JustJames Send Message

an assam taste only lighter with some milder wheat and honey notes. very smooth. somewhat reminiscent of a young loose leaf puerh. a short steep yields a strongly coloured tea (1.5 minutes).

i think i’ll take another run at it before rating numerically; i’m trying to determine whether or not the heavy dark flavour of a traditional assam is a requirement for me or whether it’s negotiable, lol.

isn’t it strange how one palate differs from another…

i did not like this blend at all, whereas my son claimed the sample happily. i got no coconut or chocolate, all i got was an overpowering rum? he got the coconut though and proclaimed me to be cracked.

hmph. no numbers, but plenty of perplexedness….

4 of 4! while i wouldn’t be diametrically opposed to a cup of this tea… in comparison to it’s david’s tea-mate ‘vanilla orchid’ this one is not nearly as brilliant. following that metaphor i feel rather as though i might have to squint to see it. however, neither is it the vanilla tea i like least from my 24 hour marathon.

the order (favourite to not-so-much): vanilla orchid by david’s teas, vanilla plantation by silk road, vanilla oolong by david’s teas and lastly vanilla black by harney and sons.

this last tea blend gave me vanilla buttercream again, but with an orange hint. i’m not sure exactly what i don’t like about it… it might be that it’s the combination of base teas? oolong and green… i can be a bit twitchy about hybrids sometimes.

either way, david’s teas surprised me today. i appreciate being able to support canadian business.

tea 3 out of four… variations on a vanilla theme.

thus far this is the purest vanilla of them all (i know… i’m very surprised myself!).

must admit i scoffed a bit internally when the woman behind the counter said ‘this is a straight vanilla placed opposite a beautiful tieguanyin’… all i could think in my head was ‘verdant teas makes the best tieguanyin (with amazing lychee overtones among other things) on the planet, this was not a good idea.’ except…

it’s pretty good. i think credit is due here. very, but not overpoweringly vanilla, light nuances of lychee, nice light coloured steep…. lovely with cream and sugar.

david’s teas: i am amending my opinion. i don’t know that i will ever fully trust your ingredients list, but the onus for that lies equally with the consumer. very nice. (and to be honest i wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as nice as it was).

yes, i’ll buy this again… clear, light, comforting.

this was vanilla tea #2 out of 4. must admit i am rather let down with this one but am glad i bought a sample versus a whole tin. with the sample bag sealed i smelled vanilla, but as soon as i snipped it open all i smelled was alcohol.

i had one cup, steeped lightly (alcohol shouldn’t be in my tea unless i put it there which i did not) in order to make sure i wasn’t crying wolf…

i did not like this one and won’t be finishing my sample. our youngest son who has become a ritualized tea drinker alongside me wouldn’t try it because he couldn’t get past the smell.

the paris blend is great, the hot cinnamon spice is an excellent boot to get you moving in the morning, but this one surprised me. it wasn’t as refined as i’ve come to expect from harney and sons.

snagged this one the other day at the grocery store (one of the perks of living 10 minutes away from the main store downtown… you can find it at the grocery store!!!).

anyway, this blend started me on a vanilla kick; comparing and contrasting…. except i only had the one (therein a problem lies, lol). for all of my grouchiness towards david’s teas and their ingredients listing policies i do like to give vendors a chance to get better and evolve— my opinions aren’t set in stone. so i grabbed two vanilla teas from there to compare to this one in the next little while.

vanilla plantation is absolutely vanilla, a warm vanilla wafts out when the tin is opened. however, while it is smooth and cleanly executed (seriously, i don’t think silk road is capable of anything harsh) vanilla is not the only thing i get from this blend. to me the warmth of the smell plus some interaction between the tea and the vanilla pieces i actually get more of a buttercream essence! not unpleasant, but not strictly vanilla either.

this was a sample from ShortSorceress, thank you very much.

i have a few gaps in my tea repertoire— white teas is one of those. i have discovered as i navigate the curve that while i usually inhabit a happy grey no man’s land, that in this instance i tend to be very black or white. rather unpredictably so as well.

opening the bag the unmistakable smell of tea roses was clear. tea roses, for me, have always been the most beautiful in terms of scent. the idea of a white tea with a tea rose body was an excellent thought! and then i added water.

i really can’t put on finger on what the problem was, or why it began with the water, but i can tell you what it became…. incense. as i have mentioned in passing, for the most part, if it burns then i am allergic to it. so, recognizing a very dimly familiar scent was interesting! however, as it steeped the smell became more and more intense.

i had misgivings, but i’ve been surprised by teas before, so i forged ahead— 5 sips. guilt GUILT i can go no further! liquid incense and i do not get on!

no numbers on this one, it’s my aversion to incense.

this was a surprise free sample that came with my first order from harney and sons. thank you kindly folks!

i cheated… i peeked at the description an saw the word ‘assertive’. NO KIDDING!!! comparing it with another recent cinnamon tea sample from american tea room, this one with hot peppers, i actually think this one has more punch! it’s the cloves… must be. whereas verdant’s sweet cinnamon puerh is a completely different ball game with an entirely separate HOT element underscoring the cinnamon with the use of holy basil.

ha! and here i thought i didn’t like cinnamon outside of cinnamon buns.

very nice. very smooth. not benign or subtle in ANY way, and if you need to wake up early this will give you a significant jolt in that direction! oh yes… and i experimented: although there are chunks of orange peel in the blend it makes a beautiful uncurdled latte.

okay, this is the second go round with this one because the first one was such a miserable failure that it didn’t seem right to review.

after following teavivre’s instructions to the letter i find i still don’t like this tea. it is exceptionally strong with a heavy caffeine stick, strong versus robust. i don’t know if it’s keemun in general (i haven’t had many) or this one in particular, but it isn’t working well for me.

this was a lovely sent me by scribbles…

i wish it had had a zippier title, i think it’s subdued name caused me to leave it lonely and without attention… what a terrible way to treat a tea!

as i move through tea phases i sometimes tune out other genres… ie: i’ve been enjoying flavoured robust blacks lately and blanked on anything aside from them.

this tastes very much like a hybrid— there are black elements to the tea, but it is also very reminiscent of a puerh….

in short i am beginning to understand scribbles’s love for this vendor. hmmm….. may need to shop! lol.

oh, and it gets this score after i forgot about it on the counter after the timer went off. =0)