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My first Verdant order!!! So excited for this one!

I got a gong fu pot and small double walled tea cups today. So my first gong fu experience! The first 3 steeps at around 5 seconds each. Then 8, 10, and 15 seconds respectively.

My first notes are light sweet jasmine. The second steep is stonger in jasmine flavour. Later on, I am getting more of the citrus/woodsy, but none of the cinnamon notes that the website mentioned. The freshness of the silver needle also peeks out a little more.

Very good and an interesting tea. I like the different notes that the gong fu steeping brings out. I still want to steep it western style for interest sake.

I was in DAVIDsTEA today and bought myself the little gong fu teapot and some clear double walled tea cups for my birthday tomorrow. And the new mate teas.

I told the girl working that it was a birthday present for myself. I am not sure if she was just in a good mood or it was because I had spent so much already, but she gave me a free tea for my birthday tomorrow! What a great day! And the parking meter still had an hour on it so I didn’t have to pay for parking either.

So I decided to go with this as my free tea. I probably steeped it about 10 or 15 minutes, I wasn’t really watching. Sweet, coconutty, and caramel. Too bad this tea is so expensive. I have to increase the rating because it is sooo good!

EDIT: I also cold brewed some for today. It is awesome! Just as good cold as hot!

It’s my birthday tomorrow, but I am celebrating today on my day off instead! I am just going to go shopping and buy myself a bday present! haha. And enjoy tea!

I started out this morning with a pumpkin chai latte. Steamed milk and a little bit of brown sugar…..sigh….yummy. It is like fall in a cup. And it will be fall before I know it.

After a weekend of camping, eating junk food, and not drinking any good teas, I look forward to drinking good tea again! I thought mint would be a good choice to settle my junk food stomach.

This tea dry really reminds me of mouthwash. Steeped, it isn’t as much as toothpaste or mouthwash, but still a little bit. Otherwise, it is sweet, minty goodness. I really like mint as a flavour, so for me, this is a great bedtime tea.

Maybe try mixing with peppermint.

Backlogging from Friday before we went camping for the weekend. I didn’t really have any good tea on the weekend, other than this one.

This is a lighter assam, not as bold as other assams I have tried. It is also less astringent than others, which is a plus. Sometimes it is nice to have a breakfast tea that doesn’t kick you in the face! It is malty and smooth.

I added a splash of milk halfway into the cup because I feel any Assam or English Breakfast really needs that milk to taste really good. The milk brought out the malty flavours to this tea even more.

I am glad that I picked this up while it was on sale. Less than $3 for an ounce!

Thank you Nicole for this sample!

Earl grey wafting in the air….sniff….smells delightful. This is a nice and light EG with nice bergamot flavouring. A little more lemon than most EGs probably. I actually like that this is decaf because I love black tea but don’t always need that caffeine kick.

I also think this would be great as an iced tea.

Thanks so much Stacy for this sample!

Tangerine isn’t my favourite fruit, but this tea has been getting such good reviews, I wanted to sample it.

It is really good, citrusy tangerine that doesn’t taste fake. Sweet and smooth. And it really gave me the kick that I needed because I stayed up untill after 1 am last night finishing book 3 of Game of Thrones! Oy, why do I do that to myself? Haha

I resteeped this and put it in the fridge to chill. It was weaker, but still good!

Vanilla! One of my favourite flavours, so very much looking forward to this one.

Vanilla cream for sure….so creamy and sweet. But not overly or sickly sweet. The vanilla tastes real, like actual vanilla beans instead of gross, fake flavouring. I think Honeybush was a very good choice of base for this tisane (even though it says rooibos on the bag!). Probably the best vanilla tea I have had to date!

My Butiki order arrived today! So excited, I ripped open the box immediately and started my kettle. I could smell the pineapple right when I ripped open the box. Oh wow, this is gonna be good!

4 minutes seems like it isn’t a long time, but waiting for this tea to steep, it seemed like an eternity…..the smell is intoxicating.

Sip….WOW!!!! I am transported back to Hawaii, sitting on the beach eating fresh, sweet pineapple and ice cream…the waves rolling in and the sand in between my toes….ah….

This tea is super fresh pineapple, sweet, and so natural. Then the oolong makes an appearance, not vegetal, but silky and smooth. At the end of the sip, I get a flowery note.

Resteep- 85 degrees, 5 minutes: more oolong coming through, and the pineapple isn’t as strong. The floral notes are still there. Still amazing!

Edit: I had put the last few sips of each steep in the fridge to chill. As much as I like this tea hot, I don’t like it as much cold. There is just something about oolong that I don’t like cold.

I had this one a LONG time ago before I had joined steepster. This was one of the first teas that I ever tried.

Anyway, having another go with this tea. It is just as good as I remembered. Peach and oolong are such a stellar combination. Sweet and the apricot adds a whole new dimension all together! The nuts also add a little bit of nutty sweetness! I love this one!

I resteeped this at 95 degrees for 7 minutes and it was wonderful!

I got this in my grab-bag back in July but am just getting around to it now. Backlogging from last night.

This is an excellent chai. It is slightly sweet with a spicy kick. The flavours really work well together here. This will be really good on those cold fall and winter evenings with some steamed milk. Yikes, fall is almost here already!! AHHHHH!

Backlogging from last night. I have been eyeing this tea but did not want to order it. My history with banana teas has not been very positive. The only banana tea that I have liked has been DTs banana oolong. So anyway, I thought I should try a sample. Thank so much to tattooed_tea for this sample that I have finally gotten around to!

This smells wonderful. Wow, sweet, natural banana. Much to my suprise, this is delicious. I think the honeybush really brings out the natural sweetness in this tea. I might have to order this sometime in the future!

I resteeped this tea for 10 minutes and it was a little weak, but it was still ok.

I also put my second cup of this steep in the fridge to chill for today. It is still really good, and sweet, but I think I like it better hot.

This is so good! Thanks to Emilie for this sample! I am really glad that I got to try this one!

Blueberries are one of my favourite fruits. This is pure, sweet, fresh blueberries upon first sip. And the aroma is amazing. Then comes the sweet cream cheese with a little bit of tang. Then the buttery danish flavour. Yum!

I would have a hard time not buying this one if Frank re-blends this baby!

Ok, I finally got up the nerve to try this. I received this in my grab bag. But I am really wimpy when it comes to spicy goods. But what the heck, I love chocolate. Lol, I accidentally sniffed the bag and ended up sneezing for about 5 minutes. oops

This tea upon first sip is really nice and smooth and slightly chocolatey. But then the spice comes out. It is a little bit too spicy for me. It really is good, but I am just a wimp.

I am not going to rate this because I really like it, and it is what the description said. Great job Frank! It just isn’t the right tea for me!

Would anyone be interested in a swap?

This is part of a gift pack of 3 teas that my in-laws brought back from England for me. I am having this today for the last day of the London Olympics. I had a great time watching them!

This is actually the loose version of the tea. This was very bold and malty. I had it with milk as the English would. Honestly, I think this tea would maybe be a little harsh without the milk, but with milk it is nice and smooth.

This packs a bit of a punch, but great for this morning as I was only half awake and was getting for another long shift at the hospital.

Thanks again Emilie for the generous sample so I could play around with it. I also got this in my grab bag, so I am happy.

This was a cold brewing. DaisyChubb was right, the cream cheese icing comes through more in the cold brew. It tastes noticeably different than a hot brew. It also has less cinnamon roll taste. This is very different than most of my other iced tea, as I like fruity iced teas. A welcomed different iced tea!

Thanks Amanda for this sample!

There is not as much strawberry flavour as I thought there would be :(. It is sweet and I do get a baked goods taste, but not pie crust. The cinnamon is nice but it is taking over the strawberry taste. Even though it isn’t as strawberry as I would like, I do enjoy cinnamon. So for a cinnamon tea, it is good.

I brewed 2 cups of this last night and put one in the fridge to cool. It is still pretty good but I think I like it hot better.

I placed a Butiki order yesterday, so I went to go have a Butiki tea to celebrate, I lifted up one of the bags, and this sample fell to the floor!! What excitement at finding this. I have no idea where it was hidden all this time….lol. Thanks to Stacy for this sample!

What an intriguing tea…purple tea, brews up a light yellow. I am not getting any bitterness at all. So this base is nice and smooth. I am definitely getting a sweet blueberry taste to this tea. It isn’t strong, but it is there for sure. Very yummy.

I am going to cold brew the resteep here and see how that turns out!

Thanks to Emilie for this sample.

There was a note on my sample sent from Emilie that it smells like it got contaminated by a lapsang. It does smell like a lapsang along with an earl grey. I guess we will see how it tastes!

So tasting now, this is a nice earl grey, but not the typical earl grey. A lot of vanilla taste, a tad bit of caramel and berries. The bergamot is definitely there in end of the sip and in the aftertaste. It is a tad astringent. Maybe a shorter steep next time.

I don’t think that I am getting any lapsang taste, but I can’t seem to get it out of my mind. lol, I am over-thinking it!

I really like this and have my eye on a H&S order sometime in the future when I don’t have so many teas in my cupboard….if that ever happens.

The brew is a nice light yellow.

The first sip is sweet, creamy pineapple with floral oolong in the background at first. In the aftertaste, it is that nice floral oolong with a little hint of apricot.

Resteep 90degrees, 5 minutes. A little less pineapple flavour, the apricot and oolong come out a little more.

For being a pineapple oolong, I maybe would have liked it with a little bit less apricot. But I do really like this

This is a dark amber brew. This is probably one of my favourite straight blacks at DAVIDsTEA. It is bold and a tad astringent. I am not quite used to drinking such a bold tea. So for me (as much as I don’t like to have additions), with milk, the maltiness really shines. It just isn’t the same without the milk.

This is not my favourite black tea, but it is definitely good and I would possibly keep some around. I would like to try some other assams from some other companies as well.

This is so good. Upon first sip, it is a little bit earthy. In the aftertaste, and further into the mug, mango comes through. As I near the bottom of the mug, the mango has more staying power and tastes very natural. There is also just a hint of spiciness somewhere.

I don’t know how you do your flavourings so well Stacy, but they are phenomenal!

I made 2 cups and have put the remaining into a to-go cup to have cold tomorrow. I will edit tomorrow after I have tasted that brew!

EDIT: the cup that I cooled in the fridge was so good. So refreshing and mango. This was probably even better cold than it is hot!! Might as well increase the rating a little bit!

This is a good bagged earl. With a little splash of milk, this isn’t too astringent. There is a good amount of bergamont, but not overpowering. So convenient for travelling.

Side note: I have reached 100 followers!

Many many thanks to Amanda for this sample

I wanted to save this for a day when I had time to myself to sit and enjoy this tea. Finally, that day is here! I am a big Harry Potter fan, and this is definitely how I would think Butterbeer would taste! Great job Frank. This tea is a smooth black base, with definite buttery rootbeer notes.

Halfway through my cup, as I was reading other reviews, I added milk, and it added a little more smoothness. Either way, with milk or not, it is really good!