93
drank Checkmate by DAVIDsTEA
6106 tasting notes

Oh work tea (aka work brewing conditions)…. you are truly so terrible :( I almost don’t even want to drink this cup of tea because it’s just Not. Very. Good. And I know the tea is great.

I think I’m going to take the last of this bag to brew at home… and have my boyfriend take me to pick up 2 more thermoses at Costco. I’m so spoiled by tea at home, it’s just gross here now :( I’d rather brew 5 thermos-fuls of tea in the morning and nurse them through the day instead of attempting to make tea here. Blech. :(

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
OMGsrsly

What thermoses do you get from Costco? The Contigo no-spill mugs, or something else? (I need new thermoses/mugs, hence the curiosity!)

Kittenna

Yes – my mom and I picked up a 2-pack of the Contigos for Christmas, and I love mine. Well worth the price! I know Sil has about 4 in her house too, and they work awesomely. Keep the tea hot, and is the more important criterion for me, leakproof (not that I’ve tested it too much though, but it’s certainly better than the mug that spilled in my backpack before Christmas and soaked everything in Genmaicha…)

Sil

The mugs are pretty awesome. We do have 4 in our house, and i bring 2 in to work with me everyday. The keep the temperature pretty well and don’t leak. Mine don’t have a lock like Kittenna’s, but unless the button is being pressed, they don’t leak…and if they’re upright even pressing the button won’t necessarily = a leak.

OMGsrsly

Ahh, perfect. I have one, but I’ve dropped it a few times. I should go pick up another set! I find that as long as they don’t lay on their sides for too long, they’re good. Mine sometimes leaks if it’s just laying there, but it’s more of a dripping than a torrent of tea.

Kittenna

I have found that if the lid is wet (i.e. just washed) when I put it on, I will get leakage… but it clearly was just water, not tea, so my fault, not the mug’s!

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Comments

OMGsrsly

What thermoses do you get from Costco? The Contigo no-spill mugs, or something else? (I need new thermoses/mugs, hence the curiosity!)

Kittenna

Yes – my mom and I picked up a 2-pack of the Contigos for Christmas, and I love mine. Well worth the price! I know Sil has about 4 in her house too, and they work awesomely. Keep the tea hot, and is the more important criterion for me, leakproof (not that I’ve tested it too much though, but it’s certainly better than the mug that spilled in my backpack before Christmas and soaked everything in Genmaicha…)

Sil

The mugs are pretty awesome. We do have 4 in our house, and i bring 2 in to work with me everyday. The keep the temperature pretty well and don’t leak. Mine don’t have a lock like Kittenna’s, but unless the button is being pressed, they don’t leak…and if they’re upright even pressing the button won’t necessarily = a leak.

OMGsrsly

Ahh, perfect. I have one, but I’ve dropped it a few times. I should go pick up another set! I find that as long as they don’t lay on their sides for too long, they’re good. Mine sometimes leaks if it’s just laying there, but it’s more of a dripping than a torrent of tea.

Kittenna

I have found that if the lid is wet (i.e. just washed) when I put it on, I will get leakage… but it clearly was just water, not tea, so my fault, not the mug’s!

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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