Thé Kiosque

omg I can write a tasting note?! yay!
Though I don’t have much time. Just got home and I am soooo sleepy.
Anyhow, this is a very good dessert tea. Super sweet, like toffee. With milk, just a little… it tastes almost chewy.
In fact it reminds me of the coffee/pu-erh from Davids tea, only better. Much better! (it doesn’t make me ill, for starters)
My last steeping, I enjoyed without any milk at all and it was just as yummy as it was with it. That.. is one of the markers I look for in a remarkable tea. Oh yes, so good!

Yet another sample from Kiosque… I think I need to start in on my staples again. My palate is getting tired!
Anyhow, this was ok. Could definitely taste apricot, and peach… and each of them distinctly, which surprised me. I did not expect that. It all balanced very nicely. It was a very light tea as well. No sweetening or milk required!
If I hadn’t just found another great peach tea last week, I would have surely liked this one more. I guess that’s how the tea leaves fall :P

Yet another sample from Kiosque… I think I need to start in on my staples again. My palate is getting tired!
Anyhow, this was ok. Could definitely taste apricot, and peach… and each of them distinctly, which surprised me. I did not expect that. It all balanced very nicely. It was a very light tea as well. No sweetening or milk required!
If I hadn’t just found another great peach tea last week, I would have surely liked this one more. I guess that’s how the tea leaves fall :P

Sipdown!! only this time its SUPER sweet. Like honey. I’m quite enjoying the cup but having had it side by side with Graveyard mist has really put things into perspective. I need to go and bump the rating on ze mist, because this still deserves an 87 :)

Hummm. I really don’t know what to think of this!
It reminds me of a dark fruity oolong, but has aspects of green.
The first steep was the most green. Notes of floral orchid and leafy greens and yet it has a darker profile. Roasted? I’m not very good at picking out the notes. The second steep was more fruity, still floral but not as much. It reminded me of Jasmine (ick! so glad that didn’t last into the third cup). Also, I can see what they mean about “wine”.
The third fruitier again, and heavier on the roasted flavour. Almost no ‘green’ notes to be found.
So yes, that’s right… each cup was darker than the one before!!

My morning cuppa, likely the only tea I’ll have a chance to lap up today.
This time, I went for 3 min and I think a shorter 2 or 2.5 min would have been better. I’m getting some anise, like with the white version. Hmmm, I guess the flavoured Kiosque teas need less time in the oven.
So I took an inventory of my cupboard the other day and estimated how much of each one I have… and something really funny happened when I tallied it up in excel. It came out to 1234.5. Ha!! what are the chances. Seriously, I am not kidding. I swear!
Yes that is wayyyy to much so my next project is to go through them and weed out the ones I don’t need or the have had for too long already. Hoping to bring it below 1000, at the very least. Now that will take forever. Esp since I have more incoming. Oh my head…

Hmmm this was better than the blueberry white, somewhat. It’s a dark tea, reminds me of pu-erh in some ways… in the wildness of the blueberry! like it’s gonna come roarin’ in on a motorcycle :P
I had hoped for a brighter flavour, something more “berry” like, but then I didn’t pay attention to the website descriptor of “wild” blueberry, which really should have tipped me off! Anyhow, it was a fun cup.
Adding milk did nothing for it sadly. The berriness was completely hidden.
I’ve lowered the rating of the white version, now that I have some context!!

Raising the rating here. I think this is my fave tea of the moment. and green is my least preferred type. Yup it’s that good.
So sweet and ohhhhh did I mention it tastes like sugary spun goodness? I get redundant when excited :D

ohhhh my goodness. This is SO GOOD!! but… I suspect it is just this season, as I read a note on the Verdant website that frost made the leaves sweeter, but also rare. Something akin to the way ice-wine is made perhaps?
Actually, yes!! this does have a sortof spun sugar/ice wine sweetness to it. That MUST be it.
I could have sworn that this was sweetened with sugar… laced with some additive… but after seeing the Verdant tea explanation, it seems more plausible.
Nature did it herself! She is brilliant, I tell ya.
That said, I am planning to order 50g of this soon, before they run out. I’ve already emailed David, the lovely Kiosque rep.
New rating: 95

This was my morning tea. Quite yummy, I was impressed!! a bit light for my liking but the leaves were dried straight so they fit jaggedly in my teaspoon. I think I have enough left for a second serving… and it will be had in my Gaiwan! Yup yup, most definitely… as I need to discover what hidden secrets lie beneath!
See, the first steep was ok. Vegetal and toasted, with a hint of caramel, or maybe spun sugar. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then it was even stronger in the second steep!! and as I got through my sips, there was a distinct aftertaste of maple/caramel spun sugar. I’ve never had that in a green before! It was amazing.
The third steep had a little less caramel, and more toastiness, but then it was back in the fourth. No time for a fifth…
Either way, I am seriously considering getting a tin of this. One sample will likely not be enough for me. That is IF I can find something besides caramel, I do like my complex teas :)

I had so hoped to fall in love with this company! but so far, none of the blends I’ve tried are outstanding. Sure, it’s only been four so far and none have been terrible, but neither have they have rocked my world… and that makes me worry about the remaining samples.
This chai is much the same. Perhaps it was the suggestion of Kristaleyn’s earlier review of the ayurvedic chai, but this tastes very similar.
Dry, the leaves smelled of vinegar and spice. Steeped, there is that same cleansing sortof feel to it. Slippery, even with milk and a touch of sugar.
It’s a little rounder than the ayurvedic, and there is a slight cocoa note at the base of the sip, right in the middle and aftertaste.
Also, after having most of the cup my mouth feels refreshed like it does after I’ve eaten something minty.
Also(again!), it’s very light. I pulled out the basket right before it got bitter and yet I find myself wishing the flavour was thicker, or deeper.
If I had to choose between the Ayurvedic and this one, I think I like this better but not by much! However I have only a sample of this one, and a small bag of the other. Oh well!

Aha! cut down on the steep time and this mellows right out.
Will see what happens in later infusions. Will probably be raising the rating methinks.
Edit: Gave the second steep to Dad, but the teeny spoonful that I managed to steal was yummy! bumping the rating now.

Wow, intense on the almond much?!
This is definitely a dessert tea. I got through three steeps and only on the last one did I taste any real “tea”. That said, it was pretty tasty. The second steep was actually a bit creamy as well, which I liked.
Overall, it’s like but not love.

Mmmmmmmmm so good!
Mild, and pretty astringent… but tasty. Thanks again to Kiosque for the sample option!
I added milk and far too much sugar for my liking to get the flavour out, but finally I have a chocolate tea!! wahoooo!!! It’s very smooth and silky chocolate, and really does remind me of “Belgium Chocolate”. Oh yes!
I don’t think I’ll buy more because of the astringency, unless brewing it at a lower temp works for rooibos as well? or if I can find a way to pump up the cocoa note. Either way, I’m very pleased to have tried this!

Hmmmm. I like this.
The blueberry isn’t quite blueberry though. More… blueberry anise. Not in a bad way, unless you hate licorice. I’m not a huge fan but only when it overpowers the tea like hibby tends to.
And the white tea is nice to. Mild but not eaten up by the berry-ness… in fact it’s a really nice balance. The second infusion was all anise though.
I think I’ll try the next cup of this iced. You know me, not an iced tea girl but I want to be so I’m pushing for it :)
Thanks to The Kiosque for letting me grab a sample!!

MY ORDER FROM KIOSQUE CAME TODAY!!!!!
My first ever online tea purchase. (if you don’t count the David’s order I made eons ago for some teas no longer offered in store that is)
This order, I was lucky, they let me order in all sample sizes… as there are so many I haven’t tried that I wasn’t ready to make a commitment and I can try so much more this way. Thank you The Kiosque for being so awesome! :)
Ahem. Okay the tea.
Well… if you /like/ astringency, this one’s your gal. I mean tea!
Whew, is it ever sour!! like an apple, without the apple taste… like the tartness you get in a sweeter apple, not the sour apples. It’s a wild sort of astringency, deeper than most and rounder than in an Indian black tea.
There is a chocolate note there to, but it’s very much overpowered by the astringency.
Adding agave didn’t seem to bring the chocolate out much. Next time, I’ll lower the temp to see if that helps.
Milk did mellow it out quite a bit. Also, I did get three good steeps out of it, and a very nice tea high!! Other reviews of this tea from another vendor compare it to Pine, but I don’t see that here. It’s a little biting, so perhaps that is what they are getting at with “pine”? and burgundy… yeah I can see that, maybe. Not that I know what burgundy tastes like. but I understand the comparison to alcohol. The sharpness of the astringency and all.

They have both black and white tea versions, both of which I enjoy, but the white tea version is my favorite – it does actually remind me very much of ice wine. Anxious to try it as an iced-tea!