Cuppa'T Specialty Teas

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Recent Tasting Notes

I got this in a sample swap from Roswell Strange – thank you! I have wanted to try this one for a long time. I love melon teas and was intrigued that this one is a black tea.

I enjoyed this last night while sitting in my floofy chair watching TV, after a 2 hour nap. Isn’t that the life?

The tea was good, for sure. I’m the first to say that my palate isn’t the best, I know what I like but I can’t always pick out exactly what I am tasting. So when I was drinking this it had a top note that I recognized, but didn’t recognize as melon. I liked it, but couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.

It’s very different from other melon teas I have tried, and a really enjoyable tea. Thanks RS! I hope your end of the swap comes today.

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70

So I have had several cups of this one iced this afternoon. I used 6 tsp of tea in about 1/2 litre of boiling water. Then added a whole lotta ice. I didn’t need to add any sweetener as it is sweet on its own.

This one is definitely better iced than hot. The artificial lemon taste is quite blunted. It tastes like a light black tea with candied lemon. Kind of like those little candy lemon drops, but there is no sour, just sweet.

I would say this one is not a favourite but it was nice for an extremely hot and humid day.

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70

I purchased this one quite a while ago with the intention of making iced tea. I never did, it just sat in the bottom on the tea cupboard. I have been getting sick of some of the iced teas I had been making on the weekends so I decided to pull this one out.

I did make it iced, but it is currently chilling in the icebox. I also decided I should try it hot for completion.

Hot, the tea is ok. Honestly it reminds me a bit of no name brand lemon dish soap.I really feel this one was designed to be iced. I hope the same taste does not translate over to the iced version. The black tea base is mild. There is a definite candied lemon taste to the tea, it is bordering on artificial though, hense the lemon dish soap reference. It is a little more sweet than I would like my hot black teas, but I did not add anything to it, that is the way it came. The liquor is very thick and there is a slight astringency at the end of the sip but only if you hold the liquor in your mouth for a little bit before swallowing.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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85

Jeez, I’m really going through the teas I got from Roswell Strange. Every time I go into the kitchen to choose a tea, I end up with one of hers. This one is “generic” black tea leaves with a few slices of almond and some red flower petals. It smells of sugar and caramel with some almond and cinnamon in there too. I did a 3-minute steep at 200 degrees, next time I may go for longer.

The brewed aroma is cinnamon and honey roasted almonds. Yum! I added sugar to mine, and it’s lovely brown sugar-candied almonds with just a little touch of cinnamon. There’s a definite caramelized taste here, and a little hint of buttery pastry. Mine came out just a little bit weaker than I would have liked, so I will probably try a longer steep for the other half of my sample. Overall, I love the flavors here. :D

Flavors: Almond, Brown Sugar, Butter, Caramel, Cinnamon, Pastries, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Roswell Strange

Very rarely do I criticize Butiki teas; but this one is the flavour I really wanted from Almond Indulgence, but didn’t get. Plus it’s cool supporting a local company, too. :)

Cameron B.

I considered ordering Almond Indulgence, but it didn’t end up making it into my order. I really like most almond flavored things.

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72

Sipdown!! (160)

Lately I have been reaching for lighter teas – those with whites and green bases and fruity flavors. I attribute this preference to the warmer weather. And yet, tonight, I wanted something rich and dark and flavorful – something I could hold in my hands to warm me up and with a scent that is cozy and comforting. Honestly, I was thinking about Nutmeg Cream but I figured I should focus on swap teas and older teas first before diving into that. Plus, last time I had it, it was rather astringent. Then, I considered Brioche and as I rummaged through my draws, I remembered the sample of this tea, courtesy of the amazing Roswell Strange that definitely reminded me of Brioche tea, at least when it came to smell. So I settled on this because it was both a swap tea and one I felt could fit my mood.

Brewed up, the smell is definitely something that is fun to just hold and sniff (wow, that sounds weird). Like Brioche, it is bready and nutty and reminiscent of delicious baked goods. Yum! Unfortunately, compared to Brioche, this falls a bit short. It has the nuttiness but lacks the bready element I love so much. Also, it is a touch more astringent than I would like. That is not to say it is not a good tea in its own right, but seeing as I have Brioche in quantity in my cupboard, I don’t think I will be stocking this anytime soon. Nonetheless, I am grateful to Roswell Strange for the chance to try something new so thank you tea twin!!!

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81
drank Ice Princess by Cuppa'T Specialty Teas
14991 tasting notes

roswell strange sent this one my way and i’m glad that she did. While it’s not the crazy intensly delicious melon flavour that lupicia has…it is also a black tea! and that makes me happy. I much prefer this one of the black melon that the teafairy sent me. I’m finding this one to be just the right balance of fruit and black tea today. Thanks a bunch RS!

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88

I put roughly 5 teaspoons of mix to steep into 1 litre/35 oz of cold water for approx 22 hours. The result is a pink/red liquid (watermelon coloured) that has a sweet, refreshing yet tart fruit scent. Very dragon fruity.

Flavour is very sweet with a slight tart after taste but liquid is quite thick and sugar syrup like. Similar to some instant iced tea mixes I’ve had before (I think they were Lipton). My cup even has some sort of white sugar like substance on the bottom, if I hadn’t known it was a fruit mix my guess would have been instant blend. Despite that though this is very nice, the flavour is nice, clean and refreshing yet it has enough sweetness to work well as an iced tea and a pinch of sour to stop it being too sweet. Fruit flavour wise it is heavy on the dragon fruit but also has a peach, mango and light mixed berry tones.

I have enough for another cold steep with the same parameters so I will do that for tomorrow, two of my husbands brothers are over for a drink and sleepover before they go to Wembley on Saturday to watch a football finals match. I don’t see them often, I live in Leicester and my husband is from Derby but moved here for me and though our cities are next to each other his family rarely visit and I rarely visit them. I’m putting it down to the fact that none of us can drive. Still it will be nice to have family over and this iced tea will be great with a splash of vodka or scotch :) Party iced tea.

Preparation
Iced 5 tsp 34 OZ / 1000 ML

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77

I believe this tea was from Lala so thank you Lala for my night time cuppa.

Once steeped the tea smells like almond, it’s sweet and nutty yet light and with some rooibos scent. Like a sugar almond sweet mixed with rooibos.

Flavour isn’t as almond like, in-fact it’s thickly rooibos with an almond after taste. Has some sweetness though it’s more from the rooibos than the almond and there is dryness in the after taste.

Not as nice in flavour as it was in scent but it wasn’t a bad rooibos blend, it was something I happily finished a pot of which is a rarity for me and rooibos. The almond just gives it a nice subtle touch.

Flavors: Nuts

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec 5 g 20 OZ / 600 ML
Lala

It was me, and you are welcome.

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My swap arrived from Roswell Strange!

This one is tasty! The melon comes through clearly and the base tea is neither over- nor underwhelming. It is slightly strange to have a melon black tea, but it actually works really well.

Thanks Roswell Strange!

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77

I waited in all day for a re-delivery that failed to actually be re-delivered, my early morning and severe tiredness from lack of sleep was all for nought. Now I just have to hope my parcel isn’t being sent back to Asia, customer services said they will contact me in a few days. Pft, bloody Royal Mail!

Now I’m tying to relax by watching House MD (on my fourth or fifth re-watch in completion) and by sampling this tea, I do love almond and am in need of something sweet.

Served with a splash of milk. Once steeped it has a subtle nutty scent (like almond and walnut ie sweet yet creamy) and a hint of cinnamon spice.

It tastes strongly of mixed roasted nuts which is a little dry with some sweetness in the after taste. I think it’s one of the nuttiest teas I’ve ever tasted, though I’m not digging it’s dryness (which nuts tend to be) I am liking the flavour. From time to time I do like nuts, I eat them often as their good for vegetarians. It tastes a little like candied almonds but more like old stock from a pub machine that isn’t used often.

I do like this one, not sure if it would be something I would purchase (if I could) but I could certainly drink it again happily.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Nuts

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 7 OZ / 200 ML
Nxtdoor

Loooove House. I miss that show. I don’t want reruns though, I want more new episodes. :)

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79

Just a good, old fashioned cold brew!

This one is actually from my mom’s tea stash but it’s one I used to have a fair bit of so I thought that it’d be neat to revisit it. It did taste pretty well exactly what I remembered it tasting like; quite strongly orange flavoured with undertones of both spices, like cinnamon and peppercorn, and nutty notes. The nutty notes were definitely more weighted towards pistachio; they had that particular pistachio sweetness to them.

It was fun to revisit this one, though I’m pretty content with not having it in my cupboard. It’s good, but not super special or mind blowing. Good nostalgia trip, though.

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79

Sipdown (110)!

Well, this is the last cup. I managed to squeak one last one into the night because I had some serious tea cravings left unchecked, and this was a caffeine free sipdown just waiting to be pounced on!

This cup was warm, comforting, Autumnal and delicious with oranges, cinnamon, and pistachio ruling the cup. I never really wanted this tea and when I got it as a birthday present I definitely was not excited but I have to say that on the whole it far exceeded my expectations and I never did really have a bad cup of it – which is something I can’t say about ever some of my favourite blends.

So not too shabby on the whole.

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79

Sipdown impending (may finish it off tonight).

Made in my timolino; very juicy orange and sweet pistachio heavy complimented by lighter notes of almond and a very faint “spice” present in the end of the sip in the back of your throat. Like a little “tickle”. Mmm!

Mental note to myself: I should eat more pistachio stuff!

Also, dropping this link here for future reference so I can pull it up again for Starfevre when she’s not on her work computer. I totally recommend watching this music video if gore/sex stuff doesn’t make you really uncomfortable! It’s a really interesting, albeit mildly mentally scaring, video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QFwo57WKwg

Cameron B.

Yum, pistachio orange!

Starfevre

oh good, linked here forever for posterity.

VariaTEA

Dude someone from work showed me this video weeks ago and when it starts he looks at me and goes “I swear I am not a perv” and then it continues and he is like “no really, I swear I am not a perv…this is a well known video” and it just kept getting worse and he just kept protesting he wasn’t a perv. I am glad to know his is actually a thing.

Roswell Strange

You can rest easy; your coworker probably isn’t a perv. Probably.

Starfevre

hahaha. Now I really want to watch it and I’m at work again. I need to not be exhausted and fall right into bed when I get home.

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79

I woke up this morning to a phone call from Bobbi asking if I could take her shift today; reluctantly I agreed since she said she’d take mine tomorrow – so I wasn’t giving up my day off. Still, I’m horribly exhausted now and even though I get tomorrow off I feel kinda gypped. Plus side; my swap from Cameron B. arrived today; so now I can spend tomorrow sampling things and doing sipdowns, so there’s at least that.

Today this one was a cold brew; it was pretty good but it’s definitely better hot, that’s for sure. I think there’s more depth and layers to a hot cup, and unexpectedly I feel like the “spice” (really the cinnamon) is milder and the orange juicier. This was tasty, but it was very strong orange and cinnamon without much else present/showing through.

Probably gonna finish off what I have left (I’m giving most of what’s left to my friend Robyn; I just saved about a tablespoon for myself to sipdown) as a hot cup. I like the nuttiness/orange flavour better hot. But again, it’s not that this was bad cold.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Orange

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79

Apparently I didn’t rate this the last time I had it; not really so sure why but I’ll do that this time around!

When I made my mug of this I was kinda in a “meh, this’ll do” mood in regard to picking out this tea; I knew I wanted rooibos, but I wasn’t sold on this particular blend. However, it ended up being delicious and very satisfying. The orange was very, very juicy and made my whole mouth sorta salivate (as sorta gross as that is to share?). I felt like the orange flavour kinda penetrated every surface of my mouth. And then, the orange was complimented by a vaguely generic nut flavour; although I think I can somewhat confidently say it was slightly more specific to Pistachio – just from the sweetness of it. Next time I have this I’ll have to look specifically for that pistachio flavour; this time around I was more fixated on the orange. I guess there’s also almond in this one and I suppose that could also contribute a sweeter nut flavour; you know, Amaretto and Marzipan are sweet almondy nut thingers (words; what are they)…

As for the spice (as always, my biggest concern) it was very light handed and I more so just picked up a “cinnamon sugar” lightness and sweetness on the end of the sip with some faint coriander. On the whole I think that just contributed to the warmth and comforting quality of the whole cup, and made the orange even juicier.

Kudos to Cuppa’T for that fantastic orange flavour.

Unrelated, my tooth pain is sorta coming back. Not in the same place as before (exact opposite side of my mouth) and not to the same tear inducing degree, but it’s been somewhat consistent all week. Guess I gotta book another dentist appointment. Man, I hate doing “adult” things and adult responsibilities. But hey, at least I’m at a point where I can afford dental work now, without assistance from the parental units.

Sigh.

Flavors: Orange

Cheri

:( I hope your tooth feels better quick!

mj

I had intermittent tooth pain in varying locations. The culprit was me clenching my teeth due to stress. Apparently I was the third grad student that morning with the same problem. It was 9am

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79

Taking advantage of the day off to try some new teas! This one was a birthday present from my mom from a local loose leaf tea shop; it’s not one I asked for and not a flavour I would have ever chosen for myself, so I’m a bit surprised how much I’m actually liking it.

I think the orange flavour is the best part of this one: it’s not soapy, which I find is a real issue with orange flavouring in rooibos blends, and is in fact very juicy and fresh tasting in a pretty natural way. It’s also relatively sweet. The nuttyness in this blend is also present but in a more subtle “lurking in the background” kind of way. As for spice? Not really all that present – which is odd because there’s a metric butt fuck of peppercorn in the dry leaf: something which is very responsible for why I was so hesitant to try this one initially…

Also, I might as well post this here: There are a couple 52Teas blends that I’m looking to get rid of. I don’t want to trade them: I’m just looking to decrease the amount of black tea in my cupboard which I currently don’t drink. If no one is interested here I’ll just post them in the “Take it Away” thread. Also, my preference is that they go to the same person – but if I need to split them to get rid of them that’s ok too. Only shipping within North America, though…

- Maple Bacon
- Pancake Breakfast (and possibly)
- Butterbeer

All are in their original packaging, but not sure exactly much is left of each one.

EDIT: There are a few Tea Desire blends I’m ok with parting with too. I’ll list those ones here as well, and same deal as before: I’ll ship anywhere within North America and would prefer if I didn’t have to split them. Original packaging, etc.

- Oreo Cookie
- Amaretto
- Walnut Orange

221tea

I would happily take all of them off your hands and paypal you the shipping fee if you would like :)

Roswell Strange

Done (but I don’t need the shipping fee back from you)! I already have your shipping info so I’ll send all six out to you as soon as I can (either Wednesday before work or Thursday since that’s payday). I’m gonna try and get in one more cup of each though – if you don’t mind: I’d like to give them each a proper “farewell”.

221tea

Haha sure thing! Hope they are good farewells! I just sent you a message…I would be happy to add any of the teas listed as a “Thank You” for being so generous :)

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Another from Roswell Strange!

I saw both Roswell Strange and VariaTEA had this one cold, so I thought I would take the road less travelled.

This one is reminding me of Watermelon Mint Chiller from Teavana, because yes that one tasted like raspberry. This one isn’t bad at all. I am tempted to cold-brew it, but I’m not getting any coffee-like flavours, and I don’t think I want them haha.

Thanks Roswell Strange!

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This is actually a decent rooibos. I’m always wary of rooibos, since I generally do not enjoy it at all. With the one exception of Fauchon’s L’Automne. Sigh.

The rooibos base here doesn’t overtake the other ingredients completely, which is great. The apple is apparent, though I’m not so sure about the pistachio or strudel aspect. There is something dimming the apple a bit so those things are there, just not distinguishable to me. Overall, an enjoyable cup, especially for a rooibos.

Thanks Roswell Strange!

VariaTEA

This is definitely a good rooibos.

Suziqzer

Sounds like a good one. I prefer when the rooibos isn’t an apparent flavor of the tea, but blends well with other flavors. L’Automne is great … I agree!

Roswell Strange

I actually just made a cup of this…

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95

Sipdown!! (169)

Thank you so much Roswell Strange for sparing some of this for me to try. This is a hard one to say good bye to as I think it is my favourite melon tea, as in I think I like this even more than Butiki’s Cantaloupe and Cream. It captures the flavor of honey dew perfectly, which is not an easy feat as it is a pretty subtle flavor to begin with. Plus, on top of all that melony goodness, there is a nice hint of vanilla sweetness. Delicious!!

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95

This. This. is. good. Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this with me because it is AWESOME!!

First off, it smelled amazing which actually made me nervous because I feared the taste would not deliver. I am happy to report that it does!! This is a super refreshing cup of melon and vanilla, unlike any I have had before. I would stock this in a heartbeat.

I guess between this and Apple Strudel Pistachio, there is a Cuppa’T order in my future. My NEAR future.

Courtney

Can you order from them? I couldn’t figure out how. I may have to drive there haha.

VariaTEA

I think it is a mail in thing. Look at the bottom of the page: http://www.cuppatteas.com/

Roswell Strange

Also, in theory, you could be very nice to Lala and tigress_al and see if either would pick anything up for you and ship it to you – because they actually live in the city the store is in. Also, I would be willing to do the same when I’m in town visiting family. But yes; out of the Cuppa’T blends I’ve tried both this and Apple Strudel Pistachio are my favourites; and things I WILL be restocking. I just knew you’d love this one too though :)

OMGsrsly

Oh hey! They have a Lime Sage rooibos as well. Might be a better place to order from in the future, depending on shipping costs.

Roswell Strange

(I sent some real winners this time; Ice Princess & Buddha Bamboo!)

VariaTEA

BUDDHA BAMBOO!! Damn my list of orders keeps growing!

VariaTEA

Also, this isn’t on their site :(

Roswell Strange

Yeah; it was new when I went up in January. Which is sad, because I’d really like an ingredients list.

tigress_al

Yep, I could probably do that for you ladies!

VariaTEA

OOoohhh YAY!! Thank you!! I would of course pay for the teas and the shipping and what not. I just need to have more of this tea!! This and Apple Strudel Pistachio rooibos :)

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58

I cold brewed this for 12 hours and have found the coffee taste Roswell Strange has talked about. I don’t even understand what happened because hot, this is a generic fruity water but cold it becomes a raspberry coffee. I mean, WHAT?!?! Neither are particularly great though. Nonetheless, thank you Roswell Strange for the chance to try something new (especially something that isn’t easily accessible to me).

Roswell Strange

THANK YOU FOR CONFIRMING I’M NOT CRAZY!

VariaTEA

It’s not you, it’s the tea.

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58

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing so much of this with me. I brewed up some of this at my friend’s place however she doesn’t have a kettle so we are using the pot on the stovetop method of water heating. Then we just waited a long time for it to cool. Unfortunately I think we waited too long because the water was fairly cold and even after steeping for like 5 minutes, this tastes like generic sweet, fruity water. I will have to try this again when I am reunited with my fancy kettle.

Roswell Strange

BUT DID YOU TASTE THE COFFEE!? (Also, I had this today too).

VariaTEA

No. Literally just sweet water. And of course you did. We are just bound to live parallel lives.

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70

Sipdown (175/181)!

This whole being sick thing blows! Everyone is drinking tasty teas and getting lots of sipdowns and here I am; haven’t written a tasting note in three bloody days, everything hurts like a motherfucker and I can count the number of teas I’ve had over the last three days practically on one hands!

I miss my tea!

I’m praying to the Gods that when I wake up tomorrow, on my day off, I’ll feel better and miraculously healthy so I can drink some good stuff! If I’m still sick that’ll make for seven days in a row… Wah!

But yeah; tea and stuff. It was peachy; too peachy. I didn’t like it this time around but I needed it, because the thirst from breaking down pallets is a thing. A BAD MOTHERFUCKING THING. So even though it made me wince with its peachy peachness not a single drop went to waste.

Not gonna miss this.

boychik

feel better now

Anna

I want peachy peachness! I will try to hunt this down. Also feel better.

Roswell Strange

Oh shit! I totally should have saved some of this for you for project peach… If I’m in Regina again anytime soon I’ll pick up some for you!

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70

Twelve hour cold brew for work. I actually remembered to keep my water bottle in the fridge during my shift so it was perfectly icy fresh all day! Basically as refreshing as could possibly be! I definitely needed it too, my shift was pretty iffy.

We started out the day just completely fucking swamped with last minute Easter shoppers who cleared out all our Easter stock, including the candy and baskets. For the rest of the day we had pissed off shoppers upset that we were sold out of Easter stuff. I pretended to be apologetic to all of them; but really after the third or fourth I just wanted to shout at all of them “if you needed Easter candy this badly you shouldn’t have waited until the last minute!”.

Then the other keyholder who was supposed to be closing with me (it’s a two person job; one for paperwork and one for cash) called in and said she wasn’t showing up. So, I had to get a cashier to stay the extra hour for closing – but I still had to do all the work (paperwork and cash) because she had no closing training/wasn’t a keyholder. She still had to be there though, because since I’m handling thousands of dollars two people must be present for security reasons…

Urgh.

This was pretty decent as a drink though; it was like a combination of Tim Horton’s peach drink and an overripe peach puree, heavy on the “stone” taste of the stone fruit. You all know that taste; it’s hard to explain but very distinct.

Other than that, I didn’t pick up a whole lot of other flavours.

Hello.Kiki

ugh, retail. We certainly had our fair share of cranky customers today!

Christina / BooksandTea

I gotta admit, I was one of those last-minute shoppers yesterday. We were at the local grocery and I really wanted to get a cheesecake. They didn’t have any in the display, but they did have some at the back. After a few minutes I came back and they had one ready for me, but I felt so bad – the ladies who were working the bakery looked like they were crazy-busy, what with all of the cakes and putting special icing on cookies and cupcakes. I bet the shift couldn’t end quickly enough.

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