Heather Martin

Giving this sample a go today, as I am out of milk right now. Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for sending me this one to try…she knows I like oolongs.

My first attempt, I think I let the water cool too much, and possibly under-leafed this as well. I got a much lighter and thinner liquor than I was expecting. I’m tasting something though, but I am unable to put my finger on it. It seems possibly fruity or buttery or brothy but maybe a little of it all?

Although I have a second steep coming, with hotter water and more leaf, so I can compare then if it was my steeping parameters or not. Water had cooled a few minutes (maybe 5?) and I did a 3 minute steep. this current steep I am using just boiled water and a 2 minute steep. We will see.

I am very intrigued by this tea though. The leaves are long, thin, and spindly…and the colour is a dark green with a slight purple tinge to them, I think. Someone said seaweed, and I think that is a good descriptor.

http://campl.us/gyF5P8XSsKq

What do you think?

EDIT FOR RE-STEEP:

So I used more leaf, hotter water, and less steeping time and I got a stronger brew. I’m not sure if that was for the better or not. I feel like I have gone in the opposite direction now and it is too strong a steep. I feel like I need something in between. I’m not getting sweet potato, but I am getting a saliva inducing feeling in my mouth. I am still tasting something fruity, but I am not sure. It doesn’t seem peachy to me, but someone mentioned grape, and I think maybe I am getting a raisin note, or plum or tart cherry, because I am getting a little bit of astringency with the juicy mouthfeel. There is a little smokiness too, I think, along with a mild floral note.

I think that I need to play around with the steeping parameters on this one still, to get the optimal balance of flavours I am looking for.

Yum! Full details later.

EDIT: So it is quite some time later. I feel like rather than backlog and try to get in the mindset I was in this morning when I had this tea, I better just have another cuppa in the morning and write my tasting then, so it is more accurately described. But I can say I really enjoyed this one today.

I’m gonna pull a shmiracles with this post, but first let me thank Angel at Teavivre for letting me try this tea.

First of all, as it has been said in other reviews, this tea comes in a vacuum sealed bag inside another vacuum sealed bag. Upon opening the inner bag, the tea immediately makes way into your senses. The smell is fresh, clean, buttery and floral, and the colour is an amazing vibrant green. Like all TGY teas, the leaves of this one are tightly rolled and they open up once they hit the hot water.

Is this not gorgeous?? Assuming it is visible outside the realms of Facebook.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/946045_10151409451372374_318358809_n.jpg

Drinking this tea, I thought of a song called “Shimmering, Warm, and Bright” by Bel Canto (a Norwegian band).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugnDTJXpSw0

I’m drinking this infusion plain, no sugar or anything. I do tend to drink my lighter oolongs plain, or with a very small amount of sweetener. I can pick up a smooth buttery feeling, slightly drying, and a light and somewhat sweet floral note. There is also a slight savoury taste, like roasted nuts or something. Whatever it is, it is all very good! I hope to get more steeps. Next time I think I may start with a shorter steep time, and build up as I re-steep.

Thanks again for letting me try this tea!

OMG NOM NOM NOM!!!

I only have one serving left of this tea, after today’s steeping, but….I have a whole ounce on order with our group order! w00t w00t!! Because the order is nearly in, I decided to have this one again, and oh, I am soooo happy! I even took a picture of the loos dry leaves on my bamboo spoon and posted to Facebook, because, guys, it seriously is one gorgeous tea.

I am having dinner on my own tonight, so that’s really an excuse to eat what I want, and since DH doesn’t like a lot of stuff I do (especially if it is healthy) so he’d never eat what I got. His loss really, as it is very good (yes, I’m still eating it). Anyway, I have some of this tea left over from when I made it before going to the store, so it has cooled off a bit, but it is perfect to go with my meal.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/942904_10151403702307374_933811281_n.jpg

Three specialty salads from the deli (roasted yam with spinach, feta, and almonds and a dijon dressing; legume salad with lemon basil dressing; and santa fe couscous salad), seared fresh wild salmon, blackberries and a tangerine, plus a small cup of butternut squash soup. It makes me wish for more dinners on my own! It is yummy and healthy!

So yeah, the freshness of the cantaloupe and the lightness of the white base, really balance out this meal.

Decided to have this one today, since our weather has been very pleasant for the last week, and strawberry and lemon sounded nice. It was a toss up between this one and Long Island Strawberry from Steam, but in the end, I didn’t want to fuss with the temperament of a green today, and I also wanted a bit of a caffeine jolt to help my head feel better since I am still sick (but on the mend).

This one comes from OMGsrsly from our tea swap and meetup a few months ago now. I have been saving it for nice weather, so today was the day. It was slightly floral and fruity, and I definitely got a strong black base. I initially started it without milk, but with a spoon of sugar, but later added milk.

I can’t say it is my favourite since I picked up more of the black than the fruit, but it could be my weakened senses from being sick. I’m keen to try this blend again, when I am not sick, and maybe from another vendor too.

Having this one iced! I do feel it is better iced than hot, but it will probably not be replaced regularly. There are plenty of other teas, green or otherwise, that I prefer iced, but there’s always that chance I will have a hunkering for it one day, and it will be the perfect thing.

SIPDOWN…this is the last of the sample from OMGsrsly from the swap, and again, chose this one more for comfort and medicinal qualities. Normally, this is something I would reserve for fall or winter, but since I am awake, and unable to nap, I opted for this one to follow Hot Toboggan. Again, this one was chosen for it’s spices to help warm me up and help me feel better. It’s hard to tell, since I am so congested, but this one does taste sightly more pumpkin pie-like, rather than pumpkin pie spice-like, like Pumpkin Chai from the other DT. I’m not sure the subtle taste in them is enough to warrant me getting this one again, unless DAVIDs doesn’t return Pumpkin Chai this fall, or bring out something similar. Being sick makes me wish I had some Saigon Chai from DAVIDs though…

Chosen for medicinal purposes…I have the plague, and was trying to nap, so I didn’t want something too caffeine-y, but something with spice for my sinuses. Ear pressure got too bad though, and I had to get up. It’s good for this. I’m glad I have some. Thanks again to ShayneBear for this sample.

Tea to go today…wanted to see how this differs from Daydreamer, and I’m sad to say, not much, really. They are slightly different, but not different enough. I think I would have preferred this blend added to a white or light/green oolong base for something a little different.

Can I say which I like better? Nope. They are both sooooo similar. Will I stock either again? Maybe.

I’ve been waiting for the right time to give this sample from ShayneBear a try. Today seemed like the right day. Even though it is lovely outside, inside, I feel congestion and sinus pressure, and I am sneezing. I also woke up to a sore throat. So I figured the peppercorns and peppermint would be good for my congestion and sinus issues, the black tea would help me stay conscious so I can go out to do an errand or two downtown, and the chocolate and candy cane lips are purely for my emotional well being. :P

So I like this tea!! I don’t know why I waited so long to try it. Perhaps it is because of the mint, because I admit I am very picky about mint in my teas. I know this is one of the signature teas they have at DAVIDs, and it is included in just about every sample collection…ha!!

The mint and chocolate do balance very nicely, and I do feel a little tingle on my tongue that can only be from the peppercorns. Everything seems well balanced here, and I am enjoying this cuppa with milk and sugar, which is extra comforting to me. I’m grateful for the generous sample of this. YAY!

I’m probably gonna re-steep the leaves for a second batch for my Timolino or kids mug, get dressed, and head downtown for those few errands while it is nice out.

So, I have had a bit of a love affair with this tea again! I am loving it sooooo much! I have been having some hard and stressful days at work lately, and this tea is to me what Bear Trap is for ShayneBear. I think it is calming and light and nutty and sweet, and…just perfect. I had to get some to try at home again, after my to go cup recently, and I have been very diligent about setting a timer to not overstep it. I think that 4 minutes seems to be alright. I might play with longer or shorter steep times.

I would say that the only downside to this tea right now are that the tea is bulky because of the popcorn, so it is hard to gage how much 1 1/2 tsp is, and in the bag, it is hard to get a good mix of ingredients. For this last part, I might opt for a tin, even though I have no space for one. Would a larger bag help here, you think?

Anyway, yes….REFILLING! One of my new faves!

Mmmmmm, I am soooo glad I got more of this tea. It is actually my first tea from DAVIDs and I remember feeling a little disappointed that it tasted mostly like apple, and less like popcorn or green tea, but having had a number of teas from DAVIDs now, I see this tea in a whole new light, and I love it. So long as I don’t over steep it or have the water too hot for it to turn bitter. I do let it steep a little longer though, as I think that brings the popcorn and green tea flavours out more. I was also disappointed at the lack of leaf compared to apples and popcorn, but now I just don’t care. :P This makes it a perfect tea for later at night when you want a tea with less caffeine content, and I would say since there is less leaf, there has to be less caffeine too. I also think the starches from the popcorn aid in some way too. I have fallen in love with this tea! I can see it in my future for the next several months, as I think it is a great spring and summer tea, and it does work well iced too. Whether or not it will be hearty enough as my morning tea in the late fall and winter, I don’t know yet. I will be getting lots more of this, also, because it weighs so little, you can get a lot of it and not pay as much. I got 26g of this and paid $3 and change, whereas for the 24g of Gold Rush, it was over $5.

Perfectly light and sweet for a gorgeous day like today, however, I do think I did slightly under-steep it a little. I also ate all the yummy mulberries afterward. It’s a pricy tea to have lots of, but I might get a full bag and alternate it with other less pricy teas so I don’t burn through it too fast.

Not seduced. It was bitter. I did get a slightly floral juicy note, but that was it. Happy it was free with my Timolino for Earth Day yesterday.

This is still really good though my preparation is definitely lacking. I tried something else today, which kind of worked, but I accidentally added more water than I had wanted to, so it is still feeling a bit thin and weak after adding the milk to make it a latte. Still, I’m getting plenty of caramel taste and aroma from the matcha. I’m still having trouble with getting it to froth right, so I definitely want to pick up a proper matcha making kit from somewhere (taking suggestions, but so far leaning towards David’s) because even in my cereal bowl, using all of my whisks, I didn’t really get a sustaining froth. The only thing I got was sore arms. I do want to add matcha into my routine, but I need to get better at preparing it. I wonder if Jaga Silk does classes on making it at home? I know ShayneBear will help too.

This matcha, and I am sure the other RLT matchas, make me want to learn better. I know we plan on a group buy, so I want to get better before then.

Sooooo….I went to George’s Tea Emporium with ShayneBear last week, and I picked up a small tin of this. I was intrigued by the description of blackberry and maple, as I had been looking at both maple tea and black currant (which I know isn’t the same, but whatever) but wasn’t sure what to get and didn’t want to get too much (I’m lacking in space until I finish more teas).

The scent of this is pretty mild, but sweet, and the green tea mellows the main black base, I think. This tea is a bit more stripped down and basic, compared to my normal assortment of teas. It doesn’t look terribly fancy.

Brewed up a dark rich mahogany color…milk and sugar were added. This tea is one where it is subtle flavour, but it is there. Although I could not taste the blackberry itself, I could detect a light fruity taste, but most prominent was the juicy mouthfeel that is in the description. As for the maple flavour, I could faintly detect it as it was not the same kind of sweet that came from the sugar.

Overall, this is a nice tea. It’s a step up from a standard black blend with a little extra juicy sweetness. Does it have a place in my regular rotation? Maybe. But DAVIDs is much closer to me, and Murchies carries the same level of tea, and I’m lazy, but perhaps if we do another visit there, I will get some. My tin, albeit small, will likely last a while.

Sipdown…unfortunately, I still found nothing remarkable about this one, I am sad to say. Whatever flavour was there was so subtle, it went right past me, though it is possible that the tea is just older and lost some of its punch. I dunno. It was far from horrible, but miles away from excellent.

I was a little nervous trying this today, because of the previous experience with Butterscotch from the same company. But I decided to give it a try anyway…it’s been a few hours since I had some, and right now I am eating some yummy Victoria style cottage cheese, and I know if I had some sips right now, my taste buds might be a bit askew, so I am going to finish my snack, finish the rest of the tea, and do a second steep so I can get a better frame of mind of how I want to rate this…

Back later for more!

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Ok, back for seconds…

I can’t really pick up anything from the dry leaf, but I am a little stuffy, so maybe that is why. The liquor brewed up quite dark and mahogany in colour, and smelled a little smoky and astringent, so I wonder what the base is for the tea.

As for the taste, I am picking up the same kind of powdery taste that I got from the Butterscotch tea, but here it seems a little more vanilla or cream like, with the addition of the fruit flavour, which does seem very strawberry. As a black base, I do find it more astringent than some.

I did add some milk and sugar, and this second steeping is feeling milder than the previous one, but the berry flavour is there in the back. I may have added too much milk in this batch too. But at the end of each sip, I do get this juicy feeling over my tongue and at the back of my throat as I swallow. But I am not getting that massive pop of flavour that others have reported. Again, maybe the milk is hampering with that.

All in all, this is better than I thought, and I’m glad CrowKettle gave me a sample to try, but I know I would never buy this at full price. It’s tasty enough, but not tasty enough for me to fork over $30 for a tin.

This one is from ShayneBear, and it is right for me, right now. It has cooled off outside and gotten cloudy, and I wanted something kind of heavy and hearty, but not too much. I guess I wanted more comforting, but not too heavy, but hearty and warming enough. I know…that probably makes no sense.

So, it smells good, and the mixture is less tea and more fruit and nut. It does remind me a bit of Forever Nuts, without being pink, in that it is apples, almonds and cinnamon. I don’t get any caramel either, and it is very much like an apple cider. I’m actually ok with that.

I wouldn’t say it is my favourite tea of this nature, but it is certainly a very good tea. I don’t think I would repurchase on my own because I prefer Alpine Punch over this, and while it is a slightly different taste than Alpine Punch, it is too similar for me to justify the two. The main advantage is that this one does have green tea, so it is caffeinated for those mornings I want something like Alpine Punch, but with a little go juice as well.

Tea swap tasting note…this one is from OMGsrsly. I was so glad she had some Della Terra teas for me to try.

This is one that is very potent to smell, which is why she had to put the tea samples in zippered baggies, and then wrap in foil to prevent all the teas smelling like this or the Orange Brûlée.

Anyway, so yes, very strong smell in the bag. It does remind me a lot of Davids Pumpkin Chai, though not quite. It does taste pretty much how it smells. The only thing I regret about this tea, is that while it was very very tasty, it wasn’t the tea I wanted this morning after all. I was expecting it to be cold and gloomy, and it was, in fact, warmer and sunnier, so I think I would have been happier with a different tea today, to match my mood, and the weather. I’m also wearing a very spring feeling outfit….green pants and a blue two tone striped cardigan over a white camisole/tank….so I felt bright and colourful, and feel like maybe I should have had something a little fruitier and less dense of a tea. I don’t know if that makes sense. Maybe Berry Good or Love Tea #7 would have been better in that respect.

I think that if this had been a really truly gloomy and rainy day, I would have been more mentally into the team, but it just didn’t seem to match today. But I repeat, it is a very very tasty tea, sweet and pumpkiny, with nice spices. Not as chai like as Davids, though I did always find that Pumpkin Chai was less chai and more pumpkin. I do love the little pumpkin candies.

I definitely look forward to the right day to give this beauty a try. I’m not gonna dock this tea any rating simply because I was not actually in the right mood to have it, so I will rate it in terms of taste.

Sipdown…I really like this one. Too bad it is my last leaf from my sample from OMGsrsly from our swap a few weeks ago. It is just nice and warming and smooth. There is orange here, but not punch in your face kind of orange, and a sweet creamy vanilla note. The oolong base is slightly floral, so it pairs well with the orange honey nectar tones in this tea. I think I can probably get one, maybe two more steeps from this. The leaves have opened up big now, but I think there’s enough flavour there still.

This is a nice tea for today, as it has enough body for a cool and overcast day, but the orange invokes spring, and we do have an array of blossoms out. The clouds are clearing too. Probably because I am drinking this tea. :P

If we ever do a group Della Terra order, this is one I would probably reorder.

Seriously, still getting no coconut flavor at all with this tea. I wish I did. :(

Looks like I am the first to rate this. This is a sample from the recent swap and tea crawl, and I think I got this one from CrowKettle if I’m not mistaken.

This tea kinda smells powdery, and I am really not sure why. It also has a little of that to start. It does meld into a sweet finish though. I can pick up some sweet caramel and butterscotch notes at the back of my throat with the sips. I did add sugar and milk to try to give it a little kickstart on the sweetness and creaminess.

The infusion was a lovely mahogany red shade. I think the only thing that catches me off guard with this one is that powdery start. It’s so unusual. I don’t think the tea is off, because it was sealed in a foil pouch.

I’d say this is an ok tea, but it isn’t something I can’t live without. I’m glad I got to try it.

drool

This one is from CrowKettle and am I ever glad I got a sample of this! It’s everything that I’d hoped it to be. I’m on my phone now, but will write a more in depth review from my computer later.

Ok, so it is later. I was working today, then got dinner and went to a friend’s house to watch the new episode of Doctor Who, so I just got home, and I am still thinking of this tea. Actually, I mentioned how good it smelled and tasted to my co-workers today and they were all like, “You must really like that tea because you’ve talked about it 4 times already” or something like that.

Anyhow, like many people have said thus far, the tea itself, with the flowers, is quite lovely, and if anything evokes spring, it is this tea. And wow, what a gorgeous day to initiate this tea, too. We have had a string of really nice days lately (I hope it stays!!). The first thing that you notice when you open the bag, is the sweet and fresh real cantaloupe smell. The eyes see the leaves and the nose gets hit with the lovely scent. I’ve always felt that cantaloupe is sweet and a little bit floral. A bit like nectar or honey…and white tea is the perfect tea to blend this with too, I think.

Brewed, you get a pale yellow infusion, and the scent just wafts up into your nose and intoxicates you to the core. Seriously. Cuz all I could think about was how good this smelled and tasted. I admit freely that I do have a sweet tooth, so I do usually add sugar to my teas, though I have been working on reducing the amount. I think though, that in this case, adding it only intensifies the nectar qualities, and makes the melon juiciness just pop and explode across the tongue. Now in terms of cream, I can’t really taste cream per se, but I can pick up just a general smooth feel to it. Part of me wonders how this would be with a touch of milk or even cream. I know milk is usually for darker teas, but ever since DAVIDsTEA suggested adding milk and sugar to Buttercream, I have not been afraid to add milk to white teas where I feel the taste and texture will enhance the tea. I bet that this tea would be even more amazing with just a touch of honey instead of the sugar…perhaps even an orange blossom honey. I get my honey locally, but I am out, so this reminds me I need more.

Anyway, I am so so so grateful I got to try this tea. I think that I am gonna need this for the summer. I might just have to put in an order with Butiki now that I have had something I like, and that far exceeds my expectations. Thanks again CrowKettle!!!!