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Hey, would you look at that – I’m over 100 followers now!

Anyway, I’m totally indulging my love of flavoured blacks today! There are at least three more I’m hoping to get in by the end of the day, some new and some old. This is one of the ones I’ve tried before – but since I was in a chocolate mood I grabbed this one over some of my other chocolate/some other flavour like mint or fruit mixes.

Today I added milk after recalling a few reviews that said it was tasty that way. With the milk, this steeped up to be a very smooth chocolate tea today, akin to a semi watered down cup of hot chocolate. Even though I’m not explicitly tasting the dates in this cup, I’m sure they’re part of what’s adding to the cookie/fudge feeling I’m getting. I also taste a bit more vanilla than usual, perhaps the milk is bringing it out.

It’s a “lick up every last drop” kind of cup.

Does anyone remember the TV Mini Series The 10th Kingdom? I remember first watching the DVD set when I was like 12, maybe? I decided yesterday that in between job hunting I’m going to rewatch the whole thing, and I’ve just absolutely fallen in love with it, again! I had the biggest crush on Wolf my first time watching it, and I have to admit I still find him pretty attractive this time around, lol. Although, I totally get more of the innuendo/adult humor now…

Anyway, this was breakfast tea #2! For whatever reason I’ve developed a minor “quirk” if you will where I’ll only ever reach for an Earl Grey/Bergamot heavy tea during the earliest part of my day. I’m not sure why, but I seem to only crave that flavour as a “breakfast” sort of tea.

I actually have two samples of this, one purchased from Shadowfall and one given to me from MissB. This particular cup comes from Shadowfall’s sample. My parameters were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for about 6 minutes (it may have been a little less than that). As far as the dry smell goes, I just smell a sweet Earl Grey, and steeped up it smells like a very light on the Bergamot Earl.

Taste wise, I was right about the Bergamot being pretty light. Like, it’s there and if you were just picking up a mug of this without knowing what it was, you would totally be able to taste and identify the Bergamot – it’s not that light. It’s not just too heavy or bold. Personally, I kinda like that. I also really get a sense of the vanilla in the mix. There is an additional fruitiness to the tea, but if I wasn’t reading “Blackberry” from the ingredients list then I would have no idea that’s what it was. I think many people have encountered that.

So overall, it’s a really nice light Earl Grey but I don’t get Blackberry notes from it. That said, I’m going to quite happily finish off my sample(s) and if I had an easy way (curse Adagio’s outrageous shipping prices to Canada) to get more, I think I would over some of the other EGs I have – partially because of the taste and partially because of the namesake ;)

Guess what guys – it’s finally happening! I have a dentist appointment tomorrow to get all my stupid mouth pains fixed!!! YAY!

Anyway, I steeped this up for morning tea – finally! I’ve wanted to try it forever because it just sounds amazing, but I’ve been sort of putting it off because I have a limited amount and what if I just love it and then can’t get anymore!? However, VariaTEA sent me a fairly large amount of it in our last swap so I decided to finally give it a go. The leaf I’m using right now actually came from BrewTEAlly Sweet as part of her tea stash sale, though.

My steeping parameters were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for six minutes. Dry the leaf smells kinda sweet but not really melony, and steeped up the smell is faintly melon with sort of bubble gum notes?

Taste wise? Ughhh…

That is mouth wateringly juicy! I actually really truly taste the honeydew! Which is awesome because I love honeydew! I hardly ever got to have it growing up because no one else in my family liked it. Sometimes we got watermelon which was ok because that’s my favourite melon (Honeydew is number two), but usually we got Cantaloupe which is my least favourite melon.

In addition to juicy honeydew flavours, I get a very subtle earthiness from the mate and an almost equally subtle taste of the green rooibos. There’s also bubblegum-esque notes. I’m not really sure what white hibiscus blossoms are supposed to taste like – the only other thing I’ve had them in was DT’s Buddha’s Blend and I really dislike that one. However, I don’t taste anything reminiscent of that mess of a tea at all (yay).

So overall – super impressed! I really hope this comes back with the spring collection (pretty sure that’s where it’s from) so I can get more of it. I can totally see this being my go to mate for early mornings over Main Squeeze which is also a favourite. Next up will be cold brewing this one because I’ve heard it’s good that way.

I had a really hard time getting this to show up in the search bar tonight, for some reason. How odd…

I received a few cups worth of this from VariaTEA today – and although I have a 50g tin of it already, I’m definitely not upset with getting more. I really like this blend! In fact, since I haven’t used anything from my own tin yet I’m gonna use up what I got from VariaTEA first just to postpone cracking that one open: you know, maximize the freshness and all.

After the pretty big let down of Vanilla Comoro (I’m gonna call it silky water tea), this is MUCH better. Tonight, it’s less strawberry gummy candy and more actual strawberries with that very light touch of tartness combined with some super potent sweetness that makes you juuussstt slightly pucker up. Very yummy indeed!

So, I fell asleep at like 8 PM which is really weird for me: Normally I go to bed “for realsies” at like midnightish. But nope, stupid me had to take a nap, and now it’s 1 AM and I’m wide awake. So of course, that means more tea! I tried to pick things that were decaf (this blend) or not very high in caffeine.

This sample comes from Keychange and I received it in sachets! My first and only Harney Experience was with Paris, also in sachets, but I was super sick and out of it and I don’t even remember the taste – plus it’s quite likely whatever I tasted was off from being sick. So, more or less this is my first Harney tea.

I steeped it up based on VariaTEA’s recorded steeping parameters since we have similar enough tastes, and she seemed to really enjoy that cup. I have to admit, both dry and steeped this doesn’t smell like a whole lot to me. Taste wise, it’s a very smooth black base and I for sure can say there’s no astringency or bitterness. I suppose I could agree that it’s “silky” like the product description says. After that, however I kind of stop seeing and tasting what’s being advertised.

I can’t say I get “vanilla” or any creaminess from the taste. In fact, I really don’t taste a whole lot of anything; just a smooth and silky, and fairly weak tbh, black base. I mean – it’s not bad or unpleasant it’s just not really much of anything? Is it possible to have incredibly silky smooth tasting hot water?

I’m gonna leave this unrated for now because I’m not really sure how to even go about rating it. I am disappointed though because I don’t taste a whole lot of anything at all, but I do have two more sachets left to try and get this right. Perhaps this one just isn’t for me though.

EDIT: Ok, after it reached room temperature I finally got some vanilla taste – though unfortunately I also got some astringency.

Another “In and Out” Sipdown (209)!

Mmm, Genmaicha! There’s so much of it in my house right now that I absolutely had to take advantage of the one cup sample size of this from VariaTEA and drink it all up tonight! Yummy!

My parameters were the whole sample, in 8 oz. of 80 degree celsius water steeped for a little shy of three minutes.

I’m a little disappointed because I don’t get chocolate out of this at all! Not in the dry or steeped smell, and not in taste either. What a shame! That said, it’s still a really nice Genmaicha and it’s hitting the spot so well right now!

I debated adding some Nesquick Chocolate Milk Syrup into the mug just to give it that chocolate touch I was looking for, but decided against it – plain Genmaicha is doing nicely for now.

I’m really loving this as a plain Genmaicha, but I’m gonna rate it sort of low despite that because it’s not supposed to be a plain Genmaicha (definitely not living up the the description).

I really enjoyed my first couple mugs of this: it was like super sweet, liquid caramel. Tonight however I’m only getting a little toffee/caramel and the rooibos is being especially woody and I have to admit maybe even just a touch medicinal.

Maybe I just brewed it up poorly? This is the first time I’ve made it in a timolino, so that could possibly have something to do with it? Perhaps? I don’t know – I just want this to be… Well, more than it is at the moment.

I know VariaTEA just her package from me which had some of this in it, so I hope she gets closer to the delicious first few cups I had instead of what I’m drinking now.

EDIT: More Toffee as it cooled!

Sipdown (210)!

In and right back out ;)

This one comes from VariaTEA! I know she had troubles finding the Cotton Candy, so I’m hoping I don’t encounter the same issue. Dry, this does smell a little like cotton candy, although it’s a very light smell.

My parameters were the whole sample in 8 oz. of just under boiling water, steeped for two minutes and thirty seconds. Steeped up, this just smells like the 52Teas black base.

As far as the taste goes, I’m kind of alternating between “52Teas black base” and “Very generic sweet tea with cotton candy(ish) aftertaste” between sips. I’m not totally sure if I really like it, and I don’t like that the flavouring I am getting (albeit quite genericly sweet) is so sporadic. So I suppose I am having the same problem that VariaTEA had.

I don’t know – I’d like to try it again to see if I could make it taste better, but based on this cup I definitely wouldn’t want to pay for any, let alone a full pouch. Oh well, you can’t love them all and I’m thankful for the chance to try it!

EDIT: As it cooled, the generic sweetness and light cotton candy flavoring got a little more consistent.

It’s amazing how certain combinations of blends can create an enjoyable tea when the blends used individually were really quite unappealing.

This blend mixes three blends I didn’t like in a 1:1:1 ratio, and somehow that created a really lovely fruity, light Bergamot drink. After sending some of this as an extra to VariaTEA I decided that I definitely needed to try this cold brewed, so that’s exactly what I did!

I think my small pitcher worth of this cold brewed for around 15 hours – possibly a little less. The smell is definitely Bergamot, almost entirely straight Bergamot; but the taste is a nice balance of Bergamot and sweet fruits like red berries and fresh citrus like lemon. Quite refreshing!

VariaTEA, I think the sample I sent you of this was pretty large so I definitely recommend trying this hot and cold!

I received my sample of this what seems like a very long time ago from my frequent swapping pal VariaTEA and am only just now trying it (sorry). The idea of a white chocolate rooibos really appealed to me, but everyone’s tasting reviews kept saying that it just tasted like straight rooibos so I kept putting it off. It’s been sitting in my “Immediate Try Me!” sample drawer for weeks though, so time to finally give it a go!

Parameters were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf to 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for about five minutes. In the dry leaf I used, I saw at least three white chocolate drops/chips, so if there’s no white chocolate taste I admit I’m going to be pretty disappointed. Steeped up, mostly I just smell the rooibos and sort of a generic sweetness.

Taste wise, I get a super strong wood-chippy rooibos, although I personally don’t mind that taste. As far as the white chocolate goes, there is an initial generic sweetness to the tea but it’s not heavily white chocolate by any means. Near the end of the sip it’s a lot more creamy, and I do start to get the faintest hints of white chocolate. After swallowing, the white chocolate notes are at their strongest. It’s like there’s a very thin coating of white chocolate on the roof of my mouth.

Concluding thoughts? Well, it’s not awful by any stretch but it is a little disappointing overall. Not something I’ll want to acquire again but I’m going to be able to finish off the last cup worth without difficulty and I’d likely not turn down any additional leaf if offered, as long as it was in small quantity.