momo

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?

I need this right now a lot. I have an 8 page paper due tomorrow and I’ve written almost 3 pages so far at this point. I’m starting to reach the point of being easily distracted. It’s cold and really windy outside so at least I don’t have this urge to go driving around. I’ve seen that at least two trees have fallen and blocked roads near me today alone so I’ll pass.

So hopefully this cup gets me doing more than just giving myself a basic structure to add to. I always do that and then it becomes such a pain to elaborate on everything. But hey, last assignment for this class. I’m done with half my classes as of tomorrow.

I used boiling water this time and didn’t pay attention to how long I steeped it. It doesn’t seem to me that the temperature makes a difference, in fact I might prefer it with boiling water instead of the cooler water I used before.

I love how the citrus mixes with the mate and guayusa. I still have to try something that’s got guayusa only, since I’ve tried a flavored mate already. But I like how this tastes. This time hopefully I won’t just fall asleep after drinking it. I kind of fell asleep in the middle of reading part of the book for this paper last night.

This is like, my favorite bagged tea. I love these flavored whites Nordqvist makes so much that when I finally run out again I am going to find someone in Finland to hook me up again.

This one seriously tastes like a blueberry muffin. It has everything. It’s kind of amazing, because it really has this aftertaste that is exactly like a muffin. And the blueberry tastes pretty good too.

Of course it’s so highly flavored it’s kind of tough to taste the white tea, but I wasn’t drinking this for the white tea. I was drinking it because it’s blueberry muffin.

No notes yet.

After seeing tasting notes on this, I HAD to have it myself. Since I can’t fall back asleep, might as well get started on infusing it all day long.

This is the second puerh I’ve ever had, and the first to not be chocolate orange flavored. I have some of the tuochas from Teavivre but I’m still scared to use them, so when I see “angel food cake” I find a good starting point to stop being afraid. At least that’s what I hoped for, and I’m pretty sure it’s working.

I like to mix infusions when I steep in my gaiwan, so I’ll be putting 3 in a mug probably each time.

This is kind of ridiculous. How is this even real? It seriously tastes like cake. First I get the clear taste of flour, almost like if you took uncooked pasta and put it in your mouth. There’s also malty tones to it. But then it’s sweet.

Since I am trying to teach myself French for the 38295th time (I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I was there, where has time gone?! I took 2 years of Latin and 2 semesters of Italian, plus I speak English… how hard can this really be if I try.) I already know the word for this. Délicieux!

Now on the 4th through 6th infusions, tastes more like hay. It’s still a bit sweet, but now I am tasting some cinnamon and kind of getting a cooling sensation.

Ok, finally to 7-9…I did finally fall asleep for way too long in the afternoon. I should be working on a paper. It’s tasting more like cake, this time with maybe a caramel glaze. It just tastes so good I don’t know how to describe it. Hay notes have kind of dropped off now. I get a bit more cinnamon now.

I’m going to 18. I am. Just you wait.

I asked for this with my most recent order, and I’m so glad to get to try it! It smells very raspberry from the raspberry leaf, but once steeped, the mint takes center stage. The juniper berries were the next most obvious smell in the bag, and the same goes in the steeped tea.

I ate too much so something with peppermint in it was just what I was looking for. Future note to self: if you have buy one, get one free on soft pretzels, save the other pretzel or risk earlier death.

As it cools, the sweetness from the apple starts to come into play, which is nice. It feels weird to have the cooling sensation of the mint mix with the apple. I don’t think that’s something I’ve ever really had together before.

This is really good, I think in the future I would maybe get more of it. I’m going to have to make a cup of it iced too.

And now I am going to go celebrate that the Predators knocked the Red Wings out with the rest of this tea.

My 300th tasting note! Yay!

So I finally retook the test I missed 2 weeks ago today, and it had a lot to do with Brazil, China, and India, and I found myself really wanting tea in the middle of it. Then I got home and I’m faced with the decision of Chinese or Indian tea. Since I had some kind of jasmine tea ginger ale with lunch (they had a couple other bottled Harney & Sons drinks but this sounded awesome and it was), I went Darjeeling.

I think after this one I only have two more to try from my Upton order, yay. I’m on the fence about tasting everything I haven’t had or finishing what’s there. And now I feel like I’m making poor decisions but this is in the name of 300.

Autumnal Darjeelings are not my favorite I think. They’re good but I prefer just second flush ones. They’re bold and astringent, which I like but I’m not getting much else. Maybe it’s a bit buttery, but mostly it’s just kind of just…tea. I miss that muscatel taste that’s more prevalent in the earlier flushes.

This is nice right now though because it’s way cooler than I thought it was going to be today, so a more hearty tasting Darjeeling works out after all!

This tea piqued my curiosity so much that I decided to try it first form my Verdant order.

I steeped it following the directions on the site. I used about 6.5 ounces, knowing by the time I spilled it I’d have 2/3 of a cup. Worked out. I sprinkled a teaspoon of leaves into the cup, swirled it, let it steep for 20 seconds and poured it into a mug through a strainer.

The first few sips were creamy, and gave me like a sparkling wine impression. It was light, but something was there. Now it’s cooled a bit, and it smells and tastes like buttery green vegetables.

Onto the second steep! This is really like the green tea ice cream mentioned on the page! It’s so sweet and creamy. And it’s leaving a feeling similar to carbonation on my tongue.

Third is similar, less sparkling and maybe like a bit of citrus mixed with edamame. And for now I am going to stop because I am supposed to study, not keep playing with tea. But I don’t want toooooo…

I prefer this iced with milk more than hot. I needed something good after I just went off on a commenter on a Formula 1 blog.

Don’t mix sports and politics. Of course first of all because it looks like sport is a pawn, but also because someone has to take the situation and one up it with stupid. Someone will always drag Obama into it, and in this case it was comparing “a disregard for the constitution” and also the healthcare act to human rights violations in Bahrain. Last night there was a petrol bomb incident involving some mechanics from a team. So you’re telling me that not governing a country based on a document from the 18th century is comparable to surprise petrol bombs and tear gas. RIGHT. Sometimes I think studying political science and economics is the worst decision I have ever made because now I want to slap so many people.

To stop myself from wanting to slap people (until I move to Paris with my job with the OECD because at 3am this morning I decided that’s what I am doing with my life), I made an iced matcha latte. I also always want to type matte latte. Actually, given the color of the drink, that might work.

I still love this so much. I pretty much only drink coconut milk, but when I use half a teaspoon of matcha, I don’t get the coconut taste. In fact, with this, I’d be pretty fooled that I hadn’t put cream in here just like if I was making caramel.

I am trying to think of a way I could work this into a caramel candy recipe that’s in the Baked Explorations cookbook. I think maybe a visit to Super H Mart is in order to see if there are any matcha caramels there to try out first! But I think that would be amazing.

Also the Atlantic like, insulted corgis in an article so I would also like to slap them. KEEP SIPPING, AMANDA, KEEP SIPPING.

No notes yet.