drank Ginger by Mate Libre
1403 tasting notes

Hmm, tastes more or less like ginger ale, which I don’t usually drink, with the addition of mate bitterness and non-caloric sweetener, aspartame maybe? Nope, not aspartame. The ingredients show sugarcane reb.m. Not sure what that is if it is not sugar. I’ll look it up and get back.

I would not buy this as I am not typically an energy drink consumer. I do like Yerba mate though and enjoy the bit of wake up buzz that comes from it.

It came in my online Quebec Tea Festival tea box which I purchased after Ms. Strange’s review. I have a lot to say about the way the tea boxes were arranged, organized, and sold. Some (Many?) of the original items featured in the boxes were substituted for other things. It was mentioned that there may be substitutions. The original sale advertising mini-videos of the boxes were pulled down by the time the boxes were shipped out—a three-week time lag. More venting to come.

This is my first review of one of the box items. This drink is peppy, I’ll give it that.

There’s that fizzy ginger ale thing going on.

I am probably not the person to be reviewing this drink as I am biased. Ginger ale reminds me of having my tonsils taken out.

Crowkettle

That’s incredibly disappointing. Sounds like a drink best saved for a sick day :P

Evol Ving Ness

I do like the grab bag-like idea of the tea fest boxes. I also want to discover and support our local tea people, who have probably been suffering during this endless COVId situation.

There were a number of random tea things in the boxes, but I’ll refrain from comment until I have a chance to explore more thoroughly.

I got something like five RTD drinks (among my three boxes). To be continued. Maybe a bit of praise with the ranting and raving.

Crowkettle

A local tea box is such a neat idea; its cool they change things up but it sounds like a bit more transparency would be nice (the hit or miss nature of sub boxes, eh). Was there a link with this event? Totally flew under my radar.

Looking forward to what you got though!

Evol Ving Ness

I was certain you were around when she posted details and discount code. It was, however, a very brief window before the purchase cutoff date.

Click into red visit the site button and shop to see what’s available (though boxes I think are done.). https://en.festivalduthequebec.com/

Evol Ving Ness

Who knows—maybe they are still available.

Crowkettle

I probably was but am sometimes (often) oblivious to hyped deals and sales.

The boxes that are up right now are pretty nice! :)

Evol Ving Ness

The packaging is fun and some of the contents are cool. Looking forward to exploring. I like the idea of a tea festival in a box, especially in our quasi-lockdown days. I was hoping to go beyond my tea comfort zone a bit. I wonder what they will be putting up on the site the days of the fest.

Crowkettle

I do love that they got creative with an online festival. You’re right, it’s a nice option with covid stuff causing everything to be up in the air all the time!

It also looks like a better spread than our Vancouver Tea Festival; when I went to that one a few years back, everyone was pushing puerh. So.Much.Puerh. lol

Mastress Alita

The Portland (Oregon, US) Tea Festival did the same this year, since they had to cancel an in-person event. Offered limited time sampler boxes which also included the cups you’d get from a physical tea festival.

Evol Ving Ness

Did you get one of the boxes?

I was one of the tasters for the Toronto Fest a couple of years ago and the sampler pack we got was awesome.

These are pretty well everything—oolong, whites, herbals, forest botanicals, fruit blends,, greens, mate, puerh, matcha— except for the dearth of black tea.

Mastress Alita

Yup, I bought one and so did my friend; we attended the festival at their last in-person event in 2019, so I was on the notification list for them. It was quite a limited run, though.

Evol Ving Ness

Here too, I think. Overall, I think it is going to be a positive experience.

Crowkettle

Portland Festival’s page says they did 200 boxes? I could see them being a good one! It’s going on the bucket list; Portland is fun.

Evol Ving Ness

Our in-person festivals are quite good with quite a variety of vendors. I’ve been to several. That said, I find the crowds overwhelming.

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Crowkettle

That’s incredibly disappointing. Sounds like a drink best saved for a sick day :P

Evol Ving Ness

I do like the grab bag-like idea of the tea fest boxes. I also want to discover and support our local tea people, who have probably been suffering during this endless COVId situation.

There were a number of random tea things in the boxes, but I’ll refrain from comment until I have a chance to explore more thoroughly.

I got something like five RTD drinks (among my three boxes). To be continued. Maybe a bit of praise with the ranting and raving.

Crowkettle

A local tea box is such a neat idea; its cool they change things up but it sounds like a bit more transparency would be nice (the hit or miss nature of sub boxes, eh). Was there a link with this event? Totally flew under my radar.

Looking forward to what you got though!

Evol Ving Ness

I was certain you were around when she posted details and discount code. It was, however, a very brief window before the purchase cutoff date.

Click into red visit the site button and shop to see what’s available (though boxes I think are done.). https://en.festivalduthequebec.com/

Evol Ving Ness

Who knows—maybe they are still available.

Crowkettle

I probably was but am sometimes (often) oblivious to hyped deals and sales.

The boxes that are up right now are pretty nice! :)

Evol Ving Ness

The packaging is fun and some of the contents are cool. Looking forward to exploring. I like the idea of a tea festival in a box, especially in our quasi-lockdown days. I was hoping to go beyond my tea comfort zone a bit. I wonder what they will be putting up on the site the days of the fest.

Crowkettle

I do love that they got creative with an online festival. You’re right, it’s a nice option with covid stuff causing everything to be up in the air all the time!

It also looks like a better spread than our Vancouver Tea Festival; when I went to that one a few years back, everyone was pushing puerh. So.Much.Puerh. lol

Mastress Alita

The Portland (Oregon, US) Tea Festival did the same this year, since they had to cancel an in-person event. Offered limited time sampler boxes which also included the cups you’d get from a physical tea festival.

Evol Ving Ness

Did you get one of the boxes?

I was one of the tasters for the Toronto Fest a couple of years ago and the sampler pack we got was awesome.

These are pretty well everything—oolong, whites, herbals, forest botanicals, fruit blends,, greens, mate, puerh, matcha— except for the dearth of black tea.

Mastress Alita

Yup, I bought one and so did my friend; we attended the festival at their last in-person event in 2019, so I was on the notification list for them. It was quite a limited run, though.

Evol Ving Ness

Here too, I think. Overall, I think it is going to be a positive experience.

Crowkettle

Portland Festival’s page says they did 200 boxes? I could see them being a good one! It’s going on the bucket list; Portland is fun.

Evol Ving Ness

Our in-person festivals are quite good with quite a variety of vendors. I’ve been to several. That said, I find the crowds overwhelming.

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A monk sips morning tea

A monk sips morning tea,
it’s quiet,
the chrysanthemum’s flowering.

- Basho

(1644-1694)

Note to self—-you do not actually need any more tea.

My real tea obsession began in February 2015.

Not, sadly, when I had been living and working in China, though I very much enjoyed sampling a variety of teas during my travels there as well. No, no, that would have been far too sensible.

I am a reformed coffee drinker. I still enjoy a long double espresso with a good quantity or milk or cream from time to time, but for now, tea is my thing. All day.

*note—this is way out of date, so if we are doing a swap and you are checking to see what I like and dislike, mostly never mind what you find below. One of these days, I will update this. In the meantime, check what I’ve been drinking and use your own judgement. I like all the teas. Well, I am open to trying all the teas.

I tend to drink black, green, or oolong tea in the morning to early afternoon. Rooibos or
Honeybush or herbal in the evening. And perhaps some sort of sleepy-type tea in the wee hours.

This year, I’ve been discovering flavoured teas, so it may look like that is all I drink although that would provide a false impression.

Not a big fan of chocolate or mint in teas, but I will try them and, from time to time, have been pleasantly surprised. Also, usually I dislike a prominent cinnamon flavour, if untempered with other things, in teas. Again, I say usually, because there are exceptions.

Also, please note that haven’t quite gotten into the habit of updating my tea cupboard on Steepster, and it is unlikely that I will do this on any kind of regular basis.

I drink my tea black and unsweetened. If there comes a rare moment that I add something to it, I will mention it.

Finally, while I thank large and successful tea companies for tantalizing and beckoning me to the world of tea, I prefer to support independent ventures with real people, real enthusiasm and commitment, and real dreams.

Currently, I am researching monthly tea subscriptions. Perhaps it will keep me out of tea shops.

And here is Shae’s rating scale— which I am using with permission, of course— which more or less describes the way I have been rating teas. I am going to make more of an effort to stay very close to these parameters now.

Rating Scale

1-20: By far, one of the worst teas I’ve tasted. I most certainly will not finish my cup and will likely “gift” the rest to my sweet husband who almost always enjoys the teas I dislike (and vice versa).

21-40: This tea is not good but if I mix it with another tea or find another steeping method I might be able to finish it.

41-60: This one is just okay. I might drink it again if someone were to give it to me, but I probably won’t be buying more for myself.

61-75: This is a consistently good tea. It’s reliable but not necessarily special.

76-90: This one is a notch above the rest and I would gladly enjoy a cup of it any day of the week. I’ll likely be keeping this in my cupboard, but it isn’t one of my all-time favorites.

91-95: One small change and this tea would be perfect. I’ll definitely have a stash of this in my kitchen if you come over for tea.

96-100: No words can describe this tea. It’s an experience, an aha moment. Closed eyes, wide smile, encompassing warmth. Absolutely incredible. Perfect.

Location

Mostly, but not always, Toronto, Canada.

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