Featured & New Tasting Notes
So I’m still incredibly exhausted. Perhaps too exhausted to continue to feel irritable, which might actually be a good thing.
This tea is so incredibly comforting. I find it’s a tea that I seem to be able to enjoy regardless of how it’s been steeped or prepared. I suspect I might be getting sick, because I can feel a tell tale scratch in my throat and I generally feel miserable, although those feelings often don’t actually develop into any sickness, which is good in many ways but also annoying, because I’d rather just get sick proper and get it over with.
I wish I had another Timolino full of this tea. I want to go to bed.
Pistachio is my favourite nut; I think I’ve cooked and served and eaten it in every way possible, but this is the first pistachio tea I try. Random fact: the Swedish word for ‘pistachio’ is one of the most commonly misspelled words in the Swedish language.
In the bag, this smells like fairly generic nut tea; it could be a walnut, or a hazelnut – either way, it’s definitely pleasantly nutty. Steeped, it retains much of the same scent, but it turns rounder and smoother.
Flavour wise, this tastes a little too roasty, or smoky, to be a plain pistachio to me. Roasted pistachio, maybe? I miss the ‘green’, fat flavour of the nuts in questions – pistachios are so characteristic. In terms of the ice cream, well, I should admit I dip into the pistachio gelato pretty frequently when I’m here in Rome, so my assessment might not be fair; either way, I don’t really get a creamy feel.
The tea definitely has a pleasant, mellow smoothness to it, and the base tea is as lovely as ever with Butiki – it’s just not quite what I’m looking for.
[From my Butiki order to Santa Clara, October 2013.]
Preparation
I’m sorry you haven’t had too much luck with Butiki, but am also glad you’re trying them.
Oh, I think it’s been a purely positive experience exploring their teas – I’ve found three I think I’d like to keep in my cupboard, which feels like a pretty good haul. I think the main issue has been that I tried flavours that I would typically like from companies like Lupicia, and their flavour profile just fits me better. But some of the Butiki teas that I just requested/was given as samples appealed to me far more than I thought they would.
I myself did not fall in love with this one, which is rare considering the massive number of teas from butiki I’m madly en amour with! But it’s a very popular one, I’m part of the minority I believe…
Oh, you know, exceptions that prove the rule, and all that. I think I might not really be a nut tea nut, you know.
Except for a few exceptions, I am not much of a nut tea nut myself, but i am however a nut nut person, but it doesn’t mean i’m not a nut, ya know? Lol!
Oh, you’re quite clearly a nut. ;P
This one confuses me – I like my flavoured rooibos well enough, but this is like drinking straight-up rooibos. It smells like rooibos in the bag, it smells like rooibos in the cup, and it tastes like rooibos in the cup. Any hint of anything else, mango or otherwise, is simply absent. I can’t really add anything else – it’s just rooibos.
Again, this might be a case of me not picking up Butiki’s more subtle flavourings, or just that I’ve taken my sweet time trying this tea. I keep everything in air-tight containers, but you never know – mangoes can be so devious.
(Insert link to working ‘Self-defense against fruit’ Monty Python clip here.)
[From my Butiki order to Santa Clara, October 2013.]
Preparation
Bah, I’m feeling a bit conflicted about this tea. It does taste delicious, like a combination of random fruits that I can’t seem to separate, although that isn’t entirely accurate as it’s fairly obvious which fruits are not a part of this blend: strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and other typically sweet fruits.
No, this tastes fine. But it doesn’t blow me away, and I find that there’s something a bit hollow about it—kind of like a trailer that gets you all excited to see a movie, only it showcases all the good things about the movie and you’re left disappointed. I enjoy this momentarily as I sip, but it doesn’t leave an impression, either on my mouth or in my memory, and there’s barely an aftertaste to speak of.
So I’ll be willing to share what I have left, and there’s nothing even remotely offensive about this tea-I just don’t think I’ll be reordering it, although my tastes have been known to change. I may also have been a bit too heavy-handed with the cream, which may have served to mute some of the flavours, although I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the fruits in this tea to begin with, so perhaps muting the flavours was my secret purpose. Anyway, decent tea, but it definitely lives in the shadow of Parris, hot cinnamon spice, The Queen, etc.
I have yet to try The Queen, waiting for the next Harney Sale to do so.
Oh my gosh, the queen was life-changing for me.
Nothing wrong with finding a tea good but not great. (And now I’m curious as to what this The Queen is. I might have to get some at some point….)
It’s queen Catherine from Harney & sons! My favourite straight black tea ever.
Maybe in summertime you can try it as slightly sweetened iced tea if you have any left by then. Paris is also good that way though! :-)
I will really have to try queen catherine next time I order!
It really is good as a sweet iced tea!
I’ll keep that in mind if I ever get around to icing my tea :)
Ugggg – busy night at work, didn’t have time to do much Steepster lurking. Got home and made a cup of this tea and started unpacking the HUGE shared order box I got today. My house looks like a tea store exploded. I have opened boxes all over the place – orders received – swaps received – swaps partially packaged to be finished and sent out – piles of tea that need to be portioned and added to the swap out boxes. I’m finding stuff I didn’t know I had, I’m finding stuff I’d forgotten I ordered – and enjoying every minute of it. To all those that are patiently waiting for swaps/packages – soon, crossing fingers they will be mailed out tomorrow – worst case scenario will be boxed and ready to be mailed tomorrow – mailed on Thurday. :))
So that’s what I’ve been doing and I didn’t really drink much of the tea I made. Thanks ifjuly for the sample – still have more will try again another night. This is good, but I think I’ll like it better hot rather than the luke warm that it is now.
This sounds like so much fun, I wish there were pictures.
I second that! Take pics please so we can peek and feel jealous! :p
Yup, sounds just like home to me! :)
haha I was thinking the same thing!
I posted pictures in the Tea Buying Hiatus Support Group thread for anyone who is interested…
Hahaha, oh, Dex, that was INSANE. Love it!
A miserable cough and cold has struck the females in the house. I have been drinking lots of this hoping to strengthen my immune system, and I am the least miserable of the lot of us so I guess it is working. This and the Taiwan Ginseng Oolong from Teavivre seem to help me beat colds, so I will keep drinking them! The ginseng of the oolong and the cinnamon of this one gets past the stuffiness and you can taste it!
Hope you gals all feel better soon :-)
I hope you feel better!
Feel better soon! Drink lots of tea.
Feel better vibes going your way!! :)
Thank you! I don’t feel too bad, but the cough is wicked and now I have pretty much dropped three octaves voice wise, which is not great when you are a voice and piano teacher…
Hope you all feel better soon!
Seems like there is a lot of that going around right now. Hoping for a speedy recovery! :)
After a traveling ordeal which ended 60 hours later with us getting home (at least I am thankful for that), we are without luggage. ALL that’s important to us is in those suitcases. power cords, medications, three weeks forth of clothing…
anyway, I am home and I am alive, for which I am thankful. But I am cold, starving and exhausted. Can’t go anywhere until we chip away three weeks worth of snow that’s now frozen. Somehow have to make it to work tomorrow on whatever fumes I have left in me. Not in my car, in ME!.
So I made a pot of this. It’s gotta be good if you reach for it after weeks of deprivation, right? :) I sweetened it. Got nothing else I can put inside (unless curdled cream is your fancy) but it is so good. It raises my blood sugar enough that I don’t feel I’m going to pass out from exhaustion anymore.
Now I have to deal with more pressing problems. Happy 2014 everyone!
EDIT: I am not sure this is going to work but this is a shot of pearson this morning. There are THOUSANDS of unclaimed luggage. all the cancelled flights’ luggage being sent back, plus all the passengers who made it somehow, their luggage. there is not enough staff to deal with it all and some aircraft is frozen so the bags cannot be obtained. anyway, for your entertainment… hope it works.
eep! i hope you get everything sorted out!
My gosh, what an ordeal! I do hope you get your luggage, because that’s such a stressful experience, and you get hit with a fresh wave of panic every time you remember yet another thing that you don’t have until you find it. Yikes. I’m so glad you like this tea, though. I should try mine very soon.
How awful! I, too, hope that your luggage soon returns to you.
Luggages are a problem obviously, but I am so happy you are home finally. If I was closer, I’d give you a hand (though a small one!) with the shovelling part :-)
thanks for the kind words you guys! or gals, more like it.
there are a couple of pics from the ttc as well. so glad i stayed home today
oh no! hope it all sorts out!!
Ooh, sounds rough :/
hah. Trudeau’s twitpic could have been mine. And he wasn’t even there. Bah.
Sympathies, travelling and the weather… Memories. It once took us 4 hours to push off the gate in Montreal. First the gate was frozen, then not one but two AC got stuck behind us then we had to deice twice!. Nothing you can really do about it, just pray that everyone is a patient lot. The worst is when your stuck on the tarmac waiting for your gate to clear which could be minutes could be hours, with no way to get fresh catering and trying to keep passengers in the seats so you can move when your given permission. If it gets too cold nothing works, the baggage equipment freezes, the waterlines freeze etc. Altogether not fun. Glad you got home safely. My friends house has once again lost power after being out for more than 72 hours the last time! Hope you had a blast in Romania though.
Please don’t turn into an icicle. <3
(Or would it be a tea-sicle?)
(Oh NO, that looks so much like another word. I’m just going to be quiet now.)
LOL.
@yyz Yes, we were on the tarmac for over an hour after finally being able to land. All the troubles you mentioned, we experienced. Thankfully our house was ok and we were able to get warm and sleep a bit. ANyway, that’s enough of this saga. Thanks again everyone!
I need to get motivated. I’m sitting here with tea scattered all around me (is there anything better than that generic “tea” smell when you have tons of different ones within sniffing distance?), and I need to leave for work in less than an hour. I’m back to thinking about winning the lottery so I don’t have to go and deal with this work thing… Oh well at least it’s not that cold today – only -29C with the windchill.
This lovely caramel tea courtesy of ifjuly has been my choice this morning. I like it, it’s not over the top sweet, but it’s nice and caramely with just a hint of the black base shining though.
yeah it’s -33 with windchill here… which is EFFING INSANE for toronto…
You know it’s been cold when -30 doesn’t seem too bad out. LOL
Stay warm!!
So true Dexter. -33 makes me laugh when we were -51 yesterday. On Canada AM this morning they were complaining about the cold temps in toronto, then the news anchor said everyone from the prairies is probably just laughing at us. :)
OMG at only -29!!! This is like when the gas went over $1, ever since we go «oh, gas is so cheap today, go fill up, it’s only $1.27» What the…???
We’re at -35C today, which is a pleasant change from yesterday when it peaked (or bottomed I suppose) at -46C. And it’s supposed to get up to -6 this weekend! At least Fiance and I got to throw boiling water out of our patio window to make snow. (Highly recommended. It’s pretty awesome.) Stay warm!
It was -52C the other morning – yesterday with windchill it was hovering around -40 – will be in the low -40’s tonight then YES just as moraiwe said is to be up to about -7ish on Friday. It’s going to warm up 40 degrees…. crazy. I know but Toronto isn’t used to these temps. -30 is pretty “normal” for us – -50 on the other hand is COLD. It’s all what you are used to….
Gas was 1.06 here last time I looked – so OMG $1.27 is cheap?!? I thought is was insane at my parent at 1.12 over Christmas….
We’re still a bit colder than usual (-25 to -35 being pretty normal for us), so I’ll take a bit more heat yet haha! We keep our apartment at about 21, and it was -46 last night. It was mindblowing to realize that was a difference of over 100 degrees in Fahrenheit. (70F to -51F)
Dexter, yep, sadly, gas in quebec is cheap at $1.27…pure corruption if you ask me, but let’s not get into that :-((
sipdown(183)! I needed a tea to cleanse my tastebuds but wanted to try and get another sipdown in. So i picked this one since the flavouring feels very natural. While not a huge fan of oolongs, this is one that i can get behind whenever i’m craving that strawberry flavour that isn’t artificial. This tastes like the strawberry aftertaste of freshly picked garden berries :) Always love this one from teavivre!
hehe Great multi-taskn
Lol – that posted without me.
I meant to say great multi-tasking! Cleansing your taste buds and another sipdown. :-)
i have to! my cupboard ran away from me! lol
Already down to 183? You’re a real tea vacuum!
I’m at 366 now, hahaha…although I did manage 7 sipdowns since New Years day!
teafairy yea it helps the samples dexter sent me are fairly small considering i drink double cups most of the time. :)
:)) I sent you a “taste” of all of them, rather than quantities of a few. If you would like more of any that you liked, just let me know.
hey i’m not complaining dexter! it was perfect sizes to try them all out :)
Sorry I didn’t mean to imply that you were complaining – I was trying to say “my cupboard is your cupboard” – if you would like more :))
haha just making sure you didn’t think i was upset :) i’m sure i’ll be poking you at some point for samples of things heh
Poke away!! I think I need to go and buy more tins to deal with that box I received today…
i haven’t quite figured out what i want to do about tins…i bought clips from taiwai tea crafts that i like for bags that you cut. I just want figure out what i want my cupboard to look like. Tins = harder to figure out what is where for me…so i like bags. but samples from friends = little mini tins i found when teaopia went out of business..small enough to hold things and keep flavoured smells from mingling, but they all fit in their own bigger container heh.
I like the color coded ones from Davids. As long as the correct type is in the correct color all is well. I leave most teas in the resealable package – unless it’s permanent in my cupboard, then it will have a tin. The box I got today has a lot of “quantity” tea in zip bags (that’s fine we split orders). I can’t just leave them like that considering I might not get to them for a few months. I’ve bought cute little spice jars from the dollar store with colored lids – those also work for me for smaller quantities – but I haven’t taken the time to paint them, so they have to go in the cupboard to prevent light exposure. Uggg – I need a month vacation to organize and do all the projects I have planned….
i like the David’s Teas tins too. but i use whatever tin i have and color code using magnetic labels. i’ve bought some of the colored ones, but also use the plain ones they send free. old pic, but you get the idea http://instagram.com/p/Uh6GZyIc-N/
i love organization discussions!
Awsome pic! I wish I had drawers like that – it looks so organized and easy to see everything!
Shmiracles – I need to hire you to come and organize my stash….My house looks like a tea store exploded…
i accept payment in TEAAAA!!
LOL that seems win- win to me….
if i had drawers i would do that, but i’ve got a bookcase type set up with doors on them
LOL this is what mine looks like right now…
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2732_zps064ab7cf.jpg.html?sort=2&o=30
hahaha my other half took one look and went YAY! someone else that makes a way worse mess than you ever do!
I’d love to have those teas in my house though..
also…i totally just started looking at the pics to see what might interest me haha
I posted more in the Tea Buying Hiatus Support Group thread
i had a little nut tree…
nothing would it bear,
but a silver nutmeg
and a golden pear.
such an old rhyme, from so very long ago! i absolutely taste the silver nutmeg in this lovely blend. candidly, amoda should NOT be allowed to have it!! not unless it’s also on butiki’s menu. the tea and the nutmeg intertwine, doing a dance of beautiful intricate complexity. the nutmeg does not hide, neither does the tea- they alternate as tide and shore, colliding.
one of the many remarkable aspects of this stacy creation is that breathes… tiny, light coloured flower petals were incorporated into the blend. as the blend steeps and the petals saturate, they inhale, they breathe, they move…. how striking.
stacy, always the artist.
thank you for sharing MissB.
Preparation
And this is a sipdown of a tea I WILL sorely miss. But it was perfect today as I wanted to be alert for my first day at my new job! :D
I’m sorta an office manager/personal assistant at a company that does special effects for TV shows and movies. It’s amazing! And not only does it pay well, it’s everything else I want: casual, in my own boss, set my own hours, have my own personal space, am part of a small team… I get to wear turn jeans and geeky tees too! And I can possibly help with creating the effects (mostly dead bodies).
My boss told me to make my space my own so I’m bringing my kettle tomorrow, and a 10 pack of mini tins!
(and I work off my own computer so no one is checking if I pop on Steepster so, I’ll be more up to date on my logs!)
Sweet job.
Awesome, sounds like a fun place to work! Congrats!
Thanks! It seems pretty perfect so far.
And we managed to arrange last minute daycare for our 19mo. 2014 is off to a great start!
Sounds like a great job!!!
This job sounds ideal!
This is so great.
Wow, that’s lucky in the GTA.
Totally! So, I guess we won’t be moving back to BC any time soon! :O
Yay! That’s awesome, Cavo! Congrats!
YAAAAY!!!!!
That sounds amazing! can you get me in on it?
Woooo!!!!! :D
That sounds like a fantastic job – congratulations!!
Thanks everyone. :D
My other morning tea, thankful that i brought two with me today since i haven’t had 5 mins to get food or anything. What a day! first day back with all the people who have been off for a week or two. I am really loving this today. It seems so much roastier and chocolatey. I may have to think about restocking this once i’m finished with my stash :)
I have this one I just haven’t tried it yet. A little addicted to Yu Lu Yan Chai at the moment but it’s almost gone thank god I ordered more!
yeah..16 ounces lol silly lady!
One I want to try sometime…I see a lot of people have tried this one.
Oh god I would buy 16oz of this one too if it were available I just tried it with a little bit of milk oh god Chocolate Heaven!
These leaves are so much fun to me. Dry, they look like little fuzzy caterpillars that just want hugs. Then once they’re steeped, the leaves smell and look like fresh cooked green beans.
This is such a buttery, tasty green tea! There’s no grassiness in flavor, or bitterness, or astringency. It’s all sweet steamed peas and some mild kelp notes. There’s also a delicious butteriness in flavor and feel. None of the flavors present are intensely strong, leaving this to be a slightly delicate cup with no overwhelming flavors. I like this a lot though.
I definitely get what other people are saying about cooling sensations as well, as I’m finding that feeling present in the back of my mouth. Definitely a late spring/summer order.
Preparation
Hubby and I drank a whole lot of steeps of this tonight. A single teaspoon in my little glass pot and over a liter of water, and it just kept giving with each resteep. We are drinking this because we love it and also because middle daughter has caught a nasty cough and cold and this tea seems to help me stay well when I feel something coming on.
On a side note, my eldest daughter married her Irish fiancé Friday. We had the wedding dinner at the Pit in Raleigh, NC. I didn’t realize it had been featured on a television show as one of the best restaurants, and it was amazingly reasonably priced. But best of all, the food was unbelievably good. If you ever have a chance, go! My son’s girlfriend is vegetarian and had the barbecued tofu and loved it so much she wants to go back with her mom.
Superanna, my daughter, congrats to you! You have chosen a fine young man who is a great addition to the family.
Congrats to your daughter!
Yay! Congratulations to your daughter. That sounds lovely.
Congratulations to your daughter!
Congratulations!
So happy for your family, congratulations!
That’s wonderful! Congratulations!
Congratulations ! Lots of luck and happiness !
Congratulations to your daughter!
This was one of my teas from this morning for out and about time with my other half. We decided to head out to the farmer’s market at the steam whistle brewery, which happens to be in downtown toronto, next door to the old heritage train museum. it’s a really interesting site to explore – lost of trains and neat architecture in the buildings right in the middle of condo land and the financial district. it was pretty small but gave us an excuse to buy some delicious cheese and get out of the house. nothing more awesome that walking around outside in the snow with my other half. and this tea was the perfect accompaniment :)
Love walking in the snow, sounds like you has a wonderful weekend with your other half, so happy for you :-)
it was fantastic! and now i have books and tea and i’m making apple crisp in the slow cooker for after dinner tonight. mmmmm
Sounds like such a nice day! Yum, cheese – is it made locally?
Your weekend sounds awesome! Now I feel the need to get outside, but it’s still so cold here :(
ooohhh, apple crisp!
No banana crisp? ;-)
yeah the cheese is made locally…they make their cheeses based on the milk they can get from animals that run free or whatever lol so if the animals don’t make milk, they don’t make cheese. we bought a sheep cheese that’s made from a french recipe. it’s quite nice, though one of the soft cheeses they had – honey and spice was amaaazing…and they had a garlic hard cheese i wanted…heh i’m a big fan of cheese…
Sounds so good, and especially nice to be able to pick it up fresh like that!
I’m are Tony’s & it’s snowing!!!! It’s really snowing!!!
I predict a full day of tea drinking, supernatural watching, pajama wearing, logs in the fire, & food!
Yesterday they were predicting up to a foot of snow, so I came well stocked with tea, in fact, as usual I brought more tea than I could possibly drink. I brought the BBBB, the Steepster select samples I still haven’t drank, & a few other random things. Silly me!
I’m starting off with this one, TastyBrew’s offering from the BBBBox. I love the name of it, I love it’s backstory. I want to love the tea, & although I don’t hate it & it’s far from boring, it’s not something I will ever love. It strikes me as a Darjeeling type. The leaf is more of a green color, the sip starts out kind of cream of wheat like, but then a spicy lemon takes over the back & sides of my tongue. There are floral elements to the taste, & it does have other layers in there as well. Definitely not a morning tea for me, as it hits my empty stomach with the queasy effect slightly. It might make a nice afternoon pick me up & palate cleanser though. Still glad to give it a try!
Stay warm!
Welcome to my world! Enjoy you pj day, but you should also go play in the snow if it’s not too hazardous outside to do so, it’s so much fun :-)
I’m not much for playing in it, & just like watching it fall :)
i love snow.
terri, watching it fall is truly the best part :-)
James, though I have more snow than I can handle at the moment, i just can’t help loving it too :-)
Hard to get a fair measurement because it’s drifting so bad; I’d say 6 inches here down in our holler. I am done with winter, thanks.
Falling snow just calls for a full day of tea drinking!
It used to snow here a lot more than it does now. When I was a High school Senior (class of 77, Ava High), we got off for winter break a week early due to a scabies outbreak at our school (never heard of scabies until I moved to the Ozarks). The day before we were suppose to go back to school in January it snowed a foot or so, & school was cancelled. After that, it snowed about every 3rd day. We didn’t go back to school until February. THAT was a long winter! We lived 15 miles from town, & all we did every day was get up, feed & water the livestock, milk the goats, gather eggs, & sit around drinking coffee & watching daytime television, crowded around the woodstove. Then we’d eat lunch, watch more tv…etc.
We don’t hardly ever get an awesome snow like this anymore, if we get anything in st louis it’s usually ice storms & a little snow dust, so Yay! I don’t have anywhere to go, let it snow!
we got home today just in time for it to really start snowing but it was great walking around in it while it was lightly snowing. now i get to sit by the window and watch it all come down…so nice. i dunno how my florida friends do christmas without snow.
I heard we’re up to 11". I’m not sure if that’s true, but it looks like it!
Terri, I remember the blizzard of 77 well. It hit while I was in college. So much snow. It took military trucks to clear the country roads. It was like driving through a white canyon. It was so cold then just like we are supposed to get tonight. It stayed that way for so long. Classes were cancelled for a day or two until (supposedly) someone hit the Dean with a snowball. Who knows if it were true. There was an energy crises going on at the time. We weren’t allowed to dry our mullets :) I remember on one of the coldest days my hand literally froze up around my books. No permanent damage but I was nervous. Personally, I don’t miss it.
yeah, but once in awhile… :)
It’s my Steepster birthday! I’ve been hanging around here for a good 3 years now!
I had another hard night at work – our floor is full of such heavy acuity kids right now I feel like I’m running all night long. Luckily I’ve got a night to recuperate before signing on for 2 more. Plus, it is SO COLD outside. Supposed to flurry later tonight/tomorrow morning, even, though it would be better if it didn’t. Georgians simply don’t know what to do with snow or ice.
So I couldn’t just go off to sleep without getting a cup of tea to warm/relax me. I wanted a black tea, no added flavors but strong. This one I got from Stacy’s Black Friday sale, and since I know most of the flavor profiles of these teas separately, I was excited to see what happened when they blended together.
Followed the steep parameters recommended by Stacy, 3 tsp. leaf to 500 ml. water in the Breville.
This brews up a lighter brown color than I usually expect for a breakfast tea. It’s very smooth and doesn’t need any additives, either, which makes it seem even less of a breakfast tea to me.
Interesting…I think this tea has the lighter texture and mouthfeel of the Darjeeling, while maintaining the chocolate/malt/earthiness of the assam and keemun. It’s kind of throwing me for a loop, actually, that it has such a rich flavor without as much of a body to it.
I will say that I went into this very hesitantly knowing the Keemun was in this blend – I was leery of the smoke. This Keemun is really not smoky at all (phew!) and that was the biggest thing I was worried about so this makes me very happy. I do think its more of an afternoon tea than a breakfast tea, and I also think the chocolate/raisin notes come out a LOT more as the tea itself cools.
Pretty good, but not my absolute favorite blend from Butiki. Still, it was great to try it!
Preparation
Happy Steepster birthday – to many more!
Hah, I saw this and then checked my Steepster birthday – also three years today! Cheers to us and all the rest!
Happy steepster birthday to you both! :-)
Happy Steepster birthday!
Yay, happy Steepster birthday to you!
Happy steepster-versary! :)
woot! happy anniversary you two!
Happy Steepster birthday!
this tea is better than any cake for a celebration IMO. =0)
@Thanks guys!
@ Uniquity – awesome- happy steepster birthday to you too! Steepster twins!
I bought this on Black Friday but haven’t had a chance to try it yet. My bad.
This is really amazing. I was just sipping away at it distractedly while looking for daycares and I was just hit – whammmo! – with a burst of fresh lime. Wow. So refreshing. I can still taste the chamomile and the overall effect is quite soothing. Like floating on a cloud before sleep. Or some such nonsense.
Preparation
This one makes me sleep. Lol
Oh man, I wish I could find a tea that helps me sleep. This sounds like it has potential.
chamomile makes me sleepy.. i liked the taste of this one as well..my finum brew baskets just didn’t like it
Brew chamomile in paper, Sil! Or those plastic mesh tea bags you can find in some Asian markets. I pre-fill and iron mine shut for ease of use. :)
yeah, i have a metal basket that i use for chamomile heh
Wait. No. Stop. What happenes to the basket? Does it get all clogged by little dusty chamomile parts?
Pretty much, Anna. I also find that a lot of little bits get through, which is why I prefer paper filters for chamomile.
Had to try this again tonight, for trying to (what seems like) kill JustJames from trying this one out last night. Really, if it was THAT spicy, I’d have given it a warning! Yikes. I feel badly. So today when I parsed some more of this out, I put right on the label: SPICY!
HAD to try it again though after last night. It’s still got a strong kick to it, which is mitigated by some sweetener. I love savory teas though, especially ones that attempt to ramp up your digestive fire and/or nature with zero caffeine. For me, this is only a 4 out of 10 on the spice-o-meter.. I must have a high tolerance or something.
This is more a, “get things moving” kinda tea for me. Meaning – I need to go for a run, or I have to finish a project late at night, or I need to get rid of some lingering junk in my chest or nasal passages. PLEASE though, if you’re sensitive to spices with heat, or have an easily upset tummy, take a pass on this one. :(
Preparation
i am ulcer prone =0( but i’me fine with crazy strong chai.
guess i did a ten min steep? maybe a bit more?
James. 10 min would be WAY too long. 5 minutes is about the tolerance I have for tea. I’d gladly eat spicier food, but that’s food…
IT SMELLED LIKE DILL!!!!! i thought it needed extra time to evolve. i smelled none of the death my way. no sympathy OMG? not a hint of ‘poor james’?
I steeped 5 minutes and half way through my cup my mouth was burning. :D But I was expecting it from your note last night. <3
i had no idea a herbal could be so brutal. so mean….. geez. i went and bought tums tonight.
Good idea. :)
i sense that you are making fun 80\
No! That was sincere! Unexpected spice is no fun, like that time I spent all my money on 3/3 star Thai food, and had no choice but to eat it…
oh no. oh dear. i would have bought you milk. and patted your back. =o(
It was an accident, and thankfully we still had some rice in the house. LOTS of rice, wee little bit of spice. I think that was actually when I moved back here…
I know next time to give fair warning for this one. So sorry!
no, no… i try NOT to read up on blends before i review, and i didn’t smell the pepper in it, lol.
lol i accidentally steeped with for about 8 mins… it’s great!
Okay, so you know how frustrating it can be if someone keeps calling you the wrong name or constantly mixes you up with your sibling, or something along those lines? Right.
Well, words have feelings, too.
Pallet
This is an image of a pallet: https://bit.ly/3emkvSz
Palette
This is an image of a palette: https://bit.ly/2NuuN7v
Palate
Yes. Mouthfeels.
I bet these three words feel like Amy Adams and Isla Fisher and some other tiny, strawberry blonde actress who gets mixed up with the other two all the time.
On to the tea. This smells vaguely of fruity black tea, but without any specific, discernible fruit character. ‘Random berry’, I’d say. Steeped, the scent continues to be subtle, a subtlety that carries through into the sip.
What I really like about this one, and that I feel I often complain about in other black berry (not blackberry) teas, is that it’s not tart or sour at all. The flavour is simply blackberry (with hints of blueberry, as per usual, as the two flavour profiles are really difficult for me to keep apart in dried/tea form) and a very natural-tasting, smooth one, at that.
I’m not a huge berry tea fan, and this one doesn’t have the complexity I usually go for, but I like it a whole lot nonetheless. It’s just one of those teas, I guess. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that it made me crave scones with berry jam and clotted cream (and the works, really) something crazy and there’s just no way that is happening anytime soon.
Thanks for sharing this, Ang!
[Sample from the EU Travelling Box, autumn 2013.]
Preparation
Omg. As a chef, I cringe every time someone says palette.
PAINTMOUF.
Debra Messing!! :P
there are just so many. i was an english major first go round, i am consistently trying to keep my inner editor from becoming a spaghetti monster.
i tell myself it’s sort of poetic when i see palate as palette. like in a synesthesia sort of way. adding more shades of color to your tastebuds/proverbial paintbox. pallet on the other hand, conjures up humorous images, ha.
palette for palate, i should say, to be clearer.
Turns out I’m one of those offenders … Just swapped a palette for a palate in my bio … thanks for pointing that out. And a sincere apology to the word palate … I’m sorry honey, that was so insensitive of me. No, I’m not seeing someone named Palette. There’s only you, I swear!
LMAO =0D
Ahhh. It’s been one of those mornings. Had a lot of stupid nightmares last night—of the very stereotypical variety—someone is chasing you or finds you and they want to harm you and you can’t run or scream and then your own unintelligible pre-historic cries wake you up and then you a) are happy to be awake; and b) laugh at the stupid noises you actually just made out loud. Thank heavens for snuggly bed buddies, because there’s nothing quite like being cuddled after a stupid nightmare, especially one that sounds really ridiculous when you try to explain it.
“It was just really scary, ok? just trust me.”
“So who was chasing you again?”
“I don’t even know if I was being chased! there were just these bad people…and they were like everywhere and I couldn’t get away!”
ha.
Sorry. So then I fell back asleep again and fell back into the same stupid nightmare! so dumb. But towards the morning, I slept like a normal person again and it was lovely. Slept in until noon which felt amazing, and then had a breakfast of French toast and this delicious tea. I didn’t put nearly as much sugar in it because it’s fairly sweet on its own, plus I wanted it to be less sweet than the French toast I was eating. It tasted like a deliciously decadent hot blueberry latte, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting more when this runs out. You can even smell and taste the “crumble”, so it isn’t a straight up blueberry tea. Dellaterra knows what it’s doing in the pie/cake/crumble department, straight up, yo.
I had a dream the other night where someone was keeping me hostage. Then I escaped with the help of someone else, then that person held me hostage. I kept escaping over and over again. (Not sure what that means). The worst part is I knew I was dreaming but couldn’t seem to wake up. Haha.
Those dreams are awful! LOL
I had the hollow teeth/teeth falling out dream – it’s usually a final stages of grief dream for me, which seems about right.
I love that half-awake stage where you can control the dream; I get that a lot. It’s really liberating, like directing your own interactive action film.
I don’t have those dreams nearly enough, although they would have with them a redeeming quality, that’s for sure.
Also, I’m sorry that you’re grieving, whatever the reason. Regardless of how much a loss can make sense on an intellectual level (we all die/people move on/whatever), our hearts are often so much slower to grapple with it and make sense of something that feels so unbelievably heartbreaking. I can only promise you that it won’t always hurt this badly.
My recurring nightmare is that of water. I’m swimming in the ocean (sometimes I’m in a boat but usually at the beach swimming) and then a terrifying Tsunami-like wave forms out of nowhere and crashes over my head. I go under but wake up just before I get swept out to sea or drown. Pretty awful.
Oh, they definitely do – there’s always this moment when something absolutely horrifying is about to happen to me in the dream, and right then I come awake just enough to take control. The look of surprise on the faces of whatever spectres are dream-haunting me never fails to delight.
And thanks – but I have no problem with grief. Like you say – it’s a logical process. Grief makes sense. Besides, to me, feeling is being alive.
It’s a logical process, but I dare say you’re better at it than I am! :).
nxtdoor, that sounds absolutely terrifying!
I had strange dreams too. Don’t recall much but I remember watching someone fall to their death :(
Nxtdoor, I have a recurring nightmare that’s similar if not identical—I’m on a beach and having a great time and then suddenly there’s a sea change (heh) to the whole mood and abruptly the lighting changes and there’s no more crowd of laughing happy folks, the tide starts to ominously come in fast and suddenly there’s a monstrously huge tsunami in the distance and I’m trying desperately to climb up the sand dunes to safety but it keeps eroding and I try and try and can’t get to the top and the wave engulfs me. It’s one of my least favorite nightmares, blugh. Sorry you have an awful one. :(
i have a history with night terrors, but a few years back i had one where the cat curled up on my feet, the dog on my knees, another cat, few more dogs…. i was feeling very squished but loved! but i couldn’t move except for my head. suddenly a dark figure was coming towards me with a needle aimed at my forehead. NOT OKAY! it was one of those huge ones.
anyway, in my struggles to twist my head away i managed to crack my head into my partner’s and give myself a concussion? sigh. i had this giant lump. i looked like a unicorn.
What a nightmarish thread!! ha
LOL JustJames, I bet you can laugh at it now, but man…a concussion! At least you had enough strength to have a real-life reaction
Now I will always picture JustJames as a unicorn.
oh man. first i was all “aw cuddly” then terrorface then lol.
james is rather unicorn like, actually! a bit magical in his writing. Lots of deep feelings. I can see it!
it was so bad. i was crazy bruised.
ONCE upon a time i had a very bad experience with a rishi chocolate chai. some of you may remember…. i was distinctly cross. quick recap: no chocolate, impossible methodology for a disabled person to follow through with, wound up all over my kitchen, my wife wound up cleaning it up and i was ticked!
i took a day. was still cross. took another…. still cross because i resented my stress relieving practice getting in my face about having this illness. by hook or by crook i decided i’d waited long enough and called rishi HQ.
ME: may i speak with a manager please.
Service rep: may i ask what this is regarding?
me: i have a serious gripe about one of your products and as a rule i prefer to dish out temper on management who are paid to take it.
silence. tick. tick. tock.
service rep: i think i know the person who can best assist you, sir, one moment please.
i broke it down for the manager fairly, i think. the good and the bad. she was truly appalled at how much trouble had come from the recommended method, and further distressed that there was genuinely no chocolate to be seen or tasted in my tea (once she determined i wasn’t looking for refined chocolate and was accustomed to cacao nibs). this woman really listened, genuinely. and while i saved her name somewhere in microsoft word, it’s eluding at this exact moment, she is worth her weight in gold to rishi.
the manager sent me two huge bags of tea in apology; their original chai (which we problem solved a method that would work for me… see? gold=weight) and she picked up on one of my favourite aspects of their failed chocolate chai: huge chunks of vanilla bean and millions of vanilla seeds. the manager inquired as to whether i might like to try their vanilla black.
this tea is as purist as butiki’s lychee oolong. very simple and exactly what it says. fat chunks of vanilla bean and black tea. simple. very purist, absolutely lovely.
smooth black base, warm, strong, genuine vanilla presence. the vanilla lends an air of sweetness so not much is needed in terms of sweetener. a dot of cream turns it into the undoing of starbucks everywhere! lol.
very nice. quite lovely. i plan to experiment with a hot steep and then a cold overnight. i have no doubt it will be brilliant.
rishi… you are forgiven. don’t ever let that customer service manager go— she represents your interests well.
Preparation
That’s awesome. :) this sounds delicious too haha
That is really great!!
Good for you for following up as you did, and good for them for responding so amazingly well! adding this to my to-try list.
i’m always impressed if a company can pull it out of the fire… i was so mad! and by the end of the conversation i just wasn’t. that takes a particular skill set, because i was ready to walk away and never look back.
Makes me wanna buy from them now! customer service = awesome marketing :D
agreed. and the mammoth bags of tea they sent me! wow! alot of companies don’t get that their customers are an equal if not greater investment to their product. rishi appears to get that.
MMMMmmmmmm this is a great tea. Thanks Sil
I’ve been drinking this for most of the evening, and it’s really nice. Nice gentle strawberry. Nice black base – is that a hint of malty chocolate way in the back from the base – maybe, or it’s wishful thinking – either way I like this.
It’s not fake in your face flavors, it’s just nice and subtle but no question it’s strawberry. I really like this with a hint of sweetener and a dash of milk. It makes me happy.
Yours is the third or fourth positive review I’ve seen, so I’m adding this to my (distant future) shopping list! :)
It’s different that what you would expect from Davids or Della, more natural somehow, more subtle, but yet oooozes strawberry. I really like it. If I saw it, I would buy more. :))
Excellent… :)
It’s quite nice. If I had more I’d send some your way but it’s been parcelled out. Heh
I’m drinking this today basically because cats are jerks. Mine woke me up 5 times this morning by meowing in the hallway. Every time I came out she ran into our room for purrs and cuddles, and then an hour later she was at it again.
So I picked this tea. I bet Tigers are jerks too.
My cat’s a jerk too. I finally caved and bought an electric mat to put in front of my bedroom door. I feel terribly guilty about it, but it worked miracles overnight. I hear tell there are air blasters which have about the same effect.
LOL They may be jerks but we love them anyway…
We have 2 cats, & by ‘we’ I mean Leif & Ari. Gizmo, Leif’s cat, is fairly innocuous. Squishy, on the other hand, likes to do things to intentionally piss me off. I do not allow cats in my bedroom, ever, because I can’t stand to have cat hair on me, & for some reason cats always want to piss on my pillow. I guess they want to mark my room as their territory (none of the current cats have ever actually done that, but previous ones have). So neither of our cats have ever been in my room, although Squishy tries, regularly, to get in there. Not ever gonna happen!
Terri – that sounds like quite the challenge. Are they boy cats? I’ve never had to worry about her peeing, thankfully!
And she is totally allowed in our room – we even sleep with the door open (so the cat and the toddler can both wander in), but the cat mist be playing hard to get or something as she cries outside for attention. (Stupid cat – just come in and cuddle! )
I love those names, by the way.
My cat is Mika, aka Meeks, or Mika Mikerson the Third if she’s bring particularly royal.
Your cat sounds like my cat. I don’t think I’ve heard anything more true than ‘All cats are jerks’.
adorable little jerks! :)
Terri – If it makes you feel any better I had a cat pee on my feet while I was sleeping once. I was sleeping over at a friend’s house. The cat made it clear that I was not welcome to invade his space.
Stephanie – His cuteness is the only reason my cat hasn’t been kicked out on his furry behind a dozen times over. Also the fact that he’s an awesome cuddler.
On a related note, has anyone seen My Cat From Hell? I think it’s a TLC show, but it’s also on Netflix now.
This might be the most entertaining comment thread ever. More evil cat stories, pleeeaseeeeehh.
A good book is ‘How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You’.
Also my cat peed on my mom’s duffel bag that she lent me. It probably smelled like her dog and so my cat was marking his territory. Another time though he got mad that I took away his food (he overeats sometimes) and peed where his food goes.
Cats rule; dogs drool.
pops in to look at the cat conversation..leaves before she offends people :)
Sil, does that mean you’re a CAT?!
cats and i agree to not get along. my dad used to tease the neighbourhood…uh NM lol so yeah… cats and i. we don’t mix. except for the one cat that followed me up the mountain that one time…
Once upon a time I had a friend named Suz who raised silver persians. She really wanted to give me one of her kittens, which were very expensive. I told her no thanks because I wear black to gigs all the time & the silver fur would show on my clothes. The truth is, I didn’t want a cat. She had farmed one of her cats out for stud service, & a gal who raised black smoke persians owed her a pick of the litter. Next thing you know, Suz gives me a black smoke kitten for my birthday, who I named Opal. I didn’t really want a cat, but what do you say? “Thank You”. Opal was beautiful & dumb as a post. Except she was smart enough to figure out how to get out the doggy door before I had a chance to have her spayed. End of part I
Part II
Opal had a litter of kittens, & we found homes for 4 of them, but Leif begged to keep Gizmo, so we did. Opal disappeared.
Ari’s cat Squishy is a cat she got for her son, but then she moved into an apartment that didn’t allow cats, so squishy moved in with me. Now Ari & Ky live at home too, & so really, I guess he’s Ky’s cat.
Part III
Gizmo is a boy. Squishy is a girl. I don’t hate cats. I’m just not into them. They tend to irritate me, I can feel their hair touching me. The cats I have now don’t pee on my things, but in the past I’ve had cats that did. I’m a dog lover, especially big dogs. I don’t have a dog right now, but I love dogs. They are awesome.
My cat keeps head butting me off my pillow at night… He hooks his paws over the bed rail things, and heaves. And his name is Princess Shadow. He came with Shadow, and I added the Princess! :)
Gizmo is a great name. (I love Gremlins. I would totally have a Mogwai for a pet.)
Aww, I hope you feel better soon!
Thanks so much, caile! I’m sure this is temporary.
I know exactly what you mean Keychange! I’m going through something similar myself at the moment but rather than a scratch in my throat is a cough building in my chest that just won’t come out. (And this tea sounds lovely!)
Isn’t it so annoying? let’s just get sick and have it be dealt with, you know? I hope you feel better (or get sick and get it overwith) soon! and yes, this tea is lovely.
I almost had a blueberry tea myself this morning, but decided that I wasn’t in the mood for something berry-y after all. Maybe I was just getting waves from you.
I hope you’re feeling better soon, though (and that bed comes quickly).
Thanks! and maybe give that blueberry tea a go one of these days-so much comfort in a cup!
Feel better :-)
Thanks. I think I just really need sleep.
Crappy :( Feel better soon!
Thank you. You are all so thoughtful.
Have a good sleep and feel better soon!
Thanks! sleep is only a few hours away from me now. so close!