Pippins Tea Company Inc.

Bleh. This does not go well with honey and milk. Note. To. Self.
It was all I had available, the sugar was all packed away and the bee nectar was right there! Sighs.
Live n Learn. On to the next cuppa :)

Ever have a really low day for no apparent reason? Ok well maybe I have a small one, I’m just worried that it’s bringing me down so much.
I need a hug. and positive thoughts, about getting a job before this one ends or else we will have to sell before renos are done. Sighs.
Even this tea didn’t do anything for me.

This is a lovely tea. I’m 99% sure it’s from indigobloom since only her tasting notes are here on steepster :) I’ve got about another 10 samples left from her and kittena plus another 5 or so from azzrian and then i’ll be down to pretty much just my tea. BUT on the plus side, that means i’ll be good to start paring down my cupboard and ordering new teas! haha!

But anyway, on with this tea. This is a really nice strawberry tea. I really enjoy black teas so it’s nice to see the strawberry paired with this instead of a green tea :) I’d give this one another shot for sure!

So what’s really strange about this brew? All i can taste is cinnamon…but i’m pretty sure that there isn’t any in this, so go figure. Maybe my taste budes got confused. Not a fan of this one as a result but it might be worth another shot just to see if it stops tasting like cinnamon haha

This was great! as my previous one second note mentioned, I found it very soothing. And orange like? must be some orange in there… I was going based on what I remembered from what the shop lady said when I wrote the bio for this tea (nothing creative, I was tired!)
The mint and raspberry leaf remind me of a Davids blend but I can’t remember which. Northern lights? either way, this version is sweeter. Must be the orange.
I think I prefer this one. It’s less biting and more on the gentle side. Plus, the St. Johns wort gives it a nice earthy base.
-Dylan, I know you love the DT version… I’m curious what you would think. Not sure if you’ll see this or not but I am hoping so :)
Rating: 87

Oh yes this is good. This is very good! Had this with milk and sugar today. Love it. love love love it.
Still jammy and tart/sweet, in the background. A little astringent as well, next time I’ll cut the temp a bit. The strawberry is rather distinct as well, which I was hoping for. Not as strong as it could be but sugar assisted with that.
Oh and it has some kick! wow, was it ever strong. My heartbeat was doing a waltz as I cleaned house. or maybe that was because I was listening to dance music…
Rating: 89

I still have a bunch of this left and brought it to work to finish up. I still get an unpleasant coconut note in here, which I would prefer to be more of a vanilla or cream note. The earl aspect if well balanced, not too dry and dusty but definitely not my favourite. The black tea base is a bit harsh, this could do with a small splash of milk or a bit of honey. I am fairly fussy about my earls, bergamot is a tricky flavour to do well.

Nonetheless, I am very grateful to my aunty for thinking of me and giving me this tea. As I’m sure you all know, it can be very hard to buy tea for a tea lover – we can be a bit fussy! : )

I can’t remember much about this one except that I found it soothing. Hrm, I need to try it again before making a proper note!

Strawberry jam! with a little tartness. Yummm!! and it doesn’t hide the black either. Sadly, the second steep did not hold up.
I tried this without milk, so I’ll refrain from rating til I have.
Oh and the staff at Pippins? lovely!

Why do I fall in and out of love with Assam’s so quickly?
Every now and then I come across one that makes me go “This is the Assam I’m looking for!” and then the next time I have it… well it just isn’t the same. (Yes I just drew a comparison between droids and tea :P)
Sighs… fickle buds, make up yer mind!
Anyhow, this time around it was great. Malty and light… mallow like even.
Milk and sugar brought it to a magical place. A little weak for my taste. It’d have gotten a much higher rating at full strength!!
NB: It could have also been the fab day I had with a girlfriend. We went paddle-boarding and had a girls afternoon (lunch, tea, beading, and pie!)

Re-visiting this one today – unfortunately the smell isn’t at all pleasant. Initial aroma is kind of sour smelling and had a sharp scent that reminded me of vomit. It had me wondering if what I initially thought were almond slices might not be shaved coconut. Hopefully they really are almonds. According to my tasting note I found this solidly okay last time, let’s hope this is the same.

The taste is not nearly as objectionable as the smell, but it’s not really helping to dissuade me from my new conviction that this has coconut, not almonds. The initial sip is alright, but the aftertaste is sort of bothering me. As it cools it becomes more palatable, and bigger gulps are actually kind of nice. There is a sweetness, reminiscent of desserts. Almost reminds me of baklava, which is very weird. As I keep sipping I think I get a cinnamon taste in here, but a sweet one. This tea certainly is full of mysteries!

Second steep. First sip had an unexpected minty tang. Did not see that coming. Maybe I didn’t wash my teapot very well last time? Probably the case. Interesting and nice, nonetheless. I want mint ni my everything!

Apparently I didn’t try this yet – Either that or I didn’t rate it. This is one of the three teas that my aunt sent me for Christmas from Pippins Tea Company in Toronto (which no-one else has ever logged, what’s up with that??) All of these teas came in a gold bag, but no product description and the name hand written on the outside. It’s a mystery! Well, not this one, since cream of earl grey kinda says it all.

I did this up in a T-Sac today, which I’ve closed in a different way than usual, to allow tonnes of room for expansion. I feel quite smart, but really I should have caught on ages ago. I just tucked the extra flappy bit inside and stapled the edges like a “regular” teabag. I have the size 2 ones, so it’s quite roomy, which I like. Watching the swirls of amber come out is one of my favourite parts of steeping.

I didn’t smell it pre-steep – Sorry! Once steeped the liquor is a golden amber, and looks like an ordinary black tea. I went light on the first steep for now, as I’m treading unusual waters, for me. The steeped smell has a hint of coconutty vanilla, which worries me. I loathe coconut! But, so does this aunt, so it’s unlikely to be coconut. There is also a really fruity smell hidden in the middle, I don’t know how to explain that. Maybe the cornflower blossoms they threw in there? They’re pretty, if nothing else.

First sip – Mild. Very mild. Missing the earl grey flavour here, but that’s likely because of my short steep (1.5 – 2 minutes). It’s sweet. I’m throwing the tea back in for another 30 seconds, see if that brings out its muscles.

Sipping again – Still weird. You can get the earl grey flavour at the end of the sip now, but I still get a hint of something coconutty. Starts off sweet still as well. I think that the “tea water” container at work has been contaminated by coffee, as something is weirdly coffee in this steep. I’ll drink it and I’ll try for a re-steep but I think that a proper measure of the tea will be done at home when I’m in charge of things like water temp. For now, no rating, as this was a weird example. It’d probably get a 65 – 70 if I were going to go numerically right now though. I’m coming to like it more and more as I go through he cup, but I definitely want to try again with some boiling water, that doesn’t have a hint of coffee.

I know this isn’t much to go on, but I received this tea and two others from an aunt for Christmas. They each came in a little gold bag, with a sticker saying they are Pippins Tea Company Inc., Queen St., Toronto. The name of the tea is hand written on the bag in blue felt marker, and there is no description at all!

The tea itself smells very interesting, it reminds me of the scent of Amaretto. I am not a fan of amaretto so that was worrisome, but the tea came out less sweet than I feared. All in all, it was a nice rooibos with strong almond flavour. I think another cup and close inspection of the contents might give me more to go on, but it was extremely unusal for me. Enjoyable, and appreciated!

ps – Closer inspection revealed other forms of nuts in here as well. Certainly are 100 mysteries!