639 Tasting Notes
Man, my kitty is really getting to me today. I’m allergic, you see. I build up an immunity to him when I’m with him every day. He’ll only rarely get to me. But since I just went on my mini-moon and was away from him for 9 days, my defenses have disintegrated. I am a sneezy, runny-nosed weakling this morning. Ugh.
I had a cup of chai tea earlier, which seemed to open my nasal passages with its spiciness. But now the cat is getting to me again, so I’m back to being stuffed up. Time for something else spicy and caffeinated! Oh, this isn’t spicy. For some reason I remember it as “Holiday Spice” not “Holiday Tea.” It’s probably because the company’s name is “Marketspice.” Oh well. I’m drinking it anyway! LOL!
This is a sample from LiberTEAS. Thanks, girly! Oh yeah, and this is a SIPDOWN!!! Wow, the aroma off this cup is great! It smells like fruity mint chocolate tea. YUM! Sadly, my nose seems to be getting worse. I can really only taste peppermint. I’m sure age also has something to do with it, as I’ve left this sample lying in my cupboard untouched for over a year. I imagine it’s divine when fresh and consumed by someone not afflicted by allergies.
Cocoa does show up in the aftertaste. And there’s maybe a hint of something fruity and berry-like. Overall, this is a good tea! It’s held up a lot better than some of these other old samples too. The mint is really helping to assuage my kitty-induced discomfort. Plus, mint and chocolate has always been a winning combo in my book. Thanks LiberTEAS!!!
Preparation
I am IN LOVE with this chai! I drink it almost every day.
I had to break my habit of going to Starbucks every morning because it was making me poor. Then I discovered for the price of one of these lattes, I can buy an entire box of the concentrated mix! The mix makes about 5-6 cups. So that’s 5 for the price of 1!!!!!!!! What a deal! Well, actually I guess that makes buying the latte in the store just a really big rip-off. But now I can still enjoy my delicious chai, and I don’t even have to leave the house! :) I’m very happy with this compromise. Upping the rating from 90 to 99!
P.S. If you have a milk frother/steamer at home, it will taste exactly the same as buying one made by a barista. But with huge savings!! :D
SIPDOWN! Thanks to LiberTEAS for this sample!
Aww, here’s another one I let sit too long. Very little flavor left in this. Too bad. Again, I’ll just give this the current average rating here on Steepster.
The leaves were interesting as there were quite a few bits of twig in there. I haven’t seen that before. It was probably 30% twigs and 70% leaves. Now if only I knew what it tasted like. :( I’m a bad swap buddy.
Preparation
SIPDOWN!
I’m sad to see this one go. It’s uber delicious when fresh! Once the leaves get old, it becomes soapy and heavy and weird. So definitely consume this one quickly! I’ll have to watch out for it now that it’s spring again. It’s seasonal, so you can’t always find it on Lupicia’s site.
This is a love it or hate it tea. It has pickled cherry leaves in it, not actual cherries. The resultant brew is slightly salty, very different, and certainly unique. I’m definitely a lover! :)
Preparation
SIPDOWN!
Hmm, I don’t think I added enough leaf to this cup. Or the leaves are just too old. This is a sample from LiberTEAS that I received in December 2011! So, it is super old and wasn’t exactly stored under ideal conditions. It tastes very faintly of green tea, but it’s mostly just a cup of warm water.
Oh well. I guess I botched this one by letting it sit around for so long. As a result, my rating is reflective of its current average here on Steepster. Thanks anyway to LiberTEAS!!! I really need to get better about drinking my swap samples shortly after they arrive.
Preparation
This is actually why I gave up on the idea of swapping altogether. I have too much tea and never seem to get to the new samples quickly enough. I am still finishing the last of a box from LiberTeas from two years ago. It’s just not the way to go for me. I do better with larger quantities of teas I know I like rather than 60 samples.
I’ve found that Steepsterites are just too generous, LOL! There’s usually a bunch of extra teas that I didn’t specifically request that I put off trying and then before I know it, it’s been a year. I still love swapping though!
I brewed this one for my husband. He said he really liked it. :)
I followed the steeping instructions explicitly this time. I still find it rather bland, but the husband is enjoying it. I told him what it was supposed to taste like (pistachio and ice cream and green tea). He said, “I can’t really taste any of that, but it’s still good.” Then upon further reflection he added, “It does taste creamy I guess.” So this one is a success!
Preparation
So, does anyone else have baby fever?
I have serious baby fever. My biological clock started ticking the second I turned 26. I’ve since been trying to feel out my new husband and see where his feelings on the matter are. Perhaps I can convince him to start trying in 6 months…perhaps. ;)
It’s going to suck being pregnant and not getting to enjoy my sizable tea stash for 9+ months. Can you drink caffeine when you’re nursing? I still have a lot of research to do before becoming a mother. In this age of information overload, it can be hard to sift through all the myths and misconceptions to get to the truth. I just want to do what’s best for my child, so if that means no tea, then I’d better start drinking this stash down!
In order to further this goal, here’s another SIPDOWN! This swap sample came from Indigobloom. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get to this one. I was on a matcha craze a while ago. I couldn’t get enough!
Wow, this one is SUPER frothy!! Hmm, the taste is surprisingly floral. Like really floral. It definitely tastes like blueberry, but it also tastes like flowers. If God made a blueberry flower, that’s what this matcha would taste like I imagine.
I gave some to my budding tea drinker husband and he agreed it was very perfume-y. Neither one of us liked it very much. Could it be age? It was stored in an air-tight container and was still very green. Hmm, I’ve really liked some of the other fruit flavored matchas, but this one just tastes too much like flowery perfume for me to find it drinkable. Oh well. Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing!
Preparation
Good tea review! Good luck with pregnancy and trying to get pregnant! :) I am currently pregnant and my husband and I had the baby fever a year ago! I am 28 now. I still drink tea, but limit myself to 1 black tea and 1 green tea per day at most. I know I can only have about a cup of coffee per day or 150mg of caffeine per day at most according to my OB. Unfortunately, a lot of herbs and additives, such as cornflower that are found in tea blends, I can’t have. I am not sure about nursing though. That would be good to know! Hopefully someone else has some insight. :)
I found it super flowery as well, and it was a bit fresher then! I got more of the same from a few other RL matchas as well. Strange!
Caffeine is generally considered a no-no but SO MANY things are unnecessarily demonized for pregnant women. Talk to your doctor (when the time comes) and do what you feel comfortable with. I actually don’t ever want to be pregnant but I do want children and have had baby fever for a few months now. It is tough to correlate those two…On top of that, I get married in a few weeks and people are constantly asking when we will have kids. Can’t I just get a little person without the pregnancy? If only adoption were a move feasible option.
@Uniquity, I know what you mean! I think we were engaged all of 10 minutes when one of the grandparents asked us when we were going to start having kids. During our marriage ceremony, the Pastor mentioned something about “if it’s God’s will to give them children…” and then multiple people made speeches about us bringing more good people into the world at the rehearsal dinner AND the reception, etc etc. My dad came up to me during the reception and said, “What’s all this talk about children?” I said, “Well, we do want kids eventually.” LOL! There’s definitely a lot of pressure.
Also, if you want to adopt, then DO IT!!! I think that adoption is the most selfless thing you can do with your life. I’ve always wanted to adopt, but my husband doesn’t share my views and really just wants children of his own making. Maybe I’ll be able to change his mind one day. I’m a huge advocate of adoption. If you want it, I hope and pray it works out for you.
i think adopting is amazing!
It is a weird thing to say but I would never qualify for adoption by my finances or my living situation – but of course if I had my own ‘naturally’ no-one could say I would be un-fit. I have wanted to adopt ever since I was a child myself. I’ve never been too interested in the pregnancy business.
I would encourage you to keep trying. You’d make a great mommy! :)
I have massive baby fever… but I’m not at all in a position where having kids would be a good thing! I intend to be married and employed first, so gotta put things off at least a few more years! Sigh.
I hear you. I’m finally married and employed, but it still feels like there’s so much to do! Pay off debt, get a safer car, organize the house and throw out stuff, the list goes on and on.
I tried this as a free sample during my most recent visit to the DAVIDsTEA in NYC on Bleecker Street. I can’t say enough good things about that location. I’ve been there twice in the last 10 months, and it’s been the highlight of my trips to New York.
But on to the tea, this was SUPER spicy! The strongest flavor is definitely ginger, followed by strong spiciness, followed by green rooibos. My new husband really liked it a lot. :) He’s very fond of spicy things. For me, this was just okay. It’s definitely fun to try but not to drink on a regular basis.
However, if you’re like my husband and love spicy things, then you’d probably love this tea. Just look at the average rating! It’s one of the highest rated DAVIDsTEA teas! So, I say check it out and maybe you’ll fall in love. ;)
SIPDOWN!
This is one of my oldest swap samples. I received this tea from Mercuryhime in December 2011 and first tried it in March 2012.
I did a concentrated steep of the remaining leaves and it’s surprisingly fragrant! The aroma is floral and coconut-y. The taste is slightly quieter than the aroma, but not by much. This is still yummy! I’m quite enjoying this. :) Thanks again to Mercuryhime!!
Preparation
I got a weird craving today for a peanut butter tea. Wouldn’t that be delicious? Well, the closest thing I can find in my cupboard is this nutty, smooth, almond tea. Yum yum! This is one of my favorites, and it’s definitely hitting the spot today. Somehow the second steep was even better than the first!
I really want to make an almond cake with this tea. Our wedding cake was two layers of almond cake and one layer of white cake with raspberry ganache. The only bite of almond cake I got was when we cut the cake and my new husband fed it to me. I’ve been craving almond cake ever since ‘cause I seriously missed out. I told the caterers to pack up any leftover cake but somehow it ended up at the in-laws’ house and they apparently ate it all already. *sigh.
Hmm, looks like I’m running low though. I’m going to need more of this one soon! How else will I make delicious almond cake and have some tea left over to drink with it? ;)
EDIT: I did end up buying more of this and making an almond tea cake with it. It was super delicious! It came out kind of like pound cake and was heavily almond flavored. The buttercream icing cut the heaviness of the cake nicely. Yum! To see some photos, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96132028@N08/sets/72157633585210978/
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I would totally buy a peanut butter tea…
Awesome, that almond tea cake looks delicious! :)
Mighty scrumptious-lookin’ cake there! I’d personally like a peanut butter filled pretzel tea. One can only dream.
It looks like 52teas has done several peanut butter + other stuff teas. Red Leaf appears to have the only pure peanut butter tea, but I don’t see matcha and peanut butter as being a very likable combo for my palate. Someone needs to make a peanut butter black tea pronto!
Next time you go away, take a bunch of car fur with you and sleep on it like a pillow. I have no idea if it will help, and I’m often told that I have redicilous ideas. But maybe :)
I meant cat fur not car fur. And ridiculous. I don’t know where that other word came from.
Hahahahaha!!! I think that could have disastrous results, LOL!