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This is the sample I chose for virtual teasting #21. My experience with sTEAp Shoppe thus far has been that the blends are not flavourful enough for me, and I have to work to discern the flavours that are supposed to be present. Thus, I thought that choosing naturally strong flavours like lemon and ginger would work better for me. It turns out, I was half right.

This blend’s fragrance is very lemony. I could not really detect any ginger. To be fair, I didn’t smell the entire sample packet, just the bit that I spooned into my infuser. I have to remember not to smell the tea at the beginning of the steep: there’s the lemon scent, but there’s also something else, something a bit acrid. At the end of the steep, this unpleasantness was gone, and the tea smelled like hot lemonade.

I found the taste true to the fragrance: a perfectly balanced lemon herbal blend. Except it’s supposed to be a ginger blend, and I couldn’t taste any ginger at all. No bite, no mild burn at the back of my throat, no tickle in my nose, nothing. My relatively low rating is purely because I didn’t feel that the flavour was true to the tea’s name. If its name were something like “Lemon Fresh,” my rating would’ve been somewhere in the mid- to high 70s.

Tea amount: 1 slightly-above-level tsp
Water amount: 6ish oz
Additives: None, at first, then about ½ tsp demerara sugar. The sugar really went well with the lemon, making the tea taste like candy. Yummy.

1 http://steepster.com/discuss/3620-new-virtual-tea-tastings-free-number-2

It was suggested that I might be able to pull more flavour out of this blend with a second steep, so I figured I’d give it a try. (Giving it a try on the same day was a terrible idea, when the first steep’s caffeine nearly did me in, but that’s a different story.)

Aroma: Much like the first steep, there’s a nice caramel fragrance, but I’m still not getting any chocolate at all.

Visuals: In spite of the longer steep, the tea was lighter in colour than after the first steep. Although this makes sense, it still worried me a bit: how could I get more flavour out of what appeared to be a weaker tea?

Taste: I needn’t have worried. The tea tasted much like the first steep, but yes, the caramel was very slightly more prominent. I then added some milk and honey, and quickly decided that it’s my preferred preparation. The milk made the tea creamier and brought it closer to justifying its name, and the honey brought forth the caramel like a blue shirt can deepen the blue of its wearer’s eyes. Still no chocolate, though.

Because I found a preparation method that lets me enjoy this tea without working for it, I have raised its rating a bit. Because I had to work this hard to find a preparation method that works for me, I lowered the rating a bit (but it’s still higher than it was before). =) Since I still have the rest of the sample, I’m thinking I might try this cold at some point and see how I like that.

Tea amount: 1 level tsp
Water amount: 5ish oz
Additives: A dash of vanilla soy milk and a smidgen (⅓ tsp, maybe) of orange blossom honey

Thank you, steapshoppe for this sample, and for including me in your virtual taste testing (teasting)1. I really love participating in these events and hope that I get the opportunity to do so again in the future.

These dry leaves have a really nice aroma. I didn’t really get “chocolate” from them, but the milk and the caramel were definitely there. The wet leaves didn’t retain the layered, complex fragrance, however; I’m afraid I didn’t really smell much of anything at all, except for kind of a wet mulchyness.

I have a lot of respect for sTEAp Shoppe. They are really strict about the ingredients they use and flavour their teas naturally. Sadly, I think that this approach, while most admirable, doesn’t work well for those of us who like our teas really bold and flavourful. I mostly tasted black tea in this blend, and had to work really hard to get the caramel notes from it. Don’t get me wrong, they are there, they’re just not in your face, like I like my flavoured teas. There was a bit of astringency at the end of the sip, a very slight bitterness hitting the back of my throat, and a bit of sediment in my teacup. I added some sugar, thinking that would pull the caramel flavour out more easily, but it actually made things worse in that regard (a new experience for me). It did, however, eliminate the slight bitterness I tasted, which was nice.

[Edit] Azzrian said in the virtual teasting thread that she finds that the caramel notes come out more in the aftertaste, and I’m finding this to be true as well. It’s really interesting: while drinking my little cup of tea, I tasted mostly black tea, but after having finished it it (and it’s now several minutes later), I’m still getting a bit of the caramel taste, even more so than the black tea. I actually really like this aspect and am raising my rating a little bit in appreciation.

Because of the tea’s caffeine content, I only had a little bit, so I still have some of the sample left. This means I get to play with it for another small cup or so. I love being able to try different things to see if I can improve the experience for myself, and I look forward to giving this another shot (on another day, as I’m already buzzed and any more caffeine will make me ill).

Tea amount: 1 level tsp
Water amount: 5-6oz
Additives: None for a few sips, and then about ½ tsp demerara sugar
Dry mouth factor: 7/10

1 http://steepster.com/discuss/3620-new-virtual-tea-tastings-free-number-2

By the gods, I love this stuff1. Yesterday, I had to collect Mum from JFK at around 7:30 in the morning. That’s around the time I usually go to sleep, so I ended up staying up the night before, afraid I’d sleep through. So there I am, 4:30 in the morning, slightly bleary-eyed and more than slightly frazzled, packing a bottle of water and a fuzzy throw for Mum. All that remained was the tea.

Once upon a time, I had only one loose tea—Ocean of Wisdom—and that’s the tea I would’ve made and taken with me. Now I have so many loose teas to consider, so many yummy (and untried) options, and the very thought of having to guess (at that hour) what Mum might like and what I should try was doing my head in, so I ended up selecting the same one: Ocean of Wisdom. It’s just so good. And the fragrance is just so heavenly.

This note, though, is about the second infusion I prepared when I got home. I have to admit that I rarely bother with second steeps, never mind multiple ones. I’d be a horrible oolong taster, given that many times, the best flavour of an oolong emerges in the third steep (and beyond). That said, I gave the second steep a try because this tea can get really expensive, compared to the others in my cupboard: my 4.4oz packet was USD$19, and Samovar recommend using 2-3 tbsp per 16oz/473mL. That’s only about 8 servings! Since it’s rooibos (and therefore naturally caffeine-free) and my favourite blend, I could go through that in a couple of days. Eep! So I was thinking I’d try and stretch it out a bit by steeping again or using less tea next time.

Anyway. The interesting thing about this is that the second steep is a completely different tea. Gone was the warm, sweet, woodsy rooibos flavour I love, and I couldn’t detect most of the other ingredients, either. Really, it just tasted like cloves and ginger. And it was awesome. It was this potent, spicy brew that felt so great hitting my throat, which is a bit vexed with me for taking it to the petri dish we call an airport. I was really surprised by the level of gingery spice, a level that I hope for in my ginger tea blends but rarely get. (To be clear, it’s surprising because the first steep isn’t at all piquant.) The second steep is also slightly astringent, but only on occasion, not throughout the cup.

From now on, this will be a two-steep tea for me.

Tea amount: 2.5 tbsp
Water amount: 16oz/~475mL
Additives: 2 tsp demerara sugar
Dry mouth factor: 4/10 (second steep only, first steep is 1/10)

1 http://steepster.com/bleepnik/posts/57991

It’s a bagged tea and I love it. There, I said it. =)

I also have to say that the dry leaves don’t have the most pleasant fragrance. I don’t know what it is, maybe a bit chemical in nature(?), but it’s pretty off-putting. Thankfully, the brew itself has the most lovely, warm, woodsy fragrance I associate with rooibos (I don’t really know the difference between honeybush and rooibos; I’ll have to look it up at some point). Reading Steepster reviews, it seems like that’s a fragrance people either love or hate, and I love it.

The brew is so good. It’s a totally unassuming, straight-up, woodsy tea. It’s honeybush, like it says on the packet. It’s exactly the kind of “comfort food” cuppa I needed on this lovely autumn day. There’s nothing complex or fancy about it, but it’s an accessible bagged tea that doesn’t disappoint, which is no small feat now that I’m used to loose tea blends.

Tea amount: 1 bag
Water amount: 8oz/~237mL
Additives: 1 rounded tsp Demerara sugar
Dry mouth factor: 0/10

There’s a thread floating around the discussion forums here about how many cups of tea people drink in a day1. It surprises me to read that some folks get through 10+ glorious cups a day, when I drink maybe 1-2. I have this travel mug2 that I use all the time. It keeps my tea hot for several hours, drinkably warm for over 12. I happily sip away throughout the day, but since I’m not in a rush to finish it before it goes cold, I don’t go through it very quickly. Well, my mug’s in the sink and I wanted tea now, so I used a regular teacup. Okay, so now I get it! By the time the steep timer rang, the tea was cool enough to sip. By the time I got to the couch from the kitchen, it was half gone. By the time I sat down and got comfortable, it was all gone. I had to get right up again to make another cup! I’d be hopping up and down like a jack-in-the-box if I had to keep this up all day, and get nothing else done. I’d better get that mug washed. =)

Oh, by the way, in case you were wondering… I tried getting a second steep out of the bag (only because I was feeling extra lazy) and that’s as much of a “silly rabbit, Trix are for kids” thing as you’d think it’d be: the second cup was basically sweetened hot water, with a bit of colour and a very light tea flavour to it. =)

1 http://steepster.com/discuss/3583-how-many-cups-of-tea-do-you-drink-a-day

2 http://amzn.com/B002PY7AYS

In spite of the “limited edition” claim on the tin, I was surprised when I couldn’t find this on the TCB&TL web site. I guess it really is gone. Hunh, go figure.

Upon opening the tin for the first time, I was naturally knocked out by the powerful cherry fragrance. It smelled natural, for the most part, like smelling a bottle of cherry extract/concentrate/whatever, but there was still a very slight medicinal tinge to it. I’m learning, with experience, that I shouldn’t judge fragrance and flavour immediately, especially fragrance. It’s concentrated and not true to reality. So I gave it a minute, and slowly the strong cherry started to subside and the black tea fragrance began to come through, until the two struck a decent balance. I didn’t smell any mango or lily blossom, but I did discern a vaguely floral aspect to the black tea part of the fragrance, which I don’t usually associate with black tea (and which actually reminded me a bit of green tea).

I haven’t drunk tea in a while, and it’s because my new tea tasting adventures have been more unsuccessful than not. I was thinking about it, and I was thinking that possibly, irrationally, my disappointment with specific teas turned me off to tea in general. I’m sure you’ve all experienced this disappointment: you look forward to holding that warm cup or mug in your hands, inhaling the fragrance, sipping the yumminess, immersing yourself in the ritual and experience, only to be betrayed by a tea that’s not really up your alley. I’ve had too many of those, lately. One of the things that I’ve begun doing is drinking 8oz at a time1 instead of my usual 16oz, so that if I’m sipping a tea I don’t love, at least it’s not 16oz of it. Another thing I realise I need to do start doing is having a cup of one of my favourite teas after every few new tastings so that when I think of drinking tea, I think of my favourites and not the disappointments.

This tea isn’t wonderful, but it’s not terrible. To its credit, the tin does not say “naturally and artificially flavored,” just “naturally.” To its credit, the tea does not taste like cough syrup or maraschino cherries, but more like cherry Jolly Rancher and black tea. Given this, in theory I should love this tea. But I dunno, there’s something about it that—sweetened or unsweetened—misses the spot.

For now, this is the type of tea that I’d stick in the back of the cupboard, the type I’d pretend didn’t win the “eenie meenie minie moe” lottery. But like many of the fruity blends I’ve tried in recent weeks, I’d really like to try this one iced, and possibly that will improve its rating. In the meantime, I need one of my security blanket teas to make me feel better.

Tea amount: 1 sachet
Water amount: 8oz/~237mL
Additives: 2 tsp Demerara sugar (note to future Nik: um…that was too much)
Dry mouth factor: 6/10

1 Halp. I use a 16oz travel mug that is awesome. It keeps my tea hot for like 12 hours. Now that I want to drink 8oz at a time, though, I haven’t been successful in finding something like it in that size. I don’t like teacups or mugs because I tend to drink my tea slowly and it just gets cold way too quickly. So basically I want an 8oz sippy cup for hot beverages. If you have any suggestions or recommendations, I’m all ears. Thanks!

I gave this one another try, but now I’m giving up on it. It smells like potpourri and tastes like cinnamon something. There are soooo many amazing teas out there for me to try and love, that I’m not going to waste any more time working to like something I just don’t. At some point, I’ll put together a swap list, and at that time I’ll add this to it. I think someone who likes cinnamon and rooibos might actually like this, and every tea deserves to be adopted by someone who will appreciate it.

Tea amount: 2 sachets
Water amount: 16oz./~475mL
Additives: omglotsofsugar. In reality, about 1 tbsp Demerara sugar.
Dry mouth factor: 0/10 (The only good thing I can say about it, really.)

Okay, I tried. I really tried. I tried every which way I know how to get some flavour other than “veggie juice” out of this blend. I just cannot taste anything else, unfortunately. In addition, after the tea cooled a bit, it got really, really bitter and astringent. Also, in spite of my infuser’s fine mesh, there was quite a bit of sediment in my teacup.

The nice thing about big companies like Teavana and Adagio is that they don’t participate on Steepster, they don’t go the extra mile to establish a rapport with customers and use wonderful incentives to drum up business and introduce themselves to us. Consequently, I have no qualms at all about calling it like I see it and being critical of a blend I don’t like.

It’s different with the little guys. These little companies are either just getting started or intentionally staying small and catering to a niche within the tea market. They make such a huge effort to procure our business, our trust, and our loyalty. They participate in random discussions, give us the benefit of their expertise, and are responsive to our feedback. They become our friends.

Don’t get me wrong, this is awesome. But it also means that I feel obligated to like their teas, especially if I get them as free samples. I feel guilty when things don’t work out, even though well-intentioned criticism can be more helpful than a glowing review. So here we are, my first free sample that I didn’t love, and I’m feeling terribly guilty about it. Sorry, sTEAp Shoppe, better luck next time.

Tea amount: 2 tsp
Water amount: 8oz./~237mL
Additives: 1 tsp Demerara sugar
Dry mouth factor: 3/10 hot, 7/10 after cooling

I’m not sure about this one. I might have to give it a little time, maybe a few tastes. My initial impression is a whole lot of meh.

Fragrance, dry leaves: Coffee. Okay, I’m beginning to think that all nutty rooibos blends smell like coffee to me. There’s coffee and there’s a sort of generally tropical thing going on, but I don’t know that I can actually smell coconut and mango. I’m just a teensy bit on the irked side that the list of ingredients doesn’t actually contain the word mango anywhere, just “flavoring.”

Fragrance, brewed tea: Coffee. Generally tropical something or other. Also, something nutty. But not specifically coconut-ty.

Flavour: There’s the coconut! And even the mango, sort of. It’s not really evident, but because I know it’s there, I can search for it and find the flavour.

In the end, it may just be that I’m not a fan of these tropical flavours. It may be that I should try this iced. It may be that I wasn’t paying enough attention and didn’t steep it properly. For the time being, what I’m feeling is that something is missing here. I’ll try it again at a later time and hopefully improve my rating.

A quick tasting note for the sTEAp Shopping virtual tea tasting. First impressions:

The dry leaves smell pretty vegetal. There are lots (and I mean lots) of apple chunks, but oddly, I can’t smell apples at all. I never quite understood what rose hips are or whether they’re related to roses in any way. Are they supposed to smell rosy? Do they smell like anything at all? I’ll have to Google it later.

The brew smells like freshly cut grass, but that’s it. I’m not getting anything else at all in the fragrance.

Sadly, the taste didn’t make a good first impression on me. It tastes like green veggie juice. I was going to say “spinach juice,” but that’s not quite right. It’s more of a generic green veggie juice than the juice of a particular green veggie. I was really, really shocked that with sooooo many apple chunks, I couldn’t taste apple at all.

Maybe I need to add more tea? Maybe I need to try steeping longer? I’m not sure, but this initial experiment was not a success. Fortunately for me, there’s still plenty of the generous sample left, so I can give it another go.

Tea amount: ~.75 tsp
Water amount: ~4oz./118mL
Additives: None, for a few sips, then a pinch of Demerara sugar in an effort to improve the taste.
Dry mouth factor: 2/10