Cornelia Bean

Thank you VariaTEA for the sample of this one! I pulled out a few black samples out of my closet to work on since my sipdown drawer was looking a little lonely, and this is one of them. I must say, the sample section in my closet is looking awfully empty right now; I’ve been doing a great job of keeping my cupboard at a reasonable number lately.

Also, I have to admit that I don’t remember much about this cup though I do strongly remember the second one I had of it (the sipdown one; which I’ll write about later – there’s more stuff in the queue to get through first). Because of that I’ll just have to rely on my notes to summarize what my thoughts were when I had it…

- Made in my timolino
- Visually lots of interesting things going on in the leaf
- A little hard to pinpoint what’s in this/the flavours based on sight and smell
- I don’t taste any rosemary… Thank God?
- Why does Rosemary instantly remind me of lesbian alien lovers!?
- Oh, this is why: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdykbgfLmJ1rb5pqfo4_500.jpg
- It’s a Homestuck thing…
- Back to tea: Even if I don’t taste Rosemary I do taste the rose, which is well balanced
- The fig is stronger than I expected it to be
- The caramel just makes the fig seem richer, like some sorta glaze?
- Is caramelized fig actually a thing?
- The black base is JUST A TOUCH bitter, but nice overall
- Yeah, this is better than anticipated
- Just weird; like canon alien lesbian lovers…

Sipped this down in a latte with a scoop of matcha. The flavour of this tea doesn’t come through strongly – there’s just a hint of spice and an extra rich, creaminess to the cup, and it completely mellows the grassiness of the matcha. All in all a good way to be done with a tea I didn’t love.

It’s really weird that in this pumpkin spice black tea, the dominant flavour I’m getting is chamomile, and it doesn’t even contain chamomile. Behind the chamomile flavour there’s pumpkin and cinnamon and spices, but they’re definitely secondary. The black tea hardly merits a mention.

I initially steeped this for 5 minutes and it was so light, I threw the basket back in my cup for a while longer. With a longer steep and some sugar it’s better, and the non-chamomile flavours come out a bit more.

It’s kind of tasty but not really noteworthy, and I just want so much more from it. Pumpkin spice makes me want lots of pumpkin and allspice and cinnamon and pie crust and cream flavour. Something really rich and warming. The name evokes cool autumn days, the smell of dry leaves, rich food for cold weather and the melancholy of summer departing in a blaze of colour. Maybe I’m asking too much of a tea, but I want that feeling from something called Pumpkin Spice.

This is sooo herbal tasting and it’s soooo good. Straight up lime, sage and woody rooibos flavours. Not even a little bit sweet. I love it.

The lime is very dominant in this cup, with plenty of sage to give it some intense herbal notes. Very refreshing and crisp.

I let it steep for quite a while and then slowly sipped it till it was cold. Lovely at any temperature.

This tea is my relaxing after a whirlwind morning. I got up, made coffee for my sweetie, made french toast for three and then when all that was done, took the hot water left in the kettle and made tea. I steeped this cup for a cool 9 minutes, and even when I took the leaves out, they were only beginning to unfurl, still all crinkly from being rolled up.

This tea really benefits from a long steep, though I think it brews up better with slightly hotter water than I used. It has a beautiful, full mouth buttery flavour that overlays a light, nuttiness. There’s a hint of dry mouth feel on the finish, but no astringency, and the faintest floral note.

Such a lovely cup, and a lovely way to start the day. I’m looking forward to my second steep of these leaves, and what comes out.

Definitely a more complex and full mouth flavour than the milk oolong from DAVID’s Tea.

For some reason this extremely flowery, dry tea reminds me of Earl Grey, even though there’s none of the signature bergamot notes of Earl Grey. But the flavour has a similarly elegant and sophisticated feel to it.

I like a cup of this to start my day. It’s a pleasant bouquet of flowers on the nose and a delicate but full mouth taste.

My first cup of the morning. I love this tea so much, I’m bumping up my rating a bit, because it’s definitely a must have for my cupboard. It’s got a lot of intense flavour and combines two of my favourite things, so what’s not to love?

I love how beautiful and fragrant this tea is. The scattered lavender blossoms in the dried tea and the way they float above the tea leaves while steeping is lovely, and the strong lavender and bergamot fragrance carries nicely from bag to cup.

This makes a very dry, floral cup. The lavender flavour is strong but doesn’t overpower the Earl Grey. The lavender lingers longer on the tongue than the other flavours.

This is another one of my favourite teas to start the day with.

I’m working on the last of the eggnog, and this made for a fantastic latte. No sugar or anything needed, and it had all the lovely, sweet, creamy citrusy notes of a London Fog, with a hit of nutmeg which complemented it all wonderfully.

I could drink many of these, and I’ll be sad when the eggnog is gone.

Ah my sweet, sweet love. This is always the perfect tea to relax with. Never leave my cupboard <3

I’ve had an exhausting and rather rough day, and I’m just getting to my first cup of the day at 10pm. So instead of trying something new, I made the biggest cup I have of one of my favourite, most comforting tisanes. Lots of milk and sugar tonight, and it’s creamy and sweet, with lemon and bergamot notes and just delicious.

Ah sweet, wonderful london fog. Always a safe bet, and so nice to sip when feeling a bit over stimulated.

This tea is amazing. It’s bold and full bodied and has all the characteristics that make a London Fog latte so delicious.

Just straight, it’s creamy and sweet, with strong bergamot notes. The roobos flavour comes out only subtly, not distracting from the flavours that say London Fog. It’s also excellent with milk and sugar, which punch up the flavours even more.

It’s a tea I can drink over and over again, and it satisfies every part of my palette.

On its own this tea isn’t bad – strong chocolate mint flavour without a lot of sweetness. It really shines with milk and sugar though. The sweet, creaminess enhances the chocolate and mint, reminding me of an After Eight chocolate.

so i’ve had this cold brewed, hot brewed and hot brewed, cooled lol and this is the first time i’ve had a chance to log this, so thank you dexter since i’m lazy and tired… here are some highlights..

1) i prefer this cold brewed as long as you don’t mind my second point
2) this looks like someone peed in to a container when it’s in a glass one
3) this is really nicely guava flavoured – i’d love to see a guava only tea from cornelia bean!
4) the peach isn’t overpowering :)

thanks again dexter!

Dear dexter all is forgiven…at least one of the peach teas you sent me is a hit…there may be others, but this one has reminded me of why i really liked peach to begin with. That’s not to say i want an abundance of peach teas, but i had this one cold brewing…came home, drank it up – it was like drinking liquid fuzzy peaches without the sugar. IE. it wasn’t too sweet – but it was just a DIFFERENT peach flavour than the usual. So after drinking all that, i made the last of it as a hot brew and it too was pretty tasty – though i prefer the cold one :) thanks for sending this one my way dexter!

Final Count: 128

this was another from dexter I’ve reacently fallen out of love with Peach, which is funny because that’s the first “flavoured” tea i really gravitated towards. This particular peach isn’t bad. I like that it’s blended against a yellow tea, making it a little different than some of the others that i’ve had. That being said, while it’s a nice tea because i’m not in love with peach currently, it’s not a hit for me. HOWEVER, for those looking for a light peach tea, this one is pretty nice :)

another from VariaTEA this one was also a miss for me, but not as badly as the previous one. There’s almost like a vague memory of strawberry here, and i’m not sure i’d pin point anything as “meringue” A fairly uneventuful cup of tea for me, but again, i dDO like trying teas! so thank you Variatea!

mmmm still enjoying this one as a cold brew. I had this one after my bike ride as well, for some much needed hydration. I really like cold brews after biking esp without the sugar just a bunch of taste! :) noms!

Another cold brew of this one tonight – had a few glasses of this today and it was fantastic. Exactly what i needed after our morning bike ride. I have to say, i’m not sure if i’d call this rhubarb but it was tasty and so that’s all that really matters in summer with cold brews lol is it tasty? check. drink it! :)