VariaTEA Send Message

Since I was opening the package to send some of this to Roswell Strange in a swap, I decided to brew myself a cup to try this one out. My thoughts? Well it definitely lives up to its name but in a very weird way. The start of the sip is all sugar and then you realize it is sugar plum. The end of the sip is all cinnamon. It almost seems like a different tea appeared in my cup part way through because there is a disconnect between the distinct flavors of the start and finish of the sip. At first, I didn’t like it but on subsequent sips I don’t mind it. Realistically though, I doubt I would reach for this all that often. And I definitely won’t drink all 20 bags but I might have a cup every now and then.

Maybe I should mention that I didn’t try this tea when it was very hot. It took me a while to package up the teas :)

Sipdown!! (219)

This tea is a very nice cup. If I had to describe the taste in one word it would be “pretty” which sounds weird but it is fitting. The tea is delicate and smooth. It has just the right amount of sweetness from the apple but the flavor is enhanced by the rose petal. The flavors just marry so perfectly to make such a unique cup. This is what I imagine french teas to be – flavorful but in a subtle way. This will definitely be missed while its gone but I am sure I will be getting more of this in the not too distant future.

ETA: Resteeped, the flavors mellow. Not bad but since this is already a subtly flavored cup, I far preferred the first steep.

So I brewed a lot of water when I made my cup of Nina’s Japon and the leaves from my cup last night were still on the counter. As a result, I decided to make another cup of this. Honestly, it is just as tasty as the first steep. I am drinking it cold and it is actually a great caffeine-free and calorie-free substitute for the real thing. Sure it is not carbonated but I don’t think I can express enough how impressively accurate the flavor is. A tasty cup indeed.

So I have a serious problem. I have over 200 types of tea and a box of samples that I haven’t even begun to try. In addition to that, I have multiple orders and swaps on the way to me right now. Meanwhile, because I sold a textbook and had some cash in my pocket, I had to fight the urge all day to go over to DAVIDs and pick up a few new teas. What stopped me? (1) The realization that I have lots of tea and I need to drink it before it goes bad and thus I shouldn’t buy more and (2) if I forwent the trip to DAVIDs, I could get home sooner to have a cup of this delicious tea that I have been craving ever so much since I got it weeks ago. In the end, my better judgement steered me home to a nice cup of Nina’s Japon.

I am so happy that this tea is actually as delicious as I remembered and not just hyped up in my own mind from the weeks of wanting it but not being able to have any. The green and black tea combine together beautifully to provide the perfectly smooth and subtle base that really allows the flavors to shine. The smell is that of sweet, gooey caramel but the first taste that hits my tongue is the vanilla. That sweetens up to the tasty caramel goodness only to be rounded out by the awesome flavor of the toasted rice. This tea is seriously ADDICTIVE! I am already 1/2 way done my 16 oz mug and all I have done was write this tasting note.

I am so glad I actually got to have a cup of this when I went to the Nina’s Paris office. That allowed me to get a whole tin worth rather than a mere one cup sample. And its a good thing that the tin is the large because this tea is going to go fast!

ETA: Having a resteep and the caramel flavor is more muted but still delicious. I think I have fallen in love with Nina’s take on caramel. Between this and Je t’aime, I am thoroughly impressed.

Every so often I like to give my gravity steeper a very good clean. That means taking it apart and soaking it overnight with baking soda and hot water. That leaves me with a tea ball that is very cute (it is a flower hanging on a tree branch – http://www.amazon.com/Arta-Chefn-Tree-Infuser-Saucer/dp/B003V8A6FW%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIAA4MWUJXHBYFRNQ%26tag%3DSquid725716-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB003V8A6FW)but has large holes, meaning lots of sediment in the cup when I use it with rooibos. However, given the late hour I wanted to stick to caffeine free teas so I decided honeybush was probably my best bet. This one stuck out in my mind after reading MissB’s tasting note.

It is definitely a really tasty blend. The root beer flavor is so exact. Personally, I find the flavors come out more when you let this cool a bit but sometimes I am so impatient because the tea is that good.

I couldn’t get to my steeper because my friends were in the kitchen so instead I made a cup of this. Honestly, it always smells amazing and luckily today that came through in the taste. It is a cup of tasty vanilla buttercream frosting when you add a dash of milk. Yum!!

ETA: When this tea is good, it’s REALLY good. Even the resteep is a cup of deliciousness!

So I think I either overleafed or brewed this at too high a temperature because the juicy pomegranate flavor I love so much has fallen to the background and I am mostly tasting the white base. Not a bad flavor but not what I was hoping for when I made the cup :(

I was craving this prior to going to Florida but I stupidly left it behind. Then I returned from Florida and couldn’t taste things. However, today I have finally be able to taste some things so I decided to have a cup.

Just like the last, it is sweet and delicious. A blend with “rose” right in the name scares me because florals can easily taste perfume-y but there is none of that here. This is a cup of liquified candy and I am so glad my roommate picked it out for me. Yum!!

Due to the temperature outside being unseasonably warm, I took over the extra food I got to store in a friend’s deep freezer. Typically this friend comes to me to have tea and study but instead she made me a pot of tea. This was a blend she got from her brother for Christmas and though I worried it would be too rooibosy for my taste, I gave her the benefit of the doubt that it would be a tasty cup. Furthermore, it had a beautiful honey smell that I could not pass up.

Tastewise, this was a delicious cup of liquid honey. Honey Bee is called to mind but it was no where near as cloying because the rooibos toned down the sweetness. A delicious blend that I will definitely be grabbing some more of when I go back to Thornhill.

Once again something crazy happened. I woke up this morning to not one, but two food packages from Jenny Craig. That is ONE MONTH worth of food! I called in and turns out they sent the food twice but only charged me for the one order. I offered to send the second order back to them but they said it would go bad before it got back to them. So now my freezer is jam packed and what I couldn’t get to fit in there is hanging out in my barbecue (I figured I would put the freezing weather to good use!). Although, of course when I want it to be freezing, Montreal weather is above zero but I will eat those meals first and hope for the best.

Anyways, onto the tea! I was packing this one up for a friend the other day and it smelled so amazing. Since I had 2 oz of it, I thought I would experiment with it to see if I could taste a black tea. I am picking up on hints of marshmallow-y caramel! Yay!! However, it is very, VERY subtle. I am not sure if that is a result of my taste issue right now or my use of an excessive amount of water for a non-excessive amount of leaf. Nevertheless, at least I can detect something so I am taking that as a win :)