Christina / BooksandTea Send Message

Today was going to be another day where I needed a jolt right in the morning, so this seemed like the perfect tea. Not quite sure what to make of it as I’m still making my way through various mates and guayusas, but this one was very dark and earthy.

It was rather reminiscent of coffee, in fact, and it left a similar sour aftertaste in my mouth. Aisling of tea and De gave me a sizeable tin of this (still in the original packaging!), so it will take quite a while to finish through. I won’t need to buy any heavily caffeinated teas for a while.

Bumping the rating up on this because this is probably a tea I will never let go out of stock – I have a tin dedicated to it and everything.

The taste here isn’t too complex – just straight up mint. But the one thing it does, it does really well. Good for an upset stomach, which is what I have tonight. Sweetened with a little bit of lemon honey, and it’s good to go. It’s nice having a dependable caffeine-free option for the evenings.

After the debacle that was Golden Moon’s Tippy Earl Grey (where instead of “blergamot” like Sil, I went “lavenblerg”), I needed to feel some love. I’d had this sitting in my cupboard for a while since I received it in a swap from Aimee Popovacki, so it was time to take a look.

Dry, there’s definitely a smell of apple, but there’s also something else that’s flaky or pastry-like. Apple turnover? Apple Jack cereal? Those Passion Flakie pastries with the fruit jelly and sweetened whipped cream? Something like that. Not quite vanilla, not quite cream, not quite nutmeg, but definitely something sweet and tempting.

Anyways.

I followed the steeping instructions on the package, and unlike many others, I didn’t encounter much bitterness. A little bit, but it wasn’t a horrible, astringent mess. I probably would turn the steep temperature down a bit (I think 75-80°C sounds about right) and maybe add some agave nectar to it to make it even better – otherwise, the flavour was very true to the scent.

I may still prefer Movie Night over this, but I’m glad I got to try some. Now I just have to figure what exactly this tea reminds me so much of.

Ok, this is the second EG tea of the day for me.

When I got this tin last week, I opened it up and was unprepared for the sheer tidal wave of lavender scent that was unleashed. Seriously, the lavender smell was overwhelming, and I was worried that it would taste like a bar of soap.

Tentatively, I tried this today to compare to the other EG I’ve got, Davids Tea’s Cream of Earl Grey. And oh boy, were my fears confirmed.

I opened the tin. The overpowering lavender smell escaped. I carefully measured out a spoonful and put it in my infuser. I poured the hot water over the leaf. Upon first sniff, my fears were allayed – the immediate smell of the wet leaf when it was brewing was bergamot.

Then, as I let it steep, the lavender smell returned, albeit not as strong. I pulled out the infuser, set it aside, inhaled, and then took a sip.

God, this tastes like soap. I have never had lavender in a tea before, but if they’re all like this, then I will stay FAR away from it in the future. As a perfume? Great. As a soap? Lovely. But as a tea? Blech. As the tea cools down, the lavender flavour becomes more apparent, and actually feels like acid or something peppery on my tongue. The tea itself is not astringent, but the lavender in it contributes to an astringent sensation. Not sure if I’m explaining this right, but the mouthfeel is definitely affected.

I can smell bergamot in there and taste it in the aftertaste, but this is NOT a good mix. Someone, anyone, if you’re reading this: I will gladly send it to you as a swap. Pretty please?

Backlog from this morning:

I’ve got two EGs in my cupboard: this one, and the Tippy EG from Golden Moon. I decided to compare them today. This one was the way I remember it from before: sweet, with flavours of vanilla and chocolate. The bergamot wasn’t very strong today, but I did let this cool down and reheat in the microwave a few times. Tasty, but I guess my heart wasn’t into it today. I have about 1 cup left from my sample.

Backlog from yesterday afternoon:

Oooh, this is definitely a winner. I went to a David’s Tea store to pick up my Frequent Steeper card after I signed up online, and chose this as my free cuppa as a reward for signing up. I wouldn’t have even considered trying this tea until I saw an associate scoop out some dry leaf of this for another customer. The mix of green tea, popcorn, and what I thought were pecans/walnuts looked mighty interesting.

When I asked the sales associate for a sniff of this, my nose was in heaven. Buttery! Sweet! Fruity! Caramelly! I got this to go with some agave nectar for sweetener, and my first sip was an absolute heaven of flavour. This really tastes like caramel popcorn, with the buttery sweetness of the caramel, the soft graininess of the popcorn, and the background hint of apple. Maybe if I buy enough from David’s Tea this year to get the 100-point reward, this will be my free 50g sample? Yes, I think it will.

Backlog from yesterday:

Brewed this up and as it was brewing, I smelled that lovely smell of red fruit: cherries, raspberries, currants. However, my first sip was so scalding hot that I burned my tongue. After I let it sit for several minutes to cool down, I tried it again and couldn’t taste any red fruit at all – not even the lingering cherry aftertaste from last time. That made me very sad.

I really think I’m going to have to leave it at a 2 minute steep – I just can’t predict how to steep these well. The spent teabag smelled lovely of red fruits, though – perhaps the key is to cool it down? I don’t know.

One thing I’m noticing in my cupboard is a relative lack of caffeine-free blends. So when Kaylee offered this up in a swap after not enjoying this tea, I snapped it up.

Others have said that this tastes like a piece of cinnamon gum. I’ve had others teas that bring up this flavour more strongly (specifically Teavana’s Samurai Chai Oolong/Maharajah Chai blend), but it’s still pretty evident here.

The thing is, I don’t think of it as a drawback. I want a sweet tea for when I’m craving dessert, one which won’t make me stay up late, and this one fits the bill nicely.

The cinnamon and rooibos meld well here. At first sip, it was quite woody, so I added some lemon-infused honey to sweeten and round it out, and it works out. It’s got a bit of a peppery aftertaste, too – not sure where it’s coming from.

All in all, a good tea for the evening.

Many thanks to Kaylee for this sample. I’m glad that it’s found a home!

Another tea that is approaching sipdown status. I got my sample size of Coconut Pouchong from Golden Moon tea a few days ago, and it will be interesting to compare these two side by side.

I steeped this twice today and made sure to include a lot of leaf. The first steep was very coconutty, but the second steep was a little less, with a little more of the oolong poking through.

This _was_my very first oolong tea purchase, though, so I’m a little bit sentimental, even though I’ve found oolongs to be hit-and-miss for me.

Ahh, this is the tea I remember falling in love with! Last time I brewed it, it tasted mineral and flat, but this time it’s just right. A nice balance of sweet green base, jasmine, and something else undefinable. I still think it’s orange or orange-blossom that I’m tasting.

Something new this time: after given the chance to cool down, there’s a sharp, almost peppery flavour on the tip of my tongue when I sip this. Hard to define, almost acrid, but somehow pleasantly so.

I think today, instead of focusing on trying new teas, I’m going to attack the ones that I have a LOT of in my cupboard so they can be used up more. This tea is lovely, but it came in a 100g package, which will last a long time if I don’t do something about it.

Edit: This tea really deserves multiple steepings, as the pearls don’t unfurl completely the first time around. The second steep retains as much character as the first. Yum.