Simpson & Vail

Not tasting the flavours as much in this tonight, for whatever reason, but I’m digging the base. It’s just… malty and complex and just barely astringent, which is really working for me right now.

Although on that note… I really should stop drinking caffeinated teas so late at night, or at least, in the quantities I’ve been having. I’ve generally been a pretty good sleeper in recent years, with only a few nights of insomnia, but last night was kind of rough – I just couldn’t fall asleep, despite definitely being tired. I blame having a matcha latte and loads of other caffeinated teas right before bed, which I thought didn’t affect me, but perhaps I overdid it…

Thought this was a sipdown. Somehow I always forget how light tea is; there are probably two cups left in the bag. Sigh. But it was fairly tasty, though I oversteeped it a bit. Love the chocolate cinnamon combination here, it really works well.

Yay, my S&V order finally arrived today!!! Naturally, I had to immediately get started on trying the new teas! I picked this one to start, as we were heading out shopping, so I had to travel mug it and thought it would hold up.

The dry tea smells a bit cinnamony and chocolatey, and a bit… cakey, which I suppose could be brownie. Brewed up, I recall it being ok although somewhat astringent while hot, but once it had cooled to lukewarm and sat for about 3 hours, I liked it a lot more! I will have to properly review a first infusion in the future. My mom tasted a sip and did not like it at all (thankfully we had made up Butiki’s Strawberry Oolong (which she adores!) in her mug). She doesn’t like chocolate in teas, apparently.

I’ve just brewed up the second infusion in half the water (3 min, boiling) and it smells much like a cinnamony baked good. Not really any discernible chocolate, but it’s pretty tasty! A bit astringent (so maybe 2:30 would have been preferable), but it tastes very much to me like the inside of a cinnamon bun, where there’s cinnamon in/on the bun part but not really any stickiness or icing.

I think this will work nicely as a morning thermos tea for me! That seems to be the best use of flavoured blacks for me, while the more delicate teas are best drank in the evening from a mug :)

Yup! This smells and tastes like Candy Cane! I’m super excited S&V made this with a GREEN Rooibos Base…I don’t think I have had a Candy Cane Flavored GREEN Rooibos before so that’s cool!

There is that lovely candy cane flavor with a sweet green rooibos but there is also a hint of stevia in there and S&V did the Stevia RIGHT :) Not by over doing it! YAY! The Red and White Cornflower petals are more for show, I think…but I am cool with that.

This is tasty! I’m partial because I am a MINT freak but I love this!

We had this today with Christmas brunch. It went very well with the food. A basic, solid black. No astringency with a weighty body. I picked up this one since I had really enjoyed the Golden Yunnan from Republic of Tea during my last vacation.

Overall, I think I prefer the Golden Yunnan teas. They seem to be maltier to my taste. I have been using Kally Tea’s Royal Golden Yunnan as my breakfast tea at work (and I’ll need to review it before it’s all gone…) and while this Yunnan is good, I don’t think I’d choose it over a Golden. I probably won’t replace this when it runs out but it has been a nice tea to have around.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas day!

Backlog and sipdown – see other tasting notes :)

Amy Oh and Nicole had me curious about this one so I got it! Glad I did! It’s way different than I was expecting but that is what I like most about it. The various black teas used in the base make up a flavor of its own and it does have notes of grape and/or currant as others as well as the product description noted. There is a bit of smoke but more notably the peppery black tea popping thru. And there are fruity/floral notes, too! This is very different but quite good, indeed!

I’m stoked to be drinking one of Mr. Vail’s original blends (one of the first 15, even!) I’m also really excited they made mention of both English and Irish Breakfasts in the product description as well as mentioning the black tea blended base is made up of teas from India, China, Sri Lanka, and Formosa. With all this in mind I can’t help but think of what America is made of…immigrants – we all are! People from all over the world make up America so it puts a smile on my face that all of this also goes into this American Breakfast Blend of a tea.

I can taste the English and Irish Breakfast comparisons, here, but I can pick up on the floral notes, sweet-woodsy notes, a bit of smoke, and even hints of citrus – naturally speaking.

This is super tasty! Much of what I look for in a Breakfast/Black Tea with a little extra somethin’-somethin’!

WOW!!!! This is marvy! I was thinking it was going to be like a chai but the spices are there but mesh differently to make sure it’s more of a gingerbread than a chai, I guess. I’m not sure how but it does! And I’m glad it does! It has a bready/cookie type taste with all the right spices! This stands by it’s name and description from S&V and I really like this! YUMMO!

YUMMY! This is the Assam I have been searching for this week! YAY!
This is fairly malty but well rounded from start to finish! It’s a nice straight-up naturally-juicy black tea. It has a good amount of strength but isn’t the slightest bit bitter. I really like this Assam! It’s lovely!

Dry – this has a bit of a sour fruit type aroma tied in with a softer darjeeling and/or multi-black tea blended base.

Once infused – the liquor smells more like a slightly fruity – non-sour-fruit aroma paired with a croissanty-type darjeeling type scent.It infuses to a nice-even medium brown color.

Interesting.

My first sip made me say that exact word. Interesting. It’s far different taste-wise from what the aroma lead me to believe. It has a completely even flavor from start to finish along side an incredible creamy texture and smoothness on the tongue. It has that little bit of darjeeling type flavor you would expect but it’s much more complex than that. As it cools just a tad I think the darjeeling-likeness is more towards the end of the sip on to the aftertaste. In the middle of the sip I’m picking up something similar to a non-fizzy beer or ale – not sure if I would consider it to be a wheat type taste and/or texture or “hops” but it’s very interesting regardless and ENJOYED.

It also has a lovely croissant comparison to it popping in and out while I sip. I do like that.

I have to say this is unlike ANY tea I have ever tried. I’m really enjoying it and am even more curious about S&V’s other 3 Nepal Teas which I do have on tap to try!

This is a conversation piece, a darned-tasty tea, and a very interesting brew! WOW! Awesome!

SIPDOWN and BACKLOG on this one, too! BUT…I can see placing an order for more of this in my future…I really adore it. For that reason…I’m upping the rating!

You know when you get really pissed about something and you want to lash out and stay pissed but also want to act on something or have a partner in your rage? For example…when I get pissed I sometimes BLAST really HARD Music. Well, what kind of tea does one drink to accompany something like that? I don’t mean one that will mellow you out or calm you down…I mean a ‘Misery Loves Company’ sort of tea?

Perhaps I will start a thread about this. You know…one that is like that HARD music to aid your rage? Anyways…enough of the mini-rant for now…

This is the first of the new-to-me teas from my friends at S&V and I’m super excited!

This smells like a very warming, spicy, potpourri type aroma. The black tea is of medium to medium-strong in strength.

The spices are great in this. They are a chai type spicy but also a bit of potpourri type spicy, too, with floral notes of sorts. In addition the French Vanilla is a neat touch. It’s not over powering but it would well here. A touch more would be welcomed but I do like it the way it is.

I’m so blessed to have tried this tea – as well as the others I have on tap! I will never take tea(s) for granted.

HOLY MOLY this is liquid Candy Cane. Another sample from the ever generous Nicole I have to say, that i totally don’t mind this tea but man you only want to drink a little at a time because it really is like liquid candy cane. heh I enjoyed this one and it certainly put me in the holiday mood. The scent is 100% candy cane and the taste is no different :)

Thanks again Nicole!

Sipdown! Once again thank you nicole for this sample. I steeped this one longer than the recommended time and it was a much tastier bolder cup of tea without picking up any more astringency. Nothing i need to keep around in my permanent collection but i wouldn’t turn down a cup/samples of this in the future.

mmmm sip sip sipping through my tea! lol having a good time tonight drinking a few teas and trying to sort out the next few that i’ll work on sipping down (ie that i’v been hoarding with 1-2 cups left…)

mmmm thank you Nicole This is a tasty black. I think you’re right on the steeping parameters as i tried this for about 3 mins and it’s a little light. I’ll have to try again with a longer steep time. :) Still a tasty tea.

Thanks to Hesper June for this one…

I guess like a lot of people I haven’t felt up to doing much with the terrible news today about the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I can only imagine how the poor parents of those children must feel. Indeed it is a sad day for our country.

I felt like hibernating tonight and decided to watch a documentary on Grigori Rasputin. Somehow this tea seemed like the perfect accompaniment; especially as it’s cold and dreary weather today.

This is a VERY strong lapsang and has a heavy BBQ type flavor. Definitely not for the faint of heart but pretty good on a chilly evening. Very strong pine/tobacco flavors. Is there any tea in here? lol… I prefer my lapsangs to be a touch on the milder side but perhaps I will try blending the remainder of this with something? I actually do like this but it is not an everyday drinker for me. Now back to Russian history and may God bless us all…

A complete surprise in the mail yesterday – this tea!
H.J. – now…who…would THAT be? Hesper June – thanks so much!!!

I’m a fan of most of the teas I have tried from S&V…so I was excited to try this one, too!

So the deal with this one is that they combined Lapsang Souchong with Earl Grey! VERY interesting!

Yes…the first thing I could taste was the smokiness of the LS. The product description says ‘mellow’ but I disagree – there is a good amount of smoke, here! After my 2nd or 3rd sip I grabbed the EG flavors, too! Once I picked up on those I was smiling! The bergamot does come thru more as the liquor cools naturally at room temp for a moment or two. It’s not really that the LS and EG are playing tug of war, really, but they sure are playing around to try and flaunt their stuff! The more I drink this the more I like it. But the primary reason I like this is because S&V has ‘balls’ – I think they really got creative and took a risk here and I think it worked out really well for them!

This is a neat offering and a robust flavored tea!

Thank you, Hesper June for sending me a sample of this tea I’ve been wanting to try from S & V. By the way the little containers she put them in are very cute.

So… this is a Lapsang and Earl Grey blend which is interesting, I never would have thought to put the two together. Lapsang is the first thing you notice about this, it is quite smoky. There is bergamot in here but it’s more of a background note. I’m not really a fan of Earl Grey on its’ own but I am liking this. I feel like the bergamot has a slight twinge of bitterness.

This tea is pretty strong and I needed it this afternoon. Today was supposed to be my day for laundry and cleaning, but I think I am catching a cold… fortunately I have plenty of tea and Zicam.

By the way, I did another blog post about Imperial Tea Court if anyone wants to read it: http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2012/12/07/a-visit-to-imperial-tea-court/

Thank you Momo for this yummy sample! This is good stuff!
I will be doing a full review on SororiTea Sisters soon but let me tell you this one hits the spot and is the perfect tea to have while wrapping holiday gifts! :)

This does taste like a darjeeling. Less dryness and maybe a bit more fruit in the background.

Not bad at all. Nothing I’ll get again, but I’m pleased to have tried this.

Smells malty and slightly fruity. Not sure there I’d say there are any citral tones. Maybe this is another that my palate isn’t discerning enough to fully pick out the flavors in the description. I also don’t see any “white hues” in the leaves.

Definitely a full bodied taste, though I did steep for about 4 minutes as it seemed kind of light at 3 minutes.

Good, but not one that I’ll go out of my way to keep around.

Sipdown, 133. Cold brew. I cold brewed this (and removed the leaves) before I left on my trip, so in one respect it was nice to have some already-brewed iced tea waiting for me when I got back. Also, it happens to be a sipdown. With the teas I brought back plus the ones I got in the mail while I was away, my cupboard is at 133, which is pretty darn good still.

As I expected, this was a delicious cold brew. I think the lychee flavor came out a bit more even, and it was nice and refreshing. Love lychee cold brews, so I will definitely be having those regularly in the next few months, especially since it is stupid hot here right now.