1112 Tasting Notes

drank Copabanana by DAVIDsTEA
1112 tasting notes

Another sample from DAVIDsTEA which didn’t appeal to me in the slightest, but wound up being quite delicious! Creamy banana! I said banana creme pie and my husband said fried bananas. In any case, it should give you the picture: sweet, decadent, dessert-y. I put a little honey in our cups but I don’t think it was needed. I’d be quite happy with two oz of this in my cupboard, yes indeed.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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It’s dreary, rainy, and cold, but what do I care?! I’m on Mount Gray!

As soon as I saw this offered, I knew I had to jump on it — I’m am Earl Grey Fiend and I loved what A&D did with their last Earl. As always, it came lickety-split (with an AWESOME Mount Gray magnet. Thank you! I love the little clever extras A&D include with their teas!).

I think this might be my favorite A&D tin yet. The hand catching the plane! The bear on the top! The wood grain! The color (or mostly lack thereof) scheme! Well done, well done.

Ok, the tea. It’s supremely bergamot-y. The tea base is good and robust. I wanted to take it plain, so I only steeped it for three minutes. Perfect. I can see this one at 4 minutes with milk and sugar if I was in the mood for that, but I wouldn’t take it over three minutes if you are going to drink it plain. It resteeps beautifully. Lighter on the bergamot, but the tea is still completely flavorful and similar to many teas first steeps.

I don’t want to get embroiled in gender politics, but this is a manly Earl Gray if I ever tasted one. I love my delicate Earls, but for those times that you want to cut through exhaustion and fog — this is your man. This is an Earl at 11 :) Great for work, great for school. Love, love, love.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
K S

Sounds awesome.

JacquelineM

It has put me in the best mood :) It has jacqeuphoric (TM Lady Londonderry) properties!

Rob Rauschenberg

You are really selling me on this one because I’ve been on the fence. I have so much EG already but I do like a strong bergamot EG.

JacquelineM

I find that like Chai, there are so many variations! I have 6 different Earls right now and they are all so different. This one bold in bergamot AND tea.

Rob Rauschenberg

That is so true about EG & Chai. It can be like night and day between the variations too.

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Home for spring break, and I’m doing some spring cleaning! Need to put my feet up and have some tea :) I chose this because it’s stout, delicious, and in a sachet – easy when tired. I love how bold yet smooth it is. A little chocolatey too.

I have these in the tag along tin, and please tell me I’m not the only one who didn’t know that you press the top to release the little tongs. I accidentally hit the top and the lid opened and you could actually see the lightbulb going on over my head. AH-HA! For months I’ve been prying those little tongs open on my tag along tins, then puuuushing them down to reseal, wondering why Harney and Sons used such a strange package! I win The Biggest Dodo Bird on Steepster Award :)

Nicole

It took me quite awhile to get the hang of the tagalong tins. :)

Rob Rauschenberg

I’m so glad you posted this in case I buy any of their tins. lol. I would be dodo #2 for sure. ha. You just spared others the same troubles.

Kittenna

Ahahahaha, that’s awesome! I’m familiar with that sort of closure style due to lab work – we had little “Lipshaw” containers that snapped shut that way and had small holes in them, so you could contain something (e.g. buds) and wash it with a mild bleach solution to decontaminate, and quickly rinse with water when the time was up (otherwise bleach kills cells).

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Phew! THAT was the quickest I’ve EVER went through two ounces of tea! So full of flavor. Not only cinnamon, but GOOD cinnamon. A tiny bit of orange. Sweet. Spicy. Ahhhhh. Perfect with honey and a splash of milk. I’ve got to get this one back in my life as soon as possible. And lots of it! Come to mama, big bag of cinnamon goodness!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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drank Amandine Rose by Teavana
1112 tasting notes

Ever notice how some teas taste really, really wonderful just as you are finishing your pouch? It’s like they know that you are weighing the pros and cons of ordering them again, so they get all of their sparkle and flair together to dazzle you into pushing that button!?

That’s what this tea is doing to me right now. I just had the loveliest, nuttiest, floral on the end of the sip cup. What a temptress!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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Oh my goodness gracious me! I have never, ever tasted a Tie Guan Yin like this! It is INTENSELY sweet. I mean, candy sweet. Cantaloupe candy. The little card I got with it says lilacs dipped in honey, but I am sticking with cantaloupe candy since I have never tasted a lilac. I am sincerely astonished how fantastic this is.

I steeped it kinda crazy, too: 1 perfect teaspoon, about a minute, 8 oz water. Increasing a minute each steep. I’m on my third right now and it’s still SO sweet. Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Wow, wow , WOW!!!!

Ysaurella

we are all craving for it now with such a review :)

Indigobloom

I loooooove the smell of lilacs. but I really dislike cantaloupe! (and the only melon tea I’ve had!) But… I want!

ashmanra

I LOVE Monkey Picked tea!

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My coworker gave me her pouch of this — she didn’t like it! I am absolutely crazy for it, though. The caramel does such wonderful things with the rooibos base — it adds sweetness, heft, and such a delicious flavor. Authentic caramel and no fake-y drinking a Yankee candle business! A very tea-like caffeine free evening cuppa with a little milk and sugar.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
gmathis

Mmmmm! Caramel makes almost anything better.

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drank Read My Lips by DAVIDsTEA
1112 tasting notes

Sooooooo sleepy. Just submitted a research paper that had me staying up late, getting up early, and taxing my little pea brain to the max for the past week! I brewed this tea now that I’m done — the mint is acting like a teeny slap each time I sip it to keep me awake, and the chocolate is my reward for hard work. And RED LIPS! Eee. Cute. I almost shouldn’t separate the flavors out like this because they are so smooth and of a piece. Delicious.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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I decided to do a little nice thing for myself and join the Insider Tea Club at Golden Moon Tea. You get a delivery each month of a rare, not usually imported to the USA tea. It’s a surprise (fun!) and I also thought it would expand my horizons a bit — left to my own devices I tend to choose black, black, and more black tea, and the previous selections for the club were of a great variety.

This may have been the best decision I made in 2013! I am drinking the second selection today (the first is a beautiful looking Tie Guan Yin that I’m saving for slightly warmer weather) and it is astonishingly good. Pale greenish yellow. Slightly floral. Gorgeously present mouthfeel. Buttery. nutty. I’m brewing it Western style and am on the second steep — rumor has it that it is wonderful through steep 12 Western Style (through steep 20 gong fu!) so I have quite a day ahead of me! Next time I’ll try it gong fu and bring in a glass cup because the color is truly something to behold.

I also must give kudos for the packaging (screw top tin), informational postcard with brewing instructions, and just general all around attention to detail. My little $20 a month spurge is making me feel like a millionaire! An INSIDER millionaire! ;)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Tealizzy

I totally should do that. I’m like you, I love black tea! Exploring the unknown is exciting though!

Marcus

I am glad you like it!

How did you brew the tea?

JacquelineM

Marcus – very inexpertly! Western style – I tried to figure 1.5 grams without a scale with the help of a measuring cup tutorial that I saw on the internet :) 8 oz of water. I am finally going to invest in a scale now that I have this insider tea coming every month. :) I also am liking the wide mouth Gaiwan on the Golden Moon site.

What a great experience!

Kashyap

This is the scale I use for cuppings and demos and its a decent price, small portable size, and the top is good for holding leaves : http://www.staufs.com/storeproduct955.aspx

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drank Read My Lips by DAVIDsTEA
1112 tasting notes

If ever there was a day to drink a chocolatey tea with wee red sugar lips in it, I think this would be the day! I’m not a big celebrator of Valentine’s Day, but I do love tea, chocolate, and wee red sugar lips. We had a spider in the office (!) so I lost track of my brewing time and it went two minutes over what I usually do, but no worries — it’s perfectly delicious. Must be that nice Chinese tea base.

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Profile

Bio

I love to cook, bake, read, paint, knit, do needlework, and garden. I need my coffee, but I LOVE my tea. I work at an Art School, and attend a large public university doing post-bac work (my BA is in English). I’m interested in the liminal spaces between art and craft, the academic and the practical, the individual and community, and the old and the new. I’m currently exploring these ideas through the disciplines of education, literature, history, and psychology.

I enjoy writing tasting notes, but have decided not to numerically rate teas as of 9/14/10. For an explanation, see my looooong tasting note about Mountain Malt from the Simple Leaf.

My favorites:
Chinese black teas
A good “milk and sugar” English style black
Earl Grey (classic, and in all variations!)
Vanilla teas (classic, and in all variations!)
Jasmine, Rose, Violet and other froofy, flowery teas!
An Occasional Oolong
Flavored Rooibos
Herbal Tisanes

Location

Collingswood, NJ

Website

http://jackiemania.wordpress....

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