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argh… i am experiencing tea guilt on two fronts: 1) this sample came from my dedicated tea buddy scribbles and 2) i really wanted to like this blend because it’s canadian and i loved the ingredients list.

i tend to like my teas robust, so 1.5 tsps for a steep and steeping for 5-6 minutes. now the smell of this one is excellent when it’s dry! but that’s where it stops. 6 minutes later the tea is weak, the scent that had appealed has vanished. i get a hint of fruit, no hint of the black tea and a heavy stickiness on my tongue from the caffeine (which to me translates as a rooky mistake in processing).

having tried several teas i am fairly comfortable saying i think tealish is great on the idea front, but seriously lacks in their follow through. sadly their teas all taste predominantly the same.

the caveat i will add to my review is this: i am recently out of surgery and things have tasted off to me. while i will not be finishing this cup of tea (yes, it is that bad… guilt guilt guilt) i will try it again in a week or so and review my score.

took another sip…. nope, won’t be finishing the cup. i am going to retreat to the comfort another of the favourite samples that scribbles sent to me…… bluberry jam i think.

apologies in advance: i maybe be somewhat foggy as i am only 2 days post op. (ie: there may be more spelling mistakes than usual).

this is a striking tea. after my steep time had expired the first thing i noticed was colour… the tea is milky, pale, not deep in colour. hmmm.

the next thing i noticed was the smell: it doesn’t smell like tea! it smells like fall, and for me it smells like memory. when i was young i remember my mother showing us how to press flowers and leaves in books… i remember finding those pressed items years after i’d forgotten them. a dry, warm, flowery smell. that is how this tea smells.

the taste absolutely embraces the autumnal spectrum. it is light, flowery, and pure enough that (as i frequently do with verdant) i do not add milk or sugar.

excellent.

tea is a strange thing. an organic (predominantly) blend that we add water to and tea-appropriate condiments like sugar, honey, milk or cream. why does this steeped beverage give us comfort? is it the smell? the taste? the heat? i can’t answer, and i imagine the reply would vary from person to person.

my tea buddy, scribbles, gave me great comfort today: a package arrived in the mail with a selection from tealish. the teas smell lovely, but it is also that a friend thought of me when i am the human embodiment of a spagetti monster. i have surgery tomorrow, i’ve been bumped up so less waiting time where i’m starving and stressed….do i feel any great lessening of my fear? nope!

patisserie is one of the MANY teas i am taking with me. do i think i will drink 20 cups of tea between tonight and my surgery tomorrow? no…. am i going to stash any of my selection and not bring it with? no again. it brings me comfort. i cannot explain why.

i have digressed from the tasting note, as we are wont to do when we are stressed or excited, so i will get back on track!

this is a charming little tea! it isn’t a great, robust sample, or the very best i’ve ever had…. but they can’t all be that way or we’d never have any variety because we’d never be able to make up our minds. what struck me most with this one was the strong taste of pistachios! the nutty flavour is supported by a vanilla cake like base flavour. the spices weren’t as strong as the company wanted, i think, but regardless i absolutely remembered the bakeries that i wandered by when i lived in paris. i kept thinking of the marzipan croissants and custard danishes displayed in the front window.

thank you tealish for the trip down memory lane, and thanks again to scribbles…. your package could not have arrived on a better day.

i must go and pack my tea now….

this tea kicks a**! A HUGE CAPS LOCK THANK YOU TO SCRIBBLES FOR THIS!!!!!

robust, a heavy handed caffeine punch that doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t but somehow ZERO bitterness. this tea is an unbridled wake up! as well quite the finest assam i’ve ever had.

i will not be sharing this sample. i will be buying more when i’m done.

taking them at their word i steeped conventionally the first time and flagrantly ignored it on the counter the second. awesome both ways. not to mention their marketing amuses me.

thank you so much to scribbles for this one!

puerh is a not-so-secret favourite of mine. i love it when tea companies add ingredients and compliment the puerh fermentation technique.

the ingredients of this puerh sound excellent— who doesn’t like saffron, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves? BUT sadly, i don’t taste most of them! i had expected warmth from spice, a vanilla undertone, nuttiness from the puerh… the blend isn’t balanced and so the exceptional ingredients are convoluted: like a paint box where all the colours got mixed together and none of them clear. for the most part i got cinnamon and cardamom.

it isn’t a bad tea, so much as not meeting up to its own standards.

opening the bag i discovered a confetti of flowers; petals, even whole whole flower heads. the smell was light and summery, delicately intriguing.

tasting… it is obvious this is a verdant tea creation: i get a more refined caffeine rush but none of the standard stickiness on the tongue (i really don’t know how they accomplish this).

i taste flowers, a hint of a citrus-like note, and a natural sweetness. it tastes clean to me, if that makes any sense. by that i mean i am fairly certain i could drink it all day and not suffer from a caffeine hangover.

i expect this tea will become part of my landscape, my default when i don’t want cream and sugar. nicely done. i wouldn’t call it flamboyant, i would call it comforting and a modern version of traditional.

lovely. neither subtle nor robust— aromatic is a better word. fragrant. floral. the tea is clear and light, unimposing, delicate. the olfactory is a crisp fresh star jasmine scent. i have never had teas which such separate and complimentary layers as with verdant teas… the palate and the nose effect are completely separate.

excellent.

this was a very surprising tea. thanks so much to scribbles for including this in our exchange!

the tea base in this blend is a sencha, a tea notorious for going bitter if you aren’t sitting by the timer. the first time i tried it (last night) i watched and waited. today was a gong show and i wasn’t as diligent. guess what? no bitterness. nice!

the next hurtle: lime and yogurt with green tea? um, i really was not certain. the name of the tea is perfect. this tea is a creamy, refreshing, NOT over-citrused blend.

today in victoria it was a scorcher, screaming hot with humidity piled on top. this tea was an excellent reboot! very nice indeed david’s teas, you combined a group of complicated elements and created a very nice brew!

verdant teas, i am concluding, is quite the most staggering company. so much so that i have joined their tea of the month club…

i had a terrible day today. i’ve been in a cast with nerve damage in my right hand for 6 weeks. i don’t do boredom well. a plumbing problem popped up with our bathtub faucet and, after having read the instructions (or destructions as it were) i felt i could adequately play the part of one armed plumber. this was not the case. after a watery version of a fireworks display erupted in our bathroom and i looked like a drowned punk rat (i have a red and black faux hawk) the household water had to be shut off (not great because we have tenants). the problem was eventually resolved, but i still wasn’t happy. i have had this tea on my shopping list for some time and my first order arrived this monday past. i decided to save it for a day just like today. it was a great decision on my part!

this tea has two layers: the palate and the olfactory. both quite separate and at the same time complimentary.

this is the smoothest black tea i have ever had.

the chocolate element is a dark chocolate as opposed to a sickly sweet milk chocolate, the carob blends seamlessly with the cacao. it imbues a warm welcoming feeling to smell it….

now, tasting it is an entirely separate and unexpected experience. while i was smelling chocolate and wildcrafted black tea, i was tasting a very light floral honey flavour. brilliant.

i felt the pick up of caffeine, but i did not feel it the way i usually do…as a stickiness on the tongue. this tea is smooth, aromatic and light but can also be referred to as robust. this tea rounded off my terrible day very nicely!

thank you verdant teas, you have earned both my money and my devotion.