New Tasting Notes

Oh my goodness. I’m definitely ordering this one before it goes away. I’m ordering LOTS. The smell, my god, the smell was divine. Banana bread, spot on. Both the dry tisane and the brew were luscious. This was yesterday’s after work tea, my relax and decompress tea. I needed it, mainly because I wore new shoes which on the walk from my car to my work building rubbed blisters on my toes. And then I had to wear them whenever I got up to go anywhere from my desk. And then I had to walk back to the car at the end of the day. I needed all the TLC I could get when six p.m. rolled around. This tea delivered.

I’m finding that between the Toasted Marshmallow tea and this tea, I might be relaxing my stance against sweeteners in tea. This one had raisins in it, which gave the tea a bit of sweetness, but wasn’t bad, as it (and I really hate to admit this) did bring out the flavor a bit. It was harmonious, like banana nut bread. It made the flavor truer. I’m finding, on consideration of the issue, that my stance on sweeteners may need some revising. Maybe I won’t automatically write off a tea because it has a touch of sugar, or stevia, or raisins, or marshmallows (when I think about what these flavoring elements actually mean to the sweetness and taste of the tea). What an earth shattering realization. Few things have been more constant in my life than my revulsion for sweetened tea.

Prepared 3 t in 750 ml water, at boiling, for 7 minutes.

You know how sometimes you just KNOW you are going to like a tea. It’s toasted marshmallow? How can it be anything but delicious. I love toasted marshmallows. I may or may not have been seen toasting marshmallows over my stove coils, I love them that much. I was so prepared to love this tea.

And then I tasted it. It was not bad. But I forgot that when something has marshmallow in the name, and has mini marshmallows in the dry mix, it is going to be the dreaded “s” word—sweet. I just am not down with sweet in my tea. I despise sweet tea with a passion. Chai, I will grudgingly admit, is robust enough to stand up to a little sweetness. But otherwise, sweeteners can stay away from my tea, thankyouverymuch.

I have to admit, it wasn’t bad, so much as just not tea-like for me. I’m not going to get rid of it, I didn’t dislike it as much as I expected to when I realized it was sweetened (there was a vague moment of confusion when I looked at my Breville and noticed the tea was opaque, which led to that “uh oh” moment). I think if I were more used to sweetener in my tea, I would have really liked it, instead of finding it “not bad”.

Prepared with 750 ml of water with 3 t of dry mix in my Breville.

Sometimes you just want a plain tea with breakfast. This is great for that. Strong, full-flavoured, great with a pinch of sugar and the barest splash of milk. The only criticism I can really make is that I’d have loved to have more bergamot in it, but still. This makes a nice morning cuppa.

After lunch (green salad), tea of the afternoon here…

This is definitely a nice sheng if you’re looking for one you can drink now, and which isn’t too bitter or overpowering. See previous notes for more details.

I find it hard to believe that I’m drinking the same pumpkin chai that everyone else is drinking. This tea has such glowing reviews. Meanwhile, I couldn’t even finish my cup. The artificial pumpkin flavour is simply too much for me… it’s cloying, overpowering, and not like pumpkin at all.

AHHHH…this is the reason I fell in love with Davids Tea. To me this tea seems to mimic one of my favorite apples (the McIntosh), but mixed with a bit more sweetness, kind of like those individually wrapped rectangular apple flavored jolly rancher candies. I used to love getting those at Halloween when I was a kid. Do they even make jolly ranchers like that anymore? I’m not sure why my rating seems so much higher for this tea than other Steepsters at the moment. I wonder if there might be something even better out there? gasp! It’s not possible…is it? If so, please enlighten me. I can never have too much good apple tea in my life. In any case, the next time I go to DT, I will be getting a full-size of this stuff…sigh…I’m in love! ❤ ❤ ❤

I got some of this from Amanda and decided to try it “blind” aka I had no idea what the ingredients where when I drank it. Honestly, I started the cold brew late last night and was too lazy to look it up, but let’s pretend I had some fancy reason.

This tea is… weird. I am getting apple/pear, mint, something citrus-y, maybe a little tart hibiscus? And then at the end, coconut and caramel, I swear to god. It’s creamy and rich, totally different from the beginning of the sip. It tastes like someone mixed a minty tea with a fruity tea and threw in something sweet to go along with it. My mouth is confused!

Upon looking at the ingredients, there’s no coconut OR caramel. Is there vanilla? That might be it, but doesn’t explain the coconut vibe. Mysterious! I honestly don’t know how to rate this tea (it’s good, but SO weird) so I will just hold off on that one. Suffice to say, this was an intriguing drinking experience.

On a related note, it is COLD today in New York. Like, mid-fall cold, yet it’s only the end of September. Brrr, why am I drinking iced tea!

A nice light and smooth green puerh that comes off as sweet and not harsh. Enjoyable to drink as a free sample but not something that I would want to buy to have around as a regular tea.

To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about this tea. The bf loves it, despite claiming he hates mango. And this tea is wha-bam mango. Also spicy, but more of a throat-spicy and not tongue-spicy, as another “drinker” pointed out. I’m not a fan of hugely spicy food, and I still haven’t decided if this is over the threshold for me, yet. I’ll have to ponder it over some more.

One of the things that I did like is that despite leaving the ball of tea in my cup for far too long as per steeping instructions on the packet, there was no bitterness like you usually get with green teas. So that’s a major plus in my books; I usually forget about my tea for up to 15 minutes before remembering to drink it. Sometimes the bitterness gets too overwhelming to finish the glass.

This gets a “sideways thumbs”. I’ll have to decide after a few more cups if I like it enough to buy it again.

I went to a different Whole Foods for a blogger event (I was one of two people to come, sadly) and I noticed this one had a ton of different stuff compared to the one closer to me.

This is a kombucha from a company based in Asheville, so it’s a slight bit more expensive than the one I had before but ohhhh it’s better.

It’s VERY tart though, which I’m going to blame on not just it being kombucha, but because it also has apple and blackberry juices. And it has coconut water! Since all I drank earlier was Italian soda, which is far more sugar than I want, this tastes extra refreshing, even if it’s pinching the back of my throat with tartness.

I am amused that on their website they say it mixes well with vodka and rum. I feel like that ruins the purpose of drinking this, lol. I guess it’s better than Coke and maybe you get less of a hangover? I’m not finding out right now.

So it also has elderberry, schizandra berry, and watermelon juice. Pretty much all their kombuchas have to do with elements. It was between this one and Air, which I will try next time.

It is so good though, and I think I am already in love with this company after just browsing their website. I really need to get to Asheville sometime…

This tea is delicious!! It tastes of hops and pear and some apricot with a slightly vegetal finish. It’s a tea refily available from a major retailer, but has the complexity and allure of a small batch boutique tea. I love this tea :-)

This is a delicious blend of black teas, I got this one for the office and to drink in the morning. It is fairly bold and hefty, there’s definitely some malty assam in here but I’m also getting a nice fruitiness which makes me wonder if there’s a ceylon in here, perhaps a keemun?

This is really delightful with a splash of soymilk, which is the way I will be drinking it. I did try a sip of it plain and it didn’t seem too bitter at all. Great breakfast/morning tea and even better than I was hoping it would be. Highly recommend it this if you like this type of tea.

So I’m not in love with this tea – but I appreciate how others might really enjoy this. That being said, i’m not sure what I expected. This 100% reminds me of almond extract used in baking. So with that regard, the taste/smell is pretty spot :) I think I was looking for a taste that was less sweet. I don’t get the cinnamon that others have tasted – even in the light version. Stil not a bad cup of tea, but just not up to par with the grapefruit and maple pecan :)

It’s one of those rare occasions that I actually fancy a ‘nice’ cup of chai. This is a new brand to me so I approach with caution and am sticking to the instructions: Steep time 4 minutes, boiling water, splash of milk.

Ingredients: Black tea, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper and natural flavour.

A few ingredients there that I am not keen on (cloves and cardamom) but hopefully this will be a nice blend rather than being heavy on one taste in particular.

First few sips: I can taste the cinnamon and cardamom so spicy and citrus with a slight after taste of clove but the milk has weakened that somewhat (thankfully). So far it tastes as I expected.

Half way down: The cardamom becomes stronger and now I am having trouble to taste anything else, I think that is one of the reasons I hate cardamom. No longer can I taste the delicious cinnamon or spicy ginger :(

For me that makes this cup average for chai and I dislike average chai. Nothing personal Dragonfly Tea but I shall not be buying this again.

I love this tea. Though it doesn’t taste exactly like its name, it is fantastic.

Work had this today so I went ahead and tried it! I DO LIKE IT, ACTUALLY… you can definitely taste the nutmeg, and it’s most definitely got spice. Really don’t taste any pumpkin, though. But I’m okay with that because I’m not the biggest pumpkin fan in the first place. But if that IS what you want, well, YOU WONT FIND IT HERE…

I’ve managed to get a cold and can’t taste a thing, but the hot, soothing, GOOD is coming through loud and clear. Pure comfort, and no funny tastebud business (hate how colds can make things taste like FISH to me. This Ceylon tastes sweet and comforting — without tasting like anything — I know it’s strange but some of you must experience this when you have a cold, right?)

I haven’t linked to it yet on here, but I started a book blog a bit ago! Today’s post is about having a cold, and of course tea is mentioned as one of the ways to feel better: http://jackiemania.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/comfort-reading/

I bought this on a whim, wanting a decaffeinated tea with flavor before bedtime. The aroma is fantastic, although the flavor isn’t incredibly strong. Nevertheless, I enjoy this tea; I just can’t drink it with milk because I think that milk overpowers the delicate tea.

I had such a difficult time picking what tea to have first today! My stock is getting a little overwhelming with all the stuff I’ve purchased from Adagio. I also tapered off a bit on tea drinking during the summer.
Wow, it has been such a long time since I logged this one! I find that out of my older Teavana stock, this one lost its flavor and smell faster than the others; which is almost a good thing for me on this one. It smells like Christmas! There are mostly additives and very little leaf in this blend. I think that because of this, the price is kind of ridiculous.
The flavor now that the tea itself has mellowed a bit reminds me of some kind of orange biscuit cookie. The flavoring on this is really strong and when I first bought it I really did not enjoy it very much. Now, it is a bit more subdued and I enjoy the balance a bit more. I think that if I had to guess what kind of tea this was I’d guess it was an herbal because it has so little white tea and it simply does not taste like tea. It tastes like a nice, guilt free way of indulging though! This would probably be best mixed with another tea; I’m thinking that it would be nice with the Adagio bled Sylvari’s Awakening that I have on hand.

I had a full session of steepings with this tea yesterday, and I’m beginning another of them now.

The sweet, chocolate of the dry leaf is a shock and pleasant surprise every time I open the tin.

Even more surprising is how this sweet leaf instantly transforms into a musty, loamy, verdant forest floor as soon as it hydrates. My yixing right now smells like Dogtown Wood (outside Gloucester) Massachusetts in early November.

No surprise then that the cup itself mystically fuses the two. Porcini ravioli followed by cannoli with chocolate shavings. A walk through wet Autumnal leaves with a mug of cocoa. Debussy on a cloudy day.

This is so good! I received it as a sample from Design a Tea, and while I was wary of it (Iced wine? Tea? Really?) I am so glad I tried it. It’s delicious! The tea is mellow with the pear flavor moving around as you sip. It’s sweet and relaxing. I think this would be perfect to serve at a tea party. Today I had it hot, but I’m going to have to pick up some more so that I can try it iced.

Thank you Design a Tea for the sample!

Yay!!! Its here!!
Its steeping RIGHT NOW as I type this!
I can’t wait – I can’t wait!
I’m like a kid at Christmas!
My Gooey Butter Cake tea came along with my Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake today!
Of course I had to try this first although honestly – that Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake tea smells SO SO AMAZING!
Not that this one doesn’t but I think the CPC has a stronger aroma.
Okay let me check my brew here…. Auggg who am I kidding it has not been long enough – but let me tell you its smelling GOOOOOOD!
I think the only thing that was disappointing about getting this tea was I was secretly hoping for some of Frank’s wife’s (wish I knew her name) home made gooey butter cake haha. Yeah I don’t want much do I!?!
Its time!
OKay this is one of those teas you really NEED to add a little sweetener to.
I took my first couple of sips and it was good but I was not getting that CAKEY or GOOEY flavor – added a little rock sugar – AMAZING!
I don’t mind having to add a little sugar now and then to some teas – especially when they are DESSERT teas like this one. Now if I had to add sugar to a tea from teavivre, or mandala, or verdant, or stone leaf etc that would be wrong, but this is meant to be decedent so its fine with me.
With the sugar added its quite lovely. A good black base to hold up the interesting flavors of the gooey butter cake. There is a lemony flavor here too.
Gooey butter cake can come in just the regular flavor or a multitude of flavors really ANY flavor you can imagine.
This one has a lemon zest to it. Its nice.
There is also a toasty quality to it as well.
I am not sure I am going to have to sit with this for awhile. I am getting a bit more of a creme brulee flavor from it which trust me is NOT a bad thing, but I need to just study this one a bit longer and maybe use more leaf – I was light on the leaf in this steep.
Oh and I am absolutely going to have to try this ICED as well like Frank had it!