Yumchaa
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i needed some comfort. something warm and restful and sweet. and i kinda struck gold.
i have sooooo many herbal teas in my samples box it’s kinda bonkers. i mean, mostly just cuz they are so easy to drink you can drink them anytime! so why don’t i?
but i promise to try harder.
raspberry rooibos and ‘Endeavor’ on masterpiece mystery theater. too bad i fell asleep before i could find out who-dun-it!
thank you Scheherazade for this cozy wozy cup when i needed it.
So, the day before yesterday started off really well (tea-related), but went very badly downhill (not really tea-related, except for this tea). Then yesterday started horribly (not tea-related, except that I had to rush out of the house w/o my morning cuppas), stayed pretty bad (I think it shot my tea tastings for the day, too – will get to those if Steepster starts being happier), and then got resolved (included a nice, cheery night-time rooibos – ditto).
The good start to day-before yesterday involved a lovely email from Stacy of Butiki Teas and then two morning cups of tea from the swap cteresa sent me, neither of which will get onto the database here. One was a “random” Ceylon from a local tea shop – local to her, that is – which I found delightful, and which inspired me to order a Ceylon to try from PureAromaTeas. And the other was a home blended chai she made up with a Portuguese black tea, which was so good it made me walk around the house asking “Why have I never thought of chai for breakfast before?!?”. All I can do aside from that is check out the rough proportions of spices cteresa used, as they were spot on.
[skipping over non-tea-related woes] In the afternoon, I made a pot of Wanderlust for Cara and me, as she’s a big Yumchaa tea fan too. (By ‘pot’ I mean the Magic Infuser/Cha Cult I own.) Now, I have to say, with all due sorrow, that I’ve found a Yumchaa tea I didn’t like. Dry, the smell of the apple and cinnamon was lovely, but after steeping it went bitter, which it also tasted. I have to say that my taste-buds were not tainted by the bitterness of the day, as Cara also found it bitter, before I’d even said anything about it. I know Teresa wouldn’t have rated this one highly if it had been a problem with either the cinnamon or the green tea base, so I’m stumped as to what went wrong. That said, I’ve had teas I liked a lot less, but it was both Yumchaa and a Teresa favourite, so expectations were very high.
At least it rules one tea out of my next order from Yumchaa, thereby making life a bit easier! :? (If we ever get to London again, I’ll definitely try it in store though, to see if I still don’t much like it.)
yeah…. i dunno. this one was good but it wasn’t fantastic when i tried it. it was also a bit of a confusing tea so i never got around to rating it lol
So sorry it was a bad day! a kiss, and glad you enjoyed the teas (weird about this one – any chance the water was too hot? this is a 75 degrees tea)
Oh, just to add in case you have not found it, the recipe for the chai http://steepster.com/teas/unknown/32018-homemade-chai-mix more or less. It´s a fun thing to make, though a tip, it gets better as it ages for some reason.
Thank you for the teas again, the sympathy & the chai recipe!! Yes, about Wanderlust, I’ll try again at a carefully-measured 75. I’m usually using 80 for greens, so it wouldn’t have been super hot, but definitely worth a try.
This is an interesting tea.
I’ve only tasted one other Yumchaa tea – and like this one – it was kindly provided by Cteresa, thank you!.
Both that one – Notting Hill – and this one are similar in the way I can’t exactly put my finger on. It is as if they share some of the same ingredients, which evidently isn’t the case (according to the descriptions). Actually the one is a black tea and the other (this one) a green tea. So the similarity is rather surprising! Perhaps it’s a sameness in the way the flavors blend, because they do blend very well…
If apple crumble is a kind of apple pie or tart (I’m not sure), this doesn’t really remind me of that. Or rather, this tea has too much character to compare to something as mundane as apple crumble. The comparison to hot apple cider however does ring several bells.
If – like me – you don’t really like apple cider, you should still consider this to try this tea. Although this tea definitely reminds me of hot apple cider, it does not taste exactly the same. It’s sweeter and more mellow. Also it’s not as “heavy” to the stomach.
In the winter there are always a number of Christmas markets here in the region. Usually they have these little stalls serving hot wine, hot apple cider and the like. People sit outside in the cold (with no more than some heat lamps) savoring those hot alcoholic beverages. This tea would be great for such an occasion.
On the one hand I can already see myself happily sipping this tea after a cold winter walk through the woods, on the other hand I’m fervently awaiting spring and this doesn’t make me a believer it’ll be coming anytime soon … so that makes rating it honestly at this particular moment somewhat difficult. I’ll hold on to my thoughts on that subject for the moment and have a few more cups… :-)
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it sounds nice
are you retaining your ratings for it or just decided no more giving ratings to teas ?
Retaining. I really like this tea but am not sure which position I should allot it rating wise. Recently I’ve had to change ratings sometimes b/c I’d rated a tea higher than another tea I liked better or lower than another tea I liked less. So with a view to a comprehensive system of ratings I’ve decided to withhold ratings until after I’ve drank the tea a number of times.
I have my opinions of teas change a lot as I drink them – this is an example, but also a few more. Usually I get to appreciate them more, but sometimes it´s the stupid steepster slide which I still find so hard to judge! A tip if you want to give more precise numerical values go to your steepster ratings, sort by whichever (recent, highest) and from there click on the numerical value to change it.
Yes Cteresa, that’s how I do it. The steepster slide is way too inaccurate.
At the time I am drinking this nobody else has rated it on steepster and I am a bad first taster for this. Liquorice! or Anise, or something of that sort. To be fair, a subtle ammount, but I hate stuff with liquorice with a passion.
I made this chai style, simmered in milk with sugar and it was lovely apart from the aniseed. I saved enough for a classic water brew, but poor chai, lovely as it is, it is just not going to me my cup of tea.
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Thanks lovely cteresa for sending it over me.
but I won’t rate it.
I love vanilla (good ones only ! this is an aroma which cannot bear mediocrity to my opinion)
I love ,but really love, raspberry, my favourite fruit.
So what’s the problem ???…it’s me !!!
I trust cteresa (her tastes & opinions are so reliable), this is surely a very good rooibos. I trust Angrboda as well of course, I love so much your reviews and your notes !
The point is I think I really do not like Rooibos …until now…but will persevere : L’appétit vient en mangeant…as we say in French ;)
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Hmm now I am not so sure if red rooibos is for you. We all got our own tastes! But I can not think of any rooibos more likely to convert you than this.
But maybe green rooibos, have you ever had any? It does not have that particularl rooibos body but it has more body than tisanes though and be lovely on its own or as basis for other teas. It is really quite different!
I’ll give this rooibos another try – it has everything I love especially raspberry so I’ll give another try (I always give several try to teas and chances to people too !) sometimes we need to learn by trying again & again, it’s probably what I have to do with rooibos.
It is true about people surely! Teas should get their chances as well!
An idea, do not brew rooibos TOO cold – at least 90, 95 maybe even, and at least 5 minutes (some rooibos not much longer but this one is not a problem how long it stays.) try 95 and some 6 minutes or so.
thanks for the tip about temperature it may be why I found the rooibos not bodied enough to me
Ysaurelle, I too am having difficulties with red Rooibos, finding it bears some kind of medicine aftertaste most of the time…But I’ve come to appriciate a few, such as David’sTea Ô Canada, and some Tealish very fruity blends. Il’l be happy to share some with you soon. You are right about wanting to try more than once, there’s lots of teas I wouldn’t be having otherwise :-) I think cteresa is right about the green rooibos, maybe you should give it a try, it’s very different from the red…
Definetely brew it a bit hotter and a bit longer. I used to be very heartless with rooibos – free boiling water and many many minutes and that is not perfect either particularly for some blends, but 90-95 and 5-8 minutes should be good.
Green rooibos is worth trying! I think Kusmi makes plain unflavored green rooibos but not sure it´s worth buying from them, it´s relatively easy to find unflavoured green rooibos. I have been flirting like mad with theodor´s home page and they have also unflavoured and one or two green rooibos mixes (thé des swenkas I think). I have bought at supermarkets (Intermarché) flavored green rooibos teabags from a south african brand called carmien which were OK. And I got a nice green honeybush/green rooibos mix from this place http://teahouse.de/ which is called wiener apfelstrudel but actually tastes of hazelnuts. It exists! Germans seem to particularly like green rooibos blends, most of what i find is German.
This was the very one that turned rooibos for me. I had said for the longest time that I didn’t like it, but this belnd showed me that I apparently do like it when flavoured. Perhaps red rooibos just can’t be salvaged for you. Oh well, we win some, we lose some.
I can’t say about the green rooibos, though. I’ve only ever tried that once long ago, so I can’t remember what it’s like, but I’ll join the people encouraging the experiment anyway. You never know. :)
I found one I liked : mango lassi from Butiki teas :)
And I got to send you a couple green rooibos samples for you to try – just in case! I will send you a mail.
thank you Scheherazade for this sample. Jury is still out on this one but man did the aroma of this steeped tea blow me away. Talk about apple crumble in a cup. What i’m not sold on is the weakness of the tea, which may just be my steeping times or the leaf, so i’m not going to hold it against the tea just yet. I have more left to try this again with, so we shall see! Either way happy to try it :)
yum Scheherazade ! yum yum yum
i mean i could easily take or leave rooibos. preferably leave it. but heck do i like lemon! and this is a nice lemon. smooth and tasty. dance the worm!
In for the Kill (la roux cover) by Miike Snow
http://grooveshark.com/s/In+For+The+Kill/3HXgTj?src=5
I haven’t had much from Yumchaa but I have been wanting to sip on more and after this one I want to sip even more! This is a nicely flavored green with rhubarb and berry notes without being tarty. It has a great sweetness but also an even-smooth to round it out! The product descriptions says to Drink When: Wearing Thick Socks – well, I’m in luck! That’s just about every day! LOL
If anyone has some Yumchaa assorted teas laying around and would be interested in swapping – let me know via PM :)
Thanks!
i believe both halieod and Scheherazade and cteresa all have a various assortment of yumchaa…if i’m remembering correctly..
I don’t have all that many left now. I’ve got some Adventure, some Om, and some Red Christmas I think. It might be time for another order with them soon!
Had this at their Soho cafe…I don’t know. It was a bit lacklustre in terms of flavour. It smelt quite nice, but had little punch to it. My friend had Walk in the Woods, and we couldn’t tell the difference between them. Perhaps their chocolate brownie was interfering with my tastebuds, but I was hugely disappointed when this sounded so delicious!
Alas. I will try something different from Yumchaa, but for the price, I’d expect a hell of a lot more.
so ya, i drank this 5 days ago, and still haven’t made a note.
i drank it the day after too. but couldn’t figure it out. and i don’t trust my judgement because green teas have been weird for me lately.
so i’m gonna save the bit i got from Scheherazade and gleefully try it again when i get my fresh and so clean green tastebuds back. yup.
I got this along with a bag of my beloved Chilli Chilli Bang Bang, because it was limited edition and I didn’t notice the aniseed in there. (Or possibly hadn’t figured out that while I like anise/licorice fine as flavours themselves, I dislike them in most teas.) For a good few cups I thought it was just the unfair comparison with CCBB that stopped this being a winner, then read *cteresa*’s note and went “Aha! Aniseed!”, but then it started to grow on me. The anise flavour is just tempered enough by the strength of the other flavours (all favourites) that I like it. It’s not a problem that it’s limited edition, as long as CCBB comes back for the colder weather. But if not — there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth! (The new Red Chai has aniseed as its first ingredient – not cool, Yumchaa!)
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Maybe I am just unreasonablle about the aniseed. or better said I am sure I am unreasonable – fennel and aniseed and liquorice is a perfectly respectable family. I tend to not think of myself as a picky eater but when it cames to tea, I do have unreasonable dislikes!
No, I don’t think there’s anything unreasonable about disliking any teas with aniseed or licorice in them! I’m just not consistent about my dislike, which is much worse!
backlog and sipdown! Made a large batch of this cold brew the other day and had it last night. I much prefer this as a cold brew than a hot one as the flavours became slightly more enhanced. Thank you again Hallieod for letting me try this one!
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Thank you hallieod for this one! This isn’t half bad. I want to try this as a cold brew since that’s part of why I wanted to try it. As a hot brew this is a decent green tea. The mango flavouring isn’t artificial, but it is a little light. Glad to see this one, and looking forward to the next attempt as a cold brew! :)
Oh good, back in I-love-all-Yumchaa-teas mode now. Thanks to cteresa for the sample! I didn’t both reading the notes for ingredients for this one, just assumed it was a green chai. I prefer chai as proper industrial-strength black or the other end of the (caffeine) scale and rooibos, but my mind was open to a Yumchaa green chai, and this turned out to be lovely. I love ginger, cardamom and pepper, and love them together (usually with cinnamon), I love Yumchaa’s green tea bases (this one is sencha) and I love spearmint, but I’d never have thought the spearmint would go so well with the other tastes.
It’s going to be interesting, choosing from the growing list of tried-and-loved teas for the next Yumchaa order! Thanks again, T!
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I’ll be another steepsterite to wonder at how lovely this tea looks like. Everytime I open the bag or small tin I’ve filled with this tea, I am amazed by the colors. The black tea leaves are lavishly sprinkled with blue, yellow and dark orange petals; there are also a few dried pieces of fruits: I recognized some strawberries and some light yellow, that may be apricot? It’s indeed one of the most beautiful teas I’ve had the opportunity to brew and that makes the experience all the more pleasant.
The smell of the dried leaves is very fruity, with a strong apricot-peach tone.
Once brewed, the flavors do not disappoint and are in line with the smell. This makes for a very sweet and mellow brew. Really lovely end extremely pleasant, but with unfortunately no wow factor to make it unforgettable.
I’ll have to compare this one to MF Bolero, for which I still have a few teapots left at the bottom of the bag. I believe this one will be slightly more fruity with more distinctive flavors, while the other should be more balanced.
I know it should not be very difficult to finish this bag and that I might rebuy this tea some day.
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All those lovely things to say about it and it still doesn’t have any wow factor – makes my head spin imagining what does. :)
does it have the incredible mellowness of Boléro ?
@Hallieod: I know I’m highly demanding and not only for teas; it’s indeed very lovely and pleasant to drink, but it would probably be my first pick in the full cupboard, nor is it a tea I could not do without for a long time, nor would it be an absolute recommendation to anyone, like “you really have to drink that, whatever your tastes are like”. However going deeper into the bag, I might change my mind about that, which turned out to be the case for Boléro, which I found more and more pleasant as I was emptying the bag.
@Ysaurella: I would say so, though the fruit flavors are less blended in this one, but that’s definitely one of the things I’d like to check through a direct comparison of the two. Will keep you posted;)
It does make a huge difference having a tea that’s similar but which does wow you. I’m going to check out the notes for Boléro now, just out of interest. :)
@ Hallieod : I can provide you with a Boléro sample as well with our next month swap if you like to taste it :)
Oh, thank you, Ysaurella, I’d love that! But I’ll stop whining about the French tea companies that haven’t set up shop in Dublin now, I promise. :)
