Bianca G.

MTC’s teas are very hit or miss with me. When I first got into tea, I placed a huge order with them because the prices seemed too good to be true. And, of course, I found myself a bit disappointed with a few of their teas I had ordered. But I came away from the experience with a lesson learned.

MTC black teas are super easy to oversteep. I steeped this for about 2 minutes and there was still astringency, even with brown sugar. It has an alcoholic taste to it but it must be decent enough because I found I gulped down the cup pretty quickly without even realizing it. It offers more than one resteep, but I found that I only liked it around the third steeping (more flavour, much less bitterness).

Rating: 45.

No notes yet.

Holy guacamole. The first time I tried this, I almost spat it out. Not because I didn’t like it, but because its actual bacon-ness caught me off guard. The first cup I drank had a pinch of salt and maple syrup, the second had sugar. Both were delicious! My favourite thing about this is its smokiness. Yum!

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I won’t lie, I wasn’t thrilled about tasting this tea, especially after I wasn’t a huge fan of Sun and Cloud Mist (which I’m determined to give another try because, kitten label!). I didn’t hate this though. It was surprisingly sweet (I’m not used to being able to taste the sweetness in teas without adding sugar. I hope this means my palette is maturing!) so I drank it bare.

Sipdown! I’m hoping to get a few more of those accomplished today since it’s my day off. I have to make room for a big 52teas order I got in the other day!

This one was astringent due to oversteeping, but the blueberry smoothed it out as best as it could. I still prefer 52teas’s Cotton Candy to this one, but it’s still a good cuppa.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

This was interesting. I had been looking for a cranberry tea and was excited to try it. The cranberry and apple dominated this green and the star anise showed up in the aftertaste. I’m not a big fan of anything licorice-like at all, but I could barely taste the star anise (which was a relief!). My search for a cranberry tea continues, though. I think DAVIDsTEA has a cranberry pear tea which would be right up my alley.

Not sure about this one. I added soy milk to this and there was a bitter, almost sour taste. I’ll have to toy with the steeping and additives, I guess.

2:1 ratio of Blueberry black tea and Maple Cream black tea (both by Metropolitan Tea Combination). Holyyyy, I think I’ve created a monster. This is delicious and now I think I’ll have to do up a tin of this. Thanks to the black tea I’ll be wired for the rest of the night, but it’s so worth it.

The blueberry is delcious and tastes like actual blueberries as opposed to that candied stuff. The maple cream balances it out very nicely and it makes for a smooth tea.

Steep: 3 mins.

Having a few pots of this in my giant 45 oz Forest bubble teapot I received today in the mail. Hurray for Boxing Day sales! I am a little sad however that the Space Invaders mug that I had ordered couldn’t be sent because there was a glitch in their system and it had already sold out when my order was processed. Thankfully I wasn’t charged for it and I did get a 3 extra free samples with my order.

And I had heard rumours that we may be getting a DAVIDsTEA store in my area but it turns out that we’re getting a Teavana. :( I mean, I’m glad we’re getting something but I’ve heard so much about their pushy customer service that I’m not thrilled about visiting the store. But I can either not go or I can put on my big girl pants and be firm with the sales associate if I do visit. Either way, it’s not the end of the world.

Anyway, to the review part of this review: Still a lovely tea and I added some hazelnut agave to give it some extra zing!

My post-workout reward! I added brown sugar instead of agave this time and I definitely do not regret that decision. So yummy!

Brewed at 85, for 3 minutes (first steep) and 5 minutes (second steep). Added a bit of agave because it was a bit bitter.

This tea confuses the heck out of me. I think it’s because there’s so much going on. I mean, there’s black, green and oolong teas plus natural flavours. When I opened the tin I got whiffs of a fruity alcohol flavour. I’ve never actually tried darjeeling tea (which I believe is in this) but maybe that was the smell?

Really full flavour and I’ll probably reach for this in the morning when I’m craving a big cup of coffee.

Rating: dear god, I have no idea. I don’t hate it but I’m not over the moon for it.

This kept me company today while I read The Perks Of Being A Wallflower for the first time. Oversteeped the second infusion but that’s alright since the story was so overwhelming that the powerful taste seemed almost appropriate.

(Ok, I’m being dramatic but WOW, what a book.)

Second steep was alright. It kept the pineapple taste (albeit less sweet since no agave), found the oolong but it was still a bit thin :(

This is the first time ever that I’ve woken up early enough to have a cuppa before work. Usually I roll out of bed and flail about in a hurry because I’m going to be late. I got a sample of this with my last order and have been dying to try it.

I was so determined to make this sample last that I think I understeeped it (I probably for about 1m20s). Regardless, it was very tasty. The pineapple was sweet and almost candy-like, which was most likely due to the bit of agave I had put in my cup. Not going to do that on the second steep. It tasted pretty thin and I didn’t get much of the oolong taste, and I’m hoping that it’ll pop up in the second steep.

Just brewed up the second steep (5mins) and I hope I have time to savour it before work!

Another sipdown! I have a hard time with chocolate teas because I usually find that they don’t taste like chocolate. This tea is reminding me of DavidsTea’s Salted Caramel. It’s good but I don’t think it’s for me.

Steep time: 2 mins and it was quite astringent :/
Added milk and agave.
Rating: 50.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Still catching up on my DavidsTea advent calendar from last year and sipping on this while I marathon the first season of Bomb Girls.

This is nice (but I think I underleafed) and probably tastes great iced. It was refreshing to taste kiwi in a tea. I wish it were a bit stronger though, at times it seemed overpowered by the apple.

Rang in the new year with a pot of this (with some whipped cream vodka mixed in!).

Happy New Year!

Spending New Years Eve with a pot of this since I have to work tomorrow morning so I can’t go out (well, I could but I would suffer the consequences).

I love cherries but this was not for me. This comes off as sour hibiscus to me and I think it’d be alright iced. I’m not a big fan of iced teas though so I don’t think I’ll be giving it a go. It gets much more tolerable as I drink it though.

Steep time: 5 mins. Added agave.
Rating: 30. Not or me.

Ever do that thing where you start watching a horror movie by yourself during the day and you’re like, “Wow, this isn’t even scary,” and by the time you finish it, it’s nighttime and suddenly every creak you hear and shadow you see is obviously some monster that is going to make you its meal?

Okay, well, with me it’s a book (well, The Walking Dead graphic novels to be specific), and I’ve been powering through them (and also a few pots of black tea to keep me going) all day. Suddenly it’s 11 pm and the caffeine from the black tea has me jumping at everything (I scared the crap out of my cat, poor thing). I need a nice, tasty herbal to calm my nerves so here I sit with a nice cup of this tea. It’s fruity and reminds me of summer and definitely helps me keep my mind off of flesh-eating zombies. (Seriously, who knew that things that move .0008 miles per hour and probably can’t even master a set of stairs could be so freaky?)

Rating: 70
Steep time: 5 mins.