whatshesaid

Another one ordered for me and sent up north from Tastybrew, yay!

Drinking it now. It’s more flavourful than the S&V English Toffee I had yesterday… Still not SUPER caramelly. It doesn’t have the burnt toffee taste I thought I didn’t like, but I’m wondering if maybe that taste would still be preferable because at least it’s A taste.

Hm. I don’t know yet, I probably won’t be sad when this is all gone though.

My amazing “tea mule” Tastybrew sent this to me, along with two other S&V teas, one being the one I know I love, Almond Sugar Cookie.
I took a chance on this one, as some others I’ve tried have left me with a feeling of “meh”.

Sadly this one didn’t work out… So far. I brewed it at work with boiling water and no doubt oversteeped it, and it tasted like slightly flavoured hot cardboard, kind of like some of their other samples did. BUT, I hear there’s a better way to bring out the flavours of these S&V teas, 180 degrees for a couple minutes I think it was, so I plan to try that and withhold my rating for now.

Either way, thank you, Tastybrew!!!

My Nova Scotian friend received some of this as a gift and passed on the rest to me, with a warning that it’s “strong”.

I thought it was a decent cuppa Earl Grey, a bit strong but not too bad. I like EG teas to start with so it was a perfectly enjoyable way to start my day, with a bit of milk :)

I’m a bit depressed because I haven’t been able to drink as much tea lately, so I’m being choosy and drinking ones I love, make it worthwhile. I miss writing reviews. I’m still reading everyone else’s though!!

I got some of this from Dustin in a swap and also Scmiracles sent me some because she is totally awesome!!

I tried this once a few months ago at my local fancy tea shop, but then she never had anymore in stock. Speaking of fancy, I feel fancy when I drink it.

It does get pretty strong pretty fast and I remember the lady at the tea shop telling me this, so I steeped it at 95 degrees and only for about a minute and a half, I do not regret that decision as I can actually taste a hint of bitterness even at that time!

It’s delicious though, chocolatey and caramelly and the scent of the tea is intoxicating. I know it’s all in my head because it’s my curse to always want things I cannot have, but I swear it even SMELLS like quality. It’s so nice to be able to try this!

My ultimate life goal of visiting Paris one day (and England for that matter) is just emphasized now because when I get there someday, I will absolutely be raiding Mariages Freres!

Thanks so much for the samples, you guys :)
I am truly enjoying my cup of this while I rewatch Season 5 of True Blood, two of my favorite things at the same time, too much awesomeness!!

Weird that I never reviewed this before! I had definitely received a sample in a swap from someone when I first began this tea journey. I wasn’t super impressed, I remember being disappointed. It was actually one of the first Della Terra Teas I tried and one I’d had high hopes for given the other reviews.
In hindsight I can now recognize that I definitely underleafed that first time around, and that my sample was probably contaminated from sitting in its little baggie in the sample box for so long.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I loved this tea on round 2, I definitely enjoyed it more. It still wasn’t super cookie tasting to me but it had more flavour than my first try. I have enough for a nice strong second cup so I don’t intend to skimp on the leaves.

Glad I got a second chance, thanks Dustin!!

ETA forgot to mention that oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite, because there’s a little old lady who lives inside me. Don’t even try to replace the raisins with chocolate chips, that’s blasphemy! So that being said, you’ll have to excuse my lack of raving over this tea. It’s not a real cookie!

Look at me, the first one to rate this tea.

Sadly I didn’t love it. There was something sort of off. It tasted better than the dry blend smells (fakeish and bitter), but I still found it to be too chemically enhanced for me, really artificial and with overly strong flavouring. No pie. Never thought I’d say this but I way prefer these flavours with a rooibos base, and this just makes me appreciate their Lemon/Lime/Chiffon/Cream Tart teas that much more!

If anyone wants to try it, let me know, I will never drink a whole oz.

ETA Courtney Courtney Courtney!! thanks!!! :)
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Oh lawdy, I can’t remember who sent me this but I will go back and check. So many samples lately!

Funny, I’m definitely losing my mind. Not sure how I even remembered this much but…. I had cold brewed this the other day, for a long time. It was tasty. But I’ve been cold brewing tons of teas to try and get through a lot of my stash, and as caffeine free options to drink iced now that it’s so warm outside.

I drank this and liked it but for the life of me couldn’t remember what the hell it was! Until I saw the sample bag on the counter and it all came back to me. Oy.

To summarize. It was fruity and potent and delicious as a cold tea. I didn’t use a ton of it, maybe 1.5 tsp in a biggish jar, but left it for like, days, haha. So that worked out.

I will be all set once I can properly thank the lovely swapper who sent it to me!!

Finally scored a sample of this as it’s been on my ‘must try’ list for awhile given all the glowing reviews. Thank you, Dustin!!

I have unfortunately not yet found a 52Teas blend worth raving about, perhaps just due to my own personal tastes. This one wasn’t really an exception, thus far.

It’s definitely got blueberry flavouring in it, can’t deny that. There’s a slightly off chemicalish note that I’m guessing is maybe the cheesecake aspect?? Not sure. Maybe it’s one that should be aired out??
I didn’t taste any pastry notes either.

Also, as far as claims that it should be a good breakfast tea, what with containing Assam and all…. I disagree. The liquor of my tea ended up very pale and not full bodied at all, no strong tea taste telling me to “wake up!!”…. I let it steep for awhile. I will try again using boiling water as I had originally brewed it with slightly cooled down water because I’ve read that helps bring out the flavours of 52Teas blends.

As it stands it was perfectly drinkable, but did not live up to its claims, for me. Also the slight chemical after taste was not delicious.

So far I am just pleased to cross this off my wish list. If my next cup drastically improves I will be sure to let you know!

ETA
Tried this again, added some more leaf to yesterday’s steep and let it sit for quite some time. It did get darker but still not what I’d consider a breakfast tea. It still didn’t blow me away. I have enough dry leaf left for one more (strong) round so whenever that happens I will report back.

I ended up receiving samples of this from three different people, lol! So thanks very much to Courtney, Cavocorax and Jackie T!

I tried some for the first time today, made it in my Contigo travel mug to take to the theatre when we went to see Iron Man 3. (Awesome, in case you were wondering!)

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this given that I didn’t love the Vanilla Cream rooibos I had the other day, but it smelled decent.

I was pleasantly surprised that the rooibos took a back seat. It was true to its name, apple cinnamon; the yogurt wasn’t super noticeable but i am sure it added a bit of a creamy note and probably toned down the spiciness, which i appreciated.

Luckily I still have a few cups worth left so it will make a nice caffeine free option for a little while! Maybe I will order an oz at some point.

Crap. I should have logged this while it was fresh in my mind.

Got this from Cavocorax (thanks!!!) and I’m pleased to say I actually enjoyed it! I guess honeybush is less offensive to me than rooibos. Also it’s one of the first 52Teas blends that I’ve had decent luck with. (Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake was decent even if not really cheesecakey, and i liked Butterbeer!!) I will try it again later.

I recall it being sufficiently strawberryriffic but not fake tasting. Maybe not pie tasting either but that’s no surprise, given my vast and unwavering love of all things pie. I can’t imagine I’d ever consider a tea as being a truly good pie replication. Buttery flakey awesomeness is hard to clone.

Anyway, I digress.

Thanks ever so much to Courtney for sending me a sample of this to try, now I can knock it off my list!

I think I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a hunormous fan of cinnamon in tea. I don’t love chai, I didn’t love Davidstea’s Stormy Night because of the cinnamon…. I do like it if it tastes like a baked good, like oatmeal raisin cookies or that amazing Brioche tea. But just not as a main feature. And while this is perfectly enjoyable, it’s not like the BLAM!! Butiki awesomeness that I’ve grown accustomed to. Because mostly what I taste is cinnamon. Not much of the creaminess. Not getting a ton of other flavours besides the spiciness.

It’s not you, Pumpkin Creme Brûlée, it’s me.

ETA as it cools I’m getting some pumpkin taste. I guess I’m also not a huge fan of pumpkin flavoured things either, I do like Davidstea’s Pumpkin Chai though. I realize that goes against everything I just finished telling you, haha.

I don’t know if it’s the catnip or the fennel but I can’t handle the smell of these leaves. The brewed liquor isn’t much better. I bought and drink this for one reason and one reason only – IBS. I don’t enjoy it, but it seems to help.

It’s just not my cuppa tea! I definitely don’t drink it willingly. My friend loved it though, and it’s rated surprisingly well for something that grosses me out!

I had it in a pretty Davidstea tin that I decided to use for something else…. It took forever to get the stench of this out of it. But I will keep drinking it, so long as it keeps making me feel better.

I am not going to bother with a rating as I’m not sure whether to rate it on taste or functionality!

I’m bumping this rating way up as I’ve had it a few times lately and realized I’m in love.

That’s why my reviews have been sparse, I’ve been drinking things I already reviewed, no sense adding something unless there’s something to add!

….so there’s something to add. This is really good. I might even like it more than the Maple Pecan Oolong and mayyyybe more than the Creamy Eggnog but saying that is almost blasphemous for me.

It’s buttery and nutty and creamy and sweet but not fake and not sickening and just delicious.

I found Butiki’s teas a bit too subtle when I first began this journey but I’ve come full circle because they’re really the perfect balance between good quality tea leaves that you can actually taste (therefore they actually contribute to the overall deliciousness of the tea), and subtle, complimentary flavoring that never feels synthetic or out of place.

Team Butiki all the way… Stacy is the (wo) man!!

(on an unrelated note, while writing numerous reviews on my iPhone on my breaks at work I have somehow managed to accidentally unfollow a few people, one misguided tap on the screen is all it takes, apparently. Come on with the mobile version, Steepster! You’re killin me! Sorry guys. It was not intentional. But you probably didn’t even notice :))

I’ve been sadly slowing down with reviews lately on account of drinking less tea and also I’ve been drinking boring old peppermint tea bags because my gut issues have been acting up at an insane level.

Ordered this with a few other rooibos from Della Terra as I’m looking for more caffeine free options and so far I’ve been impressed with this company’s rooibos offerings.

I drank some last night, and I think I’m with Sil in that I need something else to help hide the rooibos taste, as the vanilla alone isn’t sufficient given that I don’t really like rooibos. Their Blueberry Creme and all the lemon/lime chiffon/cream tart teas blow my mind, but this one is too much of the hay like medicinal taste. I will probably still drink it but maybe I will add some maple syrup or something, haha.

I am wondering if I should have tried the caramel rooibos instead?

Round 2 of this :)

So, I’m not getting a ton of honey taste out of this, it’s not overly sweet to my taste buds. I just ate an egg so if it was a sweet tea I’m sure I’d notice.

Used about 1.5 tsp for maybe a minute, I felt like 30 secs would not be sufficient but perhaps I shouldn’t have judged based on the color of the liquor, (light), since the extra 30 seconds didn’t make it a whole lot darker.

It’s really toasty and roasty and leaves a bit of a bitter aftertaste. It goes down smooth. I’m trying to put my finger on the taste but the closest I can get is slightly burnt toast, which isn’t accurate though.

I am enjoying it more than the first time, maybe if the chocolatey notes people speak of refer to raw cocoa powder which is bitter, then maybe I can vaguely get that. I think a spoonful of raw cocoa powder would be sweeter than this tea though, which is saying something.

So this is Steep 1, I won’t change my rating from last time but if I notice a difference in subsequent steeps I will advise!
So far I enjoyed Butiki’s Wild Mountain Black, Taiwanese Assam, Mi Xian Black and Gui Fei Oolong (hopefully i got the names of those right!) more than this, as they didn’t have such a strong taste and were lacking the bitterness in the back of my mouth.

The way I steeped this one is almost reminding me of the bitterness of coffee, which I never could drink black!!

Stay tuned :)

Eta I’m still sipping steep 1 and as it cools I’m noticing it’s kind of floral?? Is that weird?

My second last sample from Laurent and Sophie, Merci!

Le Sigh.

Seriously you guys. Banging my head on the counter. I drank this at work today, I was really looking forward to it, I knew it was going to be a crappy busy week and so I thought a nice way to start Monday would include this tea. That sentence was poorly formed but I don’t even care.

It was good, real good, for two steeps. I can’t comment on brewing method because I probably used too hot water, because for some reason i thought it was black tea, but it was still good.

Thing is, I was all proud of myself because I was drinking it and marveling at the really nice, subtle, not-too-sweet chocolate taste, in both steeps. I was all like “look at you, noticing flavor notes!” (of a flavoured tea, mind you)…. I didn’t have time to write this at work, so imagine my surprise (and head+counter reaction) when I read the description….which includes…. NO chocolate.

Ughhhhh back to the drawing board.

I’m not joking, I was tasting an unsweetened version of Cocoa Rice Krispies. What is wrong with my taste buds!? Vanilla? Caramel? Seriously?

It was good though. I’m hoping when their online shop opens up I will be able to afford the shipping fees :)

Sipdown!
I cold brewed the last of this, probably stale at this point as it was from back in the day when DT used teal sticky labels on their bags and included a cute description rather than ingredients, haha.

It’s good! A nice, refreshing, caffeine free option. Especially given the lovely weather here in NB lately.

Can you sweeten cold tea? No, right? I wanted to. It was missing a little something something. I added some raspberries and lemon juice to whiz it up. Maybe lime juice next time.
I will buy more when/if they re-release it :)

Drank this while outside yesterday trying to clean up my sad little garden.

I swear at first sip I could taste some honey and fruity notes but that’s about as far as I got. I’m just bad at that stuff. I enjoyed the tea though. I slurped it and sniffed it and savoured my sips but no way can I tell you specifically which fruit notes are in there.

shrug

The harder I try and still can’t pin anything down, the more frustrated I get!

Doesn’t stop me from enjoying my teas though. So I’m not going to stress over it.

Here goes nothing :)

I had requested a sample of this with my last order (which included the newly revered Caramel Vanilla Assam) as I have read enough rave reviews of it and it seemed like a good one to try considering I am working on expanding my tastes by venturing into the formerly scary straight black tea land and also because I thought that tasting the base used for the Caramel Vanilla Assam would be good practice for my unrefined tastebuds. That was the longest sentence in the world.

So I sit in front of my computer with a mug of this to my left (I usually write my reviews on my iPad or if I’m at work, on my iPhone (SUPER ANNOYING, we need a mobile site, Steepster!!), and so first of all it’s nice to be on an actual computer and not have to read this seven times looking for stupid autocorrects.

I’m trying to sip this slowly, really taking time to smell it and savour it as per the suggestions of the tea tasting experts who replied to the recent thread about how to train your tastebuds.

It’s hard to sip this slowly, because it’s really good.
Funny, it reminds me of Laoshan Black but when I tried that awhile ago I don’t think I was ready for it. I ordered the sampler recently so I might be ready for it now! Even if I don’t notice any chocolate/cinnamon notes and such.

My (un)educated guess is the reason these are similar is because both of them have a lot going on. I did follow the steeping directions, 212 degrees for about 4 min. It’s dark and rich, and I bet it would have been good at 3 minutes also.

I have my window open because it’s cloudy but relatively mild, with a nice breeze that feels great after the crappy long Canadian winter… and it cooled my tea down fast, so I just downed the rest. As usual I think the flavours have come out even more as the temperature has gone down. I would love to be able to tell you all about raisins and cinnamon and maltiness and chocolate and honey and all of these wonderful things but I have made no bones (what does that even mean!?) about the fact that I’m not quite there yet.

That’s really irrelevant though. It’s tasty, and you don’t need to be a tea expert to notice that. I want more immediately. Probably not good for my caffeine intake as I’d like to have some matcha later. But take it from a non tea expert that this is good stuff. I’d drink this everyday. I’ll order some next time for sure.

When I have my next cuppa Caramel Vanilla Assam I’ll be able to notice the base more, now that I’ve tasted it on its own. The fact that such a delicious, quality tea was used for the base is half of what makes it so yummy, I think.

If you are looking for something helpful to take away from this rambling review, let it be that this tea is…yummy. And that’s my professional opinion.

Thank you for letting me try it, Stacey!!!

I can’t believe I didn’t try this sooner, whether by ordering some or asking for a sample.
It’s really good. Doesn’t taste fake at all (and I’m the opposite of vegan so I’m always wary of the weird chemical and soy crap that goes into trying to duplicate something natural like meat or dairy, (though arguably neither of those is particularly natural these days) but Butiki’s teas never taste weird or fake!) and the flavoring is really delicate, not punch you in your face cloying or overwhelming.

Believe it or not, I can actually taste all the flavors, chocolate, orange and marshmallow, sure enough!! Imagine! Regretting not buying this sooner.

Reminds me a bit of Kusmi’s Euphoria, also chocolate orange, but mate rather than black tea.

I really like that one but i might like this one even more :)
It’s a flavored tea done right!

I just got this in the mail today. So excited.

http://instagram.com/p/Yf9lYIi_EG/

I haven’t tried it yet but the smell is telling me it might be the Caramel Black tea of my dreams. I have to wait until tomorrow but it’s going to be breakfast, and it’s going to be good. I can tell!!

Just, yay!!

Eta

Well, it’s as good as I thought it would be. Probably can halt the annoying hunt for my perfect caramel black tea, I think this is it!! I think I can taste the Assam base, which is nice. The flavouring seems to compliment it rather than cover it up.

It’s creamy caramel, made even creamier thanks to the vanilla. The best part is that it’s not the burnt toffee tasting sort of caramel! It’s milky and sweet but not in a fake way. I really really like this. It’s as good as it smells. I will reorder later for sure!!!

Oh my god.

I need to bump this rating up from 83 as I really love this. So glad Persimmon Tree added a better shipping option for Canada as I’m really regretting not ordering the bigger size of this and Mandarin Cream.

If someone places an order that I can piggyback on, let me know! ;)

Probably the me from a year ago or even 4 months ago would have dismissed this as being too weak, not flavorful enough. But it’s so classy! It’s delicate and the base is tasty and sufficiently noticeable and the caramel is not a question! It’s an answer!

I thought I was looking for my holy grail caramel BLACK tea but I ended up accidentally finding the holy grail caramel GREEN tea. I usually only do two steeps as I find (with all teas though) after that it is too weak and watery for me. I should try cold brewing the leftovers of these precious leaves.

I want to drink it everyday but it’s kind of a rare commodity in my cupboard because I don’t have much. And even though Persimmon Tree thankfully added a better shipping option for Canada, it’s still $15. But I will return!

Yay! Another generous sample from Teavivre.

I was anxious to try this as I have discovered a bit of a love for milk oolongs, and I wasn’t sure if I preferred flavored over not.

Next time I will try a comparison with this, the unflavored one, and Davidstea’s version (which I am not sure on whether it is flavored or not)

I enjoyed this as much as the unflavored Teavivre offering, but again if I had them side by side I would probably notice the creaminess more in this one.

Limiting my caffeine now so steep 2 will take place tomorrow, hopefully the leaves will be ok overnight at work.

ETA I should add that though my palate is still new and untrained, I have really been enjoying these milk oolongs. Imagine, no additives or fake flavors and they’re still so fresh and buttery and creamy. That’s good stuff.

also….

Steep 2 was a success. Still creamy and buttery and vegetal but not in a way that turns me off (spinach tea is not for me!!)

Steep 3 to follow :)

Tried this tea this morning, but realized I couldn’t taste anything except weak white tea (not exciting enough for me) … Maybe I didn’t steep it long enough or I underleafed, but I am trying to limit my caffeine intake and this one just wasn’t worth it for me. I wanted to make it count so I made some Caramel Matchaccino instead ;)

Thanks for the sample though, Sil!!!