Cornelia Bean

I really can’t wrap my head around this one. I know there is a taste there that isn’t the rooibos but I can’t quite describe it. There is a hint of sweetness but nothing distinct enough that I could explain it. I really hope OMGsrsly has a more sophisticated palate and will be able to figure it out when she gets her half of this tea.

So I have no idea what sea buckthorns are meant to taste like but this tea sounded appealing so OMGsrsly and I decided to split 50g. Sipping on it now, it is certainly creamy and the rooibos is present but there is another element present which I am guessing is the buckthorn though I can’t quite describe it. This is not bad and I won’t have trouble getting through 25g of it but I don’t think this will be a reorder

I enjoyed this tea when I initially had it but overtime I have lost interest. Into the GCTTB it goes, where hopefully, it will be enjoyed by others. So long sweet strawberry tea. It was fun while it lasted.

I was packing some of this up to send away and I decided I should give it a try. The base is incredibly smooth and provides the perfect foundation for the light strawberry flavor and the hint of meringue. It definitely captures the strawberry meringue taste without being too-over-the-top which makes this a nice dessert tea, but one you can have more often. However, this cup had none of the meringue pieces in the mix so I wonder if that will heighten the flavors or change the cup.

Sipdown (187/189)!

Very short “blip” of backlog, seeing as I had this last night but fell asleep before logging it. Literally, I fell asleep with the page for this open, and my laptop on my lap. Tre says he moved my laptop so I didn’t knock it off the couch or anything stupid. And now he’s making fun of me because he left for school at 9AM and got home at 3PM and I was dead asleep at both points in time – meaning I slept for a straight twelve hours…

But this was nice; I had the last of it from Dexter3657 (I’m always going to second guess whether those numbers are in the right order) coldbrewing yesterday afternoon and I was just waiting super impatiently all day for it to be finished so I could enjoy it. After twelve hours, and at 10 PM I declared it “good enough!”. It was perfect timing; despite hanging out all evening in a tank top and boxer shorts, I felt like I was perpetually burning up – and a cold, refreshing tea to sip on all evening was perfect. Maybe I’m getting sick? That would explain all the sleeping, right? I better not be getting sick! I sure as hell don’t have time for getting sick…

This is so perfect though! It’s totally a spring/summer tea – but I would drink it year round regardless. It captures the lush, juicy taste of Dragonfruit perfectly and I was in love the moment I tried it! I would not hesitate to stock either this one or Cuppa’T Specialty Tea’s Dragonfruit Cranberry blend, which tastes eerily similar! And definitely at least 100g worth! Mmm! So good!

My first Cornelia Bean experience!

Dexter3657 (I really hope I’m getting those numbers in the right order) was very thoughtful when sending her package to me, and went through my wishlist – sending teas I had on there and teas that were similar to what I had on there, like this one which is pretty similar to the Dragonfruit blend from Cuppa’T that I have included there.

Since the Cuppa’T blend is on the list as something I enjoyed thoroughly/wish to acquire again for cold brewing, that’s how I decided to prepare this one! In total this steeped overnight and briefly this morning for somewhere around 15 hours. Now that it’s strained and I’m drinking it, I think it’s absolutely delicious!

Mostly, I just taste the dragonfruit and it reminds me of pink dragonfruit vitamin water in the same way that Cuppa’T Specialty Teas’ Dragon Fruit Cranberry blend did. Which is a good thing. A really good thing. However, if I really pick this apart I can separate some of the flavours and in doing so am able to notice the dragon fruit, kiwi, chokeberries, cranberries, and to some extent the pineapple individually. However, I think I would much rather prefer to not focus on that and instead experience the tea all together as a whole.

Overall, I think I like Cuppa’T’s take better – but only slightly. I would be more than content to have either that blend or this blend stocked in quantity! Mmm! So thank you a bundle Dexter3657 for the incredibly thoughtful add in! This was a fantastic first introduction to Cornelia Bean, and I’m very excited to have enough of this left for a second cold brew. Mmm!

Recently OMGsrsly and I split a Cornelia Bean order. This tea is one of her purchases as I had no interest in a lime sage tea. However, when the package arrived and I smelled this, it smelled soooo amazing that I asked if I could try a bit. I am glad I did because this is a good tea!

It has a nice lime flavor that is not too citrusy because it is mellowed by a hint of sage and a touch of the rooibos base. I am enjoying this cup however I don’t think it will be a tea I reach for often and thus I am happy with just a taste. Thank you OMGsrsly for letting me indulge my curiosity!

Chocolate and strawberry are both present in this cup but it is not sweet or creamy like a Chocolate Strawberry Truffle should be. The rooibos is contributing a hint of woodsiness that I am not loving. It is not bad but not something I think I will be getting again. However, I have about 50 g to play with and hopefully change my mind.

Sipdown!! (144)

Of all the nougat teas I tried (Sweet Seduction, Divine Temptation, and this), this is my least favourite. I think the rooibos is too muted to tame the sweetness of the nougat so it can be a bit overpowering at times. Nonetheless, it is still very tasty and made for some delicious caffeine-free desserts.

I always get really excited about this tea and then I take a sip only to realize I far prefer the idea of this tea and the smell to the actual taste. It certainly is nougatty but perhaps too much so as it borders on cloying. It is drinkable but really quite sweet and would do well combined with something else to mellow out the flavors.

This smells AMAZING! Like a Kinder Bueno which makes sense since it is a rooibos tea with nougat. Tastewise, I was taken aback at first because the nougat flavor is actually stronger than it comes across in smell. Also, it smelled as though their might be a chocolate component to this but the taste is 100% nougat. Not bad but certainly different from anything else I have had. I look forward to seeing what OMGsrsly thinks of this when I send her her share.

On it’s own, this really does taste as though it is missing something. It is one note and that note is fruity sweetness.

I think I finally found the right combination to get a nice rounded flavor from this tea: 2 parts Goji Strawberry mixed with 1 part DAVIDs Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait. The sweetness of this tea is balanced by the tart of SRP and it is all accompanied by the delicious yogurt flavor. Yum. Now off to shower and write an exam! Almost done guys :)

Cold brewed this with a bit of Lucky Star rooibos overnight. The result is okay though I wasn’t expecting much as I am a lover of neither tea in particular. Combined together, there is a very sweet strawberry flavor (just on the edge of tolerable) and a slight hint of rooibos. Definitely a combination I will not be having again.

Inspired by DAVIDs new perfect combination sets, I decided to play with some of my teas and see what I got. Yesterday, I decided to combine 2 parts Goji Strawberry and 1 part Birthday Cake and see if I could cold brew some Strawberry Shortcake :P.

So, it didn’t really work out that way (I think maybe I should reverse the ratio so there is more Birthday Cake). However, Birthday Cake has helped make the flavor fuller. There is still the fruitiness that I usually get from the Goji Strawberry cold brew but the Birthday Cake adds a vanilla sweetness that makes this more reminiscent of fruit juice as opposed to fruity water. Very, very tasty :)

I think I prefer this tea cold brewed to hot, The strawberry flavor comes through more strongly and the apple, though present, is not overly sweet/prominent like it was in the hot cup. Though I feel this might actually benefit from hibiscus (gasp!) or some other source of tartness, it is not a bad cup. It is like sipping on a sweet juicebox.

This tea is both sweet and tart. I don’t know if I would call it a strawberry tea but it captures the goji berries quite nicely. However, as much as I enjoy apple in teas, it is adding a rather prominent sweetness that I wish was more mellow. I will have to see how this tastes cold brewed because right now I am not sure if this will be a restock or not. Luckily, I have 50g of this tea to help me decide.

Sipdown!! (180). So long Lucky Star.

I tried cold brewing this to see if I preferred it that way but I am still unimpressed. It basically tastes like sweet rooibos and nothing else. Really leaves me wanting more.

The stars in this blend are very cute but they really don’t add much to the flavor of this cup. This is smooth and a touch sweet but the taste is really quite nondescript. This won’t be difficult to get through but it won’t be something I restock either.

Oh Swaziland rooibos, you are truly a mystery. You have so many ingredients but they are expertly hidden in the cup. As a cold brew, there is a a hint of fruity sweetness that might be pineapple and the sip trails off with a touch of mint. Very, very weird.

This tea is supposed to have a bunch of different components: pineapple bits, mango bits, cherry bits, apple bits, hazelnut leaves, sunflower blossoms, rose hips, rose blossoms, mallow blossoms, marigold blossoms, and peppermint. I definitely would have never guessed because flavorwise, I am getting rooibos, a generic floral/fruit sweetness, and maybe a hint of mint right at the end of the sip. It is not bad but it certainly does not deliver on all it promises. I did prep some of this to cold brew so perhaps more flavors will come out that way? We shall see…

So I have a timolino and I loved it then one day I made SoHo Blend in it when I was back home in Toronto and something about that tea tasted off and metallicy. I poured that out and cleaned the timolino only to forget it at home (the Toronto home). When I finally got it back with me in Montreal, I noticed it was very discolored inside and despite soaking it with baking soda & vinegar, soap, etc. I couldn’t get it clean and any tea I made had the same metallic flavor as the SoHo Blend. Then I was given the awesome idea by many steepsterites to use polident tablets. Amazingly, they returned the timolino to its original condition and yet, this tea still tastes rather metallic. I have never had this tea, or any other rooibos teas from this company, so it is possible that it is the tea’s fault but I am more inclined to believe the timolino is the culprit here.