Uniquity

The beau loves this tea. I love this tea. How have we not drank it since january? Obviously, it is time! This was one of our first David’s Tea purchases, which means it’s getting on in age. 8 months or so? It’s been sealed in it’s tin in a dark cool cupboard though, so honestly, it smells the same to me. Yummy fruity, berry sort of a smell. Not much of an earl grey, which is exactly what we were looking for. If you want an earl grey, have an earl grey. If you want a fruity diversion, have this!

The steeped smell is much more of a classic earl grey, but you can still smell the fruit. David’s Tea website mentions strawberries, black currants and blackcurrants – these flavours are brought to us by added flavouring, although there are chunks of strawberry in the tea. I have no problem with added flavouring, especially when it’s admitted to, but the strawberries are a very attractive addition to the tea. I love DT’s consideration of aesthetics.

Firs sips are fruity, with a subtle earl grey flavour. I’ve described it before as Froot Loops, but I find the additional berries sort of mask that flavour. I presume it’s the flavour of the bergamot…we have such a tricky relationship, bergamot and I. Anyway, this is still as delicious to me as it was in the beginning. I love it!

I really need to get myself a good and proper chai. I love chai, I think. But I haven’t found THE one for me yet. Ah well, there are still 3 or 4 more to try from Sawadee, and I love searching!

Anyway, rounding off my day with a few hours at switchboard, so I went for the easy to use chai teabag, so I can just pop it in and forget about it. The smell is quite horrendous, I’ve realized, with a mix of wood and soap, but the taste is satisfying enough. Nothing in your face, but not terrible either. Maybe I’ll try another stovetop chai tonight, because this is leaving a weird taste in my mouth.

This is another of the teas I picked up while at Sawadee Tea House last week. Mie Mie packaged up 50 grams for me, because I became intoxicated by the smell. I already have 50 grams of David’s Tea’s peppermint, but the smell of this was just so in your face that I had to give it a go. Strong strong mint loveliness!

This is my first time trying it, as I waited to hear if it was clear of salmonella or not – Obviously, it’s safe! (Or so we hope, :D). The smell is extremely strong. If you don’t like peppermint, run away quickly. The beau hates the smell, as he only likes peppermint in toothpaste and mouthwash. The smell is strong enough to suggest of either. And maybe do the work of both! I really don’t have a peppermint tea that can stand up to this one for smell or taste – I hope the moroccan mint I also picked up is equally bold. At least I have extra mint on hand to kick it up a notch if necessary. : )

I put a teaspoon in my travel mug this morning to take to work…it’s been steeping for half an hour already, and my has that mint come out to play. It is so strong that I’m actually left with a cold mouth after taking a sip, despite the fact that the tea is HOT! I love it!! It is exactly what it claims to be – Strong peppermint. Reminds me of the field of mint that grew by my childhood home. We always had a pot of water on the woodstove with some mint tossed in – I think a combination of this and my grandparents’ endless supply of Double Scotch Muints fostered this obsession – But Sawadee’s peppermint is helping keep it alive.

TeaEqualisBliss – If ever you should be in Nova Scotia and in desperate need of a really minty tea, give this one a go!

Pot of this for breakfast today. It actually came out a little bitter from over-steeping, maybe the beau put more than me, or the components were different. Still a refreshing apley cup, but I enjoyed the first pot more. Adjusting the rating accordingly, but high hopes to move it back up with the next. I don’t always pay the best of attention to tea first thing in the morning..

Gotta spend the next hour at switchboard, so I’ve got some of my perennial favourite – a big travel mug full of mojito, with an extra splash of spearmint to really mint it up. I know it’s not summer yet, but the time change has led me to believe it can’t be far away. There was sun in my apartment after 6 pm yesterday! Now if only the sun planned on coming out at all today…

Update: This is delicious. A little slice of minty heaven to bring me through this long strange day. My brain hates the time change, but the love for this mug of tea is stronger! : )

My first work tea of the day. Has a nice berry sweetness, with the floral taste coming in at the end of the sip. The rooibos is there the whole way through, but rooibos always is. And I don’t mind!

MMm, breakfast tea. This still reminds me of fruit loops, but in general, all Lady and Earl Greys do. Nice crisp citrus flavour, very refreshing and pretty good at waking me up first thing in the morning after the time change. My brain is still pretty convinced it’s only 7 o clock!

So, for my third or fourth (but final!) pot of tea for the day, the beau and I have chosen Night Out. This is a treat that we ration, since the tea was discontinued at some point in the fall when I wasn’t looking. We’ve got something in the ballpark of a half tin left, but this beauty packs a punch, so luckily we can be selfish and use only 1 or 2 teaspoons to a full pot.

As always it steeps up a pale pinkish shade, and has a delightful aroma and taste. I get an oatty sort of smell from the dry leaves, but I get a lot of apple flavour from the tea itself. Sort of a baked apple sort of taste. To an extent, this is what I wish David’s Tea’s Baked Apple tastes like.

Anyway, this pot only enhanced with time. Really delicious, though I have yet to truly experience the promised side effects. I think! : )

Hello old friend…

A long standing favourite. Historically, it is my favourite lemon tea, but I don’t know where I stand on that now. I’ve only just realized it has green rooibos in it. That makes three teas I own with green rooibos that I didn’t realize.

I just took a lemon meringue ppie out of the oven, and thought a pot of this would hold me over until it’s cool enough to properly enjoy. The dry smell is a rather sharp lemon, and it’s a beautiful tea to look at…if you like lemongrass, etc. It steeps up a fairly vivid yellow – This tea never lets you forget that it’s loaded with lemon. Much like 52Teas Lemolicious, but obviously without the guayusa taste.

The steeped smell is spot on lemon…But the tartness of lemon. I suppose it could be easily compared to lemon cleaners, but that’s an authentic lemon smell to me, so what can I say?

The actual lemon taste is not so tart as the smell would lead you to believe. I find this a nice smooth lemon tea, and a great precursor to my lemon meringue!

The beau and I made a very delicious pot of this to enjoy. We’ve been playing Sonic on the PS3 and drinking Very Merry Berry for the past hour or two…a fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Today we had one giant blueberry and a giant blackberry in our tea…they flavoured up the mix quite nicely. We also got at least 4 12 oz cups out of only 1 tsp of tea. Yay!

Pot of this already today, while playing cards. This delicious teabag is actually strong enough to fill a 2 or 3 cup pot with really quite good flavour. Love!

Backlog:

Had a pot of this with the beau last night before going out for dinner and a movie. Still really yummy, with a good fruity taste, but the tea flavour in there as well. Not overpowering – A good balance!

Mmm… One of my favourite fruit teas from David’s. At one point, we had this one, Berry Up and Xanadu at the same time. Now Xanada is gone and this is almost gone too…A nice treat, very juicy and fragrant. As with most berry teas, I have trouble distinguishing one berry over another, but I get a bit of tartness – Maybe the blackberry? Yum!

Had a second steep of this for breakfast, since it was conveniently already chilling out in the teapot. The flavours were more muted this morning, but it was still a nice soothing lemon with smooth (and interesting!) flavours. The smell is always a little weird from the guayusa, but this is a great tea.

I enjoyed a cup of this with the beau after work today. Our package is half empty (It’s the beau’s favourite) but luckily we ordered another today. That, and 4 or 5 other things. Whoops! Tea buying ban thrown out the window. Oh well!

Anyway, I think I shall increase my rating of these tea. For one reason or another, I found this much more smooth and delicious than last time. I’ve been assured it will make a great second steep later as well. The lemon is the dominant flavour, but not the sharp tart lemon that one might expect from a tea with lemon verbena, balm, rind, myrtle, etc. It’s quite smooth and extremely palatable with a slight “earthy” taste from the guayusa. I am still at a loss to explain the guayusa taste.. :)

A nice relaxing cuppa for the afternoon. Wish I were at home with my beautiful mugs and my loose tea collection, but Twinings bagged Lady Grey isn’t the worst thing that could happen. :)

Really enjoying this right now. For a bagged tea, this is phenomenal. Today I have a strong lemon flavour, a hint of ginger and significantly more mint. I can feel the coolness of the mint on my tongue and almost taste it. Delicious to sip, relax, unwind and enjoy.

Had the fourth steep of this with my breakfast. We steeped it far longer this time, and it came out with a strong floral flavour. I still get a hintof something almost spicy, like a half second of ginger. I can’t explain it, but I like it!

Had some of this tonight. It was from a different batch than the one we have at home. much more mint. Anyway, I became extremely sleepy very shortly after starting to drink my cup. It might have been coincidence, but I was definitely tired. I always have an issue with the chamomile taste in this (I hate chamomile!) but it’s still one I turn to sometimes after a long day…or week…or month. : )

Bcaklog: Made a travel mug full of this to take to a friend’s tonight. Oh my, THIS was the vanilla comoro I wanted. Rich, creamy, vanilla, caramel, tea, delicious. I think I just need to be a little more generous with the tea to really get that depth of flavour. I also see things that could, potentially, be construed as specks!

Going for a third steeping of this with the same people as yesterday. Smells yummy, looks gorgeous and tastes delicious. Is this the start of a proper green tea love? Or a floral love? Or both??

Satisfied my desire for tea, albeit not my desire for chai. I think I want a good strong proper stovetop chai. Still nice, though thin.

This was my “get to work” tea today…A great routine to get into. Not much new to say – It has a goood taste – sweet and fruit. Can steep forever since it’s a rooibos, and it makes an awesomely ugly green colour. I find todays mug a little muted, but I was recently chewing mint gum, so that is likely the cause. By the way, mint is, surprisingly, pretty okay with this tea. Maybe I’ll do a cup with some peppermint thrown in some time and see what happens!

This was my breakfast tea today and let it be known that I think I have found my apple tea. Sawadee really is a delight – The beau and I think we found our ideal strawberry there yesterday (a rooibos, he had a mug while we were there) and we boguht some of this apple to try at home. Brewed it this morning using black tea guidelines, but there was no need. Some of the tea sat in the pot steeping for an extra 10 – 15 minutes and it never got bitter at all. There is not a strong black tea taste, but it’s a great base and accompaniment to the delicious apple. I didn’t get any of that chemical or artificial apple flavour I’ve gotten from most other apple teas, and I could see the chunks of actual apple floating in the tea. Great taste – Sure to buy more!!