RiverTea

Drank this a few days ago, but I don’t remember much of it. The base tea was quite vegetal, and I don’t know if that melded well with the osmanthus flowers. However, I really need to be more attentive the next time I make this.

This is actually my second time drinking this, but apparently either I didn’t post here or Steepster ate it. Who knows.
So I was having a bad-ish day. Work was alrightish. Nothing major except I couldn’t find my work lanyard, which was really vaguely upsetting. All stuff I could replace kinda except for one of the pins that was a ’you’ve been here 5 years’ and I’m not sure if they’d give me another one if I said I lost it.
Got home, grouched about and got myself into a worse mood (especially when I realized I hadn’t stopped at the store for the pot roast I was going to make for dinner so now I don’t know what to make) so I decided to make tea. Grabbed this one since I wasn’t in the mood to try something I’d never had before, but didn’t feel like something flavored. This was in my ‘finish off/don’t reorder’ and I remember it was good so this went into the cup.
It’s not like how I remember it. Or else I’m in such a foul mood that it’s skewing my memory. This is alot fruitier than I remember. Almost reminds me of a Darjeeling, which is irritating to me since I rather detest Darjeeling. It’s kinda plummy/grapey with a bit of malty-ness in there. And something smoky at the edge. But it wasn’t the rich malty tea that I think I need(ed) to get me down off the ceiling. /sigh/
Now I’m on the fence about whether to keep this to drink down, or toss it into my stash sale post since I didn’t care for this cup at all. /grumbles more/

Another cup last night, this time hot with no additions. I went back to basics and followed the recommended parameters – 2 tsp of leaf in boiling water for 5 minutes. There’s still not all that much in the way of lemon – certainly nowhere near as much as I’d like – but I could taste it just slightly in the background. A mildly bitter, slightly waxy, lemon peel kind of flavour. Mostly, though, this one’s hibiscus. I’ll probably finish this one off cold brewed tomorrow. It’s not terrible, but I won’t be all that sad once it departs my cupboard.

I tried a cup of this hot last night with a spoonful of honey. I think the sweetness helped to cut through some of the hibiscus tartness (which is stronger and A LOT more dominant hot than it is when cold brewed…). I still couldn’t taste much in the way of lemon, however, although it did soothe my throat fairly effectively. Mostly, it reminded me of glycerine cough syrup flavoured with lemon and honey, only less thick and sticky. It’s by no means bad, but I’m still mostly underwhelmed.

This is today’s cold brew. I don’t have a great deal of leaf left now, which is probably a good thing since I’m not over fond of this one. I think when I bought it, I imagined it as a sharp, bitter lemon sort of tea – maybe reminiscent of lemonade. In actuality, it’s a lemongrass/hibiscus blend, and it’s just a little weak and not-really-lemon like for my tastes. I used 2 tbsp of leaf for today’s brew, added to 1.8 litres of cold water, and then into the fridge for about 10 hours overnight.

The result is okay, in a so-so average kind of way. I can taste a tiny edge of sour lemon, but it’s very fleeting and hardly as present as I’d like it to be. The sip ends with a flash of tart hibiscus, which is fine as far as it goes. I just find the whole thing rather tasteless.

I mention trying this one hot in one of my previous notes, maybe with some honey or crystal sugar. I had thought I’d tried this one hot already, but perhaps I haven’t. I’ll probably do that before I finish this one off for good, but I’m not convinced it’ll make much difference. River Tea did better than this, that’s for sure. I’m sad they closed, but this isn’t ultimately a blend I’ll miss.

In other news, I no longer feel like death warmed over. I’m not exactly better, but I think my cold is slowly disappearing. Other than the first two days, I haven’t actually suffered too much this time. It’s annoying when you want to drink new teas and you can’t, but hey ho! I’ll be back to it soon :)

This was last night’s pre-bedtime cup. I remember trying this iced last summer, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever tried it hot before. I used 2 tsp of leaf, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a tell-tale pinky-red, which immediately had me looking at the ingredients. Yes, my old friend hibiscus lives here.

Hibi and I have a love-hate relationship. Every time we meet, I wonder how it’s going to go. This time, it’s actually okay. The main flavour here, as I was hoping, is lemon. It’s a wonderfully fresh flavour, almost bitter. It’s almost like an actual lemon has been squeezed into a cup of hibiscus tea, and it’s a pretty good pairing. The hibiscus adds just the right amount of sweet tartness to counteract the sour lemon, without completely overpowering it.

I actually like this one a lot more hot than I did iced, and I think it’ll be a great herbal blend for a cool spring or summer evening. Drinking this makes me sad that RiverTea have gone. They had all too short a life in the tea world. I suppose the only thing to do is remember them fondly through the teas I have left, and this one makes that easy.

This is my second attempt at cold brewing this tea. First time, I used 1.5 tbsp of leaf in 1 litre of water, and left it for around 10 hours overnight. The resulting brew was very weak, and didn’t really taste of very much at all. A disappointment. This time, I used 3 tbsp of leaf in 1 litre of water, again for around 10 hours. I’m much happier with the result.

Looking at the dry leaf worried me a little when I spotted pieces of liquorice root. Liquorice has become my nemesis recently (it ruined Bluebird’s Aniseed Balls for me, in the end, and also their All Things Nice blend). Fortunately, I can’t taste it at all in the actual tea. Relief! What I can taste is lemon, quite sharp and fresh tasting, and a background tartness from the hibiscus and rosehip. It’s a combination that works fairly well, and I can completely see this being a wonderful drink on a hot summer evening, with plenty of ice and some slices of fresh lemon, maybe a sprig of fresh mint. The mint is what I miss here, I think. Spearmint is listed as an ingredient, but I can’t taste it at all. I think it would help to augment the sharp tartness this one has with a touch of natural sweetness, so I’m sad that it’s not really making itself known.

I’m going to try this hot next, to see whether that makes a difference to the dominant flavours. I doubt it will, somehow, but you never know. I might try adding a little honey or crystal sugar, maybe some fresh mint leaves, depending how I get on. This is the second RiverTea blend I’ve tried from my first order (other than samples) and I’m fairly encouraged so far. This is a pleasant summer blend, and I like the accuracy of the lemon flavouring. No bathroom cleaner, no artificial sweetness. I think I’m a fan!

Marco Polo TTB

Well, it happened, Microsoft bought Mojang and by extension, Minecraft, when the rumor was first leaked and no ‘damage control’ happened I pretty much assumed it was a done deal. It is not all doom and gloom though, Microsoft has done some awesome things and from the press release details, as few as they are, it seems like they are going to treat Minecraft right. I am cautiously optimistic and look forward to watching Minecraft grow, and hey, maybe the Xbox 360 version will get quicker updates now (doubtful.)

Today’s tea is possibly being reviewed at the wrong time of year, depending on your hemisphere, presenting Spring Fest by RiverTea! Inspired by the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan, this tea is a blend of Green Tea, Papaya Bits, Pineapple Bits, Sour Cherry Halves, Raspberry Bits, Rose Blossoms, Jasmine Blossoms, and Flavorings. The aroma of the leaves is quite fruity, blending cherries and papayas with floral notes of jasmine and roses. It does not really evoke spring to Japan to me, it evokes summer in a more tropical climate to me. Of course how well it matches its name is not really what is important, what is important is rather or not it smells good, I think it does, the fruit and flower notes mix really well, however the cherry aroma is much stronger than the other notes and has a bit of a tart quality that has me nervous.

The steeped leaves are really quite sweet, lots of sweet papaya and cherry notes with a hint of pineapple, the initial fruity sweetness fades to rosy perfume and heady jasmine at the finish. The aroma of the liquid is a mixture of jasmine’s subtle sweetness and floral intensity along with fresh vegetation and a hint of rose. The liquid smells more like a jasmine green tea than a fruity blend.

The taste is very mild and subtle, it starts out floral and sweet with faint notes of roses and jasmine with a hint of vegetation. This transitions into slightly tart cherry and sweet tropical fruit, the aftertaste is rose and tropical fruit. Spring Fest is pretty light and fairly refreshing, one of those teas that is very unassuming and can be used as a ‘background’ noise tea that you want to sip without having to think about. Obviously this is not my favorite type of tea, but they certainly have their purpose and are good to have around when in need.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/rivertea-spring-fest-tea-review.html

Tea & Cards TTB
I purposely overleafed this tea because Marzipan reviewed it as bland. I think it helped because I got quite a bit of flavor out of the tea. It’s very malty. Pretty tasty. No complaints. Sort of blanking on how to describe this one.

On another note I bought a cupboard/cabinet at an estate sale today just for my tea! It’s already organized and it makes me way more happy than a cupboard should.

Marco Polo TTB

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this, I almost decided not to try it because of the orange and I could not smell the spearmint when it was dry. I cold brewed it and as soon as I added the water I could smell the spearmint. The orange somehow made it brighter without being bitter.

Backlog from this morning.

Nothing too special. I oversteeped it a bit, but it wasn’t astringent, so that’s a bonus. Just a good all-round Ceylon.

I don’t like this as much as some of the other black teas I’ve got, but it’s serviceable enough. This is a backlog note from last week, but I don’t remember when exactly I had it. It’s a good no-fuss tea.

Backlog note 2 of 13. Hi guys!

My first note on this tea wasn’t that impressed, but I think I’m liking it better now. It’s not that bright and citrusy, but just like my Golden Yunnan from RiverTea, it’s an unfussy tea blend. It’s not smoky, but it is a tad malty. This is a good tea when you want tea, but don’t want to devote too much attention to what you’re drinking. A good “doing chores around the house” tea.

Backlog from yesterday.

First note for this tea. Woo!

I’ve only ever had 1 or 2 Ceylons before this – in particular, I really liked the Kenilworth Ceylon that I got through Simple Loose Leaf back in August. When I bought this tea I hoped it would be more of the same.

However, the flavour in this upon first scent and sip is that it’s quite non-descript. It doesn’t have the blanket-warmth of the Kenilworth Ceylon, or even the lemony/rosy body of some bagged Ceylons.

I’m going to hold off judgement until now, as I remember I wasn’t too impressed by RiverTea’s Golden Yunnan when I tried it, but it’s grown on me a lot since then. I’m hoping that this Ceylon will also grow on me.

Sipdown!

I bought this tea over a year ago so it was about time to finish it off. I had it tonight in the hopes that it would soothe my unhappy stomach, but alas, it’s not to be. The ginger is not doing its trick.

Now I need to find another green tea with ginger and citrus out there. I’m sure there are plenty. Any recommendations from the crowd?

Backlog note.

I forget when exactly I had this, but I was feeling a bit throat-scratchy, and I thought this would help. Maybe it was the ginger, maybe it was the hot liquid, but it did!

I’m glad I’ve got some of this around.

Backlog from a few days ago:

I’ve had this twice since I bought it, and I quite like it. The ginger flavour is really strong here and melds well with the lime and lemongrass – the whole thing smells like ginger ale when I open it up, which I love.

The base here is not too strong, but not too weak, either. I’m really happy I got this blend, as I’ve been looking for a good ginger/citrus green for a while.

I have to say it: I really like RiverTea’s blends. Not all of them work, but when they work, they work.

My tea twin Roswell Strange sent me this and I decided to cold brew half the sample and hot brew the other.

I took the cold brew with me when I went out with my mother and as she became super thirsty, she decided to take a sip and all I saw was her pucker and not look impressed. However, she doesn’t drink tea so that might have had something to do with it given this tea is not that bad. Cold, it is mostly like a watered down apple juice with a touch of cream and a hint of hibby tartness.

As a hot brew, I can see this taking milk very well. The cream element comes out a bit more than in the cold brew but something about the combination of flavors is coming off a bit chalky. When I first tried it hot, it made me think of clay and that is just not something I want to be reminded of when I sip on my tea. Though, with that said, it really isn’t that bad of a tea, just not something I would need to have around.

I really need to go online and check ingredients before I brew. I had just sorted through several samples, passing up all the yummy chocolate teas, I chose this because it smelled like spice cake. Surprise… chocolate! But…. I really, really like it! The chocolate and the spices and the pastry-like flavors are wonderful. I love the dessert-y teas that are pastry like and this sure fits the bill.

I did add a little stevia and was very pleased with the results. I don’t know who I got this from but ‘Thank-you’ for sharing this with me. I hope to add this to my cupboard someday!

Lewis & Clarke TTB

Cranberry pineapple? Sounds like the tea of Roswell Strange’s dreams! :P The green tea in here is quite dark, I’m unsure what type it is. This tea smells awesome! Tart and fruity with a little bit of candy sugary scent. My teaspoon had a big piece of cranberry and couple little candied pineapple chunks. The cranberry re-hydrated during the steep and got huge! It made me laugh a little bit.

Once brewed, the aroma is a mixture of buttery, vegetal green tea and tart fruit, specifically cranberry and pineapple. The taste is actually a nice balance of green tea and flavor, hooray! The green tea itself is nice and mild and sweetly vegetal. I can taste the pineapple intermingling with the tea throughout the sip, and the cranberry comes in near the end a bit. There is a tiny bit of that chalky powdered sugar taste here, which is unfortunate. I think my tongue just doesn’t approve of flavored tea now, heh! This one is pretty good though!

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I’ve never had a lychee tea, but I always seem to be curious about them… So I’m trying one! This definitely smells lovely and fruity, though I have no concept of what lychee tastes like. The scent is very sweet and somewhat tropical, with something that reminds me of ginger?

Brewed, this tea smells sweet and fruity with some floral. I am immediately reminded of Fauchon, because this tea has that odd powdered sugar-esque smell too. Interesting! I’m assuming lychee is a very floral fruit, because this hardly tastes fruity at all… It’s mostly a mild, sweet floral flavor with a little bit of that powdered sugar taste. Not terrible, but not at all what I expected. :)

finished this off this morning and while it was a decent cup once i figured out how to brew it, i much preferred it as a black iced tea. Iced it had that great balance for me. I’d get this again, but with the intent of having it iced over the summer.

a bunch more cups of this today…it’s hot and humid and i dunno how i’m going to survive next week when i’m even further south. lol Still really enjoying this brewed cold. even my other half has some today! whoop whoop!

also just for omgsrsly

Final Count: 96 (though let’s be honest, i’m never going to make my other goals…not with next week happening)

i haven’t been loving this hot, looks like steepster ate my notes, but i tried making this as a cold brew for some “regular” iced tea and it’s pretty tasty, esp with a splash of lemon