momo

Another teabox selection, I have only ever had one other mao feng and I was not impressed. They are waaaaay too light for my tastes.

This one still is, it’s at least kind of better because it doesn’t just taste like hot water to me. There was sweetness for sure, and maybe I could get just a little hint that it was grassy.

There’s a bunch of mao fengs between the two boxes which is kind of funny. I think there are two others and I will probably try them all.

This one I’ll definitely give at least one more shot, I think I will try it with a shorter steep and maybe a bit more tea.

Ahhh I am just so grumpy today which doesn’t work when you should be in a good mood about going to Florida in four days, right?

I know I have a sample of this but when one comes along already open, might as well try it. I love black pearls so I’ll just consider it having more.

These are really tasty, they aren’t entirely wrapped up so the expansion doesn’t take the entire steep which I think really helps the flavor. Last time I had some it wasn’t until the second steep that they really tasted good.

This is definitely cocoa, with just a little bit of honey, malt, and even a little woodsy…in a way I can stand!

I had two steeps of this before moving on to something else. It seemed like the second steep was even sweeter than the first one.

The good thing about box A is that I have less things to try that’d go back in the box. But since it’s been awhile, probably since it came, I figured I’d try something else.

This is SO strongly rose in the bag I was worried it would taste like soap, because it sure smells like soap.

I followed the recommendations on the bag and it turned out just fine, as long as you drink it while it’s hot. Once it cools a bit, it does start to get that soapy rose taste. I didn’t really get much of a fruit flavor, but I guess it’s what helps keep the rose under control, because it is a rather nice rose black.

I may give it one more try, but it’ll probably continue on in a tea box.

First tea I’m trying from tea box B, I really should also get back started on box A now that I think about it! This one though has very few teas I don’t want to try.

I thought this might be something good for having this morning, plus I wanted to try making a EG cream without over steeping it.

At first sip this was almost terrifyingly bergamot tasting. Since I had to make a ton of bread last night and we got whole milk for the purpose, there’s still a cup left so I added a little to the cup and now it’s a lot more tolerable.

I think this one is just a bit too strong for me, I like Earl Grey but some of them just are way too much flavor for me. It actually feels like the vanilla is increasing the strength of the bergamot oil! The milk did kind of smooth it out, and it is definitely creamy tasting, but the way it switches over to this strong citrus note is a bit too much for me.

Ahhhh I really should have used the entire sample and added milk. This seems like one of those that’s just flat and nasty unless there’s a stronger background for it.

It wasn’t too bad like say, cococaramel sea salt, but it just seemed like it could have been so much better if there was something creamy about it. For chocolate cinnamon, it really would have made sense but I wasn’t really awake yet when I made it. Bah.

I guess I can do it with the tiny bit I have left, mixed with something else.

Thanks Kittenna for the sample~

Ok hopefully steepster stops hiccuping right now so I can write this.

I don’t think I had enough of this for the size cup I made. I steeped it half a minute longer because of it but I don’t think that was enough to help.

It smelled super strongly of grape, that’s for sure. I wasn’t even drinking it and my boyfriend walked by the mug and asked if I was drinking grape flavored tea.

I really am kind of particular about grape flavored stuff…nothing really beats actual grapes if that’s the flavor you want and really, I don’t often find myself wanting grapes.

In scent, it seemed more like sweet grape bubblegum/koolaid type of grape to me, I didn’t sweeten it so because of that I am really unsure if that would have helped or hurt it for me. It wasn’t too strong flavored because of probably using too much water to tea, thankfully. I just think maybe grape doesn’t work for me at all hot, I should have tried it cold, but alas what can you do.

Thanks Kittenna!

Had this earlier with an amazing lemon meringue donut. It was actually more like after the donut because it was too hot.

I also think the girl at the register was really confused because I wouldn’t let her put the tea bag in LOL but I only wanted to steep this for a minute, which worked out just fine.

This was really just an excuse for warmth that worked out in the end because my boyfriend switched rental cars twice today. And standing around while they double check things was cold.

With steeping it quickly, I still got just enough of a tart berry flavor to mix in with the white tea. That was just what I wanted, I didn’t want it to be too fruity and sweet because it would have ruined how incredible that donut was.

I probably wouldn’t get this one again, I’m not that taken by acai but if I’m up at this shop again and I want something that isn’t too heavy, I’d get it again because I don’t think they had any other white teas.

This reminds me of Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla but I like it a lot better. I can taste both the strawberry and cream flavors. It doesn’t have too much of that strawberry chapstick smell to it thankfully.

This time around with a DTT green I made sure to use a really low water temperature and it paid off definitely. All around a sweet and creamy tea. Not sure if it’s something I really like, I got an ounce so I have plenty to try again.

I had this last night, I see now it mentions iced tea in the description, but it was really good hot.

I thought it’d be like the other one that was fruity with a bit of spice but it was a lot different. This one is a bit more like tropical fruits rather than citrus, and the cinnamon wasn’t really noticeable.

I’m going to save the rest of my little sample for iced tea when it’s not FREEZING.

Ugh I seriously lost 2-3 cups worth of loose leaf tea today by stupid accidents. The worst part being one cup worth was Main Squeeze and I REALLY liked it and now I have none. I also spilled milk all over myself right before having to leave for two classes of exams. I didn’t even finish the exam in the first class, I maybe got 65% through it. So when the second exam is just 58 multiple choice questions, I breezed through it in maybe 20 minutes and the lab instructor’s like are you sure you answered them all. Yes I’m sure. I’m also sure I only got 3 wrong MAX on that one, because the one redeeming quality of bombing a heavy math, all short answer test is knowing you can’t possibly go wrong on a multiple choice test after it.

Also I was drinking this tea while I briefly studied for that one.

This is so freakin’ awesome. I think the steaming gives it a Darjeeling-ish quality. So intriguing. It’s a bit fruity/citrusy but it’s still got that Fujian black honey/nutty/roasty qualities.

I’m sure there are people who absolutely hate this tea’s name since really there is nothing Gyokuro about this beyond it being steamed, but I’m sure it sells tea. I for one find it too tasty to care about that.

I only got about half an ounce and it’s really pricey for a black for me so I will stick with what I have and save this one for special occasions like when I really need a good pick me up!

Thankfully this is rooibos because I completely forgot it was steeping!

Beforehand, I smelled the lemon lime cream tart tea and this one, I definitely like the cream tart one more because of the lemon. That addition is just toooooo good.

This isn’t bad though. I thought maybe with my way too long steep it would have been heavy on the cream too but it really wasn’t. Also I don’t really like the lime flavor too much. It actually tastes too much like lemon to me. I suppose the really long steep may not have helped.

I was expecting this to be really tart so I’m glad it isn’t. But I’ll have to pay attention next time and see if I like it better.

Ok last time I had this, I cold brewed it. This time around, I had it hot. Either way, I don’t get pomegranate. I get something tart that I guess is supposed to be pomegranate. It was a lot better hot though once it finally cooled enough in my travel mug that I could drink it.

I honestly thought the base for this was ridiculous but it wasn’t so bad and held up pretty well for being trapped in a travel mug.

Somehow I didn’t even realize this was a green tea until I was making it. I had to make a quick temperature switch on the kettle! Like apparently I never even looked at it and assumed it was a black tea.

The jasmine overtakes everything else in here, and not in a good way. When it’s hot, it does not smell good at all. Cold, it smells like just your usual jasmine green which is not really what I expected from something that should have white wine grape notes too.

But jasmine just overpowers everything about it and it wasn’t even a good type of jasmine tea. I couldn’t finish it. I may try having it iced, maybe try steeping for a minute instead too, but it isn’t working for me hot!

Thanks Azzrian for the sample!

Every time I opened my travel mug yesterday it was like whooooosh PEAR. So pear indeed, it’s hard to find a tasty pear tea.

This one isn’t bad, it just has a lot of floral notes to it. Perfect? Better than the only other pear tea I’ve had for sure. Since I have actually been in the mood for something floral I didn’t really mind it, but I can imagine it’s kind of offputting if that’s not your thing.

I’ve only got half an ounce of this so I might try experimenting with it a little but I don’t think I’d get more.

Ok bit of backlogging time. So maybe I will stop thinking about going to grad school OH GOD WHY I JUST WANT TO NOT GO TO SCHOOL BUT I SHOULD—err. (not even going to get into the part where I don’t even know which of my two options I’d go with. NOT both again.)

I had this on Sunday night and it was a fantastic tea dessert. I’ve not tried lime chiffon yet, but I had just had lemon chiffon a week prior to this and didn’t really think it tasted like a blend of both. I don’t really pick up on the cream strongly like I do in this one.

This has both lemon and lime for sure, like I can actually taste each one distinctly…unlike a lot of other things touted as lemon-lime where it’s just some vague citrus flavor.

This is definitely pretty sweet by itself too, I think it’d make a pretty interesting latte, maybe an iced one would be in order too.

I felt like having iced tea today. Iced tea! It was 65 when I had it, so it was worthwhile. I had the windows open, and Sebastian communicated with a sparrow.

This is super fruity, and I love that they used green rooibos so that it’s the perfect iced tea. Papaya is the strongest fruit flavor I can taste.

I will definitely be cold brewing this one once it stays warm. I love fruity iced teas and I’ve been missing green rooibos. Nothing beats it as an iced tea for me.

Wow, heavy tisane.

For reference, the 25g of Forever Nuts bag I got is as full as the 50g bag of Banana Nut Bread. So, this better not be too delicious as it can’t make that many cups.

I had an amazing smoothie for lunch that was PURELY fruit. It was amazing. I said that. Anyway all I want right now for some reason is fruit and I figured this might be a good thing to try for something different, since I loaded my smoothie with berries.

It’s pretty good, although I don’t get fully reminded of bread, it does have the right flavors.

I wish I saw the note to use a t-sac, oh man pulling the infuser out…nasty.

Back in December, the Yelp elite event of the month was dinner at a pop-up restaurant followed by Totem. Cirque du Soleil, FOR FREE. I was all over that as I’ve never seen a Cirque show. It was Totem! So when Amy oh offered me this in a swap I had to have it.

This tea is nothing like Totem in my opinion. Then again I have no idea what the point of Totem was other than to make me feel inferior and useless as I will never ever be able to flip bowls on gigantic unicycles or roller skate around in a 1.5 meter wide platform.

Hot, this is not so great. It really has no flavor to it other than that it’s tart. I let it cool off and it was WAY better to have iced. It was still tart but it actually had flavors to it, mostly the papaya at this point.

I really am not a fan of green/mate blends and I’m glad this actually worked out with Capital Teas’ instructions.

Wow I didn’t taste caramel at all in here, just vanilla. Weird. To me it was very much like genmaicha ice cream in tea form! Actually I know this company here has made genmaicha ice cream in the past…must inquire when they will do so again.

So I’m not sure what purpose the black tea in here serves, I decided to steep it like a green and sencha was definitely the predominant flavor despite how the dry leaf looked. This tea was both sweet and savory at the same time, but it’s not quite my favorite combination for that. I feel like I missed out on something by not tasting any caramel at all.

I don’t drink whiskey really at all. I think the closest I ever got was one time with car friends, I had some with Dr. Pepper, and I guess I liked it. After the whole thing was over, some weird dude promised me Jack Daniels the next meet up…I was like, “bro, I live in Tennessee (at the time I did), no.” I think at that point it was just like wooo drinks…I probably hate whiskey.

So I thought though that the flavor would be pretty cool with white tea. And the worst thing that happens, this doesn’t taste like bourbon at all or anything, and it’s just a peach tea.

And that’s really what I get. Peach. I like the idea of a flash steep with this one rather than the four min I believe I went with (I have since left my notebook, which I filled over 6 months with 450+ tasting notes!). That might make it a bit more interesting. There were flashes of whiskey but not enough to make it worth the name.

An expensive experiment, but hey, it’s a discontinued peach tea with stevia that I can drink, unlike Southern Belle.

For some reason I was able to keep myself from opening this up until a few days ago. I finally just really needed to try it.

I have been just really wanting banana flavored teas for some reason. Did I mention I’m not a big fan of actual bananas? I don’t get it.

So this definitely has banana. And on some sips, it tastes very strange, like it just doesn’t work to have banana, cheesecake, and genmaicha all together. But then the very next sip tastes marvelous.

It might be even better iced with just a touch of sweetened condensed milk, I think. I will have to try that. I’m not sure if it was the tea hot or the genmaicha that just makes it seem odd at times, but overall it’s a pretty awesome blend.

Time to finally get some backlogging going. This is the first EG cream I’ve ever had! I assume the addition of a vanilla/cream flavor is what separates the cream from the usual. I think 4 min is a bit of overkill on this tea. I definitely could taste bergamot in here, but vanilla, not so much. It was probably borderline bitter, but tolerable for at least half the cup…I ended up making dinner in the midst of drinking it and honestly didn’t miss it.

Next time, shorter steep.

Thanks, Cavocorax!

why did they think this was okay to make?

Felt all blah waking up, figured I’d drink some mate and take a nap so I’d wake up energized.

Yeah…woke up at 1pm.

I found myself wanting this, yet skeptical when I saw it described as tasting like orange juice….but it does. It’s like that Simply Orange (that’s not simply orange it turns out) with pineapple, and papaya too.

This is definitely one of the better flavored green mates I’ve had, although I prefer to be able to taste a bit of the mate itself. It’s pretty covered up in this one by being so fruity. If this manages to still be around when I finally drink down tea, I would definitely get more. Thanks Kittenna!