1473 Tasting Notes

97
drank Read My Lips by DAVIDsTEA
1473 tasting notes

This is one of those always-perfect teas. I’m having anxiety about getting my hands on a DT Advent Calendar, of all things, and so I’ve been up since 4. I fell asleep at 1. Booo. So I made myself tea to calm down and soothe some of the anxiety with ritual. My wife took some of our stash of this to work and one day came home and said it was the best tea she’d ever had (in that moment), it just really hit the spot for her. I’ve been craving it ever since.

The whole house smells like mint chocolate now, I hope it doesn’t wake her up. Except for that part where I am painfully bored and wouldn’t mind if she did wake up XD.

And it is perfect, one again. It’s hitting that spot right on the nose and satisfying that craving. Although I will still likely grab a peppermint hot cocoa at the mall later today. I am very glad that the season of peppermint is upon us.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Sami Kelsh

Peppermint season is the best season! Glad to hear that it was some comfort to you in lieu of sleep :)

Daddyselephant

I whine and moan about pumpkin being everywhere before Halloween, but come peppermint season, I want peppermint everything. A bit hypocritical, but what can you do? XD

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100

I was up all night with a painful tummy and I feel just awful today, so I was in desperate need of some comfort tea. And oh boy is this it. I love this tea. It’s light and flavorful and refreshing and perfect. I am looking forward to spending my day with this perfect tea.

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100
reviewed Captain Hook Mug by Disney
1473 tasting notes

I had to add and review this mug because I love it so, so, so much! It’s so pretty and sturdy and perfect. It holds 12 ounces, so it’s perfect for those mornings with my 24 ounce bubble teapot. And it’s my Captain Hook! I have a deep abiding love for Hook and though I usually don’t care for Disney’s portrayal, I had to have this mug. Avast!

Fjellrev

That’s a sweet mug!

Daddyselephant

They have a line of them the others are (oddly) Jiminy Cricket, Bambi, and Maleficent listed as The Evil Queen. I might have to go back for the Bambi…

Daddyselephant

Ack I didn’t look close enough, it’s the evil queen from Snow White, not Maleficent.

Fjellrev

Ah yeah, I see them on their site. They’re pretty cool. I’m digging the Star Wars ones! Perhaps I should visit the Disney Store in Edmonton when I’ll be there next week.

Daddyselephant

My wife picked up the Luke Skywalker mug to take to work, I was actually about to add it to the database for her LOL

Fjellrev

Haha awesome. I think I want the R2-D2 one. So badass.

Daddyselephant

It is awesome, that’s the one I wanted her to get, but since I’ve not actually seen the movies, she decided my vote was invalid.

Fjellrev

Haha well you both have good taste. Are you planning on seeing them eventually?

Daddyselephant

I suppose. I’m just not that interested in them, but I think if I want my marriage to survive…XD

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93

This is my coldbrew with yesterday’s leaves and it is heavenly. Light, roasty and refreshing, it’s almost taking care of the coffee craving my wife put into my head when making her morning cup of joe.

Fjellrev

Seriously! I can’t believe how good it is cold brewed.

Anlina

I don’t drink coffee at all, but every time I smell my partner’s morning coffee it almost seems like a good idea. It just smells so excellent in the morning.

I’ll have to try a cold brew of Da Hong Pao.

Daddyselephant

It is more yummy than can be believed!

I shouldn’t have coffee, it makes me ill, but uuuuugh it smells so good when she makes it…dang her!

Roasted yerba mate fills the craving for me too.

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100

This is still one of my favorite teas, I just keep forgetting we have it because it’s in a different place than all the other teas. The spearmint is still strong enough to smell outside the box and it is lovely. I’m treating this like the Teavivre oolongs, two steeps in a bubble teapot and then overnight coldbrew. My first steep is a little weak, so I’ll likely let my next pot steep for a good long time.

As per usual, the scent of this tea has turned our orange cat, Pekoe, into a purring snuggle machine. She loves it and loves the hell out of me when I’m drinking it! It’s adorable.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 24 OZ / 709 ML
Anlina

I love that you have an orange cat named Pekoe.

Daddyselephant

We have three tea-named pets, two cats (Orange Julius Pekoe and Earlina Jean Grey) and a tortoise (a red foot named Da Hong Pao)!

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93

When Teavivre offered to send me more samples, I immediately had to request this one. Both because the school I went to had a mascot named Big Red (think McDonald’s Grimace, but red) and because our newest baby, a little redfoot tortoise, is named Da Hong Pao! We have three cats and a tortoise, and after the first cat, we got into the habit of tea names. We’ve an orange cat named Pekoe and a grey cat named Earlie. So, of course, when we decided on a red foot tortie, Da Hong Pao made perfect sense! We call her Pao or Pao Pao for short. For the record, our first cat is a brown tabby who is named Rosabella, but would have been Chai if we had been thinking of tea names back then.

Anyhoo, I don’t know that I’ve ever had a Da Hong Pao before this, and I’m not going back through 1000+ notes to figure out if I have. But dang, I should have! This is roasty, toasty goodness and I think I’m in love. Reminds me of home, with tobacco smoke and an underlying nuttiness that takes this tea to another level. I’m on my second steep of a sample packet in a Bubble Teapot (24 ounces) and, as is my habit, I dumped the leaves into a DT Mason Jar (25 oz) to coldbrew overnight. I want to get every last drop of goodness out of these amazing samples, but I’m way too lazy to gong fu. But I see an order in the near future, once the moneytree comes into bloom.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 24 OZ / 709 ML
Marzipan

….you went to WKU?

Daddyselephant

LOL Yes, yes I did!

Marzipan

Wow small world, so did I!

Daddyselephant

That’s awesome! I was there from 2003 until 2008.

Marzipan

You didn’t have a teacher named Renaud did you?

Daddyselephant

Off the top of my head, no, but maybe? What does he teach?

Marzipan

It’s a she, she teaches speech or public speaking or something in that department.

Daddyselephant

I don’t think so, but I’m terrible with names :(

Marzipan

She is my sister, and you would probably have hated her! Haha.

Daddyselephant

Ha! I remember now, my public speaking class was a summer course taught by some guy. The only thing I remember from the class is one of the speeches we had to do was a demonstration, and so someone showed how to cut a pineapple. I learned that fresh pineapple makes a hangover much, much worse XD

Marzipan

Parties at Western? Nah. At least not that my parents knew.

Daddyselephant

It’s a dry campus, dontcha know ;)

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50
drank Pumpkin Patch by DAVIDsTEA
1473 tasting notes

Meh.

That’s really just about all I have to say about this blend. Meh

It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just kind of there. And it’s similar enough to the Pumpkin Chai that I have to wonder why it was necessary? My wife and I shared a pot and couldn’t remember anything about the tea afterwards. I’m making vegan butter “chicken” later this week, the rest of our sample will be used to flavor the rice.

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97

Teavivre contacted me to do another round of tastings and of course I agreed! They arrived yesterday and immediately I had to try this one.

Holy cow this tea has staying power! I dumped my whole sample package into one of my 24 ounce bubble teapot. First steep I let go for only two minutes and it was light and delicious strawberry flavor, but the oolong was present as well, which I always like. Next steep, four minutes. Still strawberry goodness, though there’s a bit more oolong. Then my wife steeped the leaves in a 12 ounce mug for 6 minutes and enjoyed her cup, even if she had let it steep a touch too long. THEN we dumped the leaves into a 25 ounce mason jar to coldsteep over night and that’s my treat for today. I love how much tea I got out of maybe two teaspoons worth of oolongs. By the time we put them in the mason jar, they had uncurled to completely fill the infuser to overflowing. I think one of my other samples will have to go in my glass teapot because the leaves are just too beautiful.

Fjellrev

That’s impressive staying power for sure!

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96

Used this for a kombucha second ferment and it tastes like apple butter. So yummy!!

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drank Caramel Corn by DAVIDsTEA
1473 tasting notes

I am pleasantly surprised by this tea! It does taste like a weak, watery caramel corn.

Too bad I don’t like caramel corn. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything by not stocking up on this tea.

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Profile

Bio

Formerly aisling of tea, now you can call me ele .

“You can forgive a murder, but never a mistake while preparing tea.” Chinese proverb

Labels? Here you go: Femme, Wife, Lesbian, Homemaker, Happy. Don’t forget tea fanatic!

New label as of May, 2015: Diabetic. I’m using tea to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings and keep me hydrated without hurting my system or messing with my blood sugar.

Ah, tea. My love for you is ever changing. At my last update, I was all about the rooibos and now I hardly drink it. I only occasionally had an oolong and now I have one just about every day. I’ve learned the art of resteeping and coldbrewing and kombucha. I have a lovely little tea pet named…well, I haven’t decided on a name for him yet. I also have five! live pets, a tabby cat named Rosabella Francis (Bella for short), a ginger cat named Orange Julius Pekoe (Pekoe), a white and grey cat named Earl Jean Grey (Earlie), a tuxedo cat (and the only boy in the house) Prince Erik Darien Darjeeling (JiJi) and a red foot tortoise named Da Hong Pao (Pao). So if you see me referring to my girls, I don’t have kids, just animals.

As for tea, I love oolongs, herbals, and black tea. Since I am no longer working, I no longer feel the constant need for a mate energy boost, though I do still reach for it from time to time. I also drink less matcha, though I do throw a spoonful or two in when I’m making smoothies. Most of my tea I drink coldbrewed, and since I discovered coldbrewed rooibos was giving me headaches, I’m drinking less and less of it. Straight pu-erh is not a thing I enjoy, but there are a few flavored blends I like. Greens are still too finicky for me to bother with hot, but they make great cold brews.

I am by no means a tea purist. I greatly enjoy flavored teas and I put stevia in all of my teas. It’s just how I do.

I think I’m going to name my tea pet Mr. Turtle. Even though he’s a tortoise.

Location

Scarborough, ON

Website

http://aislingoftea.wordpress...

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