Acquired Taste Tea Co.

I got this as a present from my mom for Christmas, but waited until now to drink it as I had to check the ingredients list with the company. I called them up today and they were very helpful, luckily it looks like there are just almonds in this one and no nuts at all in the other tea mom gave me, Fireside Chocolate! :)

So I had to make a cup of this. I should probably go easy on the black teas, with the busy holidays and lots of travelling, my anxiety has not been the greatest lately, and caffeine has been aggravating it. But oh well haha. I can splurge today, I’m pretty relaxed.

This tea smells like vanilla and apples dry. It’s a blend of black tea, apple cubes, spices, almonds and natural flavoring according to the lady at the company, so sounds good! I steeped a little over a tsp for 2 minutes.

The steeped scent is mostly spices, I am getting cinnamon and maybe some cloves, with a light apple scent thrown in as well. I really don’t smell the almonds, and if I hadn’t seen one in the steeper, probably couldn’t pick them out in the tea from scent or flavor. The taste is like an apple tea with cloves, spicy but there really is apple in there. To me, it’s a bit like a black tea version of Mom’s Apple Pie by DavidsTea, but with less cinnamon and artifical flavors. I guess the almonds could be adding to the depth of the flavor, but I don’t taste much of them. Overall, a pretty good black tea, definitely wintery and festive!

Good morning Steepster!! I have energy today because I actually went to bed earlyish (a half hour makes a big difference lol), it’s supposed to be +16 C here today and the sun is shining :) and it’s not Monday!! Life is good.

So I needed to have a citrus tea today, as KittyLovesTea said, the sunshine brings about citrus cravings, they just go hand in hand. This tea is so good, I need to drink it more often, a nice black base with actual grapefruit flavor. Not too tart either, more of a sweet grapefruit. A very nice wake up tea for at work :) see previous notes!

I don’t think I’ve written a note on this yet, but I really like this tea! I usually reserve this tea for miserable weather days, rainy, gross..today it is kind of sunny and windy and somewhat warm, but the clouds made it seem appropriate. A lovely EG with a bite of fresh grapefruit, that’s what this is like. Yum!

I decided to try Davidstea’s ridiculously tea wasteful latte recipe tonight as this tea is getting old and if it makes a more flavorful latte I don’t mind using this one up lol. And it did indeed make a good latte! 4 perfect spoons in about 2/3 of a 12 oz mug for 2 mins, frothed up a bunch of coconut milk and heated it, and poured the coconut milk in with the tea in a big mug. There was a bit of overflow of foam lol but it was very tasty and I’m still enjoying it (it was a big mug). One more latte like that and I will probably finish off that tea! Delicious and creamy with no sweetener added, just what I needed tonight :) see previous notes on this tea!

My one cup of black tea for the day..I keep having it at night too lol, not sure if that’s a good plan, but at least I’m cutting down on caffeine! Although I did have genmaicha this afternoon, which has caffeine, but minor detail lol. This tea called out to me tonight. After an unfortunate incident of our kitty breaking both of my boyfriend’s favorite pieces of teaware (elephant teapot and halloween color changing mug), he ordered I put some of my teas away so we have a place for teaware. This one ended up in the rejects bag, but of course I had to have a craving for it tonight, so I took it out again lol. Oh, and I ordered him a replacement elephant teapot, so we should be good! Bad cat, he was in a bit of trouble for that :( but anyways, this is creamy and delicious tonight. I quite like this EGC, it has a tasty cream note but the black base and bergamot are still a tad stronger. I like it, yes indeed. See previous note!

The other new tea I picked up yesterday. Mom and I were smelling Earl Greys as my aunt is a fan of them so we were looking for a gift for her, moment got Lord Grey and I got this one. Both have bergamot and vanilla but this one is more creamy than the other. I’m going to let my mom have a few cups in case that is the one to get my aunt (the Lord Grey is currently for her).

This tea smells soooo creamy. Now, I really don’t need another EGC, I’ve found my favorite at Zen Tea Life already and Heavenly Cream by Sloane is a close second. Oh and I can’t forget the one by davidstea, strong, but I enjoy it. But this one smelled too good to pass up lol (I might go back and get Lord’s Grey as well, it also smelled wonderful, but more bergamotty).

So I steeped about a tsp for 2 mins. The steeped tea retains that wonderful creamy smell and adds in a bit more bergamot. The first few sips were almost too much bergamot, bordering on perfume which I don’t like in EG trash, but the aftertaste is a lovely vanilla cream. As I continue to sip and the cup cools, the vanilla takes over and the perfumeyness fades. It becomes rich, creamy, and quite tasty!

Overall, this is a fairly decent EGC. I recall not being overly fond of Zen Tea Life’s one at the start from the bergamot as well, so I will see if this one ends up passing it as the go to. It’s certainly closer to purchase! Good tea, will rate 82 for now (unsure if it’s a restock yet, but pretty tasty). Oh and it’s quite cozy too :)

Another tea in The Great Tea Purge/Sampling of 2014! This is a sipdown – it is also one of the two teas I had yesterday for Christmas Day :) – this tea served me well! Nicely spiced, and the vanilla really adds a sweetness and smooths everything out. This final cup is quite spicy from the bottom of the bag, but it is still very good! This tea lasted me two holiday seasons – I will probably look into getting a bit more December of next year! See previous notes :)

Sooo…if you are having a bad Monday, just picture waking up to find it SNOWING outside. Haha September 8 and it’s SNOWING! Ughh! It was +25 C on Saturday and snowing today. Like, I wore shorts on Saturday, got a slight sunburn, had to guzzle water to stay hydrated…and then today, total opposite. Only in Alberta…I guess I need to go buy some new boots and put my snow brush/scraper back in my car for the season LOL, hopefully I never took it out cuz there is definitely a bit of accumulation.

So on this fine cold Monday, I am appropriately drinking Yuletide Spice. Because, why not, it’s spicy, vanilla-y, and definitely fits the season. Merry Christmas! (too soon? haha) But seriously, this tea is tasty, and I’m happy it is keeping me company at work today. And also, it’s supposed to be like +20 C on the weekend, so this should be short-lived weather. We can only hope. Haha, see previous notes on this tea!

Gahhh with the weather turning sour and cold yesterday, I have been craving sugary, rich foods and sugary, sweet teas. So I made this in my travel mug this morning for work, a spicy, vanilla sweet black tea full of caffeine and sweet. It’s doing ok, but my co-worker is going to get an energy for her sugar desire today as well, so I requested some candy for the afternoon haha. Darn this weather making us all enter hibernation mode again! See previous notes on this tea :)

Mmm this is so cozy tonight. I made it in my big chai mug, about 1.5 tsp with some milk and brown sugar. Perfect for a cold evening, although I am feeling the caffeine from so many black teas today lol. Onto herbals after this! Oh and I’m watching the hobbit in preparation for going to the next one on opening night this Thursday! #soexciting, anyways see previous notes on this tea :)

I stopped by this local tea shop yesterday to pick up some more Tall Mountain oolong for my boyfriend, and I was also taking my mom shopping there for the first time. I love the teas from this company! So as we walked in, right at the front are all of their holiday/winter teas!! Eep so excited! We started smelling them, and found a few that were just awesome! I should have gotten some of their 12 days of Christmas blend, as it was a pear one and it smelled heavenly! But mom picked up some of their Christmas Comfort black tea, spices and almonds and apples in that one, and we both grabbed a 50g bag of this tea. I couldn’t even find it on their site yet, so the description is just from the sales clerk!

So I excitedly brewed up a cup of this this morning. I steeped for 2 minutes with probably 1.5 teaspons of tea, and it was almost a bit much. Oh, the dry smell is HEAVENLY in this one. Like a warm chai but with sweet vanilla. So tasty smelling. Once steeped, it still smelled pretty good, but a strange dry sort of dusty smell came up, I think it might have been the vanilla and black base.

But the flavor was pretty good! A mildly spicy tea, not too strong in spices for sure, and the vanilla provided a sweet, smoothing aftertaste. You can definitely taste the base tea in this one, it’s a little bit strong, so I might steep for 1.5 minutes next time to see if that accentuates that lovely vanilla note more. But who knows, it might need a longer steep for more spices. Regardless, it was a pretty tasty cup, and warming, and perfect for winter! If I manage to fall in love with this tea, I will have to stock up while it’s still available!

Oh, and another note on this company, a few ladies were in there buying the Scottish and Irish breakfast blends. I haven’t had either of those type of teas before, and the one lady bought a very large bag of the Irish, so I imagine they are pretty good! Those might be on my list for the next time I go there :) always wonderful to find a good local company! They also ship teas, not sure the costs, so if anyone is interested check them out online!

I am drinking this tea in a futile attempt to warm up at work. IT IS SO FREAKING COLD IN MY OFFICE. It is probably a workplace hazard. Like seriously, my little heater has been running since before I got to work (someone else was freezing) and it is only warmed up to 70 around the heater. NOT at my desk surface, that is the heater on the floor, and my feet are still cold. I have my winter coat on. A lot of other people in the office have their coats on. To top it all off, I started sneezing uncontrollably and had to take an allergy pill just to be able to function. This is NOT right. Apparently the receptionist called the building manager but no word back on what they are going to do. This has been going on for over a year as well. It’s actually usually worse in the summer as the AC is even higher and we are all wearing coats at our desk in the summer. Shorts/capris? HAHAHA. I wish I could wear those to work comfortably. UGHHHHH.

Sorry for the rant. This ongoing issue is really grinding my gears. I want to get the Building Managers info and give him an earful (not just about the cold, but also about the recurrence of my asthma from air quality, etc etc….I won’t get into that again).

So yeah. THANK GOODNESS FOR TEA. It’s trying to warm me up and not really working, but it tastes good. See previous notes.

Also, typing has helped to slightly warm up my hands. Lol.

Ah, rain!!! I so wish I was at home today enjoying a tea session in my yixing or gaiwan with the cat, reading a good book, enjoying the overcast day wrapped in a blanket, but alas, I am at work. Hooray Monday!! (sigh) so I have this tea to keep me going through the morning. I wanted a caffeine pick me up but I thought I’d take a break since I had a shu session until quite late last night, so out comes my trusty decaf! With a bit of sugar today to tone down the lavender a bit, this is quite enjoyable. It’s helping me though the morning as it is supposed to at least. See previous notes on this tea :)

Good morning decaf Lady Grey…I had a lot of trouble getting up this morning, the middle of the week is always the worst, especially since I’ve had 2 days of daylight savings messing with my schedule. I also have a couple meetings today so did not want to overcaffeinate and be bouncing off the walls lol..so out comes this tea. Reliable and tasty, a perfect substitute for a full out black tea, with the addition of lavender to keep me calm and collected. I really do enjoy this tea! See previous notes :)

First tea of the day, this tasty decaf! It’s a busy Monday at work, but it’s also my birthday :D getting older! Here’s to another year in my life of drinking tea! See previous notes on this one.

I didn’t drink a whole lot of tea today, but I should try to get a good rest tonight, so out comes my sole decaf black tea. This one is really quite tasty! The lavender shines along with a mild bergamot, the base is not too weak in my opinion either. I don’t have much experience with decaf blacks, but I enjoy this one! See previous notes!

Ugh. What a week. I can’t wait for it to be over haha. I need a strong cup of A&D’s Double Knit blend today, but I am still going easy with caffeine (trying max 1 cup a day of black) so I am having decaf EG this morning. It’s good, but I need some strength for today. Gahhh. At least it tastes good lol. See previous notes!

I’ve had this a few times, and I am way too tired tonight to do a proper review, but this tea is a very nice decaf before bed. It usually hits the spot when I’m craving a black tea late at night with some relaxation as well from the lavender. Actually, the lavender is pretty strong in this, but I like lavender, so that is not a bad thing. Ahh, I need sleep. This work then school thing will take some major adjusting, I just ground out my 2 assignments that have to be done by Tues for our first exam tonight lol. And work has been busy this week too. Sigh. TGIF tomorrow. Off to bed now lol. Thank goodness for decaf tea!

I’m having a cup of this as it is getting really cold outside here (although I’m not complaining, no snow yet :D which is rare) and I wanted something cozy and warming and also with a caffeine kick. This fits the bill in all aspects. I only steeped this for less than a minute today because it gets soooo strong haha, and added honey to the travel mug as well. The result is a strong, gingery, spiced chai that I am definitely feeling today! I am happy I made this, now hopefully the caffeine doesn’t take me out! I feel a migraine coming on from the crazy wind today so hopefully the caffeine helps ward that off haha.

In other news, I went swimming in a pool for literally the first time in years (last was like in junior high or high school haha). There is a pool super close to my house so I am going to try to get in the habit of swimming at least twice a week for the winter season, since I can’t go running outside when it’s so cold (read: will not go running outside when it’s cold lol). Last night was great and definitely a work out as well as being relaxing, so I hope I can keep it up, since my running has been nonexistant for a month, since I returned from Scotland lol. Hooray for trying to be active!

I haven’t had this in ages and it is the perfect tea to warm me up in my ridiculously cold office…like seriously my hands are slow moving. Gahhhh. Anyways, this tea is delicious and I will be drinking more of it in the coming fall/winter season. I did underleaf today as I remember how strong this one gets (CTC assam base) but it still has a nice spicy, vanilla tinged flavor, albeit a little weak. But still helping me stay awake at work lol, I have a tough time around 2 in the afternoon, I think my body finishes digesting lunch and wants to have a nap at that point every day lol. Anyways, back to work! See previous notes on this tea :)

First SIPDOWN of the day, at 9 in the morning! Woot! I got this as a free sample at my local tea shop. A few weeks ago I made 2/3 of the pack stovetop with milk and didn’t log it, it was quite good but very strong, I probably could have had more milk than water or something, and a bit more honey. Today, I just steeped the remainder Western style for 2 minutes. Oh, the dry smell is so yummy, spicy and peppery with a hint of sweet. The black tea in this is little tiny black pellets, I believe this is a CTC tea, and my first one at that! This makes for a super dark liquor with a lot of strength.

I tried the first sip without any additives, and it was spicy and dark and strong, tasty, but quite a lot for a first cup of the day. So I added in a generous amount of honey, and that tones it quite a bit. Hmm, I like the taste of this, even with the bitter aftertaste. Weird! I’m not the best at picking out spice flavors as I don’t have them outside of tea much and they just meld so good in tea, but I think cardamom and cinnamon are the predominant notes, and the cloves, but I could be wrong haha. I still think I prefer this one as stovetop lol, as it’s just more cozy that way. But it definitely can hold its own being brewed Western with just water! I might pick up some more of this in the future, as I see this being one I crave in the winter for its boldness and warmth. I am surprised I enjoy this so much, as it has so much body, I thought it’d be too much lol. Thank you Acquired Taste Tea for the lovely sample!

Sipdown! This is actually the third cup of my sample pack, and I didn’t log the other two yet. But this is another pretty tasty tea by Acquired Taste Tea! The dry smell is a deep, rich maple scent. I steeped for 2 minutes, and this one is a bit stronger than the others due to finishing up the sample pack, but it is still good! The flavor is like real maple syrup, a dark and rich taste, not too sugary, but definitely mapley. The aftertaste has the creaminess of caramel, and the base does well to support the subtle yet delicious flavors. This one might definitey be a re-buy, but I need to finish my larger packs of tea from this company first!

It’s a beautiful day for the start of autumn this evening! And it was a beautiful weekend..around +25 C yesterday, I was out at the lake fishing and got a slight sunburn and lots of vitamin D. And the colors of the trees are wonderful! I love when fall is like this :)

So since it is feeling fall-like in terms of colors (not cold weather anymore luckily), I broke out this fall tea that I have saved all summer and most of winter lol. Apricot cream is one of my most autumn like blends to me, so it is the one for the day. And it still tastes awesome – a pretty authentic apricot flavor with a lovely creamy taste in the later part of the sip. So good.

Happy Monday!

See previous notes on this tea :)

Seriously. This tea is good. Like today, in my Timolino, it’s like I added in cream and apricots to my tea. Like it’s soo legit! Can’t believe that cream flavor. Mmmmm I will sip this as I rock out at work on this fine Thursday. Almost the weekend! And dug out my winter sweater today and my leg warmers :D fall is officially here! See previous notes on this delicious tea :)