Ninavampi

The third tea from the twelve teas of Christmas! I am opening each tea on the correct day, but I decided that for this particular tea, it was better to wait and try it iced before I gave my final verdict on this tea. The time has come… : )

When I opened this tea, fruitiness exploded from the packet. I did guess the strawberry part, but completely missed the lemon. I also smelled white tea (yay for me!) The leaves where pretty to look at, with small bright red strawberry pieces decorating the delicate Bai Mu Dan. The scent kept reminding me of something I could’t quite place, until it hit me… Fruity Pebbles! It smelled exactly like Fruity Pebbles!

I first had it hot. It was enjoyable. Once brewed I got mostly lemon and no strawberry with an aftertaste of Fruity Pebbles and an afterthought of tart tingling on the back of my tongue. I enjoyed the cup, but felt that it was meant to be iced.

I used up the rest of the leaves to make some iced. Yum! Liquid Fruity Pebbles! I even hyper sweetened it to make it more similar! I loved it! To me there was little none of Strawberry Lemonade, but the idea of a Fruity Pebbles flavored tea was brilliant to me! : )

Another great experience with 52teas! Counting down to Christmas taking care of a new puppy has never been more delicious.

Backlogging from the first day of Christmas of 52teas…

So, after a few incredibly stressful days of trying to make sure my dog and the new puppy played nice, came the time to open my first of the 12 Christmas teas! I was a wreck, a bundle of nerves, stress and worries making sure that the doggy situation would work out OK for my Sencha and new little Mona.

I was really excited when I saw that it was buttered popcorn. I had always been really curious about this blend. I love kettle corn, and figured that sweetened it must taste just like it!

When I first opened it and sniffed it, I had no idea what it was. It smelled sweet and almost fruity. I am glad to see that I am not the only one who got this from this tea. When I finally looked at the label it suddenly smelled just like popcorn! Interesting indeed.

While I brewed it, the smell continued to be popcorn. I was excited to try it! So, first sip, no sweetener, very popcorn. It tasted just like unsalted movie theater popcorn, or rather it tasted like movie theaters smell! My boyfriend works in the administrative department of a movie theater so this smell is very familiar to me. I liked it, not loved it.

Then I sweetened it. Surely enough, it resembled Kettle Corn. Strangely, this wasn’t a good thing for me. It was this that made me realize that popcorn is definitely meant to be eaten, not drunk. I believe that it is the saltiness factor of popcorn that makes this not a good tea flavor for me.

To sum it up, this really does taste like popcorn, but I don’t like flavors that should be salty (in my opinion) in my tea. Many people really like it, and I can understand why! I am really happy I got to try it, but I will definitely not be ordering it! It was a fun little adventure! : )

2nd Day of 12 teas!

Puppies are exhausting, especially when you have to keep an eye on both the puppy and your adult dog to make sure they are being nice to each other… and work a full work day. Due to this, I have been getting around to opening and brewing my teas a little late. But better late than never! It gives me a great way to unwind at the end of long long days.

When I opened this tea I was hit with caramel smell. Thick and gooey. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the label. Not only did I guess the caramel right, but it sounded and smelled delicious! The leaves had little cashew pieces that made me smile.

Steeped it gave off a wonderful nutty caramel smell. I tried it unsweetened first, and as I expected, the flavor didn’t quite pop out. Added sugar and POOF! burst of flavor. I didn’t get chocolate, but definitely a smooth nutty caramel taste. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Now, finally, laying in bed as the rain softly hits my window, with an empty tea cup on my night table, a sleeping beautiful doggy at the foot of my bed and a snoring puppy in her kennel, all is bound to work out all right.

Happiness is a warm dog and puppy and a hot cup of tea! : )

Wow… Today was one of those days that come to and end and you have to pause and think to make sure that everything that happened was for real. I am so hyped up right now, that hopefully typing this up with settle down my hyper mind so that I can get some sleep.

First off, my Dad accidentally broke my favorite tea cup last night. I actually shed a tear for it. It was a gift from my best friend when I left the US, and I can’t buy another one here in Ecuador, so I am going to have to order one and have someone eventually bring it to me. So, my morning cup of tea, had to be prepared in a different cup… : (

To start off my day, hopefully on a more positive note, I had some of this tea. I purchased it from a lady that was selling it at a Christmas fair here in Ecuador. It was random enough to find someone in Ecuador selling loose leaf tea in Ecuador at a Christmas fair that I had to buy it…

The leaves were pretty to look at. I feel that rose petals add a ice delicate touch to almost anything that they are added to. In this case, the only role they played in the blend was visual. I could smell rose at all. It was pretty much all cinnamon with a touch of vanilla/cake smell. Weird, because it doesn’t mention having vanilla in it at all.

The brewed tea smelled like a plastic cinnamon. Yep. If cinnamon were made of plastic, it would smell like this… It wasn’t terrible, just not quite natural. The flavor, thankfully, was a lot better. It reminded me of red hots, and the plastic smell somehow turned into a creamy taste. So, in the end, it turned out to taste like creamy red hots… I like it enough that I had a second cup of it, sweetened with Splenda. Sweet it was pretty good! : )

I wouldn’t buy this again, but I am happy I gave it a chance!

So, after I finished the tea, I went with my boyfriend to buy ice cream, and we randomly ran in to an English Bulldog breeder! So, one thing led to another, and I am now laying in bed with my beautiful French Bulldog (Sencha) and tiny little baby Mona Lisa!!!! So surreal… Sencha is very jealous at the moment, but I really hope that the company will suit her well!

…and that wraps up my surreal day… : )

I am very confused… So, I received a small sample of this Tie Guan Yin quite a while back. It was hiding in my cabinet until I discovered it’s hiding place and dragged it out to be steeped. I love Tie Guan Yins and Oolongs in general, so I was pretty sure I was going to love this one.

As soon as I opened the bag I got a punch in the face of smokiness. I took a step back, and shyly opened it again. Once again, BOOM, smokiness. Hmm… I wasn’t expecting this… I am not a huge fan of Lapsang Souchong, and this smelled just like it.

The brewed tea was better than I expected, after all, one can’t expect too much after having been punched in the face by a tea… There was definitely a smokey smell which stood up in the taste, but once I got over it, the usual Tie Guan Yin flavor I am used to showed up and waved its hands wildly as if to say “Hey! I’m still here! Don’t give up on meeeee!”. I finished my cup happily. It was a nice new experience for me.

Since it was only a sample, I almost out of it, and I can’t see myself ordering again. I have to admit that it was a pleasant experience. Smokey may just be growing on me, especially when Tie Guan Yin is playing hide and seek with the smokey flavor! If you like smokey, then you should give this a try! : )

Play-Doh… Great fun when you are 5 or 25! And the smell is so memorable, that even though I haven’t played with this soft as can be dough in years, that I still remember it! This tea made my childhood memory area of my brain light up and scream out “Play-Doh, PLAAAAY-DOOH…” Not quite what I was expecting from a Cinnamon-Vanilla tea, but definitely an interesting experience!

The dry tea smelled like plastic and cinnamon. It was, by no means, a good smell. The only reason I decided to purchase it is because the sales person told me it was her favorite, and I was excited with the tea shop being in Ecuador… When I opened the bag of tea at home, it still smelled just like it did in the store. Silly me thinking that it would magically smell better once I was going to brew it…

I steeped 2 teaspoons to 12oz of water and ended up with a pretty generic looking black tea. But… it smelled just like Play-Doh!!! I sniffed at it multiple times, and every single whiff vividly reminded me of Play-Do!

Did you ever taste Play-Doh? I did… It smelled sooo good that it was bound to taste delicious right? Except, it tasted awful… One taste was enough to make me never want to taste Play-Doh again. So, this is where this tea is very different than Play-Doh! It tasted like what I wanted Play-Doh to taste like! With a little sugar added it was pretty good! Sweet Play-Doh flavor in a tea cup!

I know I will never buy this again, but I did enjoy getting the chance to enjoy Play-Doh in a palatable fashion!

Second tea in my second 52teas order! The novelty of being able to receive tea in Ecuador is far from wearing off. I love getting a call from the receptionist at my office letting me know that a package from the US has arrived for me! : )

I opened this tea immediately just to sniff it. Yum… Strawberryish! Very strawberry and little everything else. Not what I was expecting, but still yummy.

I brewed 2 tsp to 12oz of water. As it brewed I smelled something doughy and if I really thought about it, some lingering maple. All in all it the scent was very pleasant. The liquor was golden green and shimmered nicely in my glass teacup.

I sweetened it generously with brown sugar, as I mentioned in my other pancake tea review, pancakes and maple syrup have to be sweet. Delicious! The strawberry played in nicely with the dough taste and a slight maple flavor that was more of an aftertaste. I basically gulped down this entire cup. Next time I want to sip it slower… Hopefully I will be able to! : )

Finally, finally, finally… After what seemed like forever to wait… I received my second 52 teas order in Ecuador! : ) This order took longer than the last order to arrive, so I started to loose hope that it would arrive, that maybe it got “lost” in customs… But it is here! Yay!!! Joy, joy, joy!

I was particularly excited about this tea because the day I decided to purchase it, it suddenly sold out! I was so mad at myself for taking so long to decide that the last one managed to be sold… But then, magically, it reappeared as “in-stock”! So I quickly ordered it and sat back semi-patiently to wait for it to arrive.

The leaves are broken a bit smaller than what I was originally expecting for a white tea, but this could have a lot to do with it having been shipped across an entire continent to me! They we nice and fuzzy! I had two large cherries sitting in the tea, looking quite comfortable among the leaves. It would be great to sit on a heap of Bai Mu Dan! Lucky cherries….

The smell of the dry leaves was distinctly Bai Mu Dan with a hint of cherry rather than the other way around. I was happy it worked this way, because the tea smelled delicious!

I brewed two teaspoons of the tea and picked out one cherry to brew with it as well! (Once again, lucky cherry! Bathing Bai Mu Dan!) The brew smelled a bit more of cherry, but the white tea scent still stood up well. I didn’t smell any almond or amaretto like smell… Or vanilla, which I was hoping for…

From the first sip, the cherry showed up first, followed by fruity Bai Mu Dan, a somewhat nutty taste, with a smooth vanilla finish. I was glad that the vanilla finally decided to show up!

The first cup I had I sweetened, and the second I had plain. The sugar really made the cherry and creamy flavors shine, but without sweetener it was just as good with the tea flavor taking center stage.

I really enjoyed this tea. Sadly there is only 1oz of it… Compared to the other blends from 52teas that I have tried, it isn’t my favorite, but it is worth trying and enjoying for sure!

I woke up this morning and couldn’t decide what tea to take to work with me today. There are a few teas that I am trying to drink down because I need to make more room and also just need to get rid of. I decided that I would go with Strawberry Pu Erh. No particular reason, mostly just the fact that I hadn’t in a while.

The smell is surprisingly creamy. I smell strawberries and cream with pu erh as a prominent background. The leaves are dark and ominous with little pieces of strawberries poking through to make it less monotonous looking.

I brewed 2 tsp to 16oz of water. The smell continued to be creamy with strawberries. I like creamy! There was an earthy undertone which I am sure was contributed by the pu erh.

The brew was a nice brown color that was exactly the color of my dogs spots! : ) It made me smile to realize this (my dog is actually called Sencha, I don’t think Pu Erh would make a very good dog name…).

The taste wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping for. I still got a creamy strawberry flavor with a nice earthy pu erh flavor to accompany it, but something wasn’t quite right. The transition from strawberry to pu erh wasn’t smooth enough. Almost as if you got one, pause, and then the other. I added a bit of sweetener to see if it got better, and thankfully it did! The sweetness made the strawberry and cream play in nicely with the earthy pu erh.

I actually ended up enjoying this tea, it just wasn’t something spectacular or that I would order again. I will enjoy what I have left with sweetener or sugar.

This is another of the teas I purchased from Bigote, the nifty place with the cups with mustaches on them! The cups make me super happy, instant smile!

I am not entirely sure what type of green it is… But, there is no doubt that it is green! The leaves are a beautiful deep green color that is almost as bright as it is deep. The name is very fitting. The scent is thoroughly vegetable. Almost like steamed spinach with asparagus.

I did 3 steeps of this. The first was a beautiful green that tasted and smelled entirely like spinach. Sadly, I am not a big fan of spinach, so this wasn’t a great cup of tea to me. The second steep was less spinach, still vegetable and there was a hint of oolong sweetness hanging around in the background. The third steep was awful. It tasted like water with astringency added to it. Water is not supposed to be astringent… So second steep was by far the best.

I won’t be buying this again. It just isn’t for me. If you like vegetable taste teas, you will enjoy this. I just am not a fan…

EDIT: I removed the rating because I feel that this is a tea that some people may really enjoy. I just don’t like vegetable broth flavor as the main note in my tea. : )

I love mint. All kinds! I am lucky to have it growing generously around my house. Even though I am able to pick it fresh and use it in my tea, I have found that the fresh peppermint I pick can taste very different from the ones I have tried in the US. Maybe the Ecuador variety is different from the US type? Both are delicious, just different.

This is one of my favorite peppermints. The leaves a pleasant fresh green and have an unmistakably minty aroma. They are in small pieces, but I feel that part of the strength that his tea has is due to this.

I brew a 2 teaspoons for 12oz, but I enjoy it really strong. 1tsp to 12oz will make a pretty tasty brew as well. The liquor is very dark murky green, almost brown.

The taste is a minty punch in the mouth followed by a pleasant minty breeze aftertaste. (sounds like a toothpaste commercial… But trust me, it tastes much better!) With a bit of honey or sugar it is great as a relaxing night time tea, refreshing iced tea, great for sore throat and upset tummy!

I brewed it today with Adagio’s Vanilla Black to make Candy Cane flavor (equal parts, I used 4 teaspoons of each for a large teapot full). I loved it! So did my family who got to drink it with cheesecake and pumpkin pie. (A belated Thanksgiving in Ecuador! : ) ). It was great hot and I loved it even more iced. Even though I wasn’t able to find actual Candy Canes in Ecuador, I feel that this captured Candy Cane flavor perfectly! Great way to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas Season! I am so happy, I love Christmas time!

First and foremost Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! Even though I am far away, I still celebrate! Sadly, there is no vacation for Thanksgiving in Ecuador, but I took the day off to stay home and share it with my family and doggy.

This tea is always a pleasure to drink. As long as you don’t oversteep it, it is really hard to mess up.

The leaves are nice mix of large pieces of spices. some apple pieces and adagios usual black tea base. It is both pretty and fragrant. I always get oohs and aahs when I open the tin. It smells deliciously spicy.

I used 2 teaspoons to my 12oz of water and steeped for 3 minutes. The brew is reddish brown. It smells rich and spicy. Adding brown sugar generously it manages to taste a lot like apple cider. It is missing a tiny bit of apple tartness to be actually called an apple cider tea.

I added a bit of milk and the apple flavor does a disappearing act! It is completely gone! It is still a decent chai, but no longer apple at all. No matter how much I tried to find it, it was gone. Poof!

I made another cup to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t! Without milk apple ciderish yummy tea. With milk decent chai no apple at all!

I do really like this tea. I don’t think I will add milk to it again, as there are plenty of chais that work great in lattes. This one is yummy all by itself.

This is a happy tea. Happy, creamy, yummy, chocolaty, strong, smooth mate and black tea blend. It is an experience. I needed something like this this morning when I woke up way to early to realize that I had some work to catch up on. Thankfully, the internet exists, and through some magic programming I was able to work in my bed with a hot cup of tea curled up with my dog. Ok… When I put it that way, it actually doesn’t sound miserable at all!

The description of it as Mate is a bit misleading, as I make out a lot more black tea than roasted Mate. But, in all fairness, the roasted Mate is there and you can find it if you look for it! It smells amazing. It really is a happy smell to me. A nice mix of chocolate and vanilla backed up with tea. Yum…

I brewed 2 teaspoons to 12oz so that it would be a strong and tasty companion through my work on Sunday morning. It smell remained consistent as you I brewed. Filling my kitchen with chocolaty goodness. Sadly, no one was awake to comment on how good my tea made the kitchen smell… My dog had no comments… Still love her though!

The brew was a burgundy brown. I added a teaspoon of brown sugar. It is really good. It tastes just like it smells, and in this case, that is a good thing! The chocolate vanilla notes still stand out and you can taste tea in the background. It is like sipping liquid dark chocolate brownies with a roasty tea flavor to accompany it.

I really enjoy this tea. It always manages to cheer me up and be the right choice when I need something sweet and strong to make it through the day (or just because!).

I ended up finishing all of my work, and having extra cuddle time with my sleepy lovely dog! Wasn’t that terrible a Sunday morning after all! : )

So… Weight to go… Really? hahaha… Well, the ingredients sounded interesting, regardless of silly names or not.

This tea smell delicious. It really does. It has a very candy like berry/mint thing going on that seems to be an addictive scent to sniff… Though, I do have to agree with teatoad that it is remarkably similar to the smell of Trident Strawberry gum. Almost exactly… Wow… Anyways… The tea base is pu-erh, though I see very few tea leaves in relationship to the fruit pieces (apple squares, strawberries…). I can’t see any spearmint, but I can unmistakably smell it.

Once again with Teavana’s teas I was worried about the fruit to tea ration when steeping, so I used 2 heaping teaspoons for my 12oz cup. It smelled great while steeping. The spearmint became a bit stronger in the scent and the fruit a bit less candy like.

The tea itself was a pretty pinkish color. It tasted pretty much exactly what it smelled like. I got absolutely no pu-erh… None… Even after exaggerating the amount of tea. I still got Strawberry Trident. I am not sure that this is what I want in a tea.

I have a full 2oz of this one (the least I could purchase online). I think that I will eventually drink through it, but surely won’t purchase again. I will try it iced to see if it works any better…

On a side note…

Today is the Harvard-Yale football game! My whole time at Yale I only went to one of these games, and we lost. : ( I lost track of the scores, but apparently Harvard has beat Yale for 5 consecutive years… That is not good news… Hopefully this year Yale will win!! Go Yale! : )

In a much better mood today! Yay! Since I was in such high spirits I let myself open one of my unopened, not yet tasted teas! Yipee!

I decided to go for this chai 1. Becuase I have been wanting chai 2. Because I still had a bit of latte base (that I made 4 days ago…) that I wanted to use up and figured this would work great with it!

Brand new tea opening is always so fun! I opened it and breathed in the first whiff of this tea. First thought: “Yum! Spicy Chai!” Second thought: “Wait… Where is the coconut creaminess? Where are my coconut pieces?” Turns out the coconut pieces where much smaller that what they look like in the picture (think grated cheese). Once I scooped out my 2 teaspoons I did get a hint of coconut creaminess, but not as strong as I was wanting it to be.

I brewed it for 5 minutes (as recommended) and ended up with a creamy smelling chai! This is much more like the smell that I was expecting. I smelled a lot of clove and cinnamon with notes of cardamom and pepper. The lemon grass poked through nicely when brewed. It popped up to say “I’m here, I’m here!” and lead way for the final note which was a creamy coconut.

I tasted it first plain. It was pretty sweet on its own and had a nice creamy something towards the end. Not quite coconut, but it reminded me more of butter cookies with a hint of coconut. The lemon grass was a main player along with the other chai spices, and definitely a good inclusion. Once I added my latte mix (basically just 1 part condensed milk stirred over heat with 2 parts milk) the coconut leaped out, but I lost a bit of the lemongrass which I really was enjoying. I think I almost like this plain more than with milk!

I happily finished up my Thai Chai latte and smiled knowing that I have a full 3oz of tea to drink before it is gone! : )

A good twist to a chai. Not strong enough to be my favorite but good enough to make me smile.

Teavana Matevana + Teavana Chai/Chai blend = Cinnamon roll.

Yep, this is spectacular. I don’t particularly like Matevana, and I still have some I need to do something with. So, in an act of desperation I mixed 1 teaspoon of this and 1 teaspoon of the chai/chai sample that I had received with my order from them in hopes of making it enjoyable.

Turns out, that I created cinnamon roll tea!!! Really! It is the closest to cinnamon roll that I have ever had a tea taste. I am really surprised. It is so good a blend that next time I buy from Teavana I will get a bit of each of these teas so that I can get cinnamon roll goodness!!!

I also should probably mention that cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite sweets!!!

I am super happy that this worked out so well for me! I will have to try it with milk next time. : )

I believe I bought way too much of this tea. It sounded so great that I decided I needed to get enough to last me. And I did, and this is why I have way too much of this tea. I have had a few cups before, but this is my first time logging it. I have enjoyed it every time (thankfully considering I have a whole lot of it to drink through). My fondest memory of this tea is of it helping me through a tough case of laryngitis. With a bit of mint, it was perfect for my sore throat!

It is really pleasing to look at. I can make out the berries and green tea leaves. I think it is best described as looking “fun”. It smells great, berry being the main note followed by mint and, if you think about it, lime or lemon (definitely something citrus hiding among the berries, tea, and mint).

The brew (usual 2 tsp to 16oz of water) is an interesting purplish color. I get varying shades of it every time I brew it. I believe the color depends on the amount of berries in each spoonful, which can vary greatly. The scent is filled with berries and subtle hint of mint. I don’t get the citrus anymore. There is always a bit of a weird accompanying smell, which is malty (in a beer sort of way). I don’t really know where it comes from… It is the odd one out, making this tea loose some points for not being as smooth as it could be.

The flavor is great. First up berry followed by fresh mint. If you sweeten it, the mint will almost completely disappear and berry will take over. If you want to sweeten it, you should add more spearmint. In fact, adding more spearmint even if you aren’t going to sweeten it is a great idea. : )

I still tasted a bit of the malty “odd one out” I got in the smell, but it didn’t bug me. What did bug me was the sour taste it left in my mouth once the mint taste disappeared. Sour is not the way I like for my mouth to taste…

I like this tea, I really do… but it could be better. Adding more mint helps it reach the “great” mark, but it doesn’t quite make it. Still I am happy with the large amount I have and may consider reordering one day!

Today is just one of those days, where nothing particularly good or bad has happened, but they are still sorta meh… I got home from work and was greeted by my very happy dog, which did cheer me up a little, but still… After feeding her and settling down, I made myself a cup of this tea which I was particularly excited about. I love milk oolongs, and for some reason I thought that this, being chocolate, would live up to the creamy sweetness.

The leaves were pretty to look at didn’t get much of a creamy chocolate smell, just a hint of dark chocolate enough to remind me that it is flavored. I got a decent amount of oolong smell.

I brewed it for 1 minute (usual 2 teaspoons to 16oz of water) and produced a golden green brew. It smelled a bit like chocolate, but it was very artificial. I let it cool down a bit, and took my first sip… I didn’t like it. Second sip… Still not liking it. Tried sweetening it with a bit of sweetener. Still nope… Not getting it.

Just in case tried for a second steep. It was definitely better. More oolong and much less of what tried to be chocolate. Still not something I would choose to drink if given the option.

Sadly, didn’t meet my expectations. I have enough for one more cup. I may try it milked with sugar (I know, I know… But it is that or through what is left out, and I really don’t want to through it out…).

Also, didn’t help my mood much, so I am looking for a second something to brew to cheer me up!

So, I am on a lucky streak! Found a second shop (though tiny) in Ecuador that also sells a small selection of loose leaf teas! It is a cute little place called Bigote (which means mustache in Spanish). They serve cups of freshly brewed loose leaf and if you ask nicely, they will let you buy some to brew at home. Also, a neat little detail, all of the cups have a mustache on them so that when you are drinking from them, it sorta creates the illusion that you have a mustache!

I talked to the owner (who happens to be from the US, and has lived in China for years, and now in Ecuador) and she kindly explained to me that all her teas are imported directly from China, so I have no idea from where exactly. I decided to buy a few of the teas they offered so that, if good, I could have a second place to go for tea when I needed it! Sadly, I didn’t have much cash with me, so I only bough about 4 teaspoons of each that I chose so I could try them.

The first one I brewed was this Shou Mei. I have actually never been a fan of white teas. But considering I had never had Shou Mei, I decided to go for it. The leaves where not whole, but in large chunks. The leaves where a nice mix of browns, greens and a bit of furry whiteness here and there. The smell was not very impressive to me. It smelled a bit dull, but I have no other Shou Mei’s to compare it to.

I brewed 2 teaspoons to 18oz of water and ended up with a beautiful golden yellow liquor. Darker than whites that I have had before, but I was really pleased just looking at it through my glass tea cup. It smelled very delicate, picked up notes of steamed rice and something very sweet and honey-like. It reminded me of some chewy rice milk candy I had tried at some point.

The taste fit in nicely with the smell. I tasted steamed rice followed by something vaguely vegetable with a smooth sweet finish and an even sweeter aftertaste. I got three really good steeps out of these leaves, each steep becoming sweeter than the last. I am really happily surprised. I need to get around to trying more white teas… I really enjoyed this one!

I am super happy. Ecstatic. Thrilled. : )

They opened a small tea shop in Ecuador. It isn’t very large, but it is quaint and enjoyable. And honestly, a huge step for tea in Ecuador. I always had to bring all of my tea from the US or Europe whenever someone came to visit! But, now I get to buy some of my own tea, at decent price, right here in Quito!

The tea shop is called Le The, and they sell a decent variety of teas. Most of them flavored, which is all right with me. I asked them what company they imported their tea from, and the store clerk didn’t know. So after I chose a few varieties I came home and went to work on Google! Since they kept the names on the teas I was able to find that all of the teas in the shop came from English Tea Shop! Confirmed! I am so excited! I am going to be able to get some of my tea right in the comfort of my own country! I love trying new teas!

The first tea I tried was this one. I only found it bagged on the site, but I bought it loose leaf. The leaves were small and dark. Didn’t smell very much like maple, but more like a light lapsang souchong. I decided to try it since I loved 52teas pancake tea so much. The blackness of the tea was pretty monotonous, but not really knowing what to expect, I went ahead with my 2 teaspoons for 16oz of boiling water.

The liquor also smelled smokey, and I got a bit worried. I do not like smokey teas. Not at all. They taste like chimney soot to me (sorry to those who enjoy them!)… I decided to go ahead and sweeten it before I tried it, just in case. I used 1 heaping teaspoon of brown sugar. I took my time stirring and dissolving the sugar. I was nervous that it would taste like a smokey sweet mess.

And… Sip… Sip…. Yum!!! I like it! It actually reminds me quite a bit of 52teas pancake blend! Not quite as smooth and a tad bit more smokey, but still enjoyable. It didn’t take me long to finish up my cup with a contented smile on my face. I didn’t get any chimney soot flavor, there was more of a Maple and Camp Fire flavored Cotton Candy thing going on (hope that makes sense!).

I am happy this tea is decent. I am happy that I can go wander around a (even if small) tea shop! And I am happy that I get to write about it and there is a possibility that someone out there has also had the chance to try it!

OK, happy giddy excitedness is all in writing now! : ) I might have to try this tea again and readjust the rating because my excitement might be influencing my taste buds…

Last night was surprisingly cold for Quito, Ecuador. It rained all afternoon and it got so cold at night that I actually put on a jacket inside the house! (We have no need for air-conditioning or heating because it never actually gets THAT hot or cold. In a way, that really convenient, but also I really miss the cold and snow…) I was really happy for the cold because it meant I had a great excuse to curl up in a blanket and sip a hot cup of tea!

I decided to go for this tea. I had tried the version with no berries in it a few years ago (and I am happy to see that the berries have been once again taken out of the blend!), but ordered it last time I got tea from Teavana and I was super sad to see that it was full of berries. Almost as many berries as tea leaves… My first reaction was shock. I couldn’t believe that I had payed that much money for 50% oolong and 50% raspberries… I wanted tea, not fruit… Oh well… After getting over my disappointment I tried to figure out how much dry tea I should use for my usual 16oz of hot water. It was hard for me to figure out because the amount of berries in each spoonful looked so much more plentiful than the tea. I decided to go for 3 teaspoons to make sure enough oolong made it in to my cup.

I steeped the first brew for 2 minutes in boiling water. I haven’t mentioned before that since Quito is at such a high altitude (3000 meters above sea level) water boils at 194F. Which means that all my temps are off by a bit when I talk about boiling water.

The brewed tea was a nice pinkish color, probably all due to the ridiculous amount of raspberries in the leaves. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually did smell oolong and raspberries in my cup!

The taste was better that I thought it would be. My complaint would be the added sour sensation that came with the fruit. After I got over that, there was a delicate raspberry flavor followed by a tiny bit of woody ending a sweet oolong afertaste. I love that I still had the oolong experience in my cup! It could have been much better if the tart, sour pieces of berry weren’t there to interfere.

The second brew (3 minutes) was more oolong and less berry, which I approved of. There still was a bit of tartness that felt out of place, but the oolong was tasty enough to keep me from focusing on it. Thankfully. The first flavor I got was tiny bit grassy, which I wasn’t expecting, but enjoyed. The sweet aftertaste to this oolong was stronger in the second brew.

I had a third brew of it this morning (forgot it brewing so I have no idea how long it brewed… ooops…). Even though the leaves steeped for a while, I didn’t get any bitter. I enjoyed it just as much as my second cup.

So, to sum it all up, it was good, but could be better. It is a decent oolong and as far as flavored oolongs go. I don’t think I will be paying for it again, but I will enjoy it while it lasts. : ) Maybe one day I will decide to try the non-raspberry pieces added version again… Maybe.

Had some more of this tea tonight. I was craving sweet and creamy and figured this would be the perfect solution! I was right! Wowed again! If anything, I liked it even better than last time! I changed the steeping time to only 2’30" and think that this is the perfect time for this tea. Much less bitter and more flavors!

Today I felt a little more of the creaminess and pumpkin in the brew. It really was like drinking liquid pumpkin cheesecake. The smell was delicious and I couldn’t help wishing with every sip and every wiff of the tea that the cup wouldn’t come to an end.

I rebrewed for 3’00" and got a delightful second cup. Almost as good as the first! Just a little lighter.

I sweetened the first cup with brown sugar and the second with Splenda. Brown sugar was far superior… It added and extra “oomph” to the illusion of liquid pumpkin cheese cake in a teacup.

It was so tasty that it has convinced me to order the permanent collection Pumpkin Pie tea. Hopefully it will live up to this one. I love it.

I hope I am able to make what I have left of this tea last for a long while. Or even better, maybe there will be reblend? I really hope so!

I got a shard of glass in my thumb today at work… It hurt. All day I have been fretting and worrying that a tiny piece of glass may still be stuck in my thumb. Also, I still can’t figure out why there were shards of glass on my desk… I work a desk job, how does glass break on your desk over the weekend and surprise you on Monday as you reach for your mouse!?!? Anyway, this ordeal made me get home in less than a great mood. To cheer up I decided to make some tea and eat some butter cookies!

Jasmine and butter cookies turned out to be a better combination than I ever could have imagined! So good I even forgot about my sore thumb for a bit!

The dry tea leaves smelled of fresh jasmine and hints of honeysuckle (I read KeenTeaThyme’s note and smiled to find someone else found honeysuckle as well! I’m not crazy yet!). I love honeysuckle! It was a happy smell to be greeted with as I opened my tin. I used 2 teaspoons for 12oz of water (wanted it strong).

The resulting liquor was a light yellow color which made me think of yellow roses. An appropriate association considering how floral this tea is! The smell was amazing. I felt that it became much more delicate once brewed (2’00"). The jasmine came upfront and left a lingering sweetness behind.

The first sip was a little more bitter than I expected, but with each sip the bitterness was slowly overcome with the sweet jasmine finally to be followed by a sweet honeysuckle after taste. The tea leaves own flavor was in background adding to the ecperience. Each sip was a journey through each of these flavors. I was sad when it was gone… Thankfully I have a tin full of this tea, so another fresh cup followed the first! This time I brewed for only 1’30", resulting in much less bitter and a lot more sweet. Which to me was a good thing, a very very good thing.

I am very happy with this tea. I generally enjoy jasmine and floral teas, and this one is a lot better than most. The flavor is stronger and sweeter than in most jasmines, so if you aren’t expecting the full blown jasmine aroma it may take you by surprise. I can only say that the extra sweet jasmine kick made me like this tea even more. It will be reordered the next opportunity I have to order from Adagio for sure!

Oh Grapefruit… Such a delicious fruit! So delicious, that for the longest of times I actually was positive it was called “Greatfruit”. I finally found out the hard way that it is actually grapefruit when I ordered “Greatfruit” and had a rude waiter stare me down and ask “Which great fruit???”. Hahahaha… Ooops…. So, once I got over being embarrassed and some reading later, I found out that the fruit got its name in 1814 when a botanist saw the Grapefruit clusters on a tree and decided that they looked like grapes. Vivid imagination I guess… Also, I found that the Grapefruit tree is an evergreen (I did not know that…)! Ok, back to the tea…

The small dark leaves that make up this tea are unimpressive at first glance. Broken leaves all a monotonous brown do not make for a beautiful blend. Thankfully, what it lakes in visual attractiveness it makes up in smell. It is sweet and citrus, perfect grapefruit aroma with a subtle woodiness from the oolong. Very appealing.

I brewed the usual 2 teaspoons of tea per 16oz of water. The liquor was a golden brown. The vapor rising from the tea carried whiffs of citrusy goodness.

The taste lived up to the smell. Sweet grapefruit (reminded me of pink grapefruit, which I can’t get in Ecuador…) with just the right amount of citrus, not quite enough for it to be sour which was perfect for me. The Oolong base worked really well with this flavor. The slightly woody first impression and the sweet smooth finish that Adagio’s oolong base has was a great compliment to the grapefruit. A little brown sugar highlights the grapefruit and dials down the woody (which isn’t overwhelming to begin with).

I really enjoyed this cup. It is perfect to go with breakfast it you aren’t in the mood for something creamy!

I only have a sample of this tea, but I believe I will be ordering more the next opportunity I have to put in an order from Adagio!

Also, I still think Grapefruit should be called Greatfruit instead! ; )