DaisyChubb

Everyone seems to have one or two flavours of matcha that just don’t quite agree with their tongues and tastebuds. Sadly (super sadly!) this is that one for me! Happily, there are still some delicious aspects of this matcha, so here’s my fair review : )

Pina Coladas are my favourite tropical boozy drink! Okay I’ll also drink them without booze, but that kick of rum keeps me happy. Haha! I love the creamy texture of ice cold, slushy coconut milk with the tang and sweetness of fresh pineapple! A drizzle of grenadine and I’m taken to my happy place. To be fair, I haven’t had a pina colada quite like the ones in Cuba. That was my only hot resort holiday, so it has lots of good memories and good drinks.

I was hoping to recreate that deliciousness by making a slushy, creamy, matcha smoothie with this matcha! To be fair, that was the best result, after trying this hot and as an iced latte – slush was the way to go!

Hot, the matcha had too much of that chemical taste that seems to occur sometimes (hasn’t happened to me yet – first timer!). The flavour isn’t really meant to be hot, though, so I tried it iced next! Iced was a bit better, but there was something a bit off that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It could be that too much flavouring was in my batch? That could be, as there is pineapple, coconut and rum flavour in this matcha – but who knows, it could be one flavouring altogether and I’m just crazy! I digress, the iced wasn’t quite working for me either. (An iced latte is definitely the way to go though, and next time I will try it with coconut milk! I even have some pineapples in the freezer I can pop in as well.)

My Pina Colada Matcha slush might have been better, but I used waaay too much matcha by accident, so it was a bit too strong in the flavouring department. I just crushed some ice with agave and milk to make the slush, so as the ice melted it did become more palatable. I really think the trick for this one is to make sure to use around 170 degree water (that tempers the bitterness) and use a little less matcha powder that you would usually. With other flavours, I could go crazy and dump 3 tablespoons into a cup and it was palatable (and energizing!), but less is more with this particular blend!

When I’m out of this tea, I think I will order some coconut and pineapple separately and do some blending of my own! I still have total faith in Red Leaf Tea – they hook me up with delicious matcha, and I can’t wait to try more flavours! This particular flavour can be found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pina-colada-matcha.html

Had a taste, and it’s still just as good!
Looking at the other reviews, I think I got really lucky with my mango flavouring – it’s not chemical tasting at all, but it’s almost gone and maybe I’ll keep it that way.

There’s so many other flavours to try!

Enjoying a cup as soon as I woke up today! What an amazing way tot start the day.
It tastes like I’ve sweetened it with honey (I haven’t), and each sip transforms from a caramel note, to something more grainy, to something dry and crunchy but always sweet!

I’m sadly out of my favourite Canadian Grains bread by Dempsters – but it toasts up to a great sweet crunch with all of the whole grains – that would pair very well with this tea.

Grocery shopping today! But until then, I’ve been watching this 24/7 Live Corgi Puppy Cam. It’s taken over my life!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/live-247-corgi-puppy-cam

I couldn’t wait – I had to rip into my bag as soon as it came this morning! eee!

It smells very lovely, nice and strong earl with a hint of something else… could it be cheesecake? ;)

Oh it tastes wonderful! It’s like an Earl Grey creme but with cheesecake notes instead of vanilla! I added a bit of cream and sugar after the first few sips, because that’s how I like my Earls, and mm it does not disappoint.

I am getting a creamy, slightly tangy cheesecake taste that gets stronger and stronger as the tea cools down. I know as the tea ages a bit it will intensify even more, so I’m looking forward to that!
As far as the Earl base goes – it’s nice and strong, not for the faint of bergamot heart, and a bit floral. I like that :)

Blog review in the future!

Michael approves!
Always a happy sign to me, when prefers a straight tea to a flavoured tea ;) (I love myself lots of flavoured tea, but I’m always surprised when he likes a straight tea – and so is he!)

He’s a slow convert. Oh well, I have lots of time!

Until then, here is my photo shoot/blog review: http://www.daisychubb.com/review-yanxins-reserve-04-shu-nuggets-by-verdant-tea/

Still the best milk oolong ever to hold a place in my cupboard!

Never disappoints! Never a lack of sweet, creamy, milky & buttery flavour. Delicious.

Oh Steepster drama – I need to stop finding myself in it haha!

Nothing slows the rapid heartbeat like a nice, hot, soothing mug of Pumpkin Chai latte. I’ve been good to my little tin, I can’t believe it’s lasted this long! The tin is amazing by the way (the orange snap shut one) because the tea is as fresh as the day I bought it. Just as sweet, caramely and pumpkiny. I just used a little squeeze of agave and 2% – luckily it’s a cold rainy day so I can enjoy a hot cuppa!

It was a good long weekend, but back to work tomorrow! For a customer service position, it’s strangely stress-free. Except when people get mad at you for asking for donations to the children’s hospital. You know, the hospital that is no cost to you and runs on donations? Yep, that’s the one! ;) There’s all sorts of people, and they all come to the mall. haha!

Enjoying the last of this tea from LiberTeas (THANKYOU!) while I make an insane amount of bacon and prepare to put it both in my mouth, and on my tuna melt. We’ll see if any makes it to the tuna melt.

I digress! The perfect blend of spices, and it is spicy! Super peppery kick at the back of the throat, a great way to start the last day of this long weekend! Yummy in my tummy.

Wow! Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for this generous sample!

This is one of the best rooibos blends I have EVER tasted! The taste is SO true – juicy, sweet, ripe and a little tart raspberry! The type that is so ripe, you will probably stain your shirt and mouth with it when you go berry picking. DELICIOUS! Is there a little bit of hibiscus in this blend? I swears on the precious that there is a perfect hint of tartness that takes this tea over the top.

Yum! No sweetener needed! No icky weird rooibos aftertaste! I am very impressed with Culinary Teas :)

I have just enough left to try it iced, but it was SO good hot that we’ll see what happens when the time comes.

I had this one again to compare to other chocolate/strawberry teas, and sadly I got a suuuuper sour taste to the flavouring this time :(
So much it gave me heartburn.

To be fair, I’ve had this tea since Christmas, and since it is chock full of chocolate chips, it might not have aged well.

Nothing a little cream and sugar can’t counter, but not my favourite chocolate strawberry blend. I still have half a tin to finish up, eep!

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for this deliciousness!

I’ve had two chocolate strawberry teas in a row – this one won the contest! (Although I still prefer Love Tea #7)
There is a slight sour note from the flavouring, or maybe the base, but that passes quickly and creates a nice dessert tea! Good chocolate flavour and the strawberry is strong, can’t be missed! The scent is just heavenly – I wish it came out in the taste a bit more!

For my second steep, I added a tiny pinch of rose congou – mmm much better! I love a bit of rose in my chocolate/fruit teas. I rounded it out with some vanilla and milk – very tasty!

I have been very impressed with Culinary teas for the most part! I wish the shipping to Canada wasn’t so crazy ; 3;

Oh my! Spicy is right!
mmm I love it though. My favourite part is the black pepper taste, more than the tellicherry pepper. This is by far the most peppery chai I have ever had! I want to try it with chocolate milk, but right now it’s starting my day (and clearing my sinuses) with milk and honey – paired with my creamy maple syrup rice pudding.

A good way to start the day before work takes over at 12:30! We’re only allowed water bottles at work, but everyone else sneaks in redbull, so I will find a way to drink my tea!

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending this my way! It’s spicy goodness – I LOVE IT

“Oo!”

I said that aloud after taking my first sip. I read the description of the tea and read multiple reviews, sniffed the bag like a mad woman, but I still didn’t know what to expect!

Judging by the smell of the dry leaf, I expected a tea heavy on the spice and very savoury. As usual, this blend is so much more than that. The spice is actually not overpowering at all – the tea is the star! Amazingly crisp and creamy Laoshan green. And the mint! I forgot about the mint – it’s the perfect amount. Oh so refreshing and, may I say, perfectly blended? (Always leaving room for human imperfection of course, but as far as my tastebuds are concerned, every ingredient has its role in this blend, knows its place and plays its part like it was born to play it!)

I want to make a bottle of this, ice it and take it on a hike.

So much more to say about this tea! I’m going to sit and enjoy it right, hope it doesn’t keep me up all night ( ;) ) and come back when the bag is empty to amuse you with tales of our adventures. Until then!

Whoo! HAd this iced as the tea of the day – it did leave a little to be desired, but I brought some leaves home because I knew I could coax some more flavour out of it.

I was right! Lovely natural pineapple flavour with a delicious oolong base (possibly the same base as banana oolong? either way I’m a fan!) Creamy, yet light and refreshing.

Pineapple is not my favourite flavour, but I can say this was done well! Now, strawberry or mango oolong and I might go bankrupt, I’m just sayin ;)

Wow, when will I ever cease to be amazed by Verdant Tea’s offerings?

This Sheng is one of few teas to bring me to the brink of speechlessness. It’s so sweet and just keeps giving and giving. It’s creamy and silky, with definite bubblegum notes but with a wood aftertaste that refreshes and quenches.

Later steepings become peppery with a silky kick- slight astringency at the back of the tongue. Ever so slight notes of smoke on an earthy base. Gorgeous amber colour. Happiness. Content.

Made hot and poured over ice – I find the honeybush is a little too dominating, but I’m going to coldbrew and come back with the results! Every honeybush I have ever coldbrewed has won my heart, so I think this one will really thrive!

Until then, it’s a refreshing honeybush iced tea – very nutty and a hint smoky, with some of that great blackberry flavour (I love Frank’s blackberry flavouring, it really hits the spot) and a bit of watermelon in the aftertaste.

Can’t wait to coldbrew and hopefully coax a little more watermelon out :D

Edit: As my ice cubes water down the tea, it gets waaaay tastier and the honeybush is toned down! Now I see that I used way too much leaf, and to use a bit less next time for the perfect brew. (I used 2 heaping perfect tablespoons in my Steeper, which probably made it triple strength instead of just double haha)

Sipdown :(

… because I’m going to pick up my Verdant package and I need more room on my special Verdant wall. Also – they taste so much better when they’re fresh, so I need to just suck it up and drink the teas while they are fresh and delicious! So there. :)

Yummy today! I’m starting my job tomorrow, the shift is only 8:30-1 and you have to wear a white shirt. I am going to spill SOMUCH freaking tea on my white shirts! This is not cool.

But what is cool? This tea. Aw, now that I think of it, I never did get to try it iced! But hot it’s so good, so I’m not complaining ;)

Rich and smooth, yet textured and grainy. Savoury and sweet – I could stare into the cup and be taken away for hours.

Um, wow. This is more than amazing. TeaEqualsBills ,how did you know?! This has been on my mind since the very first tasting note popped up. It got me insanely excited about puerh, and then here it is, right in front of me. I can hardly believe my eyes! I’m in love and I haven’t even sipped it yet! THANK YOU!!!

I’m going to go into detail on my blog, and the post should be up Friday. Until then – there are some unmistakable sweet and light notes on the first steepings. Angel food cake for reals! I’m even imagining notes of small, colourful sprinkles – it’s just so rock sugar sweet! Yum!

A truly changing tea, each steep unlocks another layer of goodness and new flavours. An amazing tea that anyone afraid of puerh simply MUST try.

I wanted a gentle and sweet wake up this morning – this tea was just the thing! (Thank you TeaEqualsBliss ! I got hit by this tea ammo!)

Suuuper nutty, and the base is so smooth. It reminds me of Florence, but I’m not missing the chocolate notes. Sweet and perfect all on it’s own – but I was naughty and added a splash of vanilla creamer for a treat. Ah, yum.

On a search for a minty tea to add to my re-steep of Luscious Watermelon – I couldn’t find anything! Except … Wintergreen Woods (both by DavidsTea).

I was kind of wanting a watermelon mint julep kind of flavour… but wow. This was SO GOOD. So refreshing!~ It was 3 tsp LW to 2 large pinches of Wintergreen Woods. Wow. Sweet and minty with full watermelon flavour, almost like a real watermelon puree. With a splash of bourbon and lots of ice – I was surprised!

This is one of the first blends I have ever successfully tried. Freaking yummy. Something to remember when I blend a few teas for public consumption ;)

Sipdown!

I drank the last of this extra strong with a splash of coconut rum. Refreshing and delicious iced, but I think that’s the last I’ll have of it this summer.

Until next time, Luscious Watermelon.

This was my least favourite of the 4 SBTs I tried, but I think it was because Bubblegum & Cotton Candy were SO flavourful by comparison!

That said, in this one, the black base really shone – just didn’t get enough of that icecreamy goodness that I get from the original honeybush blend. Not bad, just not my favourite! That is all.

OH – and this does end on a happy note – with the return of Earl Grey Cheesecake it gave me a chance to order some more SBTs! So… yeah!

Oh ALSO I got a job! It’s a PR/Customer Service desk at a mall. A mall job which gives me a discount on DavidsTea AND Lush! So for now, I’m a happy retail camper <3

This tisane is delicious and refreshing! Great pineapple and peach flavour – it’s super juicy – I looove bamboo and want more tisanes with it as a base!

Of people mentioning a strange aftertaste – I get it when I ice it, but not when it’s hot. I prefer this tea hot! I also think the aftertaste isn’t from the bamboo (in my opinion) because I drink a lot of Blazing Strawberries and that doesn’t have the same taste – I’m thinking maybe the peach crunchy thingies?

Anyways, I think this blend is hilarious – it’s so pretty and bold that I feel like a kid. huge bright yellow flower buds and deep red petals! Giant chunks of pineapple! feels like I’m playing with megablocks instead of lego.

Anyways, I probably won’t stock up, but this was a nice summery treat and a great choice for tea of the month!

Like Jill’s review notes, there is not a heck of a lot of pear flavour in this tea, but it’s a very nice flavoured green none-the-less!

It actually kind of reminds me of 52teas Cherry Cheesecake green tea. Nice and sweet, with a bit of astringency.

Thanks Jillian ! I will definitely try this iced next time!