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Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act III scene 6

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
As You Like It, Act II scene 7

Smelling the dried leaves I really thought that this was going to be a negative note. It smelled smokey, but in that tar-like way. Nose wrinklege occurred. After it steeped it lost a lot of the smoke smell and smelled more like an Assam with wisps of smoke. Yowsa — first sip is all Assamalamadingdong! The whole first cup is an Assamarama.

Oh, then the second steep magic! The Assam starts its morph into sweet berryness and the lapsang joins it in a bold sweet cup. Oh, it’s yummy. I did a third steep — it was weakening, but I did need a cup for my commute. So the fourth steep I added a pinch of fresh leaves. Oh yes — yummy.

From the smell of the dry leaves and through the first cup I thought that this would be my King Lear. But the following steeps were so very sweet that I couldn’t go the tragic route without pushing it. Therefore, this tea became my As You Like It. A somewhat serious premise handled with brilliant wit and humor. And crossdressing. These are both a great tea and play. Just be sure you’re ready for the uber-oomph of the Assam. I know that this tea is at least an 85, but the rating most likely will go up after I’ve had it a few more times. TG

Tried this one cold brewed. It’s a lot more mellow and not really “Fruit Loops” when made this way. I think that either way is fine, but for the Fruit Loops it needs to be hot brewed. Still yummers!

Warning: graphic content ahead. Younger Steepsterites and those with heart problems should skip the following note. Reader discretion is advised.

I just had the most horrific tea moment of my life. Perhaps it was the Puerh gods smiting me for the 15. Because of the bad tea experience I wanted to go to a good ole standby that I’d just purchased a large bag of and had spent almost $7 on a pretty cannister to hold it. As I started to steep I actually took a minute to look at how pretty this dry tea is and then perhaps distractedly put the lid not-so-securely back on. Y’all see where this is headed, right? Yeah, as I picked it up off the counter to put the tin back in its cupboard the bottom fell off of the lid (I had a firm grip on the lid). I tried to grab it and slammed the lid into my ring finger (which lost some skin and feels quite bruised).

I lost more than half of my tea. ::sniff:: It was horrible! ::cries quietly::

I vacuumed it up as fast as possible so my curious cat wouldn’t get into it. My kitchen floor is not at its cleanest (I had actually noted last night that it was overdue for a good scrub), so there was no salvaging. While broken heartedly vacuuming up the leaves I didn’t hear my timer go off so lord knows how long my cup steeped, but apparently this tea is extremely forgiving — which makes me even sadder that so much was wasted! Waaaaah!

I just had to share my devastating story with those who would sympathize. ::sniffle::

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

Exit, pursued by the Bear.
Stage direction from A Winter’s Tale, Act III scene 3

When I was initially going through the mighty Shakespeare box and I pulled this bag out I said aloud “Oh God” both as a statement of horror and a supplication. I dislike both chocolate and Puerh: this seemed like the most unholiest of pairings. I needed to be in the right frame of mind to try this one. And today was the day.

I bravely went to my teapot and prepped. The dry leaves actually didn’t make me recoil. As I added the freshly boiled water to the leaves the scent wafted up I did recoil and said “Oh God” yet again. Dirty animal chocolate. As I poured the steeped tea and the smell came at me I started muttering “ohgodohgodohgod…” My composure totally cracked, and yet I tried a sip. I GAGGED! It was my first full-out tea gag. I calmly set the cup down and put my hand over my mouth and tried to decide what to do. It smelled like a zoo. A chocolate sprinkled zoo. Perhaps more like if you took this tea, mixed it with the mocha powder that Starbucks uses, and then stored it in the cave where a bear’s hibernating for the winter. I decided to let it sit in another room while I decided its fate. Either the cooling would be a good thing or it would go down the sink.

The cooling helped it quite a bit. I’ve only had a few Puerhs, but there seems to be a “sweet spot” of time/temp where it becomes this oddly fascinating drink to me. The window on this one was very quick. I could sort of understand why others like this: the chocolate did do a neat “flavor coat” on the roof of my mouth. The tea seemed more like a mineral-filled earth. And then it went back to being blechy. There’s about 1/3 of the cup left and it’s sink-bound.

This tea is Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale. It starts off full of vengence, then does this 180 where it’s all about redemption and a statue coming to life. It really isn’t Shakespeare’s best play — the only really good part of this play is the stage direction Exit, persued by the bear. I started off vengeful with this tea, then shifted maybe 10 degrees or so in it’s favor, but that’s as far as I got. No redemption here. If I really enjoyed chocolate or Puerhs, then this would be a completely different note, but alas it is not to be. GA

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act III scene 4

“So-so is good, very good, very excellent good; and yet it is not; it is but so-so.”
As You Like It, Act V scene 1

This was my first experience with a CTC (Cut-Tear-Curl) blend. Even knowing what it was I was still shocked at how much it looked like very coarsly ground espresso. My concern grew about bitterness. The dry leaves smelled like (all-together now): black tea! I couldn’t even tell you what tea it was. I looked at the packaging and it’s from a Kenyan tea garden. I don’t know if I’ve had another Kenyan black tea.

The brew itself was surprisingly good: no bitterness or bite! This is a pretty good breakfast blend. And then the cup began to cool and it got a bit crazy. There was this great Ceylonish sweetness happening and then it morphed into a light Puerh. Wah?!?! I soooo didn’t see that one coming. But it was still good — it was more of a “stroll through a small barnyard” earthy Puerh. I did a second steep and this time it stayed a generic black tea with nice moments of sweetness. I wouldn’t call this tea “hefty,” but it’s got a bit-o-oomph on the original steep. I’m not clamoring to get more of this tea, but if I ever get around to placing an order from KTeas, then I’d get a small portion of this to have on hand.

This tea I name Touchstone the fool from As You Like It. This tea certainly fooled me and kept my tastebuds on their toes…er, or something like that. It was these moments of “what the hey?!?!” that I found most delightful. Plus, I adore Touchstone’s line that I used for the intro to this note since it so wonderfully encapsulates my feelings toward this tea. NE

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

“A high hope for a low heaven.”
Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I scene 1

I really wanted to like this tea. It’s got both “garden” and “party” in its name, therefore it must be like a floral party for mah mouth — amiright? Oh nose! I am wrong. I actually had this tea yesterday and the disappointment was so great that it took me until today to write about it. Perhaps I set my expectations way too high.

Both the dry leaf and the steeped tea’s fragrance screamed potpourri. It’s rather what I’d imagine chewing on a big-ole mouthfull of potpourri would be like. After it cooled a bit I sort of enjoyed holding the liquid in my mouth (more like having just chomped down on some fresh flowers), but then I’d swallow (back to bitter potpourri), and finally the aftertaste was sort of nice and flowery.

Therefore I picked a rather “Meh” play for this “Meh” tea. Furthermore, Love’s Labour’s Lost has the greatest percentage of rhyming couplets of any Shakespeare play: flowery language for a flowery tea.

I have enough for another pot of tea so I shall try adjusting the preparation perameters. If the adjustments help, then I’ll re-dub this tea “Love’s Labour’s Found.” M

NEEEEERRRDS!!!!!

This morning I used the last of Doulton’s sample from the Shakespeare box. It would have been a very sad occasion but for the fact that I have a new tin of this in my cupboard! Woot!!!!! I couldn’t imagine not having this tea as an option for my mornings. It’s my anti-homicidal tea :D I also highly recommend Upton Tea Imports: they are crazy-fast, they print your name on the label (teahee), and they’ve got $1 samples. TG

Due to the mentions that JacquelineM made in regards to homemade vanilla tea (yum!), this particular tea leapt out at me when I was placing a Tea Guys order. I’ve had several teas that have had vanilla as part of a wider range of flavors, but this was the first straight-up vanilla black tea that I’ve had. It was nomaliscious.

The smell of the packet was very “I’m vanilla hear me roar!” The smell mellowed post-steep, but there was no doubt that this was a vanilla tea. Oh so smooth and vanilla-ey! I steeped it three times (steeps 2 and beyond were all 4 minutes) and on the fourth I tossed in a teaspoon of Talbott Teas’ Caramel Sundae Escape that Doulton had sent me. NOM! I did one more steep and I’m a happy camper.

I have no sense of reference on whether or not this is a marvelous vanilla when compared to others, but chances are I will buy some to keep on hand sometime in the future. A soothingly-sweet treat. NE

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

“Let’s go hand in hand, not one before another.”
The Comedy of Errors, Act V scene 1

So this is lychee! I do believe that this has a part of some other teas in my recent past. I’m thinking that it was in one of the Golden Moon samplers — perhaps Sinharaja or Honey Pear? I couldn’t tell you what the tea base is with this blend since the lychee is so overpowering. It seems like the tea is merely here to be a vehicle for the fruit. With that said, it’s not a bad tea at all. It’s sweet, nectary and pleasant. But it’s not really remarkable.

Speaking of unremarkable(see what I did there?): could anyone tell me the basic plot of The Comedy of Errors or even a famous quotation? I had to look it up to gain a bit of information to know what it’s even about. There’s nothing wrong with this play, but it’s just not memorable. The plot features a double set of twins who were separated as children, and then become confused for one another as adults. Hijinks ensue. According to R. Martin and A. Tichenor (in their Reduced Shakespeare book, p. 68) “This play can actually be pretty funny — there are lots of opportunity for slapstick comedy. (Of course, MacBeth can be pretty funny if you put lots of slapstick in it. On its own? Not so much.)”

This might make a pretty good cold brewed iced tea, but I’m not really so excited to try it that I have to put an order in right now! It’s more like when I finally get around to trying out American Tea Room I will purchase another sample of this and try it iced. NE

Goodness. This is a wonderfully masculine tea. I’m getting more Keemun, then the Darjeeling, and then just the teensy-tiniest hint of Lapsang Souchong. I must try lowering the temp next time I make some and see how that changes the flavors. Mmmm…yeah…this is a nice blend. I think that “Afternoon” fits the feeling of this tea: it’s bold, but not in the “helping your soul re-enter your body” sort of way. And lordy is it smooth. The second steep is remarkably similar to the first, but the Keemun has started to get its slightly sweeter aspect. NE with benefits ;)

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

My salad days,
When I was green in judgment, cold in blood,
To say as I said then!
Antony & Cleopatra, Act I scene 5

If someone made this tea for me, then I would have drank it graciously. If this imaginary person didn’t tell me what this tea was, then in the back of my mind I’d be thinking “Can Darjeeling go bad?” For me the Darjeeling overpowered the oolong, but the oolong was there lending an odd veggie quasi-oolong note to the tea. The leaves themselves seemed pretty shredded, and I wonder if this is what caused the astringency I experienced. It wasn’t bad, but it had quite a bite.

I present Antony & Cleopatra in tea form. Another pair of “star-crossed lovers” but told in a more muddled and unremarkable way than Romeo & Juliet. Yes, there’s some great poetry throughout, but this play as a whole just isn’t that good. Just like this tea: the individual types of tea separate might be good, but together it just doesn’t come together for me. I’m rather “cold in blood” (i.e. passionless) about this tea. M

Where the hell did my yummy cup of num-num go?!?!? I ordered a larger bag (she says hoping that no one notices that her tea-buying ban for May fell through, ahem. Hey, it was for a good cause with the giveaway and all. Uh, yeah. The giveaway: that’s the ticket! Riiiiight.) and was all excited to try another cup last night. Last night didn’t go well. It was nowhere as sweet as my sample had been and as the cup cooled I was getting what denisend referred to as “wet sock.” And I don’t think it was the power of suggestion.

I bravely tried another cup tonight adjusting the temp to 180 and upping the steep time by a minute. (I can’t recall what temp I had it at last night). I also tried to pick around the dreaded chamomile so only a few flowers made it into the cup. What the hell?!?! Oh this tea is ticking me off. It started off “wet sockish” but as I’m typing and the cup is cooling I’m starting to get glimmers of the tea I had fallen in love with. I’m removing my rating (originally 90) until I figure this fickle tea out. Next time I’ll try boiling and 4 minutes again. Or maybe I should drop the temp and steep it longer? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa::gasp::aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I can’t figure this tea out soon, then the rating’s gonna drop drastically. This tea’s goin’ from TG to M on this steep. Grrr.

ETA: I actually found the sample packet with a bit of this tea left in it that I threw into the second steep. Before tossing it in I smelled the packet. Okay, so there’s something different between this sample and the larger bag. The packet has almost none of the “musty” smell that the larger bag has. I wonder if this is a result of the qty of chamomile or something else in the mix. I dropped the temp to 175 and kept the time at 5 minutes. It’s a lot more palatable, but I’m still somewhat disappointed.

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Cold brewed iced tea out of a Keemun and Lapsang Souchong blend — why not? The more I drink it the more I like it. It was rather bizarre at first with that sort of bacony LS taste coming out at the forefront. Now it has more of the sweet aspect of LSes with a deep base of Keemun and the swallow finishes with a really nice sweet note. I can’t say how often I’ll ice this, but I’m rather surprised at how much I’m enjoying it! I could see myself getting odd random cravings for this one. NE

I suspect that Willy Wonka is secretly one of the Tea Guys. I popped open this sample and thought Caaaandeeeee! Not only is it a candy, but it’s like Runts. With some Nerds and SweeTARTS thrown in ta boot. But mainly Runts.

Post-steep it still has that distinct Wonka sugary candy smell, but the rose is more prominent. It’s like Willy Wonka thought “Hey, I could turn roses into a candy and then turn that into a green tea!” If you hate rose, then avoid this one. If you’re craving mango, then avoid this one. I can tell it’s rose, but mango is just a vague presence.

I have a crazy sweet tooth (Nerds being a favorite) and this tea satisfies that particular sugar craving. I’m on the third steep (still good, but probably this tea’s last) and the green tea has been able to keep up if not grow in flavor during each steep. This final steep is like a really sweet green tea. Mmm…candy tea… TG

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act II scene 7

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
Twelfth Night, Act I scene 1

Last night I was going through my Shakespeare box trying to decide what I’d have this morning. I settled on the Vinegar Black and then I had my choice narrowed down to two Culinary Teas. As I looked back and forth between the two a realization dawned on me: I had been seeing the name of this tea as “Grand Mariner” which I felt fit into the British theme of this box quite well. Oh. It’s actually “Grand Marnier” like the liqueur. ::facepalm:: I laughed and decided that this would follow the Vinegar — sort of a sweet and sour experience.

I have never had Grand Marnier on its own, and as far as I know I haven’t had it as part of a meal or mixed drink. So I am unable to judge whether or not this lives up to its namesake. When I opened the packet it was like an orange creamsicle. Yum. The cup maintains that orange creamsicle smell but gains the fragrance of Ceylon. The taste is more Ceylon, but the aroma is all about the creamsicle. I’d imagine that this would be crazy-good with cream or sugar. This also would be perfect with the right sort of dessert. I may have to try this iced. If this is great iced, then this may be added to the reorder list from Culinary Teas.

I dub this tea the play Twelfth Night. Partially since it kicks off with a shipwreck (a tip of the hat to my misreading of the tea’s name), and also because Twelfth Night (The Feast of Epiphany) kicks off the New Orleans’ Mardi Gras season and this tea would fit right into all the revelry — from the parties on Bourbon to the elaborate balls. This tea is a light fun sort of dessert tea and I’m having a good time with it. NE

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Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act II scene 6

’Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen,
And now I find report a very liar;
For thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,
But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers.
The Taming of the Shrew, Act II scene 1

Amongst all the teas that Doulton sent me, this one both intrigued and repulsed me. It’s in this adorable little tin with some Victoriana decorations. It looks like it should be a floral tea and not something with vinegar in it. Finally today I got the nerve to pop open the tin and give it a go.

I could not for the life of me smell vinegar in the dry leaves. Maybe the tiniest hints in the back of my nose, but I don’t think I would’ve noticed it if I hadn’t known what was in this tea. I went ahead and did a 10 second rinse of the leaves under hot tap water.

Smell from the cup was black tea — pretty sure it’s Assam. Still couldn’t find the vinegar. Then came sip one: vinegar! Yup, there it is being quite shrewish to the back of my throat. Three sips in I was wondering if I could finish this cup so I did my “let’s let it sit over here for a minute or two and then return to it” technique. That did the trick! The vinegar receeded to a very mild level and then disappeared completely for the rest of the cup and the 2nd steep as well. It’s actually a rather pleasant smooth cup of black tea overall.

With all that in mind I dub this tea my Katherina (a.k.a. Kate) from Taming of the Shrew. It starts off all feisty and full of spirit and over time is broken down into submission. Horrible, but true. I think that even though there are some funny moments throughtout this play it should be considered a tragedy and not a comedy.

Ultimately this is a very interesting tea. I’m rather proud to be able to say that I’ve tried and enjoyed a Vinegar Black tea. Next time I shall try it without the pre-rinse to see if it keeps its unique character longer. Will I be rushing to purchase more when the tin runs out? No, but it’ll be fun while it lasts. NE