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There is just one word written in the comments column of my tasting notes: AMAZEBALLS.

As part of the tasting, not only were we given the chance to try this amazing tea, we learned about the growing tea production in Hawaii; if given the chance, I think Hawaii could be a major competitor in the specialty tea market. The two Hawaiian teas we sampled today were so incredibly beyond anything I have tasted of their type that I almost cried when I found out the price tag.

This is a straight green. This is not a blend of any kind. So imagine my shock when I took the first sip – the tea being extremely pale in colour, almost clear – and immediately tasted pineapple and mangos. It was light, fruity, sweet without being cloying, and with a fuzzy edge to it that kept it from being too severe. The second steep, while even clearer in colour, was even more fruity, the complex notes and flavours of the tea coming out in force.

I feel extremely lucky to have been able to try some of this tea, and afford a small sample of it. I know it’s an indulgence, but teas like this are rare, and they need to be enjoyed while they can, and in the proper way (with an eye to time and the low temperature). Amazeballs.

One of my favourite teas from the tasting today; the only tea of which I immediately bought 50g.

The dry leaf, which I got to smell, was very seaweed/fishy, much more like a very strong sencha, which, if I had smelled the leaf first, would have turned me off the tea entirely. I’m glad it didn’t, because the taste is absolutely amazing. It is sweet and light, with a surprising touch of an alcohol burn as it goes down. There is also a faint floral backhint, but not off-putting.

An amazing straight green, and a beautiful alternative to the senchas that I don’t care for.

Yet another tea from the tasting at the Tea Haus. I would have enjoyed this cup much more if it hadn’t been oversteeped, because it was definitely bitter, with a touch of acidity. The tea itself was a light golden yellow, very pretty. The flavour was faintly vegetal but mild; I heard this tea described as a work-a-day tea, and I would agree. A solid standard green.

This is the first straight sencha that I have almost actually enjoyed.

The scent of the brewed tea was very strong, with definite seaweed aromas and something else that I couldn’t quite place; almost like the roasted, popcorny taste of a genmaicha. The seaweed tapered down into a light vegetal flavour upon drinking, but that mystery flavour was still very present. Still didn’t turn me into a sencha believer.

The second matcha we tried was this one, and I could begin to see how people (like my wife) could enjoy just straight matcha. It was a much smoother, mellow scent. The flavour was still fishy, but it was more like a back hint this time.

The Tea Haus held a “Shades of Green” tea tasting today, so I got my green on! The first three teas we sampled were all Japanese greens, which I don’t usually like. I haven’t rated them, because I know already that I don’t like sencha and I don’t think it would be fair for me to rate one objectively since they all taste like butt to me.

So turns out that I don’t like matcha either! This offering had a very strong scent, very heavy and fishy. The taste was slightly less reeking of fish, but it was still very strong.

I will admit to being superficial and wanting to try this just because of that huge chunk of orange in the picture. I got a cuppa in-store while the wonderfully helpful guy bounced around to fill my four-page list of teas. I think it was both burnt and oversteeped, which dented my enjoyment of it a little. Still, the fruit flavours blended well with the white tea to make a light and fruity drink. It would make a good base for a sangria or an iced tea, but I don’t feel any great need to stock up.

As I sit me down in the passenger’s seat / I pray the lord my soul to keep / and if I die ‘cause TinaS doesn’t brake / I pray the lord my tea to take / up to heaven with me.

Road trip tea! It was off to London and its incredible Tea Haus for a tasting and a shopping spree, but I had to start the day off right, with one of my all-time favourite teas. Equal parts minty, musty, and smoky, this tea is perfectly balanced between light and dark and sweet and savoury. Just perfect.

First time I’ve logged this and actually agreed with the “last drank on” box.

Anyway. I like tea again! Yaaaay! And today is St Patrick’s Day, so I decided to start it off with a green (see what I did there?). Now, it’s a big deal for my family. We go out, get blind drunk by noon, and then sleep it off until six. However, I don’t drink any more (yay medication! boo medication.), but I finagled it so we’re hitting up the pub that has the Mystery Box of Tea. Tea for me all day!

Re: the tea. I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. This tea is simply the best. I do think I oversteeped it, which means the grassy notes from the sencha start to fight back against the tingle of the ginger.

No notes yet.

I wanted to make a cuppa today!

This is actually a pretty big deal. At a certain time during the month – if you know what I mean – I don’t want tea. It’s weird. I just don’t want tea. Black, green, herbal, whatever. Unlike every other foodstuff in existence, I don’t want tea. So when I thought “Hmmm, I could do with a cuppa . . .” I was overjoyed, as its been almost a week of tealessness.

That said, the first half of this cup was delicious.

The second half of this cup was bitter and oversteeped, since I ended up with almost a teaspoon of sediment in the bottom of my cup that kept steeping.

I. Love. Red Leaf Earl. They are so good. So full and rich and just damn delicious. Better review next time I make a cuppa.

Got this in store and did not realise that she had left the tea bag in, so it was . . . verrrrrry strong. It’s a generally sweet, kinda fruity tea. The kombucha is very powerful, with the earthy overtones of similarly-fermented pu’erh. I reach for it occasionally, but very occasionally.

Apparently this is Drink All The Teas You Drank Last March week. Zing Me was one of our favourite teas when we first became Disciples of DAVID, the zippy blend of apricot and peach the perfect fruit blend for me, who doesn’t like it too sweet, and my girlie, who is from the South. After all this time, I still love it. I am once again saddened that it is discontinued, and I know it will go back to its treasured place on the shelf because we can’t bring ourselves to drink it down.

I cheated on this one this morning. Made a cup for my wife and didn’t use enough, and when I made it for myself I just added more leaves to the already-used infuser. Anyway.

This tea is such a sweet, mellow, smooth mouthful. I don’t want to gulp and yet I find that I can’t help it. There is a delicateness about the flavour that I usually wouldn’t ascribe to creamy blends – that I wouldn’t ascribe to blends at all, in fact. It’s a very naturally teased out taste.

y u no cheaper, Gold Rush?

My first time trying this since the rebranding as Chocolate Orange. I will review it in a moment, but first, gather ’round, people of Steepster, for storytime!

So DT’s new spring collection came out yesterday and, unsurprisingly, we went to sample them all. Yes, all. We are completionists that way. A usual busy day at our local, and they were having some computer troubles. Long story short, my debit card was double-charged, which I didn’t figure out until later when I tried to buy some delicious baked goods at the local bakery. Boo. I called the store and let them know what had happened, they told me to come in whenever, no problem.

Today, I amble up to the store and one of the girls (we call her Not Hipster Girl – they need to wear nametags!) is standing out front with a tray of samples. She gives me a big ol’ grin and says “Hey! Here to get that refund?” “. . . yes. Hi!”

Up to the counter I go, where Manager and Non-Asian Guy (who had been the one to help me yesterday) are standing. “Hey! So sorry about yesterday, totally my fault.” “Oh no, no, that’s okay, I don’t mind -” “Here, we want you to have 50g of one of the new spring teas, whatever you want. Let’s process that refund. Do you want anything to go?” Yes, 50g of tea and two free cups of tea because of a computer glitch. I cannot say how much I absolutely love DAVIDsTEA’s customer service. It’s just phenomenal, above and beyond any other retail experience I’ve had, tea-related or otherwise.

Anyway. Tea. This is the cup I got to go (the other being an iced Orange Blossom for my wife), my usual hot and black. I steeped it longer than I usually do pu’erhs and I’m actually glad that I did. It had such a rich warmth to it, I was actually kinda stunned for a moment. Just this amazingly complex chocolately taste, with all the shades of mustiness that pu’erhs hold. And then the zip of the orange citrus . . . I need to bump up the rating on this, and bring the small amount in our stash back to the forefront.

This was . . . odd? I don’t know. It was tasty, but utterly unlike apples, baked or otherwise. I tasted a mild black tea with a distinct floral note from the rose petals, but not much else. Very strange.

This was a decent cup of tea. Sweet, the sencha wasn’t too overwhelming, tasted mango-y. A bit too mango-y, actually. Getting into that artificial flavouring taste, especially for such a short steep time. I didn’t bother going back to finish off my cup when I set it down for a few minutes. Very unremarkable.

Mmmmmmmmmm. The last of our sample, so I tried to do it justice.

Dry, this tea is . . . not dry! It’s sticky from the honey, which is awesome. But it is a dark green, with a hint of muskiness from the tea covered by the predominance of the real honey. Steeped Western-style, about two or three teaspoons of tea in one of the BrewT-type steepers from DT.

First steep: Oversteeped! Three and a half minutes, because I got distracted while it was brewing up. Still! Delicious. Tea turned out a rich golden colour, with a darkly vegetal flavour. The honey toned down to a hint of sweetness throughout the cup, that sweetened without turning it floral.

Second steep: Successful steep time! Minute fifteen. Not as much of the honey flavour – I was tempted to add some myself. A lighter gold colour, and the cup was much smoother in taste, not quite as herby.

Third steep: Just under two minutes, maintained the smooth deliciousness of the second steep, but less honey.

Four steep: Two minutes. No honey taste, sadness. But the oolong is still going strong.

Fifth steep: Two minutes. Would have been delicious, but I forgot about it on the windowsill when I went to bed and didn’t drink any of it.

Sixth steep: Two minutes. Leaves have actually been sitting in the steeper overnight, so I’m hoping I’m not going to give myself an allergic reaction to it. Was actually more of a trial to see if it could be done – I never want to give up on this tea. More of a bitter vegetal flavour, but surprisingly drinkable. Don’t think I’ll try for another steep.

Last time I drank this was almost exactly a year ago – spooky.

Anyway. Whenever I go into DT and they ask me what I’d like for a cuppa, I get completely overwhelmed. I stare blankly at the wall as the clock ticks. I just don’t know what I want. So I usually end up ordering this, or the Three Lemon Green. (Why lemon? I don’t know. I like lemon.)

Invariably, I get a very tasty cup, if usually a little bitter from oversteeping. The black tea base isn’t given short-shrift by the lemon flavour, which itself is sweeter than it is tart or sour. All in all, this is a good tea – I just don’t feel the need to add it to the collection at home. Yet, anyway. Maybe if we get the stash under control a little first.

I obviously don’t log this as often as I drink it; according to Steepster I last drank it at the end of January, but I make a cup every other day, maybe even more frequently. It’s my go-to tea for sluggish mornings, or any time I need a bit of sparkle in my life.

I was more than half-asleep when I made my morning cuppa. I brewed this at the same temperature I did for greens, and then forgot about it for ten minutes. I was sure that I had ruined it, but it was surprisingly not bitter! A little cold.

What else can I say? It was pleasant but forgettable, a nice little caffeine boost in a tasty package, but I didn’t linger over it.

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