Simpson & Vail

Sipdown, and my 500th tasting note! I haven’t even reached that milestone on my (several years older) blog, so it’s clear where my obsession lies :) Here’s to many more notes and cups of tea!

A pretty straightforward version of Moroccan mint; still, it’s a good balance between the green tea and mint, does the job nicely.

This has grown to be my favorite of the S&V teas. I know because I’m nearly at the bottom of the tin :)

I think 3 minutes really works better than the recommended 2 minutes for this tea; it just needs a little extra time for the flavors to come together. I didn’t completely know what to make of the taste at first, but now I’ve decided it’s a lime ginger ale tea. There’s something about the flavor that reminds me of soda, and it would probably pair perfectly with some sparkling water for an iced drink.

Drank this again earlier today, and it turned out a little better than the first time, though I’m not sure why. I thought I was steeping it the same. Maybe I accidentally gave it a little bit longer, or maybe the flavor has settled down a little now that it’s escaped those paper bags. It still seems a little rough around the edges, and the lime note tastes fizzy somehow, like a Sprite taste. But it’s an improvement on the first cup.

I can’t help comparing this one to H&S Bangkok, as they hit a lot of the same notes — citrus, coconut, ginger — and smell remarkably alike. The Bangkok’s citrus is a lemony citrus. I wanted to try this one because the description mentioned lime and I thought that sounded like an interesting variation.

I do get the ginger, the coconut, and the lime, but for some reason they’re not really coming together in the cup for me. The blend isn’t blending, if that makes any sense. I’m going to do some experimenting with steep times before I rate this, as I think I may have just not hit on the correct way to prepare it yet.

Sipdown! I think for me ATR’s Brioche edges this one out, but there are still a lot of nice aspects to this tea, and I definitely enjoyed it while it lasted.

Had this one again because I wanted to try it with the cream, but it turns out cream is not so great in this one. I mean, it doesn’t taste bad, but it’s overpowering the other flavors, so I think I would have to steep the tea at double strength at least for it to stand up to the cream.

This tea smelled really bitter in the steeper. Yet the flavor of the tea is beautifully put together, a smooth blend of almond cookie with the base. I can see why this one is so popular. This is a much better approach to the flavor than just dumping in almond extract. The taste is subtler, but a lot more rewarding.

I used a heaping teaspoon because I thought I might need a little extra when I smelled the bag and didn’t get any almond. This may not have been necessary after all, but it doesn’t taste overleafed. I guess I’ll test it with a little less next time.

So one effect of transferring all the S&V teas from their paper bags into tins is that now I can smell the actual tea when I sniff the tins, instead of the waxy-fruity scent they all picked up from traveling together in the same box. This one has an intense cream cheese frosting smell that I did not notice before, so the name “Strawberry Cupcake” now makes a lot more sense.

I don’t normally add cream to tea, but I did this time, as something about the flavor just seems to call for it, and I do think it’s an improvement on the first time I drank the tea, and just had it straight.

My first Simpson & Vail order arrived! Even though I got home late, I was too excited to go to sleep without trying something, especially since I was hit by a wave of delicious smells as soon as I opened the box.

Now I understand AllanK’s warning about the huge bags. I think these are coffee bags, really? I think I’ll follow his example and start transferring these to tins, because among other things, I don’t want all these great smells to go wafting away through the paper bags.

So, first up, strawberry cupcake. My first impression while sipping this was that it actually tasted much more like chocolate, but after awhile the strawberry started coming through, and it became a chocolate-covered strawberry experience.

Which is really a pretty brilliant idea for a dessert tea. Looking forward to trying everything else in the box!

Bought this as a one ounce sample with my last order. Did not brew it in the East Frisian manner of brewing. Simply brewed it up and added sugar to it. It is a fairly tasty tea. It is also hard to describe. It’s not really malty. It’s a little bit spicy but not in the way puerh gets from storage taste. It’s a little bit sweet. It’s a fairly hardy brew and strong. Sorry I can’t come up with a better description.

Brewed this one time with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper for 3 min.

Finally got around to buying some of this after sampling it a while ago. This is a fairly good herbal tea. I can taste the sweetness of the orange, the sour or the cranberry and the tang of the ginger. I’m not entirely sure I can taste the holy basil. Picked this this afternoon because it’s caffeine free. This is a good tea as far as a herbal tea goes. I would always rather be drinking puerh but I really have to try to cut out the caffeine as early as possible.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 5 minutes.

Requested a free sample of this with my order. Simpson and Vail is very good with requests for free samples. Tulsi is supposed to be very healthy. I get a nice melange of flavors with this tea. The orange and cranberry are fairly prominent. But I can also taste the tulsi. All the ingredients in this are organic too. So you can be fairly sure there were no pesticides used on this tea.

I brewed this once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 5 min.

Once and a while I still buy a flavored black tea. This one has papaya pieces and raspberry pieces. The taste of the two ingredients meld well into a single sweet note. This is a very sweet tea. I added sugar because this sort of tea should be really sweet. It is quite good as flavored teas go. I can’t really taste the black tea base behind all the flavorings but it is good.

I brewed this once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

So this is a desert tea that I am having at 5:35 am. It’s not like I can have it for desert or I will still be up at 5 am not having woken up at 5 am. There is a fair amount of chocolate flavor in this tea and there are some notes of caramel, slightly burnt caramel. I added honey to this tea because this one screams out for sweetener. This is not quite as good as I remember it from several years ago when I first bought it but it is good.

I brewed this one time in a Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper witih 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

Bought this not remembering I had bought it before. It is pretty good. A nice blend of rooibos and cacao, all the ingredients organic I think. I taste the cacao slightly more than the green rooibos.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 5 minutes.

This is a flavorful blend of cacao and cinnamon with green rooibos. The chocolate and cinnamon notes are really strong. The rooibos a little bit in the background. This is an excellent tea to drink at this hour when I can’t have what I really want because of the caffeine.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 5 min.

A sample from Miss B! This was my early evening cup last night, and I was expecting a fairly mild flavour. I’ve not found a hazelnut tea that particularly struck me before, but this one was quite an eye opener. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk, because it brewed up pretty dark.

It’s quite a straightforward tea in many ways. The flavour is fairly simple and one-note, and it’s definitely not the kind of tea where there’s a lot going on and you really have to think about what you’re tasting. This tea, basically, is exactly what it promises to be; hazelnut on a smooth, mellow black base. It’s rich and nutty to taste, and it is specifically hazelnut that I can taste, rather than just generic “nut”. The hazelnut flavour emerges mostly in the mid-sip, and then there’s the slight bitterness of hazelnut skin in the aftertaste. It didn’t strike me as a particularly sweet tea, and the base wasn’t malty, so there’s nothing to conflict with the richness of the hazelnut and the slightly savoury vibe that can have. I did find that the flavour seemed to strengthen as the tea cooled, which was a pleasant surprise. Possibly this one would make a good cold brew, although I don’t have enough leaf at the moment to try that out. I enjoyed this one a lot more than I anticipated, though, and so it would be a possible future purchase for me. Maybe one day I’ll get to test my cold brew theory with this tea! In the meantime, I shall enjoy a second hot cup before I have to say goodbye. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to try this one, because I’m not sure I would have picked it out of my own accord.

A sample from Miss B! I pulled out the Simpson and Vail blends first because I’ve experienced a degree of flavour loss in the past with their flavoured blends. These samples are stored in plastic ziploc bags, but they’re not really air tight and I didn’t want to leave them longer than I had to. I should have got around to starting these samples much sooner, but stuff happened and life got in the way, and somehow I just never got round to it. I’m on a more even keel now, so better late than never!

Having said that, I have had quite a day. This week I’ve worked six days, which I never enjoy because I get so tired, but which are essential during open day season and usually at least reasonably fun. I work in a University Admissions department, so my role is pretty much focused on being welcoming and answering queries on entry requirements, course content, and the like. One girl didn’t like what she was being told, and had A TANTRUM on the floor, kicking and screaming, crying and shouting. She was 18, so should have known better, but obviously used to getting her own way. Honestly, I was embarrassed for her. Also annoyed, when one of the academics came up to me later and told me that she’d wanted her to “go home happy, with a smile on her face”, and so had told her that her low grades would be acceptable after all. Helpful, right? That doesn’t make us look unprofessional at all. All I can say is, I’m glad today is over.

Now I’m home, I really wanted a comfort tea. Chai is that to me, especially during the colder months. Chocolate is good, too, obviously. Hence, this one called to me quite strongly. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it approximately 4 minutes in boiling water. I added a decent slug of milk, so it’s kind of a proper chai, without as much fuss.

It’s really delicious. The chocolate and the spices are pretty much perfectly balanced, so that both can be tasted and neither is overpowering. The chocolate comes across as a dark, cocoa-y kind of flavour, perfectly suited to the warmth of the cinnamon and ginger, slight dankness of clove, and the beauty that is cardamon. The black tea base is smooth and a little sweet and malty, and the overall combination strikes me as a really great one. I’m enjoying my cup, now that I can finally start to relax a little.

Good morning my Steepsterites! Hope you all are having a great one so far. I’m so happy today is Friday. I’m ready for this weekend and my “bachlorette” party (more like a gathering at a pottery shop to drink wine and paint bowls!). Should be a good time!

Last night I enjoyed several mugs of this delicious apple cinnamon coffeecake flavored tea. The tea tastes exactly like the name. Another winner from Simpson & Vail. I’m really enjoying their teas!

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/10/23/apple-cinnamon-coffeecake-from-simpson-vail/

Happy Friday sipping all!

Bought this herb for allergy seasons, spring & fall for me. It works quite well for coughing, as the native Americans knew. It is an ingredient in may commercial cough syrups, but this tea works just as well, plus it is comforting. My father used to mix bourbon, honey & lemon. I do the same, then add it to this tea.