Cavocorax

Yes! This is a winner. I want more of it when I run out. 20g would do…

Oh, also I totally broke my tea buying hiatus. :O I was having a rough day, and I thought if I went into a Davids to buy a matcha spoon (so I could try my matcha samples easier) then I’d be happier! But then I grabbed Ceylon Spring and Kokomo Green.

Ummm… I technically didn’t order anything though, right? Riiiiight? /0\

I’m going to finish drinking this and go to bed. I didn’t see more than a few little green leaves in the mix so I doubt this would keep me up. I’m re-reading the Dark Tower series. It’s both awful and wonderful at the same time. Books are confusing.

Oooh – very fruit! I was hoping more from this because I’ve enjoyed the other bluebird teas, but I think the hibiscus on this is detracting too much from the rest of it. It’s too tart!

of course had I known there was hibiscus in it beforehand I would have steeped it for less. For that reason, I won’t rate this. At 3 minutes, it might have been perfectly balanced, and iced it might have been amazing.

Seems like an odd combo – hazelnut and oolong? It’s pretty good though. I enjoyed it, even if it was slightly artificial tasting. Drinking the rest of my 1oz pack won’t be any trouble, but I probably won’t rush out to get more.

Thanks whatshesaid!

I’m happy I got a chance to taste this one as it sounded interesting. When I smell it, it reminds me of nuts, but when I taste it I get a little bit of caramel corn, followed by apples.

Even as a fruity/nutty green it is very enjoyable, and seeing as it’s about 95% add-ins, I imagine it barely has any caffeine in it either!

This was a surprise tea from Melanie!

I was a bit nervous when I finished brewing it due to the light pink colour, but no – it’s not hibiscus! It’s fruit! This tea is nice and fruity, and quite refreshing either hot or cold, although it’s much nicer cold.

It would be quite pleasant to sip away at this all summer!

Backlog from yesterday – I had this for our roleplaying session because it’s quick and easy to steep so I won’t disrupt anyone, and it’s one I can savour. It was great.

I had a little bit left over that I sipped on this morning and it was still quite tasty at room temperature.

Backlog from Sunday

This was a pretty nice oolong, and I enjoyed the creaminess of it, but it was far more floral and much less buttery than the Creme de la Creme Oolong, and I guess I was hoping for more buttery smoothness.

I’ll try this one again when I’m in the mood for something floral-y so I can give it a proper rating!

This is AMAZING iced and with a touch of stevia. It’s tart, but not hibiscusy, and it’s incredibly refreshing in the timolino. I guess I’ll have to keep this in the house ALL SUMMER!

Thought I’d empty this out before my next Amoda box arrived!

Sipdown! :)

Why did I start my morning with this cup? :O I also brewed the Countess of Seville (DT) and Vicky’s Sponge Cake (BB) but am drinking this one now. It’s too artificial tasting for me, and I think there are too many cloves or something. Something is givin me a weird burnt orange flavour.

Guess I’ll add this to my swap box!

Thank you Melanie for the sample!

Her swap box ended up pushing my tea count up to 125, but I’m loving it. Also, these won’t take too long to sipdown. #challengeaccepted

This is supposed to be chocolate raspberry truffle, but it sorta smells like roses to me. Maybe that’s just the v-day association? I am getting sweet raspberry flavours, and a touch of chocolate too. It’s simple, but pleasant.

Thanks CrowKettle!

Alright, maybe I just don’t have a good memory but I think this is my favourite of the 52 Teas genmaicha’s. It’s waaaaaay better than the s’mores genmaicha! Nutty! Sweet! I can almost imagine gooey marshmallows sticking in my mouth.

This would be the one I’d re-order if given the opportunity.

Thanks to Sil for the sample!

This is pretty nice and delicate. I can definitely taste (and recognize!) the bai mu dan base, and the tangerine/spices just accent it. It’s a nice tea when you want something flavoured while still being fully aware you are drinking tea. :)

Thanks whatshesaid for the swap!

So apparently I need to stop being a wimp, and I should just go into Teavana and try some teas out because this is pretty good. I wonder what their minimum is – 2oz?

I can’t believe this is herbal. It sorta tastes like I’m eating a salted chocolate bar. Or something like that. I love salt and sweet flavours mixing together so that’s part of why this mix works. I’m tasting a lot of chocolate, nuts, and maybe a bit of licorice as well? It’s actually not as thin and watery as other chocolate teas that I’ve tasted which is impressive. And it’s unusual enough that it’d be a nice one to stock up. I wonder how much sugar is in this? :O

Too bad this has so many mixed ratings. I’m actually quite pleased with it! I think it’d be great when I’m feeling ‘snacky’ but am trying to avoid excessive munching.

Ozli sent me this as a surprise tea package! Surprise tea packages are sort of the best, even if it knocked my tea count up to 115 (after a few silent sipdowns). :P

I only had a sample of this one so I was really happy to get more. OH MAN. This is so great. I’m not sure if I like this more than the lime one, but with DTT’s constant sales I don’t know that I should ever have to choose.

I tried this the same time as Lupicia’s Chcoolate Orange, but I find I prefer this one. The chocolate tastes like dark chocolate which is nice, and it’s slightly bitter which is reminiscent of dark chocolate as well! It was overall an enjoyable tea, but not my favourite dessert tea. I’ll play around with it a bit before I rate it, but it’s at least 70.

I’m not a huge fan of hibiscus in my teas, so I think I’ll try steeping this for 3 minutes next time.

Thanks Sil for the sample!

I tried it side by side with Bluebird’s Terry’s Tea to see which was the best chocolate orange tea. The answer: Not this one.

I steeped it for 3 minutes and the result was very bitter. Each sip left a tacky aftertaste, and it felt like my teeth were coated in… something? Not pleasant. It was simliar to that feeling you get when you eat super cheap chocolate and it’s waxy.

After the first few sips it got a bit better, but not enough for me to bother finishing the cup. Guess I’m not the only one indifferent to this one, so no hard feelings!

My samples came in! I ended up resteeping this 5 times today! That’s a record. I wasn’t sure how much to use but I took a perfect teaspoon and a 12 oz tumbler. I steeped it for 30 seconds, 40, 50, one minute, and two minutes.

It was really good. I think honey was the strongest note, but I noticed each steeping favored different flavors. I’ll have to pick some up!

After sleeping it for 30s, I’m not sure I’d want to try it at 3 minutes+; that might just be crazy strong

Thanks whatshesaid for the sample!

This tastes like actual coconut flakes, but like whatshesaid (ahem) said, it’s also a bit soapy too. Odd! Also, not my thing. This makes me want to drink some Pom Tango instead!

I agree – Coconut Oolong is probably the best use of coconut in a tea!

…sipdown!

I bought this one on impulse, along with Terry’s Orange. No regrets so far. I needed another rooibos because my sleepy-time tin had room in it! And we can’t have that! I want 20-30 types of non-caffeinated tea to choose from in the evenings so I don’t get bored!

It’s actually a little tart like real rhubarb! It’s very good. And I don’t really get custard but it does seem to be creamy, much like the mint chocolate that I’m sipping away from in my other Timolino, so I’m happy.

I’m not really sure what calendula is though, but I’ve seen that Bluebird used this in a few teas. I wonder if it’s related to marigold petals?

Sipdown!

I’m not too sure what to say about this. It’s a mint chocolate rooibos? (i.e., it tastes like mint, chocolate and rooibos in that order!)

I think this is a bit creamier than other ones that I’ve tried, and it’s very delicious and sweet without being overpowering.

Not sure what happened today but I only filled my 4 timolino’s worth of tea, and two of those were of this tea. Just a slow day for sipping I guess.

I made the first cup around 9 AM, and I’m sipping on the last of it now. It’s really tasty, but this resteep is a bit weak. Next time I’ll steep it longer – I forgot to add an extra minute.

Uh-oh. My cupboard is suddenly up around 115 teas now! I went outside looking for my $5 Verdant sampler and found my order from Bluebird Tea (my last since I joined the ordering hiatus group) and two packs of swaps!

I’m not really that upset though. :P I have high hopes for the Bluebird teas (Rhubarb & Custard rooibos, and Terry’s Orange), and the rest are smallish samples!

I didn’t expect to get 3 more samples from Bluebird with my order though. This is one of them, which is fantastic because when I saw they had a sale on for 15%, I nearly bought this just to give it a try. (The coupon was invalid by the time I saw it which is probably for the best. Now I can wait until I’m under 100 teas, and make sure I like it.).

Surprise? I like it!

The tea is very subtle but I can taste the Ceylon, bananas and more creaminess. I was worried that maybe I’d contaminated this sample with the Creme de la Creme Oolong I’d just finished (in the same cup), but I’m on the second cup now and it’s still creamy.

I’m so used to banana and chocolate, but this is really nice as it is. And it tastes like REAL banana. I want MOAR. #someday

ETA: I bumped the rating up a bit more because I wish I had more in my cupboad. I hope I left the leaves on the counter so I can try to resteep it… Too bad Bluebird didn’t have a distribution office in Canada for cheap shipping. Hey… too bad that imaginary person wasn’t me! :P

Fancy!

I had this today, and even managed to re-steep it! (Which I should do more often I know!) Based on the flavour categories, I’d say that this is… scratch that. It’s all butter. Just soft, melty butter. And cream. Did I just pay a ton of money for buttery cream tea?

Now I understand the fuss about milk oolongs. I wouldn’t want to drink this all the time, but it’s a good one for special moments. Maybe I should have bought more than 1oz, but it was $8. Now that I know it’s good maybe I’ll snap it up during a sale! And I’ll try and resteep it at least one more time before I go to bed.

Wow though. Five minutes after my last sip, and I can still taste butter… <3 What if I drank this while I ate popcorn?