284 Tasting Notes

67
drank Momoko by Lupicia
284 tasting notes

OMG. Everyone is still here?!? More or less… Tea and I took a break for a bit. Pretty much all I drank was DAVID’s tea, and not often. I had switched to coffee and then just did that for a couple of years. Come back from work, have coffee. After dinner, coffee.
But recently a friend was visiting from the states and had an opportunity to place a Lucia and a Harney order. Since it’s been years, I wasn’t too sure what to order so I just rolled the dice.
Momoko made the cut.

I heated water for delicate instead of green (because yesterday’s Napa was bitter when steeped in “green tea” setting on the kettle) and it’s still bitter-ish. and floral.

bummer.

PS. Glad to see y’all are still here.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 1 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
Cameron B.

I just came back after a few year (3?) break as well! ;)

mrmopar

Howdy you! Good to see ya.

Sil

welcome back! :)

VariaTEA

Hello again :)

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95
drank Raspberry Mojito by DAVIDsTEA
284 tasting notes

I have to say they hit it out of the park with this one! I brewed it hot, sweetened it a touch and poured it over ice with some lime slices. I love the balance of raspberry and mint, the slight raspberry aftertaste and that hint of citrus zest. It delivered exactly what I expected the taste to be.

I really like the summer collection so far. (The sangria tea made with red wine and club soda is also mighty close to the real thing. But that’s a whole other review…)

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 15 sec

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95

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41
drank Mango Yoghurt Dessert by Tealux
284 tasting notes

Bought 25 grams of this in my last rather large Tealux order of herbals. Wanted to see if I can find anything good. This one sounded awesome. Alas, hibiscus makes everything so tart and you need to load your cup with sugar to overcome that. Ugh. WHY??? Especially for those trying to cut down on their sugar, or eliminate it altogether, this tea is impossible to drink unless one really fancies tartness. I went with a truvia package to try to take the edge off but ended up throwing some honey in there. Either that or dump the glass.

Fjellrev

That’s too bad, because this does indeed sound like i would be a winer. Maybe it wouldn’t be as tart if you cold brewed it?

Nxtdoor

I used up all 25 grams for our 2 glasses of iced tea and I shall not be buying more! :) But next time I see hibiscus imma try cold steeping first.

Fjellrev

Haha oh well! Chances are it would have been still quite tart cold brewed, anyway. Maybe it’s just me, but I swear hibiscus doesn’t isn’t as tart when you avoid steeping it in hot water.

Sil

tealux doesn’t have many flavoured wins for me from what i recall…

Fjellrev

That’s good to know since I keep stalling on ordering from them.

Sil

straights they have are yums

Nxtdoor

I agree with Sil. Dragon Lychee Pearls is the only flavoured fave from Tealux. And believe me I’ve been trying. Cherry Goddess was not bad but far from being a staple.

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41
drank Cool Cactus by DAVIDsTEA
284 tasting notes

I bought a small sample of this when I went in to grab some greens. I probably overleafed a bit because I had just finished a cup of under leafed, watery “movie night” so I thought I’d be on the safe side with the leaf. Sadly, I can’t finish the cup. Tastes like dishwater to me.

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79

I liked this tea but I’m having a tough time quantifying how much. I would have preferred more pineapple, for sure. I thought this would be like “three friends” but with pineapple instead of chocolate. Having said that, I prefer it to the “pineapple upside down cake” from della terra.

It smells delicious once steeped and certainly more so once it’s cooled off. I have just 1 oz so maybe I can make up my mind about it in later cups. I’m looking for more Tealux faves so I can make regular orders. There’s only so much “dragon lychee pearls” one can buy.

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79

This one is back I my cupboard thanks to the sweet Black Friday prices Della Terra had. To me this is exactly like the Red Velvet Cake from DAVIDs, with the latter being easier to obtain, but when my DAVIDs tin is empty and they don’t have a sale of any kind and these guys do… Della terra 1 – DAVIDs 0.

It doesn’t resteep worth a damn though, this one. I just tried to resteep the leaves from this morning as I didn’t know what I was in the mood for and these leaves were in front of me. But … No. It’s quite weak on resteep. No surprise there but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?

PS. Speaking of DAVIDs… Their “sales” kinda suck, in my opinion. Like, what about reducing the price of your tea every now and then like other companies do? And I’m not talking those web specials where you have to buy like 8 oz to save a handful of bucks. Unless maybe they think they are offering it as cheaply as they can. I’ve been getting my tea elsewhere lately, lured by 20% of here and there.

Happy almost New Year everyone!

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 45 sec
Fjellrev

I’ll admit that I’m too lazy to resteep teas most to the time, especially flavoured ones.

And about David’s, yeah, I was hoping for more teas on sale after xmas, and not just seasonal prepackaged stuff. That doesn’t count! I guess they feel like they’ve established their name enough that they don’t need to have more sales in order to keep customers coming back.

mrmopar

Happy New Year to you as well my friend!

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81

Hello everyone. It’s been a while. Hope you’re all well, getting ready for the holidays.
I’ve been busy cooking, welcoming someone new into the family (brother-in-law got engaged Finally!) and … cooking. :)

In between all that I’ve Been drinking old favourites and up until this Black Friday I haven’t bought much “new” tea. This was one of the teas I picked up from Della Terra. Can’t beat their Black Friday prices, really. Assuming you like their teas, of course.

The taste of this to me is identical to DAVIDs “love tea #7” which I quite enjoy. I get the berries and the chocolate all together with black base when the tea is hot. As it cools, not so much base anymore.

Those of you not on my Instagram (which is all of you, really, save for mrmopar and one other), here’s what I’ve been up to.

http://instagram.com/p/wSTMWTnqX4/

http://instagram.com/p/vovCiDHqYA/

http://instagram.com/p/wuCCNhnqQB/

Until next time…

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Fjellrev

So great you see you around! And those are incredibly lovely looking desserts. I haven’t tried creme brûlée before but you make me want to. :)

OMGsrsly

Yum! :D (Now I’m following you!)

Nxtdoor

Yay, @OMGsrsly! You have some seriously awesome photos, btw.

@fjellrev, thanks! As for brûlée, I make them because people love them. I used to stint as a pastry chef, had to make them by the hundreds. Not my fave dessert to eat by far. When you first try, make sure it’s good. You could end up hating it forever if not made right.

Sil

Sadly there is a LOT of bad brûlée out there :(

OMGsrsly

Thanks! :D

Fjellrev

That is exactly why I haven’t touched the stuff yet. I’m sure the same would apply to those other custardy desserts like creme caramel and panna cotta.

Nxtdoor

Panacotta is more forgiving because you set it with gelatin instead of baking. So you don’t end up with scrambled eggs like you would with an overcooked brûlée. Anyway. Enough from me on the subject. Good luck!

Fjellrev

What would you say is the hardest dessert to make?

OMGsrsly

Gluten free pastry. ;)

Nxtdoor

Any kind of puff pastry is tricky. Soufflé is another one that can bite you.

Sil

i think nxtdoor should just have us all over for a dinner…consisting solely of desserts. giggling

Nxtdoor

All you can eat creme brûlée? 12 days of … Creme brûlée? (Banana liqueur brûlée, coffee brûlée, sour apple brûlée…)

OMGsrsly

Mmm… Sounds delicious!

Fjellrev

Funny, I was going to ask you about soufflé! I made it once and probably royally screwed it up because it was awful haha.

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75
drank Mango Passionfruit by Stash Tea
284 tasting notes

The company I work for is putting together the Christmas loot bags for our clients and tea is part of the bag. They had some left over and it’s how I got to score a handful of different Stash teas. I’ve been meaning to try Stash but at the same time didn’t feel like spending money on it because if I didn’t like them, now I’d have a whole box of it to drag around my cupboard.

This one’s ok. I used double the water this bag could take. I knew I wouldn’t want to get out of bed to resteep so I did double the quantity from the get go and I just left the bag inside seeing how it’s herbal.

It’s definitely convenient. I haven’t done bagged teas in so long I forgot now nice it is sometimes to not have all the accoutrements dragging around, cleaning them after and … stuff. It gets messy in the morning when one reaches over to snooze the 4.30 am alarm and knocks over the kettle or the infuser with the spent leaves. Now there’s nothing but a mug! And yes, it’s not too bad. I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed my evening tea pleasuring (heh) for the sake of convenience.

(But something in this tea makes me sleepy. I should have gone for caffeine.)

mrmopar

We all “cheat” with the bagged stuff :P

TeaBrat

I know I do!

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81
drank Santa's Secret by DAVIDsTEA
284 tasting notes

I’ve finished most of my favourite DAVIDs teas during this hiatus I’m on so it’s getting down to those that for me are just ok. Because a staple of mine is DAVIDs “Read My Lips” some people suggested I might enjoy “Santa’s Secret”, some even feel it is better. So I bought 50 grams a while back and after trying it originally and deciding I do not favour it, I left it there on the shelf.

Well, it’s getting to where I’m drinking everything. This is fine but it doesn’t have chocolate. Yes, I can add that with chocolate syrup but .. Meh. It’s still comforting as a mint tea, especially on cold nights when you snuggle up by the fire with a book and a shot glass of whatever to drop in your tea when the mood strikes.

In conclusion, I prefer Read My Lips and will continue to stock it over Santa’s secret. It has a bit more chocolate and the mint is just a little more muted. When it comes to mouthfeel they’re both the same.

PS. for those who don’t know already, Verdant just re-stocked our most favourite blends. You should hurry and buy the LB chocolate Genmaicha before I buy it all. Really. Buy now! I already got 8 oz but am thinking it’s not enough.

mrmopar

You are a “Tea Hoarder” ;p LOL!

Nxtdoor

@mrmopar I most certainly am not :) my cupboard is puny variety-wise. I just have large quantities of selected few.

mrmopar

I know, just ribbin ya a little.

Nxtdoor

Says mister i-have-cakes-upon-cakes-of-pu’erh in my specialy designed room :) @mrmopar

mrmopar

And you are 100% correct. Now if I can only find another place to put some more……

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Profile

Bio

I started drinking loose leaf tea in the spring of 2013 (why do we feel compelled to mark the date of tea drinking somewhat like addicts counting their sobriety days?)

Never been much into tea before. Growing up in Romania, tea was something mom made for you when you were sick. As an adult, my hot beverage of choice has been coffee, both flavoured and regular. I’ve recently stumbled upon Teavana and DAVIDs TEA and quickly got addicted to the latter. Then came steepster and all else followed.

Formerly a mathematician and insurance adjuster, I gave up the corporate world and am now a professional chef. I drink wine and sometimes cheat on it with tea.

I lean heavily towards flavoured black teas. I’ve started to crave the occasional straight oolong and green but so far unflavoured black teas leave me unimpressed.

I’m learning so I drink them all. Am even introducing myself to pu’erh. So far I can do fine with the sheng cause frankly, they don’t taste like pu’erh to me. The shou is another story.

Note*: The virtual cupboard does NOT contain any of the samples I hold since most of them are one-cup quantity.

Note**: My partner, our home improvements, gadgets, mortgage, travel, wine and food have budget priority over tea.

Location

Toronto-ish, Canada

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