Roswell Strange Send Message

Straight this time, no milk.

Honestly, I think that maaaayyybeee I liked this better with milk? I don’t even know why; it’s amazing either way. I think this has a really perfect balance between sweet smoke, earthy tones and a pinch of more mineral like notes. I drank the first half hot, and the second half cold. There was something really interesting and thirst quenching about having it cold.

SMOKEY TEAS HAVE GROWN ON ME SO MUCH. I almost feel like I don’t even know my own palate anymore…

It’s hot macadamia sugar cookies with spinachy olive after notes, and while that sounds so gross it just really, really works. Really buttery too.

I’ve gone in depth with this one before though – and I don’t have anything additional to add to it. It’s just really good; a great herbal staple.

Sipdown (115)!

Sleeping pill is kicking in…

Largely chamomile dominant cuppa; not really my thing, but a good aid at night when you need to go to sleep. Faint lemony after taste. I didn’t love this one so much, but I’m thankful I got to try it! I’m treasuring every Butiki blend I get the chance to try – whether they’re hits to me or not.

Managed to squeak in one last tea tonight.

I originally intended to steep up Cuppa’T’s Creme Brulee ‘cause I saw *TheLastDodo’s* review on it earlier tonight and it put me in the mood for that one, but when I went to grab it from the cupboard this was in front and it immediately snapped me out of that idea.

LICORICE. How could I have picked something else? I thought I was in the mood for vanilla but nope; this was the perfect, soft sweet creamy treat to finish the night with. No more sugar cravings; just caffeine free heaven. I need to drink this one more often; it’s so different than all the other honey bush blends in my cupboard.

Sipdown (116)!

Man, I’m sleepy already – and I swear all I’ve done today is sleep! So, we’ll see how many notes I can post before The Voice is over, and then it’ll be time to cozy up in bed.

This one is from the Amoda February box. I don’t know how I felt about it seeing it included; it’s not an overly unique blend is it? There are a lot of lavender EG blends out there. One thing that is really cool about this one though is that part of the sales for this one go to The Chilliwack Hospice Society. I wonder, if I were to buy this one straight from the Amoda site would some of the proceeds still go to that charity?

I cold brewed my sample; there’s supposedly hibiscus in this (WHY!? GOD WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO EG!?) and I thought that’d make it the least noticeable. However I didn’t see a single piece of it in the leaf when I was measuring everything out. Was I just that lucky?

This has a really floral start; the lavender is almost soapy but doesn’t quite cross that line. It gets awfully close though; like middle schoolers’ pelvises at their parent chaperoned dances. LEAVE ROOM FOR JESUS! And the wave of lavender transitions into a really brisk black base and very heavy handed bergamot notes. Nothing too strong, though. It finishes on a really soft, velvety vanilla note that’s to die for. Best part for sure; and it’s what drove me to finish this as quickly as I did.

Overall, it’s relatively average but that finishing note makes it a little better than the usual lavender Earl Grey. Mmm!

Thanks TheLastDodo for the sample!

There are a lot of interesting things in this blend; green tea and raisins (both things I don’t especially like) and gojis (which I’m half sure I can’t even taste) for example. There are also jujubes which I remember discussing with Kittenna around Christmas time when we had tea together. It was an ingredient neither of us were all that familiar with; and this is my first time having them. There are also very large shards/chunks of sugar in the blend which I’m not too keen about. I don’t like when my tea is presweetened for me.

I know it’s a stretch, but Kittenna do you remember at all what the jujubes in your tea tasted like?

I wasn’t really sure how to even approach preparing this – so I decided to start by cold brewing it because it’s the easiest/most convenient approach in regard to prep time. I don’t even know. I literally wrote down three words in my reference notes. Not super helpful, past me!

Here’s what I wrote down though: “Musty ginseng. Cranberry.”

I do remember the ginseng being quite pronounced in the flavour, and the vegetal green base underneath it – maybe even some nutty notes from the base. But I’m not too sure where I got cranberry from – there aren’t any in the blend. I suppose it’s possible I interpreted the goji and cranberry flavour, though I’m skeptical of it. Another explanation would be the jujubes, which I’ve got no familiarity with. Does anyone know what they’re supposed to taste like? I have this foggy recollection of the server at the tea house Kittenna and I went to comparing them to dates? But it’s been so long, I can’t remember if that’s an accurate memory or not.

Either way, I wasn’t big on this one. I’ll try it again hot though – I really want to give it a fighting chance because it does seem so unique and different to me.

Thanks The Last Dodo for the sample!

I really like pearls, generally speaking, and they’re really convenient. It’s really a wonder why I don’t have one that I regularly stock.

I don’t know; this one was nice. Definitely tasted caramel and honey notes, and maybe a tiny little bit of malt but overall I thought it was surprisingly light and gentle for a black tea, and I was just looking for and expecting something with a little more punch to it.

Tasty enough, and smooth going down but left much to be desired overall.

EDIT: Apparently I’ve had these pearls a couple times before when Marzipan sent me a sample. I’d completely forgotten about this though and had zero recollection of ever having them – obviously they’ve not left a great impression on me overall.

Yesterday’s cold brew.

I’m half glad my mouth was super, super frozen and numb and I could hardly taste anything (had some fillings done) because what I did taste of this was hibiscus overload. I accidentally steeped this for near 24 hours though; long enough to get the hibby good and fucking concentrated. My own fault, really…

Today’s word of the day is salvo. Definitely a new one for me.

Salvo is 1. the firing of two or more guns, or artillery pieces, at a single target or as a salute; 2. the release all at once of a rack of bombs or rockets.

Sipdown (117)!

Thank you for the sample TheLastDodo! This is so something I wouldn’t have picked for myself but when I was cooking supper tonight I suddenly found myself with such a craving for green tea. How odd for me! But, this was the perfect thing to satisfy that craving.

The dark twisty leaves are beautiful, first off. Dry I didn’t get much of a smell – it kinda smelled, to me, like most straight greens do – a little grassy. That is, if they don’t remind me of seaweed – which this one didn’t. I made very sure to steep it at the correct temperature, though my steep time was dreadfully inaccurate. I was aiming for two minutes – but I got distracted chopping up peppers, and I think what I ended up with was closer to a five minute steep?

Still came out spectacularly though – not even a little bit bitter or astringent which, to me, was shocking given that I personally have the most trouble brewing greens and am usually very receptive of bitterness when it comes to them.

Most notably, this was a very, very creamy and buttery green tea. It reminded me strongly of buttered green beans – sweet, creamy and so smooth going down. Something I used to eat all the time at my Grandma’s house during the summer. And following the same sort of mindset, when you got past the rich flavour there was a gentle earthiness underneath and extending a little into the aftertaste – like beans straight from the garden which haven’t been washed yet. Fresh, raw, and natural. For me, this is something you’d drink in the early afternoon outdoors right when spring is on the cusp of becoming summer.

And I loved it. I really, really did!

So far it’s the only tea I’ve had today – yesterday I got more dental work done (only nine fillings left to go – yay?) and afterwards could really only stand cold things, so I just had my daily cold brew. Good news is that today my mouth feels perfectly fine! Usually I’m in pain for the next couple of days following getting work done, so it’s a welcomed change.

Today, I had to spend a few hours running around getting stuff done like getting my new work pants hemmed – ‘cause they were like a foot longer than my legs. Major tripping hazard! I also didn’t sleep a wink last night, so I spent a LARGE portion of today taking long naps. Not much has been accomplished; oh well…

Thank you Tea Ave for the sample! I’ve tried a couple jasmine oolongs now, so I was excited seeing this one included in my samples since I’ve absolutely got a point of comparison. Besides, jasmine teas really seem to work for me (jasmine whites are my favourite though; admittedly) in general.

I made a pot of this one tonight when I got home from work to drink while I watched The Voice with Tre tonight. And, I was sure to use the aroma cup as well. In fact, Tre was really interested in what I was doing so I wound up teaching him how to use it too (not like he ever will though). So thanks for that as well Tea Ave; it was cool sharing tea stuff with him!

I have to say; the aroma cup didn’t make a huge difference for me; not like it has with the other teas I’ve tried it with, anyway. Absolutely made the floral notes in the tea stand out – and was very sweet, but I didn’t personally think I made any observations I would’ve missed otherwise. I let Tre smell though; but he didn’t like it much. Then again, he really hates most things floral so I should’ve expected it.

Taste wise, I thought most of the cups from my pot tasted very consistent. The ration of jasmine flavour compared with the natural flavours of the oolong was pretty even; neither over powered the other, and both got a chance to shine. Definitely a sweet jasmine; absolutely and completely natural tasting. I can’t imagine it’d ever find its way into “chemical” or “cheap perfume” territory!

The oolong was very soft and I tasted similar butter and cream notes to what I experienced with Ginger Lily; but I believe the two share the same base (someone correct me if that’s wrong though; I don’t have the packaging on me) so that’s not surprising. Maybe it was the flavour pairing; but I do think Ginger Lily’s “milk oolong” like flavour notes were stronger, and more drawn out. I missed that in this blend. Obviously, the floral notes were more exaggerated though – lots of orchid but also honeysuckle. Different than Ginger Lily; I also tasted more vegetal notes. Sugar snap peas, in particular. Crisp and sweet!

Final thoughts; the jasmine in this is excellent. Insanely well balanced, and completely natural tasting. Probably better than any other jasmine oolong I’ve had – or at the very least just as good. The oolong itself is also very good but less interesting here than it was in Ginger Lily.

However, taking a moment to be a little more critical – Ginger Lily is much more unique and a more surprising find for me. That, combined with the way the flavours of the oolong were brought out, is why I think it’s significantly better. While this certainly is a very good Jasmine Oolong, they aren’t terribly uncommon either. So I don’t think this is one I’d want to purchase – though I really, really did enjoy it. I still think I’d buy Ginger Lily though.

I think this note jumps around a lot but it’s also 1:00AM so bare with me.