JoonSusanna

Well, look what I found!

I wanted a pure black tea for breakfast this morning, and going through my Teavivre samples there was a small red packet hiding down at the bottom. Hooray for surprises!

Steep notes: entire packet into 8 oz. tea at below parameters. No additives.

Guh – the dry leaf! Malty black teas are my favorite – they are so heavy and rich to smell. They are also among my favorite to look at once steeped – the brown liquor is the color of polished mahogany.

The taste is malted honey, and the texture is thick – almost like nectar. Even as it cools nothing is overly tannic or astringent with this. Just a perfectly well executed black tea, that I’ll be taking through a few more infusions since I’m not ready to stop drinking yet!

This one could have used a longer infusion time, it was a little thin for me today. But I still got a caramel marshmallow flavor – enough to make me seriously consider buying a bag of marshmallows just to eat for dessert tonight. I resisted in the end. :)

It’s an ick day outside (rainy and cold) and the boyfriend and I are feeling under the weather. Headaches all around – meh.

So it was time to make tea, and this is one of the few he’ll drink with me. But for some reason I was thinking this was the Teavana blend so I overcompensated on the leaf. It’s okay for me since I drink mine with milk anyway, but too strong for him.

Note to self: 4 tsp. for 3 cups next time!

I’m just really not on it today. But at least I have my tastebuds in working order!

Backlog from this morning – all caught up now!

This tea is definitely good for 2 steeps – around 4 minutes the first time and at least 10 minutes the second time around. And both steepings are freaking perfect. I LOVE this!

Got this as a free sample for my Della Terra order.

I was pretty worried about hibiscus being in this. It’s such a tart, overpowering flavor. The scent of the tea itself seemed off to me, too. It was trying to be a chai, but also seemed to be trying to be fruity, too. Fruity and chai just aren’t flavors I’d put together, you know?

So anyway, I steeped this for right at three minutes, because hibiscus can be bad news if you let it go too long. Fruity flavors and milk don’t go together, so I just kept it plain.

Surprisingly, this blend worked! The deep red color of the liquor was gorgeous – my favorite part of hibiscus is the color it adds to the resulting steeped tea. The spiciness of the cinnamon/ginger/cloves did a good job of balancing the hibiscus, too – in fact, the spices and orange peel really could fool you into thinking the hibiscus was more cranberry like, since both are so tart and astringent anyway. Or – maybe the actual cranberry in the blend helped give it a cranberry like taste. Wow. My brain really isn’t operating at 100% today.

Anyway, in a nutshell- this was good. Tart, spicy, good with or without additives. My mom and I drank it last night on a dark porch under the glow of christmas lights, and this really added to the holiday feel. I’m super glad I got to try it!

Backlog from yesterday morning.

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf, 14 oz. water, a splash of milk.

This smells and tastes like chocolate covered cherries! That awesome part of the chocolate taste that I did like from Dubbele Chocolade is present here, without the aftertaste that I didn’t like so much. The cherry flavor is perfect, too – it blends perfectly with the chocolate.

As far as the mouthfeel – the milk really gives this a thicker, chewy texture that takes this from good to decadent. Sigh – I wish I had more than an ounce of this!

Backlog from Friday morning.

Steep notes – 2 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. water, some milk, no sweetener.

The dry leaf smell is heavenly – pure dark chocolate! I love dark chocolate so this is promising. After steeping it still smells the same, so yay! And initially the flavor is matches up too – but then there’s kind of an artificial aftertaste taking away from that awesomeness. Maybe I used too much leaf? Or oversteeped? I don’t know. The other thing is that even with the milk it seems kind of thin in texture.

Of all the teas from my Della Terra order, I was least impressed with this one. But, on the plus side, I have only had one cup, so I’m sure I can tweak it! Maybe more of a latte style will work with this blend, since its taste is so reminiscent of hot chocolate.

Mmmm, cake.

I love that this is a go-to option when it’s too late for caffeine. Now that I’ve had the Oh, Canada blend I definitely taste the maple undertones, but still this is predominately vanilla frosting to me. Which is good, because I can eat frosting with a spoon. (I know, I know – bad for you, etc. That’s why I don’t keep it in my house.)

But at least I can keep this in my house! It’s sweet without being sweet, if that makes any sense. And I have a big tin set aside for it so I can always have it on hand.

The smell of this makes me think I’d better save drinking it for lazy days. Mostly because all I want to do is crawl under a blanket with a mug of this and a book. It is so comforting and homey!

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf to 14 oz. water, 2 oz. milk. No sweetener.

The base in this tea peeks out more than in S’mores or Eight Candles. It also is a smidge astringent, and the milk didn’t really help smooth it out much. I’m wondering if that might also be a slight bitterness from the apple peel?

Eh – I think this one needs a little sweetener to help bring out its flavors a little more. That or a little longer steeping, which I’ll try next time, too. The smell is amazing – and if I can get that smell to turn into taste, then this will be another reorder, too.

Yay for wonderful tea!

My tea habit is out of control at the moment – and I would sigh resignedly here, but I honestly don’t care. :)

In general my life is spinning fast – with all good things, but it’s just suddenly there is an abundance of things to do, lists to make, books to read, teas to drink – and I am having trouble getting focused enough to make headway in any organized fashion.

The solution? To drink tea, of course!

I tried a sip of this without milk and found that at the below steep time I definitely had some slightly astringent black tea on my hands – not a bad thing, but I went ahead and added milk to get that out of there. And for next time: definitely stick to the 3 minute parameter. I also think that initially there was a slight note of artificial caramel – it vaguely resembled that weird note in David’s Salted Caramel, anyway.

However as it cools, I’m getting more of a genuine caramel taste with some sweet/creamy notes from the marshmallow, which the milk had to help along. This is good! I liked the S’mores better – I probably dreamed about it last night I loved it so much – but this one is right up there with the best of my dessert-for-breakfast teas.

I have to say I am SUPER excited to try out the rest of the teas from my order – I am loving Della Terra so far!

So this is my first order from Della Terra teas, and this is tea I picked to try first since it was the reason I even placed an order. I have to say a huge thank you to them for sensing my need for instant gratification, too – I ordered this Sunday night and got it today (Wednesday). It’s like they knew me and my impatience, haha.

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. water, a splash of milk, below parameters.

I got this mainly after being disappointed by the Toasted Marshmallow Tea David’s has out right now. The name of that really put me in the mood for s’mores, and I ordered this hoping for a semblance of toasted marshmallow flavor. Okay, here goes!

…..Um.

Well, the above silence was me drinking 3/4 of my cup. You know how someone who has been without water will try to gulp it down once they have access again? I pretty much just did that with this tea.

This tastes and smells exactly like s’mores, but also manages to preserve a good balance with the black tea. How are there graham crackers in here? How are there marshmallows?

This is amazing. Like, let me just get a huge tin ready because this is going to be a permanent tea in my collection. It’s a good thing we’re planning on moving to a bigger place in a few months, because the rate I’m going my tea will need its own pantry!

EDIT: I went for a second steeping of this (ended up being 10-15 minutes steep time) and though it’s thinner, with the added milk it tastes almost like hot chocolate – the chocolate and marshmallow are more prominent than the graham cracker now but it is still really good. And no bitterness or astringence is evident from the base either – this tea is magic.

Backlogging 3 cups of this from this morning. I’m seriously on a tea drinking kick lately – must be the cold snap. But that’s good! I have a ton of tea to drink (and more on the way once the mailman gets here, which will hopefully be tonight!)

I’m starting to run low on this one – going to have to place a 52Teas order soon, I think. It just manages to taste so mapley and buttery – and then there’s just enough of a hint of pancake to make me feel like I’ve eaten, rather than drank, my breakfast. So glad this is a permanent tea!

This was a sample that came with my David’s Tea order – yay for free samples!

So when I smelled the dry leaf all I could think was that it reminded me of Cha Yen Thai from Teavana. And that smelled like some cherry almond hand lotion (not a bad thing- it’s just what it reminded me of). So I sort of get amaretto, too.

Steeped, the smell is much the same- this seriously is still Cha Yen Thai all over again. Looking at the ingredients between the two, the only thing that’s really different is apple versus pineapple. So…that’s probably why I think they’re similar! This one does have a fruit punch sort of note when I drink it plain, which I don’t remember in Teavana’s blend. Actually, the sip kind of alternates between fruit punch and amaretto. I don’t really think the flavors go together, though, so I’m going to add milk to see if that gets rid of the fruit punch and brings out the amaretto.

Yeah, the milk helped. It’s pure almond/creamy goodness now. With some background spice that the apple overruled before. It’s definitely good for this time of year, and I can see why it’s so popular, but I’m glad I just got the sample size. It doesn’t stay cold long enough here for me to enjoy 50 grams of this!

2nd steep: Okay, this has more apple/cinnamon notes to it! I am going to bump it up a few points because it’s a completely different tea from the first time around!

One of the main reasons I love Steepster is because when I haven’t had a tea in a while I can pull up old notes to get those steeping parameters. The other one is my virtual cupboard – I’ve pulled up many teas I’ve forgotten (!!) thanks to keeping track of my inventory online. Of course, part of the reason that my tea collection has gotten out of control might be Steepster related, too….but I digress. :)

This green is more roasted than seaweedy now, but I’m willing to bet that has a lot to do with it being about a year old. Regardless, it’s a nice hot drink on a cold night, and it balanced out a very heavy, warm dinner.

Got a free sample of this in my DAVID’s TEA order.

I was surprised that it was a white tea, because to me, cookie dough is a heavy flavor that warrants a black base. Of course, this could also be because I had the Milk and Cookies blend from 52teas last year and that was a black tea blend.

This is one of David’s blends that has a chemical smell to the leaf that somehow hot water makes disappear, leaving behind a surprisingly accurately named flavor behind. There was an off chocolate scent… it almost reminded me of the smell of those chocolate orchids – kind of a cheap, artificial chocolate.

Despite the difference between black and white teas, both Cookie Dough and Milk and Cookies tasted similar to me. Taste wise, though, I think this one fares better than 52teas blend. It actually tastes more like chocolate chip cookies – but not the raw dough. Bummer, because I am that person that likes the dough more than the final, cooked result.

I’m glad I just got this as a sample, though, and not a bigger amount. It met expectations, it just isn’t to my particular taste. Oh well – I have a growing list of favorites from David’s, anyway, so I’m not deprived or anything!

Weird, today I’m getting more of an alcohol note from the rum, and I don’t like it. I am that sensitive to real alcohol that even a semblance of that flavor is off-putting. Maybe the milk brings it out, since I had it before with nothing and didn’t notice anything?

Eh, I’ll still finish the cup, though. This is just a note to self to keep it plain from now on!

Prepped latte style – half milk, half water, no sweetener.

I love my morning cup of tea before work, even if it is at 5 AM. Even if I don’t get to REALLY savor it. Something about that cup gets me nice and ready for the craziness that will be the next 12-13 hours.

This is even more amazingly cakey when milk is involved – and lightly sweet from the chocolate chips in the mix. I will definitely keep this on hand since I don’t eat cake itself anymore…

Made this as an afternoon latte after getting back from a short hike earlier today. I’m glad we get such a long fall here – gives me enough time to enjoy all the pumpkin/sweet potato recipes I possibly can!

Steep notes: 3 tsp. leaf, 1 c. milk, 1 c. water, coconut nectar as a sweetener.

Strangely enough, with sweetener, the graham cracker crust is the strongest taste, followed by a ginger-type spicy note. I guess the ginger is part of the pumpkin pie spice? The caramel and other pie spices filter in behind the initial crust flavor.

This is as good as ever, and I’m enjoying it immensely, but I think it’s one of the rare cases where I won’t be wishing for more…well, not until next September anyway!

Still pretty meh on this one being marshmallow like. I added milk this time and it turned into full fledged egg nog, though, so that was pretty yummy.

I really wanted a toasty marshmallow tea, though. I’ll just have to start perusing the reviews looking for s’mores/marshmallow teas and see what I find, I guess!

I love the flavor of maple – and I’ve been wanting to try a maple flavored tea for a long time. I figured a Canadian company would probably know what they were doing as far as maple was concerned, so I went ahead and added this to my order.

The smell of this one dry did make me hesitant, at first. There was definitely maple there, but also something else that didn’t quite fit. That weird chemical note that seems to appear more often than not in the dry leaf scent of their blends. I’ve learned by now that once it steeps that fake smell disappears, so I hoped it would be the case with this one too.

Steep notes: 1.75 tsp. leaf, 10 oz. water, no additives, below parameters.

Once steeped that chemical smell does go away- leaving what looks and smells like pancake syrup – YUM! And even more awesome, this TASTES like maple syrup! There is a definite sweetness and even a kind of buttery note that makes me want to pour this over a stack of pancakes and eat it. Seriously WOW.

I didn’t really get any hints of rooibos in the tisane itself, but then I did kind of suck this down fast because it was SO GOOD. It does definitely make me want pancakes or waffles or something breakfasty and sweet.

I will definitely be keeping some of this on hand!

Cold brewed this: 3 tsp. leaf, 14 oz. liquid (2 oz. milk, the rest water). No sweetener. Steeped for 24 hours.

The color of this kind of reminds me of strawberry Nesquik – you know, how it turns milk that pink color? It isn’t as pronounced, but there is certainly a pink tinge to this once brewed! The smell is also JUST like the dry leaf – which makes me so happy because the scent alone is one of my new favorite things.

Taste-wise, there’s the strawberry shortcake! When cold, the strawberry REALLY comes out and dominates over the shortcake, which is the way it should be! I think I should have done a more milk/less water ratio because it’s a tad thin and watery for my tastes. Every once in a while there’s a sweetness from some of the added brittle pieces in the leaf, and the creaminess from the milk adds to the overall flavor.

Next time I’ll balance the water/milk more and I think it will be perfect -I’m having no trouble drinking it as it is, though!

Made as a latte this morning – 1 cup milk, 1 cup water, 1 tsp. honey and 3 tsp. leaf.

This was like drinking a liquid caramel – the milk really helped with that. Not so much salt but that’s not really surprising because I haven’t gotten it the other times either. I like plain caramel fine, so no big deal. I should probably get some fleur de sel anyway and next time I can just add that to the top of my cup and see what happens.

This has definitely grown on me the more I drink it!

It’s been so long since I’ve had this – WHY?

Steep notes: 6 g. leaf, 500 ml. water, no additives, below parameters.

I love Dan Cong teas. LOVE them. They are very heavy in their flavors: roasted, honey, apricot, earthy notes separate and combine themselves all at once in a sip. The mouthfeel is nectary and heavy too, coating the inside of your mouth with a lingering honeyed sweetness that I’ve read is trademark of a good dan cong.

And the smell! I still get the salty tang of the sea air. How can it smell and taste so radically different?! This is just…amazing.

The steeping time for this is apparently the sweet spot, too – only a very tiny bit if astringence as it cools, and really it enhances rather than detracts from the flavor.

If I knew how to do them, there would be a row of hearts here instead of text….this really hit the spot tonight!

The smell of this dry is easily one of my favorite things – I easily get strawberry shortcake. If I had to give this a rating on smell alone it would be 100. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.

Steep notes – 2 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. water, a large splash of whole milk and the below parameters.

I had this earlier in the week but never got around to logging it. But my steep time was longer and I think that really made it too astringent. Also, maybe it was my tastebuds but at the time I didn’t get a lot of strawberry, either. I hope I can fix that!

Once steeped, the smell turns fresher – if that makes sense. It smells like I pulled cake right out of the oven! The strawberry is there, too! Taste-wise, this definitely has a hint of sweetness to it – sugary sweetness rather than berry sweetness. There is a cake note and the milk makes it extra creamy. I’m still not really getting as much strawberry flavor, though. Maybe it shines best in a cold brew? I made some up to brew overnight in the fridge so we’ll see.

Still, it is quite good- and if that strawberry can be a little bit more prominent, then it is a definite reorder for me!