Simpson & Vail

Oh, I was a little nervous about this one initially because when I opened the tin the aroma reminded me of potpourri…. :)

Visually this is stunning with bits of cardamon, cinnamon stick, clove and ginger mingling around with the black tea. This is nicely blended because none of the flavors seem like they are overshadowing the others. I like the vanilla mixed with the chai, it reminds me of a chai creme brulee! This is delicious with soymilk.

I am definitely getting a ginger and clove “bite” in the finish. I agree with Hesper June, there is something about this that just reminds me of Christmas and it smells so lovely. It will be a nice cozy tea for winter, I think I’ll be keeping mine in the office where it tends to get very drafty in the winter time.

A very pleasant afternoon cuppa. I’ve had this tea for a while but I have no idea why. Some teas I drink a ton of and others I do not. Straight blacks are the ones I consume most often in the morning time. Flavored blacks I drink more often in the afternoon and since I’ve been trying to cut down a bit on the caffeine, maybe that’s one reason this has been languishing a bit. A good tea if you like grape flavors.

I decided to cold brew this last night for today’s lunch (veggie sushi) and am glad I did. It makes a delicious iced tea with a light currant/grape flavor. this is one of those teas that sits in my cupboard that I seem to forget about for some reason. Maybe I’ll be drinking more of it soon now that I know it’s good for the warm weather.

Tea of the morning, I’ve had this for a while. It seems like more of an afternoon tea so I should probably take it to work where I’d feel more inspired to drink it. Very tasty grape/currant flavor that goes well with the black teas. I’m enjoying this with a bit of plain soymilk but it is also good without additions.

Tea of the morning here! I haven’t had this in a while which happens when you have lots of teas. This is a very pleasant rich brew with a hint of grape flavoring but somehow it doesn’t taste artificial at all. I would definitely consider buying this again if my current supply runs out. :)

Tea of the morning here, I can usually count on a Simpson & Vail tea as a reliable morning cuppa. I’m not getting as much grape flavor this time around but I may not have steeped it for as long as I usually do. I wonder who Duke Cardiff was/is? Couldn’t find anything with a quick search on Google, might be fun to find out. :)

Still working my way through the Simpson and Vail order I received yesterday. This tea smells very fruity in the tin and has purple flowers in it. :)

This was steeped for around 3 minutes and soymilk was added, but I think it would be very good plain as well. This tea is hefty enough for morning but would also be good as an afternoon tea. The currant flavor is light and not too sickening like some currant teas can be. The description says China and India teas but I’m not sure I could place which ones – perhaps a yunnan and an assam? In any case I definitely like this blend and am happy I got a tin of this. It will be a great everyday drinker.

It’s a sipdown for me and this tea!
This was pretty good for a dessert tea, I have enjoyed it. Not sure I need more but might be a re-purchase next time I order something from Simpson and Vail. It’s good with a little stevia to perk it up a bit. Kind of an odd choice for breakfast but it works for me…

Tea of the morning here. a slightly odd choice for breakfast time, but then again, why not have a strawberry cupcake for breakfast?

This is a pretty good dessert tea, I’m not sure I would get anymore but will certainly finish off what I have. Lots of strawberry flavor present and there IS something about this that reminds me of cake. See previous notes for more details.

TGIF, Steepster!

Tea of the morning here — last night the heat did not come on in my apartment so it’s been chilly. BRRRR! I needed some tea.

All of my new tea orders came in this week so I’ll be busy logging & drinking soon.

This particular blend is nice but I think it needs more strawberry flavor, see previous notes for more details.

Second tea of the day from Simpson and Vail, I may need to stop soon before a caffeine overload. A co-worker remarked on how good the kitchen smelled and accurately identified this as strawberry & chocolate.

Another tea that tastes slightly better with sugar. This really smells like a cupcake and the flavor is pretty good. I do tend to like strawberry flavored teas and this is pretty nice. I only got 1 oz. but will have no problems finishing it off. Hopefully this will cut down on my dessert cravings a bit!

New order arrived from Simpson & Vail today – I was excited and I picked this as the first thing to try.

Steeped for around 3 minutes and with a little bit of soymilk added. I am finding the flavor to be slightly artifical tasting to me but it does taste a lot like pumpkin with a big wallop of nutmeg. Adding a bit of sugar helped it along and make it more dessert like. I’m not sure I will order this again but it’s definitely a nice tea for fall. I admit I was hoping for something a bit different but flavored teas are always kind of hit or miss for me. I do have a whole tin of it now so maybe someone would like a sample?

This came as a free sample from Simpson & Vail and seems very apropos for the autumn weather. This was steeped for 4 minutes in the Beehouse teapot and is a very easy one to drink plain.

I am definitely getting the orange rind as well as a bit of tartness from the cranberry. Compared to other fruit flavored teas I have had, it doesn’t overwhelm you with flavoring but is just about right. I don’t love this particular flavor profile, but if you are a huge orange/cranberry fan you should check it out. Very enjoyable for the afternoon.

Second time with this tea. I don’t think my first review even did it justice. I just love the delicious apple cinnamon cake scent. Liberteas notes described it well. So good!

Simpson & Vail describes Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake as having a lightly toasted flavor with the delicious taste of apples and cinnamon and I can’t really say it any better than that. The flavorings are subtle and should appeal to those who don’t like a lot of spice. I found it to be quite enjoyable, but had to play around with steeping times for this and some of the other flavored blacks that I ordered from Simpson & Vail. At 3 minutes, I find them to be ever so slightly bitter, but at 2 minutes, a bit weak- I think 2 minutes and 50 seconds does it perfectly for me with this one. I think this is a very nice dessert tea, especially for this time of year.

Delicious Earl Grey. I preferred it at just under the recommended 3 min. steeping time. At 2 min. and 50 seconds, I avoided any bitterness but got plenty of flavor. I gather that people have strong opinions about Earl Greys-some like the Bergamot to being very strong and others like it more subtle. To me this one is just right, but that’s just me. At this point, this one is a favorite, but I haven’t tested that many. Just as with trying to find the perfect pumpkin spice, I also see myself trying many more Earl Grey teas, just out of curiosity.

I am finishing off the last of the 1 oz. sample of this. It is thoroughly enjoyable and I would get some more, so on the shopping list it goes. Hopefully I remember the next time there is something to order from S&V!

Happy Thanksgiving, Steepster!

I am feeling quite tired this week, my neighbors seem to have gone away and their music is playing loudly every morning at 5 am, I think they forgot to turn off their alarm or something. so annoying. Someone was banging loudly on their door and rang the doorbell to complain but I really think they’re not there.

Anyway I made a nice, strong pot of this tea this morning. It’s so lovely with some soymilk. Yummm, I would definitely get this one again! Caramel and peppery! I only had a small size of it so it’s going on my Simpson & Vail Shopping list!

Tea of the morning here… such a nice Saturday morning I am having! This was steeped for 4 minutes in the Beehouse teapot. This is a really nice morning tea, it provides a good amount of heft but is also rich and caramel-y with some of the characteristic “peppery” notes that you often find in black Yunnan teas. I am drinking mine in a big mug with some soymilk and later I will be going to the Asian Art Museum to check out some Chinese calligraphy!

Backlogging from yesterday morning.
Its getting to be a tradition for me to make a large pot of this for Hubby and I share on Sunday Mornings.
He actually requests it.
In fact yesterday morning he rolled over and said “Babe, you gonna make tea or what”
Ha! only a tea drinking addict wife would think those were the sweetest words in the world from her Hubby:)
See my previous notes for more on this tea.

Having a pot of this with the hubby on this cold morning.
We both are enjoying it and also being to chat over our tea mugs.
Its been awhile since we had a slightly relaxed morning.
Ahh, tea and loved ones…is there really anything better?

This is not an official review for this tea.
More of an excuse to pop in to say hello and let you all know I am indeed alive.
We recently lost a friend suddenly.
He was 50 years old and died of a massive heart attack.
It has left us aghast, but he needs his crop harvested and other various jobs that he did, we have to take up the slack.
Anyway, I realized how busy we had really become (and sleep deprived) yesterday when, I had been drinking a large mug of this tea and it was 3/4 gone before I realized that apparently I had become distracted in the making process and added at least triple the amount needed for the one cup of tea I made for myself.
Probably my reaction would have been quite laughable if someone were there to see it.
It was rather bitter and strong at that percentage.
I cant believe I drank most of it before even noticing!
But, it did wake me up and I was able to rush about and finish what I needed too.
It was then that I decided that I should not be doing any tea reviews till I get some more sleep and my taste buds return:)
Take care, My Dear Steepsters!
I shall return soon, I hope.
(I broke down awhile ago and bought some Red Leaf Flavored Matcha, so I will be reviewing that soon I hope…stay tuned to see what flavor I bought;)

I’m busy at work on organizing and researching things for my novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) entry this year. I needed something with a little kick to keep me awake and focused. So I reached for this. Dry the leaf smells malty. But I wasn’t going to get my hopes up that it would be awesome due to my run in with another of their blends this morning.

BUT I was wrong this is very malty with just a hint of bitter which leads me to think there is Darjeeling in this as well as perhaps Assam and Ceylon teas. It sure is doing what it can to keep me awake on this weird weather day (it poured here for 5 minutes and now nothing and the sun is coming back out). This might be one to consider keeping on a regular basis.