momo

TREAT YO’SELF!
Finally finally finally I can get back to all this tea. I promised myself I’d spend a whole day with this one on this short break before I have to go housesit for my parents and then go to class every day in June and July. Not going to want hot tea much then.

I’m using my gaiwan and combining two steepings. I love to intermix them like this, mostly because there is really no other easy way for me to get water than to do two at once.

1&2 – Green veggies, sugar, and grass. The first sip just hit me like, this is definitely spring. Definitely reminds me of my plants outside since they got a nice spring soaking yesterday. They seem extra green today. It’s just a little bit creamy, but mostly I’m getting a lot of sweet, grassy flavors that almost remind me of green tea instead. I think the creamy notes help assert it to be like, “no girl, this is a tie guan yin.”

3&4 – Now the floral flavors are coming out with the sweetness. It’s more buttery now, and still reminds me of green vegetables. It’s a nice combination. All I can really think right now is “I want to bathe in this!”

5&6 – This one got a bit too cool because I’m trying to fashion a way for my plants to get water for 6 days I’ll be gone. This cup was still very buttery, but the floral notes started to give way to a berrylike taste. I saw goji berry mentioned in the description, but I’ve never had goji by itself to know if that’s what I’m getting.

7&8 – Still creamy, sweet, and amazing. I think more fruit flavors are coming through, but it was so easy to sip these steeps down that I don’t have much more to say.

Then sadly I was pretty much done for the day (or more like I passed out for 2 hours in the late afternoon and didn’t feel like tea when I woke up) and I didn’t give the leaves a good enough time to dry out. They are now sitting on top of my sage, rosemary, and strawberry plants and hopefully will help them grow even better!

I wanted to love this since it smells like vanilla custard, but I am just not enjoying it. It tastes too artificial and it’s covering up the oolong for me. I only steeped it for 3 minutes because the 4-7 is a bit long for me for an oolong but I am definitely going to give it another shot. I love vanilla so I probably just have to tweak some things.

So I ended up with 2 ounces of this, although I wasn’t particularly impressed the first time around. I decided I’d cold steep a pitcher. I don’t know why I’m drinking it first thing this morning for me, but it’s overcast and rainy so it feels like 8am to me. It’s probably nice and cool out too, so I could easily have had hot tea!

But Bear Trap first. I like this so much better cold steeped. There’s not much sweetness, but it still has a good berry flavor. The tartness is there but subdued and I can handle it. Future cups might have me trying to sweeten it, but for now this is good the way it is.

And now I am trying not to buy everything DavidsTea introduced today because I hadn’t thought of it as an iced tea collection, and I really do need some of them in that case. But in 9 days I have to head up to my parents’ house to housesit for 9 more days so I definitely have to wait. Wahh.

I’m also thinking with this tea at least, making tea syrup with it. And then I’ll get some cheap snow cone maker and use it as the syrup instead of the ones they sell at the store. How good would that be?

This does remind me of Oh Canada….which is my favorite…and dare I say I might like this one even better? In any case it’ll just mean I won’t need to restock on Oh Canada too soon.

The only thing is that this isn’t maple, this is like straight up buttercream. It’s definitely sweeter. But enough comparing the two, they are both sweet, desserty rooibos complete with sprinkles. AND I LOVE THEM.

I hadn’t planned to get this one actually because of people saying it was similar but I’m glad I failed to realized I asked my friend to pick this one up for me. I had to get 50g of it, and after just smelling it in the bag I was okay with this. Definitely cake. And I was totally craving something sweet tonight, so this is perfect.

The cupcake teas were a hit for me, but I’m also a cake fanatic. On the plus side these will keep me from seeking out actual cake on a regular basis. I’m definitely going to give this a try as an iced latte…maybe with some of the cake vodka I have…no idea what else to do with it!

Finally back to tea! My mom came to visit this weekend and she loved the iced Rainbow Sherbet tea so that was pretty much all we drank when at my apartment! I have so many samples and things I need to try, and it should finally cool off for a little bit. I’ve got my patio door open right now and it’s so nice. I’m hoping it’ll rain soon. I just planted some flowers and herbs out there and I’m really excited about them.

I got my mom to order Golden Moon’s black tea sampler and split it with me…hoping maybe if I leave her with enough tea she will drink it on her own. I took this and the French Breakfast hoping she might like Darjeeling as much as me. I’ve always wanted to try this tea so I’m so happy to finally have it.

In the bag, it smells like molasses, but steeped it takes on more of a honey scent. I let it steep about a minute longer than intended but no harm done. Tastes sweet, and I even get notes that remind me of Darjeeling but in a richer black tea. In fact it just tastes really sweet, I can’t even imagine adding sugar on top of it. It tastes perfect as it is!

The aftertaste reminds me of my orange blossom honey. I am really getting citrus from this rather than berry.

Since I have some milk, I added it and it really cut all the flavors out, so I had to add the sugar. Now it is definitely reminiscent of caramel and I do get a bit of berry. I definitely prefer it without the additions though.

After Bonnie mentioned the ice brewing technique for Gyokuro, I had to try it with this stuff. It’s not the best by any means, but I figured I’d give it a try anyway.

Holy crap, it really changes this tea. It’s like drinking grass. Seriously. That might sound gross but it’s actually quite mindblowing.

It’s amazing. It’s so powerfully flavored; it’s pure grass at first and then it’s the naturally sweetest tea I have ever tasted.

Since I don’t have the proper stuff for making this, I just put 5 grams of tea in the infuser for my cast iron pot, then added 5 ice cubes, or however many it was that fit in there and let me put the lid on. I’ve been using the small cups that came with my gaiwan to have some as its ready and it’s just wow. I don’t even know what else to say. It’s turning cheap gyokuro into gold.

Ugh I am not in the mood for hot tea at all lately. I just am not prepared right now for summer. So I’ve got two pitchers of iced tea going right now, one being Rainbow Sherbet, the other being this. I got this specifically for iced tea making, and it’s perfect.

I cold brewed it, and it’s very interesting. I don’t even know if I want to try making it hot then cooling it off because this is pretty great. I taste the tequila flavor first, then kiwi, then strawberry with a bit of tequila too. It leaves an interesting fruity aftertaste. The white tea is kind of there, but hardly…but I’d expect that since it’s so fruit flavored.

I love this. I can’t really drink alcohol because of medication AGAIN so this feels close enough to the real thing. And it’s helping me cool off. Now if it would only storm to help me out a bit more.

What is with you Steepster? I had to add this back to my cupboard along w/the neapolitan honeybush…and I know this one was in my cupboard because I’ve had it for ages!

Cold brewed a pitcher of this last night since it seems it’s going to be hot from now on..just a week ago it was 58 and cold. Whatever.

I love coldbrewing this so much. It just seems like the perfect iced tea. It’s refreshing, it’s fruity, and it’s going to help me now go finish cleaning up my apartment for my mom’s visit this weekend. She has yet to come to my new place and I’ve been here since September. About time!

I drank this last night. A friend and I have started reading the horrible published fanfiction that is 50 Shades of Grey and just laughing ourselves silly over how horrible it is. Oh man. I think I am scarred for life.

As it is the written trainwreck I can’t look away from, now I am finally getting around to it. Actually, all of today I have been worrying like crazy over an orchid I just got. I had to return it for a different one and it makes me sad. Oh well.

This time around, this tea tasted a lot like chocolate covered strawberries. It didn’t seem as creamy or vanilla-y this time around but it is still DEFINITELY one of my favorite honeybush blends ever, even after two cups!

Oh dear, has it really been almost 6 months since I’ve had this tea? Unacceptable.

I was baking cupcakes because I got this cocoa mole ale from New Belgium and I did not like drinking it. In fact I’d take a sip and each time I just thought, this belongs in chocolate cake. So I finally made them tonight and I ate half of one and I am pretty much a genius. I’m going to frost them with cinnamon buttercream tomorrow and take some to my apartment complex leasing office since I have 2 dozen of them and I’m just one person.

So then I was craving tea, but I didn’t want a chocolate one…I wanted something fruity and voila, Paris in the front of the cabinet. It’s coming up on nearly a year since I’ve been to Paris, I can’t believe it. It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago but I guess when you constantly think about it, that happens. It definitely reminds me of Paris although I did not drink any tea there (I did go into Mariage Freres and just completely freaked out because so much tea!). There’s just something about it that makes me think of sitting outside at a cafe about it.

Today’s the first time it’s actually really reminded me of an Earl Grey. I never noticed before. It’s like Marco Polo meets Earl Grey and a lemon. And it’s still so good.

You know how instructions for iced tea always say to brew double for a cup? It never occurred to me that I could do this for a smaller amount, so I could have just 8oz, until today. I feel extremely dense.

So that is what I did to go with my childlike dinner. Still love this for iced tea so much because it’s so quick to make. I think I still have 10 sachets left somehow and I’ll be enjoying all of them soon since we just completely skipped spring apparently.

This does not taste good. I wanted an iced latte, but I wanted to take a sip while it was hot. PURE CHEMICAL TASTE.
Dumped it. Tried again, going all the way through for the latte this time…it’s still there, although now it’s relegated to a strong aftertaste that still makes it hard to drink. My tongue hurts from it.
I guess that might be the last time I pick “distinctive” flavoring. I’m going to brush my teeth now.

And the worst part is I got the royal matcha for it and it’s entirely ruined by this horrific aftertaste.

I REALLY hope there is just something wrong with this, I’m gonna email them now.

Last of my Fusion Tea Room samples (thank you again!) that I am trying out. I have been curious about this one for a bit, although I have since had other teas with yogurt bits. This one has not created any weird surface on the top of the tea so that’s a plus.

It smells like blueberry muffins and yogurt together. I am just really on a breakfast kick today too, so this is a great way to end my day.

It tastes as advertised: very blueberry! There’s a bit of a tangy taste thanks to the yogurt, and I think it makes it taste a bit creamy, compared to how most other fruity rooibos blends I’ve had have tasted. It’s nice and sweet, and it almost tastes like blueberry cheesecake instead.

I love how well blueberry goes with rooibos, I’m amazed this is only the second time I’ve had it because I REALLY enjoy it. Since the other one I had was an iced tea, I will have to try this one out iced too. I bet it’ll be even better.

Adding this to the “when I have less tea, I will get this” list.

A friend of mine works near one of the DavidsTea shops in NYC and she offered to go get me things so I could try smaller amounts. Of course I still ended up where some weren’t available in smaller amounts…one in a 50g bag and one in a 2oz bag. Then this one was .6oz and the other 3 are .5oz, but now I see why from the other notes on here!

I’m really amused right now because I convinced my boyfriend to get an electric kettle so he didn’t have to wait forever to heat water for coffee, and I’m the one using it and I’m only making tea. Now I feel like I made him get it for me to use here! I hope he uses it when I’m not around…I should turn it a certain way and see if it moves at all between visits.

I love how this smells, both dry and steeped! It’s like coconut cake!

It tastes like coconut, vanilla, and caramel. I was worried I wasn’t going to like it since people said it reminded them of Secret Weapon and I hated Secret Weapon. As it cools it gets even more like cake.

I let it steep for about 12 minutes and I plan to steep it again for even longer when I finish this cup.

And of course there is nothing that tastes even remotely like white tea present. That makes two teas that I would so get again if they weren’t $11.50 and would be better suited to just leaving out the white tea :[ Especially since this one is so bulky, I’ll be curious to see how many cups I can even get out of it. Looks though like it may be good for 2 steeps so that might help slightly.

Ok, second steep time. I also just ate one of the mulberries because I’ve never had a mulberry and at this point it just tasted like a weird version of this tea. Second steep seems creamier, with a nice caramel aftertaste that’s not too strong. Still really good, but probably would not do much on a third steep especially because I think I let this steep for close to 20 min. The end of the first cup was really fruity, it surprised me.

This is interesting. The banana flavor is oddly subtle at first, and just when I’m like, I could use more banana….bam, sweet banana. It’s a good flavor with the green oolong. It seems creamier, sweeter, and I like the fruitiness it adds.

Oddly I don’t like actual bananas as much as I like banana flavored things, so I like this a lot.

Definitely going to give this at least another steep tonight. Thanks for sending me some of this, Krystaleyn.

Trying it iced this time around (made by a double strength steep poured over ice). I like it much better cold.

I think this will be very good to have on hand during the summer. It’s very, very refreshing.

The fruit flavors give me that “tropical” kind of taste. Mostly get melon and a bit of peach. Sadly the reason I wanted this tea so much was for the kiwi and it’s the one I can’t pinpoint in there! But that’s okay. I think this works as a fine, French replacement for my usual iced green, Caribbean Breeze from ZenTea.

No notes yet.

I am particular about Earl Grey. I like it with other flavors in there too more than I like it straight. Sometimes it reminds me too much of cleaning, and I should be cleaning most of the time so…yeah.

I got this as a sample, I named off two things I wanted to try and decided the third sample should be a surprise, so this is what I got.

It’s very lemony, but still tastes a bit like Earl Grey. I’ve only had black tea based ones, so this is different. It’s a lot lighter, and I just love the way the lemon has really given it a fresh, citrusy taste.

The yogurt chips gave it a bit of creaminess, and it almost adds tartness. The tart definitely tastes yogurt based rather than lemon. Kind of weird, but I’ll still take it.

And, in what surprises me most coming from the other white DavidsTea blends I’ve had, I can actually taste white tea!

I probably won’t get this again due to having so much tea but I really like it. I was expecting to have to give it away but it has surprised me!

Thanks for sharing this, Ian!

This smells like flower candy when it’s brewed. I think I have had some kind of flower flavored hard candies before, but I don’t recall the flower. I want to say violet. This tea reminds me of them, but with the bonus of oolong.

It’s nice and sweet, but I don’t get plum at all. The flowers create a way more prominent flavor. It’s still good despite that. I think I’ll make a cup of it coldbrewed for lunch tomorrow, maybe that will help bring out the plum more!

Yeah…that Pinkberry I mentioned before. I got peach and I was told this cinnamon streusel topping stuff made it taste like a peach crumble. It indeed did. And this tea is like the apple-pear crumble continuation of my foods/drinks of the day that taste like crumbles.

It tastes like Christmas, it really does. I don’t mind though, last night I watched a video of hockey players lip syncing to “All I Want For Christmas Is You” so seasonal is not something that matters to me. (Also they were cute)

I’m not getting much cranberry, just spiced apple and pear. And that clear taste of a crumbly baked good. Maybe it could use a hint of sugar, but it’s not bad as is. I wasn’t even expecting to like it, so this is a surprise!

Thanks for the sample, Krystaleyn!

I bought a sample sized pouch of this and made a quart of iced tea with it last night. It was probably only enough for really half that, but I let it sit for a nice long time so I think it all worked out in the end.

I feel like this is what that “blueberry merlot” tea from TeaForte should be. This definitely reminds me of a red wine. I was worried I was going to need to add sugar, which I completely forgot and wanted to do while it was hot, but it’s perfect. It’s tart, but not mouthpuckering tart. It could probably use being a little sweeter, but I like it how it is. Definitely tastes like it’s been sweetened by blueberries.

I needed more fruit after having some peach Pinkberry for lunch (SO GOOD.) and now I think I’ve had enough for at least now. I’ll go have my fruit and added sugar to yogurt sugar high somewhere outside!

I’m surprised nobody has logged this one yet. I should probably start with the one without flavoring, but I was more curious to know if all the other milk oolongs I’ve had are definitely flavored. This is the first that has actually been upfront about it.

When I took the steeper basket out, all I could smell was the milky scent. I can definitely say that I’ve never had that happen before.

So then I was worried it was going to be SUPER strongly flavored but it’s not. It does though taste like a couple milk oolongs I’ve had, namely the first one I ever bought from a local shop.

Not really a problem, because I bought 100g of this tea. I like to have the milk flavor last for a couple infusions, as I’m sure it will given the smell of the leaves. First one was very creamy and buttery, with a floral aftertaste.

Second one coming up after I finally call my mom to wish her a happy birthday. Although I may not return because the person who has just moved in above me is extremely obnoxious after two days. So, if I kill him, bail me out with tea.

Oddly this empty threat made him and his buddies go inside. I was getting really mad last night because he dropped something RIGHT above where I was sitting while working on my paper and I nearly had heart failure since I was really into the paper at that point.

Anyway. Second steep. I was distracted on the phone while drinking it, but it really tasted very similar to the first steep. A bit more floral, for sure, but still good on the creamy taste. I can’t help but go with one more for the night now…

Still creamy on the third steep! I think all my other oolongs have probably been flavored just a tiny bit judging by this and what others have said about the unflavored version of this tea.

Though I must say, I love that Teavivre even puts the name of the flavoring company on the product page for the tea. Cool to know!

Paper writing and exam studying has been suspended until Amanda reforms after melting into a puddle after having only 4 ounces of this tea.

When I opened the package, it really truly smelled like a donut. I don’t really like donuts but my boyfriend is obsessed with them, so if I have to eat one, I like maple glazed ones. But I have never had a maple one that’s filled. Now I don’t really want one because I don’t even have to eat one to get the idea.

This really tastes like it says. I was expecting it to really lack a donut taste, but it’s there. It’s just very subtle, but that’s kind of not surprising considering it’s so sweet, and the maple and custard flavors are pretty prominent.

It’s almost too sweet for me. But that isn’t going to stop me from drinking it all up.

This tea is fun to watch steep. Not as fun as flowering teas, but close.

This tea is really sweet and chocolatey. It actually kind of reminds me of a mocha. It’s a bit malty too. I’m not getting much of other notes than that. That’s not to say it’s boring. It’s super smooth, and the flavor is really enjoyable.

I imagine this will be good for a couple resteeps since the pearls didn’t entirely come apart. I think this would be really good to have in the morning too! I’m hoping it’ll get me back to working on my paper but I had so much tea arrive today I just want to try it all. A cup of something new per page, perhaps?