Faith

My sister leaves for Halifax tomorrow, so she and my mom stopped by for an impromptu tea party before the day gets too busy with errands. They requested something green and toasty and, besides Genmaicha, this tea immediately sprang to mind!

My mom commented that it had a nice nutty flavour, while my sister liked how light it was on the “green-ness” (as opposed to a sencha). I like that I can re-steep it and still get another round of tea from the pot. All-in-all, a nice tea party staple. Would pair well with toast, dainties or sandwiches.

Baby, it’s cold outside! Why not drink a hot, yet refreshing tea? Mmmmm… this’ll do just fine. Minty, wintergreen-y goodness.

My one-year-old is driving me bonkers… when I need something to calm my nerves I reach for this.

It’s light green when steeped and oh-so delicious! Smooth, nutty, with hints of freshly mowed grass and popped rice. Honestly, I don’t drink this tea often enough, and I should because every time I discover something new and delicious that I love about it.

My sister is back in town, but it’s late… what tea to drink?

Being a herbal AND for a good cause, she chose this one. I only had a bit of this left so I dumped what was left in the teapot, poured in the boiling water, and hoped for the best! It did not disappoint, but then again my sister is one of the rare few who really enjoys hibiscus tea. The coconut and cinnamon help to balance it out a bit, with the apple and mango taking a backseat to the other flavours. I must have gotten the water-tea ratio right because tonight this tea was delicious! Warm, spicy, fruity… all good things.

The name intrigued me, what can I say?

Frist steep: I’m not usually very good at steeping green teas, I usually make the water too hot or the steep time too long. Today, I brewed this up perfectly and on my first try too! Dragonwell is an interesting green tea, reminiscent of a Japanese sencha, but considerably less vegetal and more “toasty” in flavour. Pairs really well with bacon & eggs that I had for breakfast, cutting through the grease with it’s smooth and light flavour.

Second steep: Upped the temperature a bit for the second steep and it still came out lovely, light and toasty.

EDIT: 100th Tasting note!

Not sure what is going on with this tea today, but it’s tasting super orange-y and earthy. Not getting a lot of chocolate this time around… so sad.

I should’ve known better than to have that piece of cranberry cake… I paid for it in the middle of the night with stomach spasms. That’s what I get for being gluten-intolerant!

This morning, to avoid a relapse of symptoms, I’m gingerly eating a bowl of oatmeal and nursing a cup of this; in the hopes that the peppermint, cloves and cinnamon work their magic and soothe my stomach. So far, so good… the mintiness of the tea definitely pairs nicely with my cranberry-almond oatmeal.

Fingers crossed that Santa’s Secret will be my secret weapon against more spasms today.

Delicious. Every time.

Of the three in the Wine Collection this is my favourite…

But that’s not saying much considering that it’s still not that great. Just better than the other two. A agree with Eisenherz, the smell is lovely both dry and brewed, but once you take a sip it falls rather flat. To me it comes off as rather soapy and slightly bitter, which is unfortunate because from the smell it had potential. I’m not sure where they went wrong… it’s quite bland for a black tea, with nothing to really give it oomph. So sad, not what I was expecting at all.

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Oh. My. Gosh.

First I will start by telling you that I bought this for my mom as a birthday gift. She flippin’ loves teas like this; the more Canadian the better! What could be more Canadian than this: wintergreen leaves, cedar green, white pine needles, and red sumac berries. She was so excited about it she had to brew up a pot right away…

It’s like someone took the forest, steeped it, and made tea! Takes me to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park straight away, like I am smelling the pine in the air—only instead of just smelling I am drinking it as well. You definitely taste the wintergreen first, but there’s depth added with the pine, spruce, and berries. Light, refreshing, crisp perfection.

First one to review this tea, oh yeah!

Alright, let’s get down to business (to defeat… the Huns! Sorry, Mulan moment). The initial smell of the steeped tea is quite lovely: cloves, rosehips, with hints of orange and berries. The first taste is initially the same, but there’s a lingering aftertaste of wine, which I assume is from the “flavouring” in the ingredients. It’s not horrible, but it does linger for a long time and it gives the other flavours a roundness… if you could call it that. It’s not enough of a unique tea to differentiate it from other fruity + spice blends, I’m pretty sure I have tasted this same tea dozens of times, but not spent so much on the tea. Kind of disappointing considering the size of the tins and the amount one pays for them.

Overall: alright for a fruity, spicy tea. Nice for the evening since it’s caffeine-free and tastes like mulled cider, but not special enough to distinguish itself from the dozens of other spicy fruit teas on the market. I’d rather spend my money on Kanpe, it has nearly the same fruity, hibiscus, cinnamon taste (minus the mistletoe, cloves, orange and marigold, but I’m not sure how much flavour they add anyways) and it’s for a good cause.

Straight: Not really feelin’ it…

Latte-d: Whole other story! Especially with the addition of spiced butter. Not quite what the doctor ordered (I currently have shingles, yay), but can’t really go wrong! Besides, I’m not supposed to take the pills on an empty stomach…

So, Doctor says I have shingles… which also means that I’m feeling pretty lousy. Hopefully the tea will help, even just a little.

Our landlords are useless. Mice in the walls? Nothing is done, so we have to buy traps and catch them. Stove blows up? Still waiting on that one. Front & back walkways need to be shoveled? They leave shovels here for us to do it. The worst part? They’re my best friends parents, which means that even if we find another place I will still probably see them around.

So, for the past 20 minutes I have been outside, shoveling the walkway to the apartment that I am paying to live in when they should be paying me to do their job. I came inside and decided to reward myself by brewing up a cup of this tea. Yeah, I deserve it.

I’m not familiar with pu’erhs, having never tried one before, so I’m not sure how this one rates on that scale. On my scale, this tea is pretty freakin’ amazing! I’m not really a fan of those chocolate oranges, but I’m a fan of this tea! One thing though, I tried this in-store and the chocolate came through much more, but now that I have it at home I find it’s more orange-y. Not a horrible thing, just wish I tasted more chocolate.

I’ve been drinking this almost every evening before bed… love that it’s so tasty AND caffine-free.

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Three words. Liquid. Candy. Canes.

Two more words: Two. Steeps.

That is all.

Short review because I am exhausted, but I just HAD to post about this tea before bed.

I am not a straight rooibos fan, which is ironic considering I married a South African and when we’re around his family they basically breathe rooibos day-and-night. Me, can’t stand it straight, too sweet, not enough “ooumph” that real tea has. Maybe one has to be weaned on it from infanthood to truly appreciate it? Or maybe, as my in-laws always point out, the rooibos here in Canada just isn’t the same as the rooibos back home. Hmmm, okay then?

Wow, this post is getting waaaay longer than I intended! Alright, onto this tea! I can really add nothing new, merely reiterate what has already been stated. This tea is rooibos wrapped in an enigma enshrouded in amaretto-y goodness. I like my rooibos highly flavoured (ie: Cinnamon Chai Rooibos and Coco Chai Rooibos), with the rooibos barely detectable, but adding it’s signature sweetness, body, and red colour to the brew. This tea is a wonderfully flavoured rooibos, you can steep it for AGES and it never goes bitter or strong. Now let’s hope they make it permanent!

It’s been a rough week thus far, and we’re only at monday! Whyyyyyy??

No, no, we’re not going to wish our days away, we’re going to savour each and every one we get. Right? I’m in a bit of a funk because in a month it’ll be Christmas and it’s not that I am sad about that. No, no… I’m sad because my baby girl will be turning a year old on Xmas Eve and it feels like time is just flying by too fast! One moment I’m holding a wrinkly newborn in my arms, the next she’s motoring around the apartment attempting to unpack the newly washed laundry!

When I’m feeling nostalgic I reach for good, old Strawberry White. Reminds me of a simpler time: newly married, no baby, life was less hectic, and even though I am happy with where things are now I drink this tea and it immediately relaxes me! Plus it tastes just as good cold, which is inevitable with a busy baby around to make one forget about the cup of tea they just steeped.

Had a rough day yesterday at a local craft fair, in which I have a booth. The only sales I’m making so far are to friends and family… but I could do that without having to rent a booth! So, I’m barely covering my costs at the moment.

Let’s hope today goes better, and this time I’ll be bringing a large carafe of this tea to keep me going while everyone just passes me by…

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