Nightshifter Send Message

Dry: Loose black leaf tea with little orange pumpkin candies and small twigs (maybe bits of cinnamon sticks?). Smells wonderful, like autumn spices and pumpkin. I love this time of the year!

Steeped: Light to medium clear brown liquor depending on how much leaf you use. I’ve made this a couple of times now and it does best when overleafed for >4 minutes or the black tea is just too weak in my humble opinion. The brewed aroma is delightfully seasonal as well with a strong cinnamon note along with other baking spices dominating.

Taste: I like this one quite a bit, but I think I am in the minority because alas it is not my favorite pumpkin tea so far. I still prefer David’s Pumpkin Chai as my selection because I get more pumpkin/squash notes. This one is tasty, but primarily tastes of pumpkin pie spices with almost a vanilla or cream black tea base. I barely taste any pumpkin, though milk and sweetener does bring out more creaminess and flavor. I am having it straight this morning with no additives and while I am thoroughly enjoying it, I think I am going to go ahead and buy a bigger bag of David’s to keep in the cupboard as my go-to pumpkin brew for now.

Dry: Short black tea leaves blended with amaranth petals. Pretty dry loose leaf that looks like it might taste floral (but does not). Smells like malty chocolate and sweetened coconut straight from the sample bag.

Steeped: Clear medium brown liquor. Amazing and appealing that there wasn’t an oil slick like most coconut teas have. I overleafed this a little bit as I do with many flavored teas and the aroma is quite a potent blend of black tea and rich coconut. This tea doesn’t make me think of autumn exactly, but we wanted to try it anyway. :)

Taste: If you like coconut dessert blends, this is a good one. I made it with a dash of agave first and my initial thought was that it reminded me of Mounds or Almond Joy candy. With notes of chocolate, vanilla, and coconut blended into a smooth Chinese black, it came out quite delectable and is probably one of the better (best?) coconut black teas I’ve had. The second time around I drank it straight and I actually think I prefer it that way because I don’t generally have a giant sweet tooth (unless you park a cupcake in front of me anyway). My husband enjoyed SoHo as well, so a tin of it will probably join our family before too long.

Dry: Brown mix of what appears to be coffee beans, powders, and dried fruit. Smells like strawberries (on the artificial side), cocoa, and maybe roasted mate? I’ve never had mate before, so I am not sure what it is supposed to smell or taste like.

Steeped: Very cloudy brown liquor. Smells like coffee scented with berries in the teapot.

Taste: Straight up, this one has a weak roasted coffee flavor to this former coffee drinker with a mix of medicinal berry aftertastes mingled in. It isn’t horrible and I can tolerate it straight, but it is more enjoyable to me diluted with a good bit of milk more like a latte. I wouldn’t personally buy this to have again, but glad I was able to sample it. I’d like to try more mate blends at some point for comparison, but this one definitely didn’t hold a candle to my good teas.

Today I finished the 50g bag of this I’ve had for a while. I enjoyed the last little bit, but I don’t think I am going to re-order for the time being. I still have a good 2oz+ of Harney’s English Breakfast that my husband prefers and some excellent TeaVivre black teas that I want to spend some time on. David’s EB was nice while it lasted and blended very well with others teas when I wanted a dessert type less sweet though.

Dry: This looks like a decent black tea with dried caramel bits. Smells like creamy caramel with a hint of vanilla. I typically don’t associate caramel with autumn, but this one somehow works even though it does not have any spices, apple, or pumpkin.

Steeped: Light-medium brown clear liquor depending on whether I overleafed or not. I tend to be happiest when I overleaf a bit on most of Della Terra blends to bring out a stronger flavor. Smells primarily like black tea with a light caramel aroma blended in.

Taste: This is a decent caramel tea! It is still not the perfect blend that I have been looking for as I primarily taste black tea, but it smells like caramel and has a detectable soft caramel flavor once you sip beyond the base with no bitterness/astringency. I had no expectations after messing with David’s Salted Caramel a bajillion times and never getting it quite right, but I am pretty happy with how this one came out. I added a bit of honey to the mug to sooth my throat and it goes really well, adding a sweet note to what is already a decent dessert cuppa. I think it would also be nice if I added a dash of milk in the future.

I haven’t been posting much because I’ve been ill since last Friday. On the bright side, today is the first time I’ve actually been able to taste anything since then. My husband adores Florence so I made a pot of it, not really expecting to be able to detect anything other than hot watery liquid. I had been brewing all the teas I didn’t care for this week to clear them out since I couldn’t taste them anyway. :P

Yet this morning, with my first sip I was both surprised and thrilled to taste tea, glorious TEA!

Not only that, but hazelnut, chocolate, and the lovely dollop of honey I had added to my cup. Oh, Florence, you made this girl so happy on what can only be described as a lovely autumn morning!

This is just a lovely green tea. I had the last of it tonight and it was perfect for my horribly sore throat, plus it has a lovely taste and resteeps beautifully. I only have a small bit left of the organic Dragonwell from Teavivre and I plan to order one of these again in a larger size to keep around. Just having hard time deciding which one! I’d get both, but I find that I drink primarily black teas so it doesn’t make sense to have greens stockpiled all over the place like I have now. Just a few of the favorites from here forward so they don’t get old before they can be enjoyed properly. Goodnight all!

Going back to one of my black tea favorites without anything added this morning. Woke up sick as a dog and trying to get my school assignment completed before working the next two nights in a row. Not sure how I am going to survive until Saturday afternoon! On the bright side, Paris is as wonderful as ever and is very soothing to my sore throat.

Dry: Lovely short black tea with what appears to be large dried apple chunks. Not stingy at all with the apple bits- my bag is filled with them. Smells like apple pie baking in the oven. Made my mouth water preparing the infuser.

Steeped: Primarily clear brown liquor. Rich warm cinnamon and apple aroma around the tea pot. The scent is very reminiscent while steeping of the classic Quaker apple/cinnamon oatmeal. This particular scent is comforting and reminds me of the cool autumn breeze outside ticking my neck.

Taste: This is pretty close as far as creating an apple pie tea. I tried it first with just a dash of agave and it smells and tastes like baked apples, cinnamon, black tea, and something else- maybe the touch of currants? There is just an ever so slight bitter bite at the end of each sip, but nothing compared to the David’s apple I tried before, which was literally mouth-puckering. I am not getting pastry notes in this one, but overall it is still quite a lovely Fall tea and I will enjoy this over the next few months for sure.

Now I need to convince myself to make Della’s pumpkin pie tea this week. I have been hoarding both of my pumpkin teas like a nutter. Yes, I am one of those people obsessed with pumpkin everything this time of the year, but if I don’t actually drink from the pumpkin stash then what is the point? :P

Dry: Lovely short black-grey Keemun leaves. Smells mild and earthy.

Steeped: Smells pleasant and fairly strong, like a nice breakfast tea should. Clear medium brown liquor. No detectible smoky, cocoa, or bitter notes at all. The first time I brewed it, I was getting an almost wet dirt fragrance that I wasn’t all that fond of, but maybe I had the water temp funky or something because it hasn’t happened in subsequent brews from the same tin and I’ve already had probably 2oz since its arrival. :)

Taste: This is probably my current favorite English Breakfast and I will likely keep it in the pantry as a morning go-to. It is smooth and mild with a full and pleasant mouthfeel. It pairs well with milk and sugar, or in my case this morning, milk and honey. There aren’t a complex number of interesting flavors in this, nor is it bland and boring. Just a basic lovely Keemun that pairs well with toast or my current favorite of an over-easy egg on a warm tortilla with melty pepper jack cheese. Yum!