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Made this in the morning in one of my two timolinos to enjoy later today. My preparation was 2 tsp. of leaf, steeped with boiling water for five minutes.

Dry, this smells super fragrant and lemony with a light honeycomb like sweetness to it. My Step Mom commented that it smelled like “natural perfume”, and while I agree it’s very strong and natural smelling, it doesn’t remind me of perfume – but maybe that’s because I associate most perfumes with a chemical smell.

Taste wise – I swear I’ve had this before. It’s incredibly familiar, but I know this is my first time trying this. Why is this so familiar…

I KNOW! Taste wise, this tastes almost exactly like Della Terra’s Lemon Chiffon! Yes – it’s basically the same sweet lemon flavour, and creaminess but without the pepperiness, which I suppose makes sense; these are both teas with lemon flavour and rooibos – and both are very good.

I think I’ll stick with Lemon Chiffon since I have 2 oz. of it to drink, and Good Morning Sunshine as a high energy lemon tea to drink as well – which basically covers both ends up the spectrum; high energy and no energy. This is great and I’ll enjoy the 20g or so I have left, but since I already have similar there’s no need to get any more of this.

Sipdown (162)!

Thank you VariaTEA for this sample! I was very excited to try it seeing as I am a huge lover of both pineapple (favourite fruit) and coconut. Sadly, this is my first and last time trying it because I used up all the leaf in the sample for a timolino full of this.

So, just a little over 2 tsp. of leaf, boiling water in my 12 oz. timolino for five minutes. I actually made this in the morning in case I wanted something to drink on the long bus ride back from The Vintage Tea Room, but I’ve held off on trying it until now with supper (vegetable stir fry, noodles, and kiwi – it’s super nice not having to cook for myself while on my ‘vacation’).

Dry, this smelled very intensely of sweet, rummy pina colada; very heavy on the coconut. Steeped, this was much the same way; very sweet with an especially strong coconut smell, and a very rummy quality. There was also something that made me think of floral perfume which seemed like a rather odd smell to pick up from this blend.

Taste wise, this has is more coconut than pineapple like I expected after the smell – however, the pineapple is a little stronger in the tail of the sip and lingering into the aftertaste. The rum taste is also pretty strong, and it adds greatly to the tea. There’s also a woody, and distinct honeybush taste which is nice because I thought the base would be totally masked based on how powerful the smell is. Nothing floral or perfumey in taste, but I do still get that from the smell.

I’m sad this is gone; I would definitely buy it again. DAVIDsTEA’s Tropicalia is another favourite of mine which is also a Pina Colada tea – though these two blends are distinct enough I would want both around.

Also – my new white timolino is definitely not retaining heat as well as my black one. I made two teas steeped the same way this morning; one in each, at the same time and this has cooled much more than the black one has. Huh – I wonder why that is…

I met up with a friend today for tea at The Vintage Tea Room! We split a pot of this tea upon my insistence; I never have bloom teas because I don’t have a teapot that allows me to appreciate their beauty at home. Though – the older sales lady gave my friend and I a “knowing” look after ordering a love themed tea, prompting both he and I to insist we were just friends.

I didn’t realize upon ordering that this was green tea (for whatever reason I was thinking it was white), but it was pretty apparent after my first sip because this had a strong grassy taste to it. Despite that, which is typically a turn off, this was very enjoyable. The jasmine was the most prominent taste in a very real and natural way – not at all perfumey. I actually struggled a bit to taste the the lavender, which is one of the advertised flavours, but the lily was very noticable to me.

This was a very enjoyable sweet, floral tea and I was quite happy to enjoy several cups of it while catching up with my friend. I had somehow blocked out the fact he’s so much of a conspiracy theorist – but hey, at least the conversation was always interesting.

And the tea was just beautiful after it had fully flowered!

I also ended up purchasing 50g of Monk’s Blend and 50g of Prince of Wales after inquiring as to where they get their tea from (mostly so I could accurately log things – turns out it’s from The Metropolitan Tea Company). Both smell incredible, and I can’t wait to try them!

PS. If you’re ever in Regina and go here for tea I highly recommend the cucumber cranberry cream cheese sandwich as the perfect food to enjoy with your tea!

Had this on the bus ride to The Vintage Tea Room this morning. Preparation was 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf, steeped in 8 oz. of boiling water for five minutes. This was poured into my water bottle, so when I was drinking it it was cold.

It tasted like toned down maple syrup or the maple filling in those maple leaf shaped cookies. Anyway, it was really good.

Ok, this is the cold brewed batch that I made for me and my brother to try! Formula was 2 tbsp. of leaf for about 6 cups of water, cold steeped for a good 18(ish) hours. The steeped colour is a dark red/purple that kind of reminds me of some darker red wines? It looks kinda scary and really concentrated, though.

I’ve actually had two cups today, which I suppose in itself says that this wasn’t so bad I wouldn’t drink it again. That’s a plus.

My second cup, I was suffering from some pretty horrible toothache so I wasn’t really so focused on the taste. But my overall impression on the taste from both cups is that this is a much nicer way to drink this tea. The tart and sour initial flavour is much more mellowed out but still retains the taste of hibiscus in a not completely overwhelming way. The rest of the taste is juicy strawberry and maybe raspberry, with a creaminess to it in the end sip accompanied by a sort of fermented fruit/borderline rum taste. Really, the “rum” flavour the name implies is just kind of barely present in the weirdest possible way.

So yeah – this is much more enjoyable cold brewed and I think that’s probably how I’ll end up finishing off what’s left of my 50g of it. I’ve definitely used at least 25g worth at this point, so that’s good.

Sort of sipdown (161)?

Sort of in that I’ve already placed an order for 100g more (like, weeks ago) that’s on the way – so I’ll soon have more to enjoy! Also, sort of in that I still have enough leaf left for one more cup, but I promised my Dad I’d save it and make it for him tomorrow.

I was perhaps being overly cautious of my water temperature (here at my Dad’s I have no way of measuring the temperature without guesstimating), and as a result I believe I used water which was too cold – so I don’t think I got the full flavour potential this cup could have had. I suppose that’s better than using too hot of water, though.

Anyway, I’m getting lovely and delicate jasmine and silky notes of sweet white tea; like honeysuckle! It’s still amazing, even if it’s not at its best. I’m excited to be receiving lots more! So thank you Lala for sending this to me – I’ve really managed to make the sample last, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each cup!

Unrelated, I just got back from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and it was a truly astounding and breathtaking movie! 10/10 would recommend to just about anyone! Seriously – amazing acting, and plot, and a killer soundtrack. More people should see it (and keep in mind this praise is coming from someone who worked at a movie theatre for over a year, and who saw a lot of free movies). I’d gladly watch this again.

Plus, it was really nice to go to the theatre I used to work at and visit with all my old co-workers! I got pretty emotional, I’ll be honest. I knew I missed them, but I just didn’t realize how much. I’m still trying to not care about the fact that Kevin (my former “best friend” who helped bring me out of my depression and who basically acted as an older brother to me for months) has ignored me since moving, and then tonight refused to look me in face and acknowledge I was there, though…

That hurt, and was kind of cold…

Sipdown (162)!

I made up the last of my sample from BrewTEAlly Sweet today to take with to the mall. Since I had it cold last time, I went for a hot cup this time. I have to say, I don’t think my new white timolino is retaining heat nearly as well as my black one does; after only being in the timolino maybe two hours the temperature had severely dropped.

This was still very lovely though; a really great and well balanced apple tea with sweet and not overpowering cinnamon notes. I’m not in a rush to repurchase it, but I do plan to eventually obtain more.

Full day of shopping!

I met my friend Renee downtown and did a whole bunch of shopping all morning and afternoon! We started at DAVIDsTEA and I’m proud to say that I managed to walk away with only 30g of Honey Bee and this as a to go, iced.

I asked the guy what he personally enjoyed most as an iced white tea, and this is what he suggested so I went for it since I’ve never had this blend before and to go teas are a great way to sample without committing to too many grams worth.

Dry, this smelled really lovely! It was super peachy, and had a strong floral smell to it; jasmine, and other floral smells too. My first few sips iced were really nice; lightly peachy and just a touch of jasmine – but the more I sipped at it the more this highly perfumey and chemical taste became apparent until, about halfway through, I was just overwhelmed by harsh, bitter, and chemical perfume taste.

I waited until the salesperson was in back grabbing something, and then tossed the rest. Yuck – no thanks.

The rest of my haul was non-tea related:

- 2 Primarily orange (though greatly different shades) long sleeve plaid shirts
- 6 Pairs of food related earrings (Avocados, swiss cheese, etc.)
- The new Cage The Elephant CD
- Some make up; just some blush and stuff

It was a good day! And it’s not over; I’m still going to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty later tonight! :D

Had a cup of this after supper as a sort of gentle, sweet treat! I offered some to my step mom who said she wanted a green tea, but she opted for Hot Lips instead.

My preparation was a slightly overfilled tsp. in 8 oz. of 80 degree Celsius water, steeped for 2 min. 30 seconds. The liquor was a very lovely light green colour and had a nutty pistachio aroma with a strong green base. Taste wise, this was mostly nutty and sort of roasted pistachio with a dominant but mostly pleasant green tea taste, and a smoother, creamy taste towards the end of the sip which is slightly lingering in the aftertaste. It left a dry feeling in my mouth.

Ultimately, I think I enjoyed this better than my last cup of it – but I still rest easy with my decision to not restock it.

Made a small cup for me, and a small cup for my brother who said he was willing to try a flavoured black tea tonight. Both cups were made the same way; 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf steeped in boiling water for 3 min and 30 seconds.

My brother said that it tasted very weak and watery (he has issues tasting basically any tea), but that it didn’t taste bad. From him, that was practically glowing praise.

My cups was very well balanced with defined notes of cinnamon, cloves, sweet pumpkin, and caramel and fleeting notes of carrot. I swear I also got notes of honey, too. I don’t have this as much as I should…

Also, I’m very excited because I have plans tomorrow to hang out at the mall and go to DAVIDsTEA with a friend I haven’t seen in ages (last time I saw her was Halloween I suppose), then go to the movies in the evening and hopefully see some of my old coworkers! Plus, Cuppa’T Specialty Teas on Thursday!