aisling of tea

After a few not-so-great tea days, I reached for something I knew would be good. Especially after the sadness that was my cup of Forbidden Fruit, I desperately needed some POWberry and WHAMmelon! ;)

This cup delivered. Now that I’ve broken the bad tea mojo streak, I’m off to try some of my samples from Teavivre!

Oh my goodness, yes please! This was an absolute delight iced yesterday while we were wandering around to celebrate my sister in law’s birthday. It was creamy and nutty and full of delicious goodness. Because it was purchased in-store, it was a little weak. I hate their method of brewing it “twice as strong” and then pouring it over ice. It always ends up weak for me. Yummers, though. Might have to try some here at home, letting it cool instead of icing it.

Oh blegh. I don’t know if I made a bad cup or what, but I had a cup of this last night and it was terrible. It tasted, literally, like dirt. Blegh. I will have to try again….later.

Guh. Had this all day at work on Saturday, I loved opening my thermos to pour a fresh cup. It smelled so good! Unfortunately, I accidentally brewed it a bit weak, sad. Still the smell alone was a nice pick me up for a long workday.

Short review, as I had this a few days ago and don’t quite remember the taste of it, but I remember I liked it? I tend to reach for herbals when I’m feeling dehydrated and need something juicy, and this was juicy in an earthy way.

It’s official, Santa’s Secret is my Pumpkin Chai. Love and adore this blend. My amazing and wonderful mother in law found me some soy egg nog for the holidays and sent an unopened carton home with me. We decided that in the New Year, we’re really going to make more of an effort to be as dairy-free as possible, as cream and some milk products make me violently ill. Soy nog = looooove.

I heated up some of that beautiful soy nog, frothed it a bit and steeped some Santa’s Secret in it, 1/2 nog, 1/2 water…mmmm. I found Holiday Heaven, y’all.

Woo hoo! Talked the wife into going back today! The promise of Panera didn’t hurt ;)

Yum yum yummity yum. Sooooooooo grapey and oolongy and goooood.

Meh. One of my choices at Panera today, this just sounded good. Nothing remarkable, but I did have to add twice my usual amount of sugar to get a hint of peach. Oh well, I still enjoyed it.

Oh my goodness, this was amazing. My amazing wife drove me to work at Square One yesterday and while we were there, she ran to Ten Ren and got me this, complete with tapioca pearls. Yesterday was insane at work, the poor doctor didn’t even get a lunch break and ended up leaving an hour and a half late. This tea kept me going, though it took me two and a half hours to squeeze in enough time to drink the whole thing. But oh man, it was good. I didn’t get to see this one made, but I know the Watermelon Oolong is made with real watermelon, so I’m going to assume this was made with real grape. My co-admin could smell it from across the room, it was so deliciously grapey. And the oolong was very present too, even if they do steep it for longer than I would like.

All in all, this was a delightful way to help me power through a stressful workday. My mouth is watering now, maybe I can convince my wife to drive down for lunch at Panera and a Ten Ren stop! yum yum yum.

Every once in a while, I start to crave an Earl. My wife had this one last night and it just smelled so good! Mmmm. So I’m enjoying a cuppa this morning in my new winter Winnie The Pooh mug. It’s nice and fruity and the bergamot doesn’t take over, which is always my complaint with Earls.

Love this one. I might need to make this my work tea today…

Hello lover.

Freaking adore this blend. Always will. So glad I stocked up on 3 tins. Tonight I’m not feeling so well, so I made up a pot of this in my penguin tea-for-one and I’m happily sipping away. Smooth, creamy, minty…beautiful.

I know I’ve been using “juicy” and “lovely” a lot in my reviews, but that’s what I’ve been craving lately.

And this one hits that sweet spot. Oh my goodness. Ooooooh my goodness! I love watermelon. I live for watermelon in the summer and yes, I will buy a whole watermelon and bring it home, even when I was walking to the grocery store. And I’m the only person in the house who eats it!

This is juicy and melon-y…yum. It does taste a touch artificial, but not so much so that it takes away from the tea. I am surprised with the full flavor with every sip! I was expecting a black tea with a hint of melon or strawberry. Instead I get POWberry and WHAMmelon! So much love for this…I may need to stock up before summer comes…if summer ever comes…

I’ve had a cold coming on for ages now, so yesterday I reached for something that might help. Hey, even if it doesn’t, mind over matter, eh?

I don’t usually like my whites hot, but this was delicious. Lots of love for this little beauty. It’s light, refreshing, and fruity, but not overly so. I got a straight white tea from Teavivre, I might have to give it a go today!

Started off my day with this yesterday…..yum yum yum. My local Davids needs to get all of their teas back in stock, darn it! I keep trying to buy a tin of green mate, but they’ve been out of it for ages. Sadface.

The mate added an earthy note that only enhanced the deliciousness of the Goji Pop. It was a very lovely day to start my day.

First of all, I’m not going to rate this one because I bought it expecting not to like it, and that’s just not fair. But I put my faith in DavidsTea, they have yet to make a blend I hate. It may not be my favorite cup ever, but I’ve never had a tea from them that wasn’t at least somewhat enjoyable.

At first sniff, I was sure this would be the tea to break that record. It is very, very strong. It does remind me of the ocean a bit, but I get none of the mint mentioned. Frankly, the smell of the dry leaf turns my stomach.

The steeped tea is much weaker, thank goodness. But all I taste is the sea lettuce and the cardamom. I’m having a hard time finding the words to describe the sea lettuce other than, well, it tastes like it sounds like it would taste. Kind of like I imagine seaweed would taste. Hrm.

Luckily, it did not break the record for me. It’s a decent tea, and if vegetal greens are your thing, I’d recommend this. I’m glad I only got 10g, though. The sea lettuce is something I’d never tasted before, so I’m pleased to have tried something new…nori! That’s it, it tastes like nori to me. Which is seaweed. Hrm. Now I want sushi.

I got some of this in a trade with The DJ Booth because I wanted to know if it was worth buying. Short answer: No.

Long answer: My wife might end me if I try to keep this in the house. It was weak, but what I could taste was bitter and burnt. Blegh.

I love the smell of this tea, and I enjoy the idea of this tea, but I have to agree with my wife. It tastes like a watered-down Buckley’s. I’m going to give it one last try and then it may go in the swap pile.

Second steep: Not as good as the first. Sad. It was okay, but I didn’t feel compelled to go back for a third.

Uuuuugh. Ate out for lunch at a fast food joint, feeling bloated and fat now. Guzzling tea to help with that, oolong to detox my system a bit. Plus, y’know, I really like oolongs.

New Year, new willpower about these fast food joints! I hope…..

This tea is just plain lovely. Light and refreshing, it makes me feel so much better after a big meal, and it’s peach! I love me some peach. A++

During the winter, I crave cold tea because I get so dried out…ugh. My little penguin humidifier is the only reason I can sleep at night.

This is one of my favorites to drink cold. It’s beautifully refreshing and as long as you keep an eye on the steep time, not too hibiscus-y. It’s sweet and juicy and wonderfully full of berries. Love.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I really do adore this tea. It wakes me up, it’s strong and smooth, and just plain beautiful.

My wife says I ramble in my reviews…do I ramble? looks at last two reviews and blushes Yeah, okay, I ramble.

Well, anyway, a few days ago I was in DavidsTea, and the lady next to me was buying Goji Pop. The employee opened the wall tin and the whole room was filled with this little beauty and my mouth started watering.

Cut to yesterday morning. I wanted something with caffeine, as I was working an 11 hour day and my wife and I had been up until all hours of the night the night before, so I made a thermos of orange blossom with mate. But I was also craving something juicy and, frankly, non tea-like. So I made a cup of Goji Pop in my travel mug to start the morning with. Oh man, it tasted good. Juicy and, well…pop-y!

Now I have a liter bottle of it chilling in the fridge…mmmm that will be amazing tomorrow morning!

This tea was generously provided by Teavivre!

Oh man, this tea.

Seriously, guys. This tea.

But first, a story.

My wife and I ran out to pick up this package today and decided to stop for lunch too. You know that while I was waiting, I had to rip into the package. Oh tea, glorious tea! There was tons of it. I open the first pouch – TGY. My wife’s favorite. I sniff it, sigh happily, and then sniff it again before looking up at her and turning the pouch upside down, dumping it all over the table.

What I forgot to mention to her (and to you, dear reader) is that the tea inside the pouch was individually vacuum packed. Yeah, I’m evil. She nearly had a heart attack.

Anyway, on to the tea. This is delightful. It needed 2-3 teaspoons to seem like enough, but oh, it was worth it. The dry tisane smells like, well, blueberries!

Knowing about the hidden hibsicus (aka Roselle), I only let it steep for four and a half minutes. It is plenty strong with just that steep time.

The smell…well, to be honest, the smell worried me. It smells like hibiscus, and overly hibsicus teas make me ill. I girded my tea-loins and took a sip anyway and made a little sound of happiness that I’m sure worried my wife. I took another sip and immediately rushed over here to add this tea to my shopping list. Mmmmmmm.

It’s juicy and sweet like a berry, a touch tart but not overly so, and overall amazing. If you’ve ever had that blueberry pomegranate juice found in the funky bottles, this tastes like that, only without massive amounts of sugar. So much yum. When my bottle of Goji Pop that’s currently living in my fridge is gone, I’m so making a bottle of this to try cold. It’s practically begging for it. I need to have some of this in stock by summer, end of story, y’all!

This tea was generously provided to me by Teavivre!

My package came today! It came todaaaaaaaay! bounces and sings

Ahem.

This was the tea I was most excited about. The thought of honey-covered tea leaves? Yes please! I was incredibly impressed by the packaging, unsticking the tea from the waxy bag in a bag in a bag in came in and dumping it into my glass gaiwan.

Oh my bob, it brewed up pretty. I’m on my fourth steep and the leaves have gotten huge. The first steep earned me a scolding from my wife. I poured the water and then quickly poured the liquor into my little cup before filling the pot of goji pop I was also making and asked her to set a steep.it for 3 minutes. She thought I was trying to steep this little beauty in my gaiwan for three minutes >.<

The flavor is lovely. I’m saving the other pouch for my wife, as she’s a huge fan of TGY’s. The first few steeps were very strong, but that’s fading to make room for a sweet, delicate floral note. I’m very much enjoying my cup of this and this from someone who doesn’t really like florals!

I also reached for this one because we had a horrible lunch out – Poutine and Pizza. Oh yes. Needless to say, I was feeling greasy and gross after lunch, so on Teavivre’s recommendation, I had my first steep of this about half an hour after we ate. I quickly started feeling better, which is a blessing.

All in all, this was a great tea! The floral got a bit overwhelming for me, but I’m not a fan of florals, so I’m calling that my issue. It is one I look forward to sharing with my wife, however.