6444 Tasting Notes
There is nothing better than taking a hot shower, putting on sweats,and curling up in bed with a nice book and a cup of this wonderful pumpkin chai tea while the rain pitter-patters away outside! Except maybe realizing that you don’t have class tomorrow and that it is Halloween so not only is your tea cozy for fall but its festive too!
Granted that nice book is a course reading I need to do and it took me 25 minutes of walking home in the pouring rain with no hood or umbrella (that was poor planning on my part) to get to this point but now that I am here I am quite happy. Plus, I woke up to an email saying my Teavana order has been shipped and so I have that to look forward to in addition to the very exciting packages that are on their way from some awesome swap partners! So all in all, today is a good day!
Preparation
I am just about to head out to school but I thought I should let people know that this product is amazing! I made tea in it last night around 11 and forgot about it until this morning when I woke up and saw the timolino on my nightstand. I opened it up almost 12 hours later to find the tea had not gone cold yet. Granted it did cool some but nonetheless I got to wake up to a cup of tea ready to drink…YAY!! On a different note, my morning was also made better by the email from Teavana saying my order has been shipped!
I am just getting ready to go to sleep and I remembered I made this in my timolino. It smells like maple but it is definitely weak in the flavor department. I definitely taste the rooibos and there is the slightest hint of maple – it is similar to Birthday Cake though in the sense that the scent far surpasses the actual flavor. I keep this around as a nighttime tea but I am hoping to find a better rooibos in the future.
Preparation
Have you tried Lime or Lemon Chiffon from Della Terra? They’re the rooibos I keep around :)
You are actually the second person to suggest those. I have never tried them. They caught my eye as soon as I was on the Della Terra website and so I decided to make up a few sampler boxes but next thing I knew I made so many sampler boxes, the total was more than my student budget could afford right now and so I closed the website. Luckily I believe I am receiving some Lime Chiffon in a swap from Dexter3657 so hopefully I will be writing a tasting note about it soon.
I just ran out, but I immediately ordered more for my cupboard. I don’t crave rooibos very often, but they’re excellent to have around when I do. I prefer the lime and my other half prefers the lemon haha! I hope you enjoy the lime :)
Yes there is Lime chiffon on it’s way to you. :)))
I was worried about trying this one thanks to the catnip so I have been putting it off for a while. Also, it smelled a bit medicinal to me but I decided to finally give it a try.
I find brewed, the smell is less medicinal than the dry leaves. The taste is not bad. The flavors are personally not something I would crave or think about but then again it is suggested as a tea that helps with upset stomachs. I can definitely understand how this would be calming for an upset stomach as it is easy to drink and finishes with a nice minty freshness from the peppermint.
Ultimately, this tea is not something I will be going out of my way to have but I will be happy that its around on days when I am not feeling 100%.
Preparation
I walked into David’s Tea today planning to buy nothing but tins however I ended up walking out with 250 g of Sugar and Spice, a Cocoa Canela Latte, and 25 g of this tea after it came recommended from the David’s Tea saleswoman.
In my search for a great non-caffeinated tea I have usually been disappointed so I did not have high hopes for this when I brewed a pot of it for my roommate and myself. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. This tea has a subtly sweet smell thanks to the coconut but it is not overpowering as I believe it is mellowed by the other flavors in the tea such as the rooibos, lavender, and cornflower. The taste is great – the rooibos is not overpoweringly woodsy and the lavender shines through without adding the spice that it can tend to have. All in all, I think the flavors compliment each other nicely to make a nice mellow tea perfect for any time of day. I enjoyed this cup so much I was not even bothered by the tea leaves floating around in it. This will definitely be added to my favorites collection!
Preparation
Just read a little of your bio and I too have used tea to help with weight loss(65 lbs.so far). For many reasons, tea helps with stress, anxiety and food cravings (especially Puerh). We’ll message sometime.
65 lbs is amazing!! Congratulations!! I am down about 50 pounds now and still going strong :D I also heard that Pu’erh and also Oolong are good for weight loss
Are there any Pu’erh teas you recommend? I have David’s Tea Chocolate Orange which I think is okay and I am a fan of Teavana’s Weight to Go! but I am always looking for new flavors to keep things interesting.
If you like cinnamon, Verdant has a cinnamon puerh that’s good and resteeps well. SteapShoppe has a Cinnamon Swirl Bread tea that’s real good. Happy Luckys Tea House has Chocolate Aire, and soon SteapShoppe will have a Lemon Pound Cake Puerh (I have a tester). These are all naturally flavored and can be resteeped. Quality is high. Fresh ingredients like those found in these tea’s are better for your body than sprayed on flavor and stale tea from the warehouses of big chain store operations.
I went to bed last night craving this tea and I am not exactly sure why given that I don’t remember it being amazing. However, when I woke up this morning still craving it I decided it was best I make my large timolino of this and take care of that craving once and for all.
When I opened the bag I was immediately intoxicated by the smell. I love the mixture of cinnamon, coconut, vanilla and chocolate. They combine so perfectly to make such an amazing aroma. When brewed the cinnamon smell really comes through but there are still notes of the vanilla and coconut although I am not sure how much chocolate I am getting. To be honest, I think I went to bed dreaming about the smell of this tea more than anything.
However, the real test comes when tasting the tea. Unfortunately, I think this one falls under the category of David’s Teas in which the scent is amazing but the taste does not quite match up. This doesn’t mean that I am not enjoying the tea, simply that the flavor lacks the richness of the smell. I find this tea a bit on the weak side so I think next time I will have to brew it for a bit longer or perhaps add some more tea leaves. Also given the flavors (I can taste a bit of the coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon) of this tea I would be curious to test it out as a latte (after finally having my first latte ever today and learning how amazing they are – see my review on Cocoa Canela for more on that).Ultimately, I am glad I got to try this tea because the scent alone would lure me in but I am glad I did not have to pay for my 50 grams of it (YAY! for David’s tea sales!!)
Preparation
This smells so bad to me I don’t even want to try it. I have a 50 g bag and when I sniff, all I get is sour milk chocolate. As in cheap milk chocolate maybe gone bad. I haven’t been able to talk myself into making a cup yet.
Oh no! I can imagine avoiding it. Luckily I think I smell cinnamon and vanilla more than anything.
*I can imagine why you would be avoiding it
So I went to the mall today to send out some teas for a tea swap. BAD MOVE! In order to get the post office I had to walk right past a David’s Tea and since I already spent so much this week I forbade myself from buying/ordering any more tea. However, I remembered I needed some tins for an incoming order so I thought I could just walk right in and avoid buying anything else. Needless to say, $60 later I walked out with 250 g of Sugar and Spice (one of my favorites that I want to stock up on in case it does not return, 25 g of Jessie’s Tea (a recommendation from the saleswoman since I am always looking for a good rooibos – any suggestions?!?) and a Cocoa Canela Latte.
I have been reading about lattes for a while and they sound great but I have never tried one so while I was in the store I asked what is a good tea to try as a latte. The saleswoman right away recommended Cocoa Canela and I am really glad she did. For one thing, Cocoa Canela is a tea I have wanted to try and for another the latte is quite delicious. Is it like a hot chocolate? No, but that probably has more to do with the fact that I got skim milk instead of a richer milk and avoided any sweetners in hopes of sticking to my diet (which luckily I am allowed unlimited tea on – YAY!). I think had I splurged and gotten the two percent this would have been a lot closer to a hot chocolate. Also, some agave probably would have brought it a little closer to a hot chocolate as well. Nonetheless, I still really enjoyed this tea as a latte. You can definitely taste the cocoa and the cinnamon just enriches the flavor and gives it more body. I am not sure how this would taste made with just water but that would definitely be something I would be interested in trying.
I think this is a tea I definitely would want to add to my collection! In fact, as I walked home in the Montreal cold and the latte cooled, I was still quite pleased with the taste as I think the flavors still shine through.
I should add that I do understand where people are coming from when they mention a dusty feeling as I get that a little bit but its really not that bad. I think it would be interesting to see if that is worse when it is made with just water.
Rooibos? 4 of the 11 I send today are rooibos. I’m going to watch your tasting notes and see how you do with those, and see if I have anything else you might be interested in.
I find a lot of the teas I like tend to be black teas that I can’t have in the evening so I always ask the salespeople their recommendations for good herbal and rooibos teas to try that I can have any time.
I am definitely excited to test out all the teas you sent and hopefully I will find an amazing rooibos in the mix!
Wish I had sent you some of the pumpkin spice rooibos I have – also I have a couple of really good fruit tisanes – you did get two fruit tisanes so 6 of the 11 are caffine free. I’m not caffeine sensitive so I don’t think of teas based on caffeine content.
You are definitely sending me enough! I really appreciate everything!
Living in the very cold city of Montreal, you learn very quickly how costly heat can get just to keep you from freezing in your bed. However, sometimes my roommate and I decide that we can last through the cold nights and try to avoid jacking up the bank-account-draining heat for as long as possible (we usually make it until mid December…or until our mother’s come to visit and yell at us to put the heat on). Anyways, in our everlasting fight to stay warm we turn to the more economic and student-budget friendly option of sweatpants and tea…lots and lots of tea! However I should note that this may not be the more economic choice for long if I continue to explore all the new tea shops/websites that steepster has opened my eyes to.
Well this morning I had a craving for some stormy night (tis the season) and while I was searching I noticed a small bag of Saigon Chai which I picked up on Sunday and still have yet to try. As a result, I opted to make one tea in my steeper (Saigon Chai, in case I was not a fan)and the other in my timolino (so I can take that with me to school).
When I opened the bag of Chai tea I was quite excited because I could smell all the various spices and I could already feel them starting to warm my bones. So I boiled the water and got ready to have my nice morning cup of deliciously spicy chai. However, despite the delicious smell of the brewing tea I felt disappointed by the taste. I can’t quite put my finger on what I am not happy with (perhaps too much peppercorn/cardamon and not enough cinnamon for me) but I am definitely glad I didn’t make this to enjoy through class. Ultimately, I don’t hate it but I doubt I will be drinking much more of it either. Into the swap bucket it goes!
Preparation
Memories… My friend and I had an apartment like that where electricity was not included and heat was electric, Hydro however was and we did not have individual water heaters. We didn’t turn on the heat until January, but survived with the heat seeping up to our apartment and for a while until we caved and turned on the heat, hot baths. Another friend had the unfortunate luck of moving into a “new” house that was so poorly insulated that even with six of them, they were often paying over $100/month on heating!
Hmmm, was just about to seal up your package when I saw this tasting note. I’m going to take that as a sign. Every chai is different and I think, maybe, possibly that this spice blend isn’t for you. Since we were talking about Camilla last night, I’m going to toss in a bit of their chai. Let you try it before you buy. I have tons of different chai, but will send you this one so you have easy access to it if you do find you like it.
Yyz, I definitely felt that pain. I had a roommate from Peru a couple years back who didn’t know how to work our thermostats (or just didn’t care) and so while the rest of us living in the apartment froze because we tried to keep the heat off (or at least at a minimum) she kept her heat at like 32C and would walk around in short shorts and tank tops. Our bill came out to like $700 that month between the four of us. Needless to say, that living arrangement did not last long and I think that is part of the reason my roommate and I avoid heating our apartment – we fear another one of those bills :P. I think the main reason we even bother to put the heat on is to avoid our pipes freezing.
Dexter3657, I honestly cannot thank you enough for all your help. You are truly a godsend when it comes to my new tea discovery :D.
I think this tea is so amazing. I went to the store looking for Pistachio Cream but the saleswoman suggested I go with Mulberry Magic instead and I think it was definitely the right choice! She said the difference between the two was Pistachio Cream was sweeter and although I think it would be nice to give Pistachio Cream a try I think this has just the right amount of sweetness.
The smell of the dry tea leaves are amazing and rich. When brewed, the smell takes on a very nutty scent and appears to be almost a mossy green so this tea comes off quite earthy. As for taste, the macadamia nuts are very prominent and delicious and there is also the a very green, leafy taste (for lack of better words). All in all, I really like this tea and definitely think I will be getting more in the future.
Preparation
I actually prefer Mulberry Magic! I’m happy you enjoyed it. I think Pistachio Cream will be off the shelves soon as the winter teas come in on Friday. I hope you manage to snag a sample before it’s gone. (they won’t pull it off the shelf, but once it sells out it’s gone)
Yeah, I think I will probably like this one better too because I think it is the perfect amount of sweetness and I recall the saleswoman saying Pistachio Cream is sweeter. Still, I think it would be interesting to try :)
This tea is really interesting. It is really fresh thanks to the mint but with a nice spice to it. I was expecting more of a mint taste to be honest but I actually like the additions of the spices (especially the cardamon) as it gives it a fuller flavor instead of it being a one note tea. I am definitely glad I tried this tea.
