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Haven’t a clue what this is, haven’t a clue what the story is, no idea about anything really. Other than, of course. OMGsrlsy gave this to me on a dark and stormy night in downtown Vancouver, as if we were dealing (gasp) drugs! The horrors.

Package had someone else’s name on it (sorry James), with the instructions to steep for one minute. Really?! It’s a… gosh words, come to me now… the kind of tea that looks like coffee grounds, and of course the word escapes me. Anyway. Butiki’s Premium Chai has the same base (I think), and I luuuuuv’s me that tea. So, I’m in. Let’s try it. Just enough for 12 oz.

I steep it for one minute, and I’m confused. It doesn’t taste like much of anything. It smells a touch fruity though… so I’m in, I steep it a bit longer.

Steeped a bit longer (another 3-4 minutes) I get a bit of… licorice? something fruity still, and, no, that’s black licorice. Isn’t it? Jeepers. I can’t tell. I’m also eating salted chocolate and feel like a truck hit me since about 9pm last night, so, you know, really professional review here and all folks.

She handed it to me with two hands. “ooh,” I thought, “This is special tea”. So it’s one of the first I’m trying from the batch shared with me, and I’ve left the first steep off to the side to resteep a few times tomorrow.

First off: leather. I get that more than anything here, both in smell and taste. It even has the velvety leather feel to it that I’d imagine what drinking leather should be like (but probably isn’t). It’s super comforting and rich, and more than surprised me. I also didn’t get much else out of this first steep, even though leather was a new one for me, and a surprising like at that.

An enormous thanks to shezza for sharing some of her favorite teas with me, this being one of them. Eternally grateful and appreciative!

Hm. How to rate this tea. Okay, it’s a green Christmas tea, so I have high expectations. It smells very holiday-like (*OMGsrsly smelled the bag I gave her and said, “This smells like Christmas!”) It tastes like it too, sort of… although it dried out really badly and got astringent and weird as it cooled.

So, yes to the almond (the drying-ness as it cooled as well), yes to the Christmas flavors (very much like a strongly spiced chai) no to the weirdness… there’s just something off about this, and I can’t put my finger on what exactly.

As I’m walking back from meeting up with OMGsrsly tonight for a quickie tea swap in the middle of Granville Street, what I can only call an “energy bolt of thought” hit me. “Go get Detox tonight,” it said. I knew it meant this tea.

I promptly finished what I was doing, headed over to the store, and grabbed this. I’ve brewed it, and… well…. I knew hibiscus was #1 in there, so it shouldn’t surprise me it’s blood red, right? Well, it does. It’s a bit stunning and unsettling.

Still, I’m drinking it. It’s not as odd as I’d think it should/would be (normally I stay away from hibiscus). Pleasant if oddly sweet (aloe vera, maybe?) Dunno. If it helps me get out of my body whatever I ingested today though that I can feel like a lump moving through me? I’m thrilled.

Hm. Well, it’s a light tea, in that it’s not heavy, thick or malty. It is however very, very strong on the ginger and clove (this be good with me, to a point). The clove is actually making my mouth a bit dry and losing feeling – also not a bad thing per say, just wasn’t expecting it.

I almost feel like i’m drinking one of those spiced oranges I’d make as a kid (cloves plugged into an orange and then left out for the smell). There’s a touch of orange, maybe? in here, dunno. Something slightly sweet. Cookie? No, sorry.

Thank you shezza for sharing this with me! I’m happy with the one mugful that I got.

First off, I’m an arse – I just got this in a swap, and yet I oversteeped it. Of course. Because that’s my way! So, uh, 12 minutes.

Shockingly, it’s really really yummy. It smells a bit like plum pudding or fruit cake. I don’t get much out of the flavor other than an interesting, plummy-type of dryness.. again… I messed this up. Thank goodness there’s another good mug-full of tea to play with.

Thank you shezza, for so surreptitiously sharing some of this with me in LOOK Tea yesterday.

EDIT: What? caramel, pineapple, sweet orange, and maraschino… um… okay I get the orange (fruitcake, that’s what I identified it as) and marasschino (same thing), and possibly pineapple… but caramel? No. Well, maybe. Well… darn it, I so wish I hadn’t oversteeped this.

Uh, so this was in my cupboard yesterday… and now it’s not. Bah. Re-adding.

This is my new comfort tea. I love it. I smell it, and instantly I feel all zen-like, calm and cool. I prefer it when it’s cooled (a bit minty-er, a bit more chocolatey goodness) but frankly, I’ll drink it any way I can. It, along with Hot Chocolate, will be in my stable of teas for a bit, until of course I find other local finds that I enjoy more. :P

Yummy yum yum.

But seriously, who tasted cannabis in this?!

Still love it, still tastes like a liquid cinnamon bun to me.: :)

Ok, this stuff is just weird. I didn’t expect jasmine from an oolong black blend, nor did I from the smell. When I think Christmas, joyful teas (the ones I’ve had in England, anyway) they were all spiced, like a gingerbread or plum pudding or something along those lines. Warm, earthy, comforting, like you’re sitting in front of the fire sipping cozily once the gifts are wrapped and the kids in bed. Y’know?

This tea… this is just weird. Why I’d think jasmine… why would anyone? I dunno. Not my cup of tea. There’s nothing really special or even multifaceted to it… it’s a floral jasmine, and surprisingly light for a black (it looks like more black than oolong in the tin, but what do I know).