Granville Island Tea Co

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Recent Tasting Notes

74

I’ve never tried a tea from this region of India before so my curiosity was piqued. The dry leaves are black and quite large so measuring properly was a bit tricky. The flavour is like a cross between an autumnal Darjeeling and a light Assam. It has that wine-like muscatel flavour but at the same time it’s a more robust tea than most Darjeelings would be. There’s also a distinct malty undertone and a tannic finish that you’d normally get off of an Assam tea.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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77

Drinking this with milk and a bit of agave nectar and I still can’t really find any pastry flavour, however the sweetness does bring out the chocolate flavours nicely and gives it a great dessert-like quality. So I’m still giving this tea a good rating.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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77

I stocked up on new teas on my most recent visit to Vancouver. I always tend to go a bit tea-crazy when I’m there because my own town has nothing.

I just got a sample of this tea as I’ve found some of this company’s flavoured black teas to be rather hit or miss (still love their oolongs though – their Tie Guan Yin is one the best I’ve tasted). This one is quite nice although it doesn’t really have the pastry-flavour the ‘torte’ part of the name would suggest. It’s an interesting mix of raspberry, mint and cocoa with a nice sweet finish.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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95

A very mild pu-erh. Tastes to me like rainwater — earthly, and yet clean. I learned the hard way not to drink too much of it in a day — not the best thing for digestion. But very simply and yet flavorful.

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85
drank Mango by Granville Island Tea Co
1908 tasting notes

I was quite surprised to see these strange-looking little puffy bits in the tea when the shop assistant showed it too me – as it turns out they’re popped amaranth seeds which I can’t say I’ve ever had in a tea before. I’m not sure what they added – maybe they help hold the flavour? Unfortunately they soften in the water and leave a bit of a mess in my strainer.

Flavour-wise they really did a good job with this blend – I’ve found that many mango teas (and to a lesser extent fruit teas in general) smell nice but are rather lacking in the flavour department. This manages to be the exception – I think it might be helped by the tiny little bits of mango that are blended in and the result is the flavour is nice and fruity and distinctly mango with just the right amount of sweetness.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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Damnit, Granville Island! This is the SAME TEA as sold by Cuppa’T and probably other Canadian tea shops.

Oh well.

It is actually pretty darn good. Sweet, almondy, with a decent black base. It’s a little astringent, maybe because I ended up with the last bit in the bag for my cup. Or perhaps because of the almonds.

I am enjoying it with milk, and think it might make a pretty good eggnog latte as well. Not sure I’d rush out for more, but I could see this being a decent fall tea.

(1.5 tsp for 10 oz)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 295 ML
Anlina

I know that so many tea shops sell teas from the same suppliers, and it always makes me a little grumpy when I have to figure that out on my own.

I really appreciate it that, if a tea shop is going to sell Metropolitan Tea Co, or whatever other popular wholesaler, that they’re just honest about it. I like a lot of the teas from the big wholesalers. I don’t like ending up with the exact same tea from three different companies by accident.

OMGsrsly

YES. Exactly. And if I had known I would have picked something else because I got this as a holiday surprise and wanted it to be unique. And it’s not. But too bad, holiday surprise people. :D You’re getting it anyways.

Lilysmom

I never really found any Granville Island teas I loved….or even liked much…..are there good ones I missed?

OMGsrsly

I’ve only had a couple. They’re a mix of metropolitan and other common suppliers.

Roswell Strange

Cuppa’T is always a guessing game for me: some of their blends are MTC (like the Dutch Licorice I just bought) but they bring stuff in from so many other distributors too. Like, I’ve never seen their Creme Brulee Rooibos ANYWHERE else, or the Pink Beauty Oolong I bought recently. And I originally thought their Monk’s Blend was MTC but after comparing the ingredients lists it’s not the same… Really happy my local store has started listing the distributors they get their blends from!

OMGsrsly

Yeah, I really like it when stores do that as well, Roswell. Janet’s Special Teas doesn’t list their distributors, but she uses different sources than a lot of the tea stores I’ve been to.

Anlina

I really like Surprise Rooibos from Granville Island.

Cornelia Bean uses a few different distributors, which are not always, but mostly clear, and most of their teas I’ve not encountered anywhere else.

OMGsrsly

Zen Tea and Tealux carry a lot of the same things as Cornelia Bean, and have lower shipping minimums. :) The only one I haven’t been able to find that I really liked is the Greek Mountain Orange.

My main problem with Granville Island is they are not clear with ingredients, at least in-store. As I’m becoming more and more sensitive to gluten and wheat, ingredients are becoming a huge sore point for me wrt various tea companies.

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74

This tea isn’t on the Granville Island Tea Co’s website so I don’t know if this blend is just a one-off or a special holiday blend of some sort. The recommended steeping temperature was surprisingly low despite the fact that the oolong looks to be a fairly dark one, but I went with the package instructions this time just to see.

The flavour was quite surprising – I wouldn’t necessarily call it tropical, to me it was more like a mix of citrusy orange and sweet berries. It’s certainly never a combination that I’ve tasted in a tea before and I find that I quite like it though I’m going to play with the steeping parameters a bit.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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70

Sipdown. This tea got spicier as I got near the bottom of the bag – probably because the bits of cracked pepper all settled to the bottom despite my shaking it to try and redistribute it. And I do have to say the spicy bite is nice but the other spices and flavourings need to be stronger to accompany it – otherwise it just ends up being straight black pepper tea.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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70

I’m always on the lookout for a good chai, particularly this time of year when the warm spiciness is appreciated. This one is a CTC style mixed with pieces of spices and a few rose petals. The scent is lovely and fragrant but unfortunately it doesn’t transfer entirely over to the flavour as I find it a bit mild for something billed as a ‘spicy’ chai. Still it’s nice and I can still distinctly taste cardamom, cloves and a hint of what I think might be black pepper. No real rose flavour though, sadly. The base is also nice for a CTC, robust without being too harsh or astringent.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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85

Last cup of this! I guess it really is a surprise, because there’s no ingredient list on the bag or on their website :P But looking at it I’d say there’s rooibos, lemongrass, pink peppercorns, cornflower, dried apple and some other stuff too.

Grumpiness about ingredient lists aside, this really is a lovely tea. Lemony, woody, fruity and a hint of spice. Very well balanced, and definitely something I need to restock.

Flavors: Fruity, Lemongrass, Spicy, Wood

Preparation
1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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72

Another bottom of the bag cup. I like the floral and citrus notes that come out in this cup, but there was a lot of dust that went right through my mesh strainer and has been sitting at the bottom, making it progressively more bitter and astringent. :( Otherwise, I think this would be a pretty lovely, light tea.

Oh well. Time to restock the Baroness Grey, I guess.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Floral, Orange

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

I distinctly recall last May as being rainy and dreary – in other words, no different from the winter months.

So when we were blessed with a spell of warm weather, I rushed to Granville Island between work and evening lectures to sample a new Earl Grey, of which I had become addicted to.

It took me awhile to find the small but well-stocked Granville Island Tea Company in the public market. When I asked for Earl Greys, the sales girl expertly pulled several tins from the shelves, which was no easy feat, seeing as there were several hundred black tins lining the walls.

I had a hard time choosing between the Cream Earl Grey and the aptly-named Dorian Grey (cue lit student squeals), but the sweet, creamy scent of the former won me over. The resulting brew was lighter on bergamot than standard Earl Greys, but intoxicatingly flavoured with vanilla. The taste was smooth, velvety, and utterly soothing. Definitely going back for seconds when my 100g runs out.

Flavors: Vanilla

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75

First sipdown of 2015!

I don’t think I would buy this tea again just due to its finicky nature – I wasted a lot of tea in my attempts to figure out how to make it taste good, even if it did reward me in the end.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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75

It took a great deal of fiddling and several cups dumped down the drain before I could get this tea to taste like something that wasn’t a variation of ‘hideously bitter’. I don’t know what it is about this particular tea as I haven’t had any trouble with other Darjeeling First Flushes before, but it seems very sensitive, particularly to water temperature.

The flavour is a still a bit astringent but more along the lines of what I’d expect out of a Darjeeling tea. The flavour is light (definitely NO MILK with this one) and rather crisp but it also has a distinctly sweet, almost honey-like finish that lingers in the mouth. Overall a very finicky tea but it’ll reward you when it’s done right.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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5

This tea is far too sweet and difficult to drink.

Flavors: Berries, Grapes, Plum, Stonefruit

Preparation
1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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79

This is a nice flavored green tea that actually lives up to it’s name and scent.
The brewed leaves smell a bit astringent and sour as well as sweet with a grass note to keep it balanced. The pomegranate pairs well with the hibiscus. The brewed tea has a slight pink tinge to the liquid. This would also make a good iced tea if brewed twice as strong and then diluted with ice cubes (or “tea” cubes!).

Flavors: Fruit Tree Flowers, Grass

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Memily

Sounds yum!

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51

It’s getting there. I brewed this with a few pieces of rock sugar and it seemed to taste a little better, but towards the end of the cup, it was too astringent for me.

Preparation
4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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51

I brewed this for 3 minutes and it just tastes bland. Only a little more flavored than plain water. I’ll try this again with some sugar and a longer brew time to see if it tastes any better.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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82

I added this to 3/4 cup milk and some Counter Culture espresso. I like this chai better than Tiger Spice because it is not as sweet, though I do wish it were more heavily spiced. I enjoyed their chai tea at the market & thought it would be as equally spicy.

Preparation
6 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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78

I really think this tea is great! Perhaps that’s because I know it’s a relatively good price for Genmaicha, perhaps it’s because the tea itself is pleasing to both taste and smell.

Although it is weak in smell, it still has a flavor that is aligned with some of the better Genmaichas I have tried. It almost has a buttery smoothness going in and the traditional toasted rice after taste.

I highly recommend this tea for anyone looking into trying some green teas. It’s a steal from this cool, unique store as well.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 2 min, 45 sec

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89

I have a sample of this kicking around my cupboard – the Granville Island Tea Co stocks this tea sporadically and it always sells out fast, so I picked some up while I could. There’s something pleasantly spicy about the scent of the leaves – and like many Darjeeling first flushes they looked more like a green tea than a black tea. The flavour comes across as being almost berry-like, combined with a sweet nuttiness that makes this tea really unique. I expected it to be more astringent like a Darjeeling but it’s actually quite smooth, and gentle.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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70

I am really enjoying tea again! Another one I had forgotten about.

Brewed 2 tsps in the big DT mug, 3/4 full…..this is kind of meh…..if I didn’t know the flavour, not sure I could tell. No real chocolate or orange aroma I can detect. The flavour is very subtle – it really doesn’t taste like much of anything. If anything it tastes a bit dark chocolate-y, but I am trying hard to find the flavours. Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing much to recommend it either….

Lilysmom

This tasted a bit better as it cooled….and with a bit of sugar…..stii, I don’t think I need to drink it again…..if anyone would like it, please let me know and msg me your address….prefer to send within Canada…..

Yvonne

I’d gladly take it off your hands if you’d like :)

Lilysmom

Sounds good – I will send it your way!!

Yvonne

Thank you so much! :)

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62

The TTBA is here!! I just met up with Sil. Apparently we have the same sunglasses. Tea twins? ;)
Anyhow. I plan to be SO hyped on caffiene by the time today is over. It’s gonna be a good day!
But this tea? It isn’t buttered anything! In my travel mug so its piping hot at the moment… I’m hoping some semblance of flavour emerges as it cools down.
-
-
-
Ok it’s been a few minutes.
I can kind sorta maybe but not really see where they get “buttered” from. Except it’s more like “vanilla that moonlights as buttered”.
The base is kindof thin. or maybe it’s the flavouring. or both. Hmmm.
I find that ceylon is sometimes a tricky base, and that is what I suspect this is.
I’m sure if I had enough time to play around with steeping parameters, I could come up with something that’d be tasty. A latte perhaps?
Well, it’s been an interesting tea box debut. On to the next one :)

Note: I just discovered that if I aerate the sip between my teeth (because it’s still HOT!), I actually do get something rum like! Well, I’ll be.

Terri HarpLady

You girls should have took a pic!

Indigobloom

Next time! she didn’t have hers around at the moment

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