JoonSusanna

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!

The scent out of the bag was strongly chemical. Like, I kind of got burnt sugar, but I also got the artificial notes overpowering it. Maybe it’s a new batch and the chemicals have to settle/dissipate first?

Steep notes: 1.5 tsp. leaf, 8oz water, a splash of milk, below parameters.

Okay, now that it’s brewing any artificial scent has gone away completely. I’m getting a creme brulee smell! So I went ahead and tried it straight and….what is on my tongue GET IT OFF NOW OMG GROSS.

Seriously? Is that green rooibos? That nasty herby taste in my mouth passes for a tisane?
I need some milk in this STAT if I have any chance of finishing it.

Thankfully the milk seems to take away whatever offending flavor the rooibos imparted, though knowing it is lurking beneath the surface is really ruining the experience for me. Still – creamy caramel burnt sugar is really good. And at least it was fixable – though I probably won’t seek this one out again since it is virtually unpalatable in its natural form.

Two more rooibos to go – man I hope they’re more like the Birthday cake than this one.

Alright – I am not a drinker of alcoholic beverages. But I was just too curious about this one not to try it. I mean, I love coconut. I love anything buttery and vanilla flavored. I was already ordering a ton of tea, so why not have this be the one that gets me the free shipping, you know?

Steeped about 1.75-2 tsp. of leaf to 10 oz. of water, with no additives. For some reason, mostly laziness I’m sure, I’m just not going for the milk with these teas. That’s actually probably a good thing, since I’m finding that they have enough body to stand on their own (except for Toasted Marshmallow – that one would benefit from milk or sugar).

This is another tea that really just didn’t need anything added – the coconut and vanilla really managed to both stand out and blend in to the flavor of the tea, if that makes any sense. And I did get a nice buttery addition in texture. Having never had rum I don’t know if it’s accurate, but I do know that I this is amazingly warming and comforting, and if it was in latte form would do well as a cold night cup. Even served like it is now, I could see it being wonderful on winter nights.

I definitely like this – I saw a recipe for hot buttered chai posted on the discussion board here a bit ago, and I’m thinking this would be a FANTASTIC variation on that.

This was one of the free samples from my David’s tea order.

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf, 1 cup water, no additives, below parameters.

I definitely get chocolate- maybe banana if I look really hard, but it is not as strong as the chocolate in the scent. The taste is the same – all I get is a chocolate tea, maybe some creaminess from the banana.

Eh – not enough complexity, or enough banana, for me.

Backlog from yesterday morning.

Steep notes: 1.5 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. water, no additives.

I think I agree with others who said this isn’t really what is thought of when imagining toasted marshmallow. Maybe I was envisioning more like s’mores? Because what I get – a lightly spiced black tea with some added creaminess due to those mini marshmallows- is good and all, but it’s not…accurate. And the marshmallow isn’t reflected in the taste so much as the texture. A spiced, creamy tea – with hints of marshmallow every once in a while, when I stop paying so much attention to it.

Not bad, just not quite what I wanted.

WOW. I have NEVER had a rooibos this good.

Steep notes for myself: no additives, 1.5 tsp. leaf, below parameters.

The dry leaf is so fun with all the sprinkles! It smelled alot like the Red Velvet cake – a vaguely caramel/maple note moreso than actual cake, in other words. But something really magical happens to this stuff when the hot water hits it- I’m getting the funfetti/vanilla icing note really strongly in both taste and aftertaste. Actually, it is dead on for a cupcake. I will have to add milk to this at some point and see what happens, but really it is just fine on it’s own…better than fine, actually.

It’s hands down perfection!

My order came- and it was totally delivered to my apartment door!!!! That never ever happens! So now I have bunches and bunches of new flavors to try – SQUEE!!!

I fortunately got a lot of rooibos flavors (which I will be getting to after dinner) but I could still get away with one black blend if I got started on it immediately. So I went with this because – well, I haven’t had cake in a long time, really since going gluten free a few months ago.

Preparation: no additives, 1.5 tsp. leaf to 8 oz. water.

The dry leaf did have a sort of chemically maple smell that reminded me strongly of my first (not so good) impression of their salted caramel. But once I kept sniffing it there was a definite note of chocolate cake in there. It smells REALLY sweet – makes me want some cake frosting. My favorite part of any cake is ALWAYS the frosting!

It didn’t brew up as red as I was expecting, given that beetroot powder is an ingredient. It did brew up cloudy, though, which I was expecting because of the sprinkles/chocolate bits that are interspersed throughout the leaf.

Tastewise, I get echoes of chocolate cake and frosting – more an aftertaste now that I think about it. It tastes great – though not specifically of red velvet cake, if I’m honest. A little bit too caramel tasting for that.

Still – I do like it very much…and this is boding well for the next 10 or so I have to try!

Hmm…I feel like I’ve had this before, but I haven’t logged it, apparently. Maybe I’m confusing it with Earl Grey Creme from Teavana? They look very similar to each other – the bright blue flowers make a gorgeous contrast against the black tea. I guess I’ll just make it and find out!

The amount of tea in my cupboard right now is perfect – just enough variety to not get bored, but also, the amount of incoming leaf vs. outgoing is more or less balanced. Whenever the David’s Tea order gets here (fingers crossed for today!) I’ll be back in my normal pattern of accumulating faster than I can drink. :)

This blend stuck out to me in particular this morning because I haven’t had earl grey in a while – and the creamy vanilla mixed in with the scent of citrusy bergamot was wonderfully enticing. I love the smell and taste of vanilla. I’d pick vanilla over chocolate anytime!

Steeping parameters are below – the only additive was a splash of milk added to about 1.5 tsp. leaf in 8 oz. water.

I may have gone a bit heavy on leaf amount – the bergamot was STRONG when I first started drinking. But after a bit the milk helped get the vanilla more front and center. It was a smooth tea – no astringence, just a wallop of bergamot, followed by a blend of vanilla and black tea to finish off the sip. Mouthfeel, even with the milk, was a little thin, but I drained the cup pretty quickly regardless.

This is boyfriends black tea of choice, besides the East Frisian blend. He goes through this and his Moroccan Green Mint at a pretty quick clip – drinks one or the other daily with his lunch at work. I can’t imagine pairing this with a sandwich and chips, but he seems okay with it. Whether I’ve had it before or not, it really does remind me almost exactly of the Teavana version of this tea. That’s not a bad thing at all, though – this version’s cheaper so I’ll just stick with it!

Argh! I have a giant David’s Tea order that I placed 11 days ago that I’m still waiting on (couldn’t have been put in at a worse time, really, since it was the Saturday night before Thanksgiving week)! And there is so much new tea in it that I want to try….but I can’t, yet.
So, boo.

But I can use this time to really pay attention to this tea – get the leaf ratio right for a latte, add the right amount of milk and a small amount of sweetener to really formulate my opinion of it.

And survey says….meh.

There’s still that medicinal ginger note that I get when I take my first sip. That eventually seems to fade out as the tea cools, but if I go away from it for a while it creeps back in again.

I think part of the problem is also the type of ginger flavor – I was expecting some sweeter cake/bread notes but it’s more of the harsh bite of ginger ale. It does add an extra dimension of spice to the chai, but at the same time it overwhelms rather than balances out the other flavors.

It’s still drinkable – just not my favorite 52Teas blend..

Ahh, Frissy.

Better than coffee in the morning, you are.

One day (when I’m really up for cold weather – that won’t be soon) I will go up to Frisia and drink this the way it is supposed to be: rock sugar, heavy cream and all. If I had a bucket list, that would be on it.

It’s considerably more doable than the boyfriends goal – which is to buy and pick up a BMW from the factory in Europe, and “break it in” on the Autobahn before bringing it back home. But no harm in dreaming big, I suppose!

I experimented with this in a less than perfect way – tried melting some coconut butter in it to make it extra coconutty. Um, yeah- it really didn’t work – I got gritty pieces of coconut but not the hint of sweetness I was expecting. Ah well – live and learn.

It’s still good- and a great companion to Kafka on the Shore. There is no greater combination on Earth than tea and books.

Backlog from this morning…added a splash of milk

This one keeps getting better and better.

I don’t understand how, but I sure do love it!