Orange Brulee

Well i’m glad that tatooed_tea sent me another bit of this since it appears that i like it a bunch better this time around. While still not my favourite in any way, shape or form, it is better than it was when i had it before. So yay! for that!

Yeeaaaah!!!! Note 1200, with 4 minutes to go! (We’re pretending I live in Alberta, ok?) Also, happy slightly belated 1-year Steepsterversary to myself. Hahahaha. Like anyone with me on their dashboard could have missed it…. O.o

Anyhow, this tea! I epically failed at steeping it the first time, but this time used my usual oolong parameters, and MASSIVE SUCCESS! Caramelly, orangey, with a light oolong background. This is pretty good. I’m sad that I wasted so much leaf (SO MUCH.) on a miserably failed attempt, but glad that I can now rate this tea while drinking a properly brewed, delicious cup of it! Had I more of this, it would probably make it into the morning rotation, but I only have enough left for a cup and won’t likely be making another Della Terra order in the overly near future (please don’t come out with new blends!) so… it will have to wait. Eventually, though.

ETA: Not sure if it’s just my tastebuds, but infusion #2 wasn’t great. Ah well. The first was awesome.

I searched through my sample and realized I only have 1 caramel piece! Haha. Oops? I have lots of orange peel, though.

1 tsp in 8 oz water. I really like this tea. Sweet candied orange peels, it’s so good. I think I prefer 1 tsp in a travel mug, so I’ll do my second steep in more water.

Yeesh, as soon as I cut open the pouch, my heart sank. The dry leaf smells like those cheap orange candies filled with sticky sweet syrup in the middle that you used to pick up at parades when you were a kid. You would think that it would smell realistic, like marmalade, especially since DTT was generous with the orange rind, but I guess not.

Hot, it’s a hot mess. Tastes just like how it smells, like overly sweet artificial orange candy. The second steep was meh, still chemical.

I figured I might as well try this cold-steeped, and so, so glad that I did. It is so much better. It’s still on the artificial side, but at least the bitterness from the orange rind is coming out a bit more and giving this a bit of a boost. Plus it reminds me more of an orange popsicle.

Definitely not a repurchase, but cold-steeping it is from now on.

Sipdown (203/206)!

I thought this could be interesting as a cold brew, and that it might balance out the flavours a little bit, so I used the rest of my sample from Keychange for cold brewing. However, in hindsight I regret doing so.

At a hot drink, this may have been alarmingly strong in regard to the flavour of the orange but at least it didn’t taste chemical. As a cold brew, this is still alarmingly orange flavoured but also has a strong and harsh artificial component which is really unpleasant. I should have stuck with finishing it off as a hot drink – I definitely enjoyed it better that way.

So a disappointing sipdown.

Excellent! Just excellent! I am falling in love with Della Terra Teas more and more with each “try me” pack I get from them!
A very nice oolong with perfection in the flavoring!
This is a lovely seasonal steep or really anytime of year but I am throughly going to enjoy it through fall and winter! YUM!
I feel they hit ALL the different flavors in this perfectly – well balanced – everything comes through nicely.
Going to go for a re-steep! :)

Second tea of the night. I’m sad this is gone. I’m gonna need to order more..

Have a very large cup of this tea. I would of made a pot, but I was too lazy to go upstairs to find my tea pot.

Very savory smooth caramel for this round, with some candy sweet orange. Sipped away with breakfast and Animal Crossing. There was a sailor seagull passed out on the beach. Apparently, he was trying to sail to Canada.

Anyways, time to finish this massive cup and start my day!

I’m always excited to try a tea that even suggests that it might taste like a creamcicle, since creamcicles are among my favourite things in the world. The most accurate attempt, actually, was Tim Horton’s Orange Creamcicle hot smoothie from a million years ago, and I can’t for the life of me understand why they got rid of them and never brought them back. Oh well.

I think I’m coming to realize that I need to overleaf most of dellaterra’s teas, as a teaspoon and a bit still yielded a pretty mild cup for me, and I steeped for about four and a half minutes. It tasted orangey for sure, and there may have even been a slight burnt note lingering there somewhere, although I had to try hard to find it. It was just fine. I don’t know if I’ll try it again—maybe use more leaf, and revolutionize the whole ordeal with some vanilla creamer. I also got a sample of oranges and cream, although I’m terrified to try it since it’s a rooibos and so far I haven’t been able to stand them. I wish I could say more about this tea, but I’m just not feeling it today.

In other news, my latest emotional rollercoaster…on the tea front:
Me: gee, it sucks that Harney & sons tea isn’t available in Canada
cavocorax: it sure is! It’s at Chapters! see?
Me: screams. Screams again. Rush over to website. Sure enough, it’s there.
add things to cart in a frenzied rush lest it all disappear and Chapters go out of business within the next ten seconds.
Qualify for free shipping! Feel very proud for incidentally saving some money, even if I’m spending in the process.
Then the website was inaccessible, and my spirits plummeted. I know I can call their customer service people from work on Monday, but I’ll still be within earshot of like everyone.
“Hello? Yes, hi there. I’m furious because I’m blind and your website is inaccessible, but I’d like to place an—”
Boss: “Hey keychange, how’s that memo coming along? Have you finished preparing that statement?”
aaaaaaaahhhhh!
Not fair!

I just got this in DT’s $5 off $15 sale. I had to! This is EXACTLY the flavor I wanted this tea to be! There is a nice orange flavor to it. It seems the leaves have also been infused with an orange flavor, since the flavor was pretty consistent through all three steeps and it couldn’t possibly be just from the few orange pieces. But it was almost like an orange juice. There was a nice creamy sweet flavor to it as well. The first steep had the most caramel flavor but that is understandable. And the oolong really was the perfect base. It reminds me of those cinnamon rolls with the orange frosting. That frosting would be this tea. It’s also almost like an Earl Grey cream with orange. I think I remember thinking “This is the best tea.” haha. Another blend I’m very honored to try from Della Terra and very difficult not to order a ton of!