Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Cotton Candy Black Tea by 52teas

I swear, Canada Post has made some really good changes! The last three packages I’ve received (ok, not the one from Fong Mong Teas) arrived in absolutely record time! Less than a week to receive my most recent swap, from Alphakitty (YAY!!!!) Which actually sucks, in a way, because my package is definitely going to take longer to arrive given that the estimated arrival was 6-12 business days.

Anyway! I cannot say enough good things about everyone I have swapped with. You’re all so ridiculously generous that even when I include a few extras, I am always WAY outdone! I mean, Alphakitty sent me little candies, and Azzrian sent me the cutest mini teacup EVER! To say nothing of the sheer number and size of samples!

Ok, so onto the tea. Steepster is still down, so I’m making a big list with these posts in a Word document. Probably good practice anyhow.

So yes. This came to me from the oh-so-generous Alphakitty, whose package from 52teas arrived just in the nick of time for her to include it! So excited, except I’m going to be mad if I like it because it’s unavailable.

The dry tea smells deliciously like cotton candy. Strangely, I’m not really getting that aroma from the cup – it’s more of a black tea with just a hint of sweetness. I definitely used enough tea, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Ok, this is a bit of a letdown – I’m not tasting the cotton candy at all, really, except perhaps a bit in the aftertaste. The black tea base tastes ok (could be maltier IMO), but I’m so confused that I’m not really tasting anything else! I’ll have to read everyone’s reviews once Steepster is alive again, and see what I perhaps did wrong :( I should note that there’s just a teensy bit of astringency, so I don’t think a longer infusion would be wise for me.

Just tried with milk and sugar and I am liking the base tea blend, but still not really getting cotton candy. I really think Forest Berry Silver Needle was much more successful in that regard, as I swear it was strawberry cotton candy in a cup with a bit of white tea flavouring mixed in.

Oh well, no loss if this isn’t a tea for me, since I can’t purchase it anyhow! I’m kind of glad to cross another tea off my 52teas sampling list (which is huge. Anyone have a subscription and want to swap small samples of everything to me every couple months or so?!)

ETA: Drinking the second infusion (close to boiling/4.5min) cool and there’s just a hint of cotton candy in the aftertaste. Not a bad tea, but not a winner. I will cold-brew or ice the rest later.

2012-06-07 14:25:53 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

3 min 0 sec

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Incendiare 2012-06-07 14:39:01 -0400

Yeah, I’m not really getting cotton candy from it either, and I’ve steeped it in many ways.

Kittenna 2012-06-07 14:51:16 -0400

Oh well! I’m really not too heartbroken since I didn’t buy it myself :)

Alphakitty 2012-06-07 16:14:06 -0400

I haven’t even tried this one yet! XD I think I’m going to try it iced first… hot cotton candy just somehow seems wrong to me.

Kittenna 2012-06-07 17:05:33 -0400

Try it iced and report back :D I sent you some teas I have yet to try to, like Apricot Guayasa (I sent that… right?)

Alphakitty 2012-06-07 17:44:15 -0400

Yup, you sent that one! I love apricot, so I’m pretty excited to try it.

CHAroma 2012-06-14 11:13:08 -0400

I brew this at boiling water for 2.5 minutes and it tastes exactly like cotton candy to me! Especially with just a little Truvia and skim milk. Sorry you’re not getting the same experience. Also, I have several 52teas blends that weren’t really to my liking if you’d like to do a swap.

Kittenna 2012-06-16 02:38:14 -0400

Oooh, CHAroma – PMing you!

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.