244 Tasting Notes

I’m generally pretty happy with the juice side of things and more critical of the tea side of things, but in this case, I didn’t find the juice very peachy at all. Still a refreshing beverage (gimme something cold and fizzy and I’m usually happy), but not satisfying. Also what’s up with Trader Joe’s cans? They’re like two gulps. It’s engrumbling.

gmathis

May I have permission to steal and liberally use “engrumbling?”

Nik

Absolutely! =)

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61
drank Mango Yo Sweet Green Tea by Oobli
244 tasting notes

This ready-to-drink, canned iced tea is marketed to folks trying to decrease the sugar in their diets. It’s sweetened with “sweet plant protein” that apparently breaks down differently in the body and consequently doesn’t raise blood glucose levels? I dunno, I saw an advert and thought it was worth a try.

My opinion of all three flavours is the same: the fruit juice bit is good (although I would’ve liked this more without yuzu), the level of sweetness is good, and the kind of sweetness is good (no strange aftertaste; my brain could easily get used to this). The problem is the iced tea bit, which is just … bad. It doesn’t taste like good quality tea. And I don’t know good quality tea, really, so if I’m saying it, well. (In fairness, this one’s a bit better than the ones with a black-tea base.)

They should improve the quality of their tea or they should make sparkling fruit juices or something.

Flavors: Mango, Yuzu

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62
drank Peachy Plz Sweet Iced Tea by Oobli
244 tasting notes

This ready-to-drink, canned iced tea is marketed to folks trying to decrease the sugar in their diets. It’s sweetened with “sweet plant protein” that apparently breaks down differently in the body and consequently doesn’t raise blood glucose levels? I dunno, I saw an advert and thought it was worth a try.

My opinion of all three flavours is the same: the fruit juice bit is good, the level of sweetness is good, and the kind of sweetness is good (no strange aftertaste; my brain could easily get used to this). The problem is the iced tea bit, which is just … bad. It doesn’t taste like good quality tea. And I don’t know good quality tea, really, so if I’m saying it, well.

They should improve the quality of their tea or they should make sparkling fruit juices or something. This flavour gets a slightly better rating because I like peach more than lemon.

Flavors: Peach, Tea

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55
drank Holy Lemon Sweet Iced Tea by Oobli
244 tasting notes

This ready-to-drink, canned iced tea is marketed to folks trying to decrease the sugar in their diets. It’s sweetened with “sweet plant protein” that apparently breaks down differently in the body and consequently doesn’t raise blood glucose levels? I dunno, I saw an advert and thought it was worth a try.

My opinion of all three flavours is the same: the fruit juice bit is good, the level of sweetness is good, and the kind of sweetness is good (no strange aftertaste; my brain could easily get used to this). The problem is the iced tea bit, which is just … bad. It doesn’t taste like good quality tea. And I don’t know good quality tea, really, so if I’m saying it, well.

They should improve the quality of their tea or they should make sparkling fruit juices or something.

Flavors: Lemon, Tea

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75

I’m upping my rating from 68 to 75: not quite high enough to earn it permanent residency in my cupboard or anything, but definitely one level up in appreciation. I fell asleep for a few hours, so when I woke up my tea had cooled to the perfect drinking temperature (it was still hot—it’s one of those insulated travel mugs that keeps my tea hot for like 12 hours or so).

First, the not great: sliiiight bit of astringency. But honestly, nothing much to complain about.

Then, the great: It’s so much creamier than it was when it was boiling, almost milky! I really love the mouthfeel now. Since I’ve gone dairy-free and don’t even bother with plant-based milk in my tea anymore, it’s rare that I get that experience. Just lovely. The vanilla is still front and centre, but it’s now ensconced in other flavours, like the bergamot I was missing earlier. I would still like to taste more of the tea. My caffeine-sensitive body is telling me that I definitely used enough leaf, so I know it’s not that, but it’s fine, it’s okay. The bergamot lingers longer than the vanilla, solidly identifying this as an earl grey.

Overall, a huge improvement. You might be saying, Nik, a double cream earl grey is supposed to be vanilla-y. And you might be saying, Nik, I could’ve told you the flavours would form a group hug instead of sitting off in their own corners if you’d just give them a minute. And to that I say, well, I’m still learning and I’ve got a long way to go. =)

Flavors: Bergamot, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 1 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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75

I was unpacking and chopping up boxes (recycling pickup tomorrow), when I found an order from Friday Afternoon Tea. It’s my first order from them, yay new tea! And yay for opening the box upon—or close to—arrival, instead of two years later.

Okay, anyway, so I opened the box and there was this little packet of Double Cream Earl Grey separate from my main order. It looks like they included a free sample, but wow, it’s a very generous sample. This has got to be at least 5-6 cups of tea. That’s so lovely of them!

I was so jonesing for earl grey. Just, like, simple black tea with a ka-pow of bergamot. Something delicious and safe, pretty much guaranteed to take me to my nyum-nyum place.

I wish this were that, but it’s not. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not terrible. tea-sipper likened it to bug spray last year, which wow, that sounds awful and I’m grateful that wasn’t my experience. It’s just heavy on the vanilla and light on the bergamot for me. It’s a bit light on the actual tea, too. I’m just getting a whole lot of vanilla. Maybe that’s because I don’t like vanilla so I’m extra sensitive to it, or maybe it’s because I didn’t get a balanced scoop of leaf in my spoon, I don’t know. I definitely like it enough to keep drinking it, so I’ll probably have a better feel for it after another cup or two. One thing I appreciate is that I oversteeped it and it was very forgiving: no bitterness or astringency.

Flavors: Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 1 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
ashmanra

Do you dislike vanilla in general or mainly in tea? I have a tea that my husband’s likes well enough but he says it reminds him of a certain shopping mall tobacco shop his father frequented. I realized that he was thinking of the heavily vanilla scented tobacco his father bought and that particular had a rather thick (thicc lol) vanilla flavoring.

Nik

I don’t love vanilla in general, but I recognise that it’s useful. Like, when I make chocolate frosting, the vanilla extract brings out the chocolate flavour and makes it smooth, without making the frosting taste like vanilla. So I’m not so against it that I absolutely won’t tolerate it in anything, but I don’t love the flavour—especially in ice cream and tea.

ashmanra

Understood! It does help accentuate flavors and when a blend says it is cake flavored I find it is usually mostly vanilla flavored to me. I do like vanilla, and use it a lot in baking..so much so that we make our own in vast quantities.

My palate and preferences have changed so much, and I have to give Steepster a lot of the credit. The first time someone said they tasted roasted carrots in a green tea I thought, “Ma’am, are you for real?” Then one day I was roasting carrots and thought, “Man, I would really like some green tea. This is reminding of….WAIT A MINUTE! IT REALLY DOES HAVE CARROT NOTES!” That was eye opening for me.

It is really neat to see sich a friendly community where we can admit to liking or not liking hibiscus or bergamot or whatever, and everyone respects that we all have different tastes!
Nik

Absolutely. =) And yes, while I still strongly favour dessert teas, and while I haven’t ventured beyond pouring hot water over a sachet or loose leaf—like multi-steep oolongs, gongfu, and pu-erh cakes—Steepster has definitely broadened my horizons.

gmathis

You make your own frosting?!? I’m in awe of you now!

Nik

I found a recipe that takes 10 mins or so: mixing butter, sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract. https://www.theconsciousplantkitchen.com/vegan-chocolate-frosting/

tea-sipper

haha! I see “Friday Afternoon” and “Earl” and I say OH NO for anyone drinking it (even though in this case, it was free!) But I’m VERY glad it’s a tea that you enjoyed and didn’t get the dreaded “bug spray”. :D

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drank Coco Colada by DAVIDsTEA
244 tasting notes

I love pineapple and coconut together, and thought this blend might make a lovely cold cup. Unfortunately, it smells and tastes awful to me. It’s the worst tea I’ve had in recent memory. I can’t give it another go or try different things with it, I can’t even open the packet again. Just posting this so I don’t accidentally try it again, because I will almost certainly forget about the reaction I had.

Roswell Strange

Sounds like, unfortunately, the coconut in the blend may have gone sour :(

Nik

Y’think? That could very well be; and, if that’s the case, I’m even gladder I didn’t pull down the tea’s rating with a low score. Entirely my fault. I should chuck it in the bin, then, and not ask around to see if anyone wants the rest. Thank you!

Roswell Strange

Unfortunately coconut is one of the ingredients used in tea blends that has the worst shelf stability. Nuts (particularly walnuts) are the second highest offender. I want to say that the last time we carried this tea was 2021 so it seems likely. Though toasting or “candying” (ie if you see sugar as a sub ingredient) can help extend the shelf life, if it smells sour or alcoholic/fermented that’s a pretty good sign it’s past its prime.

Nik

Thank you for the education, I appreciate it!

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86
drank Yes Please by Dryad Tea
244 tasting notes

I’m upping my rating from 83 to 86; I find that the less of this leaf I use, the more I like it. I usually steep a bunch of dried lemongrass and drink it a few times a week—daily, if I remember. Yesterday, I added a bit of this blend to the lemongrass, and it was super lovely.

Flavors: Flowers

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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86
drank Yes Please by Dryad Tea
244 tasting notes

Take two.

Being the scientific type and a huge advocate of precision, I … changed every variable at once. :D Less tea (maybe .75 tsp instead of 1, but Steepster won’t let me submit .75), more water, lower temperature, shorter steep. And yay, so much better! This time, the violet candy fragrance I detected in the dry leaf was absent. Nothing in the leaf’s changed since yesterday, so I’m going to chalk it up to wishful thinking on my part. The best thing is that the brew tasted floral, not soapy. As it cooled, I could swear a bit of the violet candy vibe came back. After yesterday’s experience, though, I didn’t let it cool much, and successfully avoided the bitterness and the astringency.

Oof, the bouquet is very strong in this one. The flavour even lingers quite a bit, which is also something I’m not used to with greens. Another thing I noticed is that the vegetal greenness I noticed yesterday was absent today; instead, the base served to brighten the other flavours.

This isn’t an everyday cup for me, but I reckon it’d be really nice to have on occasion. I’ve still got some left—maybe cold, next time? I feel comfortable rating it this time, and the more I nyum-nyum, the more I appreciate that it’s trying something different.

I’d still call it the Lavender Duke, though.

Flavors: Lavender, Violet

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
ashmanra

Glad the tweaks improved it for you!

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86
drank Yes Please by Dryad Tea
244 tasting notes

This blend has me at such a loss. I didn’t know that Earl Grey without bergamot was a thing. I thought bergamot is what made Earl Grey, Earl Grey. TIL.

Let’s start with the dry leaf fragrance. A few weeks ago, I was staying at a place that had hand soap whose fragrance reminded me of those violet candies that were popular when I was a kid. And it’s funny, because at that time, I had the thought that it would be interesting to try a tea that reminded me of that candy.

Now I’m not so sure.

The fragrance of the dry leaf is bold, which I love. And it’s—pow!—floral, which I … think I like? It was definitely interesting. And it absolutely reminded me of those violet candies! The steeped brew had a much milder fragrance, which started to regain its intensity as the brew cooled. I did get a vegetal whiff of green tea from the brew, which I didn’t from the dry leaf.

When I took my first sip, my first thought was, oh no, it’s the soap gene all over again. You know how some folks think cilantro tastes like soap? This tea tasted kind of soapy to me, and that wasn’t great. I let it cool a bit, just to see what would happen, and it got really bitter and … what’s that thing where it dries out your mouth? astringent? That. Finally, I added some sugar to it, and that made it more palatable.

Lessons learned:
- The packet says to steep for two to three minutes. I did closer to three, and should probably try closer to two next time.
- I used a tsp of leaf and could probably use less. I appreciate that it’s a strong brew and a little goes a long way. (Kind of surprising for a green tea blend, which I tend to think of as mild, subtle things.)
- Drink it hot! Don’t let it cool.
- Maybe sweeten it a bit right from the start.

It’s definitely interesting. But Earl Grey is pretty much my favourite, and this is not that. Given my druthers, I’d call this one The Lavender Duke. {snerk} Leaving off the rating this time because I honestly don’t know what to make of it.

Flavors: Lavender, Soap, Vegetal

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
ashmanra

I wonder if backing off on the temperature to around 175F would help, too? It might tone down the astringency. I have some Japanese greens I steep at 165.

Nik

Thank you, I’ll give it a try!

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Profile

Bio

2012.10.07: I hear people like to understand other people’s ratings, so here’s a loose guide:

01-29: Dear God, why.
30-49: I’ll finish this cup, I guess, but no more.
50-59: Meh.
60-69: Decent. Maybe I can blend it with something else and make it better.
70-79: Heeey, this is quite good!
80-89: I love it, but I’m not in love with it.
90-100: Permanently resident in my Happy Place.

Update: I have steeped, and it was good. =] Still a tea-ophyte, though.

This is a tea site, so I feel like “well, I’m Indian” should be enough of an introduction. Because, I mean, it’s kind of in my genes, right? But the fact of the matter is that I’m an absolute tea-ophyte.

I’ve just discovered a world beyond Celestial Seasonings. I’ve just discovered “sachets” instead of “normal” tea bags and bought my first loose tea sampler. I don’t get the whole water temperature and steep time thing yet, nor that if I want to get a yixiang tea pot, I’d need one for each type of tea. I have this infuser ball thing, but I haven’t used it yet.

Don’t cringe, but right now I’m still just boiling water and pouring it over a teabag, adding some sugar, and drinking a nice, hot cuppa. I’d like to learn more, I think, and I’d like to train my palate. I figure participating in this community is the best way to do that.

So ya. Hi!

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