canadianadia Send Message

We’re starting to get settled into our new home, well for the short term at least (prior to having to move back out for the big extension project that will likely start in a few months). We received the keys to the house at the beginning of the week, and we’ve been going going going ever since. It’s nice to finally be able to take a quick tea break to visit with my fellow steepster friends!

I must confess I don’t watch Dr Who…I have no idea what it’s about. I generally don’t watch much t.v., but when I do, it’s usually something that makes me laugh, like a sitcom, or Ellen, or something on the Home and Garden Network (Property Brothers is my favorite right now). So I know nothing about the angel on this package, or why she is weeping. I bought this tea solely based on the fact that it has the word caramel in the description…Dr. Who fans – don’t judge me ;)

This tea is making my living room smell delicious. I’m getting a lot of black tea, and the butter toffee caramel flavor is much more subtle than I anticipated. I think I may need to read some other tealogs for and see if any of you have figured out a way to coax the toffee flavor to the forefront. I really was hoping for more toffeeness, but when it comes to caramel flavored teas I like it front and center, I mean, borderline obnoxious. As I brewed this, it would suit people who prefer more subtle flavors.

Back to cleaning and unpacking for me… and enjoying tea, of course.
Claire, I believe you’re doing the moving thing also – cheers! I hope it’s going well for you :)

This is the second Milk oolong that I’ve ever tried – Another lovely Christmas gift from my Dad (that I bought and gave to him to give to me, but still, it’s a gift. I love doing that – I am sure to get perfect gifts every time). It starts off light, fresh, and grassy. With subsequent steeps it develops a greater depth of flavor with a subtle buttery smoothness. Although this tea leans towards the grassy side, it somehow balances perfectly to provide flavor without ever pushing over into bitterness. I was hoping that the light buttery notes in the subsequent steeps would eventually emerge into nuttiness, but it never quite got there. Still, it’s a lovely tea, which re-steeps very well.

Oooh I like the pretty glitter!

I’m not a lover of orange peel and cloves in most teas, so this isn’t a tea that I would jump to restock, based mostly on my personal taste. I got 2 good steepings out of the leaves with only minimal deterioration of flavor in the second steep. So the quality of the leaves is decent compared to some other David’s Teas I’ve had lately. I enjoyed my little sample, and by next Christmas I might want to try it again, but this is another seasonal pick for me. It’s a good tea, just not a great match to my personal taste.

The dry mix is so heavy with fruit, which makes for one expensive tea. I used my entire 20 gram sample to make this cup, and being the frugalista that I am, this already starts me off on the wrong foot.

As for the taste, there is a mild tartness, as one would expect with cranberries, but it’s not translating quite right at the end of the sip. It’s leaving a strange dry feeling on my tongue – it’s on the verge of a dry-sour-almost chalky taste that I don’t enjoy. To make matters even worse, this doesn’t re-steep well.

Oh man…There is something in this that is not agreeing with my tummy :(

The idea of this tea is so fun and unique, and I love that it has mistletoe in it – so festive! It’s not a bad tea, it just isn’t well-suited to me. Between that and the price, I have no plans to buy it again.

It feels like every time I drink this, I raise the rating a tad.

I managed to let my newest package of this tea sit for a while to cure, and it was totally worth the wait. After eyeballing it for the past month or so and resisting the urge to rip it open and smash my face in it, today was the day. My Dad was visiting, so I decided against strapping the package to my face like a feedbag. It smells heavenly!

This is one of those teas that you do not want to oversteep, so I stayed focused (a small feat for my short attention span) thankfully the smell of the tea is enough to keep my interest. Distraction …distraction… my life is like a Sesame Street episode…a series of related clips that loop back to each other. Today’s log was brought to you by –the letter- Tea!

I wish there was a perfume that smelled like this…ugh! so good…

…Hey I just read online that if you add good quality vodka you can make your own perfume out of tea. Has anyone tried this? It sounds like fun.

Hmmm…I’m not sure about this one yet, but I think it has potential to grow on me (I’ll wait to rate). I think my past experience with cola flavored tea is tainting my perception of this (darn you David’s Tea cherry cola!) I’m trying to appreciate this for what it is, but I keep getting DT cherry cola flashbacks…shudder.

I’m drinking this as per usual: hot with nothing added. The cola taste is evident, and I suppose I’m getting some ruminess in there – it has a little extra depth than a straight cola taste. Other than my “DT cherry cola issues”, its good, but it’s definitely a tea that screams to be played with. Maybe iced, perhaps a touch of brown sugar to deepen the color, and a lime wedge to be consumed on a hot summer day, on a white sandy beach? I suppose the beach isn’t a necessity? It wouldn’t hurt though.

I’m finishing my sample from my Fall try me pack. The tea has a lovely maple taste, and considering how picky I am with rooibos, I was very surprised at how much I liked it. I’d even go as far as saying that I would reorder it. That’s right it’s a rooibos I’d buy again!

I disliked this tea with my first sip. I liked the fruitiness, but combined with the cinnamon it didn’t initially sit well on my tongue. Additionally, the tartness of the hibiscus followed with an unusual sweetener taste (probably the stevia) almost made me give up on this pot of tea, and set it aside for my brother to finish off for me. I put it on the counter and it cooled to slightly over room temperature, so I decided to give it another try…Hmmm…Better. It’s starting to taste almost like a wine now; the cinnamon seems more complimentary now, and less in the forefront. I still don’t love this tea, but it’s slowly growing on me. By time my brother gets home there may not even be any left for him to try.

I’ve been a bit busy over the last few days, visiting and helping family and friends and dealing with a minor catastrophe. Well, I wouldn’t really call it a catastrophe, but that’s just what’s written on my invoice for repairs. It makes me laugh – so dramatic.

A few days ago our next door neighbor was trimming the grass with his weed whacker and he must have kicked something up because it set off our car alarm. When we went out we discovered the driver’s side glass absolutely shattered. boooo! that was no fun to deal with, but unlike the insurance company, I wouldn’t call it a catastrophe…just an unfortunate accident and an inconvenience. Oh well, C’est la vie!

Between the car troubles (my Dad’s van axle also snapped) and the excitement of Easter visits with family and friends, I haven’t had much time for Steepster, or for much online funtertainment as a whole. So today I break for Muppets and Steepster…hmmm…that kind of sounds like a bumper sticker? If you’d enjoy a little Muppet break with me, here’s the link to my pick of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

As for the tea, I’m finishing this sample today. BYE! BYE! I won’t miss it. For a black tea it’s just too weak for my taste. I expect my black teas to be robust and flavorful. This one was lacking. It’s just as well, I can only drink caffeinated tea in a small time span per day, so I need to wean down my samples…to make room for new ones. I already have some on the way – you know what it’s like ;)

We have been having such lovely sunshiny spring weather the last few days, and it’s a good thing because the element on our oven blew on Monday, so I have been cooking on the BBQ this past week while we wait for the part to come in. It was a little scary when the element blew; it created a big ol’ bright white spark and a buzzing sound and it caused a small electrical fire inside the oven. It was lit up like a time machine in there. Apparently that’s what oven elements sometimes do when they go. I was happy to hear that it will be a simple fix rather than an oven replacement. Aaaand it didn’t burn down the house – BONUS!

With the warmer weather comes my shift towards drinking more fruity teas. My Dad has been coming over on a daily basis to trim the trees and work in the garden so I like to give him different teas each day. This one was the choice of the day. It’s a wonderful re-steeper. The balance between the oolong and the Cranberry is perfect, in that you can taste both aspects in a complimentary way rather than having them compete with each other. I enjoy this tea as is, but my Dad added a touch of honey, and he also said it was good. He’s generally more of a black tea drinker, so I was pleased that he appreciated this oolong just as much as I did.