Tealyra

Discovery Tea box – Tea #22
The last serving of tea I’m removing from the box before passing it on. As usual, a fun experience, though this might be the smallest tea box I’ve ever participated in. I think a tea box should be a nice balance of not-too-big to ship and overwhelming, while also being a large amount of teas you want to try before passing the teabox along. I think I might have tried most of the teas in the tea box that I didn’t try before. And I must say there was A LOT of large pouches with a teaspoon or two of tea in them. But I appreciate tea boxes no matter what!
This was yet another tea I had to add to Steepster (there were many of those) so maybe this tea box actually WAS the ‘discovery tea box’. This tea is a blend of organic darjeeling, keemun, assam, nilgiri black tea leaves. If it was a blind taste test, I would have a difficult time telling any of these teas were here. I think I can taste a bit of keemun and that’s about it. It tastes like a smoky keemun so I’d probably guess there was some lapsang souchong here. But there isn’t. A solid black tea.

Day 4 of the advent calender: chocolate teas

I added soy milk + a pinch of vanilla sugar to this and steeped it 10 minutes to get an intense chocolate flavour. However I found that even when I steeped it a long time I couldn’t taste any tea flavour or chocolatey notes. I used up my sample (2-3 tsp), but perhaps overnight steeping or without milk would be better for this one.

Day 2 of the advent calender. Theme: fruity herbals

I took this out of the TTB and forgot to mention it on the thread. It only had enough for two cups and now I can’t remember if I finished it off or now. It was my morning cup and I was in a hurry.

It definitely reminds me of blood orange rooibos from Granville Island teas. It could very well be the same blend. I get blood orange, bitter orange zest (not a fan of the bitter), but also some sweet woody rooibos. I’m not sure why they say smoothie in the name because there is nothing smooth or creamy about this blend.

Yummy basic Hojicha, not a delicate flavor like their ‘superior hojicha’ but still yummy

Autumn Harvest! This is one of Tealyra’s (many) discontinued teas, and since they were discontinuing it at the time I was making an order with them and it was highly discounted at the time, I decided to order some. I like dates and had never seen them in tea before. I’ve been trying to horde it since I know I can’t get it anymore, but since it has coconut chips in the ingredients, I figure that is probably a bad idea and I should just drink it already! Dates are actually a harvest food (albeit rarely thought of as such and certainly not very traditional) so now seems as good a time as any.

This is one of those chunky, heavy blends, so it will go fast. It has big ol’ dried chunks of dates, sour cherries, dried sliced apples (seriously, they aren’t even cut into little chunks, but full dried up slices!), coconut chips, and then some spices like chunks of cinnamon rods, cinnamon bits, and cardamom. It’s supposed to mimick a date shake, and I have only ever had a date shake once, and my memories of that now are a bit fuzzy: I was fourteen, and my family had gone on our first ever trip to Disneyland. One of the days was a bus trip down to San Diego to the zoo, and the bus stopped at some truck stop between Anaheim and San Diego that claimed they had “famous Date Shakes” (I didn’t even know what a date was!) so I asked if I could have one. I remember I loved it, that it was really sweet and creamy. I’m fairly sure I’d have to make this latte-style to try to recreate that flavor, but I’m just making a plain pot of this tonight.

It’s a light golden apple color, and smells of sweet dates and cinnamon in the aroma. The flavor is quite nice; it’s very naturally sweet, with the sweet dates and a sugary-cinnamon taste coming forward on the sip, but toward the end of the sip is a more tangy fruity note that tastes like those frosted cherry heart-shaped suckers around Valentine’s Day.

Another unique flavor and I’m happy to be exploring some surprising variety in blends recently. I’m a bit sad this one isn’t still around, though. I actually have a feeling, knowing now that Tealyra sources many of their teas from Dethlefsen & Balk and seeing “Source: Germany” on my package that this was probably a D&B blend, and that they discontinued the blend, so it isn’t like any other companies are going to have it, either, since it is gone from the source. Bah! I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other date teas, and now I really wish I did!

March Mad(Hatter) Tea Tournament!
Round #1 – Match #9  Tealyra – Oatmeal Raisin Cookies   VS.  52Teas – PGB

This is another close one!  I never loved PGB despite LOVING the source material (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) but PGB is just so consistently weird as a blend.  It’s spicy, but also a bit fruity but also a bit like soda, but originally I know I received the blend when it already wasn’t fresh, from Frank’s giant end of business mystery bag sale.  I’ve always wondered how it tasted the day it was blended.  But it’s a haunting blend, as nothing else tastes like this (even though I still don’t like the bland base – the other flavors hide it here.)  The heat of the cayenne on the second steep was saying ‘pick me!’  The Oatmeal Raisin Cookie should be amazing – it’s a great idea.  I stocked up on it when I saw it was being discontinued.  (I think it’s the same as the Della Terra blend?)  The flavors aren’t so fresh now, even though it isn’t very old.   Now the flavor is mostly a cinnamon you wouldn’t really find in an oatmeal cookie.  And I wish raisins would impart more flavor to the tea.  Tough call but Winner:   PGB

So I bought some of this a while ago when they were discontinuing it, so it was on sale. And I was pretty sure this was the same blend as Della Terra’s Oatmeal Cookie. I was in the mood for cinnamon teas today and I hadn’t written a note for it yet… because it is like Della Terra’s Oatmeal Cookie that I have already written a note for. I know at least one raisin went into the infuser, though not sure the flavor came through. I think DT actually added actual oatmeal to their blend? I feel like the cinnamon is much stronger here than I remember. There isn’t much ‘oatmeal’ or ‘cookie’ but a ton of cinnamon. The cinnamon is like the cinnamon in Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Sunset. At least I wanted a cinnamon tea today!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

This was a spur of the moment, post-work choice when I got home this afternoon. I’d originally intended on trying one of my samplers from Jolly Brew, but after a traumatic walk home that involved passing a house on fire and numerous fire engines arriving at the scene, I lost all track of everything and just grabbed the first tea I spotted. It so happened to be the Pu’erh Maple Chai I seriously hadn’t cared for the first time I tried it. Arghh! Still, the leaves smelled wonderful in the packet (the spices and the maple syrup, with just a hint of the pu’erh) and even though my nose had convinced me it would taste as amazing as it smelled the first time around (damn you, nose!) I decided I’d make a big pot of it and make a start on using the packet up. As I waited for it to steep, it dawned on me that this tea was my first ever experience of Pu’erh. Coupled with the fact I’m almost sure I accidentally oversteeped the first cup I tried, I started to hope that this time around it might be OK. And it WAS! Yes, the Pu’erh is there, but it’s not as strong as I remember it (possibly because I’m more familiar with Pu’erhs now?) and the maple and spices give it a gorgeous kick without being too overpowering. It’s actually quite a smooth, cosy drink and I enjoyed it way more than I was expecting to. So much so… I drank the whole pot! Is it a blend I would re-purchase? Probably not. But I’ll enjoy using up the rest of my packet.

Thanks so much for this one, Mastress Alita! Tealyra sometimes has a high turnover rate for teas….but this one is still available on their website. I’m just happy they keep a few of my favorites around. This one seems like a unique blend I haven’t seen being sold anywhere else. The ingredients: Pumpkin cubes, apple pieces, cinnamon pieces, ginger cubes, turmeric root, cinnamon rods, cloves, whole cardamom, pink pepper, natural flavoring. There was a HUGE pumpkin sliver that went into the infuser. The blend already gets points for that. I don’t think I’m a fan of turmeric and there was definitely a hit of turmeric at least at the top of the first steep. The turmeric must have floated to the top. Otherwise, the resulting flavor is a mix of the other ingredients to create a mild pumpkin pie flavor. Nothing in the blend is really standing out, it’s pretty equally represented. But I’m wishing for more flavor here. With that big pumpkin piece, I certainly expected more flavor. It’s one of those herbal blend situations where the weight of the ingredients (and the price) takes into consideration the amount of flavor that results. But maybe this one just needs two whole teaspoons to brew up a decent cup. Next time will be a sipdown!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 7 minute steep

I wanted to try Tealyra’s Earl Grey because I feel like I haven’t found the perfect EG that is currently for sale. It’s like bergamot is just disappointing now, when a few years ago so many bergamot teas were delicious. For example, Zen had the BEST cream earl grey, but then their supplier changed to a very different EG. This EG seems exactly like that replaced EG, and I don’t mean the perfect delicious EG…. I mean the bad replacement. The bergamot is just not the bergamot I’m looking for. There should also be a cream flavor they mention in the description, but I’m just tasting the unappealing bergamot. At least the black tea is brisk enough for me. Maybe this Earl could be the perfect Earl for someone else, but it ain’t for me.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Sipdown! This was a sample from one of the Toronto tea peeps, but I’m not certain who. Possibly Indigobloom?

Anyhow, despite age and being in a tiny bag, this was really yummy. Steeped up to quite a pale yellow, but plenty of flavour. Sadly, I drank this a few days ago and am blanking on exactly how to describe the flavour, but it was on the beany/sweet side as opposed to grassy or mariney.

Oh my gosh guys, I just discovered the most magical of Carrot Cake blends… but Tealyra stopped selling it shortly after I bought it. No other tasting notes even! So if anyone finds this blend selling anywhere else, please post a comment. Just opening the bag, this blend smells like dessert. It seems like some real heart went into this blend. So many fantastic Carrot Cakey ingredients: ACTUAL carrots (points just for actually including those), raisins, cinnamon, white chocolate chips, candied ginger, safflowers. All on caffeine free base of honeybush, red and green rooibos. The description also mentions snowman sprinkles and orange sprinkles, but I don’t see any of those in my blend. It tastes plenty sweet without them anyway. This is truly the most dessert flavor in a tea I’ve ever sipped. The only thing is that it might have slightly mouth drying qualities or the rooibos is small enough to escape the teabag into my mug, but this quality only seems to happen in the first sips. I feel like this is an unusual and unique Carrot Cake blend, as the others I’ve noticed have coconut or walnuts. Overall, especially with the second steep, the flavor is mostly SWEET rather than carrot cake but that makes this tea a true dessert.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6 minute steep

Summer Vacation! When I saw Tealyra had this, I had to try it, since I’m a huge fan of both Houjicha and Genmaicha. The idea of Houjicha that included genmai, the toasted rice included in genmaicha, intrigued me, because I imagined it would just add to the roasty flavors nicely. So I picked some up some time ago on a past Tealyra order. Apparently when my friend was visiting last winter, I made him a cup of this while essentially sleep-walking during a migraine — I have no memory or recollection of actually “waking” and brewing tea during the long period I was in the throws of “death pain” during the migraine attack. Now he sings the lyrics of The Romantics “Talking In Your Sleep” with the lyrics I drink the tea that she steeps / When she’s brewing in her sleep…

I’m having another migraine today (chronic migraine condition + forest fire smoke as a trigger + hormone fluctuations as a trigger = RAWR) so it seems only fitting to try this one today during the tail end of my Japan Week of the Summer Vacation theme. The aroma has a very deep, roasted houjicha scent, very woody, slightly nutty, and I pick up very subtle aromas of cinnamon and deeply bittersweet cocoa.

The flavor is quite nice for a houjicha. It’s very smooth and doesn’t come off quite as bark-like as some houjicha I’ve tried; the wood notes have a much nicer, earthy quality. It has a deep rich quality with an almost coffee-like slight bitter touch left on the tongue just after the sip and mild drying astringency, but it isn’t unpleasant; the flavor of the aftertaste is very nutty, like the genmai is amplifying the natural nutty notes of the houjicha. Reminds me a lot of a dark roast nutty coffee. I’m a bit surprised that a houjicha I didn’t order directly from Japan is so nice; despite being so low in caffeine, this is really making for a nice breakfast tea, just because it has such a pleasant robust roasty flavor.

Other than my maple-infused houjicha, I’d say this has to be one of the best that I’ve tried so far.

I encountered these in my constant search and trials of Jasmine teas. Price was good and smell upon open was pleasant and inviting, more sweet than floral. I am able to get 2 rich steeps out using a 4 oz Gaiwan and 5-6 minute steeps. 3 steeps is pushing it. The taste is sweet and ‘toasty’ – lacking the vegetal quality of typical greens – quite satisfying and never exhibiting any astringency. The tin has stayed at my office as my ‘back-up’ for when I forget to bring anything else or just want to mix it up during the day. I’ve come to look forward to these in that capacity and would reorder it as an alternative.

Sipdown (262)

Thank you Evol Ving Ness for sharing this with me! It’s one of those teas that I tend to forget about a lot but it has a nice tropical punch to it today. Fruity, sweet, but also with a crisp tart note to round things out. I don’t like that it’s a black and green blend but the base teas are smooth which is nice.

This is a green/black blend and to me those never make sense. Do I steep them like I would a black tea? Or a green tea? I ended up splitting the difference a little bit and the end result was fairly unremarkable. Fruity and mild but nothing that was truly amazing. Still, I am grateful to Evol Ving Ness for the chance to try it so thanks Evol for the share!

Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2018/03/28/magic-moon-from-tealyra/

I just had to buy some of this one recently. I usually don’t have chai in the hot weather, but it was raining today and I was in with the air conditioning. Not only does the blend just LOOK gorgeous with the green and the red of the pepper slices, but the ingredients are amazing too: Black tea, ginger bits, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon bits, chili bits, anise, vanilla bits. I love when a tea has those big slices of vanilla and I’ve never seen a tea that has actual slices of pepper before. There are a ton of spices here, a lot more than the black tea itself. Upon brewing, the tea itself is a very light brown, which I was afraid of. I really love a deep chai, and this ain’t it. But it’s spicy. Just not as spicy as I would expect from actual pepper slices. So I don’t think anyone has to be afraid of this one. Sadly I wasn’t tasting much vanilla either but I like that it’s in there anyway. Maybe the other spices overpower the vanilla. And if the black tea is too light, I can always add a half teaspoon of another black tea to toughen it up.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 minute steep

Additional notes: I really like this one and now it’s gone. It’s cozy on a rainy day. More spicy/sweet than apricot. I’d love more apricot! But I wouldn’t mind having this unique blend around again at some point. Raising the rating from 82.
2020 Sipdowns: 18

I just deleted my last tasting note… for the second time. sigh. ANYWAY This was received as a lovely sample from Tealyra recently. They are discontinuing my beloved Tiramisu blend so I had to order some more. They also have quite a few new blends since last year. I like that they get new blends but it’s also sad to see when favorites disappear. The blend here is full of goodies: cinnamon, fennel, pink peppercorn, apricot, ginger and cloves. It’s like a green fruity chai. I can hardly tell there is any green tea within the blend though… which I think is gunpowder green. The flavor is certainly sweet and spicy. Though I’m not tasting as much cinnamon as I’d expect from the name. The other spices are balancing out the cinnamon. I’m also not tasting as much apricot as I’d expect, but I’m glad it isn’t that fake apricot flavor.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 31 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

A Berry Frui-tea July! I made a strong infusion of this warm, added just a touch of honey, then popped it in the fridge to chill overnight into an iced tea.

This has proved to be a lovely iced tea brew. There is a strong coconut aroma from the glass, and it has a very smooth and sweet coconut flavor that blends really nicely with the touch of citrusy bergamot. The black base is on the stronger side but carries the flavors well; at least in the iced cup, it is quite smooth, lacking bitterness, and only slightly astringent (though I do probably need to revisit this as a hot cuppa to get a better read on the base). The only thing that I’m a bit disappointed about is that I don’t really get any of the pineapple flavor that should be in this blend; it just tastes like a coconut-flavored Earl Grey, and I have a few others of those around (because I love the coconut/bergamot flavor combination). I really wish I could taste the pineapple, but it seems to be overwhelmed by the other flavors.

So, while I do love this tea, as it’s a flavor I really enjoy, I’m a little disappointed too… it just isn’t giving me anything new, which is what I was hoping for when I got it. I think the pineapple would’ve really brought this as an iced tea over the top, too. Still a nice, refreshing glass of iced tea, regardless.

Additional notes: Sad sipdown of this one. It’s just a really tasty late night blend. If you steep it for half an hour, it really almost could taste like a shake in both the texture and sweetness. I’ll miss this one. I really hope I’ll find this selling at some other tea shop someday.

Thanks so much for sending some of this along, Mastress Alita! I really wanted to try it. This is one of those clunky herbal blends, where the weight of the tea itself makes it pricey and you sure better like the result! I sure do. I’ve never had a date shake before (sounds AMAZING) but this does taste like what I imagine a date shake would (except possibly minus the creaminess of a shake and according to Tealyra’s description, date shakes have a ton of vanilla). But the flavor is in the mug and it is VERY sweet. It’s a perfect dessert tea. The flavor is fruity with a hint of tang from the sour cherry (without having hibiscus) with hints of cinnamon, spice and tons of sweetness. To be honest, it doesn’t taste like dates as much as I’d like it to, considering the name. But the result is scrumptious anyway. It’s just an odd little blend that works. It’s one of those blends I just want to snack on… probably shouldn’t though. I just really have to steep the crap out of it to get that delicious flavor. The second half mug tasted almost just as delicious. Sadly, this is no longer available from Tealyra.
Steep #1 // // just boiled // 20 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled (half mug) // countless minute steep (maybe 30-40 minutes?)

Sipdown (212)

Another from Evol Ving Ness alas this has suffered from flavor deterioration over time. Per my last note, there was maple flavor but more black tea flavor. This cup smelled mapley but is really quite bland. Not much maple or black tea. Really nothing of anything. That’s on me though. Thank you for sharing, Evol!