Tea Desire
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For a Cream of Earl Grey this one sure goes over the top. They should have just made it a Grey Variant. They ALREADY have one called ‘Charming Grey’, which I was also considering trying. Bergamot, vanilla, jasmine, rose, BOURBON?
It smells delicious, though. Although the smell reminds me mostly of this company’s Irish Cream, and I’m picking up no bergamot.
The taste… Wow. I got a hint of bergamot, a lot of cream vanilla bourbon. No jasmine, I think. Well THIS is a cup of deliciousness. I had feared that it would be using the same base as their collection of flavoured blacks, and thus would get bitter as it cooled. It’s still too hot to tell, but it’s very delicous and sweet and tasty right now. And I think I’m getting jasmine hints in the aftertaste.
Hmmm the bitterness is starting to set in. I had hoped, being a grey, they would treat it differently. Ahwell, it just means the reduced temperature I had to do to the others to get rid of the bitterness. Still quite nice.
Although now as I continue to sip it, I realize I can no longer make out the bergamot and wonder if I imagined it in the first place. This really does just remind me of a milder version of the Irish Cream. Huh. Well, that’s disappointing. I knew I should have just gotten up earlier and picked up some Earl Grey Cream from Tealicious to try instead.
Went back and got a second steep of this, and although the whole thing is very watery and doesn’t resteep well, I think I can taste a touch more bergamot.
Preparation
Finally finished this one off today in a little cast-iron teapot from my sister (she got it way back when she was in highschool, but soon lost interesting tea; she recently gave it to me). It gave everything a slightly off taste, and hot metal has a peculiar smell.
Ahwell. But this’ the last of THIS tea.
Drank this a few times, wasn’t sure if I liked it, but I think I do. It smells like a strong assam, but it’s really quite mellow in comparison to most of them. Or at least it is at three minutes steep time (although I steep most assams at two). I think there is some darjeeling hiding in this blend as well. It lives up to “Afternoon Blend”. I should be drinking this one more.
Unrelated, Damn Fine Teas has released Series 5 and 6, and I didn’t even notice. Now there’s no way I can get their Christmas blend in time (ten days to transfer money to paypal, order, at least two weeks to ship to CANADA). Damnit.
I’ve found I LOVE the idea of Christmas tea blends. I want to collect them all. Sadly, no marketplaces around here seem to want to sell the Christmas blends of the standard tea companies. I really want to try Stash’s Christmas Eve and Morning, and White Christmas. But no places sell it! And the site’s shipping to Canada is outrageous.
Preparation
Thank you vague description that gives me no clue into the black teas used in this blend! You forced me to guess wildly at the steeping time.
It was marketed as an afternoon blend, but is said to have malty tones, so I couldn’t figure out if it might have some Assam in it—which would have had be reducing the time a bit. Floral notes as well, so.
I find that I prefer plain black teas over flavoured. Mostly tea blends—if they’re all black tea, or some black and green teas. I enjoy them more. Flavoured blacks are a bit more of a novelty. I enjoy them a lot as well, but.
The tea is quite a deep red, and has a distinct Assam black kind of smell to it. However, the taste is very mild. …This may be because I burnt my tongue earlier today, being in a rush. There’s definite notes that do remind me strongly of Assam teas, but lighter, and there is a sort of baky vegetalness that makes me wonder if there isn’t a bit of some oolong tea in here as well. I figure that taste is what they meant by the ‘floral’.
I’d suggest taking what I say with a grain of salt, because really, my tongue is quite burnt and that’s probably scewing my taste considerably. But I don’t know, I rather like it right now.
Actually, tasting this, I think I understand more what it means for something to be ‘malty’ than I ever have drinking just marketedly ‘malty’ Assams. Huh. And this still goes down very smoothly, with just touches of astringency as it cools.
Preparation
Just using up the last of this. I find I rather like Yunnans, or what I’ve tasted of them so far, so I think I’ll probably try a few more from different countries in the future. I’ve still got the sample from Life in Teacup. I think they’re a pretty brilliant company overall, so I think I’ll have to add Yunnans and perhaps Keemuns to my list of things to get from them.
This one was still pretty good, considering I am not much of a fan of Tea Desire’s other teas. I made a good-sized pot of this to finish it off. My breakfast today consists of a pot of this, toast (with a bit of honey spread on it), and Train’s new CD.
A really good morning tea for those that’ve gotten sick of Assam, which can happen because it IS pretty bold. This is bold without the sharpness. Smooth.
Preparation
The leaves are black and gold, and they brew into a dark amber-red cup.
The cup is bright, but doesn’t particularly hold any uniqueness. It reminds me a bit of Assam in the strength and slight bitterness (I brew Assam in two minutes to keep it from getting TOO bitter), but with more of a briskness as well. I don’t think I’m getting any of the pepperyness that people describe for Yunnan blacks. There is, however, a Keemun quality to it as well. …Sort’ve makes sense, I guess. Both provinces in China.
I keep wanting to pick out a peppery SENSE, although not taste, but I assume it’s more me trying to find what I EXPECT to be there, than actually getting any pepper.
It’s very nice, though. I quite like it. I realize I’ve really missed plain black teas. I’m glad I’ve got three new ones now. No flavours added, just single-estate black teas. Mm. I’ve been too busy attempting to dwindle down my overall supply of teas, so.
Preparation
Didn’t mean to let the water cool this much before steeping it, but it does bring the grenadine flavour forward much more. Very fruity. I’m actually starting to get low on this, and it makes me sad because although I’d like to get more, I’d rather try some from a different company. I still strongly dislike Tea Desire’s flavoured blacks base.
Still, finding this enjoyable.
Preparation
My first sip of this today came with a BURST of vanilla. It was quite nice.
Since the first note, I’ve lowered my steeping temperature to 190, eliminating pretty much all of the bitterness.
So it’s nice, the flavours come through strongly although the tea is still there (just very faintly now), and it goes quite well with my bagel. Mmm bagel and tea breakfast. I made a pot with my mother so she could try some as well. Bumping the rating up a bit.
Preparation
My Simple Leaf order came in today. THE TIMING. I splurged on Tea Desire because I figured I had another week before my order came in. Now I’m SWIMMING in resealable plastic tea bags.
The smell is so fruity and delicious; It must be the grenadine. And I’ll admit to you right now, I haven’t the faintest idea what grenadine is. Let me google it.
Oh! …Looks like a pomegranate.
Anyways, my first sip was quite bitter, but it’s lessened considerably to just the back of my throat coupled with the usual dryness.
The flavours come through nicely, more as a background flavour that accompanies the tea well enough. Although I think the bitterness is starting to come back as it cools. I don’t think I’m much of a fan of the black base used in their flavoured teas. Maybe I should try making the tea below boiling next time (190F, perhaps) and see if it lessens the tannins.
Otherwise, there’s a hint of the fruityness, and I feel like I can almost smell vanilla, but I don’t think I can taste it. The ceylon used is lending its own tart sort of taste.
My next cup from the pot I tried with a dash of white sugar and milk. I wanted to go with honey, but I didn’t want to drown out the flavours. Tannins problem solved, and it helps bring through the fruityness of the grenadine. It’s sweet, fragrant. Sort of perfumy. Although the sweetness is probably from the sugar. It’s a perfumy sort of taste though. Light.
Second steep still carried the strong fruity smell, although the taste of both it and the tea itself was MUCH lighter. However, not bitter! Second steep was for five minutes.
Preparation
Dear god does this smell delicious. It’s a heavy sweet creamy smell, with a dominant but not overpowering chocolate scent as well.
The initial taste is black tea, but the chocolate cream sweetness rushes in soon after, and lingers strongly in the after-taste. The taste is deep, and I think worthy of the ‘Irish’ in the name. I can see this going well with alcohol, actually, which is weird coming from a teetotaller like me.
This would be equally delicious with milk, I think. But testing that would require trekking all the way back upstairs to get some, and I’m lazy.
The tea base is strong and only faintly bitter. I’m sure the added flavours would be stronger with a loner steep time (the package said 3-5 minutes, I did 3 1/4). The flavours seem to have faded in later sips. They’re still there, though. I should try five minutes for my next attempt. I was originally going to go with five minutes, but changed my mind at the last moment.
It seems to be getting a bit more bitter the more it cools. Not good for the added flavours.
Also, it took a bit of will-power, but I kept myself from picking out the chocolate bits and eating them.
Preparation
There’s chocolate in this? Don’t get me wrong, I Iove chocolate, but I think the name should reflect all ingredients. This gives me the impression it’s just a straight Irish Cream flavored tea. I’m kinda tempted to order 52teas’ version.
I had originally planned to buy 52Teas’ version, but I was in the shop and saw this one; it was a purchase of opportunity.
I hadn’t actually realized it had chocolate in it until she started scooping it into the bag. However, it has more of a heavy thick cream taste than a chocolate taste. It’s more of just after-taste of cocoa. I think the chocolate drops themselves added are more for show. To tempt tea drinkers into picking them out and eating them.
I prepared this herbal infusion in my tupperware glass teapot with a metal infuser.
I drank it “black” with no added milk, sweetener or lemon.
Uninfused “Leaf”: The spices are all cut to a very consistent size. There is a bit of dust covering the walls of the tin. The smell is very spicy! There isn’t one spice that really jumps out at me; everything blends nicely.
Infusion: The liquor is a nice orangey-brown. When I poured the water in, it created a foamy “head” but that disappeared after a few seconds. There is a bit of dustiness in the bottom of the pot and I think some of the black pepper snuck through my infuser. The aroma is predominantly cardamom and cinnamon, and this definitely translates into the taste. The pepper quickly jumps in and together with the ginger create a very spicy beverage!
Overall I really enjoyed this tea. I think it would be a great base to use for “home-made” chai and would be nice with a little bit of milk and sugar. It was very spicy but I think the spiciness would allow it to pair nicely with pumpkin pie/carrot cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I’m not usually a huge chai fan, but this one is definitely one of the top chais that I’ve tried.
Preparation
I got a package from Jillian today! thanks J!
I drastically oversteeped and it was bitter but it could be because I oversteeped too…not sure. Based on how long I oversteeped I thought it would be more bitter, actually. It was still drinkable, tho. I am going to re-attempt this at some point…so I am not going to rate it yet…it was ‘ok’ but I do have higher hopes for it…next time it shouldn’t be human error! LOL
Since I have been drinking loads of caffeine in the form of diet soda, yerba mate and oolong all day long, I thought I would slow down a little tonight and steep a little herbal “tea”. This is a fruit infusion that I bought from Tea Desire, and it came highly recommended.
The nose of the loose product is INTENSE. This is a blend of blood orange wedges, apple, lemon grass and mint. It smells candy-like and sweet and immensely cool and fruity. Normally I would choose a warming cup of rooibos for a non-caffeinated night-time drink, but I thought I’d give this a try.
The color of the steeped liquid is, well, it looks a lot like apple juice. The flavor is bright, a little bit acidic, but in a refreshing, thirst-quenching way. It is very fruity. I am sure that is the whole intention of this blend. The flavor of the lemon grass is more prominent on my palate than both the blood orange and the mint. Luckily, I love the flavor of lemongrass, but it may be a little overwhelming for some. I find the mint mostly comes out on the finish and it is very pleasant. The blood orange is a unique touch, and adds beautiful color and flavor to this infusion. This is definitely a candidate for iced tea. Blend it with a little iced white tea and a touch of honey, and I think the flavors would come out very nicely if not a bit more subtly.
I like this one, I enjoy the unrestrained intensity of the big, bold flavors and aromas. It’s not complex, it tastes exactly like it looks like it’s going to taste, no surprises. Sometimes, that can be a good thing.
When I added the water a distinct odor wafted up out of the cup at me. The odor of…raspberries??? That’s the only thing I can call it, and nary a hint of mango OR papaya in the scent anywhere. The flavour is predominently rooibos – not my favorite to begin with – with a rather faint, sweet, generically fruity taste.
Yeah…it’s not really doing much for me I’m afraid.
Preparation
I think I’ve completely given up on rooibos teas. I’ve never had one that didn’t have that awful dusty rooibos taste that I dislike so much.
When I lived in the UK, I found a few red teas that were nice, including one I thik was called 11 O’Clock Tea, but it is hard to a roobios here in America that doesn;t get bitter quickly or is nice to drink by itself.
