A Quarter to Tea

Yum, this tea has a good balance of blended flavor and tea base – the apple, nuts and spices don’t drown out the nilgiri black tea base. The tea is lightly spiced and has a tasty apple flavor.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/a-quarter-to-tea-tea-review/

I really wanted to love this one, it just sounded so good… and am wondering if maybe my sample just wasn’t enough for my mug… but even brewing it for a while I wasn’t getting a lot of taste… that hasn’t been an issue with anything else I’ve tried from QTT, so I’m hoping this was a fluke, so am refraining from rating this one.

Additional notes:  Really solid consistent four steeps with 2 1/2 teaspoons (making sure to include an entire cherry in the infuser).  Why is this still so lovely?  Coffee, cherry, roasty.  ….I feel like I’ve written something along these longs before.  One of the handful I was able to try from Quarter to Tea but I MISS THEM.

Additional notes:  Nothing to do for my crappy mood today but get tea spoiled.  Having some delectable favorites today:  52Teas – Berried Treasure, B&B’s Rice Moolong and this one.  I think I’ll be revisiting some very favorites in the coming weeks while also trying some new-to-me teas. I’m savoring this tea once in a while because not only is it discontinued but the flavor is still amazing.  Sure, it’s not as good as it was when fresh, but that tea magic doesn’t exist yet, of keeping teas fresh through any amount of time.  The hugest dried cherry I’ve ever seen went into the infuser. It was much bigger than a teaspoon.  This is a tea where the parceling of ingredients must be very careful. Otherwise you get all these cherries in the infuser!  CHERRY.  CHOCOLATE. COFFEE. Perfect blend. Perfect for today.

I also finished organizing my teas that I’ve been doing slowly over time.  That was fun.  What’s next? A calming yet haunting song for today: Ed Harcourt – The World is On Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlo9aQFUlyo

Additional notes: Thanks for this one, JakeB! Sadly, this one is missing a lot of flavor from the blend I have in stock now… I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a different batch of the blend, stored in the paper packaging too long, or I didn’t get a nice enough mix in the teaspoons, even though I was trying. I only saw two coffee beans floating at the top of the mug, not much chocolate and I didn’t see any cherry pieces, when I saw a whole half a cherry in my first sample. AND I experimented with three teaspoons. But this steep session, it was mostly tasting like the roasted oolong. The best steep session I ever had with this one was with the first sample I ever received from AQTT. That’s a shame as this was my favorite blend that time.
Steep #1 // 3 teaspoons for a full mug// 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

Additional notes: Yes, I’m sipping this one again so soon after my sample (well, having the same tea in the same month is very soon for me, anyway!) I must have had the perfect mix of ingredients in my sample last time, as well as the perfect steep parameters. This time it wasn’t as magical. I tried to mix up the pouch to get a good sample of ingredients, but I don’t think that happened. I tried to follow how I steeped it the last time too, other than only using two teaspoons rather than 2 1/2. I really don’t want to use that many teaspoons every time. But next time I will to see if the magic comes back with 2 1/2 teaspoons. Still love it though!

This one is especially inspired —had to try it! (I could say that about most of A Quarter To Tea’s blends though!) THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHERRY TEA!! No contest – this puts all other cherry teas to shame. The cherry tastes identical to the cherry in chocolate covered cherries, even though actual cherries weren’t overflowing from my brew basket – I didn’t notice them. But the best cherry flavor (nothing fake or cough syrupy about this) fills all three steeps of this tea. I’d say cherry is the dominant flavor with wisps of milk chocolate and coffee. So decadent and divine. The tea bases are perfect as well. You’ve got a great blend of a dark wiry oolong mixed with hojicha green tea, fresh coffee beans, dried cherries, chocolate chips and chicory. Amazing. I’m a little sad I used all of my sample up for a full mug (2 1/2 teaspoons) but it’s perfect. I wish I could have this tea exactly like this every time. If you are looking for a cherry tea, you have to try this! This one is definitely Butikiesque. :D
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AQuarterToTea
Steep #1 // 2 1/2 tsps for full mug // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 4 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // few minute steep

noms. Finished this one off today…sad to see it go but i can always get more :) just the right blend of creamy delicious vanilla goodness.

tea from the other day. my cupboard is really looking a little bare these days. Must try to resist picking up teas….

noms. this was a tasty afternoon tea today – overload of sweet, vanilla deliciousness to keep me from eating things i shouldn’t haha

Final sample from A Quarter to Tea This one has sprinkles and cake like additions to it. Normally i’m not a fan of that sort of additions to teas, but in this particular case, i think it adds to the whole “cake” tea concept. this is vanilla cake in a cup. However, instead of strawberry, i’m getting an almost amaretto like taste. That’s not to say that it’s bad but it wasn’t just vanilla cake :) the rooibos in this one is present, but not in that overly intense sort of way. It’s also not that dreaded woody rooibos that i really don’t like. On the whole, while this has a little more going for it than straight up vanilla cake, i still like it and enjoyed. I would recommend checking A Quarter to Tea out based on the strength of the offerings i tried. Once i’m good to order tea again, I’ll be placing an order to try out a few more…like the mexican hot chocolate maybe? :)

I hope this isn’t a temporary tea. I might have to cry.

I would like to officially recommend that the name of this tea be changed from “Syrupy Pumpkin Pancakes” to “Syrupy Pumpkin Pancakes OMG” because that is what I say every single time the name of the tea comes out of my mouth. I mean seriously – could that sound any more delicious?

Full review: https://tealover.net/2015/10/syrupy-pumpkin-pancakes/

Sipdown! sad to see this one go but i suspect i’ll pick up more in the future. I like the balance of oolong and apple.

only one more cups worth of this i think. I’ll enjoy it and might think about getting more of this in the fall. It’s a nicely balanced apple oolong + caramel

Haven’t been drinking much tea over the past week or so because i’m sick, it’s stupidly humid and hot and i have NO CHOICES in my cupboard lol I broke down last night and made a small purchase and today i’m hoping to hit tealish to get a few fruit herbals since i have zero of those in my cupboard and they’re a necessity in the summer. Here’s hoping i don’t go too crazy though as i do have a teavivre order that may never arrive on it’s way and a few teas at VariaTEA’s house tha ti need to pick up (and jam!) woot!

Brought this one with my to work yesterday. I am in desperate need of some summer teas. Because of all the puerh in my cupboard i’m down to about 11 non puerh teas. That’s insane for me. This one hit the spot – just the right balance of apple and caramel.

On a side note, i don’t know about you guys but it drives me mental when companies are on facebook or other social media but don’t respond in a timely manner to questions on those platforms. To me, it’s like having a phone number or email address that you don’t answer.

This was a great afternoon tea – even cooled it’s pretty tasty, though it’s a little almost floral when it’s cold. happy to have this one again.

Delicious afternoon tea. Added a pinch of sugar to this and it certainly brings out a bit more of the caramel deliciousness. I think i prefer it without though to have more of the apple taste.

Rainy day teas. Working hard and trying to plan for the weekend coming up. Next weekend my other half is at an 8hr race so i won’t see him all weekend and then i’m on vacation while he stays home :) So this is our last weekend to really get oranised before we’re already in to June!
Pulled this one out since i want to try all the new teas to figured out if i “need” to place another order. This one is still a delicious apple tea, though i would love more caramel. even cooled i’m a fan.

And yes VariaTEA – i forgot to pack you a sample but i’ll make sure to save you some!

Another tea from A Quarter to tea As some of you may know, i don’t love oolongs, but i don’t hate them. I do however, love a good caramel oolong…and add some apple to the mix, i am usually sold.

this one brews up as a nice bakes sort of tea. at least that’s first impressions…baked caramel gods…followed up apple and what feels like, a hint of cinnamon…except that it might just be me projecting that, because this does a good job of creating that baked apple sort of goodness…ingredients say…yes there is cinnamon in here but it’s not IN YOUR FACE cinnamon. it’s a subtle blending of apple, caramel and cinnamon. I am a fan.

First off, thanks to much to quarter to Tea for sending out these great samples of teas. I’m always looking for new blends, especially since there is no more butiki. :( I picked this one because i LOOOOVE a good banana tea.

Ceylon’s are not my go to tea, as they generally have an astringency that I dislike. In this tea though, i quite like the base. I steeped this for 4.5 mins and there’s no bitterness or astringency. the base is quite nice and comes through without overpowering the tea. I did make sure to get some nuts and bananas in to the cup for a balanced steeping. What comes through predominantly is the pankcake/walnut feel. I don’t really get much in the way of banana. Once the cup cools, there is a hint of banana, but it remains a nutty/walnut? pancake sort of blend. that aside, i still quite like this tea but i want more banana! So imo….boost up the banana in this bad boy and you’ll have a fantastic tea here :) Really nice first cup from A quarter to tea. thanks for sharing!