1598 Tasting Notes
So this is the Earl Grey! And it’s a sipdown! (Much needed too, I gotta say. My samples from Courtney came in yesterday and now I’m over 230, with a Butiki order coming in the next few weeks, and some more samples from Sil! Haha. BEST problems to have).
This is a pretty decent Earl Grey. It’s really not that strong but there is a tangy astringency at the end of each sip. It’s enjoyable, but I think I prefer EGC over regular EG’s. And yes, I know I could just ADD cream, but… I’m lazy? Also I guess I’m just used to drinking it plain.
Preparation
I think this must be the chocomate. It HAS to be because the other tumbler has Teajo’s Earl Grey in it and those are different animals.
I don’t know anything about this tea as I’m reviewing it ninja style at work, writing the text in a draft email that I’ll copy/paste from when I can pop online. It really reminds me of coffee. It’s dark and strong, and there are a few cocoa notes in there, as well as something like bark. It makes me feel like I should wake up! I haven’t hard much to eat/drink this morning besides tea so I’ll slow down on finishing this until I get some lunch, otherwise I have a feeling this will make me feel heady and dizzy.
Thank you Sil for the sample!
Oh and I can’t wait until next week when I get set up in my new office with my own computer and I won’t have to worry about people walking by and looking at me on the internet. Don’t get me wrong guys, I do work really hard. But I do it so that I can take mental breaks whenever I want them.
Preparation
Thank you Courtney! This is pretty nice! It’s sooooo creamy and sweet, and I love the vanilla contrasted with the malty notes. It really doesn’t taste like a decaf tea at all! I think I will add this to my shopping list because it’d make an excellent evening tea when I don’t really want another rooibos or honeybush tea. I’m so happy I was able to try it.
I don’t really have a lot of knowledge about H&S’s, but it seems to me that they’re a high quality tea company so maybe I should look at placing an order some day. $6 for 20 tea bags seems pretty reasonable.
Glad you liked it :) There teas are pretty great quality.
Yeah, I sampled a buncha H&S recently and my takeaway was that their tea is of very good quality, and I wound up with like 4 new “gotta keep stocked” favorites. Even the stuff that wasn’t my thing was still good quality, just weren’t my flavors. They certainly have a lot!
4 eh? I’ll definitely keep on the lookout for a sale. Maybe a free shipping to Canada sale?
I can dream.
If you’re interested, I just found that a bunch of Harney & Sons teas are available on iherb.com. Prices seem to vary a bit, but I got a 4 oz tin of Paris for $6.38 and shipping anywhere outside the US is a flat rate $4 for under 4 pounds. I order often from them – though the tea is a more recent addition (they also have Tao of Tea) – and that shipping rate is amazing.
My favorite from them is Paris. Check it out! :)
Yum! It sorta reminds me of bubblegum, but not that super fake bubblegum flavouring. Does that make sense? I think it’s the marshmallow!
It’s sweet and fruity like strawberry and a touch creamy with the marshmallows while the pineapple does something that packages the whole thing up as its own kind of fruit. It’s rather fun and enjoyable for summer, although I don’t think that I’ll be terribly upset once it’s gone.
Also, I finally realized that when I ship these teas to Canada, I’m basically paying $12 for 2oz, and.. that’s pretty damn expensive!
I’ll package some up for Sil and TerriHarpLady as soon as I get a chance!
Preparation
Yeah, they’re expensive aren’t they! It’s why I’m not getting sucked into the weekly teas. :)
I really have to stop and think before I order any more! I mean, they’re good, but… are they that good? I guess if it was a reorder and I knew I was going to like it, but I’ve had so many just fall flat on me. Too much chance, and it seems like everyone has samples to trade. :P
Unfortunately the shipping really makes 52Teas an expensive product for Canadians. Especially when I remember that 2 oz is only 56 grams!
…and that’s why i don’t bother with 52 teas for the most part anymore. Even when my tea mule can bring them up, it’s still 9$ for 1-2oz depending on the tea and often they’re sort of hit or miss….with a lot more misses these days :( I’d rather spend the money on tea that i don’t consider gimmicky or that i can re-order anytime
(note that there have been some wonderful teas from frank that i enjoy, but on the whole they’ve been trending towards more meh..ie not amazing! but also not horrible…except for a few of those reblends..ick)
Yeah, I totally know what you mean! I’ve been disappointed with a few and now I’m reluctant to try again.
I almost feel like I’m eavesdropping on a private conversation and I should keep my mouth shut, but I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry we’ve let you guys down.
With regard to the shipping costs: I really wish I knew what to do here. Even with our discounted commercial rates, shipping a single pouch of tea to Canada costs us $6.91 (That’s just postage, not envelopes or labels, etc.) and we charge you $4.99. The good thing is, the costs DO go down the more tea you purchase. I’ve thought about offering free shipping over $x or something, but that seems punative to those who just want to order the Tea of the Week.
The consistency in the reblends is something I am still trying to figure out. I keep copious notes on all of the teas that I blend. I have recipes for creating every blend I’ve ever made except the Kitchen Sink. LOL. I definitely want to be able to provide a consistent product and I will be double and triple checking my measurements in the future as well as making sure that all teas have an appropriate amount of time to “stew”.
Hey Frank!
Feel free to eavesdrop! I forget sometimes that the blenders have access to our comments, but I don’t regret what I said, and I realise that these candid thoughts can be useful for you (and others) to improve their business.
I understand that there’s not much you can do about the shipping to Canada. That’s just a hurdle I have to deal with, and it’s part of the reason that it’s so easy to get samples of 52Teas from my American friends – so many people on Steepster snap up these blends and are eager to let others try them out. (Heck I just shared my latest order with two other Canadians too, so your tea gets around!) The swaps are great because it helps me figure out what I like beforehand and then when you reblend I know what to snap up before everyone else! :P
Offering free shipping might help – especially when you have a lot of re-blends out at once that would help justify spending X amount! I realise you don’t want to punish those that buy the weekly teas, but it would only be Canadian customers that you hurt (b/c Americans get free shipping, right?) and I think we’d appreciate an option for free shipping at least.
$8.99 is still a bit pricey for 2oz of tea, but it’s still something I like to do once in a while, especially for some of the quirky and unique teas you own’t find anywhere else. (Butterbeer? Yes please! Smaug tea? Oh yeah!)
I’m not saying I won’t ever buy your teas again, but I just need to be fully aware how much I’m spending! And I’ve been spending a lot lately without questioning it.
I appreciate the feedback though. That’s one of the great things about Steepster – we can bring vendors and tea consumers together and help improve things! More sales for you. More tea for us. Etc.
ditto on cavo’s eloquent response :)
I also really like the back and forth with blender as well!
I’ve totally taken this tea for granted. :| I grabbed a bag when it was $2/5 at Davids, along with a few spring teas I hadn’t even tried, and 2 days later it’s gone.
It’s pretty good, but OMG is it expensive. $11.50 for 50g? And this is a heavy tea with all those mulberries. Are mulberries rare? Because there’s really not a lot of white tea in here. The 4-7 minute steep time sorta gives it away – it’s basically a fruit herbal with a dash of white.
It’s so creamy and sweet and a touch fruity. I would never buy 100g, but I DID send my bf to Brentwood to see if he could grab me two more little bags. I’ll cross my fingers.
Preparation
Thank you CrowKettle for the sample! (Or wait. Was is Sil? /0\ I’ll start labeling from now on I promise, but I know this one showed up with my matcha samples!!!)
I think Dragon Pearls are one of my favourite types of teas! This is just so smooth, and I love the malt and cocoa notes. Honey too! I steeped it for two minutes and that makes it nice and strong, without being overwhelming, and I’ll probably get a few more steeps out of this before I call it quits. I love how much flavour is in this black.
I believe this is nicer than the one from Zen Tea, and the tea itself is so pretty to look at. I love those little balls! It’s hard to say what makes this one “better” but it seems like there are a lot of things going on, and if I steeped it for less time and more often I would probably pick up on all sorts of things!
I guess I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a Teavivre sale because I’d like to stock up on this one. Moar please!
Preparation
I’m so exhausted with the baby being sick and keeping me up all night that my brain is broken. I made Blueberry Afternoon from DT and Blood Orange Puerh from Davids, and I wasn’t certain which was which. Wow. Just… wow. (They were muted bc they were in travel mugs but still!!!)
So, with the above in mind, I will skip reviewing this tea. It’s nice, but I don’t trust my senses atm.
Poor mama, poor baby. My youngest is 20, but I remember those days.
Hopefully this passes quickly :)
YIKES /o\
Thanks! She’s feeling a bit better today, but her Dad will be able to watch her tomorrow while I go back to work, and we’ll just hope that she’s ready to go back to daycare on Friday.
