Steep This!

Thank you ifjuly (and Dexter3657) for letting me have a sample of this. This is a darker oolong, but I like that. It’s so green and rich, and the coconut tastes really natural and delicous.

I couldn’t tell you how this compares to the one from OMGsrsly but it’s up there. Very good.

(sipdown 192 – I’m currently on a mission to sipdown all those random little swap bags that are taking up room. Foil bags are a ok. Zips gotta go!)

From Dexter3657, still more from that huge box she sent me! Thank you.

This is so funny because I sent Dex some bao zhong-based coconut oolongs (which I think is weird and don’t remember doing honestly; it doesn’t make sense I would given I know she doesn’t like bao zhongs) and the main takeaway was they were predictably too floral/green for her tastes. Meanwhile, I’m a FIEND for coconut oolongs that use a light, floral base. Haven’t met a single one I didn’t slurp up. Anyway, turns out this oolong is not green, it appears on the darker end of the spectrum, so it makes sense Dex likes it. Also explains why I wasn’t nuts for it—I was like, oh, the oolong is too dark tasting for me! Where are my gorgeous fresh green notes that I’ve come to associate with coconut oolong? Haha. We are like Jack Sprat and his wife here, but about the oolong spectrum and how it relates to coconut flavored tea.

That said, the darker oolong does give the finished tea a nuttier, roastier flavor which I think most would welcome. I just found myself missing those fresh green notes though. Now I get it! Knowing is half the battle. Thanks Dex!

Backlog:

Really good. I’m really glad that I ordered this one. The crisp, earthy notes of the white tea meld nicely with the bright, juicy orange notes. There is just enough vanilla flavor to give the cup a sort of “creamsicle” sort of flavor. Sweet, deliciously smooth and creamy. Yum.

This tea offers multiple infusions of yumminess too.

Backlog:

While perusing the Steep This! website, I knew I had to try this chai. It just looked too different to not try. It has most of the usual suspects (although no ginger) and then they take it through a stroll of a flower garden and add some rose, lavender and jasmine that not only add visual interest as well as make it smell absolutely amazing. The floral notes and the spicy notes are nicely balanced. It doesn’t smell too flowery nor does it smell too spicy … just a really intriguing combination of both.

Those additions also gave the chai a very unusual flavor (unusual for a chai, anyway!) It’s a little spicier than I expected it to taste. I kind of expected the flower to soften the flavors of the spices just as they soften their aroma, but, this tea has got a fiery, pepper kick. The cinnamon is warm, and the cloves and cardamom fill in the background with spice.

The floral tones are not very strong, flavor wise, unless I slurp the cup. This aeration allows the floral notes to express themselves.

Nice … it’s definitely more about the spices than about the flowers, but, the floral notes do manage to make their way through. A really enjoyable cuppa.

I have this sample from Dexter3657 from a while back. I tried it when I first got it, didn’t like it hot that time but kept it just in case. I made some iced chai latte a couple of weeks ago using a different chai, and it worked great, so this morning when I read that TheTeaFairy made herself some iced chai latte I thought to myself "yes, yes, that is what I am going to do right this moment. "

So I used the remainder of this sample. Ok, so what I found is that I liked this one iced with almond milk way better than I did hot. Alas, maybe sugar and coconut or almond milk is the great equalizer. That, and a breath of cardamom was the ticket this time. Same steeping method I always do. Steep the chai in hot water as I would any other black tea and then pour it over ice. 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup sweetened chai. Bam!

Thank you to Dexter3657 who is furthering my chai education alongside her own.

This pinches! It is so beautiful to look at, not like any other chai I’ve ever seen. There’s nice green cardamom pods, then there’s pinkish red rose petals, some yellow somethings :) .

Steeped for 3 minutes, a (DAVIDs) perfect scoop of leaf to 8 oz of boiling water. Sugar, a splash of milk and we’re off to the races. Maybe not the races.

This tastes first of cardamom, then of clove, and the black pepper gives a slight burn but not too spicy, it doesn’t travel down the throat, it stays in the roof of your mouth.

Too peppery for me, no go. There’s also a flower thing I’m not digging. I know there’s no chamomile in here but it kinda tastes like it way way at the back. Sorry! Thank you again to dexter3657.

Next!

Thanks to Dexter3657 for this sample!

I’m confused by this tea. It smells very much like maple candies in the bag, and steeped it smells mostly like rooibos. What confuses me is the taste. I mean, I LOVE the taste. It reminds me of my childhood, and an odd Dutch treat my Mom would give me that she loved, called zout. Basically, there were plain chewy licorice kitties (I forget their name – that’s what this tea tastes like to me), zout (hard, coin-shaped salted licorice), and double zout (I’m sure you can figure that one out).

All I’m getting from this is the chewy kitty licorice candies. Last time I had them, my Mom had long passed, and I was in the MOST amazing European deli in Courtenay, BC, on Vancouver Island. (For a small island town, Courtenay has some amazing businesses including one of my all-time favorite yarn shops, The Tea Centre, and this European Deli. I miss them all dearly). Anyway, I digress.

This is a maple-spiced tea, yet all I get is chewy kitty licorice – and I have yet to sweeten it. Take from that what you will, however just from the memory alone that it evokes, I’ll definitely buy more of this.

So this is like a preemptive sipdown ha! this is one of the teas that Dexter sent my way and i’m choosing to drink this before adding it to my cupboard :)

This comes at a great time, given the two promotions that Steep This! is having right now. I’ve looked at their website a couple of times, but haven’t placed an order because there aren’t “enough” teas that i DO want to try. I’m hoping that they’ll come up with a few more blends in the near future – particularly with black teas!

That being said, this is a great tea! I love strawberry teas but generally they’re either green or black. So this was a nice change. What was even better about this tea is that the strawberry taste is genuine. It’s not that artificial strawberry taste…just straight up strawberry – like dried real strawberries. I don’t much of the “white tea” flavour in this, but really that’s fine with me. most white tea tastes like sweet water to me anyway ha! this would be pretty darn good in summer too…

Since I had such a good time with the Strawberry White last night, I decided to break into this one tonight.
I opened the package and suddenly have a whole new respect for this company. This is real rolled whole leaf oolong with coconut flakes. Most flavored oolongs don’t look like oolong, just broken pieces of something resembling tea.
As much as I’m impressed that they use a quality oolong, the problem is that it gets lost in the coconut. Don’t get me wrong, this is GOOD coconut but it’s a shame to obscure that oolong. I just wish it was more oolong, less coconut.
If you are a fan of really good coconut teas, you should try this. It is amazing in it’s sweet creamy goodness.
I’ve really enjoyed the Steep This! teas that I’ve tried, and would order from them again. They have nice quality, funky takes on classic flavors. I hope that they continue to come out with new flavors.

WOW!!!! Best flavored white tea I’ve tried yet. Honestly, I’m just getting into flavored whites, but the few I’ve tried haven’t been any where near as nice as this one.
I’m a little sad that it’s fall. This would be a wonderful spring tea. Sweet, juicy, with just a hint of tart strawberry goodness. The hibiscus in this is perfectly balanced, does not over power the tea.
This is great. Well done!!!

I’m seeking my perfect chai. Every time I place a tea order I add a chai (if they carry it). I have LOTS of different chai in my house.
I was a little worried about this one. I don’t normally do very well with floral teas, and I couldn’t understand why anyone would include florals in a chai. OK what do I know? This is never going to be my PERFECT chai, but it is better than most of the ones I’ve tried. I’m not sure I can actually pick out the floral flavors, but there is something weird/strange/unusual to this tea. What I do like about it though is that the spices aren’t hitting you over the head. This is chai, no doubt about that, but it’s more subtle and gentle than most of them. It’s also pretty well balanced. Most chais are clove heavy or cinnamon heavy. It’s like you can’t pick out all the individual spices/florals, you just get a nice gentle “chai” flavor.
Not perfect but pretty good.

I received my Steep This order yesterday. Cold and rainy here, so last night I settled in to watch the hockey game with this tea.
I don’t think it’s quite as funky as the name and ingredient list suggests. That might be a good thing for me, I’m a huge cardamom fan but don’t fare as well with fennel. All in all this was a nice maple tea, it did have some spice undertones and there wasn’t a lot of rooibos distracting from the flavors. The maple was subtle enough for some of the spices to come though but I didn’t think that I could pick out what those individual spices were.
I’m not sure I would order more of this, but will drink and enjoy the sample package that I have.