Todd & Holland

Time to try a new tisane. I have a few samples left, as the collection continues to get whittled down.

In the packet, it smells like some sort of baked good. Gingerbread, maybe? It’s not so chocolatey that I’d identify it as a chocolate aroma. The mixture looks heavy on the chocolate and caramel pieces and light on the honeybush and rosebuds.

Steeped, it smells boozy. A liqueur smell. Kahlua, maybe, though it has been a while since I had Kahlua. It has a tea-colored liquor that’s remarkably clear given the various sugary things in it that undoubtedly melted when steeped.

Fortunately, it doesn’t taste boozy. Well, at least not in the sip. There’s a bit of liqueur flavor in the aftertaste. The sip is mostly caramel, with some vaguely cocoa notes. It’s smooth and tasty, and a bit on the subtle side which I think improves it over what it might taste like if it was the sort of thing that hit you over the head. I can’t really taste the honeybush, which is a plus.

I was going to say I couldn’t really taste the torte, either, which would be a minus. But as it cools, I do get a suggestion of baked goods. Not as strong as the one in the Amaretti Cookie, but it is there.

This is the sort of thing I would have gone nuts for a few years back when I was marveling at the fact that a drink could taste like a decadent dessert without the calories. It’s good enough that it’s tempting me back toward desserty non-fruit tisanes tonight.

For that I rate it high, but I’m not sure it’s enough to make me completely buck my trend of late to crave fruity tisanes instead of desserty chocolate, caramel, cake, etc. ones.

Sipdown no. 6 of 2016 (no. 227 total). The rest of the sample.

So here’s a question. When you’re tasting tea do you ever perceive distance in taste? I know some people taste colors, etc. but I noticed that I taste depths and heights. I find myself often saying something is “deep” or “on the surface” or has “high” notes. It’s like taking a VR walk through the taste, I guess, or it feels a little bit like that. Hmmm.

OK. This time I’m going to be a bit more systematic about what I noticed about this tea.

It’s got tippy leaves that smell earthy in the packet, and not smoky, though there is keemun in this. The steeped tea is a clear, reddish chestnut color, and has a malty, sweet aroma. I recall it being smoother the first time I tried it. Today I’m getting a bit of assam throat grab, but not enough to be bothersome. There’s some astringency in the sip, but the aftertaste is more cooling than drying.

I am working on a project to clean up my home office and right now it seems sort of insurmountable, though I’ve definitely made progress. Good thing I’m binge watching Veronica Mars, so I have something to do when I can’t take the organizing any more.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2016. As for 2015, I am glad to see it go. Good riddance.

We decided at the last minute to go away for a few days so I’m getting ready for a short trip and don’t have a lot of time to do a proper note here. Fortunately, I have more of this so can give a more detailed account at another time.

I will say that this was quite yum today. Very smooth, very hearty, sweet yet perky, malty yet clean. Great with scrambled eggs and toast.

I am going to try the Irish version at boiling next time because I think it may need it. This would probably have seemed a bit washed out at a lower temp.

Anyway, I may not be on for a few days as I don’t know what the tea situation will be where I’m going, and I also will only have my phone and tablet which isn’t a fun way to write tea notes.

Have fun and play nice. I’ll see you when I get back. :-)

Sipdown no. 3 of 2016 (224 total). The rest of the sample.

This one grew on me over the few days I drank it. Ordinarily, I would expect to prefer this to the English Breakfast simply because of the yunnan in the mix, but even though I like this better than I did when I started, the English Breakfast still has an edge. They’re both really solid, tasty, enjoyable teas.

There’s a distinct cocoa note to this one today, with honey in the finish.

Well, it seems I did steep this at boiling last time, unless I misrecorded the temperature. Don’t know why I thought I hadn’t.

I know that I definitely steeped it a boiling today and it was very enjoyable. The English Breakfast may be more to my taste, but today, a rainy cold day and the first day back after a mini-vacation, this is hitting the spot.

Yesterday wasn’t as mega-productive as earlier in the week, though I did get a few things done (dental appointment, paid some bills, took care of some other personal business). Today started with working out (yay me), followed by some clean up work in my home office that I’ve been meaning to get to forever. I’m in the midst of it now, punctuating it with things like figuring out where I can take my car to get some paint buffed out of it after a close encounter I had with a pole at a gas station (I am not proud of this, but in my defense, I was terribly stressed, and the station was more crowded than I’d ever seen it requiring me to try to squeeze by a pole to get to the pump and I didn’t quite make it), and submitting claims for medical bills I forgot to submit and hope they will get paid.

This is a nice companion to such work. Its a solid, full bodied blend that is almost, but not quite chewy. Yet it’s fairly smooth and not very astringent. No assam throat grab, and a sweet aftertaste. A nice yunnan-y brown sugar and malty aroma that also shows up in the flavor. Dark red-brown, clear liquor. Earthy smelling dry leaf.

It’s one of those breakfast blends that I enjoy drinking but don’t find overly distinctive. There’s nothing that stands out about it. On the other hand, I’m not sure every tea has to stand out. Sometimes you don’t want to think about what you’re drinking, you just want to taste it.

Sipdown no. 31 of 2016 (no. 242 total). The rest of the sample.

I steeped the last of this to accompany me as I schlepp kids this morning. I find jasmine pearls incredibly calming so good for running around, or meeting new challenges.

Such as just finishing the second week at work. Time is flying by. Lots to learn, lots to do, and I’m still having a blast. I hope the honeymoon phase lasts forever, but that’s probably not realistic. At least I know myself well enough to know that I start to get disenchanted with work the minute I feel as though it is keeping me from the other things in my life that are important to me. Keeping that in mind, I plan to give myself me-time doses whenever I start to feel that way and see if I can keep the good times rolling.

But this tea. Oh but it’s sad when a jasmine pearls dies, but knowing how much I love them, there are sure to be others. This was a good solid one. Not the best, but by far not the worst I’ve had. The original note captures my feelings on this one pretty well.

Jasmine pearls. One of my absolute favorites.

I thought I’d written a note about this before, but I see I didn’t. I’ve obviously tried it before because the sample was opened. Regardless, the amazing scent of jasmine that comes out of the packet is still quite powerful.

It makes a very pale yellow tea, almost an off-white or cream colored clear liquor. The aroma is one hundred percent floral.

The flavor is lovely. I’m a sucker for jasmine greens in general and pearls in particular, and in going through my stash I’ve found a number of them. And quite a few other jasmines as well, oolongs and whites. This one has a subtle flavor that isn’t as overwhelmingly floral as its fragrance, with a green underlying flavor that leans toward grass rather than vegetables.

I’ll enjoy sipping this one down. It isn’t multi-layered and amazing like the Samovar version, but it’s very yum nevertheless.

Sipdown no. 219. The rest of the sample. I agree with my original thoughts of yesterday. Not a favorite, but decent.

I had an extremely productive day yesterday. I made a ton of phone calls and sent a ton of emails to try to wrap up a lot of the stuff of daily living that I need to get under control before I start my new job. I also worked out and finally got no. 1 his cell phone, which was supposed to be a Chanukkah present but took a while because of some really awful bait and switch stuff that went on with the provider we originally thought would give us talk and text only and parental controls for him for $15 a month based on their web advertising, none of which turned out to be true. So I bit the bullet and got a more expensive plan added onto my existing one. But at least it is done and he is happy. Plus now he has no excuse for not calling if he’s not going to be where he says he is. :-)

But anyway. I may be getting jaded in my old age, but I haven’t been overly impressed by a lot of the tea I’ve been drinking lately.

Take this one, for example. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a perfectly decent chocolate/coconut tea, on the juicy raw coconut end of the spectrum rather than the toasty toasted coconut end of the spectrum. But I’ve had so many of these over the years, most of which are at least decent, that none of them really stand out anymore.

In the packet it has that cocoa mint smell that coconut teas sometimes give off and I can see the little bits of flavored things in it. White chocolate chips, coconut flakes, cocoa bits and chocolate chips. Small ones. Predictably, given the sugary things in it, it steeps cloudy but otherwise a pretty generic tea color.

Now I want to say something about the aroma of coconut teas in general, not just this one. Do you find they generally don’t smell very good? I mean, I wouldn’t go this far, but the BF thinks coconut teas smell like vomit. I think they smell more like hot plastic, but in general, there’s something about the smell I don’t love.

That said, the aroma of coconut teas doesn’t usually affect the taste for me in a negative way. And it doesn’t here. It’s perfectly decent, and I would drink it if I couldn’t get another perfectly decent one that is perhaps a bit better to my taste, like the Premium Steap.

Sipdown no. 55 of 2017 (no. 336 total). A sample.

Well, I just gave the Cream Assam a higher rating than this, and I like this better. So I’m bumping the rating in time to say goodbye.

It continues to be fun marching through the Todd & Holland samples. I even found a few non-caffeinated options for the permanent stable. Most of their teas I’ve tasted are good, it’s just that most also haven’t been the kind of standouts that make me go — yes, I need to have this forever. This one is close, though. It’s going on the wish list.

I like the name of this one so I cracked open the sample.

The tea in the packet smells like fruity trail mix. Really. It would sort of look like it as well if not for the dark tea leaves in among the mix.

The aroma of the steeped tea is a malty Yunnan tea smell with a tart hibiscus streak and berries around the edges. It’s a clear, brown, tea-colored tea.

The first thing I taste is hibiscus, but it’s not pucker-worthy hibiscus. Whether because of the fruit or because of the underlying tea, there is a sweetness that makes it not only tolerable, but tasty. I can taste the berries as well. Blueberry more than strawberry, but both are distinguishable. The tea itself isn’t easy to detect, but there’s a subtle, cocoa-like note that I think comes from the tea.

I keep thinking to myself how this would be different if a French company did it. It would be like this, but with a few hard edges filed off. This is a bolder flavor than most French flavored black teas I’ve had, but it is still quite enjoyable for a change of pace in the flavored black tea department.

Sipdown no. 210. The rest of the sample. Merry Christmas to those celebrating!

I just opened a sample of this I’ve had for a while. (This is no longer available at the Todd & Holland web site).

In the packet it smells like some sort of confection. Not candy really. Not cookies… well, maybe cookies? Or a flourless cake?

Steeped, it smells more like candy truffles. Or chocolate covered cherries, which is sort of strange because there’s not anything that would ordinarily be expected to generate a cherry aroma in this. And yet, there it is. A dark, candy sort of cherry. There’s a slight cocoa note as well. The tea is a cherry red-brown and is surprisingly clear given the chocolate chips as ingredients.

The tea tastes pretty much like it smells, except that it has a strange bitter note to it on the back end. Not so much a bitter tea note as a bitter other note, like baking chocolate bitter perhaps.

It’s not horrible, but it’s not as good as some of the other Todd and Holland flavored black teas. Which may explain why it is no longer available.

But the important thing about today is — I have news!

I accepted a job offer, so I will be employed again as of the end of January! It seems like a great group of people, and a fun company, and it is about a 10 minute commute from my house (I am planning to time a bike commute and see if that would make sense since it is so close).

Happy dance!

Sipdown no. 12 of 2016 (no. 233 total). The rest of the sample.

I almost drank the Teavana Almond Biscotti. Then I almost drank the Brioche.

Then I thought, why do that when this one ties for second among the three and there’s enough to do a sipdown?

Not quite done with my confectionery tea fix for the morning. I thought about having the Teavana Almond Biscotti, but then I saw that I had some of this so decided to try it instead.

In the packet it smells very similar to the Teavana. Which in turn was pretty much identical to the SpecialTeas Almond Cookie, which in turn was similar to American Tea Room Brioche.

I did this before in a previous note, but just for fun, let’s compare:

Teavana Almond Biscotti—Black tea, almond pieces, cinnamon pieces, and safflower blossoms

SpecialTeas Almond Cookie (and yes, I read the thread about SpecialTeas being a provider to Teavana and that maybe being part of why they aren’t around anymore)—tea, almonds, cinnamon, flavouring, safflower blossoms

American Tea Room Brioche—well-oxidized ebony leaves are contrasted with pale, sliced almonds, bits of cinnamon and vermillion-colored safflower blossoms.

Guess what Amaretti Cookie has? Black tea, almonds, cinnamon, and safflowers.

One of the things I like about these blends is the safflowers.They brighten the tea up and make it look festive. Red is particularly fetching among the black leaves. I’m not sure how and what they contribute to the taste. In fact, I’m not sure I know what safflowers taste like.

The tea is a medium golden brown and translucent, but is not clear. The aroma has an interesting citrus note to it but otherwise smells like almond cookies.

Flavor. Well, it’s definitely almond-y, more pastry than cookie, I think. Rather like an almond croissant and very tasty, but the first sip did a bit of a throat grab on me. I should perhaps steep this at my usual 3:30 instead of 4, but I thought I’d go with the package directions to start. I also wonder what a slightly lower temperature would do.

It’s got a pretty amazing aftertaste. Like what I taste after eating almond pastries such as bear claws. It’s a juicier flavor than the Amaretto Cookies I’ve had (the kind that come in the red tin, individually wrapped in paper that is fun to set on fire, but don’t try that at home, kids). Those are crisper, in my recollection.

I haven’t had either the Teavana or the ATR versions in a while, though the SpecialTeas is sadly, no more.

I’m not sure I’m ready to unseat Brioche as my favorite in this genre, but this is a good tea and I’m glad to have it available as an alternative. Rating it the same as the Teavana and SpecialTeas in this genre.

Sipdown no. 62 of 2016 (no. 273 total). A sample.

I’ve been extremely busy at work, so much so that I am feeling it physically. My body feels beat up.

Meanwhile, both kids have playoff games today (two different teams).

Drinking the last bit of this one as first tea of the morning, without any fish accompaniment despite my discovery that darjeeling and fish work well together. I also forgot to use a lower temp which had worked well. But it is hitting the spot anyway. The muscatel notes aren’t as sharp as some others, but still give a grape-flavor that I’m enjoying this a.m.

Not quite to the bottom of this sample yet, and really enjoying this cup.

It follows the Tea Gmumblmublecan’teverspellitwithoutlookingitup Marzipan and a tuna sandwich. One or the other or both, or perhaps making this at a slightly lower temperature (200F) has brought out a really lovely second flush flavor.

We’re heading into the very hot months in my neck of the woods, when traditionally my tea consumption drops off and so does my note posting. In fact, I often disappear for months at a time right around now. The draw of cold brew may keep that from happening this year. We shall see. It will be a busy summer. The kids aren’t quite out of school yet and both kids’ baseball teams are still in the running during the little league playoffs. Plus, no. 1 got on a summer tournament team (great honor for him, lots of schlepping for us) so it’s gonna be a busy few months.

I think I’ve concluded that darjeeling goes well with fish.

I’m OD-ing on tea a little here, but it’s because the kids are out of the house and I have nothing on the agenda until they get back. So I have a rare opportunity to play in my tea and write some notes uninterrupted.

I had the idea that this would be a good palate cleanser to transition out of some of the heavier stuff I’ve been drinking this morning, culminating in full blown chai. And also a nice transition from darker teas to lighter ones for this afternoon.

I had to remind myself that FTGFOP means Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, or it’s joke interpretation — Far Too Good For Ordinary People. LOL

This is a never opened sample that I bought a while back. The leaves are indeed quite tippy, some of them rather silvery looking. They have an earthy smell before steeping.

Steeped, they produce a medium-light brown, clear liquor. But the smell — oh the smell! This has to be what they mean by muscatel, though I’ve never tasted muscatel to my knowledge or muscatel grapes for that matter. The aroma is so grapey, but has that pungent note that takes it up a note to winey. Pretty serious stuff.

The tea is fairly astringent, drying in the sip but smooth in the finish that leaves a fresh, leafy-ness in mouth. It grabs a little at the back of the throat, which is the only downside for me. I don’t really enjoy that sensation.

It’s medium-bodied to light-bodied, and I wonder whether it might benefit from slightly lower temperature, which I intend to try before the sample is done.

The flavor is fairly mild and has some white wine notes that give it a little tartness.

Except for the throat grab, very enjoyable.

This tea smells nice but at the same time it’s a little strange, like a mish mash of flavoured sweet fruit lipglosses combined into one. Somewhat artificial and overly sweet! It’s steeped scent is also the same.

Yeah…. it tastes as it smells….so like lipgloss. I know I’ve said it a lot but seriously, it’s like applying a vast amount of fruity lipgloss and then licking your lips. It’s chemical, waxy, synethetic, overly sweet, plasticy and the whole crazy flavour just lingers in the after taste. While it is very unusual and unpleasant at times it’s not terrible, just not for me. I had a friend that loved to eat lipgloss, literally she would run her finger around my chocolate orange lipgloss tin and eat what she could scoop out! Maybe she would like this tea…

Enjoying a cup of this now after a long morning of training – just as bold as ever! With cream added, it’s heavenly. So far, I’d say this is my favorite find from Todd & Holland, although I definitely need to make another trip soon so I can acquire some new varieties!

I ran out of this tea a while ago, and haven’t been able to go back to Todd & Holland and get more until yesterday. I’ve missed my tradition of drinking this tea on Sunday mornings! So glad to have it back, and it tastes just as great as I remember :) Still one of the best vanilla black tea I’ve had.

There are few things I appreciate more than a nice, strong black tea that can stand up to a little cream and sugar. And boy, does this tea stand up well! Underneath the bold and malty taste of the nilgri is the smooth and natural flavor of vanilla. I will definitely be keeping this one in my regular rotation :)