639 Tasting Notes
Yum! I’ve been drinking this a lot lately once I get to work. I especially like it with just a tiny bit of sweetener to really make the rose sing. I can only manage to get one floral rose steep out of it though. Second steep is always very watered down tea with no rose aroma or flavor. Still, this first infusion makes up for the lack of re-steepability.
Mmm, it’s like walking through a garden of roses in the English countryside. Or at least that’s where I imagine I am instead of my drab government office. (I exaggerate, it’s not that drab). Yay for tea! Rose tea can turn any office into a more enjoyable place! :)
Preparation
This is the last tea in my swap package from Kittenna!! Thank you soooo much for sharing all these teas with me! I’ve really enjoyed them and found some new all-time favorites. :)
I really need this highly caffeinated cup of guayusa this morning. I have not been getting enough sleep lately, and I have a big weekend full of bridesmaid dress shopping with my girls! I’m also trying on my wedding dress for the first time :D and seeing Skyfall. Woot! (For anyone who’s interested…here’s a link to my wedding dress, although I’m wearing a bejeweled belt instead of the flowery doodad that’s pictured here: http://www.jlmcouture.com/Tara-Keely/Bridal/Spring/2012/Style-2200).
The dry leaf aroma of this one is mostly guayusa. I’m not detecting much else, although there is a little cube of something beige colored in here. I let it steep for 4 minutes, and when I took the infuser basket out of the cup, there was about ¼ less water!! These guayusa leaves really soak it up I guess.
As for the taste? Well it may just be me, but this pretty much tastes like unflavored guayusa. There is a little bit of caramel-like sweetness at the beginning of the sip, but 95% of the flavor is plain guayusa. Maybe it didn’t hold onto its flavoring well? Or maybe it was lightly flavored to start with? I don’t know.
But as far as guayusas go, this is all right. That little bit of added sweetness cuts through some of the oddness of the guayusa base. I like this stuff! And I do feel more alert to boot. Thanks again to the ever generous Kittenna!!
Preparation
Love the dress!!! :)
:D Thank you!!
Oh! The dress is stunning!
Beautiful dress!
Last tea?! Yay, good work! (I know I’m 5 months late…) I’m still working on my box from you, but I’m actually pretty close to at least having tried everything!
Also, I didn’t feel that there was much flavouring in this one to begin with. And since I dislike the taste of guayusa…. not a fan of this one.
Why is everything sold out on the DAVIDsTEA website??! GOD!!!!! *huff. It’s so inconvenient. I guess no advent calendar or Pumpkin Chai or Love Tea #7 OR Mom’s Apple Pie for me! Ugh. :(
Oh well, on to the first tea from my recent swap with Indigobloom!! I have about 30 teas from swaps anyway, so I really shouldn’t be ordering new tea. It’s getting late so I believe a white tea is in order. This is my first tea from The Persimmon Tree, and it sounds good. I wear a guava-flavored lip gloss every day. ;)
This tea has spot ON guava flavor! The white tea provides a nice floral, sweet, nutty base that complements the guava fruit perfectly. I love this!!! Only a tiny bit of astringency sneaks its way into the end of the cup as it cools. It’s really very nice, balanced and even keel. It’s hard for me not to gulp it down! Thanks for sharing Indigobloom!! I’m really enjoying this on a somewhat boring, tiresome day.
Well, this night is turning around. I just found out that a movie I worked on about 2 years ago was finally released! Looks like it may have gone straight to video, and they changed the name. So, that’s why I haven’t been able to find anything about it. But in case anyone is interested, it’s called “A Little Bit of Heaven” starring Kate Hudson. I did the visual effects in all the heaven sequences, mainly rotoscoping, blue screen keys, and mark removal. It’s available on Netflix watch instantly. :D
Preparation
I requested a sample of this and Kittenna generously obliged. :) These little balls of herbs and sucrose sure are interesting. They unravel into yellow-ish green leaves that look like clovers. The aroma and flavor is very light. I used one ball in about 8 oz. of water. Anything less and I think this would be a flavorless cup of warm water.
As others have said, it does kind of remind me of green tea, but only because it’s not even remotely similar to any other type of tea. It’s not vegetal to me though nor is it herbal-y. This really does have its own unique taste. It also seems to have more flavor as it cools. I’m definitely getting more sweetness now too.
Interesting! I rate it slightly above average. Overall, it’s not something I would frequently crave. But I’m glad I got to try it because I would have remained curious forever. Thanks Kittenna!!
Preparation
This is an interesting tea. I can’t decide how I feel about it. The sweetness of the strawberry seems to conflict with the hay in the silver needle. It’s strange. The immediate aftertaste is cloyingly sweet strawberry fruit snacks. But once that fades, the taste that lingers is actually pretty great. Just perfect silver needle with a light strawberry essence. That after aftertaste is what I like most about this tea and keeps me sipping. I think I’ll re-steep this one and continue to enjoy it! Thank you Kittenna for sharing yet another great tea with me!
Preparation
I enjoyed a cup of this tea on the flight home from my brother’s wedding in New Orleans. The wedding was great, and I especially enjoyed reconnecting with family I haven’t seen in a decade. We flew back safely on Saturday afternoon before Hurricane Sandy hit. Thank goodness we didn’t stick around all weekend for Voodoo Fest or we might not have been able to get home at all! Luck was on our side.
But man, the weather was cold that last day in New Orleans! It was supposed to be sunny and 84 every day we were there. Then on Friday evening, we walked outside and the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees in 10 minutes. Yikes! I don’t think people had turned the a/c off yet either, so we pretty much froze everywhere we went.
The plane ride home was especially cold, so I asked for a cup of hot tea. They served me this Mother Parker’s Orange Pekoe. It wasn’t the best cup of tea I’ve ever had, but it was hot and tasted like tea, so it met my expectations. :) I’d rank it somewhere in between Lipton and Twining’s. Not bad stuff!
On to the next herbal! The aroma is strongly ginger followed by light strawberry. The taste is just like the aroma. Hmm, this one’s not bad. It’s not uber delicious, but that’s because it’s an herbal. :P
It’s not my favorite combination of flavors. But it is nice and calming after my earlier bamboo experience. I think I need something dessert-y though, so I’m off to make another tea! Thanks to Kittenna for the sample. Only 3 teas left from your giant swap package! :D
Preparation
Hurricane Sandy came and went and oh, we made out like bandits! The power only flickered on and off a couple times. We’ve had no damage at all. Very lucky indeed. My in-laws-to-be, on the other hand, lost several trees that took out their shed and are blocking their driveway. So, they’re stuck until further notice! :/ But we’ve got power so I’m having some tea! ;)
Oh dear Lord!! The aroma of this tea is potent to say the least. I don’t think this is going to be a winner with me. I let my fiancé sniff the cup and he said, “It doesn’t smell good.” LOL! I’m afraid I concur with his assessment. I also set the cup down across the room so I didn’t have to smell it as I wrote my initial thoughts down. Phew! I better gather my courage and take a sip already!
At first, I thought, “Hmm, it’s not as bad as it smells.” Then the aftertaste overwhelmed me and I thought, “Oh yes, actually it is.” Yuck! I am not a fan of bamboo tea. Oh no! I’m so sorry to write such an awful review, but I just can’t take this tea. I suppose I’m more of a traditionalist who favors blacks, greens, and whites. Herbals have never been my first choice.
But hey, life is all about new experiences. Maybe I would have loved bamboo tea! You never know till you try. Thanks to Kittenna for the sample. I’ll leave the rest for you to enjoy. :P
Preparation
Interesting! This one is actually very mild, so I wonder if it picked up flavours from something else. It usually tastes very light, a bit fruity, and a bit… refreshing.
So glad you made it through without harm! And to have power and tea!!! Great!
@Kittenna, Well, I used the entire sample in one cup…maybe I should have used less leaf? It was VERY strong!
@Bonnie, thanks!! We’re very happy to have made it through unscathed.
I’m glad the storm did not harm you! I never lost power either, although there were several flickers where I thought “this is it”.
I honestly don’t recall how much I sent, although it should have been enough for 2 cups (so 3-4 tsp?) as I have a large bag of this one. Either way, you didn’t like it, and your sample is gone! Hurrah! :P I think I dug out your box of samples last night, and rediscovered some treasures I’d been meaning to sample! At least, I think it was your box. I’ll have to double check, haha. (If you sent me Butterbeer, that’s the box I was nosing around in :D)
I did send Butterbeer!! :D I hope you enjoy it! It tastes exactly like butter and root beer to me. :)
I’ve gotta’ get another cup of tea in before the power goes out. Thanks Hurricane Sandy! (That was sarcasm in case you couldn’t tell). This tea’s aroma is weird. It smells like blueberry and…something else. You know, it almost smells like green unripened blueberries. Hmm, it’s a weird aroma to be sure.
Ook! Yeah, that aroma is even weirder and, I’m sad to say, grosser in the taste. It’s definitely an unripened blueberry taste. Tart and bitter and blech. I’m not sure what could save this tea. I find it undrinkable. Just yuck all around. :( Nope, two sips and I’m done. This one is going down the drain. Thank you to Kittenna for providing the sample though! Sorry, I’m just not a fan.
Preparation
Holy crap!! This tea is EXCELLENT! I guess I wasn’t expecting much from a coconut tea, but this is truly incredible! It tastes strongly of coconut and vanilla, as described. But the black tea base lends a chocolaty flavor too. Yum! I especially recommend adding some sweetener. Wow!! Pie indeed!
Too bad it doesn’t hold up to a second infusion very well. But the first cup is well worth buying a package anyway! Thanks sooooo much to Kittenna for giving me a sample. I’ve only wanted to try this for over a year. :)
