The Tea Brewery

My Nova Scotian friend received some of this as a gift and passed on the rest to me, with a warning that it’s “strong”.

I thought it was a decent cuppa Earl Grey, a bit strong but not too bad. I like EG teas to start with so it was a perfectly enjoyable way to start my day, with a bit of milk :)

I’m a bit depressed because I haven’t been able to drink as much tea lately, so I’m being choosy and drinking ones I love, make it worthwhile. I miss writing reviews. I’m still reading everyone else’s though!!

This is a wonderful desert tea. The almond flavor is very strong. It tastes wonderful plain, but is enhanced with a little bit of sugar. This is definitely a tea to try if you love almonds!

This is another very old sample that I had purchased from The Tea Brewery about a year ago. Finishing it off and finally writing a tasting note. I didn’t really pay attention to the look of the tea before I steeped it, but afterward it is clear that this one has hibiscus in it. It is very red, and probably a bit over-steeped as I didn’t notice there was hibiscus.

The taste of this is berry, but not specificly apple. There isn’t much sweetness, but nor is there much tart from the hibiscus. I’m guessing there was only a touch of hibiscus for colour more than anything else, but it seems incongruous to have hibiscus in a “sweet” apple orchard blend. This was another disappointment, but I could chalk that up to age. I really need to kee cleaning out some of the older samples in my tea stash. It still amazes me how quickly time flies!

This tea is an older sample that I purchased from the Tea Brewery’s stall at the Market, and I am finishing it up today. Apparently I have not made a tasting note for it before and I honestly don’t remember anything about it, so it’s just like starting over! I steeped this about five minutes in boiling water. The liquor is fairly yellow and very mild in aroma, as was the loose “leaf”. The smell and taste are not very present, possibly because it’s age. I get a hint of something appley, and this is enhanced when I have a few almonds as a snack to pair with it. The beau finds this quite pleasant but I see it as a disappointment. It was too bland to be interesting and not really worth absent-mindedly sipping. If nothing else, at least another sample bit the dust! :)

Here’s another that smells sort of unpleasant (too strong, really) while dry but actually is nicely flavoured when steeped. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought a tin of this, but I did. The dry smell is over-whelmingly cinnamon, which is something I have grown to have very little tolerance (and even less appreciation) for. Luckily, when steeped the cinnamon is much less present. I get a hint of slightly bitter black tea and then some muted cinnamon on top of that. Though there are other components floating in the tea, they are not coming through in taste. As it cools, the tea is becoming more bitter and making me wish I had some honey.

I think it will be a bit of a struggle to finish this tin, but at least I have definitely learned to better know my tea tastes over the past few months. I have gotten much better at resisting the urge to buy tea just because there is some in front of me (though I still have my moments). As much as I want to support my local tea shops, I have been finding the quality lacking, of late. Verdant Tea has spoiled me!

Tea of the afternoon…..

And day 15 of 24…. This one is from Uniquity, and I have to say this one is so worth the try if anyone gets the chance! Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I love that I have had the opportunity to try teas from all over.

I definitely get a wine taste with this one. It is lovely (I am usually a dry red drinker if I partake). I also get hints of pear and berry, but they are fairly seamlessly blended with the wine flavor so that there is not a great distinction that they are there. The black tea base is good, and there are no hints of bitterness or astringency. I did a slightly shorter steep than usual, and it works…. Yum!

Usual mug method for 3 minutes.

Tea of the afternoon…..

And Day #13 of 24….. This one comes to me from Uniquity. Thank you! (I do really like this one!)

Blueberry black tea goodness. The tea base is pleasant, and the taste of warm blueberries is bringing back the memories of this blueberry crisp I made over the summer after taking my kids to a U-pick blueberry place. It was heavenly!

Usual mug method.

I’ve figured out what it reminds me of: Ruby Red from Joy’s Teaspoon. Which I love and have 6 ounces of. This isn’t quite as strong in flavour as the Ruby Red (though I suspect that has to do with the dried fruit, which I have learned to carefuly spread out) but is still fairly potent and very sweetly flavoured. I enjoy this, but when it is all gone I won’t be getting any more. There is almost a pseudo smoke note in the middle of the sip, but I suspect that is the rooibos. I have had this small amount for quite some time, and look forward to finishing it off and de-cupboarding it after one more cuppa. I’ve become quite fond of the idea of de-cupboarding lately, although I never seem to finish any teas. I should get to work! : )

Smelled this at the market today and fell madly in love. The wine smell is so authentic that when I gave it to the beau (without telling him what it was) his first guess was wine. I don’t know that I get pear or berries, but I do get a deliciously sweet fruity wine scent. I’ve unfortunately not yet had an ice wine so I can’t speak to it’s authenticity on that front, but it definitely smells like a wine.

The Tea Brewery (unfrotunately) doesn’t list any information about their teas or steeping parameters on their website or the packaging. Accordingly, I made it up. It looks and acts like a black tea, so we boiled the water. I gave mine about 3 minutes of steeping, and the beau kept his closer to five. The liquor is rich and dark, a deep wine red in the pot and a reddish amber in my mug. The smell is similar to that of the dry leaves: fruit, wine. Delicious!

First sips match the smell wonderfully. No bitterness, no tea taste at all, in fact. It’s like drinking wine, only without the alcohol tinge. This really captures some of my favourite aspects of sweeter wines…Unsurprisingly, I love wine. I have no real taste for it though, and happily drink the $10 bottles from the NSLC. For times when I oughtn’t “drink” (aka during the work day!), this tea will be a lovely source of comfort…Wonder if I could succesfully drink it from a wine glass?

As the cup cools I start to get shadows of the tea taste, but that is not a problem. It is a wonderful merging of wine and tea…a real treat on this rainy evening.

Okay, preparing some of this on the stove tonight. I threw in some milk, some water, some random loose tetley I got in the grocery store for 50% off over a year ago that is definitely not the greatest, and of course some highland chai mix. Couldn’t say the proportions I used, it was all a fun experiment. Of course, I realized afterward that a tea ball might have been a better aproach than throwing it all in loose, but too late!

The loose tetley is really throwing me for a loop. The tea is all broken up like in the teabags and really looks like coffee grounds. Why did they make this? Why did I buy this? Will I ever use all of it???? Anyway, everything is steaming away on the stove. I’ve not a clue what I am doing, so it will be interesting.

In the pot, it has an exceedingly revolting look, but the smell is nice. Getting that warm gingerbread smell I get from The Tea Brewery’s chai latte. God, I hope it tastes like that! Okay, tea finally made and strained. Looks quite like the tea latte they make…it’s surprisingly thick, though that’s likely because of the milk. Smells really good, but also like I should have added more chai spice.

First sips are thick and creamy. I am not a fan of milk, but I do like this. I know the milk is there, but the chai spices are rocking it out. I think definitely a titch more chai next time, or maybe a better distribution of the components, but this is a definite win. <3!! (Also, it DOES remind me of their latte in taste. YAYAY!)

Yummy yummy breakfast. Didn’t get much black tea flavour teoday, but enjoyed the spices. Was a mood for a chai, but this came close enough!

Mmm, grabbed another of these lovelies while at the Market today. The lovely lady who works there informed me that they use their Highland Chai spice mix and their Keemum to make the lattes. I bought some of the Highland Chai mix immediately so I can replicate it myself later. Huzzah!!

Really nice! Definitely smell and taste the rooibos, and the mango came through pretty strong. It reminded me of something else but I can’t place what. Lovely!

Yummy nummy tea. I was feeling the need for something spicy and tea like, and wanted to try this out. It smells of ginger and cinnamon and delicousness. Don’t have the energy to describe it, but it’s extremely reminiscent of chai. I like it!

Backlogging:

I made this tea to go with breakfast. Dry, it had a lightly orangey smell, smelled very fresh orange, if that makes sense. I steeped 1 tsp of leaves for two mugs, because I always try teas out that way, to test their strength and to make them last.

I noted a lighter liquor at first, but it eventually steeped up to a deep orangey colour. The smell of the steeped tea was very lightly citrus, and reminded me of a standard orange pekoe. The beau felt the same way, and we both noted a mild taste, again reminiscent of an orange pekoe. I let mine sit for a few minutes though and noticed a deeper flavour as it cooled. It became easy to see that it wasn’t a black tea, though I don’t know enough about oolong to say it tasted like an oolong specifically.

I think I may have over-heated the water as I am not so great with paying attention to temp (no thermometer) and am, as I said, a bit of an oolong novice. All in all I had a nice cup of tea, mildly flavoured but really nice. The beau says it’s not a re-buy because of price point, but I think that if I put more leaf, he might be more impressed. We’ll see how this goes!

A classic Russian Caravan … black and strong with smoky accents. For those who love a smoky tea, but for whom the blast of smoke of a Lapsang Souchong is too, too much. I love the way the tea taste and the smoky notes arise from the mug, sifting up through the milk and sweetener, lingering on my breath and lifting my spirits. Thanks again to PeteG for this delicious tea!

Got this yesterday. The smell is strongly rooibos, with a strawberry jam smell as well. The taste is more rooibos than strawberry, but there is definitely some berry in there. Definitely more like jam than berries, once again. Enjoyable, but it reminds me of something.. anyway. I’ve got enough berry rooibos’ that this one doesn’t stand out enough to rebuy, I think.

Was at the Market today and picked up some new teas from the Tea Brewery. I resisted the urge to buy anything hot….for a little while. They had done up a chai latte today, and I’ve never had a tea latte before. Or any kind of latte. I bought one on impulse and am still enjoying my decision. It tastes like warm liquid gingerbread. It’s amazing. I love it. I’m not sure which of their teas they use as base, but I’m hoping that I can make a comparable item at home sometime with the Country Spice I picked up. I had a little sample of it there and it was delicious…Everything is delicious today! <3 The Tea Brewery!

Had a mug of this at the bridal shower today – Got my grandmother to try it. She wasn’t impressed. I still love it though :)

I don’t know why I rated this so low before. Maybe I over-steeped it? Nevertheless, today this is a lovely warm cuppa blueberries to get me ready for work. I find the smell and taste to be authentic and seems to be pretty good quality black tea. I don’t know why I don’t reach for this more often, but maybe because it’s a mild sort of tea that doesn’t assert itself into my daily picks. It’s hidden behind the bolder teas!

1 TB for 450mL water, bare.

First, I want to get the word out for The Tea Brewery: independent tea blenders and merchants. And they’re in Nova Scotia, a sister province to my own Newfoundland and Labrador. So yay!

They carry a very full line of teas and tisanes (http://www.teabrewery.com/priceList.pdf), and I really want to try some more.

I received the Decadence White Chocolate Rooibos as a gift. It’s another one I really wanted to like. The red rooibos base is woody and a bit minty, occasional and unpreditcable features of red rooibos that I don’t care for but many others like or love. The white chocolate comes from white chocolate chips, the kind you bake with. They melt evenly with the tea, but, as the tea cools, blobs of fat from the white chocolate chips rise to the surface, like blobs of fat from a bone rise up in a soup stock. Most people will have the hot tisane drunk long before this happens, but it is an unappetizing sight. I would not recommend this tisane be brewed for cold/iced drinking. The white chocolate adds some sweetness to the overall tisane, which cuts and smooths out the woodiness of the rooibos. I couldn’t finish mine, but that’s a matter of taste in the drinker, not necessarily competenence in the tea blender … though I do wonder if baking chips are the way to go.

I bought this at the Market. I have no description for it, no ingredient list, and no link to the website. The shop is based in Mahone Bay, NS and they do have a price list online which contains this tea, but that’s what I got.

All that said, it’s delicious! Clearly a black tea, with a lovely blueberry aroma. The flavour of blueberry does not come out as strongly as it smells, but it’s nice – mild, but still there. Perfectly lovely, though kind of forgettable. I got two other teas from this company which also are sort of forgettable. Shame, considering that it’s a local tea company and it would be nice to support some Nova Scotians.

A pleasant enough green tea, but I think it may fare better as an iced tea so that I can appreciate the mango and/or passionfruit notes.

This very fragrant, flowery, sweet aftertaste ligt mouth caused me stop and take a breather…it is saying to me…stop, enjoy! Breath, enjoy! Smile, enjoy!