Camiah

Resteep. Not worth it.

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I can’t believe there are no tasting notes yet for this tea. Mine is #50/150—c’mon people! How do I know what I’m supposed to taste if no one is on Steepster telling me what it is I’m supposed to be tasting? So selfish :)

I suspect this has Ceylon as a major component. It definitely doesn’t seem like Assam or Keemun, from my limited experience with them. Or maybe some darjeeling. It has a bit of astringency to it at the end of the sip that reminds me of Darjeeling, and it seems more like an afternoon blend of tea (whereas their Holiday blend strikes me more as a morning blend). Maybe this a Yunnan base? I’ve only ever had one cup of Yunnan, a while ago, so I’m not as familiar with it. Now, really, I’m just pulling things out of the air.

Definitely an afternoon tea. It is a more delicate black, it isn’t as robust, though still somewhat lively. I like it! Not quite as much as I like some other Andrews & Dunham teas, but it is still quite tasty. I’ll try resteeping the leaves a bit later to see if there is anything left in them.

I’m tempted to start this review with “O Captain! My Captain!” But lets face it, in the poem the captain is dead, and that just doesn’t feel right for such a robust and lively Captain, now does it?

This is a lovely tea. Can Andrews and Dunham do wrong? I’m beginning to think not. Captain Assam is bold, smooth, and rich, but not overly strong, if you know what I mean. A bit of an astringency, but nothing off-putting. Tannic, as another reviewer said. I don’t think it is as malty as the Assam Banaspaty from David’s Tea that I’ve had previously and also loved. What a smart cookie my husband is, getting me all that Andrews and Dunham had to offer this Christmas. I do believe, until it is gone, this is going to be my new morning tea.

I’m not a smoky tea fan. I haven’t had a lot, and my first experience with a smoky tea was a very strong Lapsang Souchong with my grandmother. I still remember the scent, and the horror, to this day. It was with trepidation that I approached Caravan. This is the first of my Christmas teas to be opened, and I decided I should have it first—a sort of “suck it up, buttercup” moment.

On opening the tin I was assailed by the strong smoky aroma of the lapsang souchong in it. Not just smoky, but meat-smoky. Like smoked bacon. I don’t eat bacon. It isn’t my favorite smell. I had my doubts, given how overwhelmingly smoky the tea smelled. But I soldiered on, undeterred. On pouring the cup, I had my doubts again. The smoky smell was still readily apparent, if not as in-your-face as in the dry mix.

The taste? Lightly smoky, not nearly what I was expecting. Not quite as smooth as others have commented, it seemed a bit harsh, but the harshness fit the tea. It isn’t my favorite Andrews and Dunham, but it isn’t bad. I’m definitely going to have more, and I’m on my way now to have a second steep. I just have to get over the smoked bacon smell.

Since I had the David’s Teas 24 Days of Tea, I decided to drink my 52Teas 12 teas of Christmas during the traditional 12 days of Christmas. And I started a day late. Oops. Yesterday was rough, with having to be at work at 7 a.m. And then after I got home, I didn’t want to have a caffeinated tea to get in the way of sleep later. So I decided to hold off until today.

Ninavampi said it best, without additions, Milk and Cookies tastes like a vaguely chocolately generic black tea, slightly harsh. I want to like it, I want it to be out of this world and cookie-like, but I dislike sweetened tea. In any form. With any amount of sugar. So I just can’t go there. My mental block is too strong. But to get the best out of many of their teas, you have to have milk and/or sugar. So after my brief crush on them, here I am. It smells delicious though. At least I have that.

This is the Christmas tea (of the morning and early afternoon). I gave in and bought a couple ounces of this about two weeks ago, and have refrained from having any because the time just didn’t seem right. Today, apparently, at 5:30 a.m. was the right time. This tea is as delicious as I remember it being. Earthy, a bit smoky, and a bit of a yeasty/bake-y thing going on. It is wonderful. It is even good on the resteep.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! If you don’t, have a marvelous tea-drinking day!

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I actually thought David’s Tea had screwed up again (they had two day 8’s on my calendar), the color threw me, and it smelled almost exactly like I remembered Forever Nuts smelling. Once I brewed it and saw the crazy pink color I came immediately to Steepster to see if it had beetroot in it.

And, it does indeed appear to be Sleigh Ride. It tastes like apple cider, with a strong coconut smell. It is delicious indeed. I still think I taste beet though. I appreciate the color, I just cannot get it out of my head that it contains beets. It is totally psychological, I know I don’t really taste beets. Knowledge sucks sometimes. But this tea does not (even if I taste beets).

ETA: And there is the hibiscus! Now that it is cooling off the hibiscus is becoming dominant. I can see why people aren’t a fan of hibiscus. It really does take center stage. Show off.

I thought I was going to be over the moon in love with this tea, based on the smell and the name. I LOVE creme brulee. With great big hearty hearts. So I was disappointed when I tried this one. It didn’t remind me of creme brulee at all. I got the mild taste of the green rooibos, and a bit of creaminess, but not what I was expecting. Oh well. Can’t win them all. I’m still glad I got to try it.

I’m coming to the end of my DT’s 24 days of Christmas, and that makes me sad. Today’s offering was David’s Organic Breakfast. I could definitely taste the Keemun in it, it reminded me of the Teavana Keemun that I’d had before (which is the only reason I could identify the keemun). That was the dominant flavor note I could identify, I didn’t really get much darjeeling, as there wasn’t much astringency (I associate a mild astringency with darjeeling. I’m not sure if that is accurate. But anyway,). Overall it was a lovely black, smooth and full, with a nice mouth-feel, not too heavy, but not too thin. I got a couple of steeps out of it as well, and the second was almost as good as the first. I’ll definitely consider putting this one into a breakfast rotation should I order again from David’s Tea.

It has been a long time since I’ve had chai. And the last chai I had was one of those bagged ones that you really have to have with milk to make it drinkable. So it was with some skepticism that I approached this one, given that I’m not a milk fan, nor, based on previous experience, much of a chai person.

This is much better than I expected. For some reason I expected more of a chocolate flavor, I think I had it mixed up with the chocolate chili chai tea that I have a sample of. Anyway, the peppercorns give it a bit of a bite, while the other spices are all in harmony. None of them are overwhelming the others. I get a bit of coconut, but mostly in the aroma of the brewed tea. And cinnamon! I definitely get the cinnamon. I think part of the bite that I get from this tea also comes from the ginger. A nicely done blend, this would be perfect for cold nights, curled up with a blanket and a book or my knitting. Unfortunately, we don’t get many cold evenings, so I’ll have to suffer through warm evenings with this tea to make me imagine it is cold. Definitely going on my to-buy list!

Oh yum. This smells like honey, and tastes like it too. It makes me think of nectar. I’ve definitely changed my mind about mate. It isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was! It was a nice pick-me-up this afternoon when my energy was starting to wane.

Sadly, this tea is done. Today’s cup is the last of the 50g I ordered from David’s Tea. I am very sad to see it go, it is a wonderful tea. One of my favorites from DT, in fact. Malty and rich, it hits the spot for this former morning coffee drinker. After I tried Assam Banaspaty, it quickly became my go-to for the mornings, which is why it is gone so fast. Now I has a sad. I won’t be re-ordering it immediately, mainly because I want to place an order from Upton in the near future and want to try some of their Assams (must try more!).

I’m on my last cup of this tea. I have this weird tendency to drink the teas I like least first, even though I have teas I like better. I think it is because even though I know better, that I don’t have to drink them, they are in my cupboard taking up room and making me feel guilty for wanting something else. And it isn’t like I really despise the ones I don’t like, I just have other preferences. So I drink the ones I like less first so they are gone faster.

This tea has been in the “like less drink first” category, along with a plain old CS Chamomile, so they have been my most consistent nightly beverages of choice. And I won’t particularly miss this one. It might be because the tea may be a bit old, but I never really tasted honey or vanilla. I got lots of chamomile, but none of the other flavors. So I’ll bid a rather uninterested adieu to this one, glad to have one fewer box in the tea cupboard.

It occurred to me that I can’t be completely uninterested in oolongs, since I like this one. I got home from work and running errands today totally beat. All I wanted was a nap. Barring that, a decent cup of tea. But not something too caffeinated, but nothing herbal. And none of my new Christmas teas, since those are on a self-imposed off-limits until (you guessed it) Christmas. So I returned to an old standby favorite, remembering that it was oolong to see if I had the same sort of unenthusiastic reaction to the tea that I had to the DT Vanilla Oolong.

And I didn’t. I quite enjoyed it. It hit the spot very well indeed, which leads me to wonder if the DT Vanilla Oolong wasn’t just a victim of poor timing on my part. I’ve been wanting dark, malty teas in the morning ever since I got the DT Assam Banaspaty, and an oolong just wasn’t going to cut it. So the DT Vanilla Oolong might go back on the shopping list for another, better timed try.

So, this tea? I tasted cinnamon. I think. Not just unidentifiable spicy warm flavor, but cinnamon. I’m going to be crushed if the first flavor note I think I’ve ever authentically identified without prompting or without guessing at it turns out to be wrong. Something just said “cinnamon”. So I may be developing a bit of a palate after all.

This is so good. It is definitely going on my to-buy list. I can taste the walnut, and the coconut along with the green tea. I don’t get any bitterness from the tea or from the walnut, which is surprising, actually. Other nut flavored blends, since if they have walnut in them I often taste a bit of bitterness that I’ve always associated with walnuts. So maybe I was wrong in my past associations, or David’s Tea just did an excellent job with this tea. I’m definitely going to get more of it. Eventually.

This one is good, though somewhat weak. I think I need to double up on the number of tea bags I used. I am surprised the color of the liquor is so light, given that it has roasted barley in it. The smell is like sugar cookies, though much gentler than the smell from the tea bag itself. It also tastes sweet, though that may just be the aftereffects of the bunch of homemade marshmallows that I had. The vanilla sugar flavor of the marshmallows highlights the vanilla sweetness of the tea. Interesting. Even though it has that slightly sweet flavor, I can still really taste the barley—it gives it a warmth and depth of flavor that I really quite like. This makes two of the Celestial Seasonings teas I may have to stock up on before the holiday season is over. Next up to try is the Gingerbread Spice Tea. Can it possibly compare to Candy Cane Lane and Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride? I don’t know. Part of me hopes not, because I’m running out of room in my tea cabinet (okay, I ran out of room a while ago. You know what I mean.)

I had this at a friend’s house while we were making caramels and marshmallows and gingerbread (oh my!). The experience? Was wonderful. The tea? Merely meh. I must have oversteeped it. I wasn’t really paying attention what with the caramel-y goodness going on. It tasted bitter and vaguely unpleasant. Ah well. Can’t complain too much—an afternoon of friends and candy goodness can’t possibly be spoiled by a subpar cup of tea.

This is my tea for mid-afternoon (as opposed to my upcoming late afternoon/early evening tea). Creamy vanilla minty delicious green tea! I am so glad I saw all the swooning reviews on Steepster. I likely wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise.

I can’t believe I forgot my tasting note for this tea! In a word: yummy. Mild, mostly apple, with just a hint of nuts. Maybe I was imagining the nut flavor based on the name, but whatever. I got a glimpse of the crazy pink color, but I was pouring it in my stainless steel to-go mug so I only literally got a glimpse. I bet it is gorgeous in a clear mug.

My one quibble is actually about the color. Knowing it had beetroot in it for color made me sure I could taste beets. Not my favorite food, even when drowned in a good dill vinaigrette and accompanied with gorgonzola cheese. Every sip, I’d have ghosts of beet chasing the apple flavor. Enough so that I had to wonder, ‘did I just taste beet? How about now? Or now?’ It got rather annoying. I would much prefer a different color tea without beet. Since I clearly cannot be trusted to separate the idea of what I may taste with what I’m actually tasting.

Wow. I was not impressed with this. I think I’ve discovered a category of tea I don’t particularly care for. I just wasn’t feeling the love for oolong. Even with vanilla, one of my favorite flavors. Weird. It was….boring. I just felt sort of meh about it. I drank it, and didn’t even think about resteeping, even though I know oolongs are supposed to be good resteepers. I didn’t hate it, I just don’t feel overly compelled to seek out more oolongs. Not like other types of teas I’ve had, where even if I don’t like it, I can still see trying more like it in the hopes I’ll find something. I just don’t care about oolong. The basic tea flavor wasn’t enough to entice me to want more. Oh well. Can’t like everything, I suppose.

I fixed a pot of this yesterday afternoon and promptly fell asleep, so I drank it later on in the evening warmed up in the microwave (wince). In between the nap and the drinking, it lost that pu-erh fishy, earthy smell. It didn’t smell like much of anything at all. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste like much at all. Mainly like strong tea. Not leathery, not fishy, not musty or earthy. Weird. It was a definite reminder of the way that smell impacts the taste.

I resteeped the leaves this morning after reading that pu-erhs are good resteepers. This cup has more of the pu-erh flavors and scents. Definitely musty and earthy. Not bad, actually. I am quite enjoying it. I was really skeptical after I opened up the bag of tea and took a whiff. It was really fishy and off-putting. I don’t know that pu-erhs will ever be a staple in my cupboard, but I definitely wouldn’t mind trying more.

I got a cup of this while I was at Teavana buying some Capital of Heaven Keemun (swoon). This isn’t bad, the smell of the dry mix was very fruity-chocolately-intense, with the smell of the brewed tea being only slightly less intense.

The chocolate and chili are very apparent on drinking, especially the chili, it has a nice little bite to it. I don’t really taste the fruit in the sip. The unfortunate thing? It has a really heavy mouthfeel and aftertaste. I’m not so much a fan of this aftertaste that the tea has going on. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t think it is for me.