Kay Kanada

Yum yum yum! What a bloody pleasant surprise! It’s been quite a while since DT has satisfied me with a new tea…

Aroma Creamy coconut, a heady waft of deliciousness
Flavour Decadent, smooth and wonderful. Mint done luxuriously…
Drinkability I have already taken to this tea like deer to an apple tree.

Ummm… where’s the flavour?

Mostly anis, minimally berry, and not even a hint of green tea. I know it could be great with a stronger tea base (I have come to suspect that an error was made during production which caused the green tea to be forgotten)and some more cinnamon, but right now it’s like hyper-diluted Elf Help with Anis added. It’s not bad, but it’s just not good.

Can anyone say “procrastination”?

This tea never tastes as good as it smells. But that’s ok. It smells flipping fantabulous awesomely amazing, so it’s only natural the taste falls a bit short.

Decent black tea base that doesn’t get bitter at the drop of a hat. Nice, natural blueberry flavour that isn’t sickly sweet nor watered down. This will never be a favorite of mine because I like milk in my blacks and this one doesn’t really mesh with milk. But still a solid blueberry tea, which seems to be a reaaaally hard thing to do * cough * DAVIDsTEA * cough *

Technically, it’s a good thing I’m not in love with this tea – they don’t ship to Canada. No broken heart like with the fabulous Arbor Teas :( Awww great, now I’m sad!

Huh. This is the mildest green tea I have ever tasted. Barely bitter, barely vegetal, barely there.

Continuing on my recent kick of minty teas…

This one surprised me. A lot. And I’m still unsure whether that is a good or a bad thing.

There’s not a lot of mint in this. The spices don’t really hit the tongue; they’d rather attack the back of my throat. Not a fan of the liquor’s smell (odd, considering I really enjoy the dry scent). And yet, I am sitting here sipping away… Not enough flavour to really like it, yet conversely, not enough of anything to hate.

Hello, Fence, my name is Kay! Mind if I sit on you for a while?

Woah. Don’t know why, but I decided a cup of powerful Cold 911this morning was the only possibility. Bit of background: my mornings consist of 1 thing – black teas. Herbals are delegated to evenings only, and Cold 911 has its use only if I’m on my deathbed and wish not to leave a considerable dent in my stash of Electric Lemon.

That being said, the only tea that my body wanted was Cold 911, no matter how much I tried to convince it otherwise (portant of things to come, mayhaps?) Made a cup, added a dollop of honey, and WOW. I am ready to conquer the world (or at the very minimum, my essay).

This is one energetic tea that is clearing my sinuses straight out! (Who even knew they needed cleaning?)

Sitting in front of the patio door, basking in sunlight with my plants, alternating between Cold 911 and refreshing water, and I feel CAPABLE. Booyah!

After the disaster that was Cherry Potion, and considering that every new tea I try these days fails to please, I decided to brew up a favorite: Santa’s Secret. BUT, for the first time ever, decided to try and do it as a latté!

(Side-note: I add milk to all straight black teas, and chamomile, but have never done the heated and foamed up milk additive.)

Someone on Steepster or on the DT FB page mentioned how she uses a mason jar and a microwave to get some foamy milk. I am surprised how well that works! The foam is lasting as long as any from my cappuccino’s at the coffee shop, huh…

As for the tea itself? It’s hard to get used to something looking like a rich moka or café latté actually being a thin tea – I keep expecting it to have more consistency. And because i never add anything to my Santa’s Secret, I’m not used to the watered-down flavour. But, I think it’s interesting, and is something I will tinker with until I get just right .

Got enough to make a pot of this tea during a tea exchange. Didn’t really know anything about it prior, so didn’t have any expectations. I’m actually surprised that a cherry tea never figured on my most wanted list.

First off – the dry leaf and the liqur bost remind me of “Elf Help” scented play-doh. Emphasis on the play-doh. Errr….

Took a sip, and… I’m kinda confused. I don’t taste cherries. Or white tea. I taste something strong and unenjoyable and tart and – AHa! Hibiscus! That ’s why this was not on my most wanted list!

Blech. Hibiscus. And, oddly enough, play-doh. Not even worth finishing the pot.

Won’t spend a lot of time on this, considering it’s a long-gone tea (and because I am being super productive, of course ;)

Got this in a tea trade recently. I find the dry leaf smells like Organic Green Seduction. As does the liquor. And the flavour, well, reminds me of the same. But weaker. So, it’s good, but it’s basically like they took OGS, rehashed it and sold it under a different name, with the main selling point the magical life changing properties of barberries. Meh. Glad I got it free in a trade. Maybe I’ll just add it to my tin of OGS and call it a day…

Technically, I am hard at work on a projet, so don’t tell anyone that I’m sneaking onto steepster!

Made a pot of this to accompany my hard work. Added a dash of honey as I tend to do with straight greens and served it bit by bit into my teeny tiny teecup (so in love with that thing!)

I found the tea to be skewed on the bitterness to flavour ratio. A high amount of bitterness for a surprising lack of flavour, even in the first understeeped cup. Yet, I finished the pot with pleasure.

Honestly, this tea was good, but compared to some awesome greens out there, there just isn’t any place in my cupboard for it. Literally. Bags fall out when I open the door….

Today was a fun event – my gang of tea-loving friends gathered for our first Tea Exchange. Everyone brought and offered up the teas that they no longer like and get to choose from others’ unwanted teas for something new. Highlights: Nobody wants anything to do with DT’S Honeybee, Fantasy Island, Pina Colada and Sencha Pear.

In the midst of this, we all made some tea – Cinnamon Heart, Sweet Dreams, Buttercream for my friends, Hot Lips for me. I’m really happy I got to try this one.

First impressions: The most beautiful tea blend in the world. Fiery red flowers and peppercorns make it soooo pretty!! And, it smells exactly like the cinnamon heart candies. Kinda insane. The liquor was a surprising yellow and had the same aroma.

Taste: Cinnamon, swallow, and… hooah! That’s got some kick going down!

Loveability: Won’t be purchasing any of it before it’s gone. I don’t ever crave cinnamon in my teas, so even though it’s a very tasty tea, it would just end up being given away at our next Tea Exchange.

This one was a gift, so not a tea I would normally choose myself…

First impression – Dry leaf different than the bundled little rolls that I so enjoy. Almost looks like the leaves were chewed on a bit, mushed into a compressed little shape and then left to dry. But in a nice way. The smell is rather strong and vegetal, not the kind of tea that makes me want to stick my nose in the bag and inhale for days.

Once steeped, the smell is a lot stronger and doesn’t captivate me, but : the liquor is the most amazingly beautiful pale pale lime green! (There is now a strong war going on between this and Mother’s Little Helper in terms of prettiest tea in my clear mug. ) The unfurled leaves are wonderful and make me want to be a photographer.

Flavour First steep, nude, and with no expectations, this tea has as strong a flavour as its smell. Fairly astringent, light-medium bodied and vegetal, Tie Kwan Yin is nice, but a tad too… something for me to fully enjoy. I’m left searching for the floral notes that are mentioned everywhere.

Loveability I’ll see how this one feels in the next two steeps, and I’ll try playing around with a touch of sweetness, but I don’t this is a tea I would ever crave or buy again. Would be a pleasant “company” tea, though.

How I love you, Electric Lemon!

You make my life so much better by:
¤ Reminding me of my childhood with your yellow lollipop scent
¤ Waking me up when I’m feeling “blah”
¤ Giving my taste buds a unique thrill
¤ Converting my tea-hating girlfriend to an Electric Lemon drinker (it’s a start!)
¤ Kicking the ass out of any sore throat, cold or congestion that has dared to cross my path

Now if only you had the power to regenerate so that I didn’t feel like the end of the world is that much closer everytime I have a pot…

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Myself, at the beginning of the winter tea season, sipping some Snow Bunny:

I can see this tea becoming a tradition that will lead to heartache when the winter collection ends. I can see it as my companion whilst wrapping Christmas gifts and after frolicking in the snow.

Well, the honeymoon is over, it has disappointed me time and time again, and now I’m kicking it to the curb. Finished my 25g bag of Snow Bunny today in a “clean out the tea cupboard” swing. By finished, I mean brewed, got disgusted with the smell, sipped, was disgusted by the taste, threw down the drain, rinsed, did not repeat.

I don’t know what happened with this one. Each time I had it, the banana flavour seemed more fake, the walnuts more overpoweringly bitter, the black tea so bland it faded into none-existence. WHY did I ever think this was good? Goodbye, high rating!

Aisling of tea’s recent slew of strawberry teas made me crave my own strawberry or raspberry tea, only to discover that this is the only pure flavor of those two that I have. So, even though its not my favorite, decided to make some of this for my after-supper lounge.

This tea is actually kind of growing on me. It’s faint and subtle and light, and the strawberry flavour just barely peeks through the white tea, which is actually the perfect balance for this tea. I even had a second steep of this, and enjoyed it even more. Upping my rating for this one…

Does anyone have suggestions for a nice DT raspberry tea, other than Raspberry Nectar?

Guh… love. this. tea. AND I found out that it’ll only cost me a $1 more a tin than my current go-to black tea. Hmmmmm…

This was the perfect afternoon hunker-down-and-work tea earlier today. So smooth and creamy and wow. I now feel the need to revisit all the blacks that I have rejected in the past, only now in the DT collection. This could get pricey…

EDIT: I am horrible with math. It will not cost me a dollar more a tin, but THREE. And yet…

Had this for my morning cuppa today. Feels like I cheated on my beloved… ;)

Honestly, it was still as awesome, but not what I needed to kick me awake in the morning. I still prefer my DOB for those early mornings, as it has a stronger taste. However, this Assam will most likely be my afternoon black tea (uh-oh, there goes my resolve to only have one cup of black a day, green or oolong in the afternoon, and herbal in the evening… crap.)

Seriously one of my faves right now.

Wow. Just wow. I think this tea is by far the biggest surprise I’ve had in the tea department to date.

I got this as a Christmas gift (the straight tea collection) and had no hopes for it because:
a) I have my daily breakfast tea
b) The assam I got a couple years back from Un amour des thés was hopelessly disappointing

However, decided to make this to help me focus on the boatloads of work I have to do thanks to UdeS (why am I on Steepster, again?) and am happy I did.

First impressions – Dry leaf smells like black tea. Sorry, I have a very unrefined nose. Black is black is black to me. Brewed, however, and you get a… sweeter? aroma, much smoother than what I’m used to.

Taste – Very smooth and rich. Absolutely no bitterness, even though I oversteeped it a bit. Very, very pleasant.

Loveability – I will definately love it while it lasts. I might even (gasp!) drink it in the morning in lieu of my DOB. But, in all honestly, it would have to be comparable in price to DOB to make it worthwhile for this student to switch over, especially at the rate I go through a tin. And I suspect it isn’t… Overall, a wonderful black tea!

Wow. I am definately surprised by this one! I received it as a gift, and is not something I would have picked out myself.

My only other experience with a straight white tea was many moons ago, when Salada tea bags were the only tea I knew. I walked into an Amour des thés shop, and was sold “a wonderful white tea!” with no futher info, even though I was obviously a newbie to loose leaf and quality teas. Result? I made a cup using boiling water, added milk and sugar (that is the only way I knew how to drink tea back then) and promptly gave the rest of the $20 bag away! (Yet another way in which I fully appreciate DT…)

Back to the tea!
First impressions – The dry leaf smells like a subdued gunpowder green tea. It brews to a pale golden color with a similar aroma. I definately agree with Tina S. = these are the most beautiful tea leaves that have unfurled in my cup. So delicate and fresh!

Flavour – Definately not the mild flavour I would expect. It’s like a wonderful Osprey Gunpowder that has mellowed out and had any trace of bitterness removed. Very light yet still a lasting flavour.

Lovability – Not the tea that I would run to, nor one that I would necessarily restock. But it is definately a pleasant and surprising tea that I am happy to have tried.

Thank goodness I stocked up on this one to last me through the rest of the winter. It’s just the perfect compliment to snowy weather. I went skating today, and the whole time I just though about how wonderful my post-winter-activity cup of Santa’s secret would be. And it just smells sooooo good…

Backlogging…

I was in Québec City over the holidays, and had completely forgot to bring any of my teas with me on the trip! (Imagine being tired enough to forget tea, that’s the state I was in…) Luckily enough, there’s a DT that I was able to go to the first day. I was really craving some Electric Lemon, so I asked the worker what lemon-ginger mixes they have Since they only have two options, I ended up taking a cup of this to go.

Weak. Mild. Inoffensive. Boring. I really do not like this tea.

This tea has never been a favorite, but every so often I just have to drink it, and today is one of those days. It’s light, flavorful and slightly creamy, with just a subtle hint of fruit. It’s incredibly smooth, and one of the rare DT blends (like Checkmate) that forms a cohesive flavour above and beyond the individual ingredients, rather than ‘hmm this tastes like white tea with chamomile with mango!’ The whole is better than the sum of its parts…