American Tea Room

Noooooooooo !! Say it’s not true!!
I just now learned that American Tea Room is closed. Where am I gonna buy Brioche now!? There’s no other tea like it.
Dangit I always feel bad for buying too much tea at one time. But there are those few teas that I never get tired of and it always feels special to drink.
I’ll buck up and look forward to searching for Brioche 2.0. I’m sure there are a few to choose from.
Onward into 2019!

2013-05-11
OMG Tastybrew my mystery swap box arrived and it’s a smorgasbord of tea! like whoa!

i immediately picked two teas. and this was the first.
the scent is pretty damn decadent. heavy butter, or like a fresh cheese danish. bam!
the base is a pretty mild black so it would be nice when i don’t want a mega caffeine hit or a heavy mouth experience. a mellow dessert tea!

thanks so much TastyBrew, this whole box is gonna be a wild experience.

2013-06-07
this tea is. so. good.
like sogood!

i’m listening to spoon on repeat too. this song is also so very good.
Paper Tiger – Spoon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA7uEW56rCE
it’s all too bittersweet.

and it’s raining out too. super raining. i keep getting emergency flood warnings on my phone.
it’s a dramatic day.

Smells great, much like American Tea Room’s Choco-Late…guess I know now I dig cacao husks as a caffeine-free dessert blend ingredient. Gives it that cheap packet hot cocoa feel. The coconut lends a toasty element I really dig too. I think this would be pretty much interchangeable with Choco-Late in the colder months as a caffeine-free after-dinner treat; they’re similar enough that having both on hand at the same time would be redundant, but their similarity means two options at any given time to fill this niche for creamy cocoa-y richness after 5pm when ordering from ATR in case one’s out of stock.

This is certainly not a bad non-caffeine flavored option, but it’s in the unenviable position of being comparable to Della Terra’s Lemon Chiffon and falling short. It has that subtle but funky (I hesitate to say this because it’s so gross but I’ve had a handful of rooibos teas now and am positive it’s a quality of rooibos in general) almost urine-y smell brewing. But the lemon flavor is good, and it really does have that liquor-y limoncello quality. I guess it’s a good back-up option if, god forbid, DT ever stops selling Lemon Chiffon. But until then I know which one I’ll always reach for—sorry, ATR!

That said, I bet it’d be good for iced tea (if rooibos cold steeps well…does it? I’m clueless). And better for that than Lemon Chiffon, because the liquor element would be more desirable than a pastry crust one (not to mention OMG I’d never “waste” Lemon Chiffon that way, ha).

TastyBrew sent me a super cute little sample of this one with our swap, included as a surprise for me. Thank you so much!

It tastes very bread-y, in a way that reminds me of Fat Tire beer. There is also a lovely blend of cinnamon and nuts. It definitely feels like I’m eating a delicious pastry, it’s so bizarre that it’s actually tea and I’m really not eating anything unhealthy.

I have enough to try this one again, but I am definitely going to resteep these leaves and see what it’s like the second time around.

Smells woody and yes, like cocoa dry. Brewed and intensely sniffed, it smells more like a milk chocolate truffle, which is pretty great. Actually, the longer it sits the more and more it smells and tastes uncannily like store brand hot chocolate, the kind you drink from packets as a kid after playing in the snow. Which I like—like “bad” mac and cheese, some pedestrian flavors are just comforting. There’s a roundness, a richness at the end of the sip to go with the sugary chocolate taste, as if it really is pour-boiling-water-over-sugary-brown-packet-granules mug cocoa. It even has the ever-so-slight salty aftertaste (maybe that’s because I brewed an oolong for this cup earlier though, ha…)! Amazing similarity.

I usually don’t care about appearance but I’ll also note it’s a pretty ruby gold hue in the cup that’s appealing. Yum. Doesn’t need milk or sugar to make it taste like processed sugary hot cocoa, it just magically already does somehow. (That said, it will happily take milk and become even richer.)

This is a great addition to my stock of non-caffeinated dessert teas, a category I sorely need more of.

This oolong’s a lot milkier than the Della Terra Creme de la Creme. First impression is I like this one more, or at least, it’s much easier for an oolong newbie like me to take—it’s got less mysterious funky saltiness, just a clean, milky, sweet but not decayed aroma and taste, and a smoother vegetal note at the end.

Thanks whatshesaid for the sample!

This tastes like actual coconut flakes, but like whatshesaid (ahem) said, it’s also a bit soapy too. Odd! Also, not my thing. This makes me want to drink some Pom Tango instead!

I agree – Coconut Oolong is probably the best use of coconut in a tea!

…sipdown!

Love the way this one smells dry and brewing, malty and smooth and just a bit sweet. Does taste a bit like Assam. Well balanced, bold but smooth, with just the slightest astringency, pleasantly so. I bet it could stand up to a bit of milk, but it’s great and rich as is. Very nice.

This is very smooth and slightly malty. At first I thought it wasn’t strongly flavored enough for my liking, but with a sweet biscuit (Daelmans Dutch Caramel Wafers FTW) it’s really good, that smoothness is a big asset. I don’t know that I’d want to drink it without a tasty treat, but with one it’s ideal.

I realised today that I can’t open this without making myself a cup. It smells like fresh pastry. It’s nutty and cinnamon-y and buttery, but really the flaky delicious pastry note is the biggest. And it tastes like an almond croissant bathed in butter and cinnamon. It’s so hard to go wrong here.

Sipdown!

I have been drinking this since 10 this morning. This is such an awesome tea.
The taste is light, creamy, and very aromatic. While it does give you the creamy feel and taste, it doesn’t weigh it all down (like some cakes…ugghhhh), but instead just glides through.
It also tastes differently when cold (yes, I accidentally left it when I was preparing lunch). The taste of oolong is more noticeable compared to the hot version, and instead of softness, it gives you a crisper, fresher feel.

I’m happy now that I left it and got to try it cold. Will try it cold brewed once I get around to ordering from American Tea Room again.

The dry leaves looks really, really weird. Smelled creamy and has an almost candy like feel to them.
Steeped for 2 minutes, the brew took on a light green color.

The brew smelled milkier, and I’m getting a distinct green tea smell here.
You can definitely get the creaminess, and a fruity aftertaste. Very enjoyable.

Sample from evol ving ness this is a revisit for me and after a couple cups i’ve decided that i’m done with this tea. I loved it in the past and these days i’m finding it to be just a touch too sweet for me. Still enjoyed the revisit very much but i think that i’m good to leave this one alone for another year or so and see where i land then :)

thanks again for this variatea almost out, and thats ok ’cause i have a few other cookie like teas to get through now :)

this was my flavoured tea at work today and it was nice to revisit it again. I’m not sure i need to restock this again anytime soon, though it’ll remain one of those teas that i’ll pick up from time to time. I enjoy it a bunch, but time to change things up for a bit once i’m done :)

long day is long. I started with this one as my flavoured tea for today and it was a good choice. There’s not much to add to this one that i haven’t said before. it’s lost a little bit of it’s appeal, so it’s not a long term tea that stands the test of time, but then i’ve yet to really find a flavoured tea that is. :)

backlog! still enjoying this one though it’s not the ZOMG tea that it once was. I think i have almost figured out what sort of flavoured teas i tend to reach and have a handle on how much i need of them to get me through to when i want a flavour change, if that makes sense lol

another backlog from yesterday, this one courtesy of VariaTEA I’m a little worried that i’ll get my teas from swaps mixed up so apologies if i miscredit someone with a tea they gave me. I’m trying to get them all separate since the house is a complete mess but who knows how well that will work. It was lovely to have this back in the house again. it’s one of the few teas from ATR that i really enjoy enough to want to purchase but they are a pain to get to canada. thanks for putting this back in my cupboard!

Sipdown! Mostly because i’m sharing the last of this with Incendiare and Heather so they get a chance to try it. I may end up restocking this at some point but i’m not in a rush.

Trying to get my cupboard under control this weekend but it’s difficult when find teas that you forgot to add to your cupboard or somehow removed accidentally lol (156)

i had this earlier today and it was still a delicious treat. I’m getting near the end of this so i’ll need to decide sooner rather than later if i want to restock this one or try a few more variations on the theme first :)

Mmmmm saved this for the last day. Since I knew it would be a bit of alazyday. Tomorrow, it’s up early to walk the beach and say goodbye to the dolphins, turtles, herons, kingfishers and other assorted sea creatures before hitting the ocean museum and possibly savannah before the airport. Then it’s a long travel home, with a 3.5 hour layover in atlanta… Which is at least big enough to be entertaining :) this is a tasty cup of comfort thisafternoon.

Also I HATE ios7. Grrrrrr autocorrects.

Not much tea today…travel day so yeah. Managed to sneak a cup of this in with dinner tonight but tomorrow will go better I’m sure. Gotta keep drinking!

everyone is trying my brioche…and that’s ok ’cause i like to share..but now i feel like hoarding since it took me so long to be able to get it in stock with a sale lol. i think next time i pick up 4oz lol