Sil

SIPDOWN! well basically since the last little bit of this is off to Kittenna to try at our tea swap meet :) Still enjoy this though i think it would be a nice summer cold drink moreso than a hot one.

bumping the rating on this one as it’s a nice smooth mint. I can get behind this one from della terra.

SIPDOWN!

mmmmm still really liking this one, even with the bright red colour. I can see myself keeping this one around in the cooler months. I wouldn’t necessarily drink this in summer though as it’s more of a cakey cold weather type tea. Glad to have the chance to drink it though!

SIPDOWN!

yeah…so this really isn’t gingersnap. It’s a nice tea but gingersnap it is not. As a result, dropping the rating for being something that it is not!

SIPDOWN!

Also another from the travelling tea box if i recall correctly. While I can appreciate a great cup of coffee, this tea is just kinda blech. This brews up into a tea that’s pretty much the colour of a good thick black coffee. It’s not a pleasant cup of tea either. I tried to add a bit of milk to this to see if it improved the taste but it’s really just kind of burnt and icky. Maybe i can’t drink coffee anymore, but this…just sucks lol I supposed someone looking for a gradual switch from coffee to tea might enjoy this, but i’d rather jump to beautiful blacks that have wonderful flavours.

When I first opened the sample of this tea, all I could smell were Peach notes. The leaves are green, curled with hints of yellow. I brewed this tea western style instead of via gaiwan. As the leaves steeped, they opened and produced a peachy, creamy aroma. The liquid is a beautiful golden yellow colour. Now, as some may know, green oolongs are not my favourite. However, I continue to try various teas to expand my tea palate and experience new things, so that was part of the reason of the reason for picking up this tea.

As I continue to sip on this tea, and as i go through the re-steeps, the flavour moves from a creamy, peachy type flavour to a more vegetal floral taste. There is no perfumey harshness to this tea, but it is still too floral for my liking, particularly as you move through the re-steeps.

Overall not something that I enjoy but a reasonable enough tea for me to have tried. I’m sure others will enjoy it much more than me.

Sipdown!
I believe this was from the travelling tea box! It’s not a bad rooibos, but it’s not good per say either. There’s a vanilla taste to this that is present, but it’s not particularly strong. This comes across as more like lightly flavoured water than anything much else.

Another jasmine green to try out today from teavivire. Again, the jasmine is just too much for me to handle. I’m sure that this would be a really nice cup for anyone who likes a smooth floral cup of tea but it’s not for me.

Figured I’d try this one even though i wasn’t expecting much with the coconut in it. The initial sips are quite nice but then it turns into a mildly bitter cup with a strange after taste. It might be worth checking out if you enjoy coconut but overall, no thanks from me! Thanks to Nicole for letting me try this!

Another experiment in green teas! Wheee! Again, though i don’t mind this tea the jasmine is not my favourite. There are bursts of sweet in this as I sip the cup that i’m not sure i can place. If you’re a fan of green tea and/or jasmine this is a really nice tea.

mmmmm this! This is a delicious cup of tea! I’m getting sweet notes and a small bit of cinnamon??? I’m getting honey notes as I go through a few more steepings. I will really enjoy the re-steeps of this one i think. I’m happy to see as well, that dark oolong are ok with me as there’s not hint of that that i can’t stand in many green oolongs.

I picked this one up from teavivre to broaden my tea experiences and continue in my quest to branch out with teas and figure out what types of teas I most enjoy. I much prefer strong blacks so i knew there wasn’t a lot of hope that I’d fall in love with this white tea. The dry scent is not my favourite. The Jasmine is a bit too floral for me.
This tea brews up into a pale golden liquor but the aroma isn’t overly floral. At first sip, I am pleasantly surprised. This is a really nice cup of tea. As i drink this, the floral builds up and it becomes a bit much for me. That being said, this is a wonderful cup of tea for anyone who enjoys jasmine. It’s smooth and delicious.

Random Teavivre Sample…though there will be more today :)

I haven’t had too many Lapsang Souchong – the last time i had one it was used to cook with :) The aroma of this one isn’t overly strong, it’s a softer smoky scent. This is a really nice tea. I can’t say that I’d drink a Lapsang daily but every now and then, this would be a really great cup to enjoy. I like that with this cup the smoke blends really nicely with the tea.

I took a page out of Bonnie’s notes and added a bit of maple syrup to this tea and it was fantastic! I actually think it would be interesting to make some chicken with the lapsang and a bit of maple. Smokey maple chicken anyone? :)

Thank you Nicole!

This might be the first darjeeling that I’ve tried, though I have a couple in my cupboard. :) This isn’t a deep robust black and there’s a hint of astringency. Again, i should try this with a bit of milk to see how that pulls the tea together. There’s an almost fruity taste to this as well that is interesting. I’ll be happy to try more of this later :)

mmmmm funny today that this time i’m not getting the maltiness in my cup. It’s still a delicious cup but today there’s more of a fruity undertone to this one. It’s smooth and delicious though so no complaints here.

Backlog from last night

A big thank you to Nicole for this sample! I have to say there are a few earl grey’s in my cupboard but I don’t think I’ve had any of them or likely not many of them. I’m still not convinced they’re a type of tea that I enjoy but it’s possible that flavoured earl grey’s may be my thing.

I pulled this one out last night because I’m trying to get through as many of my samples as possible before my swaps and last remaining orders arrive this month. Plus it was late at night, so i figured decaf would be the way to go.

I don’t think that i’m a fan of bergamot. I’m fairly certain that’s the underlying taste that i’m not loving. Otherwise it’s a fairly smooth tasting brew. I’m going to hold off rating this for now as well because i’d like to try this with a bit of milk and sugar. Overall not a bad tea, just nothing i need to keep around necessarily.

Appreciate the Sample as always Nicole!

Yeah apparently i did something funny to this tea when i was brewing it last night. Today it’s a tastier cup without that “something” hanging around in the background. I am really enjoying the chocolate/orange ratio in this one :)

Big fan of having a tea in a drawer here at work now. I love being able to grab an afternoon tea and take that 5 mins away from my desk.

While i’m still not a fan of the candy and extra crap DT puts in their teas, this is a decent tea. I’m also a little surprised that i didnt’ rate this one back when i first have it. I suppose there’s no harm done though since i’d be upping the rating a little based on my previous comments. I wish there was a touch more vanilla in this to off sent the mint but it’s a reasonable cup of tea for this afternoon.

I’ve never had plum pudding…but i do love plums! This is another tasty treat from Stacy though so far of her holiday blends the eggnog is hands down my favourite (i’m hoping 3 friends was just steeped wrong by me).

I will need to try this again with a big of sugar added to it, to see how that changes and enhances the flavours, though it’s pretty darn good straight. As i sip on this, i get hints of plum, orange and spice. I don’t get the custard much from this but i’m ok with that. It’s not citrusy, but there is a hint of orange in this. The very tail end of this does have a floral note if i concentrate really hard on it, but since i’m not likely to do that, i’m ok with it.

Glad i picked this one up to try :) Looking forward to even more offerings from stacy!

So sadly this cup of tea has been inadvertantly ruined by my other half. We both have travel mugs and today, he somehow managed to steal my lid and leave behind his lid…which i didn’t notice until i was at work and took my first sip of tea…coffee..wait whaaaat? exactly. Sadly his lid is a giant steaming pile of “i make eveverything taste like coffee” Even now, as i’m drinking this without the lid on, all i taste is coffee. I’m sure that’s my over reactive imagination but gross…so NOT what i wanted when i was expecting a delightful cup of black tea. gross.

oh black cherry, how i’ve missed you :) Had my usual smoothie this morning and added a dash of vanilla matcha to this one, to smooth out the cherry taste. I’m thinking that maybe this weekend i’ll try going back to the pumpkin and chai matcha i bought and try them in hot latte form again to see if they’ve improved.

I don’t know if this counts as a sipdown since i only received a sample from stacy yesterday and drank it today but since i added it to my cupboard, i’m totally calling sip down on this one lol

As mentioned, I picked this one up in my last order with stacy because I wanted to try it before comitting to it since I pretty much HATE eggnog. This morning, i was running late but this tea called out to me. So though i NEVER do it…i made myself a cup of tea to drink while i was making my travels mugs full of tea to take with me to work. It made me late. haha

you know what though? SO WORTH IT. I’m actually really sad that I only have the re-steep to look forward to when i get home. This is for sure going on my order when the rest of my favourites are back in stock with Stacy.
It’s like a vanilla, custard, eggnoggy cup full of delicious! Greens are not my preferred type of tea but this is masterful! I think i actually like this one better than a few of my favourites gasp

Really nice job Stacy!

Edit: resteep tonight wasn’t as delicious but still drinkable….the green was becoming more prevalent in the cup. Still good though!

So folks… it’s an oolong. Yeah, that’s right. Stacy was kind enough to include this as a sample for me with my last order even though she knows I am not a fan of the green oolongs (I asked, so she complied!). I haven’t yet gone through any re-steepings of this but holy this is actually kind of tasty. I’m brewing this western style to make life easier for me. I can’t even begin to describe what i’m tasting. There are no floral notes..it’s sweet…and not vegetal at all.

I have to say stacy…this one’s kinda good (for an oolong grin) Looking forward to a few re-steeps on this one. I’d probably even go so far as to say id keep this around in my cupboard for my friends who enjoy a good oolong, because i would drink it from time to time :)

So let me begin by saying that I have a tendency to stalk Stacy, the owner of Butiki Teas when she lets upcoming teas out of the bag. I did it for her Grapefruit Dragon and this was another one that I was all too willing to harass her about. You see as much as I LOVE grapefruit, I am even more in love with chocolate orange…but specifically the kind that comes in the form of those squishy “pot of gold” chocolates that are all creamy orange inside the chocolate. I am not a fan of chocolate oranges, but those soft orange chocolates – YES please!

The dry aroma of these leaves is EXACTLY like orange chocolates. The leaves are a beautiful golden colour with chunks of orange and wonderful chocolate chips. I could not get enough of the dry smell of this tea. It is phenomenal!
Upon brewing this tea, the tea continues to smell like chocolate orange! At first sip, there is a distinct orange flavour that blends into a beautiful chocolatey taste. There’s an undertone in the tea that I’m not sure I can place yet, but that might have been because i didn’t put enough leaf in this time. I’ll be brewing this again to see how adding a bit of sugar changes this taste.