Bulk Barn

Sipping this because I just needed something easy and comforting. Today it’s reminiscent of coffee and has a lot of caramel coming out.

This is a nice chai. Different from what I’m used to but I’m enjoying it a lot. I made this strong for my morning cup, lots of tea and a very long steep, with milk and sugar. There’s definitely your usual chai notes in this one, but the dominant flavour is cinnamon. I’m not surprised – there were big chunks of cinnamon bark visible in the leaf, and not really any other large spices visible. No bitterness or astringency even with a very long steep.

Not my favourite chai – I like a noticeable amount of pepper and a lot more cardamom, but I’ll definitely drink it again. And at $2.40 for 100g the price is right. It may become my go to if I just want to make a big pot of chai for sipping all day.

Sipped this down this morning (because for some reason it was in my untrieds box, and I couldn’t remember if I’d actually had any of the fresh leaf I bought or not.)

This was pretty good today. Much like my last tasting note. Butter, earth and fruit on the nose. Sweet strawberry and creamy coconut with earth, licorice and puerh tingle.

Quite an enjoyable morning cup, particularly on a day where I’m up way too early (serious, how is 6am even a real time??)

My last cup of this used old leaf and it was not good. I figured I might as well give it another try though, this time with freshly bought stuff, and steeped a little differently.

On the nose there is earth, butter, sweetness and fruit. The liquor brews up a very dark brown, almost like coffee but just a little redder around the edges.

This time it’s much much better. There’s some characteristic pu’erh mustiness at the start of the sip with some earth. A bit of creaminess from the coconut, and a distinct strawberry note. Also a hint of licorice and a bit of a numbing mouth feel as I’ve come to associate with pu’erhs. The licorice develops a bit more on the finish and there’s a very creamy mouth feel that lingers.

I don’t know if I’d restock this, but I’ll definitely finish what I have.

Finishing off my last teaspoon of this for my morning cup. I think it’s getting kind of old and hasn’t been in a well sealed bag, so I don’t have high hopes for it.

From what I recall it wasn’t all that fantastic with a very short infusion, so I gave it a quick rinse and steeped it for four minutes. There was lots of strawberry fragrance and a hint of coconut in the very dark, opaque cup. The flavours reflected the fragrance pretty accurately, with very little pu erh coming through. Bleh.

I think this is the worst tea I’ve ever tried. Even after prolonged steeping, it still tastes weak and I can barely taste even a hint of bergamot. This tea tastes like cardboard.

This one is a winner! Just one sniff and I was in love. It’s got quite a fruity aroma and smells wonderful. I found the price to be very reasonable too.

Vanilla Rooibos from the Bulk Barn is my all time favourite vanilla rooibos tea. I’m addicted to it and have it almost every day. It makes great caffeine free lattes. The price is so reasonable that I usually buy tons of it to stock up on it whenever I go to the Bulk Barn.

Sooo….yeah, I don’t really like this. The pu erh base is fine, but there is no coconut taste, and the strawberry tastes cough syrup-like and artificial…I don’t really know if adding dried strawberry and coconut would make any difference, but in any case, I’m glad I didn’t get that much of this one. Back to Fantasy Island from Davids.

Not a stellar tea, but pretty decent for the cost. I might pick up some small caramel cubes and add them to see if I can replicate Orange Brulee from Della Terra.

The main thing here is the orange note. It’s kind of an orange creamsicle kind or orange…sweet and vanilla cream. Unfortunately, it does overshadow the oolong, but it really isn’t half bad. It’s super cheap, and it might be ok every now and again, and some tweaking by making some additions may help too. I may also look at adding milk to enhance creaminess. I also think this might make a nice cold brew in warmer temps.

I don’t think this is as bad as some people have noted, but I can understand the fake orange being an issue for some. I personally feel that the sweet orange is the best compliment to this kind of oolong. but it could be me.

What was I thinking? Picking up loose tea samples today at Bulk Barn to try them out. I’ve had some before in the past and never liked them but thought I would try some new ones, thinking – you just never know. Since I joined Steepster and have been ordering teas online it seemed I’ve just got to have that new taste sensation all the time. I’m guessing there are a few like me here on Steepster. And yes, a whole bunch of Bulk Barn teas came up on Steepster so I don’t feel so alone anymore.

So anyway, this smelled quite nice dry. Just a hint of orange. Oolong looked to be a decent quality so brewed it up at the temp I used for oolong, I think around the 190. I can smell the light orange in it but the flavour is awful. What kind of cheap oolong did they use is this? Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but it’s certainly not good. I’m probably spoiled from all the good milk oolong I’ve been drinking lately.

Decided to try a little bit of this one day and it was just absolutely vile. Bitter, sour…everything a tea should not be. Stay far away.

Nothing but artificial orange flavour in this bad boy. Don’t bother with this one. Bulk Barn has good teas, but this is not one. Tried it again, this time was worse than the last. I’ve thrown the rest out.

I’m not a fan of mate. It’s too far off the beaten track of my usual love of floral and fruity teas.

I had run out of my delicious Coffee Pu’erh by David’s Tea when I found this Chocolate Energy Tea by Bulk Barn, and thought that it might be somewhat of a replacement. The price was definitely something that piqued my interest, at $2.25 per 100g. I also find that mate tastes relatively like bitter coffee on its own.

There was a very mild hint of chocolate when the tea was hot, but nothing but blah after that. It was okay for a good morning energy boost. As it cooled, it reminded me of black tea with a coffee aftertaste.

I might buy it again if I’m craving a coffee fix.

What can you expect from Bulk Barn? Well, not too much. Their tea is stored in large open containers that are constantly being exposed to light.

Storage aside, who can resist spending a little over $2.00 for 100g of tea? They have everyone beat in the price category. They also have a decent selection of teas.

As for the tea itself, the flavour is okay. It’s sharp and uneventful. It’s a big step above tea bags. It’s good for my morning commute when I need something fast and caffeinated. This is one tea I’d prefer with milk and sugar.

this tea is so great to soothe the stomach & appease troublesome sinuses. this time i added a bit of honey to ease a throat that’s a wee bit sore. it’s a go to comfort tea for sure.