Dr. Tea's Tea Garden

Thanks DJ Booth for sharing this one with me! I’m sitting here on this particularly gloomy day trying to get a whole slew of homework done! (when am I not doing homework?) I’m trying to relax a bit and have a mid-day snack of this and pumpkin spice trail mix from Target; that stuff is magical (woot for clearance food! LOL) I have to say that I think I should have had this when it was warmer.
From the dry leaf I was expecting this to be a bit more like the 4 Red Fruits from Kusmi. Although that pit fruit flavor is there on the end of the sip there is something a bit more distracting on the start. It’s very fruity without being overtly sweet or tart; a welcome change to the Teavana blends I’ve been downing.
I think that the only downside to this is I don’t really “get” the rooibos in this blend. It seems like the oolong leaves are nice and big; flavorful to boot. I say ditch the rooibos!

I have to thank DJ Booth for this one! :) I’m obviously very behind on my samples…
This is a very interesting tea to be approaching! I’ve never had lapsang before so the base can be slightly intimidating.
mmm! You know what? I like this a lot! I don’t know exactly how I feel about the smoky-ness. Something tells me this would be great as some kind of crazy tea-cocoa-marshmallow concoction. Hmm…must. find. more. marshmallows!
There is a certain amount of surprising creaminess. I wasn’t expecting that from the initial dry-leaf smell. Very interesting! I wouldn’t really say that I would have guessed s’mores from a blind tasting, but this is interesting and tasty to boot.

Thank you DJBooth!

I have tried a plethora of different caramel rooibos teas, but I have never found one that is jst right. They are either too synthetic, don’t have much flavour at all, or are just too sickly. It has become a bit of a quest, actually, to find the perfect one.

On opening the bag, this smells very sickly and synthetic. Hmmm. Not good.

The taste is something of a surprise, actually. It is very good! Not sickly or synthetic, but with just the right amount of flavour. It is lovely and sweet. The rooibos base doesn’t overpower the caramel, instead, it supports it very well. This was really a lovely suprise!

This is the first tea that I’m trying from the January Steepster Select Box. I have to say that this is the first box that I was kinda-sorta disappointed in, I have tried both the Moroccan Mint and the Chai (but I do love them), and this is the only tea that is new to me, and it’s Lapsang Souchong which is not a favorite of mine.

That being said, I’m actually quite enjoying this. I steeped it in my gaiwan using short steeps (quick rinse, first infusion 45 seconds, second infusion 1 minute, combined these two infusions in one cup), and the result is pleasant. Smoky, yes, but now as I allowed it to cool slightly to a drinkable temperature, I am discovering more of the pine notes in this than I have ever noticed in another Lapsang prior to this tasting. Yes, I know that the tea is smoked over pine needles, but, this is the first time I’ve actually been able to distinguish the pine flavor underneath the smoky overtures. It’s rather nice.

Wow… OK… so before trying this, I was actually disappointed in the Steepster Select box, and now that I’m tasting this, I think that even though the other teas are repeats for me, this tea (a LAPSANG SOUCHONG) has made the box worth it for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love those other teas, but, I joined the Steepster Select to explore new teas … THIS kind of experience is why I joined the Steepster Select.

I’m not liking this. Normally I enjoy smokey teas, so I expected to like it. It tastes like a camp fire. Not pleasantly.

After drinking this, I knew it was not something that I would keep drinking. I thought I would use it on a steak or something else…

Smoky Turkey Chili!!

2 cups of this and one cup of broth. Really good. I might buy more just for making chili.

Yum! This was the first tea that I tried from the Steepster Select box. Love the smokiness from it. It reminds me of walking into a smoke shop filled with sausages. I have to cook with this.

It’s rare to say that a tea is out of my cupboard but alas this one was finished this morning for breakfast. When you have to say goodbye to good tea it’s like marrying off one of your kids. You are sad to see it go…but will be back in your house for periodic visits. Adieu till I order again.

Brewed a pot for myself and my father-in-law after dinner at our house. I switched up the recipe a bit. I took the base S’mores Tea and powdered it with cocoa. Yum! This is quite delicious. Reminds me just a bit more of actual S’mores.

Started off my day with this one today. There’s nothing like the smell of Lapsang in the morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jts9suWIDlU&feature=related I definitely like the combo of Lapsang and Assam. It make for a nice smokey breakfast tea. However, the marshmallows and the chocolate don’t seem to come through. Maybe if the tea was coated in cocoa and you threw in some graham crackers you would have it spot on. I would drink this though on a regular basis with no quarrels.

Happy Mother’s day to all the mothers. After taking my wife to breakfast I was going to make Pu-Ehr, but my wife asked me to make the tea that she likes. A combination of oolong and Teavivre Golden Monkey, or as my wife calls it Chinese restaurant tea. Finishing off the King’s Oolong.

Another one that I decided to pick up with the gift card that my dear gave me as a wedding gift so I guess you would say this tea is a gift. This is the base for the Dr’s Obama’s Oolong. This is good one. I like that it is less floral and has more of a nutty characteristic to it. The ginseng adds a little sweetness. Overall a good one.

So I have had this one a while and wanted get a week in of tasting it before my review. Trumpet fanfare….or not so much. This tea has very similar indgredients that the good Dr’s coffee tea has but with white chocolate instead of the vanilla. When brewed the matcha is not that noticable. It is a deep brown liquor(like the coffee tea) with oddly enough a green ring around the top of the mug. Not gonna lie that’s cool. The aroma is pleaseant a little roasty…a little sweet too. However I think that there is some sweetness in the aroma when you roast something. The sip. MMMM There is that roasted oolong and hojicha coming through…and the white chocolate. That’s the difference between the coffee tea, and BAM! KA-POW! WHAM! or my favorite KABONG! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6ptSZFNOk&feature=related The Matcha. What the Matcha gives this is more texture. It’s almost like the consistency of hot cocoa. This is a fabulous tea. It’s definitely a great morning starter after a cup of JavaVana Mate. This adds to why more of my tea money goes to the Dr.

I have had this bagged as one the craving tea lines. I decided to buy this with a gift card that one of my dearest friends gave me as a wedding gift. I open up the bag and the aroma is heavenly. I have a bad sweet tooth when it comes to caramel. I get home from a gig Saturday night and try it out. It’s so good! It’s gotta be one my new favs. I tried half of this and half of the Imperial Pu-Erh in a french press…yes indeed quite a treat!

I decided to break this one out this morning for a little something different. The mix of lapsang, assam, and osmanthus flowers do a nice job to start the day. I am still uncertain how the flowers affect the flavor here, but still a good morning kick start.

I have had to brew this one a few times before reviewing it. At first it seemed harsh to me…but after tasting it a few times i really like this tea. If i were to rename this tea i would call it Fireside breakfast or camp breakfast. It very much reminds me of english breakfast with lapsang in it. I dont know how the Osmanthus flowers affect the tea but i think this one is very good.

I bought this tea to get me up to 25 dollars to get a free box of tea since I was re-ordering my Pu-Ehr :) I was surprised. A nice Oolong tea. I could pick out the Oolong flavor…Ti Kuan Yin maybe? The combination of the flavors actually tastes a little peachy to me. I think it’s quite tasty.

The Doctor is in and he is killing me with this one! Another great one in the coffee tea collection from the Teagarden. So I admit that caramel happens to be one of those sweet-tooth weaknesses that I have. The dry leaves have a nice roasted and sweet aroma. The liquor…well it looks a lot like muddy water. Cloudy but that doesn’t deter from wanting to try this treat. Yeah! This is a good one. The smooth buttery caramel really comes through in this tea. It’s exactly like the coffee, but add that caramel and it really makes for a treat. Great with a splash of almond milk. This tea is going great listening to Nikka Costa’s-Pebble to a Pearl album on Rhapsody.

So running out the door this morning I had what I call a teabrain lightbulb(Despicable Me) Throw this in my strainer mug with a little Ti Kuan Yin….The result. I am ready for fall! All I needed was a little whip cream and my oh my I would have thought I just finished Thanksgiving dinner. This is such a great herbal!

So this was in my shipment from Dr. Tea. Donald put together a coffee tea sampler for me, something that they don’t even have on their website to order….yet ;) I wasn’t sure about a tea with pumpkin in it but this is amazing. A spicy chai and then the pumpkin adds this mellowing factor that is uncanny. It even gives the tea some texture. I dig!

So this came in the mail for me today. Let me say that I was a little bit excited about it that’s for sure. So out of the package the tea is dark like black gunpowder teas that I have seen. The aroma of the leaves is light and pleasant like a good Hojicha. The aroma in the first cup is quite intriguing. I picked up a pipe tobacco like aroma, some vanilla, and yes even a hint of weed. How it has all that I don’t know but my nose has been stuck in the cup just taking it in. The flavor is very similar to the coffee tea that Dr. Tea carries, but a little more robust. Maybe a bit reminiscent of roasted chicory. Very tasty! It leaves an interesting feeling behind in you mouth. Almost a little numbness. The second infusion brought on a darker brew. Let face it when you roast the Iron Goddess of Mercy you have to let her warm up and unfurl her beauty. The second cup is very close to a cup of coffee. This would be a coffee kicker for me. The aspect that I find amazing about this tea is that I just finished my 4th infusion, the aroma and flavor have not diminished. I may have to change my roos after trying this one. Wow!

I should’ve logged this a while ago. Thanks to the DJBooth for swapping!
This is a great lapsang for the smoke factor over the tea base. This is so good with coconut milk. I had it with some chickpea miso for the one of the best miso shiru recipes I know. Sadly I’m almost out. I hopefully the lapsang on the way will be as much as a culinary delight.

Oh I am loving this!

Thanks DJ Booth!

Threw in a bit of my Freakin Twilight Fan-Custom Blend from Adagio (strawberries & blood orange black tea) and the sweet and smoky flavors are playing well with each other.

Oh I’m having another one of THOSE days so this is helping. . .a bit. . ..

Not going to lie, I’m enjoying this one quite a bit. . . As I was pouring the water onto the tea bag, you could smell all of the orange sherbet-ty goodness and it was soo yummy! The green tea taste is very light, more of the orange flavor stands out. Yumma!

Thanks to DJ Booth for sending me this one. You introduced me to another tea company :) Thanks!!