Midsummer Night's Dream

I’m back?

Steepster was kind of the center of my life around 2013/2014 or so. I used to run a fairly large Tumblr tea blog (at its height, it had between 1,000 and 2,000 followers, I think). I used to drink a lot of tea.

Y’all remember me?

Anyway, Midsummer Night’s Dream. Sample from when I ordered the David’s advent calendar – last year was the first year I was able to get my hands on it, and I’ve already got mine for this year!

I left this tea to brew while I was cleaning the kitchen, but I wish I’d let it steep longer. It’s lacking in flavor, although the color developed to a point where I thought it was done! Like a mid-gold color.

The spearmint and marigold are top notes for me. I get tiny hints of the rose and the apple – I think the apple especially could have used a longer steeping time.

Anyway. Glad to be drinking tea again. I missed it.

The last of my samples from a recent order…

People rave about this tea, hot or iced. The dry blend smells amazing – a bit like a really cheerful, uplifting potpourri. I tried it iced and it wasn’t half bad. There’s far too much spearmint for my tastes. I was hoping it’d be a bit more subdued. I’ve never had a gooseberry so I don’t know that I’d be able to detect its flavor in this blend. The tea actually reminds me of Main Squeeze. The citrus flavor is similar, but this blend has a really pleasant vanilla note added to it. I might opt for another sample of it the next time I place an order and try a shorter steep.

This is my go to tea when I’m sick. It’s one of the best to make me feel better. I honestly didn’t expect to like this tea so much and when I tried it the first time I wasn’t sure that I did. I couldn’t place the flavor but now it’s one of my favorite teas! It has a lovely orange fruity flavor and I love it as. a hot tea despite the fact that it is originally meant to be an iced tea.

So wondering what tea to sip for nighttime, I had to go with ANOTHER Shakespeare tea accidentally! …. as I had been thinking of the movie this tea is named after, and it is midsummer, and I wish I was seeing old plays in outdoor theater, AND I even had a dream about theater last night! The tea doesn’t seem as magical as all these connections though. It just doesn’t seem enough to make a blend really tasty. I don’t taste any mint at all, it’s mainly citrus oil and apple. A mildly fruity cup. It seems like it needs more. At least there isn’t any hibiscus and that is definitely a plus. But it was free with my little sampler box and I only have a little more, so that is fine with me.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// few minutes after boiling // 5 minute steep

Got this as a free sample with an order I placed. I liked it and will probably want to keep some on hand. Flowery or fruity? Hard to say, maybe the perfect balance between the two. Probably very good cold, I’ll have to try.

Couldn’t decide on my first tea of the morning and found a sample of this in my tea drawer.

I like the taste! But so much of it escaped through my tea strainer. Way more than anything else ever has. In fact, I think I’ve only had one other tea do this and it was because I wasn’t thinking and emptied an Irish Breakfast tea bag in with some other stuff to make a blend. Big mistake. Huge.

Anyway, yeah. I like the flavor. I wasn’t sure if I would because I’m seriously sick of apple teas, but I’d consider ordering a small bag of this. Or maybe another sample.

(Which reminds me that David’s left out a sample in my last order and I’m kind of bummed about it.)

Tart and fruity herbal best enjoyed cold. I mean, I wouldn’t have this regularly or anything…I just enjoy this once in a while as a coldbrew like today.

Notes of tart/acidic (in a fruity way), no jasmine or gooseberry flavour. Fruity with no distinct fruits notable (maybe pear, apple, grapefruit, lemon, orange zest). Bitterness of fruit peels are best countered by sweetener or ice/cold water.

A lightly minty creamsicle tea. The predominant flavour is that of the gooseberries, which adds the citrus flavour to the tea. While this isn’t a tea I would choose to enjoy frequently, it is one that I can understand why people would enjoy it.

This has been floating around in my ice tea press for the last day or so, I’m glad that it’s not one of those herbals that lose all flavor after the first steep. It reminds me of a less hibiscusy Passion tea (Tazo), but the ingredient profile doesn’t seem at all familiar, as far as I remember.

It’s good cold! I haven’t tried it hot yet, but this past week all I’ve been wanting is cold tea.

Very refreshing, I only drink this iced.