally worth burning my foot for! :P I wanted to add a little sweetener ‘cause I’m a sweet tooth addict. I think I added a little too much so I balanced it out with more tea. :D This is sooo good, but it honestly doesn’t even need the added sugar. It’s definitely sweeter now, but the cotton candy flavor was just as apparent without it, if not more so. Delish!!

Oooh, I’m so excited for this one! I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time because of all the great reviews here on Steepster.

Starting with the dry leaf aroma, it smells like blueberries and something weird. Maybe it’s the Stevia? Stevia was also in the Ice Cream Cake tea I had yesterday, so maybe that’s the weird aroma here too. But it’s strange because I have some Stevia (Truvia) and when I open the package and smell it, it just smells like cotton candy and caramelized sugar. Either way, the aroma of Ice Cream Cake was waaaay funkier than this Blueberry Jam. So, I think this will be okay.

The brewed tea aroma is a little calmer in the weird department. Now it just smells like blueberries and something super sweet. I guess it really could be the Stevia that’s contributing to that weirdness. The aroma is filling up the room, and I’m definitely getting a warm blueberry jam smell now. Awesome!

That super sweetness is in the beginning of the sip, and then it dissipates and the blueberry takes center stage. This is yummy! The aftertaste is heavenly and pure blueberry jam! That’s definitely the best part, the aftertaste. I’m going to add some skim milk now. Mmm, creamy smooth! Adding milk is interesting because it usually turns the tea an almond brown color. This tea is purple! Hahaha!

The blueberry in this is very strong and kind of overpowers the black tea base. But it’s still delicious! I don’t love it as much as BOO-berry from 52teas, but I also can’t buy any more of that. I agree with others that this would probably be better without the Stevia. It’s just contributing a funky kind of sweetness instead of a pure sweetness. I’m not sure why this is weird because I pretty much use Truvia exclusively and that doesn’t bother me at all. Perhaps it’s that the Stevia has sat with the tea leaves for a long period of time? I don’t know.

Second steep for 8 minutes. The weirdness is gone from the aroma! Hooray! It’s just pure, buttery, blueberry jam now! Yum! I added milk and a tiny bit of sweetener right away before trying it. Ohhhh yeaaah!!! This is the stuff!!!!! That funk is gone, and now it’s perfect!!! Sooo delicious!!! Perseverance pays off!

I really want to eat some ice cream right now. So, what am I going to do? Drink ice cream cake tea!

The dry leaves smell really weird. Like something sweet but in an artificial, chemically way. Uh oh. There’s a myriad of stuff in this tea, and I think that stuff is outnumbering the actual tea leaves, of which there doesn’t appear to be much. The brewed tea aroma is different but still weird. It’s turned towards a sweet cream, buttery smell but there’s still something artificial about it. Maybe this will be okay. The liquor is really dark like Salted Caramel was, but there’s also some floaties that are probably the dissolved remnants of sprinkles.

Time to try it! First sip without additions tastes sweet, slightly artificial like the aroma, but then the after taste tastes like ice cream! And I’m even getting a slightly bakey taste like there’s cake in here too. Hmm, this is an intriguing tea. The tea itself is completely masked by the flavorings, but it’s very creamy! I’m also getting a weird scritchy scratchy feeling in the back of my throat with each subsequent swallow. I think the freeze-dried ice cream in this blend was probably a mistake.

Have you ever eaten freeze-dried ice cream? Like the kind that comes in a bag and is always labeled astronaut food? It’s disgusting. Really. It’s really really terrible. I think that addition is probably what makes me not like this blend. You know what else this reminds me of? Non-dairy creamer. How can it be cream if there’s no dairy in it? That’s what this tea is like. It’s ice cream without the ice cream.

Also, I have to say that I have NO idea what people are talking about who compare this to a Neapolitan. There’s no strawberry flavor or milk/dark chocolate flavor. And rightly so since there’s only white chocolate in the ingredients and it doesn’t say anything about strawberry. But the lack of strawberry doesn’t make much of a difference to me. That’s not the dealbreaker anyway.

If you can get past that scratchy feeling in the back of your throat and the artificial tasting flavorings, then it’s not that bad. It’s drinkable, but I don’t think I’ll be buying any more once my sample runs out. It’s also not settling my craving for the real thing. Actually, I’m kind of getting a sore throat now. Maybe this stuff isn’t good for me…I don’t think I’ll finish the cup. Oh well. It was worth a shot! And that’s why you buy samples. ;)

The dry leaf aroma = ecstasty! O-M-G! Seriously, this is what ecstasy smells like. It’s not good, it’s not fantastic, it’s ecstasy! In layman’s terms, it smells like caramel hot off the stove. Mmm, caramel toffee with a bit of sea salt. I can totally get that from the aroma. Oh, I can’t wait to brew this up!!

The package of my sample says to steep this for 4-7 minutes. Seven minutes is a little long for a first steep, so I’m going with 4 minutes. Wow, the aroma of the brewed tea is exactly like the dry leaf! It also brewed up really dark and opaque. Ah, my mouth is watering! I just want to drink this right now!!! The whole room has been flooded by this tea’s aroma. My fiancé even asked if I was making food, haha! Why can’t you just cool off faster?!!

Finally, it’s not too hot to sip and it is LEGEN-wait for it-DARY!!!!! AHHHHH!!!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!! It doesn’t even need milk or sugar! I can drink this straight! Wow!!! I can’t believe how extraordinary this is!! Like eating a caramel toffee and then drinking a great black tea! Oh so sweet and delicious! If it were Christmas, I’d call this a Christmas miracle!

I didn’t actually see coconut flakes in the blend nor do I smell or taste it. If coconut’s in there, it must be toasted coconut flakes because everything in the dry leaf mix is brown or golden. Nor is the salt individually identifiable. I think the coconut and salt in this tea just contribute to the overall rich, buttery, awesome flavor.

Even the aftertaste is ecstasy! There’s no astringency and maybe just the tiniest hint of bitterness as it begins to cool. But I’m very sensitive to bitterness, so I don’t think most people would notice this. And honestly, it doesn’t bother me in the least. Second steep for 8 minutes, and this time I added skim milk and Truvia right away. Now it’s a much sweeter caramel tea and much more liquid candy-like. But just like with Love Tea #7, the first cup is my favorite.

This is just the perfect caramel tea! This is what I wanted the caramel tea from ESP Emporium I recently purchased to be. Perfection!! Right here! In my cup! Yesss!!!

I feel like so many new teas I’ve tried have been getting extremely high ratings from me lately. But this tea truly does deserve it. DAVIDsTEA is quickly becoming my new favorite tea company! Everything I’ve tried is a hit! These people know what they’re doing! I’m definitely going to have to order more of this when my sample is gone!

Frank had me at cute kitten! :D Just look at that adorable little kitten with his paw in the air, awwwwww!!! I simply love this image. The sun is a lemon and the clouds are marshmallows and then there’s the cutest kitten I’ve ever seen reaching out towards me saying (now you have to imitate a little kitten voice to get the full effect), “Please! Buy this tea!” Awww, I won’t let you down cute kitten! You’re coming home with me!

I promptly opened the package as soon as it arrived and turned on the kettle. Hey, I gotta’ make the little bugger feel welcome! The dry leaf aroma is potently lemon, quickly followed by marshmallow. It smells like those lemon bars with powdered sugar on top. No, it smells like that iced lemon pound cake from Starbucks! Whoa, I’m getting a slight headache from these insanely fragrant leaves. Warning: I think you can get high off sniffing this stuff.

Time to brew it up! The dominant aroma in the brewed tea is lemon followed by green tea and finally, there’s the marshmallow root. It shows up last and still closely resembles icing. I’ve never had a Yun Wu tea before, but I’m excited to try it now!

First taste…lemon and then a lovely green tea like I’ve never tasted before! Wow, it’s heavenly! The aftertaste is slightly vegetal and grassy, but not too grassy. It just screams, “I am a high quality tea!” Man, this tea sure is talkative. And the kitten seems to be getting along nicely with Mr. Frodo. (No, I’m kidding. The tea didn’t actually come with a live kitten).

Back to the tea: this lemon, icing, green tea confection is blowing my mind! I’m getting creamy, I’m getting buttery, I’m getting cakey! Then up comes that grassy aftertaste, and I’m getting green tea! Oh man. I didn’t think I was going to fall in love with this given the fairly simple ingredients. Then again, I think it was love at first sight with that kitten, so I really shouldn’t have doubted. This stuff is almost as magical as the Butterbeer tea! GASP! Yep, I said it! This tea is amazing!

And let me just say, I’m soooo happy that Frank used a high quality Chinese green tea base here and not sencha. Sencha is all fine and good, but this is glorious! Plus, it’s fun to try something new and different and this does not disappoint. To any of you doubters out there, just do it! Buy it! Try it! It’s incredible! You will love it!

OMG! Why did I even hesitate to buy two pouches of this?! It smells like Harry Potter magic! In Muggle terms, I mean it smells like root beer and butter. Mmmmm! Now one might think that’s an odd combination, but that person just hasn’t been enlightened with a trip to The Three Broomsticks. So, we’ll let it slide. This time.

The brewed aroma is root beer, butter, and black tea. My mouth is watering!!!! Well, my table had the first sip since I bumped it with my knee in my excitement to sit down and sloshed tea everywhere. *Sigh. But the second sip is all mine!!

Wow, root beer butter tea is weird. Hahaha, but weird in a good way. I’m loving this! And of course I would, it’s a magical 52teas creation!!! I’m going to slowly add additions and see what happens. First, a splash of skim milk…smoother, more well-rounded, and a tad bit cooler now so I can drink it faster! Milk is a success! Now a little Truvia…mmm, the flavors really seem to POP now! Just a little sweetener, mind you. Otherwise, you might ruin a truly magical thing.

Oh, Frank! OH! This is just so delightful! Half the fun is drinking it, and the other half is imagining I’m a witch enjoying a hot mug of butterbeer with my classmates on a trip to Hogsmeade. Who doesn’t love this stuff?? ‘Cause I’ll buy every pouch you’ve got!! My pointed witch hat goes off to you, Frank! You’re a tea genius!

5/5 ESP Emporium Teas

I’m finally reviewing the last tea from my recent ESP Emporium purchase. And I’m finally feeling a little better after a horrendous two days of P90X. Yesterday was Yoga, and even though I can’t do half the moves and generally harbor a strong dislike of yoga, it really made me feel better. It stretched out all my sore muscles so that I am actually capable of walking today! Hooray!

On to the tea, this smells luxurious! The dry leaf aroma is pure roses. It’s like I stuck my nose in a giant bouquet and took a deep breath. It’s also slightly perfumey, but mostly it’s a natural rose scent. Mmm, the aroma translates well into the taste. This is definitely genuine rose!

The black tea base is pretty subtle and nondescript. It definitely doesn’t taste like the Orange Pekoe I know. It adds a slightly metallic zing to the taste. I added a tiny splash of milk, but the zing was still there. Then I added an even tinier bit of sweetener. Not enough to make the tea taste sugary, just enough to make it lean towards sweet and distract from that weird metallic zing. Of course, I could also be imagining the zing. I did just eat egg whites with cheese, so maybe my taste buds are compromised.

With sweetener added, it reminds me of a lychee tea. It tastes a lot like honey! But I can tell it’s still rose and that’s just my imagination wandering in search of ways to describe the taste without saying “rose” a hundred times. Oh well, it is a rose tea after all. So, I suppose it’s fine to be a little lacking in the adjective department this morning. Rose rose rose! :P

It’s a little strange to be drinking liquid roses, but I’m really enjoying this! The floral aftertaste is quite lovely, with roses softly lingering on my tongue long after the sip. I feel like I’m sitting in a rose garden in the midst of summer with a light breeze ruffling the rose bushes and birds chirping from branches overhead. Maybe it’s a secret rose garden hidden behind high ivy-covered walls with nothing to give it away save for the lovely scent of roses on the air. Mmm, this is a lovely tea. And now I really want to go watch The Secret Garden. :)

EDIT: I think I probably was imagining that metallic zing. I no longer get that sensation from this tea.

4/5 ESP Emporium Teas

Oh, the pain! The pain! Day 1 of P90X was bad. Day 2 was worse. I haven’t even done Day 3’s workout yet, and I honestly don’t see how I’m going to. My whole body hurts. Plyometrics is a b****. Who came up with twelve different versions of jump squats for an hour and decided it was a good idea? Ugh, someone put me out of my misery! It’s time to have a nice cup of tea and try to relax. Operative word being try.

The dry leaves smell exactly like strawberry fruit roll-ups. The leaves are slightly flattened, long, and vibrantly green with lots of large dried fruit pieces and only a couple stems. The suggested steeping parameters are quite broad, so this might take some experimenting to make perfectly. I went with a quick 2 minute steep at 180 degrees.

The flavor is light and fruity. It reminds me of drinking the juice out of a fruit cup. Sweet and sugary, but not in an overpowering way. It’s a natural fruit sweetness. The base is somewhat buttery with a touch of floral, reminiscent of a green oolong. It’s not grassy though. The aftertaste is only slightly vegetal, which tells me this is definitely a Chinese sencha.

I’m going to try a second steep for 3.5 minutes at 185 degrees. The berry notes are quieter in the second infusion, but the green base is still going strong. The fruit taste comes out more as the cup cools. It’s not distinctly any one fruit, rather it’s just generically fruity. A slight astringency is becoming apparent at the end of the sip.

This is good! I love the buttery oolong-like qualities. I think I’ll really be able to enjoy this. :)

My plans for a tea tasting extravaganza got cut short yesterday. My fiancé and I are doing P90X together, and yesterday was Day 1. At one point, he turned to me and said, “Okay are you ready to start?” And I responded, “Umm, I’m practically sloshing with tea. I think I would puke if I worked out right now.” So, what did he say next? Solution = stop drinking tea! I started to protest and he thought I was just trying to get out of the workout. So alas, I stopped drinking tea way before I wanted to.

But today is a new day, so I’m picking up where I left off! I’m a little stuffy today, which means I’m not going to be able to describe the aromas or flavors particularly well. But so far, I’m loving this Darjeeling! I’ve only tried a bagged Darjeeling from Twinings once and it was awful. I’ve been afraid of trying it again ever since. But this is great!

It reminds me of Bailin Gongfu and Yunnan Dian Hong, with this being somewhere in between. I’m excited that I can enjoy this sans additions because that’s a rare event for me and black tea. I think I also might be starting to understand what muscatel means in a tea. It does slightly remind me of grapes and wine. But it’s also still prominently TEA. Time for a second steep!

This infusion was for 3 minutes, and I added skim milk and Truvia right away. Mmm, still delicious! Now I understand the hype over Darjeeling. This is a thoroughly enjoyable cuppa. Smooth and bright with no bitterness or even astringency to speak of. Thank you LiberTEAS for sharing this and re-opening my world to Darjeeling teas!

On to the next tea from LiberTEAS! I probably used more leaf than was necessary, but I didn’t want to have a weak cup of tea. I’ve only tried one flavored yerba mate before, so this will be my first unflavored version.

After being told Guayusa was similar to puer and then discovering it was nothing like it, I wonder if anyone mixed Guayusa and Yerba Mate up. Now this reminds me of puer! It has a very puer-esque aroma: earthy and slightly medicinal with a touch of salt. Uh oh. I’m definitely more intimidated now than I was with the Guayusa.

The liquor is fairly light though. So, I can’t imagine it’s going to be too much like puer. Only one way to find out! Whoa!! I was not expecting that punch of flavor!

This is yet another very unique taste. I definitely like it more than puer and maybe more than guayusa too. It’s interesting because it’s so intense, but only when it’s still in your mouth. As soon as I swallow, it has barely any after taste at all. In fact, it’s kind of palate cleansing.

I wish I could describe the taste better. It has a black pepper quality to it. Hmm, that’s all I can come up with. The description says light body and clean finish. I think that’s accurate. There’s no bitterness or astringency.

I probably wouldn’t drink this unflavored on a regular basis as it is somewhat bland. But I’m definitely going to revisit the 52teas’ flavored yerba mate I have now that I’ve a better understanding of what the base tastes like. But there’re still two more yerba mates to try in my package of samplers first! Thanks LiberTEAS!!

Thanks to LiberTEAS for sharing a whole bunch of awesome teas with me a while ago that I am only now getting around to trying. I apologize for the delay in my tasting notes, but today is going to be a tasting extravaganza!! I have so many new things to try, and I can’t wait to get started!

First up, Ecuadorian Guayusa! This is supposed to be extremely caffeinated, so it’s my first cup of the day. I’m trying it without additions first. The aroma is earthy and a little bit woodsy. The liquor is very very dark. I’m slightly intimidated. Hmm, the taste is interesting. It reminds me of an earthier version of a Ceylon-based English Breakfast. I wasn’t anticipating making that comparison!

Okay, second sip is with a dash of skim milk added, which made the cup turn a sickly shade of grey green. That’s an unexpected and not entirely appetizing color…Anyway, it tastes smoother now although it was smooth to start with. But the earthiness is definitely still present. Third sip is with a small amount of Truvia added. There’s the sweetness I was missing. I usually drink black tea with milk and sugar, but I wasn’t sure if you could prepare Guayusa that way.

It’s not bad. The earthiness is just something that would take some getting used to. I keep imagining damp leaves being scraped off the forest floor and then used to make tea. And really, that’s not a fair comparison to make with this tea. It doesn’t taste dirty or gritty or anything, so why I keep forming that mental image, I have no idea.

There’s no bitterness or astringency at all. But there really must be a wallop of caffeine in here because 10 minutes after drinking the first cup, I got a splitting headache! Oof! I’m going to need some Advil to help make this go away. Wow, maybe it’s unrelated…It’s hard to think that one cup of tea could give me a headache like this, especially because I’m not usually sensitive to caffeine. Nonetheless, I wanted to mention it.

I know a lot of people compare this to puer, and I have to say I don’t find many similarities. It brews up dark and has a distinctive, unique flavor. But it doesn’t taste anything like puer in my opinion. It’s much milder and not fishy or muddy or, for lack of a better word, gross. (Sorry puer lovers.) But it’s a pro in my book that this is nothing like puer. :)

I also think I would enjoy this more if it were flavored. I’m still getting an earthy Ceylon quality from this, but it’s also not as enjoyable to me as a cup of Ceylon. I bet flavored Guayusa would be a completely different experience! But I’m also grateful that I got to try this unflavored version so that I know exactly what Guayusa tastes like. Thanks again to LiberTEAS for introducing a completely new tea to me!

O-M-G!!! This is soooo good! I actually ordered two venti-sized versions of this today. :P What can I say? I was just in a chai tea kind of mood, and this is definitely hitting the spot! Mmmm! Love, love, swoon!! ;)

I found this hidden in my cupboard, and MAN does it smell good!! I can smell both strawberry and lemon in the dry leaf aroma. Ahhh, it smells heavenly! It reminds me of something too…candy perhaps? Maybe Starbursts? Yeah, that’s it! Starbursts! Mmmm!

I can’t wait to try this, but I promised myself I would drink it iced. Since there’s only a little bit left, I’m going to have to brew it normally and then stick it in the fridge. Adding ice would only dilute it. So…how long do I need to wait for it to cool? Maybe I should stick it in the freezer instead…I don’t want to crack my mug though. Ugh! I’m so impatient!

A few hours later…wow! This is fantastic! I was unsure a white tea would be good iced, but this is really great! Strawberry lemonade, mmmm!! This is, wow, just wow. I’ve never been made speechless by a tea before.

This is only okay as a hot tea. I usually prefer my white teas to be unflavored unless it’s a jasmine white. Wait, strike that. I love 52teas Ginger Ale Bai Mu Dan and that’s a flavored white. Hmm, what was it about this tea that didn’t make me swoon the first time? Maybe it was just my mood…Whatever it was, I judged this tea a little unfairly when I first tried it last December. I’m raising the rating from 74 to 90!! This is definitely a tea that needs to be enjoyed iced. I honestly just can’t believe how good this is.

It’s iced tea season, and I finally found an iced tea worthy enough to make me want to brew an entire pitcher! And there’s still 10 packets left from the revival?! WOW!! How is that even possible??! I need to stock up immediately, and I suggest you iced tea lovers do the same! Did I mention I kept this sample in a ziplock bag for about 6 months? And it still tastes this good!!!!! This tea needs some lovin’ and I’m happy to oblige. :D (Make that 9 pouches left over from the revival).

3/5 ESP Emporium Teas

I tried this twice before reviewing and rating. I really wanted to like it. I did. But I’ve had similarly flavored teas that were much better. It’s like the difference tasted between a Hershey’s kiss and a Lindt truffle.

I tried this sans additions and it wasn’t very flavorful. It pretty much requires milk and sugar. But the overall flavor is like plastic infused chocolate. It’s slightly chalky too. Definitely not milky, creamy, mocha goodness.

The tea base is really weak, and I had even doubled the recommended leaf amount. The brew is very light brown, almost muddy brown. There’s a bit of oil and scum from the artificial additives. I tried a second steep too, and the chocolate was much quieter. It was mostly weak tea with coconut, even though I steeped it for about 8 minutes. Maybe it’s just the fact that they’re artificial flavors that makes me not like this? I’m not sure.

It’s not bad tea that I would turn down, just like I wouldn’t turn down a Hershey’s bar if I really wanted chocolate. But would I seek this out over another chocolate bar? Probably not. I’d probably go out of my way to get the Lindt because I’d enjoy that more. That’s exactly the way I feel about this tea. It’s good and I’ll drink it. But I won’t re-stock it.

It was pretty cheap though, so no complaints there. I’m open to swapping it if anyone is interested. I know others have enjoyed this much more than me.

2/5 ESP Emporium Teas

After the unexpected but awesome caramel popcorn tea, I’m wicked excited to try this one! I’ve been eyeing the Ryokucha tea by Samovar for probably a year now. But the price is kind of steep and they were sold out of sample sizes for months. So, by the time they re-stocked, I had moved on. Still, Ryokucha was calling my name. This looks just like it!!! I’m hoping it’ll be similarly yummy since everyone loves that one so much.

The dry leaves smell pretty much like genmaicha. There are lovely, large pieces of rice but not as much matcha as I would have expected. The resultant brew is slightly green, but not bright matcha green. It pretty much just tastes like genmaicha too. It’s a little disappointing, but maybe I used too little leaf. It does taste slightly watery. I’m going to start over!

Take two! I doubled the leaf amount this time. Muuuuch better! The overall mouthfeel is silky smooth, which is actually quite interesting. There’s slightly more matcha flavor now, but still it’s much less than what I expected. I can also taste a mildly grassy sencha underneath the toasted rice. Mmm! There is some astringency near the end of the sip, but it’s tolerable in small doses. i.e. don’t chug this down!

If I treat this like it’s just a genmaicha, then it’s great! But I really wanted a matcha genmaicha, and in that respect, it’s a little lacking. Still, the silky smooth texture and lovely toasty grassy flavor is pretty yummy. I will definitely drink and enjoy this! Hey look at that, my cup is empty! :)

Soooooo…I think I might have found my wedding dress!

I tried on so many dresses yesterday, it was a whirlwind of a day! For unidentifiable reasons, I started to freak out after the second dress at Kleinfeld. The consultant put me in the third gown and left the room to pull more dresses, leaving my mother and me alone. Once I started to calm down and actually see myself in the third dress, I was so surprised!

It was beautiful and romantic and looked great on me. But it was nothing like what I came in wanting. At the very end of the appointment, I tried on a highly detailed, bead encrusted, satin ball gown. My mom burst into tears and cried, “OMG! That’s your dress!” That’s when I became really confused. It was, in truth, everything I had ever thought I wanted. It was a corset, lace up, dramatic, “wow” factor, dropped waist ball gown that fit me like a glove. But I couldn’t get the lace romantic gown out of my mind. I never thought I would pick a romantic, tiered lace, fit and flare gown. But it really made me feel like a bride.

Now, I’m sooo confused! I don’t know what I want. Should I go with my original vision of the dramatic, “wow” factor ball gown? Or should I go with the romantic lace dress that kind of snuck up on me? I don’t know. I’m still trying to find a picture of the ball gown online, but here’s a link to the Tara Keely gown for anyone that’s interested. http://www.jlmcouture.com/Tara-Keely/Bridal/Spring/2012/Style-2206

The dry leaves smell very chocolaty. I brewed it up and brought the cup into the living room where my fiancé was playing Diablo III. I launched Steepster to start blogging and he said, “That smells good whatever that is.” Then he started taking exaggerated deep sniffs of the air. He’s totally right. This tea is powerful! It’s the first time my apartment has actually been flooded with a tea aroma.

Oh. My. God. This is insane! It tastes exactly, I mean exactly, like chocolate dipped strawberries!!! I’m getting creamy chocolate. I’m getting fresh, juicy, ripe strawberry. And I’m getting just a hint of floral rose. This is one of the best teas I’ve ever had. EVER! The aftertaste is just as luscious and delicious as the tea itself, which is incredible!

And this is all without additions! I didn’t want to mar the tea’s inherent beauty. And you know what? I can’t bring myself to want to change anything about this. There’s a rich tasting tea base underneath the flavor of chocolate covered strawberry and no bitterness or astringency or anything to complain about whatsoever.

After a few minutes of enjoying this tea, the following conversation ensued between me and my fiancé…

“Let me try some,” says he and takes the cup without waiting to hear my response. He takes a swig (yes, the boy doesn’t sip; he swigs) and says, “It IS chocolaty.”

“Well, what did you think it was?”

“It’s chocolaty,” he repeats. I sigh.

“It’s chocolate covered strawberry tea.”

“Ohhhhhhh, that’s what it is!” He says with a giant knowing grin and winks at me. Hahaha, he’s so cute! :)

I’m in love. I’m in love with Love Tea #7 (and my fiancé of course ;) but he’s a given). I’m so glad I chose to brew the entire 5g sample. I thought about cutting it in half, but then I thought one strong cup of tea is better than two weak cups of tea. So, I forged ahead and found something glorious! *heavenly sigh This is perfection! Be generous with the leaf and you’ll be in love too!

I did a second steep for 6 minutes and added milk and sugar this time. It was still great, but the first steep sans additions is my absolute favorite.

I tried an iced sample of this in the NYC Bleecker store. It was a little watered down, but it did taste exactly like fruity, juicy, watermelon. I was surprised how much it tasted like watermelon. There’s no doubt that’s what it was. An expertly crafted iced tea.

By the way, the staff in this store is AMAZING!! So knowledgeable and soooo nice! I was blown away. It was definitely a highlight of my trip, and I’m very happy I decided to go. Plus, I got the best glass, double walled tumbler with infuser and bamboo lid. Yipee!!!

I have had a stressful couple of days, and then came home to find some chocolate tea waiting for me in the mailbox! Boy, did I need this!

I wasted no time boiling water and brewing a cup. The aroma is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! It reminded me of Milk & Cookies, which brought a smile to my lips for the first time in days. I took one sip without additions, and it tasted like watered down chocolate. I mean literally, like someone had melted chocolate and added water. I couldn’t believe how chocolaty it was! The only thing that was off was the viscosity. It’s too liquidy to be a chocolate bar. I crave the texture of solid chocolate when drinking this.

But, I added some Truvia and skim milk and prayed for the best. Mmmmmm!!!!!!! This is really yummy chocolaty tea! It’s hard to even think of it as tea! It’s pretty much just liquid chocolate. I’m going to wait a little while now to let the flavors meld into the tea leaves. I bet the next I try it, it’ll be even better!

Thanks to LiberTEAS for suggesting and Frank for blending! Now, I’m off to NYC first thing tomorrow morning to go wedding dress shopping!!!!!!!!!!

I’m really craving something bad for me, like cupcakes or cookies. I’m trying really hard to avoid these things (and carbs in general) because I’m going wedding dress shopping on Saturday!!!! I really want to look my best, and I can fluctuate as much as 7 or 8 pounds in a week depending on what I eat. So, alas, the sweets will have to wait until after dress shopping.

I decided to blend together some vanilla and cream teas to make a black tea version of whipped cream! Mmmm, this turned out delicious! It definitely benefits from the addition of Truvia and skim milk. It’s just not quite right sans additions.

I’m really enjoying my spontaneous creation. Nothing in my cupboard sounded quite right, but this is hitting the spot nicely. :)

The first time I tried this tea, I was a little harsh on it. I wasn’t in a particularly good mood because my fiancé was cooking habanero peppers and poisoned all the air in the apartment. I sequestered myself in my bedroom where the air was marginally more breathable. But I don’t think I was in the proper mindset to fully appreciate the #1 highest rated tea on Steepster.

So, after reading an enthralling review by jason I decided to give this tea another chance. The dry leaves are very small and very dark with a few sporadic golden tips. The dry leaf aroma is scrumptious. It’s like smelling fresh, warm baked bread hot from the oven.

I started with the same steeping parameters as the first go around. The resultant brew was light and yummy sans additions. I wish I had the words to adequately describe its taste. But I’m afraid I’m still a fairly inexperienced tea taster when it comes to high quality Chinese blacks. All I can think of is that it reminds me of a grainy, seed-riddled loaf of bread in liquid form.

The second steep was at 185 degrees for 4 minutes. Hmm, honestly there’s not a whole lot of difference between this infusion and the first. I’m going for a third steep! Less water this time and 6 minutes. It’s still not earth shattering. It’s good, but I guess I’m just not enraptured by Fujian teas the way others are. It doesn’t have a memorable flavor to me. The first infusion is definitely the best.

The thing I like most about this tea is that it’s not even the slightest bit bitter. Normally, I have to add milk and sugar to black teas to mask the tannic bitterness. But this is smooth and delightful on its own, and I can’t bring myself to mar its beauty with additions. A slight astringency only peeks out at the tail end of the third infusion. But it’s not an unpleasant level of astringency.

Funny, I stopped writing my note to read some other reviews and see what exactly everyone loves about this tea. So many other people described it as grainy! I’m impressed with my taste buds. Maybe they are more developed than I thought they were. Pretty cool if I do say so myself. It does have some caramel and cocoa-esque notes, but those aren’t entirely prominent in my opinion. I also wouldn’t consider this malty or beer-like at all. Grainy, yes. Malty, no.

Hey, we can’t all adore the same things or the world would be a pretty boring place. Nonetheless, I’m raising the rating from 75 to 79.

The dry leaf smells really interesting! It’s not what I expected, but it’s surprising in a good way. At first sniff, the pomegranate, juniper, and lemongrass combine to create something that does smell very much like a granny smith apple, oddly enough. I wouldn’t think that’d be the case, but it is.

The rose and marigold add a nice floral element. This tea just has so much going on! I don’t think I thoroughly read the ingredients before I bought it. Or if I did, I just don’t remember there being so many ingredients.

Again, the brewed tea aroma smells surprisingly like apple! I know, I shouldn’t be surprised. But so far, I’m just really impressed by how accurate the aroma is. Apple is hard to pull off in tea form. It’s one of those flavors that usually gets suppressed or concealed entirely. I’m hopeful that won’t be the case here.

Now the taste! Oh, wow, the taste!! This is fantastic! It’s a little flaky hot. I think it’d be better iced. But it’s still very enjoyable and a pleasant way to spend the evening. The flavors are fairly muted compared to the dry leaf aroma. But I’ve come to expect that in Ovation Teas after the Green Tea Fruit Smoothie experience. The subtler fruit flavors do allow the green tea base to shine, which it truly does here.

Well, this ends my new Ovation tea notes. I’ve tried everything from my last order. The Cherry Joy Black Tea was my favorite by faaaar. I highly recommend Ovation to people new to or hesitant with green teas. They’re not vegetal or grassy at all. It’s just pleasantness in a cup! :)

1/5 ESP Emporium Teas

This is my first ESP Emporium tea! I just got my shipment yesterday, and I can’t wait to try these! The packaging was very nice and minimalist. I’m not sure how airtight it is because the bags don’t have a ziplock. You just fold them over and secure with a bendy thing, similar to a Starbucks coffee bag just a whole lot smaller.

I chose Caramel this morning because I wanted something sweet. The dry leaves smell like caramel and black tea, so we’re off to a good start. But I couldn’t really find any caramel pieces. The picture on the site makes them seem abundant. I fished around for a while and eventually found one. Hopefully they all just fell to the bottom of the bag or something, and I’ll find more later.

Anyway, I followed the steeping instructions on the bag, even though I don’t usually steep black teas for 4 minutes right out of the gate. The resultant brew is dark and yummy smelling! Oddly enough, the aroma is nearly identical to 52teas’ Buttered Popcorn…really strange.

I think it’s finally cool enough to try. First sip is sans additions. Okay, the flavor is definitely not buttered popcorn, phew! I’m not really getting caramel though either. Oh wait! There it is! It doesn’t appear until the aftertaste. Hmmm, it’s definitely not very strong for a tea that’s supposed to only have caramel flavoring. I expected to drown in sticky caramel sauce. Time to add some sweetener and skim milk to see what happens.

Just as I suspected, the caramel flavor is more pronounced with additions. It is quite yummy. I’m not floored by taste, but it’s enjoyable. It’s just so funny how much this reminds me of Buttered Popcorn. Except now with additions, it tastes like caramel popcorn. That’s really unexpected, but I’m kind of liking it. Maybe it’s the same black tea base or something? I dunno.

If you’re looking for a knock-your-socks-off caramel tea, this probably isn’t it. But am I glad I got it? Yes, siree! Bring on the caramel popcorn!

I totally caved to peer pressure. After all the rave reviews, I just had to buy a pouch of this tea!

The dry leaf aroma is pure berry! Blackberry, raspberry, and yes, even strawberry is detectible in the aroma. The brewed tea aroma is nearly identical, which is very cool! So far, so good.

First taste…hmmm, the white tea actually isn’t overpowered by berry. And the berry is still very present too. The white base adds a slight nuttiness, while the berries are both sweet and tart. Blackberry is the most prominent of the berries in my opinion. This is an interesting blend of flavors and perfectly balanced. I’ve definitely never had another tea like it.

Second infusion was steeped at 180 degrees for 4 minutes. I know it’s a drastic change. Normally, I would only increase the steep time by 30 seconds with a white tea. But I really wanted to see if I could intensify the flavor. I was probably a little light on the leaf, but 1 ounce doesn’t go very far.

Mmmm, I like this better. It’s not a huge difference in intensity, but I can pick up on the difference. This second steep is definitely my favorite. It’s going to be interesting to see how many steeps it can hold up to before the berry disappears. Of course, I usually get full on tea before the flavor runs out. So, maybe I won’t find out the answer.

This is good, but when it comes to 52teas white tea blends, I have to say that I enjoy the Ginger Ale Bai Mu Dan better. Don’t get me wrong; I am enjoying this too! But at the steep price of 52teas’ Very Important Teas, I just can’t afford to restock it. That’s probably better for the Steepster tea community anyway. Gotta’ spread the love around, not horde it like a dragon! Oooh, now I’m totally picturing Smaug sitting on a pile of tea leaves and furious with Mr. Baggins for stealing his prized Darjeeling!