Indigobloom

Thank you Nina’s Tea for this sample!! I’m quite enjoying this cup. The vanilla is very mild, and pairs excellently with the caramel. Light, like cloudbursts. The black base is nice as well, bringing everything together to make a very well rounded tea. No sugar or milk added.
Oh!! When piping hot, I swear there was something fruity in there!
I definitely wouldn’t mind having this in my cupboard.

Second cup out of this sample, and again I could not finish my cup. Is it just me? this tasted nothing like mango, but more like… sour juice? the black base didn’t even make an appearance, except for some strange astringent note that mixed badly with the oddly sweet/sour part that I think was the mango.

I forgot I still had this in my cupboard. and that I do enjoy lemongrass! on it’s own that is. In blends? can’t stand it. Solo? deeeelish! creamy lemon gooodness. It’s even complex, which I adore about teas.

I think I prefer this without milk??! an assam without milk, it just feels so wrong!
It’s crisp and fresh, floral and just a little malty. With all those letters attached, it’s no wonder why :)
A la dairy, it’s a little smoky, and I’m not sure I like that.
The kind gent from Capital Teas gifted this to me and I plan to cherish every spoonful. Though I need to indulge a few more cups before deciding on a rating.

Whaaaaaat, I still have some of this left over?! I thought it was sipped down ages ago. So I made a cup for Dad and I. Not bad, after all this time! Helps that I actually had it in a tin. Significantly less orange flavour, but the chocolate is still there, yay! :)
I needed the pick me up. I’m a little depressed tonight because I can’t make it out to my floor hockey game due to a professional committment, and I’ve been looking forward to it since last Tues. Le sad :(

Much better with a longer steep, as recommended on the packet! I’m so used to doing shorter steeps with my straight teas that I forget when indulging in one that does better with a longer infusion.

Still as tasty as ever. Guh. I love it!!!

Edit: water was too hot on the second steep. A rather unmemorable cup.

Did two weeks make a difference? today’s cup was not so bad!! of course, in anticipation of how bad it could be, I added a teaspoon of sugar along with my milk.
Also, there was a good sized chunk of cocoa in my spoon, perhaps that is what spiced up my cup!
Bumping the rating a bit.

Thanks Sil and Kittenna for this sample!! I really enjoyed the cup. Seriously.
A little bit of caramel, but mostly orange. Like marmalade. Very rindy and sweet, sans sugar!
I’ve had an orange kind of day. We made a cake for Mums bday… and she loves marmalade so it was an eggless, orange infused cake with marmalade/vodka glaze. Looks purty but we haven’t tried it yet. Fingers crossed that I didn’t mess it up!!
Anyhow, I am seriously considering getting more of this one :D

Just like that smores tea from Teaopia. Only not nearly as good. Super astringent with some marshmallow sweetness. Almost overbearingly sugary.

This flavour profile, it is SO FAMILIAR! What is it?? I can’t place what I’m tasting. Orange? but there is no rind in the blend. Maybe the essence of?
Definitely pear and blackberry, though I’m not sure how those would be tropical. Lime is certainly there. Must be the combination that gives it a fruity runt candy like taste. Oh oh!!! wait a second. It’s FRUIT PUNCH BUBBLICIOUS!!! YES! Ha, I beat you, you evasive flavour that reminds me of childhood. Wow. First time ever, I can truly say that I’m looking forward to making an iced tea. Gotta say, I’m a little giddy!
Trouble is, I’m not sure if its the throwback to the eighties that’s seducing me, or the actual flavour itself. Thus, I’ll let things marinate for a bit, and try it iced before rating.
Maybe I’ll make popsicles! :P

Thanks for the sample Raritea!!
Almond and coconut, two of my fave things. yum!
Wow this reminds me of a coconut blend I had from Tealish, only that one was black tea and this is herbal.
The coconut and almond work well together, but it hits the back of my throat in a funny way that I’m not sure I like. I can get past it. Overall a very tasty cup!
The second steep was nice, creamy and mild. No sugar added to either cup so that was nice!
I would consider picking up a cup if I was on the go and needed something decaf to warm me up :)

Thanks to Kittenna and Azzrian for letting me sample this! an interesting experience.
Tastes JUST like a peach beer I had a few months ago. I swear, add some fizzy and alcohol burn… they’d be identical!
That said, I really dislike hops, and I wasn’t that big a fan of the actual peach beer, or the tea.
Funny, because I love beer… but wheat beer or ones that are very low on the hops.
In any case, it is very smooth and well put together. I really like the peach part to! juicy and fresh, but not in a pulpy way. More like the essence of peach.

Lemon custard!! so glad I chose this as my to go/dessert tea. I quite enjoyed the cup. It was just what I needed and I could see myself craving it often. In fact, I’d probably want some for my cupboard if it wasn’t $12/50g! eeesh.
I’d give it a higher rating if it wasn’t for the price. Also, I suspect it wouldn’t resteep that well but I didn’t get the chance to find out and well it really isn’t fair to let my “hunch” skew the rating. So this is really more of a guess as to what I should rate this tea? Hmph.
(not sure how to get rid of the smiley face now that I’ve touched the tool bar. Only way I know of is to delete the note and not write a new one, as the server here has a memory and would just pull up the rating I have now. Oh well!)

So… My friend took me out for Valentines tea!! and he brought me flowers. Sadly though, he is just a friend. Sighs.
Anyhow… this is what I ordered along with my delish salmon sandwiches.
An oolong paradox. There is the roasted depth of a dark oolong and the vegetal sweetness of a green one. I had serious trouble wrapping my head around it!
Super sweet and flavourful in ways I’m really not used to in an oolong. In fact, if I ever manage to sipdown most of my stash, I’d really like to grab me some of this. 50g minimum purchase though, so I’d have to seriously purge first.

You know what I love about this blend? it’s the only herbal I know of that POPS with a one minute steep, and diminishes in quality with anything longer!! (asides from that DavidsTea peppermint from awhile ago)
I’ve had a really long, but fantastic day… and a seriously crappy night. I guess it all balances out in the end, with this tisane to smooth things over.

Sighs. So it appears Steepster ate my note from this morning and I can’t recall what I wrote!! Not exactly anyhow, and what would have been the follow up is going into my next post so stay tuned. It involves high tea! :D

Thank you Sil, by way of Nicole for this sample!!
I don’t know if this is my fave tisane. Usually I love minty teas, but somehow… I dunno, it’s not quite reaching that place for me.
It’s probably the green rooibos, as I felt it really overshadowed the cup and didn’t blend nicely with the mint.
With minty teas, I’m not used to adding sweetener as mint is typically pretty flavourful on its own. In this case though, I made an exception and that is when I got the candy cane reference. Yup! bona fide peppermint stick! and then I drained the rest of my cup.
So in the end… I managed to find me a nice dessert. I wouldn’t mind another sample closer to next Christmas.

On a side note… I’ve launched my blog!! Nothing to do with tea mind you, so bear that in mind. Well, I’ll probably mention it here and there, but its more about my career in HR than tea and the two don’t often interlace.
Anyhow, if anyone feels like taking a gander here is the link: http://hrslinger.wordpress.com/

I added a pinch of Darjeeling here. An interesting combo. I might try it again one day, if only because I can’t quite figure out the blend. The first infusion was your basic caramel cocoa loco with a hint of crips Darjeeling in the finish, but the second one is more of a smoky roasted oolong mixed with a white? very curious!
In tea class the other day, we were discussing that Darjeelings are pretty much an oolong, going by the processing definition. Seems it’s just the varietal and location that makes a flavour difference. So I thought… what if I mixed them?
Thus… here I am writing this note!

I had a teeny bit of this left so added it to my morning cuppa of assam.
Together, they were just ok. Not very chocolate like at all but then it was pretty old to shrugs
Atleast it was a sipdown!

I had a wee bit of this left so chanced it and made a cuppa with some added chamomile blend, tranquilitea from Tealish, I think it was.
Anyhow, for some reason it makes a truly divine cuppa. My goodness, I am wishing I bought a pouch now!

Toffee. White tea. What could go wrong? not much! I’m liking this sample. Thanks to Kittenna/Sil for sharing!
Very smooth and intense on the caramel. I love that it’s so well balanced.
The second infusion wasn’t quite as tasty, a hair plasticky. Making me hesitant to try a third. But… I will gladly finish off the rest of the sample!

DOUBLE Sample sipdown!! I didn’t have quite enough of this, nor my pu-erh from Tao Tea Leaf, so I combined them. On my second infusion now, and oh man is it ever tasty.
A little breadiness, freshwater, honey, and salt. Yep, I really do wish I had more around.

Second time around… when I’m not sick… and it’s a bit rosier than I recall, but not by too much.
Lowering the rating a tiny bit because while it tastes great, somehow it was better before. More soothing. I just got home from my intro to tea exam so I’m a bit wiped. Forgive my shoddy review!
Anyhow, I’m glad to have this in my cupboard. Sil, don’t be too afraid!! :)