Rabs

With this tea I have fully converted to an Earl Grey fan. I know that my EG experience is very limited, but wow is this one good! I’ve had some horrible “Pledge-like” EGs, I’ve had some delicate inoffensive EGs, but this one? This is the most aggressive EG that I’ve had that makes me go NOM! I think I understand my Earl Grey Cream from Georgia Tea Company a lot better now that I’ve experienced this tea.

I wish that I did have more of a background with EGs so that I could describe this better. But the smell and taste of the bergamot? Well, it just seems so masculine, but there’s a nice sweetness in the aftertaste. No paper-yuck taste to be found. There will be a larger purchase of this. I look forward to someone else trying this who can break it down better so that I can understand where this fits in the EG world. TG

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act V scene 3

“This is the short and the long of it.”
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II scene 2

This bagged tea is like a distant relative of an ancient and powerful tea that’s the embodiment of Christmas smells. It’s nice and has good qualities. It’s also another one of those that if someone gave me some I’d be delighted to have it, but I’m not going to go out and track this down for my cupboard.

This tea I dub The Merry Wives of Windsor. This play is sort of a spin-off of Henry IV Part 1 and a pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-prequel to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Both this tea and play don’t take themselves seriously. They’re nice and there’s nothing wrong with them, but they’re not the best out there. NE

I had my first steep of this one earlier in the afternoon and then took my parents out to dinner and then Toy Story 3 to celebrate Father’s Day a day early. Toy Story 3? Yeah, it’s brilliant. That said, I cannot recall much of the first steep beyond it being a very pleasant tea. I agree with Kristin that it’s more subtle on the vanilla side of things, but to me it tastes natural. With this second steep (added 2 minutes) the tea’s sweetness is coming forward while the vanilla’s has taken a step or two back. Still very pleasant. Just an overall very pleasant inoffensive cup of vanilla tea. NE

My first Georgie Tea Company order came today! ::happy dance:: The poor priority mail box it came in looked like a tea goblin had decided to use it as a chair (it’s the first time that I’ve ever seen “Received in bad condition” stamped all around the address). No worries though — all my precious, precious tea is absolutely fine and arrived within 4 days of my order. I opened the box, dug through it until I found my Earl Grey Cream, and then I hugged the bag. I think I have a problem. Oh, and Daniel put a nice handwritten “thank you” to me on the invoice. It’s simple touches like that that make me an even happier customer.

With this order I also hit a milestone that I thought would take years and years to reach. Let me back up for a moment. When I first started reading notes on Steepster there were times that I would come across the mention of “lockdowns” because of too much tea or people just mentioning that they have waaaay too much tea. That was such a foreign concept to me and I thought That’s nigh impossible! Yeah, I’m there. It’s both a wonderful thing and a slightly terrifying thing that it happened so fast. I have plans to help lower the amount of tea I have (beyond the obvious one of me drinking it all), but wowsa. I almost feel like Scrooge McDuck at the beginning of Duck Tales where he’s diving through his big vault-o-gold (except I’m swimming through tea)! Next purchase? Some tea tins to decorate and make all of my samples/bagged teas safer/prettier.

On to this specific tea! I opted to try my sample of Irish Breakfast as a palate cleanser from the Orange Dulce I had earlier. I’ve had quite a few of GTC’s yummy flavored teas, but none of the straight-up black teas. I was also wanting a caffeine kick.

There’s very little info on GTC’s website about this tea, so I’ll give it a go:

ASSAM-A-LLAMA-DING-DONG!

I’m having trouble figuring out the rest of the blend. It’s been long enough where my “try Assam, Keemun, and Ceylon side-by-side taste test” is starting to fade in my memory so my ability to figure out the more subtle hints of those specific teas is weakening. On the first steep this came across as very earthy — almost Pu Erh-levels of earthiness. So perhaps there’s some Keemun? Second steep (added a minute) has lots of sweetness coming through and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s a great option for a non-smoky morning-booster for me. NE

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act V scene 2

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
The Merchant of Venice, Act IV scene 1

When I tore open this teabag’s packet this morning I was quite intrigued by the smell. I think that I actually inhaled some of the escaped fannings while my nose was jammed into the packet. I was trying to figure out the scent. I had been expecting a Constant Comment-esque smell, but this was completely different ::sniff-sneeze!:: I had to trust that my subconscous would eventually figure it out. As it steeped I read the little packet and was surprised by the ingredients: Jasmine? Really? Huh…

I swear that for the whole friggin’ cup I was trying to figure out what I wanted to compare it to (so much for subconscious). It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t teagasmic, but it was utterly distracting. The orange was probably the most mellow of the flavors, but I couldn’t tell if it was because it melded nicely with the rest or if it was just barely there. I also think that my mind goes to a default “anise-flavored” when uncertain of a fragrance. I have no clue as to why. It was one of those teas where if someone was giving some away I’d be fine with taking it, but I’m not going to go out of my way for more.

After reading some other comments hoping to find the “mystery association” I found it: orange creamsicle. I think that I’ve had less than 5 of those in my lifetime, so after I removed my palm from my forehead I laughed at my sipping intensity as I had pondered similar tastes.

Oh, but where does this tea fit into the Shakespeare cannon? More pondering! It’s feminine, more comic than tragic (not worthy of a sonnet), not the best but not the worst. What play haven’t I touched upon yet? ::ponder, ponder, ponder:: Merchant of Venice! But all I really know of that play is a few quotes, anti-Semitism, and Shylock. ::research, research, research:: I came close to dubbing this tea Shylock’s daughter Jessica, but I felt that this tea had more oomph of a larger character. Portia! Yup, I’m calling this tea Portia. She’s the catalyst for a lot that happens and then does the whole “dress up like a man to set men straight” deal. I think that nowadays she’s portrayed as a strong feminine character, but back in Shakespeare’s day she would have been seen more as “the Fool” or a lot like Kate in The Taming of the Shrew. Yes, she’s allowed to get some great digs at the men (who are all not the sharpest spoons in the toolshed’s lightbulb) but once the shennanigans are over with, well, she’ll go back to being a humbled wife. NE

I’ve been cold brewing this for well over 24 hours. I used up the last of the sample Daniel Mann sent me and used a scoop from the sample that Jessica sent me: woohoo!

It’s quite pleasant iced. I usually don’t remark on the color of the liquid tea — I generally appreciate it, but I have a limited color vocabulary (my reviews would contain a lot of “brownish” and “light brownish” descriptors if I tried). That said I have to remark that this looks like lemonade. I can’t recall a more yellow cup. It still comes across as a fruit-tea cocktail. Maybe more on the tea side. I’m having trouble even sort of describing this (sorry!). There’s a teeny-tiny bit of plant-like bitterness. I’m thinking that this is another tea that would benefit by being a hot brewed iced tea. NE

No notes yet.

It’s gonna be a long day at work (drama-llama-ding-dong) so I needed something smoky with oomph. This fit the bill nicely (not so heavy on the oomph, but it’s still so good). Hooray for Doulton who gave me a large sample of this in the Shakespeare box! The second “commuter steep” was quite yummy (I don’t know how long it steeped since I “pulled an Ewa” and was running around like a headless chicken. I’m guessing 9 minutes). Homicidal tendencies have been curbed and I’m as ready for today as I’m gonna get. NE

No notes yet.

I used up the last of my sample today but didn’t have quite enough left for a pot. So I mutated it a bit and added some Samovar Russian Blend to it. I had a fixed car to celebrate (see below for details on that) and wanted to break the possible “curse-o-Samovar.” Plus I’d forgotten to put Lapsang Souchong on my GTC order and the uber-fantastic Daniel Mann added some to my order after noticing my oversight. More celebration! This is actually one of the best “mutant teas” that I’ve done — but hey, two yummy teas comprise this cup. It’s about 1& a half tsp LS and 1 tsp RC. TG

The car is fixed — I get to pick it up at 1:00! It had a bad computer and I’m still under warranty ::happy dance:: And since my insurance covers towing the grand total of this stress is $65. The $65 comes from the first shop it was towed to for them to say “we don’t know what’s wrong with it” which is exactly what happened the last time they looked at my previous car. Only back then they’d caused massive damage to my break system that could’ve killed me. So why did my car even end up there? My dad: gods bless him. He believes they’re great because they’re “Christian.” But I can’t get too upset since my Dad’s the one who took care of everything when my car wouldn’t start and he also let me drive his car to work for most of this week. When I found out that he’d towed the car to that shop and not Toyota I let him know I wasn’t too happy about it. I shall try and figure out a way to let him know tactfully that I never ever want any of my cars going back to that place. I’ll also be adding rental car coverage to my insurance policy asap.

Thank you to everyone who said a little prayer or sent me good vibes since Monday. Y’all are awesome! :D

Weight Loss Tea
A Tea Dialogue in 3 PMs (paraphrased):

Rabs: Um, Daniel, I don’t know how to say this, but there was this big honkin’ chunk-o-fused tea thing in my Weight Loss tea sample. I thought you should know. Should I be worried? Do you know what it is?

Daniel: No need to be worried! What you found is called a Toucha ball.

Super-cool explanation follows regarding Toucha balls.

Rabs: Hooray! I’ve learned something new. Thank you :D

::runs back to teapot and adds the Toucha ball for her second steep:: TG

I ordered more of this last night after the wonderful Daniel Mann from the Georgia Tea Company gave me a discount because of my car troubles. I waffled on this one a tiny bit because I’m still not sure how much my car repairs will cost, but then I went back and sniffed the sample bag and it’s still like my mom’s homemade angel food cake. SOLD!

Since I’m currently out of my Earl Grey Cream I decided to see how this one handled the JOEmo thermos treatment. So far this morning it’s awesome. Angel food cake inna cup! TG

This was my “oh lord, I drank some beer last night which always upsets my system so I feel horrible in the morning and I need something soothing” tea this morning. I found it very soothing. The sweet floralness really was perfect. This one’s growing on me. It’s like it has the “NERDS! taste but healthier.” I’m gonna bump the rating up a little (the original being a solid 80). NE

I finished off my cold brewed iced tea pitcher of this tonight. This puppy’s been in the fridge for…at least two days, and this extra time has (not surprisingly) given it more depth. It’s still very cherry, but it also has more cake to it. Pineapple is still elusive — I get a tiny bit in the aftertaste peeking out from behind the cherry. It’s a good way to end my day :) NE

I had a mutant form of this tea today since I think I was delusional overly optimistic about having enough sample left for my JOEmo. So I ended up trying a mix of 1/2 tsp Earl Grey Cream and 1/2 tsp Colonille by SeredipiTEA (courtesy of JacquelineM). Eh, it was okay but I felt that the combo wasn’t the best for either tea. It ended up being a mellow vanilla black tea.

But I am not upset! Why is Rabs not upset that she’s out of her precious Earl Grey Cream? It’s because the super-awesome Daniel Mann made this tea available online for me!!!!! Hooray! Huzzah! Yippee! Even though my car problems seem to be getting more dire I still shall order this. I’ll have to refrain from going too nuts on ordering this evening due to money constraints, but by golly Rabs needs her nummy tea! Today’s version was a solid NE.

Dear Black Dragon,

Thank you for bein’ in my cupboard. You’re great at curbing my anti-morning homicidal tendencies. Good job!

Yours Truly,

Rabs

This tea was my moment of zen in my craptacular day. I think that I look at is as more of a desert tea than an Earl Grey.

I have enough of my sample left for one more JOEmo thermos-full. This gives me stress.

Will this tea be available to order soon? I can has yummy tea?

I swear. Samovar and I are not meant to be. I feel like somehow our relationship is cursed.

I finally feel less frustrated about the whole took-forever botched-up order (I still need to drop off the return box). So I felt that I could try and give this tea a fair shake. I had two really pleasant cups and took the remainder of my second steep along with me in my commuter mug. I got into my car. It died. I chose to irrationally blame the tea. It is a tea of doom.

Okay, so it’s not really a tea of doom, but my eyebrow did raise and I kept looking at my cup outta the corner of my eye. When I got home from work I decided to keep steeping this tea to both 1. dispell my fear of a cursed tea, and 2. get my moneys worth outta this tea.

It’s quite a good Lapsang Souchong. It’s on the less smoky side of LSes and it does have a nice sweetness. And perhaps I still feel a bit jaded about the whole first order fiasco, but I just can’t imagine spending my money on a full tin of this. I have one more sample (as a result of the fiasco) so I’ll try it again at a future date and perhaps give it a more thorough review (and an even fairer shake). But if I have car trouble on that same day, well…doom. Doom! DOOM!!!!!

I’d rate this as a kitten purring on my “cat noises scale” for LSes. NE

I finally had this tea properly brewed and was very happy with the results. The mentholness is just hinted at in the smell and is nowhere in the taste. Instead there is quite a bit of floral coming through that hadn’t before. I don’t know if this is a result of scooping out a different amount of jasmine pearls or what, but me likey. The Cancer Fighting Lavender is still my favorite, but I’ve bumped this one up from a 75. NE

I was uber-excited to receive the swap package that Jessica had sent to me. I’d only requested one tea and wanted to be surprised by the rest. When I saw this particular tea this was my reaction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeqZpbuZlqI

Only I’m nowhere as awesome or talented as Simon Pegg. Why was I so excited? Well, it’s one of Ewa’s favorites and I’ve also never had a Teavana tea before. Double-curiosity killed two cats?

It’s really quite nummy! I’d probably rate it a lot higher and put it on my shopping list if I hadn’t had Leland Tea Co’s Bogart. This is like an almost-realized version of Bogart. This is still super-almondy-cinnamony-yummy, but without the snickerdoodle oomph. I’m thoroughly enjoying my first cup and can’t wait for the second. Ultimately it gets two thumbs up from me, but I won’t be purchasing more. Thank you so much Jessica for letting me try this! NE

ETA: bumped up the rating by 2 points due to super-yummy aftertaste.

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act V scene 1

Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides:
Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
King Lear, Act I scene 1

I chose not to look up this tea’s ingredients when I pulled this teabag out of the box. I didn’t even really smell the bag itself until after it steeped. The smell surprised me quite a bit. It reminded me of Bigelow’s Constant Comment only more subtly orange. Even as a bagged version (I’m still blown away by Kusmi’s bags) it’s still complex, but I have a feeling that its complexity is muted. I get the orange, the sweetness of vanilla, and hints of almond and spices. This one also moves to the forefront of “bagged teas I’d like to have on hand.”

I was a giant “Errr…” when it came to where in Shakespeare’s cannon this tea would fit. I was pleasantly surprised at how pleasant it was. It was an honest upfront sort of tea with a bit of what Morgana calls the “French Thing.” Aha! Honesty and even a little bit of French: Cordelia from King Lear! She’s honest, doesn’t play silly games, and eventually marries the King of France before being executed. Er, she sort of sets off the whole tragedy…

But this tea isn’t a tragedy! Hooray! So perhaps Cordelia isn’t the perfect embodiment of this tea, but it’s close enough. NE

I finally cold brewed this tea and I’m a wee bit disappointed. It flattens out and tastes like a bit of cherry added to a rooibos. I’d guess that hot brewed is the way to go with this blend. I’d give the cold brewed version a 70. It’s still yummy, but no TG for this tea. NE

I have both Daniel Mann and Jessica to thank for samples of this. Due to Jessica’s generosity I will be able to try this as a cold-brewed iced tea and that prospect quite excites me.

I hadn’t looked up this tea prior to drinking it, but I could tell that it was quite a mixture of both teas and fruit both visually and fragrance-wise. Little did I know how extensive the ingredient list was — it’s very very extensive. I’m quite impressed with how well Georgia Tea Company pulls this off. With that many ingredients I would think that this tea would be a trainwreck. But it’s not. The different teas blend up into a very unique taste. I can’t really pick out the individual fruits — it’s more like a liquid fruit salad. It reminds me of something, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what it is. Overall it’s quite refreshing.

I’m thinking that if no other tea company has coined this term, then GTC should market some of these teas (like this and Pomegranate Fruit) as “confettea.” I’m still leaning toward the Cancer Fighting Lavendar tea as my “confettea” of choice, but I’m quite curious to see how this tea’s taste will morph as a cold brew. NE

After my tea fail I wanted a comfort tea. I realized that my frou-frou-meter was nearing “E” for the week so I steeped up a yummy cup. I’m feeling better already :) TG