1500 Tasting Notes

70
drank Chocolate Chai by Tea Desire
1500 tasting notes

I left a cup of this to cool at my desk while I was out tonight, with zero sugar added. I can taste more of the pepper now, as well as the cardamom and ginger. Chocolate had completely disappeared however, yet ginger still lingered, co-mingling with the pepper kernels. I think I like it better warm and with a touch of Truvia, however I did gulp this two cup sized mug in less than ten minutes.

Roswell Strange

I’m wondering if you’d like their blend Chai Apricot. It’s a green tea, an it’s really interesting (it’s actually one of few of their teas which seems to have a fair amount of reviews here on Steepster). I really enjoy that one.

MissB

I avoid extra sugars and have an allergy to strawberries, so these two things really limit my tea consumption at times. I have looked at Chai Apricot a few times, however what with the cinnamon sugar… :(

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70
drank Chocolate Chai by Tea Desire
1500 tasting notes

Oh, wow. This is a complete surprise.

Out of the bag, this definitely smells like a chocolatey chai. Steeped, there’s more ginger than a chai smell, although I can smell the cardamom as well. Drinking it… wow. Really, wow.

The first few (too hot) sips were bold and strong, with a definite chocolate start. Now that it’s cooled a touch to be comfortably devoured, it’s amazing. Hint of chocolate first, followed by ginger and cardamom, and finishing with some sweetness and licorice. I can, and will, drink this contentedly for the rest of the day. I remember the website saying this isn’t a punch-in-the-face chocolate, and they’re right… it’s still lovely and adds depth.

EDIT: This took 2tsp of tea per cup. I bought 50g of it, and this will only net a total of 6 cups of tea. I’ve put the last two cups -worth in my tea swap box, just because I think it needs sharing (and I’ll definitely order more, soon). Works out to be $1.25/cup, which is just fine with me.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec
VariaTEA

Sounds delicious!

Roswell Strange

Tea Desire has pretty low pricing, which is nice (I have a local store, so no need to worry about shipping for me) – and usually you get a fair amount out of 50g (Champagne Cassis, which is my favourite from there, gets about 35 cups for 50g not counting resteeps). However, sometimes their blends are SUPER heavy (worse than the more heavy DAVIDsTEA blends), especially ones with Chocolate. My second favourite Tea Desire blend in Banana Tea “Chocolate Cream” and holy mother is that a heavy blend. I think it, also, works out to something like 6 or 7 cups for 50g. I currently have like 200g of it in my house, and I typically only pull it out for super bad days or super good days/when I feel I’ve REALLY accomplished something. It’s not a “casual” tea, for me.

Dexter

Interesting…. 12 tsp/50g – that’s crazy heavy. I drink tea 2 cups at a time, so that would only be 3 sittings….I’ve never seen one that heavy…

MissB

I’ve yet to try a banana tea, so that sounds really interesting! I’ll have to add it to my next order. I also agree – they have great pricing. Plus, my order arrived a day after I purchased it, and with free shipping to boot!

Maybe my math is off, however I steeped a liter of water to drink this myself, which worked out to 4 cups – and that took eight teaspoons of tea. I’ve now packed up two, two teaspoon, one cup servings for tea swaps, and I have zero tea left. Part of it I think is the star anise, which was left whole.

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76
drank Oreo Cookie by Tea Desire
1500 tasting notes

Yep, me again. What can I say, I brewed a lot of this! :)

Now that it’s almost completely cooled and sweetened, it has a completely different flavor again. Faint chocolate comes first, then unmistakably black tea for a second, then a stronger chocolate flavor followed by… hard to describe. A creamy, cake-like feel that lingers, along with a lot more of the dates coming through. It sits on my palate for a long time. I’m upgrading it a bit because I like it more now, for the complexity and challenge in even describing what it is I’m tasting.

VariaTEA

All your reviews about this tea are making me want to place an order for Tea Desire.

MissB

Ha! It’s pretty good. Hold off on the ordering (if you want), because you’re definitely getting some of this in our swap!

VariaTEA

That would be great! I will definitely hold off ordering then. I am also getting a sample of Banana Tea Chocolate Cream so if I like the teas I will know to order more of them.

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76
drank Oreo Cookie by Tea Desire
1500 tasting notes

Cooled yet still warm, I’m getting just black tea from this. Added some Truvia, and it’s now merely sweetened black tea, with a hint of astringency and vanilla-y notes. A few seconds after the sip, I’m getting a lingering feel of dry sweetness from the dates, and a touch of cookie/cake. Much better hot. See previous notes for how I felt when this was just finished steeping.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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76
drank Oreo Cookie by Tea Desire
1500 tasting notes

It’s the name of the tea that got me buying this one, and I had high hopes when it arrived that it would become a new staple in my house.

I should note that this, my first order from Tea Desire, arrived a DAY after I ordered it, along with free shipping. Also had a handwritten note inside thanking me for my business, along with my name spelled properly. Always a plus!

Dry, this actually does smell vaguely of an oreo cookie. Sweet, cakey. Steeped, it just smells like black tea. I was a bit surprised by that, and really stuck my nose in there to see if I was missing something. Nope, just tea.

I’m sipping right now as it cools, and while a bit hot for me to get a good feel for it, I’m surprised at how much this does taste like an oreo cookie further into the sip. Initially it’s definitely a black tea, which then dissolves into a creamy feel, along with notes of chocolate, cake and a deep, rich yet faint sweetness, likely from the dates. All that’s missing is a hint of vanilla, although with this sore throat maybe it’s there and I’m just missing it.

Going to wait for it to cool down a bit and try some more.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Dexter

I love when you find a new tea company that has awesome customer service. I also love hearing from others about their experiences. This makes me want to support them….

MissB

They actually have a shop (kind of) near me, and one in Saskatoon, too. I’ll have to make the trek out and see what their shops are like, because it really was a wonderful experience. Well packaged, too. The only complaint I have is that the bags were generic, so the only way to tell what it was was the sticker on the back, and it just lists the name and ingredients, and zero about the tea itself. There’s also only generic steeping instructions based on the kind of tea it is.

Still, I’ll definitely re-order from them again. I mean, next day shipping for free?! Crazy. Amazing. Okay, I did have to spend $50, however that was the easy part.

TeaLady441

I’m glad you enjoyed them! I didn’t get much of a chance to try Tea Desire when I was in Vancouver, because the stores ending up closing. I wonder if that was due to the competition with DAVIDsTEA and Teavana?

I went to the one in Vernon and it’s usually nice but the lady working there was just TOO friendly and wouldn’t back off and give me any space, so I left. I might have to try an online order, someday, but I’ll keep an eye on your reviews!

MissB

Oh, there were some in Van? Darn it. The only one nearby is in Abbotsford, which is a bit of a trek.

I’m going to attempt to sip all of these new teas before I leave for San Jose Thursday… we’ll see how far I get.

Roswell Strange

I live in Saskatoon where they have a store located (I actually work in the mall it’s in, so I get a discount there), and their in person customer service is AMAZING too. After just two times of going, they had learned my name and were able to remember what I had purchased both times. I go there a lot now, and it’s just amazing how well they get to know each of their customers. Seriously, they might know my flavour interests better than I do, and they’re able to really recommend good new teas for me based on past purchases.

Roswell Strange

Tea wise, I find they really excel with their white, mate, and herbal blends. Their flavoured greens have been pretty hit and miss with me (some I adore, others leave me disappointed), and I’ve yet to find a black tea I actually like. Most of them, sadly (since black tea is my favourite) are incredibly flavourless. I have a lot of reviews of their teas though, since they are local to me and I have very, VERY easy access.

MissB

I’m definitely envious, Roswell Strange! I’ve got a lot of tea on it’s way, however once I’ve enjoyed a whack of it, I think that Tea Desire will be a monthly online purchase for me.

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68

Left this out overnight, and it was a pleasant surprise to awake to, along with a nasty sore throat. Off to sleep a bit more, as I was up until 3am with my 5-year-old who was determined to have dinner in the middle of the night after waking up with a wet bed. :( It’s days like this that I’m grateful I work for myself!

Still just as spicy as last night, and it’s helping clear things up and out a bit.

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68

I love tumeric, and ever since DAVID’s stopped carring Tumeric Snap! I’ve been searching for a replacement.

Dry, it’s overpoweringly gingery – a good thing in my books. Considering how much lemon there is in this, I thought I’d smell that too, however it was all ginger. Steeped, it still smells like ginger, with a hint of something I couldn’t quite place. Perhaps the lemongrass.

Sipping this is like setting your mouth on fire with ginger, and then putting out the flames with licorice. There’s only a faint lemongrass in here, and the lemon is like a flash-in-the-pan. I can taste it, however only for a split second before the heat takes over.

Do I love it? Yes. I’m also hoping it helps this nagging sore throat of mine. I initially steeped Gail’s Cold Remedy from DAVID’s Tea, and then in my stupor saw it’s a green. Duh, Bonny. So, in the cold steeper it went, and I made this instead. I’ll definitely enjoy finishing it off, however I prefer DAVID’s Super Ginger, as it has zero weird, almost metallic, aftertaste like this one does.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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71
drank Coconut green by Zen Tea
1500 tasting notes

Opening this bag was quite a treat for me today. It smells like sweetened coconut, minus anything cloying…. just rich and creamy coconut. Steeped, it smells just as strongly, however you can also smell the faint grassiness of the tea, and they complement each other well.

Like many of the teas I’ve been drinking of late, this one is nice hot, however it’s much better warm and with just a touch of Truvia. The creaminess comes out even more, and the coconut is evermore present. It’s a light, refreshing and comforting sip. I’m not sure if I’ll ever order it again, as I like it however don’t love it, but it is quite enjoyable. If you’re a huge fan of coconut and green teas, this is a must-try.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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92
drank White Chocolate Peppermint by Teavana
1500 tasting notes

After a long day geocaching in Central Park (Vancouver), all I could think about was coming home to this tea.

I’ve learned that: it only works cooled for me (warm, not hot), re-steeping it tastes yuck, and the darn film on top (likely from the chocolate) is really hard to scrub out of my Breville. Still, it’s worth it.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
VariaTEA

have you tried David’s White Chocolate Frost? I would be interested to know how the two compare. Luckily my Teavana order should be arriving sometime this week and I am definitely excited to try this

MissB

The darn DAVID’s by my house (Metrotown) still has their ‘opening soon’ signs all over the storefront, or else I’d have some in my hands right now. It’s one of a handful I’ll be buying as soon as they’re open for business – although I could make another order, I did just get one last week. :$

VariaTEA

Oh no! well I hope you get to try some soon. UPS has been holding my Teavana order hostage for a few days doing a million and one warehouse scans otherwise I would have been able to compare the two myself. I tried the David’s one as a latte the other day and thought it was very good and had to stop myself from going back in to buy it since I knew I had this on the way.

MissB

Yuck. I hope you get yours, too! We’ll have to compare tasting notes.

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40
drank Cream Caramel Rooibos by Zen Tea
1500 tasting notes

What did I do wrong? This smells lovely out of the package, and I steeped it for 6 minutes (plus all the floaties that my strainer missed). All I get is faint caramel notes, and little else. It’s a basic rooibos. Another cup and I added some Truvia, and sipped it cool… okay, it’s a bit sweeter now, and the caramel is lingering at the back of my mouth. I still don’t get it, this is just meh, at best.

Used all of my 10g to make this pot, and I doubt I’ll buy it again – unless someone can convince me I’ve done something horribly wrong here.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 15 sec

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Bio

A few years ago, the obsession with tea started. The cupboard got bigger and bigger, more swaps occurred, group buys, secret rendezvous with local teapassionistas… and that’s how you end up with 500+ different kinds of tea in your home. At one time.

Almost all of the tea was given away, sold, or otherwise shared. A few relics still remain. I now travel full time with only two carryon bags to my name. One quarter of those bags are tea.

It’s still a challenge to avoid the chipmunk-like hoarding of The Teas, yet, the lightness of being from having so little compels me more.

If I have enough, I’m happy to share. If I’m in your area, I’d love to swap, meet for tea, and explore together.

As for the day-to-day stuff, I’m focused almost entirely on Love, (yes, with a capital L), Spirit/Self, transformation, travel and my writing and speaking work.

What kinds of teas do I normally like?

YES: flavored teas, fruity, dessert, chai, and spicy (REALLY spicy).

A FONDNESS FOR: all white teas, malty black teas, any herbal or medicinal teas, strange/weird teas you can only get in one place.

ALLERGIC TO: strawberries, lavender

DISLIKES: any added sugars, grains, lapsang souchong, and overly floral teas – I might enjoy a Jasmine Green every once in a while, but unless it’s a creamy floral tea (think roses in a chai, or the smoothness of a floral note in a French tea), I’ll likely pass. Earl Greys are a hit or miss with me; heavy on the cream or fruit notes and I might like it, heavy on the blergamot and I definitely won’t.

http://instagram.com/teatravelninja

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Location

Canada

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