Joy's Teaspoon

GCTTB

this one is very similar to the other lemon tea i pulled from the gcttb yesterday but this is a rooibos base and less creamy :) i think i prefer the other one just slightly but this is a pretty delicious lemon herbal. No woodsy rooibos here, just lemon goodness!

I’m not going to give this one a numerical rating, because the reason I don’t like it isn’t their fault. :) This has a super strong anise scent and flavor, although there are other spices and tea in the background. I’m not a huge anise fan, and for some reason thought it would be a bit more subtle. I didn’t get the orange flavor at all. I think if you love anise and a nice spicy tea, this would be lovely – it’s just not my thing. It did get a little bitter, but not terribly so.

GCTTB

I really enjoyed this one. It’s got that creamy lemon pie taste with the rooibos. A good choice for a caffeine free drink in the evenings.

Taquitos and genmaicha don’t mix. xD
I don’t know why I thought it would…I tried though.
I’ll have to try this another time because it’s just weird right now-haha!

I actually drank this and wrote a note a while ago, but I can’t find the note, so I’m thinking Steepster ate it during one of its tantrums. So let’s try again.

I don’t remember what I used last time, but this time I did 1teaspoon, 8 oz water, 200F, 2 minutes. Sweetened.

Unlike some teas that develop most of it’s flavor in the middle to end of the sip, this tea seems to lay all it’s card on the table, so to speak. Front of the sip presents malt, a dark fruity note, cherry, maybe craisins, and some dark honey like flavors. The mid to end of the sip is a dark bread like taste. A very smooth tea.

As it cools, the flavors seem to spread out a bit, still the same notes, but spread out throughout the sip. I liked this steep a little but better than the first time, so 2 minutes seems to be my sweet spot.

The dry leaf of this smells fantastic. Like cocoa and malt. The flavor is malty and sweet. And there’s a dark earthy almost smokey background. There’s also a sweet, almost molasses note.

The second steep gets more earthy and less sweet. And the third becomes sort of honeyed. This steep is simple, but sweet.

This is a nice companion for my Doctor Who marathon.

I’ve been drifting away for green teas lately, which is a shame because I used to love them so much. I decided to try a genmaicha to see if they too are in that same predicament.

Good news! They’re not. This is an exceptionally good contender because there’s quite the abundance of genmai in here. Roasty toasty comfy goodness in a cup. The toastiness holds up to 3 steepings before fading out. Yum! I’m really glad I haven’t drifted from genmaichas.

I have to say, even though for the most part I’ve been drifting away from flavored teas, I seem to prefer flavored milk oolong over unflavored. I’ve found that unflavored milk oolongs can be a bit too floral for my taste, and the added cream flavors help mask that in the flavored versions.

This is no exception. Sweet, creamy, buttery, almost candy like, without too much floral notes. And the cream flavors hold up and keep going strong through the 3rd steep and beyond.

If you like creamy, milky, buttery teas, then this is worth a try.

From my July Tea Sparrow box.

I was not expecting to like this tisane as much as I am. It’s what I wanted Lemon Chiffon to be and wasn’t. It’s the perfect amount of lemon, creamy and sweet. I think the rooibos is the perfect background for the flavors. (I like rooibos. I know not everyone does.)

I’m definitely glad I got to try this one.

I’m posting this from my phone and it really doesn’t like the Steepster site at all, especially not the tasting not pop-up screen, so please excuse any typos I missed.

dexter sent this one my way and i made sure to try it before reading any notes on it or figuring out what was in it. For me – this is a REALLY cherry green tea. I’m not getting much in the way of almonds but this is refreshing and very much a cherry cup of tea heh. On the whole not a bad cup of tea, especially since i am a fan of cherries! :) thanks dex!

dexter sent this one my way and i am a fan. I was thinking this would be very similar to the roasted nut tea i have from tea gscheweriweprwem….but it’s different. this one is a little sweeter but still that same weirdly pink brew. i am a fan of this! if i was in the mood for a nutty, sweet tea, i’d be sure to pick this one up again. thanks dexter!

It is officially enjoy your teaware day in my house, so I’m drinking this tea out of my new octo travel mug from Davids…

I’m not so sure about Black Forest Cherry Cake – but is a really nice cherry, almond, green tea. I really, really like it. It’s on the mild side, but the cherry and almond shine right through. Really happy to be drinking this right now, and my new mug is fun. Good experience all the way around.
(loved both the Joy’s teas I’ve tried – still have two that I haven’t – really happy I ordered from them)

This was from the BBBB grab bag, courtesy of Tasty Brew.
It’s got a nice tart quality to it, as well as a little shiny kind of taste.
Sipdown – 360

Another tea from the BBBB, uh…from Sil? Or TB?
Oh well…either way, it’s an Assam, & I have to confess, after eating breakfast I ate a piece of crystalized ginger, thinking it would make a good palate cleanser. Actually, it didn’t.
I’m not really tasting the tea much, other than the bold tart shiny quality, typical of Assams.

another one that came my way via the BBB Ladies. sadly it wasn’t much to write home about. it’s a sweet sort of assam and not at all what i wanted today. that being said it wasn’t a BAD cup of tea, just…boring? uneventful?

Well shoot. I steeped what was left of the sample. Mostly broken tea leaves. Even with the brokenness i can still tell this is a good tea. Mine just lacks some of the plum.

Tea #16 from Considering a new TTB
I was so busy today making Lemon Meringue pie for my blog that I didn’t even have my first cup of tea until after 5pm today. Normally I would have had something left in the fridge just for such an emergency, but I needed room for the pie to cool which means there’s just no room for my usual pitcher of tea. This ended up being a nice choice for my first cup of the day. I really enjoy plum tea and it’s nice to see one that isn’t loaded down with spices and lets the plum shine. Unfortunately I can’t tell you much more than that, I’m in the middle of scarfing down a well deserved piece of pie and can’t taste the subtle flavors of the tea.

Happy Pi Day! If my earlier mention of pie got your craving some you can check out my Pi Day recipe for Lemon Meringue Pie: http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/3/14/lemon-meringue-pie.html

As rooibos and marzipan/amaretto-based blends go, this takes the cake! I really enjoyed it last night. I often find that while I like that marzipan/amaretto flavor/smell, I want it in controlled amounts and most blends with that make it way overpowering to the point it starts to smell like plastic. Not so much an issue here somehow, possibly because the tanginess (Yes! This week I have been winning when it comes to finding teas that delivery that tangy dairy note!) cuts it off. I really liked this. Yes you can taste the rooibos, but it doesn’t take over the way it so often can. It’s there but not out of control. Would drink again.

Also good, milky of course but different from Jin Xuan. Drank it last night and didn’t keep notes, just remember I liked both and they did taste different but equally milk powerful. IIRC this one had an extra vaguely floral-sweet aspect. Sorry I’m not more detailed right now! As flavored Milk Oolongs go, this one was fine but I think I like Teavivre’s a smidge more (I’m way into the way that one smells). On the other hand, Teavivre’s tends to make me jittery and this one was the opposite; it calmed me and didn’t feel very high in caffeine. Not sure why the difference. Both resteep well.

If this is truly unflavored—supposedly there’s still some deception about that in the milk oolong marketplace (and I don’t mean to potentially libel Joy’s AT ALL either; it’s altogether possible often resellers aren’t aware)—I’m quite impressed. This is the milkiest natural/unflavored milk oolong I’ve tried. I did 3x resteep side-by-sides of this and their (flavored) Milk Oolong and they had equal levels of milk flavor, just different overall profiles (IIRC one was more floral, letting the oolong’s greenness shine through). So far, this is my favorite unflavored Milk Oolong. Yep.

love getting to stay home to be productive with work. We got a note from the apartment ppl yesterday saying contractors would be propping our door open for 30 mins today as they paint our doors. Um…say what? i don’t think so..not if i’m not home! Best thing ever since the last time the same contractors were here, they did the work and then left our apartment unlocked. great cool..love that.. NOT. On the plus side? taking this time today to get through a few more teas before the weekend rolls around. I figure even though i KNOW i’m getting teas in florida, since they won’t be back until march they hardly count towards my february total…riiight? :)

This is a relatively tasty tea from tastybrew and our BBB Box. Happy to have had the chance to try at least one of joy’s teaspoons straight teas since i’ve only really had her flavoured teas. :)

I figured with the obscene amount of tea i keep picking up, I should get cracking on the teas from the BBB Box today since life is conspiring against me getting enough work done.

This is a decent enough tea, though i’m not in love with it due to the dryness that is left in my mouth while drinking it. I brewed this western and didn’t get any of the notes that Tastybrew did, so I’m going to hold off on this one until i have a chance to brew it gaiwan style since this particular tea might be best suited for that. Either way, still an enjoyable cup, but left me with a dry mouth. :)

Mmmmmm This is still my favorite pear tea…….