Simpson & Vail

Ah, yummy Candy Cane. I’m so glad that I bought a pound of you to enjoy whenever I want – I just need to remember you’re there in that huge tin, underneath my other teas-to-drink.

1.5 tsp in 12 oz.

So very excited to pick more of this up at the border later this week or early next, as this is a sipdown! (For now). I grabbed a pound, which sounds ridiculous, however I want it to last until Winter 2014 so that I can order more, then.

As delicious as I find this one, it also seems to work as a great tummy tamer. Yay for dual duty teas!

A pound of this is on it’s way to me. That’s how much I love this. Soon to be a sipdown, unless the package beats me! Also finding that oversteeping makes it less yummy, and I like it better with just a hint of sweetener (stevia).

Oh green rooibos candy cane yumminess, how I love you!

Comforting. Minty. Creamy. Yay!

Must order more of this before they stop selling it for the season! So creamy, so delicious. Interestingly, I found this better at my house than when I steeped it elsewhere.

Brought this with me on my date, so that I could replenish the young man’s stock. He was sick earlier in the week, so I gave him some of my favorite medicinals… straight ginger, Super Ginger (DAVIDs), Turmeric Tea (Phat Long), and Clari Tea (Whispering Pines). He loved the Clari Tea, and said he resteeped the 2-cup pot six times. Whoa! Also shared tonight that I may have ruined him for store-bought tea bags forever. Must admit to a sly grin, there.

Anyway. Shared some of this with the gent while we watched Seinfeld. I forgot how much I loved that show!

As always, delicious.

I must make another S&V order soon, because I’m going through this ridiculously fast. Yes, it’s that good – and even better sweetened. Creamy, minty candy cane, and only lightly minty so that the cream and sweetness shines through.

Had this earlier today, and gave my 5-year-old a sip. He’s recently discovered he loves candy canes, so I told him, “This is candy cane tea.”

“No Mommy, it’s not.”

“Yes love, yes it is. Try it again.”

He giggles. He tries it another two times before I realize he’s playing with me, and just wants to drink all of my tea.

“No Mommy, I still can’t taste it. Can I have some more…?”

My first Simpson & Vail tea! I’m so excited. Can you tell I’m moseying (very slowly) through the Black Friday tea boxes?

Many of the teas are exceptionally fragrant in the S&V order, for those of you who decided they wanted to share with me. Which, by the way, I’ve now packed up all the S&V and have gotten it ready to mail off. Four of you still have other boxes here for me to go through; the rest will get mailed or delivered tomorrow. Yay!

Onto the tea! Really fragrant, smells strongly of minty, creamy candy canes, with an almost medicinal smell to it, perhaps because it’s so strong. Brewing it is divine, and drinking it? Oh. My. Goodness. Creamy, mint candy cane. It’s a dead ringer. Love!

Tea #13 from the Here’s Hoping TTB

This is my first tea from Simpson & Vail, so I was really excited to try it, even though it was a chocolate tea. I’ve pretty well given up looking for a tea with chocolate in it that I like. While steeping, this smells very heavily of cocoa, which gave me hope. My #1 dislike when it comes to chocolate teas are unnatural smelling and tasting chocolate. This ended up tasting a lot like it smells, which isn’t a bad thing actually. I don’t mind the unsweetened cocoa powder flavor, it just leaves me wishing for something a little sweeter. I think this has potential as a tea latte, so if I have time to go buy milk I’ll try that later.

Of my black friday S &V teas, this one was one of the better ones. But still, I could never get it to quite make me dance with delight.
It was a good experiment, but I’m done with it now. Not a repeat.
Sipdown!

I’m almost done with this, which is nice.
I cant get this to dance for me. I’ve tried just about everything, and I admit, this has more flavor than a few of the other S&V teas I’ve had, but I still just mostly want it gone.

I’ve been spoiled after Della Terras Apple Pie tea. This does not measure up, in my opinion. I get a little apple, and some burnt “baked” flavor, but its not impressing me.
The smell, however, is very nice, and I am going to keep playing with the shorter steep times, to try and get what I want.

I am not getting what I want out of this tea. It smells very nice, but it doesnt brew up to what I think it will. I think I was expecting pie, even though this is supposed to be cake flavored. I’m not getting that either, actually.
I do taste apple, but its subtle, perhaps a little too subtle for me.

Hmm. Nope. I am not overly impressed with this one. It might be my problem, and not the tea. I’m getting a little cinnamon, but no apple. Its not the cup of pie I was hoping for.
My reaction to nearly all teas that I’m on the fence with is “I will tinker!” and I play around with steep time an leaf amount, to try to find the proper steep. So I will play along with this tea, and see what comes of it.

Determined, determined to get this gone. And now I have!
To recap. I got coconut from this, never the creamy and crisp flavor of a creme brulee.
I’ve tried everything. Lots of leaf, a normal amount, oversteeping, understeeping, glaring at it while it brewed, shouting encouragment to my tea pot as it steeped- nada. Nope. Such a disapointment. I love creme brulee, and really wanted this to work out.
Well, onwards.
Sipdown!

Goodness, this tea is a Mary Poppins tin. I cannot seem to get through it.
I think I have only one more small pot left, and I will buckle down and get it. Never again, though.
Its not that its undrinkable, or bitter, or even really unpleasant. Its jus disapointing, and does not live up to its name.

The quest to get these S&V teas gone continues.
I’ve given up on this ever tasting like Creme Brulee. This does not have the crisp sugary quality, or the smooth custard taste of a proper creme brulee.
Instead, I still get the mysterious coconut, and today is just a bit bitter. Meh.
Well, thats what I’ve got. I’ll get it drunk, and free up my tin for new and better brews.

Today this was a bit more custard-y, but I still get coconut out of this. This is very annyoing, as creme brulee is one of my favorite things, and coconut is not.
Oh well.

Short steep- a lot of tea in my strainer baskets, and still this tastes more like coconut than anything else to me. Hmmmm.

I feel, due to the unsealed nature of the S&V tea containers, that I should sip them down fairly quickly. And I havnt felt an overwhelming desire to hord them, so sipping down I will go.
I am still tasting cocounut. What on earth? Why? Gah. Coconut. I do not care for coconut. Where is the promised caramel and custard? Hmmm.