Ninavampi

Yum blueberries. No blueberries in Ecuador. : ( Thankfully I can get blueberry tea to make up for it!

This tea is very pretty to look at. Gunpowder tea has always seemed visually appealing to me. It is both interesting and beautiful. The cornflowers are also beautiful. but very scarce. The smell is very much blueberry. Sadly not fresh blueberry, but more a blueberry jam type smell. While not as great as fresh blueberries, blueberry jam is still great.

It is freezing today, so I couldn’t wait to have my hot cup of tea. The brewed tea smelled a bit more like fresh blueberries, I believe that the green tea base helped with this illusion. The plantiness that it adds to the scent really helps it. Unfortunately, I also caught a scent of anise. I have no idea where it came from, but it was undoubtedly there.

Unsweetened it was pretty good. Green tea up front with a fresh blueberry aftertaste. Unfortunately there was still something that lingered in the background reminding me of Anise. When I sweetened it the blueberry became stronger and more enjoyable. The green tea was overtaken, but it wasn’t gone. I enjoyed the subtle vegetable green that it added to the flavor.

It held up decently to a second steep (2min) which was still tasty, just watered down.

Sadly, it doesn’t get a higher score because I got random anise flavor in the brew. I have no idea how or what was making me think this had anise in it, but it didn’t make me happy. It was tame enough that I could enjoy the cup of tea with no major distractions from the phantom flavor.

On a completely unrelated note, my puppy won 2nd place in the bulldog puppy category over the weekend! : ) I was so proud of her!

While not undrinkable, this tea is rather mundane. I found it in my mom’s stash of random tea bags that she offers to people who come over to our house to eat (she is very much a coffee person, so tea is just for me and the guests…).

As far as presentation comes, it looked to me like a dust and fannings filled tea bag. The smell was first paper, then lemon, them something that smelled incredibly similar to bergamot and hence Earl Grey, and finally, tea.

I steeped the teabag in boiling water for about 3 minutes and ended up with a nice burgundy brown brew. It smelled mostly of lemony Earl Grey followed by the thick plesent smell of black tea.

I added sugar before I tried it (sorry, was in the mood for sweet and wasn’t expecting anything out of this world anyway…). It tasted a lot like a so-so Earl Grey. Unfortunately, the aftertaste killed it. I was left with a chemical plasticky bitterness in my mouth after each sip. This taste lingered annoyingly in my mouth all day, even after more tea and tooth brushing… It was an unpleasant experience over all. If I hadn’t gotten that aftertaste, I would rate it quite a bit higher.

On a more positive note, tomorrow my puppy (English Bulldog) competes in a dog show here in Ecuador! Her trainer has high expectations for her, but I personally just want her to have a positive experience. Even if she gets last place, she is still my little girl. My French Bulldog (Sencha), my boyfriend, and I will be cheering her on! I am proud of my littlest girl! : )

I’m reading the “So what’d you think?” prompt for this tasting note over and over while trying to finish the now cold cup of this tea.

I was sooo excited about this one! I looove oatmeal cookies. But mine are spicy (cinnamon and nutmeg), and by no means taste like grape lollipop… That being said I am incredibly sad that I didn’t like this tea.

The dry tea looked promising. It had little pieces of dry oatmeal in it as well as raisins. I was so excited to try it! I waited until I was home from work and took my time opening and preparing it. First off, the smell that was exuding from the package was grape candy. I shook my head and must have looked like a confused dog with a cocked head and all. Sniffed again, and grape it was! I have never known of grape oatmeal cookies… I had high hopes that it was only the smell.

Two tsp, 12oz and 3 minutes later I had a steaming cup of tea smelling overwhelmingly of grape lollipop. No doubt… Grape lollipop steaming from my teacup. Well, maybe the oatmeal cookie is int he actual taste.

Sip one= grape lollipop + bitterness. Sugar added. Sip two= grape lollipop + sweet + a little bit bitter. Milk Added. Sip three= grape lollipop + milky + something vaguely resembling dough….

No. I do not like it Sam I am… I do not like in a box or with a fox… Hahaha…

I feel like somehow the grape flavor that was used by Frank sneaked itself into this brew. Maybe try again with spices instead of grape? I love your teas Frank, in fact a few of 52teas have quickly become my favorites, but this one missed its mark.

Now off to read a good book with Pancake tea which really makes me smile…. …And will surely make me forget the grape!

EDIT- As an afterthought, as a grape tea it isn’t bad, just not oatmeal cookie. Removing numerical rating…

Thanks to Tabby for sharing this with me!! : )

Green teas started my love of loose leaf tea. Green tea is the reason my dog is called Sencha. Green teas taught me that time and temperature in steeping are very important. Most significantly green teas taught me that quality makes a HUGE difference. I had almost forgotten about why I loved green tea so much until I tried this one.

The large green leaves smell fresh with a hint of sea weed. It makes your eyes pop wide open, the smell alone alerts you that you are in for a treat! The package reomends that you steep 1-2 teaspoons per cup. Since the leaves were so large, I opted for 2tsp.

They were beautiful to watch steep. The water turning golden green and the leaves expanding is borderline magical. The smell was hypnotizing. Mineral sea weed goodness!

The taste was exactly what I was hoping for. Sweet creamy sensation up front followed by a mineral wave ending on a pleasant seaweed note. The vegetable was toned down under the mineral (in my opinion, the way it should be!) Delicious first brew. One of the best I have had in a while!

The second steep was a little too watered down for my taste. I enjoyed it, but the with the sweetness and mineral flavor toned down, it was more of a ghost of what the first cup was.

I love this tea! Sadly, I just placed my order from Teavivre and didn’t include this… I guess that a second order will be necessary soon! : )

I have a soft spot for Adagio’s vanilla teas. That being said, this is my least favorite of them. I think that the main issue is that green tea seams to work better on its own than flavored to me most of the time. It can work with fruity, but I have yet to find a creamy flavored green tea in which the vegetable flavor doesn’t seem to get in the way of the tea as a whole.

The dry tea leaves are bright green and a joy to look at. They look green, fresh and inviting. The vanilla aroma is very strong (points in favor!) followed by the familiar green tea plantiness. In fact, if the vanilla flower (it is an orchid) smells like vanilla (I am not sure it does…) it probably would smell a lot like this tea.

While brewing, my 2 tsp of leaves unfurled quite nicely and gave of a smell very similar to that of the dry leaves except that once wet, the vegetable in them gets a tad bit stronger.
The liquor is a nice golden/green color.

The unsweetened tea is overwhelmingly vegetable that clashes with the vanilla. The individual flavors are great, but together they just confuse me. Sweetened it works much better. Why? Well, sweetened the green tea vegetable taste is highly disguised as, well…, sweet. This way the vanilla becomes the protagonist and the the green tea is like a pleasant little reminder that you are drinking more than just vanilla sugar water.

I enjoy it, don’t love it. I will happily finish what I have of it, I will just keep in mind that creamy greens just are not my thing.

This is a tea that is hard for me to review… Why? Well, I had it hot and thought it was absolutely awful. So bad that I forgot about it (or tried to forget about it) for a really long time. This weekend, I arbitrarily remembered it and decided that it was time to try it iced and if I still couldn’t stand it, out it was going! So, turns out, that iced it isn’t nearly as bad!

I brewed a large pitcher of it (8 cups) with 12 teaspoons of the tea. The dry tea was high on the raspberries and lacking in the mate. It is very pleasant to look at the big luscious looking dry berries, but when you want tea, the berries become more annoying than pleasant. The smell is very artificial, it reminded me of Kool-Aid (which I haven’t had since I was 8…). There was a powdery sensation to the scent, which was very disturbing. I can’t really place what it was, but it somehow brought the word “dusty” to mind every time I sniffed it.

I let it brew for hours, basically until the liquid was cool enough to put into the fridge. It was a neat bright pink color. It looked really cool in the sun as well as under the light of my fridge! : )

I sweetened it very slightly and it turned out to be quite enjoyable! It is just tart enough to remind me of fresh raspberries and smooth enough that it doesn’t become painful to drink (no excessive puckering…). The aftertaste is artificial lemon. It reminded me of candy lemon drops. Not terrible, but also not great. The downside to this is that I tasted no mate. If I think about it I get a tiny bit of something that is woody that maybe may be a hint of mate, but I have to put too much effort in to finding it, so I am just going to say that the flavor is absent.

As a fruity iced drink, I would recommend it. As a hot tea, most definitely not, no way. I am enjoying what I have of it iced and maybe, one day, I may get more.

I am surprised that I haven’t written a tasting note for this one yet. For a while it was my morning tea, nearly everyday.

I really enjoy vanilla. While it is one of the most simple flavors, it is also one of the hardest ones to actually get right. I have had quite a few vanilla teas, many that taste too mineral or too artificial. To me a good vanilla tea has to be creamy, very strongly flavored, work well with milk and sugar and not over power the tea. Wow… Those a lot of requirements…

The leaves of this tea are dark brown, so dark that they seem black unless you stare at them for a while. The scent is sweet and inviting. The tea base smells dark and woodsy. The Ceylon used as the base tea tends to be “moody”, Adagio black teas are way too easy to over steep. So, after a bit of practice the 2 tsp for 12oz of water for 3min was just right.

As the brews, the scent makes it evident (in a 3m radius) that you are steeping vanilla tea. I love this. My kitchen smelling like vanilla is glorious.

The resulting brew is dark brown with a reddish tinge to it. Sadly, all of my glass Bodum tea cups have shattered and I am drinking out of a dark blue mug. I miss being able to look at the colors of tea while I drink them…

Unsweetened, the tea is very creamy followed by evident astringency from the Ceylon. While I have enjoyed it straight, this is a tea that benefits from being sweetened. The sweetness enhances the vanilla making it taste a lot like a hot vanilla ice cream float made in Ceylon! With a dash of milk (or even better, condensed milk or vanilla soy milk!) it is delicious and rich. The vanilla is strong enough to hold up to the milk and make it an easy cup to enjoy.

While it is rather simple, I really enjoy it. I dug it up this morning and remembering how much I used to love it made me smile. I am on my third cup of it today. This is one of my comfort teas. Nothing spectacular, but always there to make me smile. : )

I was angry last night. Really angry… My bother decided that the best idea he could possibly have was to through a party at my house because he figured that I would stay at the hospital because my Dad had surgery yesterday (everything went well!). I got home, expecting to unwind after work with my doggies, boyfriend, and tea when to my surprise there was about 20 drunk people and loud music blasting… I was sooo angry that I couldn’t even get myself to relax. As a kid I understand that an empty house that you have access to usually means fun, but this was not OK. Well, I didn’t get much sleep and I am still angry, but a tasty tea this morning will make things a bit better!

I bought a pack of this because I enjoyed it so much. It just arrived and it is exactly what I needed! Something spicy, strong, sweet.

I am not sure why the leaves of this tea are ground so fine… It keeps making me expect bitterness, but thankfully I haven’t gotten any from it. It smells great as long as you don’t inhale too strongly (instant sneeze… found out the hard way…)

I prepared it with my tasty condensed milk/skim milk latte mix. It put a wide smile on my face (at least until I see my brother again…) and finally got me relaxing. The vanilla was really strong this time, and the latte mix helped smooth out all the flavors. I couldn’t make my cup last me every long. That is usually a sign that I really am enjoying what I am drinking!

I love Oolongs… I think I have mentioned this previously, but I will gladly repeat it! This is one of my everyday day teas for two main reasons: 1 It is delicious 2 I can get it for not an outrageous price decently close to my house! Since caffeine has absolutely no effect on me, this ends up being a bed time tea. It is incredibly relaxing to sip through the complex yet incredibly comforting array of flavors.

OOOOOooooolongs… The OOOooo is so appropriate! OOOoooo sooo good! (Ok… Now I am done with my silliness for the night! On with the tasting note!)

I had this tonight in my usual three steepings. I steep this 1 tsp of tea to 8oz of water, 8oz per cup so I can actually enjoy all three steepings (each increasing in time) without being too full my the last one!

The smell of the leaf is very fresh with hint of fresh cut grass. It has a lingering sweetness to it, that makes me always want to come back to it. While steeping, the freshness scent is briefly enhanced but always leading to sweetness.

The first steep is always the most vegetable like one. It tastes very crisp followed by artichoke and leading into a buttery delight. The aftertaste is all sweetness. Joy joy!

The second steep is my favorite. The artichoke is still there, but it is nutty and smooth. The buttery taste and feel is everywhere and the sweetness in the aftertaste is even more evident. It takes a lot of willpower to not drink it too quickly. I really want it to last!

The third steep is lighter. Upfront buttery and nutty. There is a woody note that doesn’t ever show up before the third steep. The vegetable becomes more of an afterthought, but still is very present. The sweetness in the aftertaste is subdued in this last steep. This is what keeps it from being my favorite of the 3 steeps.

If you like Oolongs, this is a handsome one to try! : )

I spent 2 days experimenting with this. I really wanted to like it more than I did the first time I tried it… I set out to make it tastier. My quest involved my latte mix (essentially condensed milk and skim milk in 2 to 1 proportion warmed and mixed in a pan), clove, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Today was a good day to get it right, considering it was so miserable… My favorite (and last double wall Bodum) tea cup got broken by someone (no one says who). Also, my cellphone decided to die on me (how did we live without having internet and communication always before!?!?!). The cherry on top was the pile of puppy poo that greeted me when I first got home… I really needed something sweet and tasty!

I brewed myself a cup of this with added spices (cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg) and added a bit (overdid it the first time…) of latte mix. Wow… It was delicious! But, I exaggerated on the amount of sweet milk I added, so, I tried again. Success! The added spice and sweet milk turn it into a creamy smooth pumpkin latte. The flavor is strong enough to stand up against anything so it welcomed the extra spice and milk!

I will surely finish the 100g that I bought, though it didn’t make my superstar tea list as I had hoped it would… I think I will only be drinking this as a latte, so, not an instant winner. Enjoyed it! Not sure I would re-order… Ask me again next fall. : )

Finally, after reading and reading about all of the hype that Davids Tea has, I finally placed an order that my brother brought to me when he came from the US to spend Christmas with us. The order I placed is rather large… I ordered almost everything I wanted to try! : ) It has taken me a while to get around to trying them though… Today I try my first, and the one I have been most excited about. This one!

I love pumpkin pie! Even here in Ecuador, I must have pumpkin pie with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think that it is my all time favorite pie! That being said, I went ahead and order 100g of this tea.

The smell of the leaves is spectacular and the tea is handsome to look at! Full of bright orange sprinkles and pumpkin pieces it is wonderful to stare at, sniff and enjoy. The scent smells a lot like pumpkin pie candle, very fragrant and delightful, but not entirely like something I would like to eat per se… It is low on the spiciness and high on the vanilla and caramel. I also got a scent that seemed to be actual pumpkin, which gives this tea some extra points!

I brewed it following the instructions on the package and achieved a pumpkin orange brew! The color was astoundingly similar to pumpkin pie color! It made me smile to realize that. The scent was still much like the leaves. Rich in vanilla and caramel, light on the spices with a hint of pumpkin.

The flavor was loyal to the scent. It was very rich and creamy. The pumpkin definitely stood out followed by creamy vanilla and caramel. I got an earthy note from the pumpkin, and enjoyed it! Sadly, there was not nearly enough spice for me to think pumpkin pie, just meh… I added sweetener and to my surprise I liked it less! When sweetened the pumpkin gets played down and the creaminess takes center stage. Not what I wanted. I have yet to make it a late, which I believe will work well with the creaminess of it. But as of now, it missed being one of my favorites. This is disappointing mostly because I was so excited about it.

If you want to try it, go for it. It is an enjoyable brew. Just not what I in particular want as pumpkin pie! : )

This is, officially, my lowest rating yet. I actually feel a bit bad about taking the time and energy to write about a tea that I just didn’t like. Still, considering how expensive this particular blend is (thankfully mine was a random gift) I feel that I should put my opinion out there for people to read if they consider trying it.

First off, I am sure that there will be people who might enjoy this. Everyone likes different tastes and different things, and that is just fine with me. I, personally, did not like this at all.

It smells artificial. If you could make plastic smell like cherry, I am sure that it would smell something like this. It also had some scent that made me think medicinal. Not enjoyable at all.

I have had it twice so far. The first time I had it, I could barely drink it. Unsweetened it tasted a lot like plastic with a cherry aftertaste. I sipped it until it cooled down and then chugged it down once it cooled down to quickly finish it and make something more tasty. The second time I added A LOT of brown sugar. To my surprise it was much better! Not any less artificial though… Sadly, I don’t up the score much because I am sure that sugar did more to make me like the flavor than the actual tea did…

Sweetened it tasted a lot like cherry Twizzlers, the kind that you can pull strings off of and eat it one strand at a time. It actually wasn’t horrible, but I don’t think that you should have to add soooo much sweet to a tea in order for it to be drinkable.

If this were a really cheap tea, I feel like it might make a nice really sweet ice tea. It is not cheap. I will not be purchasing it. Ever. Tough I must admit that I will eventually drink through what I have with insane amounts of sugar or sweetener. Maybe I will try to make insanely sweet and expensive iced tea… Hmmm…

Now I’m off to drink yummier tea! : )

This particular tea has been one I have wanted ever since I read about it here on Steepster. My favorite breakfast food has always been cinnamon rolls and tea is my favorite beverage, so both, combined, seemed like heaven to me. Sadly, it was sold out, and I would read over and over everyone’s reviews over and over in hopes that one day I would be able to try it!

One day, I was super excited to find that Frank had revived this! I couldn’t order it fast enough! In fact, I ordered two packs at once, confident that I would love this. It was a long wait, but I eventually received my two packs (and an extra of Pancake Breakfast!). I was at the office, and I didn’t have time to sit down and enjoy it, but I opened it and sniffed it. It wasn’t one of the blends that immediately took my breath away, but it was pleasant. :3

As soon as I got home I brewed it. I couldn’t wait to try it! Sadly, when I did, it wasn’t what I expected at all. I tasted the cinnamon, but I got no dough or icing. To make matters worse, there was a sour aftertaste that, I assume, came from the honeybush. I was desperate to like it. I tried longer brewing time, shorter, sweetened, no sweet, milk… I was almost resigned to give up on this tea. I had been so excited… I decided to put it up, and try it later.

This tea showed up in the 12 Days of Christmas I decided that the time to try this again was approaching. Finally, today, I gave it another try.

I brewed it for much longer than I meant to, my dogs distracted me, and what I meant to be like 4 minutes ended up being more like ten. To my pleasant surprise, it smelled really really good. I sipped it and it tasted even better!!! I got the cinnamon and dough, the icing, and very very little (thankfully…) odd aftertaste! I then sweetened it with honey. I rarely do this, but today I felt that honey flavor would add to the cinnamon roll effect. I was right! It was absolutely cinnamon-roll-doughy-creamy-sweet-sticky goodness!

The second brew was still very good, just not as flavorful. I drank it happily as well.

I am really happy that this tea finally came through and proved its deliciousness! I love it and could drink it everyday. I am actually considering another back up pouch… hmmm….

I had never had proper Pu-Erh before today. I had had flavored nest Pu-Erh, which tasted nothing like what I experienced today.

My Dad went on a business trip to China, and I asked him to bring me some teas. Since he knew no Chinese and pretty much nothing about tea, he asked the translator to choose for him. I ended up with a small heat of teas, one of them being this one. : )

Since I had never had a cake of ripe Pu-Erh before, I decided to brew it Gaiwan style. I felt it was a little harder to mess up this way.

The smell of the dry leaves was… fishy. I can find no other word that accurately describes the entire experience of my first excited sniff of this tea. If I try to get a little more accurate, it smells like fish wrapped in leather that was a bit moist… Actually, I have no idea what this would smell like, but my imagination says that would be something like this Pu-Erh…

I rinsed it and after a quick brew, I ended up with a gorgeous peach colored liquor. The scent was still heavy on the leather covered fish. I waited for it to cool down a bit and took my first nervous sip. To my honest surprise, I liked it! Thankfully, it tasted nothing like it smelled. The taste was smooth and woody. It had a leather note that was followed by planty earthiness and ended in a finally of sweetness that reminded me of oolong. I still wonder how something can smell so different than what it tastes like (I am really happy that it does…)

I didn’t love it, but I am really happy I got to try it. I have an entire cake of it, and I imagine that it is going to take me forever to drink through. I might take a large chunk of it and let it age in the dark for a couple of years. I am going to have to read more about Pu-Erhs before I make up my mind.

In the mean time, I am happy and content for having been able to try this! : ) I am not rating this because I have no other equivalent in memory to compare it with. Maybe one day I will try more Pu-Erhs and be able to give them a number, in the mean time, the review is all letters!

Happy New Years!!!! : ) I hope that this year brings everyone success, happiness, love, and lots of good teas to try and share!

I started off my new year by having one of my recently discovered favorites. Yummm… Pancake tea with crepes and my family was the perfect way to start off the first day of the year! My Doggies (Sencha and Mona) slept soundly after a night of Fireworks (which both amazed them and terrified them… It was cute to watch!).

This tea doesn’t stop putting a smile on my face, no matter how many times I drink it. I am seriously considering getting a third pouch of it before it is sold out. I think that Frank should add this to the permanent collection for 2012!!! ; )

Today the dough and syrup played in nicely with the black tea. Even though it is unbearably hot today in Quito, my warm cup of tea was delicious! Oh pancake tea, please don’t ever stop being so tasty a nommy!

Cheers to the New Year!!! (Raising cup of tea…)

Vanilla is my favorite flavor. No ifs, ands, or buts… When I saw that French Vanilla was one of the teas in the 12 days of Christmas (day 8 if I recall correctly…) I was thrilled! Vanilla and from 52teas… Wow… My hopes and expectations soared!

The only bad thing about getting so excited is that your expectation become exaggerated and may lead to disappointments. This was my case this time around… I didn’t write a review on the first day I had it because I had gotten myself so worked up about trying it, that I was sad after I dad. A week and a few days later, after reading how much others liked it, I picked it up to try again. I am happy I did!

The leaves smell more like cream than vanilla to me. The more I smell it, the more it reminds me of vanilla ice cream and not just plain cream. The black tea base is very prominent, but this isn’t a bad thing at all.

The resulting darkish brew is vanilla tasting, but still prominent on the cream aspect of it. Without any sweetener it is an enjoyable smooth creamy tea, I didn’t get straight vanilla. With sugar added, the vanilla peaked through a bit more. The creaminess of it was the most notorious aspect to me. The black tea base was a little astringent; I felt that this obscured the vanilla a tad.

The second brew was more enjoyable to me. The astringency played down and the vanilla was still strong enough to be evident. Half unsweetened and the second half of it sweetened. Both enjoyed!

Worth trying, enjoyed it, not my favorite vanilla, but it is still a good one! : )

I had the last of my first pouch of this tea today (from the 12 days of Christmas sampler). I liked it a little bit more… but not enough to ever want it again. It does taste exactly like pop corn, and I think that this is the reason that I can barely drink it. My brain keeps getting in the way and my tummy is doing summersaults and asking me why I keep drinking this bizarre thing that I keep feeling like should be chewing and added salt to…

So… I actually have a second 12 days of Christmas set from 52teas (long story… But I am very happy to have a second of most of the teas!). And I am more than willing to ship off the unopened sample of this tea to someone who hasn’t tried it yet! I don’t need anything in return, just keep posting reviews, reading makes me smile! : )

If you are interested, post a reply to this tasting note or go ahead and PM me. It will go to the first person to get in touch with me who hasn’t tried it yet.

I have been on a roll with 52teas. I have been enjoying every one I tried. I guess I can’t like everything and lucky streaks can’t last for ever.

It took me a while to decide to purchase this, but I like vanilla, mate and mint enough that I eventually gave in. As soon as it arrived I opened it to sniff at it. It coated the inside of my nose with “toothpaste” smell. Not what I was expecting. It was very sharp. After this experience it took me a long while to urge myself on to try it.

I steeped my 2 teaspoons to 12oz of boiling water. The smell of the brewing tea was much more pleasant than the actual leaves. It smelled smooth and creamy reminding me of Creme de Menthe. At this point I became a little more optimistic about liking the tea.

I tried it unsweetened and I got sharp spearmint taste. The vanilla was there, but not as smooth as I was expecting it. The Mate flavor was permeating through all the other flavors. Its woodiness and slight bitterness reminded me throughout the cup that this mint had caffeine! It reminded me of Root beer, except it was hot (not really a good thing…).

Once it cooled down I found it a little more palatable, but I can’t imagine me actually wanting to have more of this… I will try it iced, which might work well since I do like Root beer (cold…).

Oh well…

This reminded me of the first encounter I had with one of Franks teas. Not because of the similarity in flavors, but because of the intense smell that greets you as soon as the package is open. On this occasion it was mouth watering vanilla and spices. I think it was just what I needed tonight! The puppy is still growing and has decided that her favorite pass time is bothering my older dog. It is exhausting to control her after I am used to my trained and well behaved older doggy. I can’t wait for her to grow up! : ) In the mean time, vanilla, spices and black tea will carry me along.

I believe that this was supposed to be the 10th tea of the 12 teas of Christmas, but tasting it got postponed due to holiday craziness (though I did open it and sniff on the correct day!).

Did I already mention that the smell was spectacular? I think so… But I will repeat it, the smell was amazing! Vanilla and Spices and if I thought about it I could even get a hint of the caramel. Impressive.

I steeped 2 teaspoons to my 12oz of water. 3 minutes of wait while I drooled to the scent of spicy vanilla. Drum-roll and…. wow… so bitter… Added milk and sugar… Better, but bitterness still there… The aftertaste was good vanilla and spice, so I was determined to keep trying.

Second cup steeped for 2.5 minutes with only 1.5 teaspoons for my 12oz. After 2.5 minutes of fingers crossed, I had a first sip. Hmm… Not bad! Much less bitter and still about the same amount of spiciness! As an added bonus I got a tiny bit of caramel something that added to the vanilla. Milk and sugar added and it became delicious! I had to try really hard not to gulp it down. After that first sip, the caramel got lost to me, but the vanilla and spices worked wonders!

Now, I have two cups of Caramel Vanilla Chai in my belly and two doggies fast asleep. Aaahhh… Pure bliss! : )

First, and most importantly, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope that celebrations were joyful and full of love!

Second, I have been a bit absent due to all of the craziness of the holidays, but things are returning to more normal and manageable pace. I haven{t been able to drink each of the Twelve Days of Christmas on the correct days, but I have been opening them on the right days. : )

This was the last of the series. I was really excited to find out what it was going to be! I opened the little packet right before we started opening Christmas gifts with my family. I was really happy when I smelled chocolate. I couldn’t place the scent as a whole, but the chocolate was jumping up and down and waving its hands at me. I was happy when I finally peeked and saw it was milk and cookies!

I steeped it and ended up with a pleasant brown liquor that smelled just like Chocolate Chip Cookies (the scent reminded me of the smell that hits you when you open a package of Chips Ahoy!). Unsweetened it tasted pretty generic. Just black tea that was vaguely chocolaty. I added brown sugar and the result was much more like what I was expecting. Sweet chocolate showing up first and cake/cookie hanging out as an aftertaste.

This is the first time that I felt that the tea base in 52teas got in the way of the flavoring. It was a bit astringent for cookie. It didn’t stop me from enjoying two cups of it (the second even more sweetened and even more cookie like! : ) )

I really liked this tea. Didn’t quite make it in to the “league of my favorite teas” but it was just what I wanted for Christmas present opening and family sharing and celebrating.

Once again, Merry Christmas to all! Thanks for sharing your thoughts through tea with all of us! It is a gift I cherish every day! : )

Another wonderful day in terms of Doggies getting along! Yay! In terms of work, on the other hand, it has been long and intense. Thankfully it is now over and I am free to enjoy my tea and my dogs!

I settled down with a cup of this, the 7th tea of the 12 days of Christmas from 52teas!

I was happy to try this blend. The other cheesecake tea from 52teas that I have tried (pumpkin cheesecake) I loved, so this was exciting to say the least. The smell of the leaves was oddly fruity with a coconutty aroma hanging out in your nostrils. The shredded coconut looked tasty and beautiful in the honeybush.

I steeped it the smell was all coconut. It reminded me slightly of sunblock, which is supposed to smell like coconut, so I guess this is a good thing. First sip unsweetened was smooth and creamy, sweetened the creaminess was even more notorious and the coconut shown through even stronger than before. The coconut in this blend doesn’t taste artificial, in fact, it is the the most realistic coconut flavor I have ever tasted in a tea!

My only issue with this tea is that I got 0 cheesecake flavor… Oh well… Still really enjoyable though!

I really enjoyed this cup of tea, but personally, I feel that the wonderful flavors may stand out more with a black tea base! : )

Today has been a good day. My very jealous dog seems to have finally decided that she was going to get along with my new puppy! After a week of continuous supervision dealing with outbursts of nipping and growling, today, finally, they started playing as if nothing had ever happened. They played and played and I smiled and smiled as my boyfriend giggled with me as if we were kids. So happy!

To celebrate this happy turn on events, I had the 6th of the 12 days of Christmas teas! This particular one I had been curious about for a long time. I am not a fan of Genmaicha , so I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t like it just because it would remind me of it. On the other hand, I really love rice crispy treats… So I was thrilled to get to try it!

As soon as I opened the packet I smelled sweet, not quite marshmallow but yummy and promising. I was expecting to see real marshmallows, not marshmallow root. Sad but not terrible.

The brew was a very light golden green that smell like marshmallow treats with a suspicious hint of cupcake. All in all I was still very excited about it. I sweetened it with generous amounts of brown sugar.

All of my high expectations were sadly not exceeded by the flavor. I sipped and sipped and all I got was sweet genmaicha with a hint of marshmallow. It still smelled amazing, enough so that anyone who walked into the room asked what smelled so great, but the taste just wasn’t as spectacular as the smell.

I really thought that this was going to be one of my favorites, but I guess my disliking genmaicha got in the way. I did enjoy it, but it didn’t live up to what I had prepared myself for. It was enjoyable and a good companion to my happy, warm, fuzzy joy of seeing my two doggy girls get along! : )

Finally caught up on the 12 teas of Christmas! I have been drinking down my whole package of this, though I haven’t been writing tasting notes every time I drink it. It is really just as good every time I brew it.

I was really happy to see this be included! I hope a bunch of people will get to try it out and pounce on what is left of the stock of it so Frank will decide to add it to the permanent collection! ; )

I have learned through trial and error that this is best when really sweet, much like pancakes are best smothered in maple syrup! (I feel like I have mentioned this previously).

Happy with my 5th day of 52teas Christmas!

One day late on this tea from the 12 days of Christmas…

This tea is wow… Yep… This tea is wow… I find no other way to accurately put it. Most definitely Sherbet. 100% of the way. So much so that my brother smelled, sipped, looked puzzled and asked how Frank does it! His exact question was: “Does this actually has Sherbet melted in it?” I was very tempted to just say yes, I can’t imagine how else black tea could be urged to taste so similar to Sherbet…

When I opened and sniffed and looked at the leaves I smelled fruity and vaguely familiar. I looked at the label and I knew that the familiarity I was getting was because it was reminding me of Sherbet! I haven’t had Sherbet in years (I have never seen it in Ecuador…) and it was neat to me that the memory of the taste/smell was so familiar still. The pieces of berry and orange peal made the tea leaves just as fun to look at as real sherbet. So colorful!

I was weary of what I would think of HOT sherbet. I was pretty sure that this would end up being a tea that needed to be iced. As I brewed it and the smell spread through the kitchen, I couldn’t help getting excited about it. It smelled more and more just like Sherbet.

As with all teas that taste like something sweet, I decided to go ahead and add sugar. Stirred until it all dissolved, crossed my fingers and sipped… and… success! Sherbet in tea form has been a great idea! Even hot it is delicious! I get orange, berry and lime taste (if I think about each of the flavors separately) and a smooth vanilla finish with a dash of astringency to remind you it is a black tea. The aftertaste is pure “I just had a mouthful of sherbet!” Wow… I haven’t tried it iced yet, but I am sure that it will be just as good.

Rarely a tea comes along that even non tea lovers are surprised by it in a good way. This is one of those few occasions!