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I made this in the morning using the leaves from the cup I had last night with Robyn. Exact same steeping method as last night. The idea was to drink it at work along with the Raspberry Oolong I had also made, but I actually completely forgot that this was in my backpack all day, so I didn’t end up drinking it until after I had gone down to DAVIDsTEA downtown and realized I had it with me.

Actually, I have an awesome story to share from there today (again). Seriously, I think I’ve been down there twice in the last seven days now – and both times I had AMAZING and above and beyond customer service experiences. Last time, they completely replaced my broken timolino when I was just going to buy a replacement part, and this time I got about $20 of free tea…

So, what happened was I had gone in today to pick up three tea tins for teas I’ve decided will be restocked regularly (Minty Cow from Della Terra, Genmaicha from McQuarries, and Buddha Bamboo from Tea Desire), and also 100g of Choconut Oolong because I’m REALLY loving it and I want to have a good reserve of it. Really, that’s all I could afford to pick up until my next paycheck on the 16th (and then after that I’ll be making much more money because of the increase in hours and pay due to my being a manager now). However, when I came to the mall there was a homeless gentleman outside collecting change wearing nothing but jeans and a t-shirt. Today was FREEZING cold, and it’s snowing to. I’m cold and I’m in a GIANT insulated jacket – so I figure he’s probably freezing. I said hi to him and asked him if he was cold, and he said that yes he was cold but he would manage, and then wished me a blessed evening.

So, as I was getting my purchases rung in at the David’s store, I remembered this guy outside who had been very kind to me and who I could see was really cold. Even though I couldn’t really afford too much extra expenditures (I had budgeted money for this tea into my last paycheck, but didn’t really have any other money set aside for things other than bus fare, rent, and groceries) I decided that I’d get this gentleman a tea (plus, it wouldn’t hurt having the good karma on my side what with the fact I’m about to take on a huge amount of responsibility, and I’m training tomorrow).

I asked the salesman what he would recommend for a Tea to Go with the requirements being that the tea had to be able to withstand a very long steep time and have a very low risk for allergens. He looked a little confused at the requirements (like they were very unconventional things to request), so I explained that the tea wasn’t for me but the homeless gentleman outside who was probably freezing cold. He smiled, recommended Currant Affair (which I went with), and then told me that my tea was on the house. I assumed he just meant the Tea to Go (which was awesome because I really couldn’t afford it to begin with), but as he finished ringing everything in he not only gave me the Tea toG on the house, but also my 100g tin of Choconut Oolong! So, all I paid for was the tea tins (an $8 total, approx.) – and I got about $20 worth of free tea! I feel so blessed, and I’m again just BLOWN AWAY with how amazing David’s is.

Anyway, that was a very long story… So, back to the Choconut Oolong that I actually drank. This resteep is pretty good. The licorice root is faintly there, which is keeping this nice and sweet, and the chocolate and hazelnut flavours are also really lightly present. The interesting thing, however, is that this second steep seems to have brought out a flavour not present in the first steep at all, and that’s the flavour of graham crackers.

Actually, it’s a REALLY STRONG flavour of graham crackers. It’s good, but totally different. I wonder what changed that brought this specific flavour out? I tossed the leaves I used this morning, but I’d really love to try a third steeping and see how much this tea changes again. Thankfully, I have lots now to use up and (thanks to the amazing staff at David’s) even a little extra money in my budget!