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Tea number five out of my order of six teas from Della Terra. I’m a little ashamed at how long it’s taken me to get through these ones.

I’m not really sure how this one ended up one of the last ones for me to try since it was one of the ones I was most excited for when I placed my order, and it smells divine. The dry leaf, to me, smells like a cross between an honest to goodness s’more and a Charleston Chew vanilla nougat chocolate bar. I’m ok with both comparisons though – I enjoy both. I’m kind of surprised by how strongly you can smell the graham crackers and flavouring in the dry leaf: for whatever reason I wasn’t expecting to smell them and thought of them more as “the novelty” in the tea that made it a “s’more” and not just marshmallows and chocolate.

I steeped a level 1/2 tablespoon (1 1/2 tsp.) for my 6 oz. cup and steeped with near boiling water for approx. 3 min. 30 seconds. The liquor was a kind of medium to darkish brown colour and smelled heavenly (and very strongly of marshmallows). I’m feeling really impatient this morning (lots to do today, just sort of domestically around the house) so I added in a splash of milk to cool down the tea so I could drink it right away, however I didn’t taste the tea beforehand so I’ll have to do another comparison/review without milk.

Drinking, the initial taste is a really chocolatey black tea that gives way to a nice creamy, vanilla marshmallow flavour. The graham cracker notes are harder for me to notice, but I can tell that they’re there (again, that was more than I was expecting anyway). The flavour of the black tea base next to the marshmallows sort of mixes to create a semi “burnt marshmallow” flavour which is awesome to me – I love burnt marshmallows (I actually go out of my way to burn my marshmallows on purpose). However, at the core of the burnt marshmallow you still have the ooey gooey center.

Overall, I think this is a really good dessert tea and would be perfect for late nights during the summer if you’re either actually camping and want to pass on the calorie overload of an actual s’more or if you’re stuck in the city unable to actually go camping and you want to experience some of the awesomeness of camping anyway. I think Tre will like this one, so I’m gonna put off letting him try it for as long as possible.

But yes, this is a hit for me!

I actually had this twice today…

Whenever I spend the evening at the University with Robyn I usually stay for supper and eat and the huge buffet style cafeteria. Basically, you pay a flat rate and can eat as much as you want for up to three hours depending on when you show up to the meal (supper, for example, runs from five to eight). It’d be great except Robyn usually wants to eat quickly and then do other things – but she’s also not paying for the meal (it’s part of her residence/food plan). I, on the other hand, pay $12.55 each time I’m there so I want to get the most out of my meal.

I’ve had some really good food from there like pizza, mango chutney and tofu tacos, sweet potato fries, almond cherry coconut squares, and some of the best homemade style mac and cheese I’ve ever tried. Tonight, however, was the first time I had tea there. Unfortunately, all they carry is bagged Lipton teas – but they do have a good variety. I had this one with my dessert (carrot cake squares iced with a caramel cream cheese icing).

I didn’t make any physical notes while drinking this, but I retained a few mental ones. I remember this tea was really good initially but it also got overwhelmingly spicy and kind of “burny” on my tongue about halfway through. I also only had about 4 ounces of water to steep it in, and I’m not really sure what temperature of water it was steeped in – I didn’t have an exact way of telling.

Now, technically speaking, you’re not supposed to take any food out of the cafeteria hall – BUT, if I’m gonna pay a fair amount for food and be rushed eating it I’m gonna steal a few things… Like two teabags. I took another one of this one so I could properly review it, and a bag of Green Tea with Jasmine (to see if I can find a yummy bagged equivalent of the jasmine green tea that Lala sent me).

So, this one is not steeped following the recommended steeping instructions. Boiling water, for four minutes (low end of the spectrum, since it was really powerful before). Steeped, the liquor is a really murky brown and not so appealing looking. The smell is like a spiced orange. The mix of stuff in the teabag itself looked really gross as I pulled it out – kind of like beige baby vomit with little red bits (the hibiscus in the blend, likely). I apologize for the imagery, but well… That’s what it looks like.

Initial taste is orange notes in the front of the sip, with a more pleasant spiciness. I also detect faint lemon notes. I’m sticking with my impression of a “spiced orange”. I can’t completely recall the entire ingredients list, but I would be surprised if cloves isn’t part of it. With a little honey to sweeten up the orange, I think this could be really amazing.

Currently, I’m drinking this while I eat a slice of pecan pie, which I’ve being having CONSTANT cravings for during the last two weeks, making this slice so much more heavenly. I love that “as an adult” if I want to go out and buy a pecan pie to eat all by myself I can do that. The tastes are actually complimenting each other pretty nicely though.

Overall, I’m happy. I think this might be the first Lipton tea I’ve tried since getting really into loose leaf teas that I’d actually drink again with some enthusiasm. I’m not sure if I’d buy a whole box, though. I’d definitely steal myself another teabag, though!

PS. I think I should note that this tea seemed to do much more for my sore throat today than the Bravissimo from earlier did.

Backlog from earlier in the day.

Tre woke up really sick today, so I made him a large cup of this since it’s supposedly really good for colds/sore throats and such. About half way through the morning I realized that I too was getting a stuffy nose and had a sore throat. Yeck.

So, I made two really strong cups of this and poured them into my water bottle to take with me to the University today. I drank most of it on the bus ride while it was still hot, and then finished the rest off while we were in the middle of the “queeristorical walking tour” that the U of S Pride Center was running.

The tour was actually really cool and informative, and Robyn and I got to learn a lot about the LGBTQ history of the university. The tour guide was also really funny and entertaining, so it made up for a few of the (slightly) more boring sections of the tour.

The tea itself was really good. I find that with an extended brewing time (about ten minutes) and a little extra leaf this tea tastes basically like pure licorice and is super sweet, which is perfect for me. I know this blend has mint in it, but I really can’t detect it. Actually, a lot of the flavour get lost in the overall taste of the licorice and the only tastes shining through are chamomile and something that tastes like “chicken noodle soup” broth slightly (in the front of the sip mostly), but pleasant like? That’s a bad description.

Anyway, I’m finding this tea is perfect for when I’m really desiring licorice but otherwise ends up mostly forgotten about within my collection. Woops. As for whether it’s good for feeling sick, I’ll have to ask Tre tomorrow how he felt – it didn’t really do much for my stuffiness or sore throat. Oh well.

Tonight, after my Dad came over, we went out for supper at Boston Pizza (my favourite restaurant, and the one I request to go to everytime he comes over – which he’s probably sick of by now). Since I last saw him, I’ve completely cut soda from my diet as well as most juices so I asked the waitress what teas they had. She kind of floundered a bit over the question, but I made sure she knew it was ok: if she just gave me a broad idea that would be fine. She said there were two varieties of green tea (ick), peppermint, and something that was a black tea. I opted for the black tea, and much to my approval was presented with an Earl Grey! Yum!

I actually made notes on how it tasted on a napkin using a purple crayon she was nice enough to grab for me. My Dad kind of teased me the whole time on how much of a “tea snob” I’ve become. The whole time I was thinking “If you only knew some of the people on Steepster” (no offense to anyone – the degree to which fellow steepster users love tea is something I, intern, love about you all).

So, these are the notes I made on my napkin:

- Dry Leaf (Bagged) smelled smooth with strong bergamot notes and faint notes of lavendar
- The hot water provided was definitely not 100 degress celcius as recommended by the brewing instructions – my best guess would be around 80 degress celcius
- I steeped my tea for 5 min. exactly using a timer setting on my phone (5 min. was the recommended steep time)
- The liquor came out to a very deep amber
- As far as taste goes, the tea was midly astringent and mildly bitter with an unpleasant aftertaste (which I was happy to mask with my pizza, once it arrived)
- There were strong notes of bergamot and less noticible but still present notes of lavendar and honey
- The front of the sip had a distinct taste of black tea right before the flavour of the bargamot kicked in

Overall, the tea wasn’t too bad as far bagged tea goes, but not the best Earl Grey I’ve had (by far) – some of that might be because of the brewing conditions, however.

PS. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 was AMAZING! If you liked the first one at all (even a little) you’ll love this one. 10/10 would totally recommend.

Yay unexpected reward tea! I elaborated a bit more in my previous note about Blueberry Jam as to why I bought this, but essentially I finished work early so decided to treat myself to a new tea using the money I would have been spending on lunch.

The experience in store was kind of interesting, actually. I knew I was looking for a Mate, so when the sales lady (who is also the store manager) asked if I knew what was looking for/if she could help me, I explained I was interested in picking up a new Mate tea so I had more variety in the mornings. I told her I already had Chocolate Rocket (which I love) and wanted something fruitier.

She then pulled down Jungle Ju Ju, Main Squeeze, and Queen of Tarts. In between my sniffing different teas and reading the ingredients lists we started talking about Steepster. I was talking about how I knew a bit about each tea and what to expect based on Steepster reviews. I told her that of the three teas she had pulled, Jungle Ju Ju has the highest rating (81 I think?) and Queen of Tarts has the lowest. She seemed really personally offended that Queen of Tarts was scored lower, and then really insisted that it was the best selling Mate they had. I don’t know, it just really stuck out to me.

Also, in theory, it makes sense logically to me that Queen of Tarts would be a high seller since it’s really new. It was August’s tea of the month, so it was featured and therefore a lot of people probably tried it out above other Mates. Also, anyone who is a really big DAVIDsTEA fan, it seems, goes out of their way to try the new blends at least once so that’s even more people buying the tea.

Anyway, I think I’m glad I picked this one out. Jungle Ju Ju didn’t do anything for me smell wise, and Queen of Tarts smelled SO strongly of hibiscus – and while I like hibiscus I can get the flavour from either Goji Pop or Pink Flamingo, both of which I have stocked.

The dry leaf of this one smells super strongly of all things tropical. When I worked at the theatre, we sold a smoothie called “Tropical Storm”, and the smell of that smoothie is really akin to what I smell in the dry leaf of this one. It makes sense, they share some similar contributing flavours like pineapple and orange. There’s a gentle earthiness to the dry leaf as well, from the green yerba mate. I’m so excited to try this out!

My Dad is getting here from Regina at around five, and then we’re gonna go out for supper and see a movie (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2)! I’m also gonna try and convince him to take me grocery shopping so I can buy more stuff and don’t have to worry about walking back home with a ton of grocery bags. However, since he’ll be here in less than two hours I really only have time to properly review one tea and I was kind of torn between this and the two Della Terra teas I’ve yet to try. Opted for this though – I could probably use the energy.

I used a level tsp. for my 6 oz cup, steeped in near boiling water for 5 min. and 30 seconds. This steeped up to be a really vibrant yellow colour. The smell of it steeping was a pretty concentrated papaya, with some notes of orange and pineapple. The earthiness of the mate is also present.

Tasting it, the initial notes in the front of the sip are about 50/50 earthy flavours and tropical ones. The tropical notes are very sweet with a well rounded balance between pineapple, papaya, and orange. Part of me also gets an incredibly faint sense of mango. Again, I have to allude to the Tropical Storm smoothies I used to serve at work, minus the creamy dairy. I’ve read a few reviews that said the flavour was toned down in comparison to the dry leaf smell, and while (of course) it doesn’t taste exactly like the dry leaf does, I think this is pretty flavourful and powerful in its own way. The earthy flavour from the mate doesn’t hold up in the aftertaste. Instead, the aftertaste is an all tropical one that sits in your mouth for a really long time.

I think this is going to be a really good morning/breakfast tea, and I’m super happy with the purchase! Really loving all aspects of this tea (we’ll just have to wait and see whether or not this one is as stimulating as I hope it’ll be). I feel like I have a really good mix up of Mates at this point: Mate Mint from Tea Desire, Chocolate Rocket from DAVIDsTEA, and now Main Squeeze also from DAVIDsTEA – all together equalling three really distinct flavours. Also, it’s great to have something really tropical/citrusy that ISN’T an herbal tea.

EDIT: Yikes, this rating is a novel! I never realize I’m writing as much as I do until I post. The few of you who occasionally comment, how do you put up with reading so much?

The more I drink this the more it grows on my, and the more I want to drink it. What a vicious cycle (though luckily I bought 100g a few days ago, so I’m totally stocked up)! Anyway, I made this in the morning to take with me while I finished merchandising the store. I actually didn’t end up drinking until the bus ride home and by then it was cold, but it was really good. A little bit bitter but that’s because it sat so long (with a few little bits and tea leaves in the bottom that the strainer didn’t get out), and it wasn’t enough to make it unenjoyable.

We actually finished merchandising the store early though, which I was both happy and sad about. It was predicted we’d take 6 hours before set up would be complete and they could officially open, but it only took the three of us working (there were 5 for most of yesterday, but 7 by the end of the shift) three hours to finish up. I’m glad, because boxes of calendars are heavier than you would think, and my arms were getting sore, but also kinda sad because I could have used three more hours of pay.

Also, I got to shelve approx. 250 calendars relating to specific dog breeds. It really sucked because they were completely mixed up and out of order in the boxes but I had the shelve them alphabetically. It took forever. I swear, I don’t want to look at another dog for the rest of the week (except I’m gonna have to on Monday or Tuesday when I do stock/merchandising for the store I’ll actually be working in).

As a reward (and since we left at noon) for finishing really and working hard, I decided to spend the money I had set aside for lunch from the food court on tea instead, since the bus ride is only twenty minutes and DAVIDsTEA is so close to Calendar Club (plus, I’ll be working at a different location now so I’m not sure exactly when I’ll have a chance to head back out there). I wanted to pick up another Mate so I have more variety for breakfast on early morning when I have to get up, which will be happening much more frequently now. I got Main Squeeze, so I’ll be logging that pretty shortly.

Bedtime tea (also in an attempt to soothe my aching body).

I definitely underleafed, this one brewed up pretty weak tonight. Still, there’s a lovely eucalyptus and grapefruit taste and since I under leafed there’s not too much tartness from the hibiscus.

I let it sit a bit too long and now it’s cooled to a weird kinda lukewarm temperature. Not the best cup I’ve had of this, but considering how little effort I put into making it I really shouldn’t complain.

I need to keep my note for this short since my internet keeps cutting out.

Anyway, drank this as a cold tea as per my usual method. Basically, it was good. Honestly, it tasted like what I picture a sort of generic type “health drink” to taste like. I don’t know if I can really explain what I mean, though. The four flavours (green tea base, strawberry, spearmint, and ginger) in the tea were really well balanced (I almost want to say perfectly balanced because you could taste all of them at basically any given time drinking).

However, I did read that Sil wished there was more of a ginger taste. I’m wondering if the ginger really was more subtle but I just perceived it as strongly contributing to the flavour because I usually hate the taste of ginger a lot and therefore was just extra aware of it.

I think this would be really good as an iced tea with a bit of club soda added to it. Yummy!

Also, I had a hard work day doing all the merchandising and stock for Calendar club (it was an 8 hour shift), and am now so freaking sore all over. Really, the amount of lifting and carrying really heavy boxes didn’t hit me until like 30 minutes before the day was over. I have another 6 hour shift tomorrow finishing what we were doing today. And, on the plus side, the other store manager (for the separate branch that I was also interviewed by)was there and she officially offered me a position – so I’m hired! YAY FOR NOT BEING UNEMPLOYED! After my first paycheck, I should be able to put in a Butiki order and buy a timolino (and then I should really not buy anymore tea for a long while)!

Urgh, I’m gonna have to do all the stock and merchandising for the branch I was hired at now too, though! My body is not gonna love me so much.

Yay for sort of work!?

I was hired for one day to come in and do the stock and merchandising for a store downtown, so it is pay. But only temporary. REALLY temporary. I’ll take it though; who am I to complain – some money is better than no money. Actually, today will be paying for groceries, so that’s not so bad.

Anyway, this was my morning cuppa to kind of wake me up before leaving. I was up bloody early this morning: 6 AM!!! Bleck. Nice and minty though, and it made a great transition from miserable bed monster to hard working individual.

I think I’m gonna stop at DAVIDsTEA later and try a new tea (maybe the tea of the month) as a tea to go. Afterall, it’ll only be 3 shops down from where I’m working today.

Since I bought enough of this today to completely fill my tin, I figured I might as well steep myself a glass of this lovely tea!

Steeped for 8 min. in boiling water.

Today, there’s an especially thick mouthfeel (I think I got more sugar hearts than usual into the mix) and and especially rich coconut taste accompanied by a sweet pineapple. I think I was especially craving the pineapple today. Such a smooth, yummy pina colada flavoured tea.

I think I might need to bump up my rating a bit.