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I ended up erring on the side of caution with my first steep and took the (awesome!)infuser out of my travel mug altogether after about ten minutes. In a stroke of brilliance, instead of dumping the tea leaves I put the infuser in my work mug, that way I can resteep without any mess. So, that’s what I’ve done!

I know that I’ve drained a lot of the flavour already, but I figure I might as well maximise what I have here at work. I think a big mug of spearmint will come after this, since I’m really enjoying just filling the travel mug with tea you don’t have to worry about. It keeps it substantially warmer than my work mug as well, so I don’t have to get up and make a new tea every 20 minutes.

Last logged Jan. 27? Seriously???

Throat starting to feel more and more like I will be ill by tomorrow, so I filled my travel mug to the brim with some hot water and threw in a teaspoon of mojito. I actually tossed another half teaspoon or so of David’s Tea’s spearmint in there for a mintier kick. Tastes delicious! I’ve actually burnt my tongue, which is a bit of a downer, but I still get the lovely taste.

I persist in deliusions of vanilla in here, with a muted flavour reminiscent of lime bang. (Which I find to be vanilla-ish). I don’t get the black tea, but I definitely get the mint! I’m still on the fence about leaving the tea in the mug for the duration (I’m lazy!) or if I should take it out to avoid over steeping the black tea and ruining the whole thing. Past experience dictates that this is an extremely forgiving tea, so I think I will leave it, unless something terrible happens.

Staring at the tea I realize that one of the flavours I can never pin down is Rooibos…this tea has everything! While others claim to get a coconut taste I (thankfully!) don’t. I do get a hint of a rummish something, sort of reminiscent of a buttered rum life saver.

Sidenote – When David’s Tea discontinues or retires a tea, they remove it from the website. Accordingly, I can’t see the ingredient list anymore which drives me bananas!!

I’m gonna start off with a complaint here. Why does Ruby Red never show up in the first drop-down list off options after typing Ruby Red in the search box? Teas that don’t even have those two words in the title come up first. Very annoying. Happens a lot with my teas. Maybe it’s based on popularity?

Anyway, I brewed up a mug of this to go as I wanted some loose leaf in my morning. I got a different mix this time, more tropical fruitiness. The rooibos is always there, but I love rooibos (apparently!) so that’s fine by me. I picked out an extra chunk of pineapple and threw it in my scoop, and I’ve been realy picking out a pineapple flavour, especially in the aftertaste.

Unfortunately, I’ve got a feeling in my throat that implies an impending sickness. This tea is making me feel happier, though I can see some Detox, mint and ginger teas in my future. For now, I’ll enjoy the lovely tropical Ruby Red (in which I continually want there to be grapefruit. I really want a good grapefruit tea. I don’t even know if that would taste right.)

A good kickstart to the morning. I wanted a little looseleaf, but the beau wanted lady grey. So, I’m grabbing a big mug of ruby red to go! : )

I totally wanted this tea today – out of nowhere! My work brought in cupcakes and I felt unwell after eating one (way too much icing, etc) so I figured no more sweet teas today. Then what do I do? I pick out the raspberry zinger! I gave it a brief steep time, only 2 or 3 minutes and that was short enough to not allow the hibiscus to develop. Right now, this is an exceedingly pleasant cup. And it even looks sort of Valentines-y! (I never knew I was this into themes…)

Giving this a second steep – Mostly out of obligation to not waste tea. Starting off this time with a splash of cream to mute the chocolate a pinch of raw sugar to enhance the strawberries. I really enjoyed it cold last time, so I think I’ll let it sit a bit.

All the flavours muted with this steep. Not a very dark liquor, more of a chocolate milk taste now. I also just realized that the weird waxy feeling on the roof of my mouth/my tongue is from the chocolate in this tea. This is good to know, as it was freaking me out!! However, I do wish it wouldn’t happen. It’s rather unpleasant.

I was inspired by the Valentines Day madness. I thought I’d treat myself to this tea. Of course, after pouring it doesn’t smell like what I want at the moment, but I’m a woman. I’m supposed to change my mind! : ) Pouring it was the usual extravaganza as well, since my little one cup work teapot has a minor flaw in the spout and it makes the tea pour wonky, often dripping down the side. Between the mess and the washing up I almost never use it, but today was an exception. I might give this a shot at re-steeping, so I can keep the leaves in the pot while I enjoy my cup.

Today, this tastes strongly of a liqueur. It smells like there’s booze in my cup…sort of like kahlua mixed with some strawberry liqueur. I’m sure there is one. Still reminds me of thoe little strawberry cream filled chocolates, as well. I definitely got a different mix of things in my cup as this tastes markedly different than I remember – It’s a little heavier on the chocolate and I think there is more rose nosing about in this cup.

As this cools I contine to get the weird liquor flavour. I’ve no clue how that came about but it’s not impressing me right now. For today, I’m bumping the rating down. Maybe next time it’ll show off. I’ve gotta say, I really want to like this but it just isn’t working for me. Maybe I’m not meant to appreciate chocolate in tea.

EDIT: A bit of cream and sugar make this much more palatable but still a disappointment. I see a cup of mojito in my future – My package arrived from Jessie on Friday and I brought it to work….yay!

SECOND EDIT: This is shockingly good cold….maybe that’s the way for me to go? Putting the rating back up a bit for cold! : )

To be fair, these have been lost at the back of my cupboard for a year and a half, largely because I can never remember if it’s the PC cranberry that’s terrible or the pomegranate. I have both.

Steeping this up today I get a vivid red liquor and a smell strongly reminiscent of hibiscus…Which I just noted is of course the first ingredient. That implies to me that the cranberry is the one I always thought was bad. There’s a tinge of a cinnamon smell in there as well, and something that (excuse me) reminds me of vomit. I’m trying to ignore that note…

First sips come in much milder and sweeter than I would expect. I’m not getting the hibiscus right off, but instead a sweet fruit smell (wouldn’t call it cranberry). As I sit with this mug the flavours will change, I know, since hibiscus seems to take the lead as tea cools, but this is a good start.

A few sips in I am finding it a bit more tart. As the beau suggested, I think a tiny drop of honey would work to sooth the hibiscus and possibly enhance the “cranberry” flavour. Of course cranberry is tart on it’s own, so I don’t know why they added hibiscus. Cranberry must just not come out strong?

Anyway, it’s drinkable. Very plain and doesn’t stand out, but I remember serving it to friends who’d never had loose leaf and they liked it. Strange to remember the days of picking up all the weird teas PC had for sale and thinking I was really getting a different tea experience. Thank God for loose leaf!

Holy Hannah, I love this tea. Brewed some up this afternoon while watching Scott Pilgrim Vs the World again with the beau. Unfortunately when we got this they were almost out at David’s Tea and the tea lady was forced to give us the bottom. Accordingly, there are lots of littles broken bits in my tea : (

I strained it through some paper towel to keep the small bits out of my mug and am enjoying it. Still really grapey, I feel confident in saying that I can taste the delicate white underneath it. I’ve had a couple different white teas now and I think I can finally identify the taste of the itself. It’s really interesting, and almost like a fleeting flavour at the end/underneath the sip.

Unrelated, but I think I will try 52Teas Cantaloupe Bai Mu Dan once again soon and see if my burgeoning appreciation for white teas allows me to more fully enjoy that one. I hope so! I also want a mug of their apple vanilla white chai. I think I’m going to end up with a tea queue if I’m not careful!

Mmm, grabbed another of these lovelies while at the Market today. The lovely lady who works there informed me that they use their Highland Chai spice mix and their Keemum to make the lattes. I bought some of the Highland Chai mix immediately so I can replicate it myself later. Huzzah!!