2291 Tasting Notes

SSTTB #5.

Oh, this is good. This tastes like really good quality vanilla extract smells. Almost. A bit less vanilla-y, though, and a bit more oak-barrel-y. :) A really nice black base that takes cream well (I picked up some organic cream because it doesn’t have thickeners in it, and it’s SO MUCH NICER in tea! I didn’t think cream could get nicer, but it did.). Doesn’t need sweetening, although I bet it would take sweetener well too.

Tempting to keep this one, or some of it at least…

(PS. The toads are squacking. I REALLY hope this doesn’t mean that they’re gonna start breeding. I do not want babies. Nope. Not at all.)

Flavors: Oak, Vanilla

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Cameron B.

Wishlisted! And the toads are clearly telling you that they want tea, too!

OMGsrsly

It’s interesting that I would normally call this a winter tea, but it was so good even though it’s way too warm outside.

Cameron B.

I love all things vanilla, and I’m always drawn in by the bourbon/Madagascar/Tahitian descriptor. Such a sucker! :P

OMGsrsly

Well, this is a nice vanilla-oak tea. :)

caile

Are those your own toads…or the outdoor ones in the wild?

caile

haha, I just saw your note below…foster-parenting toads. :)

OMGsrsly

Yeah. Fostering them because they weren’t getting cleaned and fed. Idk. I have to buy fresh food for them weekly, which. :/

caile

Yeah…I similarly took in a lizard many years ago…the feeding part was not great at all! Eventually I gave it to a local pet shop though.

OMGsrsly

This is easy: dump crickets in tank. Close tank. Wait. :) I don’t mind crickets, but I can’t stand wormy things.

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SSTTB #4. (Just watch and laugh, Sil. Watch and laugh.)

This one smells divine. Lemony candy with a hint of cinnamon. Sadly, it doesn’t taste that way at all. It’s really drying and unpleasant, and the lemon turns into a mere wisp of taste although I can still smell it in the hot tea. I even added some sugar to help smooth everything out, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to hit a sweet spot.

This smells like it would make such a good iced tea, but doesn’t come through flavour wise. :(

Flavors: Astringent, Drying, Lemon

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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SSTTB #3.

This is the last bag, so I thought I would save it from loneliness.

Dry it smells really weak. Steeped it smells and tastes really weak. But I think that fresh, this might be pretty good. I have the faintest raspberry-lemon-orange taste coming through. The base is pretty mild, not overly bitter or astringent. It’s just too bad it’s so weak tasting.

Flavors: Bergamot, Raspberry

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 236 ML

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SSTTB #2.

Dry, this smells SO GOOD. And also comes in the CUTEST tin. http://instagram.com/p/qNXgDdR5FA/

Unfortunately, steeping it at 85C as recommended has resulted in a bitter mess. There are some neat flavours there, floral and herbaceous/spicy. Maybe it would be better as a mini cold brew? I’ll have to try. (Maybe. If my bladder can handle it.)

Flavors: Floral, Spicy, Wood

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Cameron B.

Eeeee I can’t wait to do a TTB! I hope the one that just opened for sign-ups starts soon! :3

SarsyPie

That tin is absolutely adorable!

OMGsrsly

There are SO MANY TEAS in this one. O.o I’m not sure how long I have it for, as I’m not entirely sure where I’m sending it next. :) Hopefully long enough to make a good dent, and also rummage through my cupboard for a bunch of additions.

Cameron B.

Yeah, it sounds so exciting! Plus I’m getting to the point where I have a few teas that I don’t love and that other people might enjoy. :)

OMGsrsly

Exactly. :) Teas other people might enjoy. Haha.

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drank Butterscotch Banana by 52teas
2291 tasting notes

SSTTB #1.

I am so overwhelmed, tea friends. There are SO MANY teas in here and I want to try almost all of them. I have all the 8 oz mason jars out, and all my strainers are clean. :)

So this one. You know, except for the base, this is pretty good! Definitely butterscotch, although the banana is hard for me to find.

Not a tea I ever would have asked to try, but it was at the bottom of the box (which of course I opened) and I saw it first, so… yeah. It’s interesting. I think I’m done with these blends though, as the base tea just isn’t a favourite.

Thank you, whomever put it in there! And thanks, Roswell Strange, for sending the box on to me.

Flavors: Butterscotch, Fruity

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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drank Fruits d'Alsace by Harney & Sons
2291 tasting notes

Yum. Fruity plummy tea. Another that I’m trying to finish.

I think my favourite H&S teas are the soba cha (yay buckwheat!) and Paris. So while it’d be pretty silly to order just for that, if anyone is interested in sharing an order I might be up for that.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 14 OZ / 414 ML

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drank Melon Oolong by Lupicia
2291 tasting notes

First tea of the day. So amazing. I really need to get some more. (1 tsp in 12 oz, over ice to make 1 L. Steeped twice. So delish.)

So yeah. Today was interesting. Slept 4 hours last night because I was warm and uncomfortable. Went to work. None of my stuff came in because Friday was a US holiday, so you can imagine how much actual work got done. I tried. I organized and prepped and etc. But there’s nothing to report.

And then a friend called and asked if I would mind fostering some toads. Yeah. So after a huge mess of tanks breaking and having to go buy crickets (because I cannot with the meal worms UGH) and dropping all the rocks and everything… I am now the proud foster parent of 4 fire-bellied toads. Yep.

That took forever. But now I’m home, sipping on this iced, thinking of a shower before bed, just to cool down and get comfy.

Bonus is my cat really likes Toad TV.

http://instagram.com/p/qLkTb2x5NR/

Flavors: Floral, Green, Melon

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
OMGsrsly

Thank you for sharing it, Sil! I’m converted. I will not doubt the melon teas any longer.

Sil

haha yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it :)

TeaLady441

That’s crazy! TOADS!

TeaLady441

TOOOOAAADS!

Dinosara

Woohoo, toads! Those guys are cute. But, I have a large number of reptile and amphibian pets. :D

OMGsrsly

My friend has loads of snakes, and didn’t want to have to deal with the toads too. So I have them. :)

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drank Cavalla by Crio Bru
2291 tasting notes

HOLY MACKEREL.

This is CHOCOLAAAAATTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously in your FACE chocolate. Ahem.

It is ground cocoa beans, so I’d expect that. However, I hadn’t actually made this as recommended. 4 tbsp (yes, 1/4 CUP of the grounds) of this, 12 oz water. Steeped 12 minutes.

WOW.

Just. Wow.

I don’t think you NEED to do this to get the chocolate delicious flavours, but it certainly is fun. It’s super bitter because duh, it’s cocoa beans, so I added 1 tsp honey. It’s also a bit of an oil slick because duh, it’s cocoa beans with all the cocoa butter still inside, so I added some cream to make it luxe instead of icky.

Yes. Thank you. I will be making this with coffee in the morning.

Flavors: Chocolate, Dark Bittersweet, Dark Chocolate

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 12 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Sil

is this the one i picked up or the one you picked up? lol

OMGsrsly

This is the one I picked up. :) I haven’t tried yours yet because I haven’t really been craving hot chocolate, and want to compare them. I mean, is there really a discernible difference?

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Iced with sweetened condensed milk. Again. :)

I decided to have this tea after helping my BFF with her snakes and then going dress shopping with her. I’m been chugging Cranberry Orange Chili Pepper by Bayswater since I got home, but I needed something a little different. :) There’s so little black tea in here I’m considering it decaf. :D

So it’s good. I still like it. I’ll tear through my 100g pretty quick, but I don’t think I’ll get more once I’m done. Teas I have iced are usually only consumed in the evening, so Butiki’s honeybush root beer will do me fine. I like that one hot as well, while this one hot is just. No.

(Diluted to 16oz with ice.)

Flavors: Cinnamon, Fennel, Root Beer

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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90
drank Florence by Harney & Sons
2291 tasting notes

Florence, you are almost gone. I’m sort of sad about this, but not completely sad. I probably won’t buy more of you for a long time.

I’m starting to be “over” the chocolate flavouring that H&S uses. So while the tea is good, it’s not quite right. It’d be better if I added some cacao shells or something to up the chocolateyness.

Still, it’s pretty good. Thank you for sharing with me, CrowKettle. I do appreciate it. :)

Flavors: Chocolate, Nutty

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 15 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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I mostly drink black tea.

Also: A map of tea places in Vancouver. I’ve been to some of them, but not a lot. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
http://goo.gl/maps/gXsKK

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