JustJames Send Message

this was one of the last teas remaining from my truly life changing exchange with Ysaurella…. life changing how? well, french teas are wont to do that.

…. ……. unless you are james and the blend has any caramel or toffee basis whatsoever. because i can’t taste it. the tea was very smooth. but it was just tea to me…. there was no other flavour. sorry Ysaurella!!!!

no numbers because this is a genetic oops, not a tea oops.

it really is weird… i can smell the stuff, but i can’t taste it =0(
not once— every single time in every single tea.

i’m tired. it’s late. i should be sleeping….. i REALLY should be sleeping, instead i am going to enjoy one last moment for myself before the sun rises on another gong show tomorrow…..

i have no idea how this tea accomplishes oreo, but it does. i actually feel the need to confess that i have always been an oreo brat….. everyone knows the only reason the chocolate cookies are there is to hold the yummy icing in place.

i would unscrew the two cookies, scrape the icing off of each with my teeth, then chuck the cookies. you could argue that it was wasteful, but i would argue that in fact it was a reliable method of sustainable caloric intake =0) i could eat more icing while eating fewer cookies, see? perfect sense!

that said, i was always in trouble over it though….. well, mostly just when i stuck them back together and put them back in the bag. it’s kindof amazing i don’t have a back condition from the amount i got spanked as a kid, lol!!!

this tea is white icing all the way…. no chocolate cookie. but that’s okay because i’d have to pick out the chocolate bits and mail them back to MissB. hee hee hee…..

NOW sleeping is not optional.

lol, this one is fun. deep, sweet dessert grapes, reminiscent of the ones i used to shove in the freezer and suck the syrup out of when i was a kid. very grape, but not candy. perfect to finish up a ridiculously long day before i take on another.

there is a great element to this blend…. there’s a hint of stem to it!

sorry…. not my best review. too tired.

thanks to ifjuly for this one!

this enticing sample came to me by way of MissB.

not a blend i would normally have purchased for myself, but lovely to try nonetheless. this tea is stewed apricots in a cup! i have tried mangosteen, lychee, dragonfruit and any number of other exotic fruits that make steepster’s autocorrect put endless red squiggly lines under my writing.

i had never heard of maracuja before, and i will likely forget the name until i read it again, lol. i will however forever remember this blend as rich, heavy, juicy stewed apricots. delectable.

luxurious definitely….. strong orange presence that doesn’t overwhelm and carries no bitterness. the chocolate aspect is neither a milk nor a dark…. a very nice cross.

i find myself in an awkward position— i like this but….

i have yet to find a company whose expertise trumps nina’s paris with fruit, berries specifically, red berries more specifically.

i will assume this comes down to personal preference only…. and given the respect i have for this apothecary i do not like to withold numbers based on that.

technically: a very smooth base, a very balanced blend. the orange and chocolate sit at 60/40, respectively in terms of presence…. the cream i don’t detect, but i’m not sure it’s supposed to be a taste so much as a texture. as a texture it is definitely there. i do feel this blend accomplishes what it sets out to do…. it’s just not my favourite nina’s blend is all.

the number you see is what i rank the accomplishment at.

this is very clever. brendan, if your goal is not just to blend a tea then i will state this one an absolute success.

let’s begin however, with what this is not: it is NOT graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate in a tea.

what this is: a snapshot of someone(s) crouched by a campfire, the wind blowing slightly against their favour, trying to pull the roasted marshmallows off their roasting stick without blistering their fingers (they escape mostly unburned, lol).

layers. i really can’t wrap my brain around how you accomplished them.

-i get heat and smoke. they are SEPARATE. and the smoke is not a souchong source. by diagnosis of my tongue it is campfire smoke. the warmth is distinct but seems not to be coming from a spice.

-cinnamon and a cookie qualifier are there… they chime in after the smoke and i would count as layer 2.

-layer 3 is fruit, although very distant and not nameable…. at least not in this first steep.

-4 a softness is beginning to start which i believe will end up as marshmallow.

i don’t know if this is the order that you put them down in, but this is how they manifest for me.

this is an impressive accomplishment. this is less a tea and more a stillframe. and this coming from someone who does NOT particularly favour smoke in tea.

i did amend my methodology given that you are so beautifully purist in your blending brendan: i overleafed (1.5 tbsp) for my 12 oz mug and 2) i used 1 tbsp of coconut sugar. i think the effect is brilliant.

as it cools the warmth is still there, the smoke is SWEETENING, but a charcoal element in also settling in. very, very nicely done.

so if this tea is a memory for you…. let me ask: did your fingers get burned? or was my tongue off? =0)

thanks to MissB for this excellent adventure!

NO DOUBT THEY WON A FIRST PRIZE!!!!!!!

this is a briliiant tea. WOW! fresh squeezed grapefruit juice as it was steeping, tempered by the bamboo shoots as i am sipping. fresh, sweet, lively, juicy: i taste the texture of pulp. i feel the texture of pomelo rind…. i get no pith (ie no lingering bitterness). beautiful!

i really wouldn’t have expected to love this tea as much as i do. i’ve been on a french kick for several months now and teas from our part of the world often just don’t match up…… that is NOT the case with this one.

i want a pound of this in a canister in my kitchen. all the time.

a HUGE thanks to MissB for this outstanding sample!!!

every 500 years there is an eclipse… the world is dark but for certain iridescent flowers. only upon the most still lakes and ponds does it gleam… the black lotus; invisible by sunlight, black light, flashlight… the only way to see this bloom is during the mere moments it exists as it floats silently by in the impossible light of the eclipse.

don’t blink.

don’t close your eyes for an instant.

the black lotus exists only for that singular drift, which stacy lim knows all too well. the secret of the black lotus has been handed down from mother to daughter within her family since time out of mind.

brown sugar flowers drifting across the water, drifting tendrils of roots trace patterns along the water, contemplating the brief existence and amber legacy it would leave at stacy’s persuasive coaxing.

such a rare existence, such a rare privilege.

thank you ifjuly. such a beautiful experience you shared…

Thanks to MissB for this tidbit!

this is an unusual incarnation of a mint chocolate chip blend ;0)

okay, i cheated, i peeked at the ingredients, which (because i cheated) revealed absolutely nothing! mint is a given, chocolate too, there would be issues with my palate if i didn’t notice the tea…. but i’m getting citrus! there’s no reason to think the ingredients are other than as listed…. there are lemon breeds of peppermint, sage too for that matter. you can also have one crop affect another by proximity to something like lemon balm or lemon thyme.

the citrus note is neat! very unusual! i FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS for the first steep (yeah, yeah— pick your jaws up off the floor, lol) but next time round i think i’d prefer a longer steep.

no numbers til it sits on the counter for 4.5 instead of 3. ;0P

thank you to ifjuly for this sample….

it took me a minute to switch gears! i’ve been caught up with french apothecaries since my mammoth swap with ysaurella few months back!

i like the layers in this. there’s a sweet smoke— not a lapsang, almost a hickory dipped peach, an earthy warm tobacco, and then a crisp straightforward black. i like the fact that each layer is distinct but also mutually flattering.

thank you ifjuly! a lovely experience! i would say it’s nice to get back to basics but this really isn’t basic, lol! sneaky is a better descriptor!

very nice!