709 Tasting Notes
Another David’s Tea pu-erh mix that I can’t stand the smell of. I bought this ages ago on a foolish whim, before I knew anything about tea. I still haven’t developed any taste for Pu-Erh (the smell drives me off long before the taste) and this tea is still mostly un-drank. The last time I had it, I felt nauseous afterward, so I’ve been hiding from it since Christmastime-ish. The dry smell is cinnamon, the steeped smell is cinnamon and pu-erh (aka earth and fish and wet dog, to me). The taste is pretty much just cinnamon, though I have to be careful not to breathe in. I definitely would never re-steep this, not because it couldn’t, but because I want it gone. I’ve got a few people in mind that might like this, but if not, it might be up for grabs someday, since my relationship with it has not improved. I like cinnamon too…but this is just not my cup of tea : ) If there were no smell, this tea would also rank maybe a 60 for taste. Stupid smell! I wonder if I can cut it with something…
Preparation
Glad to see I’m not the only one put off by the smell of pu-erh!
Pu-erh does not agree with me and generally leaves me nauseated.
So far so good on the nausea for me this time…But it is definitely not a tea that I currently feel like forcing myself to like!
ugh, I’m right with you on the nausea. The cinnamon seems to cut that down for me though.
Found it a new home already..YAY!
Second steep for yesterda.y I gave it 7 minutes to really flavour up, but this cup is a bit of a disappointment, honestly. I get some spice – not individual spices, tastes more like a bagged chai. Lost all the apple, vanilla and white tea, as well as the depth of flavour. I think the likely culprit is not enough leaf to my Perfect Tea Mug, since I’m used to dealing with a smaller one. No fault of the tea that I don’t pay attention! : )
Preparation
I finally steeped this for an appropriate time! The pear is strong, like jelly belly pear jelly beans, as opposed to real ones. The caramel was lost somewhere. It was sort of…sharp. I still like it, but won’t be buying again when it’s gone.
Mm, I’ve been looking for this one for a while at Davids! One of the ladies at the counter told me mixing Forever Nuts, Oh Canada, Caramel Pear, and adding some steamed milk creates an absolutely divine tea that resembles apple strudel. Whether or not this is true — I have yet to see ;D
Oh man. I have all those teas. Maybe I’ll give it a go. I’ve had this tin for nearly a year now…maybe it got discontinued?
Ooo, if you do try that combo you’ll have to let me know what you think! :)
I don’t think the tea has been discontinued, it just likes to hide apparently! lol
Made a pot of this for breakfast tea. Last night I was floating around on the Harney and Sons website, resisting the urge to order more tea. Luckily, there wasn’t a specific flavour that I wanted from them, it was just a generic tea urge. I’m also still a little annoyed with the shipping debacle from my pound of vanilla comoro.
Anyway, that web surfing must have inspired me, because I knew that I wanted vanilla comoro this morning. Usually we go through the torture of the beau asking me what tea I want, and me saying I don’t know. I rarely know. I have to think about it. Today, we skipped straight to the good stuff.
This pot had that lovely vanilla caramel edge that I so love…It almost reminds me of Sawadee’s Monk’s Blend which I find to be caramelly. This was just a great cuppa. The beau said his was a little bitter, but he always gets the last of the pot. : )
We ordered from Harney’s on Friday and still haven’t received shipping confirmation…I think it may just be a Canada thing, though I agree, it doesn’t make any sense that it would take them longer to actually ship it. Once it was shipped, how long did it take to arrive, if you don’t mind my asking?
I think I was close to 4 weeks from order date to ship date, but I had an unreasonably bad experience. They didn’t ship it for over a week, and no-one responded to my e-mail inquiries for about a week. Then, the usual 2 to 3 weeks to get it from the US to Canada. Harney told me the delay was due to a US holiday that I didn’t know about, but that 1 day off seemed to cause some mega delays. The official word from Harney about international ship times (are we really that far away??) is that “International order are usually shipped with in a week from the time the order is placed.” I didn’t notice that on the website before I ordered. :( Luckily, I’ve been told that my experience is out of the ordinary
I still don’t understand why shipping from US to Canada is such a big hassle for some companies. It shouldn’t take any more time to prepare a package for shipping to Canada than it does to prepare one for the states, the only difference is a customs form.
That is a sore point for me as well. The actual shipping time being longer makes sense – further distance = longer time. However, you’re sticking the same items in the same box and slapping an address on there. Harney’s estimates 2 to 3 business days to prepare a delivery in the US, but a week to prepare a shipment for Canada (and the rest of the world)
The part I really don’t get is, for instance, companies in New York can get packages to Texas faster than they can get a package to me, in Toronto. I can spit and hit New York! Okay, maybe not quite that close, but seriously? Blegh. There are times it is faster to have things shipped to my brother in Buffalo and have him ship them to me than it is to have them shipped here in the firstplace.
This is on my mind far more than it should be because I order too much tea. I’ve had packages from the UK and France and even Taiwan within a week of the shipping date. Of course air mail is faster all around, but if there is some sort of customs/sorting delay you’d think it would affect these too. It seems more like a stubborn conception that Canada is REALLY FAR when the distance is likely less for lots of these orders than to other states.
You should have heard some of the responses I got from people when I moved to Canada, Jessie. I lived in Tennessee at the time and it blew people’s minds that I was moving to ANOTHER COUNTRY. I had people telling me to remember to drive on the wrong side of the road, asking me to say stuff in “Canadian”…I don’t even know. But Canada is definitely seen as another country, and it’s big and scary and…seriously? My brother calls it America 2.0. Just like America…but a little better. .
That’s too funny!
Yummy yum. I haven’t had this in a while, but I have had a number of chais since, so I might better know my own thoughts. This is a very pale liquor, but a bold flavour. I have three (three!) green cardamom pods in my cup. I love cardamom in chai. Yay! I get an appley sort of sweetness in the sip, as opposed to the flavour of apple. I also get a hint of vanilla creaminess occasionally instead of vanilla taste. All that aside, I love chai, so I love this. A little more apple falvour would be lovely, but I am more than happy with what I have. At least right now : )
EDIT: I just coughed…not newsworthy, but SOMEHOW, I got a strong sense of the apple flavour (more like cinnamon apple, thanks to the chai) afterward. Maybe it’s all hidden in the afterwaste, but I’m sipping too quickly to notice!
Preparation
Still loving it! This cup is actually a re-steep from yesterday. I am surprised at how well it came out. I put a dash of cream in there, as it was tasting a bit then and that warmed up the mint and chcoolate, making it more hot chocolatey. The chocolate is more muted, but the mint is still pretty bold. Every once in a while, I think I get a hint of peppercorns. I LOVE peppercorns in tea.. So glad to have made my peace with this tea, and still hoping it’s the beginning of a change in my perception of chocolate tea in general!
Preparation
Thankfully, I’m still feeling the love for this one. I bought 50 grams for myself over the weekend after my highly succesful (and enjoyable!) cup last week. Today, I’m enjoying it almost as much…it’s like a thin minty hot chocolate. I’m enjoying this little wave…maybe it’s the turning of the tides for my stance on chocolate tea. Almost time to drink that chocolate chai cheesecake Meghann M sent me ages ago! : )
