1792 Tasting Notes
Discovered my Novice sample kit I received last year, and this was still tucked in there. Sometimes Senchas can be a little too grassy for me, so at first, I was slightly hesitant.
There is some powder falling out of the bag, like a courser matcha. The aroma of the liquor is quite grassy, and conjures up images of grass clippings, but luckily, the flavour is a little sweeter. The grassiness comes out more as this starts to cool though.
It’s a good tea but I personally wouldn’t buy it.
I bought this more for iced tea but seeing that I’m going to Banff tomorrow (exciting!), I’m not going to start busting out my mom’s iced tea jug only to have to clean it again.
Anyway, the dry leaf smells very subtle. There is a touch of cherry. Middle of the road scent, neither natural nor artificial if that makes any sense.
Hot, it’s what I had expected. The cherry is on the duller side. It’s there, and a little on the sweet side. It’s not tart at all. The rose is hardly palpable here.
It’s pleasant but there’s nothing more to really say about it, except that I’m sure it’ll make a better cold brew.
Enjoy your trip
banff tea company! lol you could visit while you’re there haha have a great time!
Thanks all! I actually visited the Banff Tea Company last year and wasn’t really impressed with any of their stuff. But I should go back and see if there’s anything new. :)
Good to know actually. I’ve been wondering how they might be.
All the teas severely lacked fragrance, but most likely because they were stored in glass jars and exposed to sunlight. Aye.
Eek! I can’t buy tea from any place that does that with their actual tea stock.
Oh yeah, so I went back and it’s the same setup. Glass jars, most barely fragrant. The sample in store was meh. Oh well, money saved for all!
Good to know its still like that! Hope you had a blast! I for sure miss my mountains even more hearing about them again
I finally opened up my new pouch of this that I ordered weeks ago. At last, more S’mores! This is my favourite DTT tea, and as a bonus, there is more graham cracker in this pouch than in the 1 oz. I first had. Yay! It resteeps well too. The second steep is almost as flavourful as the first. Maybe less marshmallow but still scrumptious.
No additives for me. This gem delivers and I’m upping my rating.
I had this the other day when I was staying overnight on campus. You get a free pastry and drink for breakfast at TH so I opted for this. Peppermint is pretty much peppermint. Sure, it doesn’t have the POW that some peppermint has but nevertheless, it’s a decent herbal. It’s a hard flavour to screw up so it’s a good choice if you’re unsure of their other flavours.
I’m now back in Alberta staying with my mom until mid-June or so. She has been ill and is due for surgery. I brought a whole bunch of tea home with me but still, there is now only so much I can drink over the next month. Plus I’m in the middle of nowhere so it’s not like I can skip down the street and try something out at a DavidsTea or Steeps or something.
Anyway, we were killing some time in Edmonton and walked past an Aveda and stepped in. I used to LOVE this tea. But this was back when I wasn’t really into loose tea yet and spending $27.50 on 140g of loose leaf sounded crazy (actually, for peppermint leaves and licorice root, it still is a little steep).
Wow, is the licorice root ever sweet. My tastes must have changed because I used to be nuts over that natural sweetness. Combined with the refreshing peppermint, this was my favourite pick-me-up tea (a co-worker shared some of her jar with me so I used to obsessively drink this and hoard it).
Now, it’s much too sweet for me. My mom even tried it and thought that it was borderline artificially sweet for her, like Splenda or something. And yeah, it definitely leaves a weird sensation at the back of your mouth.
But I still see the appeal and from a business perspective, I can see why Aveda chose this as their tea to serve to customers.
That sounds like it would make a good iced tea. But then I was raised on sweet tea so I always like my iced tea sweet.
Oh yeah, I can see this making a refreshing iced tea. No need for added sugar with this one, for sure.
Sorry to hear about your mom! I hope she gets better soon :)
It’s fun to share tea with the parents and see their reactions :) I hope everything goes smoothly for your mom!
I hope everything goes well.
Thanks for the sample, Verdant! This is my first experience with a flowering tea. I never bothered before because I was worried the tea may taste too bitter or vegetal. And to be honest, I’m not a fan of jasmine, so when I got this one in particular, I was ultra hesitant.
It took nearly ten minutes to unfurl or so. Wasn’t counting, but slowly but surely, that beautiful amaranth appeared.
And would you know that it also tastes simply delicious? I actually don’t detect any jasmine. It’s a little buttery, but as it starts to cool, it’s leaning more towards vegetal. Then there’s something a little floral in the background, but not jasmine nor amaranth. I just ate beets so my sense of taste is a little off, so maybe it’s the clover honey? Could be blending in with the sweetness of the beets.
Either way, it’s good stuff, and I’m glad to have finally experienced a flowering tea.
Totally screwed for my final exam on Thursday. I just finished all my final papers a few days ago and have been trying to memorize ~200 definitions plus a plethora of other info. Sigh. What a colossal waste of time.
This is a decent EGC. The dry leaf smells like creamy vanilla and bergamot, so we’re off to a good start, but the taste is a little lacking. Hot, it’s a little creamy, not too astringent. Definitely like it more hot than cold.
Cold steeped was a real let down. The base comes out more, but it has this dry, straw-like flavour to it. The creaminess is lost and the bergamot is there but not as strong as I had expected.
Have definitely had better EGC blends but have also had much worse too.
Oh joy.. memories! Good luck!
Thanks, I need it! haha
Oh finals week…it’s the worst. What class is it for?
Sociolinguistics. It’s the only undergrad course I’m taking, so while it’s nice to only have to write one, I never had time to internalize all of this beforehand because of my endless grad paper train throughout the semester.
Blah blah blah, all students have it hard. :)
Awww I know the feeling! You can do it! Believe in your glorious brain and its memorization capabilities :)
Good luck! I feel your pain with finals, but they will pass soon, just have to persevere!
The class (in theory) sounds fun! I’m an anthropology major, but almost did linguistics. Other than finals being a pain, have you liked school a lot?
I’ll chime in and say that I keep coming back to school. I’ve had 3-4 breaks where I’ve left and worked full-time, but I’ve always gone back. If you love learning and research, and can deal with academics, it’s awesome.
Incendiare, you can kick this final’s butt. :) I think everyone doing finals right now is cheering each other on!
Aww, thanks everyone. Best of luck to everyone else on their finals! We’re almost almost done.
Tamm, it is totally fun! Anthropological linguistics and sociolinguistics are similar so I can see why you were tempted. But yeah, I love school a lot, which is why I’m doing my MA now. How about you, are you enjoying anthropology?
Haha you just can’t keep away, OMGsrsly. It’s done that to me too. I’m on my third university now haha. Did you just complete a degree or are you currently working on something?
I’m almost done WOOO!!! Final on Friday, then a (seriously overdue) take home final and 25 page paper over the summer. Biology and Archaeology. Two full degrees, because a double major program doesn’t exist. You can tell someone likes school when they pull stunts like that. :) I’m considering grad school, but need funding..
That’s awesome Omgsrsly! I wanted to just do Archaeology as my undergrad, but our school doesn’t offer it.
Incendiare, I love anthropology, but I’ve fallen on hard times right now b/c my archaeology mentor is leaving the school and now I have to find a new field school…I really want to go to grad school, but I have no idea where to go.
OMGsrsly – maybe you’ll be able to get a scholarship and paid work as a TA? Some school will pay you $4000 a semester to be a TA, and that would cover the tuition at least. Housing.. well.. idk there.
Archeology sounds so interesting, and I would love to study more linguisitcs. Sometimes I miss being a student, but then I read everyone’s posts around finals and sorta remember that it wasn’t all great times. I wish I were more of an autodidact though. I keep meaning to teach myself all these great things and then fall through. My latest “fad” is trying to learn Spanish on duolingo.com.
Tamm, I haven’t done a field school because they are so incredibly expensive. It means I don’t get a CRM certificate with my degree which limits my work in the field. :/ I know that in most places arch is a subcategory of anth, but not here. The arch department here has never been with soc/anth, and they have actually joined the sciences. I think they’re transitioning to offer a BSc in arch for the lab/DNA geeks. :)
Cavo, I’ve had 3 offers in the sciences, and one of them comes with a pay cheque. My grades aren’t high enough for arch grants, but I might get a science grant… I’m just not sure what I want to do, and also I need a break!
That makes sense! A break isn’t a terrible thing, or you might suffer academic fatigue. :)
Omgsrsly, the field schools can be crazy expensive! I just found out today that there is still a slim chance I’ll be able to go to mine. It would really change a lot for me.
I think it’d make a lot of sense for soc/anth to be with the sciences. Especially what I study because it’s bioarchaeology/paleopathology. What kinds of things do you like to study in archaeology?
Cavocorax, I was looking at being a TA at a grad school near here and it was $5000/semester pay, plus they’d waive tuition! :O There are some major benefits at some schools. By the way, do you like that site? I’m trying to learn Spanish.
$5k a semester and no tuition is pretty decent! That would probably cover rent!
And from I’ve seen of duolingo, I really like it. I can’t wait until they get their android app out because I could see this being something I do on my phone while I’m waiting on the bus, etc.
UofA pays $16K for 2 semesters, and $8K for the summer lab work as a TA in the biological sciences. So happy to be a Masters student :)
I’m into evolution and ancient DNA, as well as learning about and preserving the heritage of BC First Nations. :) I’ve heard good things about Calgary for ancient DNA, but I don’t know if I want to move there. Fingers crossed you get your field school. From what I’ve heard, the experience is amazing! I’ve done some surveying and I love it, but sadly no digging.
Lynne, that’s Alberta? Here in BC they don’t pay nearly that much. Wow. I think they get just under $5k, but also have to pay tuition. Of course, some labs pay their grad students, but the wage varies. I think the highest in the university is $24k.
Whoa, need to catch up here. OMG, srsly, that’s great that you can get two degrees out of it though! I did an honours double major and U of A only gave me one degree. Eh, but I guess it doesn’t matter haha. Wow, archeology and biology, two awesome fields! That must be very fascinating.
Tamm, I’m really sorry to hear that, but I hope you can figure things out. That is such bad timing. Have you ever considered transferring to another school? I’m sure it could be done.
Cavocorax, I haven’t tried duolingo before, but that’s great that it’s free at least. The annoying thing about learning a foreign language is it’s practically impossible to gain fluency unless you’re around other people who speak it. It’s hard enough to reach that level when you learn it in a classroom, but Spanish is an easier language for native English speakers to learn, so I’m sure that site will give you a great foundation. I just bought a Finnish textbook the other day to accompany my Finnish dictionary, but geez, don’t know how I will honestly learn it unless I join a program or something. But don’t give up! Learning another language keeps those gears-a-turning in your head. :)
That’s why I’m soooo glad you got into U of A, Lynne-tea. They’re mighty generous towards the sciences students! And that’s great you were able to get on with a summer lab because you’ll get a head start.
And I love genetics! Almost went into that instead of foreign languages/theoretical linguistics. So ancient DNA sounds amazing. I had no idea U of C offered such a thing.
I had to read some DNA and stable isotope stuff this week and it blows my mind; especially aDNA stuff.
Yes, I’m still crossing my fingers! The project itself that I am trying to get into is working with the Lambayeque valley complex; so lots of really interesting stuff. I’m going to be talking to my professor on Wednesday. Hopefully we can get some stuff worked out! Watch as he tells me that I should go to the school he’s switching to! facepalm it’s literally the other side of the US.
Incendiare, I’ve thought about switching, but at this point it’d be a little silly. Even with my minor I’m probably graduating in ~3 semesters. The only other reputable college around here has really rigorous stuff for transfer students. It’s kind of annoying actually.
aDNA is so awesome. Difficult, tricksy, expensive, awesome.
Incendiare, I see what you did there… :D It’s a BSc in Biology and Archaeology, but because it’s not a double major program I had to take more courses. I’m going to see about graduating with the BSc then applying for a second graduation with the BA. Heh.
Tamm, that sounds so cool! There’s aDNA at my school, but I’m not 100% sure. I’ve heard some :/ things. At least here it would be focusing on BC First Nations instead of Albertan. BC is totally #1 for me. :)
Tamm, that totally makes sense. That would be a lot of work to transfer at this point. That’s so frustrating!
ZOMGsrsly (ha!), they should definitely honour you two degrees. At least let’s hope. I had to take more courses for each major than you would in a typical double major program too yet I wasn’t honoured that. Funny how different universities treat same/similar situations differently. I mean, I guess the title/number of degrees ultimately doesn’t matter, but in a way, it does when you’re applying to grad school and stuff. Kind of wish universities had universal rules for granting degrees. And it’s great how alive the BC First Nations research is over here. It’s very nice to see!
Good luck to all of you Steepsterites studying for finals! Knowledge is power :-)
My Zen Tea order came in like, what, a week ago or something? But I kept putting off trying anything.
Dry, this smells like a pleasantly mild toffee. It has a drier scent to it in the background too.
First steep is pretty good. Like a watery toffee, quite inoffensive. It’s the second steep that’s really meh though, almost like cardboard. I think most of the flavouring was leached out the first time around and now I’m left with that dry tone I can smell in the background in the dry leaf.
It had a good start. I appreciate that it’s not overwhelmingly sweet, no crazy oil scum ring like you can get with some flavoured teas out there. Just wish the base was better, I think. I’m sure that’s the main problem here.
Wow, I sure burned through my 1 oz quite quickly. In just twelve days or so. I guess that’s what happens when you cold steep all of it.
Will I miss it? Not really, but it was definitely better cold steeped. Kind of like a vanilla caramel.
I should try that. I wasn’t too into it when I made it hot and I still have the rest of the sample left over. I’ll put it in the fridge tonight! Thanks!
Hope you’ll like it better! I mean, it’s still not amazing this way, but at least it’s an improvement. :)
Aww. I love this tea! Vanilla everything though.
