Violet Send Message

I’m still contemplating this one, but think I should put a note out anyway.

It’s good…..problem is, I’m not old enough for alcohol, so I can’t say I identify the tastes in this tea as champagne, because I’ve never had it, or if I have had sips it was way long ago at the last wedding I went to.

So yeah, it’s good. But I can’t taste strawberry much, and….I don’t know. Maybe I’ll let it cool.

Update: The more I drank, the less I liked, though after cooling the strawberry did come out more. I think I also steeped this wrong. Because it did have promise. Ah well.

Thanks to Angel at Teavivre for this WONDERFUL tea!!

I LOVE THIS TEA! I just wanted to put that out there.

Smell: It was a colorful mix, and I smelled lots of blueberry, a bit of grape, and a tart smell that hinted at that sneaky hibiscus. But it was a lovely berry blend! Steeping it reminded me of wine or even blueberry juice.

Taste: I was worried about the hibiscus, thinking this would be VERY tart. But IT WASN’T!! It was very, very yummy!! It had a nice, strong blueberry flavor, which had a sweet-tart mix provided by the grape, and then it had a smooth tart where the hibiscus was. I loved it hot, but after drinking a few hot sips, since I had to go to an outing, I poured the rest in a glass and let it sit in the fridge. Upon returning, I drank it cold and it was even more amazing!! I LOVE A TEA THAT CAN DO BOTH!! Truly, it was a perfect blueberry tea! :-)

Oh, I put in two spoonfuls of sugar, kindof medium in amount. It was a lovely tea, really!!

My Teavivre package arrived yesterday!! So this is a backlog from yesterday afternoon. A BIG thank you to Angel for this! The samples are VERY (and I mean, VERY) generous.

The reason I did not log this tea yesterday is because, though very good, I did not know, yet again, how to describe it. I had a few words, but they weren’t fitting. After reading through other tasting notes for both the Organic and regular versions of this tea, I now know what I’m tasting.

First, let me get this out: I usually do not like strong, black tea. (You’re probably thinking, then why order it?) Well, I wanted to pick samples that sounded good, but also pick a few that were something I wasn’t fully familiar with, so I could expand. This was also my first chinese tea. :D So I’m being a bit adventerous.

Now for the tea!!

Smell: Malty. Grainy. It was an interesting and nice aroma, but very strong, so after a while I had to close the bag. Some other people mentioned chocolate and of course, it’s supposed to have a hint of caramel. I didn’t really get any chocolate, but there was a caramel scent, though light. Steeping the caramel came out more, and it was very nice.

Taste: To me, it had, once again, a grainy characteristic, but also, especially once I sweetened to my liking, I swear it tasted kind of like honey. I may be crazy, or maybe that was the caramel adding it’s two cents, but that’s what it tasted like to me. And it was amazing. It was also what I’d call smoky, and bold and wonderful. I really did enjoy this tea. :-)

Side note: I rinsed my leaves, and instead of putting them in the strainer and steeping in a mug, I put the leaves straight into the tea pot, and poured my tea through a strainer. Very good, and I think that’s the best way to make loose leaf, though I don’t mind my in-the-mug method.

Azzrian!!

I put her name always, because she is my lovely supplier of tea, and she likes reading my notes, apparently. (She’s commented and liked almost every single one, whether they were for tea she gave me or not. Dedicated follower!)

I am very happy with this tea. :-) I had some TAZO white tea a while back, and it had a fancy name, but pretty much it was a blueberry tea, and that was my first white tea. (It was bagged, but TAZO is awesome either way.) I also had some Lipton blueberry pomogranate back around that time too, and that was also white. So it’s been a while since I’ve had any decent white teas. And never any loose leaf!! So I was excited to try this. :-)

Smell: (I’m going to stop putting my little indicators….they bug me. :P) It was blueberry, but not too strong. Nice and delicate. And also the smell of the white tea was very pleasant, and not harsh or overpowering. Floral, almost. It was also very pretty! Steeping the blueberry was definitely there, and it was yummy.

Taste: BLUEBERRY!! YES! THE TEA HAS STUCK FULLY TO IT’S NAME!! Sorry, a lot of my more recent teas loose a bit on taste. And this isn’t a strong blueberry taste, exactly, but it is definitely there. Smooth, just right, and the taste of the tea is also there, mixing in perfectly. I don’t like my tea taste to overpower if there is supposed to be some other flavor, and this tea delivers the right mix. No complaints, what-so-ever.

Also, even though this is a “no duh” thing, white tea really isn’t white. :P I just find stuff like that funny to think about. I’m weird, I know. But it is a very, very light light brownish-yellow, and a spoonful of it actually does look very white. So it is but it isn’t. (Yes, I had to put all that.)

Happy! Happy!! BLUEBERRY!! :-)

Sipping it now…and contemplating…these first few sips make me wonder about it. As always, so far, thanks Azzrian.

Smell: It was kind of fruity, but also a bit weird since all my teas are in one place, so I smell a lot of just…tea. But this did have a cranberry/other berry/kind of orange-y smell. Steeping I smelled more orange than anything. Not strong citrusy orange, but the smell of orange when you bake it in something, kind of.

takes a few more sips

Taste: I taste cranberry a bit, though that may be raspberry, or both, though I definitely taste raspberry and orange. It’s light orange, but orange. It says blueberries, but I have yet to recieve that. And blackberry, I can taste that sortof. The cherry isn’t that strong, which for me is good, because I do NOT like cherry. more sipping It’s all very light, but I like it personally. May have to get a bit more, so I can have a few more tries with this one….I think I only have enough for one more cup. Over all, I think it’s yummy!!

So Azzrian gave me this unopened. I hope she got some…

I think I expect a bit too much from my chocolate/dessert flavored teas. :/

Smell: Dry, in the bag. This smelled….cakey, chocolately (sort-of) and a weird, artificial something. Sugary maybe, but like, overly so. It wasn’t bad, I enjoyed the scent, but it had something weird to it. Steeping I smelled cocoa.

Taste: Hmm. See, I really want to be like WOW! But…no. Sorry. Now, it wasn’t horrible but…ah, just read on.

So this tea wasn’t a major chocolate anything. I could taste chocolate, and the candy bits (maybe that was the weird sugary flavor/scent?) and this was after two spoonfuls of regular white sugar (trying to conserve the raw sugar, it’s expensive) and letting it cool. It just tasted way too sweet to me, and it wasn’t a chocolate sweet. It was just sweet, sweet. And it was yummy enough to enjoy, I guess, but I think I either did something wrong or just expect too much of something labeled “chocolate cake.” But I mean, shouldn’t it taste like that if that’s what it says? I’m going to try again. And add some chocolate chips. Oh, cream made it good, more cakey to me. Anybody else had success with this tea after some experimenting? I need some tips!

Backlog from yesterday afternoon!

This tea was ok.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. Cirtusy, and a bit peachy. An odd mix, really. Couldn’t place everything. Steeping it was about the same.

Taste: Very subtle, though I swear there was something citrusy, so I added a bit of lemon. It was alright, actually. The peach was….there? Maybe? I don’t know. It was kind of bitter, too.

My guess is that I need to try again, maybe add more leaf, and also maybe try it cold. I’ll add more once I do that. Though it might be a little while.

Azzrian I am a happy camper!

This tea is instant, a powder that comes in a little packet, and it’s really yummy to me.

Smell: Dry, in the mug. It doesn’t really smell. It’s just a powdered tea, not much to say. Once mixed with the water, it smells like some sort of tea. I can’t really say which, but I’d say a black tea, or a sort of weaker chai.

Taste: It just screams chai latte to me, without a whole bunch of spices. There is a flavor there that I recognize, and I can taste milk. Two packs of sugar had to go in, because by itself, though good, it wasn’t sweet enough. But once I sweeten it, OH GOSH! I love it! It’s just creamy and yummy and has this spice that is light, and there, but not overly so. I’m very happy with it, and it is instant, so it can be a quick thing.

I put steep time at 15 seconds, just because you pour the water and it is somewhat mixed already, but you stir it and it is good to go.

Thank you Azzrian! I can see why you love this!!

This tea…I don’t know how to explain it properly, really. I highly enjoyed this tea. But there were some complications, I guess you could say. I’ll explain in my tasting note, so don’t worry.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. It had a floral aroma, with a hint of something citrus. Reading over the ingredients/tea description, it mentioned strawberry and lemon, so that makes sense. It’s a nice scent, and not too strong. Dainty, light, sweet. :-) Steeping it was about the same, though I find that steeping for most of my teas always kind of mutes the scent. It’s not bad, it’s just how it is. The color was nice, too, a dark reddish brown.

Taste: This is where I faced problems. It was REALLY GOOD! It was!! But I can’t really find the words to describe what I was tasting. One of the tea descriptors was “malty” and I don’t think I know what that tastes like yet. It also had a floral, sweet taste too it, which was nice, and that citrusy/fruity taste, but I couldn’t place the tastes. It was very yummy despite not being able to properly describe it, and I am very pleased with it. I’m glad I have enough for several cups, which also means a little bit of experimenting, but not TOO much! Oh, just because I always put how I make it: two packets of sugar in the raw. I think next time I may try a bit of cream. Don’t know though.

I also steeped this in a mug, like my other tea, but it turned out better because this mug held about 8 oz, and I properly filled it. So no diluting for today! :-)