aisling of tea

Verdant Tea rocks my socks, not only for their amazing teas, but also for their out of this world customer service. I feel like David Duckler is a personal friend of mine, and that’s an awesome feeling to get from a company.

Like my wife said, we both got six months subscriptions to Verdant Tea’s tea-of-the-month service for each other, and David has wonderfully agreed to combine them so we get ten months of glorious tea. I see this being a subscription we definitely keep up with, we’re already so impressed!

Included in the package were two straight teas and an herbal to mix with the other two, a very detailed and incredibly interesting letter explaining a bit about the tea and helpful hints on how to combine them, and tasting notecards for each tea. Just lovely.

We tried this tea on its own last night and it is delicious. Spicy with a touch of sweetness, I was sad when I found my cup empty. I look forward to resteeping this over and over and being continually surprised by the full flavor coming from a tea that gives such a clear liquid.

No notes yet.

We’ve fallen a bit behind on the Advent Calendar, Monday we hardly saw each other (I worked the early shift and she worked the late), so the pot of this never got made. We made it last night, and it was enjoyable enough. I’m not a big fan of the stuff, but I won’t protest if it’s available. It was light and refreshing enough to kind of clear out some of the heaviness following a dinner of Citron Oolong risotto with bacon and brussels sprouts.

Bought a final tin yesterday…three tins should last me until next year, right? Right?

Anyhoo, Drew and I had our Tea Cooking Day on Sunday, and I used this tea in one of my recipes. Santa’s Secret Divinity. It turned out sooooo good, the creamy vanilla took this candy to a whole new level.

Recipe:http://aislingoftea.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/tea-cooking-day-santas-secret/

Drew finally followed through and brought me the Irish Cream he’s been promising me for ages, yay! \o/

Though, to be honest, I was not impressed with it last night. It just didn’t knock my socks off. I’ll brew it again to my normal parameters, as he made the pot of this. Maybe I’m just being picky and the next cup will wow me. But it tasted like a vanilla black with an odd note of something that I assume is meant to be Irish Cream.

To get ready for our Tea Cooking Day, I had a cup of this while cleaning. Mmmmm. I accidentally oversteeped this (I have got to learn to set a timer when making tea and tidying the kitchen at the same time!), so while it was stronger than I prefer, it never went bitter.

I think I might pick up an extra 100g before it fades away.

This tea is my gateway drug. During our Tea Cooking Day, I made Drew try some of this and he fell in love like everyone else. I’ve sold so much of this blend, Tealish should give me a commission ;)

As this was Day number #18 of our tea calendar, I asked the wife to brew it up since I have nothing but trouble with it. It was good, but still not something I’d ever seek out. It was light and fruity, I don’t think I’d call it ‘fruitcake in a mug’, though. Ah well, the wife likes it and that’s good enough for me!

Ah, how tea tastes change. Last winter, I adored this tea. Last night, I didn’t even finish my cup. The almond was far too overpowering and left a weird taste in my mouth. I want to like it, but found myself wishing it was White Tiger instead…mmmm, White Tiger…..

This isn’t one I’d reach for again, I think.

Okay, time for a more in-depth review. I fell in love with this tea yesterday. The green mate adds a touch of earthiness to the blend, which works beautifully well for the rooibos, my wife said it cuts some of the sweetness, which is a definite plus in her book. It’s the beauty of that creamy orangey Orange Blossom with the caffeine boost of mate. It’s just about perfect, in my books, and something I plan to stock up on ASAP. Maybe I’ll get a tin of straight OB, and then a tin of half OB and half mate….yum yum yum!

Made a cup of this Thursday before I figured out to add mate. I wanted a thermos of this so bad, but knew that if I only took a decaf tea with me, I’d be asleep at my desk by noon, so I settled for a liter thermos of Honeybee and a travelmug of this gem. So much love for this blend. I have to keep talking myself out of buying a tin, as we still have a 50 g bag to finish, but when that is gone, a tin will be happening, y’all. Creamy, orangey goodness? Yes please. Oooooh maybe I should ice some today…

Made this to get through what I thought was going to be a long day at work on Thursday. Such a slow day >. Thermos of this and the doctor came out of her exam room down the hall to ask what smelled so good XD.

I think I’m just not a fan of tea with almonds or walnuts in them. Boo. Almond flavoring is good, but actual almonds or walnuts throw me off. This is okay, I guess, but with both almond and green tea in the mix, it isn’t for me. Still, I’m glad to have tried it in my Advent Calendar! Not going to rate this as it wasn’t something I’d pick out for myself. It was nutty, for sure, but in a bitter way.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. I wanted to take tea to work today, and I wanted Orange Blossom desperately, but I also really need a tea with some boosting power on Saturdays, so I mixed these two….yum. Yum yum yum. I have a new love!

This is the tea I always wanted this tea to be. Short steep time, not-quite-boiling water, perfection. Nearly bitter, but not quite, I found it almost too strong and my wife found it a little weak. This is not a tea we were destined to share. But it’s so good when done properly…I might have to seek this one out more often. The creamy vanilla always wins my heart. Bumping up the rating…you’ve earned it.

In other news, my brother is now on Steepster! Finally, eh? His name is dlonie, go follow him! Make him feel welcome ;)

So I mixed this one based on the recommendation of someone here on Steepster (I forget who, sorry!). Let me tell you, this sucker worked to help me sleep. I fell asleep waiting for my wife to refill the humidifier. Best sleep I’ve had in a long while…I think this might be one I keep around for those rough nights where I can’t sleep. I don’t quite remember how it tasted, but I remember it wasn’t amazing and it wasn’t horrible. shrugs

Day #14 of the Advent Calendar.

Loooove this tea. It’s creamy and a touch sweet and amazing. My wife and I broke out our gaiwans and split the sample between the two of us for quite a few infusions! Not the best for the gaiwan, but still beautifully tasty.

Day 13 of the Advent Calendar that we forgot about until this morning >.m grateful to have had another cup of this!

I love this tea. After getting two of the 40g Legendary packets for $5, I needed a tin, so I got one of the awesome Space Invader tins. Awesomeness squared. But this tea is just so smooth…how could a girl like me resist its charms?

This tea is amazing. Sweet and creamy…orangey without setting off my acid reflux, vanilla-y without being fake or cloyingly sweet. This is perfection in a mug. I think we may end up with a tin of this.

For those who follow me, I did contact DavidsTea about the bad service we received yesterday and they immediately apologized and set things right. The mark of a good company isn’t that they never mess up, everyone makes mistakes, but how they handle it when they do mess up. This is why I’m willing to give DavidsTea and Tealish so much of my business, they know how to handle customer service, and this is also why I warn people away from H&S. Customer Service is huge, people.

And so my weekend as a tea pimp comes to an end. My brother left with three big DavidsTea shopping bags full of tea, and about half of it came from my stash XD. It was a quick trip, but a good time was had by all and I just got the report that they made it over the border with no problems (we seriously thought he may have had more than the 4 kilo limit). We came up on Saturday and they left at 2 today (Monday). In that time, we visited six tea shops, four of them being Davids’.

Today we headed out to Davids, my local Davids. Once again we got stuck with one of the seasonal hires. We were told they were out of spearmint (which we spotted on the shelf a few minutes later), that the holiday Space Invader tin was $19.50 (we checked online, it’s $4.50), and that another DavidsTea location had the blue/dove grey tea for one set we wanted (the girl who ‘helped’ us called the other store and told us they had it. When we got to the other store, the person who talked to her said that they had said the only tea for one sets they had were the white and red new ones). So…suffice to say I was less than impressed. Kinda pissed off actually, since my brother was in from out of the country and the tea for one was for him. She was very pushy and he said she reminded him of the people who work at Teavana, if that’s any indication. If you’re going to work in a tea shop, please, know about teas and tea accessories?

I was dying for a cup of tea, so I ordered this one, mainly just to show my brother and his fiancee the awesomeness that is Glitter and Gold…so pretty! I forgot about it until it was cold and it was very tasty! I very much enjoyed this one. I hope they will too. The cinnamon is nice, but not overwhelming, and the black tea base is a treat. I recommend this one to everyone!

Edited to add: Spoke with DavidsTea and they were horrified. They managed to hunt down one of the tea for one sets, and they’re sending it to my brother. The mark of a good company isn’t that they never mess up, because no one is perfect. It’s how they handle the mess-ups and I have to say, DavidsTea has some of the best customer service I’ve ever seen.

Yay! I am so happy that I like this tea! I agree with DaisyChubb, it’s not on the same level as DavidsTea’s, but it is very, very good. I broke in a new teapot with this today (a very sweet gift from the brother), and it was perfect. We went back for four steeps and could have gone for more, I think. It was very creamy and oolong-y and delicious. Definitely glad I bought it!

My wife got a new tea set for her oolongs today, and since my brother wanted to try this one, I suggested it. It did not work out well in the gaiwan, but it was still tasty.

This is one I tend to reach for when I’m just craving something light and refreshing. I love this one….we need to restock! It always makes me feel better.