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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!

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!!!!

Had to work downtown today. Picked this up on my way home (which I still am not at since DH took me to dinner at Bard and Banker). But anyway, I got really hot at work today and although I did cool off a bit once I got outside, I knew I wanted something light, but it wasn’t hot enough for iced tea, so I opted for a hot tea that was light and refreshing. I had not had this in a while, and since the caramel matcha yesterday, I’ve been in a sweet and caramel mood ever since. I even had some Big Apple this morning. Yeah. So between Movie Night and Gold Rush (both teas I haven’t had in a while) the Movie Night won out.

Man…I’d forgotten how good this is. And she even fudged the steeping because I had asked her to use the steeper rather than bag to reduce the risk of me leaving the bag in too long an she autopiloted the amount of tea to water for iced tea instead. We just reduced the steeping time and added a little more water for a second steep to add, and somehow it worked out. I tasted the first batch to decide how I wanted to fill my mug. Water would have diluted it too much, but the extra steeped liquid was just the ticket.

Anyhow, with this steeping, I was able to pick up on the green base, but also sweet apple. The popcorn was more in the back, but it was there. I think that I could smell it more than taste it, though. I do love seeing the popcorn in this tea also. And it smells soooo good. This was my first DAVIDs tea, btw, when the Hillside store had just opened up. It was recommended to me by the girl there, who I now know as Sue from the Johnson Street store, and my friend Amy who was living in Toronto at the time. Both said if I liked genmaicha (and I do) that I would like this. I think my initial issues with the tea were now getting enough green tea and not tasting the popcorn. That said, I do remember still liking the tea for how it tasted, rather than how I expected it to taste.

Given my bad luck with making green teas at home though, I might just let them make it for me, but I may just have to get more of this tea and try at home again. We’ll see.

So, finally getting a tea from the tea crawl and swap that I got from ShayneBear and I think, Bear Trap had to be the first to try. Also, as I’d had a very good and healthy dinner, I thought that a fruity tea might be a nice compliment, and as I’d had two cups of caffeinated tea today already, this seemed like a clear choice.

It’s very fruity and turns a beautiful shade of reddish pink. On its own, I found it a little too tart, despite not having hibiscus in it. I added a small amount of sugar and that brought the tartness in check. I can see how this will be an amazing tea to ice in the summer time…it’s just so juicy, and there is a bit of a calming feeling with it too.

I’m not generally much of a fruit tea/tisane drinker, usually because of the hibiscus that so many blends have, but I generally tolerate them better iced. There are a few I can handle hot though. I’m not sure where in my repertoire of teas this one fits into…I’d say it is maybe not my favourite as a hot tea…not that it is bad as a hot tea, because it isn’t, but I think I prefer less tart fruit teas/tisanes hot, like Forever Nuts. I could see having a pitcher of this in my fridge in the summer though, with maybe extra fruit in it too…like frozen berries in place of ice. I dunno. I like it, but I think it will fit in my tea life as an iced tea.

SO…I have been wanting to try a Red Leaf Tea matcha for quite some time now(!), and I was fortunate enough to get some at our recent Victoria tea crawl and swap. So many, many, many thanks go out to CrowKettle for bringing some of this tea along for us to try. We all just about died from the smell of this through the foil packet. I added this to my packet of teas from OMGsrsly by accident, and when I came home to sort them and catalogue them, all I could smell from that baggie was this matcha in the foil packet. As we were all warned to be careful opening this, I was very meticulous (and slow!!) about opening the packet, and I had it on a plate in case it spilled or something else happened.

I set my plate, my mug, my mason jar half with milk (for latte), my mini measuring cup (2oz/60ml) and my frothing whisk on the stove. I did rinse and dry out my mug, though as I measured the matcha and put it in the mug, I did notice that I had not dried it out enough, and it had started moistening. I had my water boiling and poured it into the mini measuring cup, and as it cooled some, I screwed on the lid of the mason jar and shook vigourously for 30-45 seconds, took the lid(s) off, and microwaved for about 30 seconds as well. While the milk was in the microwave, I added the now cooled boiling water to my mug and stirred it to dissolve the matcha, and then began sort of an up down pumping motion with the frothing whisk. I tried sort of side by side but that didn’t really work, given the surface area of the mug. I did get a bit of foam…but not as much foam as I had expected, so maybe I did not froth/whisk long enough, or perhaps the problem was the mug not being wide enough. I’ll add that I don’t have a sifter, so that may have affected the whole thing, too.

Here are a few pics from this first matcha attempt…

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/482657_10151346351117374_443711524_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/9603_10151346351202374_984623735_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72774_10151346351242374_1833469278_n.jpg

Hopefully those worked.

In closing, here are my thoughts.

1) The Caramel Matcha is DELICIOUS!

2) My technique and ratios may need to be adjusted for the next time. I felt like it was a little weak overall, and that may be that the water plus milk diluted it some/too much.

3) Adding a touch of sugar brought out intense caramel.

4) The packet looked like about 2-3 servings, so I did not want to use it all at once, but I wish I had made more. This made half or less of a mug, and I wanted more…it was gone sooo fast.

5) I’m toying with adding this to some Big Apple from DAVIDs. I don’t know if I would just add a small pinch to the steeping tea (like the matcha genmaicha blends), or make the matcha with the tea instead. I really love the caramel apple taste of Big Apple, and think this would be an intense blend.

6) I reaalllly want to try this more. And more RLT matcha. Hoping to do a matcha event with ShayneBear sometime, and maybe to also do a co-op order with them too.

7) I might just get a matcha set if I find one I like, and at a good price. I see more matcha in my future, though I might just use a bowl and a wire whisk in the mean time.

Once again, a very big thanks to CrowKettle for the opportunity to try this!