CrowKettle

I love the smell of the dry blend, which has a nice rooibos melon armona, but I’m not so much a fan after everything is steeped. I can definitely distinguish the smell of the mate in this cup and that reminds me of pulling all-nighters.

I can also taste the mate, as well as the green rooibos and melon. The flavours meld into each other quite nicely, actually; this is a good pairing and everything seems to bring a lot of flavour to the cup. I don’t know if I can pick out the white hibiscus, however. It’s sweet and syrupy mid-sip, like honeydew melon (also, a little watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.). I’m picking up something a little tangy in the back of the throat.

It reminds me of Lucious Watermelon from last year, except this definitely has a strong (mate) base where the LW was all fruitiness. I’ll have to try this iced soon.

Watching the Thai horror “Shutter” in class today made me feel the need to buy small sample sizes of most of the Spring Collection (yeah, that’s totally related and not the lamest excuse, ever). Willpower of a seagull at an outdoor fries kiosk.

Nutty, sweet, and trademark green oolong vegetal notes make this a rather flavorful cup. The creaminess level is moderate. It gives me a unique impression of drinking something that is both light and frothy, yet also rich and heavy. I don’t know how it does that. The finish is a little floral in a sour-sweet plant-like way. The coconut flavour is a good portion juice and flakes, respectively.

I may have had too much coconut tea today, and I think the sweetness in this one is finally getting to me. Am I backwards for saying I would be happy if this had just a tad less coconut flavour?

I’m off to see how this re-steeps and to take a nap. Or maybe I should just go to bed. It’s 8:30.. that’s not too early…

Comparison to other brands of coconut oolong: It’s more along the lines of the Coconut Pouchong from Golden Moon then it is like coconut oolong from Zen Tea.

Good bye. I’ll miss you.

This is rich. Almost too rich.

It’s buttery, creamy, smooth, sweet, vegetal, and much fancier then I am used to with my Genmaicha. Geez.. even the rice used here is fancy- delicious nutty, roasted jasmine rice. This cup melts, and, wow, is the second steep ever delicious!

It’s high quality stuff but I like how pedestrian and crude my regular Genmaicha is. I can always have two types of Genmaicha?

When I made some of this up in my glass gongfu pot my roomie exclaimed that she could smell the chocolate and assumed this was a flavoured tea. I let her try some and she seemed to like it quite a bit.

This one is incredibly smooth, with a malty taste that is sweetened by a creamy cocoa liqueur flavour. I get a little coconut milk too. The creamy, gooey, caramel rich, sweetness seems to have come out even more on second steep. This is as good as the Himalayan pink salt caramel chocolate I had a few hours ago.

I wish I had more than two little sample bags. I feel that Verdant Tea has spoiled me for other things, especially when it comes to black tea and inherently lush flavours.

Edit: a little more spice and mineral sweetness on later steepings.

The dry blend smells of caramel and the liquor smells of my roommate’s Indonesian coffee candies (they taste vaguely like a TH double double). The taste is a combination of a watered down version of those coffee candies, nuts, and dry grass- like the grass that has gone golden and brittle after a long hot summer. Not that much toffee.

Edit- after trying to drink a pot of this tea, with the result of me dumping most of it, I guess I’m going to have to come to terms with the fact that I don’t like this one in the slightest. I feel awful about it. :(

I guess that flavour has it’s own appeal and place, but I don’t feel particularly won over by it. Thanks, Cavocorax, for the chance to try this!

I tried to wait until Wednesday but I went to meet my roommate at the shopping center and this just happened to be in arms reach. I like all the listed ingredients for this tea and caved in to buying a tiny sample. Willpower is at the level of a small child in a candy theme park. I also bought more Purdy’s chocolate. It was that kind of day.

The blend smells a bit like lemon meringue, although I get a nice whiff of ginger and sweetened coconut. It also reminds me a bit of Cocomint but there are no apples in here, thankfully. The aroma becomes spiced, in a gingery lemon way, when hot water is poured over it.

This one tastes like it smells except that the ginger doesn’t actually zap. I wish it zapped. It’s a very tangy, yet sweet, lemon-ginger flavour with highlights of coconut blended throughout. It’s sweet, sour, and (softly) spicy near the finish, while also being slightly creamier than it is watery. Citrus is what really stands out, with coconut that is sticky sweet like the flakes you use to bake with. I’d say there’s also potentially a floral note to it as well.

This tasted good after the bowl of pho and durian shake I had for dinner.

After drinking this multiple times next to 52tea’s Coconut Cream Pie I’ve decided this is the one I’m keeping in large quantities. While 52’s offering is slightly more sugary and brisk than this NMTC sample, Coconut Cream Pie is still delicious and tastes exactly like cream pie right at the lukewarm stage. I may keep a small amount of the Cream Pie around for summer. One can never have too many coconut teas.

A note from LiberTEAS pointed me in the direction of this tea and company, and I’m very grateful for it. The coconut flavour and the black base are both perfectly creamy and smooth. There’s no cloying sweetness, or a crazy amount of ingredients. It’s a simple coconut tea and it’s awesome.

I purchased this for the peach-faced lovebird picture and stuck around for the straightforward, soothing cup it created.

All peach flavoured teas and tisanes that I’ve tried thus far have reminded me of fuzzy peaches candy. This one doesn’t break the mold but that’s ok. I like fuzzy peaches.

The rooibos is noticeable but it blends well with the peach flavour, tart blackberry leaves, and the salty sweet calendula petals. It’s juicy and sweet but it also makes my mouth pucker. This is another cup that I think will be great for a warm summer evening. I’m so very ready for spring and summer right now.

I think this would be more peach-faced lovebird if they used green rooibos, for a green “body” and peach “face”, just for kicks… I miss my loud, strong-willed bird. It’s always the pets.

This sample was from a swap with Cavocorax. This is only my second time trying Darjeeling but I think I may like this stuff a lot.

The dry leaves smelled of honey and malt, and the cup tastes of smooth, bright honey, malt, and “summer woods”. I ate some Greek honey yogurt right before drinking the tea, so the honey may be enhanced and the briskness toned down to an afterthought in this particular cup. Or maybe the tea is enhancing the honey from the yogurt. Either way, creamy yogurt and this cup seem to be good companions.

Darjeeling usually smells a little of hay to me, in all the times I’ve sniffed the stuff in stores, but today it’s not that strong in this one. It’s still there but not blatantly obvious. Maybe that’s the yogurt again. Super tasty stuff, anyways.

side note: The David’s Tea sample packet that the tea was in said to steep this for five minutes but I’m too much of a weakling for that and steeped it a minute under. I also dumped the whole packet into a 24oz pot and filled it right to the top. Messy, imprecise prep.

Saddest sipdown in the history of sipdowns, baring those sipdowns that involve delicious limited edition teas (see Kittenna’s Cashew Turtle note for the saddest sipdown). I have nothing else to add about this sweet green oolong but I don’t think it deserves to go down quietly, or with less than six steeps.

I’ll be back for you. Someday. (cue lyrically over-dramatic Beatles music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9hO25z1Fu8

This tea is stuck in some bizarre liminal, separated state; it’s not a full chai but isn’t 100% green oolong either. Both of these things are delicious separately (for me) but I can’t help but think they sell each other short when together, although this may be a more successful oolong then it is a chai.

The chai component, which is very similar to David’s Saigon Chai, may have worked better if this was a darker, roasted oolong. As it is the floral, buttery jade tie guan yin is too light to add milk, which for me is a key factor when drinking chai. The flavour is that of a cardamom and cinnamon sweetened green oolong, with a good dose of stevia, and a smidgen of peppercorn.

It’s a bit watery, and the flavours do not taste as if they always mingle, but it can also be a nice cuppa buttery spices. My main issue with this one is I really don’t like stevia. I didn’t like it in banana oolong and don’t care for it here. Freeze-dried bananas and cardamom have enough sweetness to them for me. I wish David’s Tea gave you the option to add stevia instead of assuming everyone wants a sweetener boost and dumping it right in the dry blend.

The aroma of the dry leaves reminded my roommate and I of those Flintstones vitamins but the liquor is more akin to juice or even a cheap berry jam pastry.

The flavour is sour-sweet blackberry and hibiscus, with a sweet smoothness near the finish. I don’t get as much strawberry. This isn’t that bad! The hibiscus is used in the right quantity to give it a slightly under-ripe berry flavour. The usually fishy and dark David’s Tea puerh is almost absent here. I would complain about not tasting much of the base but after Aloha Puerh… Maybe this isn’t something I would keep around but it’s near perfect for the warmer season ahead.

My roommate said this tasted like the Indonesian medicine she had as a kid.

I thought it was ok if I didn’t breath through my nose. It has the puerh trademark fishiness, although it isn’t as heavy as I’ve experienced elsewhere. In theory I should love this; it has a candied tropical fruit flavour and a creamy, white chocolate body. It doesn’t work for me however, and it’s not because I dislike puerh (it’s great every once in a while). This comes off tasting a little medicinal, a little artificial, and very off.

Eh, it does succeed in reminding me of Hawaii- fruit, cream, Kona coffee, fish, and all, but I don’t know if this is the right combination of it. Maybe this would be better on its second steep but I don’t really want to find out.

Edit: I like this a bit more cooled down. It’s creamy on its own but it might be ok with milk or as an iced smoothie/latte.

Sipdown.. I hoarded this bounty of floral coconut goodness as long as I could but it’s time to say good bye, at least for now, and move on to the other teas Cavocorax sent me. I will be ordering more of this!

Sipdown! It can be a nippy little thing, can’t it? A lot of sour sweet lemon, a little bit of spicy sweet cardamon, and a grassy smooth base. I want to have access to a drink like this all the time. I feel that this would be a good late night summer tea.

Today has not been the best. The power cut out in the kitchen and bathroom last night in this crummy basement, and my roommate and I don’t have access to the power box. It sucks because I just bought groceries and it doesn’t look like our landlord is going to respond anytime soon (another five days). At least the rent is somewhat cheap, I guess.

I think my roommate and I are going to get a portable gas stove in an attempt to cook our meat, rice, and kimchi before it goes bad. It will be a feast of sorts, which could be fun. The new carton of milk also needs to go- a perfect excuse to have a lot of chai tea (it’s going to be an unhealthy night).

I’m finishing off the rest of this today and I think I will miss it a bit. I started off not liking the samples from 52teas but there is something comforting in all that marshmallow root and flavoring. They’ll forever remind me of Christmas and relaxing, full-power times.

Now this is what I’m talking about! ALL the peppermint! I find the peppermint tisanes I’ve tried have a natural creamy component to them, and this one is no exception. So glad I stumbled upon this tin in the grocery store today. Harney & Sons have very pretty tins and tea bags- I couldn’t resist. I also bought mint leaves. I’m stocked up.

Oh, man. I’m getting a lot of apple this evening, like apple cider! I don’t know how much I like this when it’s oversteeped. I want more peppermint and less everything else. Maybe I can mix in some Peppermint Amour from David’s Tea.

Or I should revisit Cold 911. I’m in a mint craze right now.

I was hoping my order from Red Leaf would have arrived during the week I was in town with parents, for reading break, but it wasn’t to be.. so disappointed. If history has any bearing, it will probably arrive tomorrow (argh!).

At least I have a small portion of this to hold me over until I head back to the mainland again. I actually got it nice and frothy this time (I’m so proud of myself). I guess I shouldn’t have two servings of this so late at night but this empty bowl is tempting me- it smells like rich, butter-drenched greens. It’s divine. I want to bounce off walls and zone out at the same time after a cup of this.

The flavour is still very much the grassy and the astringent green- that taste sounds awful in my mind yet works out very well in practice. I look forward to drinking this kind of tea a lot.

Hmm, Didn’t win anything at Timmy’s this evening but this herbal wasn’t bad at all.

I couldn’t help but think of my Cocomint, from David’s Tea, the whole time I was sipping away at this. It’s a mild breath of fresh air so it passes as a minty thing. This was a little creamy too, like it had a touch of vanilla. Maybe a little candied.

I get graham crackers, then marshmallows, then chocolate, and, finally, black tea. This is S’mores in a cup and it’s simply awesome. Still have yet to try as a latte.

Utopia Tea threw this one in as a sample and I’m glad they did because the aroma alone is amazing (for me)! It’s red fruity with a backdrop of spice. Dried and sweetened strawberries seem to blend with ginger and spice just as well as any self-respecting peach or pear taste, it seems.

The flavour is pleasantly surprising in that I can taste the creamy white base. Flavoured tea is not too appealing as of late, and I’m grateful for that presence. There’s a toasty strawberry jam pastry note that lingers as an aftertaste, although the fruitiness isn’t as present during the main sip as the dry leaf smell had me believe. Pepper and freshening ginger are subtly present in the corners, but I’ve a hard time discerning where one ends and the other begins.

The Utopia teas I received consist of some very interesting ingredient combinations, which I think I may need some time to warm up to. This one, however, I like right away. Strawberries are some of my least favourite berries too… Maybe it’s the sweet fruit jam, or the prickly zest of the spices, or the smoothness in mid sip- it’s definitely not the drying, puckering sensation it leaves in my mouth. Once I empty out my cupboards I’ll pick up a tiny amount of this.

History Laced swapped this with me ages ago, for Christmas, but I’m only getting to it now. I’m so slow with trying tea samples and getting back to people; I need to work on that. Cavocorax sent me a whole slew of Darjeeling samples and I have yet to try any of them. Soon.

I dumped a small spoonful of this in my David’s Tea perfect mug and left it in boiling water for four minutes- it was rather fine. A little hay-ish, a little nippy, and kind of sweet, like honey. Maybe some fruity jam too. I’m pretty happy with this cup, a lot more than I thought I’d be.