SpecialTeas

SIPDOWN!

Many thanks to Mercuryhime for this sample! This is a very special tea indeed. I gave most of this cup and its subsequent infusions to my new husband. It’s so unique! He needed to try it.

He described it as, “It’s got that weird tongue thing again…like the tea is trying to get away from my tongue and escape.”

“Okay, you’re describing the mouthfeel. But what about the flavor?” I asked.

“It tastes like brown construction paper. I like it,” he replied. LOL! Who describes a tea as tasting like paper and then likes it? “I know,” he continued, “It tastes brassy! Yeah, like I’m licking a doorknob.”

I laughed at him and then he said, “I think people would really like to read my tasting notes. I’m the best at tasting notes. You’re jealous.” :) Aww, he’s so adorable! I love my hubby. Maybe he’ll join Steepster and track his own tea journey. You never know!

Looking back to the first time I tried this – I really didn’t like it – but I just had a cup and it was toned down quite a bit – for the better – I don’t know if it’s because it’s aged OR if it’s a better batch – it’s BETTER but still not awesome. Upping rating a tad because this is better than the last time I had it!

What wretched weather! Upper 30’s, sky like a wet gray blanket, threats of snow tomorrow, haven’t seen the sun since last Tuesday.

A copious tea day, but trying to lighten it up a bit this afternoon so I can sleep.

This is deliciously light, silky, and a little bit fruit-juicy. Is aging well; doesn’t seem to have lost any of its elegant punch after all the months I’ve had it.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

It has been a generally crummy week and a particularly rotten evening. I am tired and out of sorts. Do you know where one goes to find more sorts?

So I grumpily grabbed this, and knowing it’s a bit on the elderly side, goosed it with a quarter-teaspoon of bulk cacao bits. Pepped up the taste a bit; made me think of Cadbury dried fruit-and-chocolate candy bars.

THIS IS SOME GOOD FUCKING TEA. PRETTY FUCKING MELLOW AND SMOOTH, TRADITIONAL TYPICAL TEA FLAVOR ALL IN YOUR MOUTH.

DRINK IT IN THE MORNING. IN THE AFTERNOON. WHENEVER THE HELL YOU WANT TEA.

IT’S FROM MOTHEFUCKING KENYA, ISN’T THAT SWEET?

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I got this in a swap from Jude. Just enough to make a 4-cup pot of it, perfect! Not so awesome that this tea seller has gone out of business?

This is a nice cup of tea, malty and sweet with a bit of caramel flavour to it. Very tasty. This tea gets a bit smokey as it cools though, not enough to turn me off, just enough to make it interesting.

I dug this tea out of the back of my cupboard while rearranging some stuff today. It’s kind of ridiculous how I’ll hoard teas if I know a blend is discontinued or the company no longer exists. But tea doesn’t keep forever so today I opened the bag and made a cuppa.

The flavour is slightly smooth and nutty mixed with fruity citrus notes and hints of spice. It isn’t so spicy that I’d call it a chai but there’s notes of cloves and ginger to give the blend some character.

Loose
Appearance: knobby oolong, small curl, bicolor
Aroma when Dry: creamy, notes of cucumber
After water is first poured: creamy, vanilla, cucumber, faint mint notes
At end of first steep: sweet, creamy, buttery, faint mint
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: light buttery yellow
Staple? Unsure, first tasting
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening
Taste:
At first: buttery, earthy, chewy
As it cools ? Notes get deeper, less creamy, more vegital
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, velvety floral notes with hints of woodyness

Second steep (4min)
Tea liquor: light yellow
Aroma: fruity, floral
Taste: rich, woody, floral
As it cools: gets fruity, very brothy melon, cucumber, mint, and slight salt notes

Third steep (4 min)
Taste: rich, salty, floral,cucumber, mints, melon notes
lingers like restuarant tea

Fourth steep (5 min)
Taste: serviceable floral restuarant tea, still lingers

Pronounced pine and smoked flavor. Cooling and astringent. A perception of ashes in the back of the throat.

This was brewed very strong, using the whole sample packet and boiling water for over 5 minutes.

Finally opened my sample packet and used up all the tea.

Tastes like a coconut cassava casserole. Sweet,“thick” and yummy—with a “baked yam” note.

No astringency detected in the black tea base. Just a slight “coffee-esque” bitterness edged with cream.

Pretty good. RIP SpecialTeas!

Truly wonderful! I’m generally a Kenilworth girl when it comes to Ceylon, but the light, refreshing complexity of this one really won me over. I’ll keep this one in stock regularly if I can.

I am the worst swap partner ever. While I always send out my parcels and delight in receiving something in return, I rarely get to actually drinking the tea. That said, I extend endless apologies to Mercuryhime who sent me some of this as well as a handful of oolongs to try…a year ago. Oy. It all ended up in an envelope in a basket in my cupboard underneath 50 or 60 other samples. I hope to remedy my tardiness though!

Opening the bag, I’m hit by an intense citrus aroma, one I am calling lime. The lime is fab. There is something behind that though that is dusty and musty – that’s probably the bergamot. I’m not getting any creme but neither does this smell like a typical earl grey. I’m not a huge Earl fan, but I like Lady Greys and Cream Greys, so this could be great.

Steeped, I get lime and orange with a sweet creme beneath, I am reminded of those popsicles with vanilla ice cream on the inside. Creamsicles, maybe? Anyway, the steeped aroma is delish and decadent, I’m loving the vibe I get now. The first sips are mild, sweet with some light citrus in the background. The taste still holds with the steeped aroma, popsicles and ice cream! There is no dustiness from the bergamot and no bitterness from the black tea, so I’m gonna call this blend a win. I get the sense that it could become bitter as the cup cools but I’m off to enjoy it quickly. Yum, and many thanks to Mercuryhime for sending it to me!

I can’t remember which one of you fine folks mentioned mini marshmallows as a tea additive, but when my husband brought home a container of mini chocolate marshmallow bits, I decided to get a little adventurous.

This is a nice chocolatey-almondy rooibos on its own, so I reasoned it would welcome said marshmallow bits. It wasn’t bad, but there’s something a little, uh, sharpish about the rooibos flavor that doesn’t combine smoothly. Two separate flavors on your tongue instead of one lovely smooth chocolate mishmash. Does that make sense?

However, I shall persist to find my favorite marshmallow friendly tea. (Doesn’t that sound like a rotten task? Doggone it. More teas to taste. More marshmallows to chomp.)

Additional notes: Yep, I love this one. I got three full really delicious cups of this. With 3or4, 5or6, and 7or8 minute steep times. I should have been paying more attention because they were steeped perfect. My two favorite teas are SpecialTeas so I really miss them! I wish I had tried more from them before they were bought by Teavana, since the three I tried were so so good. I’m probably saying the same things I said in the other tasting notes…

First day back in work building. There is electricity but no heat. Brrrr! Drinking lots of hot tea to keep warm!

This particular tea tastes very different from my memory but it is quite old for green tea so that may be why. The taste is still good though. Reminds me a bit of dragon well actually.

I’m on my third steep. Still going strong!

Hope the heat is back tomorrow!

Only one other coworker is here today. The others are working from the NJ office. We spent some time talking about how cold it is and then I shared some silky green tea from Bird Pick. He agreed that it seems more like an oolong. :)

Last night when I was rifling through my box from LiberTEAS to find my Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha sample, I came across this little gem and instantly developed a craving. Which I didn’t satisfy until the morning, when I actually remembered to drink some of the tea. It was delicious. And it still is, cold and everything. I really need to pick up some more Earl Grey Cream of some variety; unless there’s some hiding in a sample box that I’ve forgotten about, I have almost none left. The horror!

This was a pass-along from Nicole; a really pleasant rooibos with a bit of chocolate and almond in the background. I should have tried it straight first to get a better read on the base flavors, but the half-and-half was calling my name. Made a nice, creamy after-dinner treat on a chilly evening.

I must thank JacquelineM for this sample. I’m not going to write a lengthy note on it because I ended up becoming disappointed. I did not start out as such, but let me explain.
I’ll start by letting you know that there is no tune to be paired with this note. We were watching Snow White and the Huntsman… the film proved to be the undoing of this tea. You see I found it to be delicious from the first sip. I have less to say about the Earl Gray part and much more of the de la Creme portion.
The Earl Gray was smokey but not as bold as I would have guessed, my assumption being that it would take something with kick to be coupled with the sweet vanilla notes that are so prevalent in this tea. The de la Creme part was so creamy and smooth that the only thing I can think to compare it to is actual cream, maybe with honey as well.
Now back to the movie…It starts out a captivating film with wonderful special effects, an intriguing character (evil queen), and an unpredictable twist on a classic tale. And here lies the problem with the drink. I was drinking happily away on this juice when I got pulled in by the movie long enough for my drink to cool just a bit. Before that happened I was sipping on it while it was still plenty hot yet once it cooled it became bitter. I’m talking hard to continue bitter. Tis a shame because it started out so good.

After my recent sipdown of DavidsTea’s Cream Earl Grey, I was craving it rather badly (figures), and decided to look through my giant box of teas from LiberTEAS to see if there was another variant in there, since she is fond of earl greys. Sure enough, I found one!!! So this came with me to work tonight in the no-longer-quite-so-chai-scented Timolino.

Unlike the DavidsTea version, I found this one to be much more like a straight earl grey upon the initial sip, with the cream coming more in the aftertaste. This could have been an artifact of brewing the tea a bit stronger than intended, but I don’t think so, I think the cream aspect was just done a bit differently here. I have to be honest and say that while the tea was still hot, I really wasn’t getting much of the creaminess, and was therefore kind of disappointed, however as the tea cooled, the delicious creaminess emerged more and more. I definitely like earl grey creams better a bit cooler!

Anyways, I think I’d be likely to choose either DT’s or Upton’s Cream Earl Grey over this variant (which is probably ok since I think SpecialTeas is no longer?), but all three are quite delicious. So much nostalgia for me!

Thanks for including some of this for me, LiberTEAS , and saving me from having to run to DavidsTea to get my fix! I still have enough for at least another cup; hopefully I can stave off the craving for a while longer (or perhaps there’s another cream earl grey lurking somewhere in a swap box that I have yet to track down…!)

I keep forgetting about this one. It’s such a fine tea. I feel like a old Chinese Zen poet when I drink it. ;-)