Featured & New Tasting Notes
my new years day plans have been ruined by being sick. So much for getting to drink tea and play board games with friends all day. Might just need to make it up by “forcing” my other half to play games with me all day. Not nearly as much fun as gaming with more than the two of us but i really don’t want to get anyone else sick.
I had a cup of this in the morning. I’m struggling with working today so i may call it quits sooner rather than later.
interesting…. american tea room, what exactly are you doing? if i don’t miss my mark ifjuly is in a sassy mood and is deliberately choosing provocative samples to send my way, lol!!!
first, this did NOT look like an oolong to me…. green curls made me think think of another sinensis. second, it smelled very much like bakery coconut. meh. we would see.
what this blend is is GREEN!??!!!! a lightly roasted tasting green-esque tea, NOT a bakery coconut (the smell was lying) more like a green/fresh coconut! light but nutty. not overpowering…. the coconut has a round taste as opposed to the stabbing sharpness that any green fruit has the potential to have.
there is an indefinable floral that is very mild. as it cools, the coconut itself takes on the toasted flavour.
hmmmmm….. american tea room and ifjuly being sassy in a tree!!!
don’t know if i’d buy, but it caught my attention!
Preparation
holy sassy anna!! lol
I can’t help it. EVERY time someone says ‘sassy’, that’s what I hear in my head. It’s an AFFLICTION!
lmao.
lololol
This is SO GOOD as a cold brew. So. Good.
I need more.
i just ordered some! they’ve got a bonkers sale on!!!
w00t! Always good to find a reasonable priced herbal to cold brew it up.
Yeah, I’m buying 100g. Most of my cold brew standbys have strawberries and oranges, and I’m avoiding those for a few weeks. :)
free shipping at expedited too!!! yay!!!!!
i’m grabbing some japanese tea: some hojicha among others =0) SO EXCITING!!!
I’m getting 100g this and 50g almond marzipan rooibos. Haha. $11, and they ship for free. Yeah!
cough….. i might not have been as conservative. lol. but still, budget watching always. and i do need to cut my caffeine down, so i grabbed 3 herbals and this was one of them!
I have Too Many Teas, James. Too Many.
215 ish isn’t thy bad :)
Sil, I haven’t tracked how many I have. I think it’s closer to 250/260…
i don’t even have 100…. and i try very hard to sipdown or i have a hard time looking at my wife, lol. my tastes change a fair bit too… and if they change then i hand off to fellow students who are more poor than me, lol.
Damnit, James, now I’ve been surfing their site. Those are some killer deals!
=0)))
I have SO MANY SAMPLES. People are so generous, and it takes 3-4 cups to drink the whole thing down.
okay, maybe that’s cheating on my part? i do not count swap samples among my supply. mostly because i wouldn’t share them, lol. nope.
Yeah, I have about 100 samples. Still going through them, trying them, tossing some in a (new) box for my brother. Oh Sil, he LOVES the Wild Purple Buds Puerh from Butiki.
Samples don’t count? I don’t have to count samples?
What’s this sale I’ve been hearing about?
http://zentealife.com/ , Dexter… End of season sale.
MYSELF i do not count samples. i have a huge mug i use (16 oz) so a sample is often only 1 cup. i only list if i’m going to share, otherwise it makes me look like a jerk. OMGsrsly…. such a temptress, lmao, and to dexter who’s been drinking. not nice! =0D
I’m learning from the best cough James and MissB cough. I add them because I like the random tea generator. :) It helps me make up my mind!
I was kidding, I CANNOT buy more tea. I bought a bunch from Zen during the BF extravaganza. Those are still in the box amongst several other boxes in a pile that I haven’t really even looked at yet. (Still I’m wondering why I didn’t buy any of this blueberry in that order…..?)
rules are rules dexter, i have 200g coming. i can ship some off np.
Heh. Dexter, I just sent you a HUGE box of tea – you too JustJames! I also add all of my samples/swaps into my stash, for the same reason as OMGsrlsy. Love the random tea generator!
Also, fellow Vancouverites, did you see this? http://zentealife.com/tea-quiz
no fair!!!
oh…. and i do not use the tea generator. i am a stick in the mud. =0P
Huh. I hadn’t seen that. Oh well! I’ve tried almost everything now. :)
MissB – that box is the reason I’m not allowed to buy more tea. I really need to find cupboard space for it and all my other BF orders that are still just lying around. Hmmmm buy new house?
This is gone and sorely missed!
Back to my shopping list for you!
I forgot to add that once it cooled, it really tasted like cinnamon bun.
Yum!
we’ll need to keep an eye out for a sale and just pick up 4-6oz of the stuff lol
How bad is the shipping?
it’ll go through sharon so not terrible but 50$ = free shipping to her
That’s not bad. If we do it directly, it’s $15. And that sucks, but I’ve done that for H&S.
Yeah, I feel like you have to order a lot in order to justify the shipping.
directly. no silly. tea mule.
I ordered 2 oz of this blindly on BF because everyone seems to really enjoy it. I am so excited to try it!!
Haha Sil, I know, I know.
I thought you were losing your mule?
That package re-direct place in the US might be worth looking into though!
VariaTEA – I hope you enjoy it!
cavo – oh did i not update. things did not go according to plan..it is the suck for her, but on the upside, i have a tea mule still! woohoo!
This is such a good tea. We might have to do an order over here for some.
A group order would be awesome! We could split the shipping and just order whatever we want.
Sil – you didn’t! That really sucks for her, but… well we’re set up so that’s a partial win!
We now offer 5.95 flat rate shipping to CANADA!!!!!
I just saw that yesterday and almost died!
OMG. That is dangerous to know.
YAY!
I just received a marvelous surprise in the mail! I will try to add a link so you can see the adorable “I am keeping this forever” miniature Marie Antoinette box and the beautiful white tin of this tea.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/11652962885/
I saw this advertised but did not order because I knew the girls had purchased lots of tea in London and Dublin for me for Christmas and hubby was getting me some puerh teas. Then I got a message from Laurent to look to my mailbox and today this arrived!
The smell when I opened the tin was incredible – I couldn’t stop smelling it. It was so intensely sweet and pure pure orange! Mandarins, I think. It is very like the fresh spray that hits your face when you are pulling back the peel of the juicy fruit.
The base tea is strong enough to taste through the orange, and the orange is the dominant flavor of them blend. I take my tea plain but I imagine this would be incredibly sweet with a bit of sugar added for those who are so inclined. This is such a lovely change from the all of the Christmas teas that are just a change of proportions of orange, clove, and cinnamon.
I am just so touched by the generosity of Nina’s and the Caravels. Thank you so much! I will be serving this at tea time on Wednesday!
I’m nearly down to the bottom of this tin finally which makes me sad but also gives me an excuse to pay attention for the next damn fine tea sale so that i can restock this one and pick up the new one, provided i like the new one. thankfully this tea hasn’t gone the way of 49 and i still love it :)
They just announced on twitter the next 4 orders gets a free field mug. But that was on hour ago, so not sure how many orders would have been made already.
doh.
i actually want to ask them about making a custom 3 pack a la tiger assam, red tailed hawk and caravan.
Please let me know if they are willing to do so
Abe’s market has 20% off and free shipping on those teas but they don’t have the new one Scree. Code happynewyear
I got this for Christmas from my youngest daughter and used it for the first time last night. Appropriately, I used it on my Mandala Tea Phatty Cake, which has some spots that are rather easy to break but some really difficult, hard spots around the edge.
This is a huge improvement over my previous dangerous cake breaking experiences. A slippery plate with no rim and a serrated tomato knife result in the occasional spilling of blood for tea. (Totally worth it, though)
I still don’t have a knife and pick but will get those soon. Even using my old knife, this was so much easier and safer. All the leaf was well contained by the rim, and the corner opening made it perfectly easy to just sweep the loose bits into the pot.
Hubby wants to devise a means of keeping it on display on the wall when not in use, and he prefers for it to be tilted in a diamond shape, which will tilt the Chinese character that is in the middle of the tray, so not sure if that is how we will do it. I wonder what the character is, anyway? I KNOW someone is going to ask!
Bottom line – I love it, and highly recommend buying one if you like any compressed cake teas.
I probably need one of these. I finally got the pick, & am so grateful I did, as it works way better than the small screw driver I was using.
(heading over to the Mandala website cuz I still have some playpal money, & I have no self-control)
I think you will really enjoy it using, THL!
awesome, thank you for the review! I’ve seen the tray on the mandala site, but was questioning it. But from your review, I’m thinking I need one as something to keep the cake in place and catch loose bits would be very helpful.
This is a must have staple for Pu Er cakes and bricks. This thing gets used about every day and is well worth the money. Ashmanara if you need a pick I will be glad to send you one. I have several. Just message me with your address.
Wow, thank you for the amazing offer, mrmopar! I will send the address right now!
Awkward Soul: I expect I will be using this A LOT! It isn’t terribly big so it isn’t going to take up too much space, but it is plenty big enough for even the largest puerh cakes I have seen, like Moonlight White.
THL: let us know what you think if you end up ordering one!
out of stock :\
Merry belated, Steepsterites!
We had English Christmas this year which involved roast turkey dinner, Christmas pudding (Americans, what do you traditionally eat for your Christmas dinner?), lots of presents, Morris dancing in a pub carpark in the village and a pantomime in Ipswich during which I even took part in the shouting and booing (Oh yes I did!), and my bestest best present this year was a Kindle Paperwhite which I’ve been playing with today. I’m still at the stage of learning how to use it, but I have discovered that I can charge the battery using my phone charger and how to download classics for free from Project Gutenberg. And in case anybody was wondering, we were nowhere near any of the flooded areas and had power the entire time.
Before Christmas, however, I received a very sweet Christmas card from Sil who had decided to spoil me with a couple of samples of vanilla flavoured black tea. This is one of them.
It smells very sweet and vanilla-y, but also, I think, a little caramel-y. There is also an aroma as if it has a very powerful base or possibly a slightly smoky base, but I think that might be something to do with what I’ve had in this mug earlier today, so I don’t think it really belongs. (Mind you, it does smell rather like a sort of base that would be lovely with some added flavouring.)
Upon sipping… regards cup suspiciously it does actually seem to have a rather strong base. It tastes very Black Tea. All grain-y and full bodied. It’s a bit Assam-y and the vanilla is also coming out in the same sort of way that it often does on an Assam base, so if this is not Assam, I think it might be something fairly similar. And yes, I know I mentioned something earlier about having had something in this mug earlier this afternoon that may have ‘bled’ aromas into this cup, but I don’t think this experience has anything to do with that previous cup. That one was nothing like any sort of Assam at all, you see.
Anyway it strikes me as something along the lines of a vanilla-flavoured Assam, and I think Assam makes a really good vanilla base and provides a generally good experience. I’m very pleased with this tea.
I don’t know about the States, but here in Canada the usual supper is either glazed ham or turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce accompanied by mashed potatoes and various other veggie side dishes like brussel sprouts (ew). My mom also makes this delicious dish of baked acorn squash and apples.
I’m glad you enjoyed it :)
Happy holidays to you too! Jillian’s right about Canada. My family also prepares various Ukrainian dishes. Desserts vary with every family, I think? Usually cookies are common. My grandma also made lemon pie this year.
That sounds like just about every fancy Christmas dinner I’ve ever had here in Canada. This year, my Aunt made a Pecan and Pumpkin pie for dessert. My Mom tends to make croissants with “Holiday Dip” (it’s like this cream cheese type dip but with cranberry in it too) for dessert.
Sounds like an awesome fun time!
Tony’s xmas dinner for his kids was a spread of lunchmeats, cheeses, breads, various olives, etc.
Me & my kids do xmas breakfast. When they were younger it was Kugle (kind of like mac & cheese, only with apples & cinnamon added), fruit salad, scones. We used to also do a turkey dinner, pretty much a repeat of thanksgiving.
Most American dinners are very similar to the one Jillian described and as Terri noted, pretty much the same as Thanksgiving dinners. In my mom’s family, we often skip the turkey and have a pork roast of some kind instead. This year it was a fantastic pork wellington stuffed with apples and wrapped with pancetta.
When my parents were living it seemed like a replay of Thanksgiving with turkey. Now…I changed it all to ribs! We’re a blended ethnic family AND Eastern Orthodox Christians. We observe the traditional 6 week Nativity Fast and don’t eat meat or dairy until Christmas day (little ones have dairy). African-American Soul Food for dinner and Scots Eggs with scones for brunch is how we FEAST! (The Russians and Ukrainians held a 12 dish dinner at Church Christmas Eve after Liturgy).
This year for New Year’s Day I’m making (Greek) Vasilopita (St. Basil’s Bread) with a coin in it. You can see a picture and get the recipe on my Pinterest under Bonnie Johnstone…Eastern Orthodox Food board.
Thanksgiving with my parents is usually turkey and the traditional sides. Christmas is turkey and prime rib roast, along with crab. This year, my brother decided he wanted filet mignon roast as a side dish to the other two meats.
For us its usually Turkey of some sort, with mash potatoes, vegetables of some sort, red cabbage, salad, and sometimes. Turnip. When I was little we would often have carrot pudding, or mincemeat tart for dessert, but now it’s usually lemon cake and cookies sent by one on aunts great aunts from Germany, My uncle usually brings Shrimp. If at one of my other Aunts it turns into a three day gourmet fest competition between her and her sisters with Champagne breakfast, and meal consisting of pancetta stuffed roast in mediera, and poultry of all sorts. Very dangerous… Though one year we had a Vegetarian Christmas when my cousin was going through her continental vegetarian phase. To be quite honest though at that time I rarely ate meat as well.
Everyone’s food sounds great! I am always alone for New Year’s. It’s been this way for a long time. Sooooo, if you get depressed…drop me a note. I don’t get depressed, but I’ll be glad to keep your company!
Most of my life, Christmas dinner was pretty much a replay of Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams or sweet potato casserole, rolls, cakes, pies. But for the past few years I have been making eye of round roast instead, as the family seemed to tire of the turkey leftovers too quickly since they had just had them a few weeks before. Of course, gravy and mashed potatoes are still a MUST because it is some of the best food on Earth! We had creamed spinach and always macaroni and cheese with both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, as well as usually corn on the cob.
So here in Canada, we have a store call Liquidation World. It is essentially exactly what is sounds like. It buys poducts from stores that are going out of business, looking to get rid of product, etc, and sell it for super cheap. Liquidation World was recently acquired by the American Big Lots. Then Big Lots decided to close all of its stores (US and Canada – even though the Canadian stores were making tonnes of profit, I guess it wasn’t enough to keep the empire afloat). BOO!!!
I have some family members that love Liquidation World. You can usually find some really good deals, although most of the products are not always good quality and the expiry dates on the food are not too far away. But you can always find interesting things you can’t get anywhere else.
So I went on boxing day and they had a few kinds of Arizona iced tea on the cheap. So I stocked up. I love Arizona tea, it is real iced tea which is hard to come by in a can or bottle in Canada. And it is usually quite expensive, due to the monster size can.
This tastes lovely. A bit sweeter than I would like though. The black tea is strong but not astringent. It tastes like a Ceylon but I am not sure. There is definitely an artificial lemon flavour, but it is still delicious. Everything a canned iced tea should be. The only drawback is it is a huge 695 ml can. I read online that they now have 8oz cans in the US. But I think I will get over it.
My roommate loves these, though when I tell him he’s drinking actual tea and not artificial/sugar filled junk like Nestea he denies it. Pretty sure he just doesn’t want to admit to A) Being Wrong and B) Enjoying real tea :p
Ha ha, that’s funny. I am sure there is just as much sugar in these as there is in Nestea, but to me it still totally tastes different. You can tell this is real tea. Or maybe my taste buds are just wired to taste tea.
How much were they? I haven’t been to a Liquidation World since high school!
I actually don’t mind these, especially the honey one, and the apple one too.
80 cents per can. The one I was at had this one, the raspberry one, and the ginseng with honey.
I like the Raspberry one best. Tre likes the Honey one.
pssst….i had a bit of tea today. but it was family time with extended family in town for a day and my parents up for the weekend. more to come tomorrow afternoon once everyone is gone. Miss you all and hope everyone is having a kick ass sort of weekend.
So I made this an hour or so ago and left it in my Timolino because I didn’t want to turn the kettle on more than once. (Now that I have the new one, it doesn’t plug into the stove for some reason, and we don’t have enough outlets so right now I’m using it on the kitchen counter, but I have to pack it up and put it on a shelf afterwards because our kitchen is TINY)
And I totally forgot what tea this was. But then I remembered and I did a happy little dance. It was driving me crazy.
I love oatmeal raisin cookies and I love this tea. Sadly, I love sugar and I’ve been going overboard with all the treats the past few days. I made Turkey Dinner™ but I didn’t expect people to show up with so many cookies and chips and caramel popcorn and turtles. :O Once it’s gone I won’t be so tempted but it’s just sitting there…
I just ate 3 cookies while I wrote this note. :P Cookies, with my cookie tea.
I ate a giant cannoli while I wrote my last tea review so I get being tempted when something delicious is around. Damn you delicious sweets!!
Omg I can’t stop eating cookies! There’s way too many tempting leftovers in my house right now. And I’m the only one home which means no ones watching while I sneak cookies throughout the day! Thank god these cookies are almost gone. :)
Oh, I’d love a cannoli!
Also, yeah I really can’t wait until the cookies are gone and I can grow some willpower back…
This was sent a s a free sample with my Christmas order from Mandala Tea. Thank you, Garret, because this is a real treasure.
I made this last night while we were playing Ticket to Ride, European version. My son wanted some, too, and when hubby saw our cups he asked for some as well. What a joy it is to have everyone in the family requesting tea now!
This puerh was clean and fresh, with lots of mineral flavor, no astringency, no fishiness, and not really horsey. Pure, fresh nature is what came to mind. There is an oily/creamy mouthfeel that I love, similar to what I find in Mengku Palace Ripened Golden Buds. This is excellent, and I will probably be ordering some more as soon as I can justify spending more money on tea.
I love that game, but I don’t have the European version. The American one is fun, though.
We love the pace, you don’t have to sit and wait a long time so you don’t get bored.
my favorite pu erh so far, precisely for those “pure fresh nature” aspects. mm.
Love the alliterative name…loose and luscious!
Good morning Steepsterites!
My dad is 80 years old today. Mom turned 79 on xmas eve. They live in Florida, so I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, but I chat on the phone with them pretty much every day. It’s a bit scary watching your folks grow old, seeing them become children again in some ways, but I’m really grateful. I’ve always had a good relationship with my mom, my relationship with my dad was not so good. It took a long time to heal, a lot of song lyrics written, a lot of journaling. The path to peace is always acceptance & forgiveness, it seems, & honesty. Dad & I understand each other now, we’ve worked out our issues. I’m grateful for that!
This tea is a comforting cup of rich buttery sweet potatoes. Nothing bright here, nothing brash. It’s not particularly bold. It’s a quartet of clarinet, viola, Cello, & Alto Flute.
Your quartet makes sense to me. I’ve never been one for brash instruments. This tea rates 100 with me. Work some Iommi crunch riffs in with this quartet and I’m in heaven.
Your path to peace is beautiful as well. Happy birthday to your mom and dad.
Happy birthday to your mom and dad!
:)
A belated happy birthday to your Mom and Dad!
It’s heartening to hear that you found a path to understanding and peace with your Dad. That may be one of the most important things you could do in this life. Song lyrics, journaling, honesty, acceptance and forgiveness are all powerful tools. You followed a difficult and potentially painful path, which speaks of your inner strength.
I recently went through a similar experience with my parents growing older. Mom and I always got along great, but it took decades to heal most of the distance between my Dad and myself. We both put forth an effort and made great strides, which I am immensely grateful for.
Their health began to decline around Christmas a year ago. I flew to Pennsylvania every month for nearly a year and watched them decline both mentally and physically, becoming more of a caretaker with every visit.
Mom passed in mid November before I could get there, but I was able to stay with my Dad as he slipped away over the next eleven days. I had the honor of holding his head and talking to him as he crossed over.
Later I went back to my hotel, made a cup of tea, and meditated on the feeling of being at peace.
Even though you can’t get to Florida very often, phone calls are a good way of staying connected. I truly hope you enjoy the time you have left with your parents.
Sorry to hear of your parents passing, but so happy to hear that you also found a path of peace with them & was able to be there.
One of the fun things regarding my relationship with my Dad is that when I was young, he strongly discouraged my musical path, but as he got older he revealed that he had wanted to be a musician, & was never able to pursue it, so there had been some resentment there for him. (sidebar: Mom & Dad both played banjo ukeleles & the night they met, they both walked into the door at a party, each carrying a banjo uke, knew all the same songs, & basically spent the entire evening jamming on folk tunes!).
So I started giving Dad piano & music theory lessons, mostly over the phone, several years ago, & whenever we visit, it’s a long long lesson every day. His desire to really understand music theory & how to apply it has been fun to satisfy :)
Very cool story about how your Mom & Dad met! It’s unfortunate that your Dad had to suppress his dream, but at the same time it’s uplifting that you have been able to connect with him on that very level. Giving music lessons over the phone takes patience and dedication on both your parts. My Dad got his first computer 20 years ago in the days of DOS and WordPerfect, and I taught him over the phone several times a week for about a year. Although frustrating at times, it was also a rewarding and bonding experience. It sounds like you are having a similar time!
i do love this tea.
no sugar…. lovely and refreshing, right before bed.
the world is unsettled these days. i have no explanations. some say astrology predicts it, others say there are periods of time where this is just how it goes…. i just wish i could help more.
in the meantime, this tea settles.
That was me through all of October. Coincided with astrology as well.
I think that was me the entire year of 2013…
A month from now I’ll be 55, my 5th palindrome birthday!
I have a good feeling…
ahhhh, you guys are great! =0)
Sooo glad I sent you some of this! Seems like a long time ago now. I’m almost at the point of reordering from my first 100g bag.
this is the first review from MY bag! lol…. i bought because of the sample you sent me!
Heh. I know. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that I’ve helped you find some new tea to love.
I was carded tonight! Holy moly. Let’s just say I gladly produced my ID, and told the gal I was easily old enough to be her Mom. She corrected me after seeing my birth date, saying I just looked really young. Still hilarious.
What was I carded for? Tea. Well, a Peppermint Toddy, to be exact. First time I’ve had one, and it was delicious. Peppermint tea, Kahlua and Baileys, served hot in a mason jar with a cute paper napkin tied around the rim like a bandanna to keep my fingers from scorching. So much fun!
Oh, that sounds really good! I bet that’s tea that even Tre could get into :P
Hee! You definitely read young enough to get carded. :D
I’m going to try and find a recipe to make my own. Really yummy!
OMGsrsly, you flatterer you! :)
Well I know what I’m making after dinner tonight. That sounds delicious!
I rarely, if ever, buy alcohol, so I never get carded. :) My mom was once in San Fran. I was offered a beer at 13. :D
I love hot alcoholic drinks! I’m going to have to try that one. Right now I’m on a hot buttered rum kick!
I’m definitely returning to this place to try more hot boozy drinks (hopefully also with some form of tea in them).
Here’s the recipe I used and it came out pretty tasty:
1 teabag Celestial Seasonings Peppermint/5 oz boiling water
steep for 10 minutes
add 1 oz Kahlua
add 1 oz Bailey’s Original
stir
microwave 20 secs on high
this is a slightly nuttier version of creamy eggnog, though it tastes much like i remember the other tasting. I’ll have to do a side by side comparison at some point just for fun.
Mostly, though…Dexter you’re awesome. that is all.
(edit: back up to 157, with a package still sitting in mail jail)
Sipping this down, sadly. I am sharing the last bit with my mom. I brewed it in my great grandmother’s teapot. She absolutely loves it, and thinks it’s “classy.” And asked me to pick her up a tin if Winners ever gets another shipment in. Wow, the power of Fauchon.
:D Yay! Another convert.
Yeah, you pretty much made her day. :)
you changed your name ? does it means snow fox in Norway or Sweden ?
I did! And it’s in Norwegian, although it’s very close in Swedish: fjällräv.
I’m referring to you as The Arctic Fox, BTW. :D I need to hear pronunciation to understand it, so you get an English code name for a bit!
Tea tastes better when it’s steeped in a family heirloom :)
It’s here, it’s here, it’s here, IT’S HERE. It’s finally here!
I was so excited for this blend. It was a great Christmas gift (to myself, ha ha), it was waiting in my mailbox when I got home from Christmas.
I have been away for a few days. Drank a lot more coffee than I should have. There was no real good way to drink tea where I was, microwaved or keurig warmed water. So I had a bit of Keurig earl grey, but mostly coffee. So to come home to this tea was a blessing.
The dry tea smells deliciously strong, malty, sweet.
The brewed tea is just unbelievable. These guys have to be magic or something. The tea is thick and bold but not astringent or bitter. It is smooth, super smooth, like liquid silk. It is malty, but there are also hints of cocoa. When people writer about wanting a tea that is like hot chocolate, this is the tea you need. It is sweet and a little but earthy. The flavours are bright and distinctive. It is creamy. I generally don’t add milk and sweetener to my black teas, but I don’t think this one would need it anyway.
So happy to have this one in my hoard.
Preparation
REALLY??!?!?! oh man.. now i really want it haha
Let me know if you want a sample. I think I will be able to part with a few tsp, maybe. (Haha)
terri will send some to me eventually so i can be a patient girl…
I had no idea about this one. That is the most badass tin ever.
This is one of their new blends, permanent collection.
silly girl… cavo and i were drooling over it in the FB forum haha
Also, I got a super awesome coaster with the tea. The hawk is taking off with a spoon in its claws.
Note: I am drinking the loose leaf version.
I am really, really eager to try the Afternoon Tea in this set with jasmine and bergamot, but I wanted to dip some gingerbread almond biscotti in my tea this morning, and that really calls for unflavored tea to me. I opted for this one and braced myself for the first sip because it says, “Strong, Traditional” on the front of the beautiful little green and gold tin that I doubt I will ever part with because it is so beautiful.
The color in the cup did not lie. I made this in a small glass teapot and saw that it was a medium color with great clarity, though not too pale. I am a little afraid of some assam teas and I figured there would surely be some in this blend (and there is) but it isn’t harsh at all. I made a resteep because I hadn’t finished my biscotti and it was a little paler, not quite as strong, but still very enjoyable.
This is a good all around tea, easily drunk without milk or sugar, tasty for dipping biscotti or tea biscuits, and perfect for when you are not craving a particular tea or flavor and want an easy choice. Very nice!
So. Delicious. I couldn’t decide between this and the Caramel Vanilla, and now I think I need both.
So malty and fruity and sweet and assam-y.
https://twitter.com/omgsrslyfolks/status/416440728890265600/photo/1
Preparation
I wish I could drink black tea at night and not stay awake all night…..it doesnt affect you?…..craving some sort of black tea caramel concoction now…..
Oh it does. But my sleep schedule is completely messed up right now so I don’t care. (Also, I’m not due back at work until the 2nd.)
doesn’t bug me either…. i take meds at night, an assam just makes them activate faster, lol. 80P
Cute mug!
Thanks, Stacy, it’s from Sbux. :) One of their winter/Christmas ones.
So Sil and OMGSrsly are right – this tea is great with maple added to it! I didn’t have syrup or whip cream like they did – but this maple agave seems to work nicely!
Thanks for the tip!
haha maple is win with smoky teas!
I haven’t tried those Lay’s Maple Moose chips but the smoky maple combination here sounds like the same idea.
Yum. I will need to try the maple idea someday….
My mom was shocked the Lay’s Maple Moose won: according to her they taste like “Sweaty moose balls”. That was enough of a descriptor to keep me from trying them, though :P
LOL
Haha I’ve heard nothing but negative comments about them. One reason why popularity contests ruin life.
At least Russian Caravan + maple syrup doesn’t taste like sweaty moose balls. I doubt Cavo would be raving about it if it did!
Didn’t know there was a contest lol.
Also….how do you know she wouldn’t be raving about it. Maybe sweaty moose balls are her. Thing ;)
Hahha. You don’t know until you’ve tried them?
You need to get some whipped cream to try this with as well, Cavo. :)
In addition to getting the 15 tea sampler, I also picked up sample packs of some of the other teas the Devotea has to offer, including this one.
Sometimes it’s good to take a break from strong black teas & try something a little lighter, & this qualifies. This is very different from the other oolongs I’ve tried. It’s not particularly floral, it’s not roasty, it’s not even very fruity. I’m getting a little of an apricot aftertaste, a little of a ‘green’ taste, a hint of an herb I’ve had before, although I can’t quite pinpoint it yet, & a malty thick mouth.
It’s not the bold type of tea I usually go for, & not like the oolongs I usually drink. It kind of reminds me of cream of wheat.
Yes, I’m alive! Hope everyone’s been having a wonderful holiday thus far.
One of the first things I did when I got to my mom’s was sniff my S&V teas. One criticism off the bat is the packaging, though. Paper bags? I swear almost everything smells the same because of it. I’ve been reaching way down into the bag with a spoon to take some and smell it more up close, and even then, they’re quite delicately-scented, save for the Root Beer one. That one is potent. And here these teas are known to be very potent in general. Hmm.
I went for this one this morning because it’s their most popular. I don’t seem to get much flavour from it? The base is quite strong. Adding a bit of 2% milk wakes up the nuttiness a bit but I’m having a hard time bringing this to life.
I need to figure out a way of transferring these teas to different bags or something. I don’t have enough tins, nor do I have foiled baggies. I’m concerned they’ll all taste like paper after a while.
For now, I’ll reserve rating. I’m tempted to put them in ziploc bags but I know that would only be a temporary solution.
ohhhhhhhhhhhh. paper bags? really? c’mon people!!!
Yes! I agree with everything you’ve said here. The paper bags have me worried, and I am not finding these blends very strong….
I don’t mind the paper bags because they’re recyclable — I usually end up transferring mine to tins but I’ve kept a few in paper for a while and it doesn’t seem to influence the taste.
I do appreciate that these bags are more environmentally friendly, but I’m glad that you’re also not finding the blends that strong, Rosehips. I wonder if we happened to get slightly older batches, or some were reformulated…
Good to know that you don’t find that the bags influence the taste, TeaBrat!
The paper bags are terrible, for sure. I luckily had a couple tins I could use for them.
Sipdown! Had a small cup of this before tucking the rest ofth is away For cavocorax :) while I enjoy this one, it’s not my favourite of the MF teas that I’ve had the pleasure of trying.
I just found out that MF tea is sold at Fauberg a patisserie shop in central Vancouver….looking forward to trying this brand….
awesome! MF has a bunch of great teas! If you’re trying to decide what to pick up, feel free to poke me for suggestions if you know what they sell there.
That would be great – I like flavoured black tea the best – Marco Polo might be a good selection, if they have it….
Lilysmom, THANK YOU. I bought another tin of Chandernagor at Holt Renfrew last week, and was worried one more tin wasn’t going to be enough!
omg – need to get you to send me a sample of that sometime…
Oh, I thought you had it! I’ll start a list for you. :)
This is great, I hadn’t seen the list! I think Chandernagor or Marco Polo might be my first choice? Btw their spice loaf is wonderful…..gingerbread cakey……perfect with tea…..probably only around during the holidays tho……
My husband claims that when it comes to colds, you’re not particularly contagious when you actually experience symptoms, and you only remain (even slightly) contagious for about three or so days into the cold. So, you know, if you avoid licking your friends’ eyeballs and don’t sneeze on your hands right before you touch the dice, you should be fine. Also I know this doesn’t help at all, and feel better.
Aww Hope you feel better soon!
yeah, i’ve heard that, but better safe than sorry. one of my friends is pregnant and the other is a school teacher lol
I just discovered Carcassone for the iPad and have given up on getting my other half to play with me. :) I hope you feel better soon!
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH carcasonne! ipad/iphone! yes! yes!
Oh… I just realized. We could play Carcassone together, too. :) The internet is such an amazing thing. :)