canadianadia

I don’t feel so good right now, so I’m trying to distract myself with a combination of Big Bang Theory, Steepster, and pineberry honeybush. I think it’s helping a little. This is a classic fruity honeybush, the pineapple pops out at me the most out of all the flavors. I’ve never tasted actual pineberries, nor have I seen them, in fact, this tea is the first time I’ve ever heard of pineberries.

Honeybush is such a nice nighttime (caffeine free) option for me. I don’t care for the woodiness of a lot of rooibos blends, a lot of the fruit blends are too tart for my liking (with the excessive use of hibiscus), and as much as I enjoy my mint teas, I think I’d get bored with them if I drank them every night.

I’ve read a few reviews describing honeybush as watery, and in all honesty, in comparison to black, green, and even some fruit teas; honeybush is a tad on the watery side. The good thing about this is that when I make honeybush I tend to just leave the mix brewing with little harm other than a little extra sediment.

As far as honeybush goes this is good, but it’s not my favorite…yet. I feel like this one has the potential to grow on me even more as time passes. That does seem to be how honeybush works with me. It just slowly trickles its way up my rating scale.

Finishing off the last of this from my 12 days of tea sample. Pretty good, but it just doesn’t blow me away like some of Frank’s other blends.

I tend to view mint as a staple rather than as a special ingredient, so I imagine that this greatly colors my opinion of this tea. It’s a nice black base and the mint nicely compliments it with that cool refreshing feeling, like a snowy Christmas day. Yeah…great choice for the end of May Nadia!

I get the appeal of this tea, I’m just the wrong audience to fully appreciate it.

Geeeez this tastes extra good today….I’m talking extra, super-duper delicious. Hmmm? The power of the sipdown perhaps?

Such a yummy seasonal treat, it tastes like warmth (if that makes sense to anyone other than me, it will be a miracle). I can see myself ordering it again next Fall/Winter.

Somebody commented about making lattes in one of my tealogs for a different tea from a day or two ago, and now I have latte on the mind. If I ever figure out how to make them with minimal mess/effort, this tea is one that just seems to scream latte. Too bad I’m a lazy and impatient tea-maker – When I want tea, I want it right NOW!!! I’m very teamanding

mmmmm….. I’ll be savoring this to the last drop. Till next time dear friend

I’m surrounded by boxes from the move. Boxes, boxes, boxes everywhere, and one of them contains my teapot! GASP!!! The horror!!!! I feel certain that I labelled the box with my teapot to be opened first, but I can’t find it :O I’ve resorted to using the old one from my family’s house… it’s just not the same. lol…I’m such a whiner eh?

Today is a good day (missing teapot aside) it’s my hubby’s fortieth birthday. I was hoping to throw him a big birthday party but it just so happened that the construction start date for the reno was booked for today, and we didn’t want to delay that. So instead I’m taking him out for dinner tonight. After packing, cleaning, prepping, and reno planning the slower pace of a quiet dinner out is a welcome change. When we got to the house last night I was happy to see that my tea order was waiting here for me. I had promised myself that I would order from another place other than 52teas, to broaden my horizons, but I somehow placed 2 orders with them again. My reasoning for the 1st order was that I was running out of honeybush, and the second order was because they had a sale…yeah…I have no self control when it comes to this company

This tea has a lovely toasted taste, but I’m having trouble tasting the cherry cheesecake aspect. The smell of the dry mix has it, but in the sip, I feel like the genmaicha buries the cherry flavor more than I’d like. I occasionally get the taste, but it’s like a momentary whiff in the background, and then it’s gone again. I’ll have to experiment a bit to see if I can coax the flavors out. Perhaps it just needs a bit more time to cure? Hmmm…

I forgot that I was planning on trying this iced when the weather warms up, and instead I drank it hot again. Now that I finished off my sample I’m not sure if I’ll jump at buying more unless maybe it was available as part of the 2 for 5$ promotion.

It’s not a tea that I find myself reaching for with much enthusiasm, but I’ll have to read reviews to see if having it iced is the secret to turning it from meh, to mmm. As a hot black tea, I find myself favoring teas with a bit more depth and oomph than this one. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t wow me. I’m on the fence about repurchasing this one.

This morning I had 52teas pancake breakfast, and now I’m just finishing off my sample of Oh Canada. Hmmm…Perhaps I’m craving pancakes? The tea will have to do for now as I have to pack up the house for the temporary move.

I’ll probably pick up a sample of this again from time to time in the future (which is saying something – I’m quite fussy with red rooibos). The maple syrup taste is sweet and front & center. If you normally drink tea with sugar, I would suggest trying this one as is before you add anything.

Lowering my rating for this one…I just can’t seem to get a consistent result with this. Sometimes it’s over the top delicious, but other times it’s a bit like a watered down coffee. Hmmm….maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong. In any case, I’m lowering my rating to make sure I don’t buy it again.

This is an amazing strawberry black tea. I can’t wait till we get another run of good warm weather to try this iced.

As with many of 52teas black teas, it does take some minor considerations to get the absolute most out of the flavor. I tend to favor heating the water so it is hot, not boiling. It’s usually hot enough that I can blow on and sip immediately, without scalding myself. (This is perfect for me because I am always a bit impatient to take that first sip of tea).

I made this tea yesterday to enjoy during our last major design meeting before the construction starts. Becky, our designer, was mid-sentence explaining something when she took a sip and said “wow that tea is so delicious”. I enjoyed mine black, and I put 2 sugars in hers upon her request (I used yellow sugar).

Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 specific flavors of black 52teas that are absolute must haves in my tea cupboard (there are probably many more). This is one of them!

Happy Mother’s day!

I’m trying to finish some of my random samples and teabags before we have to move back out of the house for the renovations which are scheduled to start on the 21st. What is that? About 9 days? Jeesh! I’m such a math whiz! I’m terrible at count downs. Am I supposed to count today? Do I count the day that construction starts? Yeah…If you can’t tell, I was always the kid that miscounted the number of days till Christmas…some things never change! Well, in any case, I don’t want to misplace any of my precious tea in the move!

I imagine some of you may be getting tired of hearing about my reno-ventures? I apologize, but I’m darn-tootin’ excited :D

This little individually wrapped teabag is one I picked up at an overnight stay at my favorite Hotel. It contains mint and chamomile, and it tastes exactly like that…minty flowers! What is going on? Am I drinking tea or pulling weeds! Ugh! Needless to say chamomile is not my favorite tea ingredient. Clearly this is not a tea that I would want to buy for myself, but as a hotel freebie, I shouldn’t really complain. (chanting quietly)…focus on the mint…FOCUS ON THE MINT

I finished my third pouch of this tonight and just realized that I’m all out :( (Darn it! I thought I had another pouch tucked away!) I tend to brew this honeybush quite strong, using heaping teaspoons of the leaf in boiling hot water, and I just leave it brewing for hours. Some of the sediment does escape, but that doesn’t ever bother me.

I can’t believe how fast I finished that last pouch. I’m quite sad about it really. So contrary to those quirky little candid kid AT&T commercials, fast isn’t always better than slow. Hmmm… I think I’m going to have to watch a couple of them to distract me from this sad little sip-down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l61LjTwME7w lol! I love the random thoughts kids have http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3R-rtWPyJY hahaha! Picturing it!

ahhh…I feel better already. I’m not sure if the commercials did the trick or if it’s the fact that I just placed an online tea order- retail tearapy

A couple of nights ago we got the exciting news that our permit to do our extension was issued, and the construction will start on May 21st (That’s less than 12 days from today!). We’re overjoyed at the good news and at how quickly things will be moving along, but we’ve been super busy packing our stuff to move back out, corresponding with the designer, and researching the various reno items like flooring, sinks, showers, windows etc… Not to mention, my Dad and I need to finish off the flooring in the powder room (it’s been delayed because he’s having a bit of an issue with his hand – So I told him to rest it, and I’m glad he listened).

To keep me going I wanted something with a little zip, so I reached for this tea. I received it in my order some time ago in error. I had ordered the malted honeybush and accidentally got this instead. I had previously been eying it up, but never committed to buying it due to my caffeine sensitivity. I really wanted to try it, so when it showed up at my doorstep, I figured it was the universe’s way of telling me to give it a go :)

It was my very first mate and I had tried it several times with inconsistent results. I’m sure the inconsistency is 100% my own fault. I’ve made it taste amazing at times, whereas other times it’s just not quite there. I think I’m getting closer to getting it consistently correct now. I’ve been using heaping spoonfuls and steeping it longer till it gets dark and roasty. Mmmm….yep, I definitely got it right today.

I can’t believe I’m starting to pack to move back out! It feels like we just moved in. But I’m really excited that the extension project has not been delayed (so far) and is still slated to start on May 21st. I’m sure going to miss spying on our eagle neighbors though http://canadianadia.tumblr.com/post/49946001308 (I think this is my first time linking to my Tumblr – fingers crossed that it works)

Rating this tea makes me feel conflicted. It’s what I would deem a good fall-back tea. When I’m at a restaurant and there is a selection of bagged teas, this is generally the one I would gravitate towards, because I know it’s not bad.

I enjoy it enough, and it’s inexpensive to buy a box. It has its own merits in the convenient individual packaging and teabag format.
I feel I should decrease my rating a tad, but I enjoy the taste more than the teas I rated lower than this, even though the quality (ie. number of steeps) is much better with some of those other teas.

I suppose the rating is staying put for now. Although I feel it warrants it’s placement on my rating scale much more if I use two teabags per cup, rather than just one.

(backlog)
My Dad came over to visit so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share the remainder of my 12 days of tea packet with him. The taste of the black tea and root beer complement each other quite nicely. I’m not usually a huge lover of root beer, but somehow this works for me. I’m glad I bought a full-size pouch.

This is still a lovely tea, but I’m reducing my rating as I’ve since tried many teas that I enjoy more than this one. It’s light and fruity, but now I feel it needs a bit more tea leaves versus the other ingredients.

It’s such a light tea that I mistook it for a white tea this morning when I was sipping on it. I think my taste has evolved towards a more robust tea. It’s still nice for when I’m in the mood for something light, but that has been becoming increasingly rare lately.

I went to Davids to buy my beloved Daydreamer and they were all out – booo! Instead, I decided to try a few teas that I haven’t tasted yet. The sales associate talked me into buying a sample size of this one. I normally shy away from teas containing orange peel or any kind of orange flavoring, as I tend to prefer my oranges plain, as is, fresh, don’t mess with nature. I’m not sure why I’m like that with oranges? Lemons and limes too, come to think of it…But grapefruits I’ll take in any form…huh… weird.

Anyway, the eucalyptus was the selling factor for me. I love eucalyptus. This tea takes me back to when I visited Australia as a child. I remember the gorgeous blue haze and the refreshing scent of the eucalyptus. It’s simultaneously warming and cooling, if that makes sense? In all honesty I would prefer this without the orange ingredients, but even so, I quite enjoy this and would buy it again in a sample size. I wonder if there is a pure eucalyptus tea out there? The eucalyptus and mint would work fine also, just no oranges really is what I’d be after. I’ll have to look into it.

The powder room renos are coming along slowly but surely. I put the last coat of paint on the ceiling yesterday, and I was looking forward to getting that first coat onto the walls this morning (That first coat of color is always exciting to me), when I realized that my painting clothes were in the wash. I debated ruining another set of clothes (I inevitably get paint on myself) but I decided to wash my laundry and check out steepster in the meantime. :D

I could have sworn that I already posted a tealog for this? Hmmm….must have dreamt it. It’s just as well because it tastes even better now that I’ve left it to cure for a little longer. The raspberry flavor reminds me of a raspberry ice cream rather than a straight up raspberry. It’s smooth without any tartness, nor any of those annoying seeds that somehow lodge between my front teeth without my knowledge for like half a day…then I finally look in the mirror and do a double-take…and try to remember all the people who I’ve talked to since I ate raspberries…

Sorry…back to the tea! When I made this, I didn’t let the water hit the boiling point and I steeped it according to color (rather than time) as I find sometimes 52teas steep a little stronger and therefore require much less steep time. This is perfect in my books as it means more subsequent steeps. I have a feeling this will also make a lovely full-bodied iced tea…mmmm…it’s really delicious hot though.

I’m usually fond of Della Terra teas chocolate blends, but I’m not so sure about this one. I can taste and smell both the chocolate and the strawberry, but it’s not quite making buddies with my taste buds. The strawberry aspect reminds me of the strawberry flavored Flintstones vitamins that I used to have when I was a kid. Although that was one of my favorite vitamin flavors back in the day, it isn’t translating well in tea form, especially combined with the chocolate flavor.

It’s not bad; it’s just not for me. I’m glad I had the chance to try it in my chocolate try me pack, but it’s not repurchase-worthy for me.

A lovely light tea, fairly typical of a white tea. I’ve never had a tea with peony in it before, so I was expecting this to taste overwhelmingly floral. Thankfully the floral aspect is equally delicate and complimentary to the white tea, rather than competing with it. There’s also a lovely subtle sweetness to this.

I bought only a single serving packet of this and in the future I’d buy another sample of it from time to time, but I don’t think it’s one that I’d need to get in full size. It’s good, but it doesn’t jump out at me as a “buy me now” kind of tea. The bonus is that this tea comes with a built-in conversation starter…how to correctly pronounce “peony”. I say “pee-ownee”, my Dad says pee-eny…I suspect we’re both wrong

Mmmm…mate! This is the second Mate I’ve ever had and it’s another hit for me. I love the roastiness in the taste, but it’s not something that I’d drink everyday – it would take away from the specialness of the experience. I’ve never had red velvet cake, so I can’t speak to the authenticity of the flavor, but it has a depth to it that does remind me of chocolate cake. It’s a lovely treat after a morning of sanding and mudding the walls of the powder room. Slowly but surely, the room is coming together :)

mmmm…maple syrup. Quite a tasty rooibos, which is saying a lot coming from the picky rooibos girl. To me, rooibos is like that vegetable that you don’t quite dislike, nor do you quite like, so you always try just a little. For me its brussel sprouts, I feel like I’m on the cusp of liking them, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m not sure if that’s a relatable comparison, or if I’m way off in left field.

This rooibos kind of reminds me of something I tried from Della Terra Teas…Autumn Leaves, perhaps? I’m pretty sure I was surprised at how much I didn’t mind that one either

The house has been eating all my time lately, so I’ve missed a couple of tealogs again :(

The tea: I’m on my third pouch of this (clearly I’m a big fan), and this is apparently my first log! I usually write my tealogs during breakfast or lunch, and because I drink my honeybush teas at night I rarely log my poor honeybush blends despite relying on them every evening. This one is definitely one of my favorites. I make it a little stronger by adding at least an extra half teaspoon of the dry mix and I just leave it steeping. It gives it an extra oomph, and never seems to get bitter anyways so I figure there is no harm. Chocolaty Malty goodness, this is my night-time go-to drink.

The ramble: When we moved in less than 2 weeks ago, we found that the main floor bathroom smelled funky. We scrubbed it repeatedly to no avail. There was a bubble and rip in the linoleum, so we figured that may indicate the problem. Well, our intended quick fix of changing the linoleum gradually evolved into a slightly bigger powder room reno. My Dad came over and took out the toilet and discovered that the wax seal under the toilet was completely chewed away and even the concrete slab that it was sitting on was starting to crumble around it! We also noticed some staining on the wallpaper, so since the toilet was already out, we thought it was a good time to do the walls as well. But removing the wallpaper meant removing the trim and most of the cabinets…and so it goes. So together with my Dad we’ve ripped off wallpaper, cleaned the walls and started the sanding and mudding in preparation of the eventual painting of the room. It’s an unexpected reno, but once we’re done, it will be so much better than the pee-scented toilet in a stained floral wallpapered room that we started with. I’ll drink to that!

I bought this in the little sample size (the individual cup size they sometimes have near the cash register). Ginseng doesn’t normally agree with me, but I was too curious to see what this tastes like to pass up at least trying it. I’ve been hesitating to try it for so long that I deliberately put it at the front of my cupboard so I couldn’t continue passing it by.

Thankfully, so far I am not experiencing any ill effects, maybe there isn’t very much ginseng in it? The oolong base is lovely and the ginseng taste isn’t overbearing, it actually reminds me of a spice? Hmmm…Tarragon maybe? I’m not sure.

The more I drink this first steep, the less I like it. The aftertaste lingers in a strange way, and is starting to make me feel a little weird. I don’t think my tummy likes this very much.

Even though my first steep didn’t agree with me entirely, I proceeded to do a 2nd and 3rd steep, which didn’t seem to bother my stomach as much. Not something that I’d buy again because of my reaction to the first steep. It’s not bad, but there are so many other teas out there that I’d prefer to drink.

Blueberry goodness! I keep wanting to try other tea companies (I’ve had my eye on Butiki Teas for months now), but every time I’m poised to place an order with them, Frank comes up with something else I just can’t resist. The thing is, I’ve never been disappointed with a 52teas order, so it’s just too hard to break the ordering cycle. I’m hooked!

This tea has a nice balance of flavors between the tea and the blueberries. The smell, the taste, ahhh…so unmistakably blueberries! I’m not sure if I’m getting cream cheese, but I do get a bit of the Danish taste at the end of the sip, particularly when the tea cools a bit. Maybe if I play with the water temperature a tad I will get more of that cream cheese taste? Even as I made it – it’s delicious!

I should know better than to tear into a pack of 52teas without letting it cure, but the sheer excitement that I experienced when my latest order arrived was enough to make me fear my head might implode. The black base is solid and the Butter Rum flavor is complimentary in its flavorful sweetness. Kind of hmmm…butterscotchy? I’ve never had butter rum, nor have I ever tried butter rum lifesavers, so butterscotch is the closest thing that I’ve tried that I can compare it to. Me likes me butterscotch!

Speaking of butterscotch, have you seen that episode of How I Met Your Mother where Barney says that butterscotch is to Canadian women what chocolate is to American women? Are we really known for loving butterscotch so much? I’ve never heard that before. Perhaps that’s just made up for comedic effect? That show and it’s Canadian quips always crack me up. Gotta love Robin’s music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_bhVSGKEg Hahaha! so ridiculous, it’s funny

Anyhooo….I digress….shocking, I know :P

This tea is good, and I’m certain that I’m going to like it even more as time passes… assuming that I can hold off on drinking it all so it can cure a little longer? It’s a good thing I ordered a variety of new (to me) 52teas to try so I can distract myself away from this one. I’ll definitely have to Hansel and Gretel myself away from this one by making a trail of other teas away from it…hey look! Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish! Mmm…that sounds delicious! …I think I need another mouth.

I better stop procrastinating and get back to cleaning and cooking. The designer is coming over this evening for the design kick off meeting, and the house is looking disheveled. I’m super excited though, and I don’t think it’s just the caffeine :D