Geeky Teas

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #46

I am a little ashamed to admit (but only a little) that I’ve watched my fair share of MLP over the last decade – my brother definitely had a pretty hard core Brony phase, his favourite was of course Rainbow Dash but I liked Applejack!

I think this feels like an Applejack blend – like so many other I asked to try from Shae it’s another apple and cinnamon blend. It’s weird, but so far there hasn’t been a single apple or spiced apple I’ve pulled from this TTB that I haven’t liked. This one included! It’s more apple than cinnamon, and the sweet kind of red apple flavour that I adore so much. The cinnamon works so well with it though – it’s like a sweet red hot cinnamon and the combination here (aside from just being good in general) really makes me think of this apple and cinnamon rum that I used to drink fresh out of highschool. I can’t remember the name of it…

Anyway, I liked this!

I sadly have to say I’m yet to try this tea – but it deserves a 10/10 for the name alone!

Gift from Nichole/CuppaGeek, long ago. I don’t know that I taste the caramel, but I definitely get a sense of the apple. Knowing the intended flavors, I can kind of imagine the two together (like one of those caramel apple pops) but I don’t think I would have picked up on it otherwise. This really is a nice autumn tea. It puts you in that mindset.

Here’s Hoping Teabox – Round Six – Tea #12
This was a cute tea to find in the teabox, with the little picture of Buddy from Elf on the tea! (And ANOTHER small tea company.) I expected magic like Buddy is magic but this blend is hardly even spicy. Hmm. Buddy needs a special tea! At least the black tea was nice and dark. It COULD be the fault of the thin baggie it is in, but there is one serving left so I will let someone else try it.

I LOVE THIS TEA. IT IS AN APPLE PIE IN A CUP.

http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/09/16/equestea-geeky-teas-2/

A concise version of my opinions on this tea is here:

http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/09/14/wake-juice-geeky-teas/

The original draft of that review involved me saying that the tea smelled kind of rustic. Like a barn. Not a YUCKY, UNCLEAN barn. Just a kind of hay/wood smell. And then I went off on a tangent about my aunt and uncle’s sheep, which I will offer up now:

“My aunt and uncle had two sheep, a black one and a white one. They weren’t for eating. They were big pets.

They were two females — or so we thought.

After shearing the sheep one year, they noticed that one of them had a VERY strange-looking undercarriage. There was something, um, bumpy under the lady business. They were vets, so they knew what they were looking at, but called in another vet to verify.

One of the sheep was a hermaprodite. They had to castrate their ewe. That sheep (which had had an attitude problem) became very docile afterwards.

I was really into those sheep. I once climbed an electrified fence so I could get to them.

I was a stupid child. It’s a miracle I lived long enough to review this tea."

As you can see, that entire tangent had nothing to do with the tea. But now you have a better idea about the type of person I am.

I combined January’s sipdown theme, Out With the Old, with today’s National Science Fiction Day and chose this Goblin King blend as my geeky tea of the day. This is one of the oldest teas in my cupboard, and there was enough left for one cup. Seemed like a good pick for the day. I clumsily tipped over my brew basket and spilled at least half of the leaves before steeping, so I dropped my water to 6 oz. and upped my steep time to 7 minutes. It still doesn’t taste like much honestly. I would assume this would be due to age, but looking back at my previous note I can see that I didn’t think this tea tasted like much in the beginning either. I do like some of the other blends from Geeky Teas, but this one isn’t on that list.

From Nichole. :)

This smells very sweet and fruity, generically fruity really, but I can maybe see where the stone fruits come in. The tea itself isn’t very flavorful actually. It’s a little bland. It’s fragrance is definitely stronger than its taste.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 205 degrees + 26 minutes

I left this on my desk for a really long time and even with the longer steep and higher temperature I’m still not getting much flavor. Maybe this one just doesn’t re-steep well, but I wasn’t happy with the first cup either.

I still have this in my bag from yesterday, and I’m glad to have another cup. I dropped the temperature by just a bit and the bitterness is completely gone. It’s a solid cup. I picked up on some citrus in the beginning, but now it’s mostly good black tea I’m tasting. I’m still getting some of that fruit flavor (maybe stone fruits?) but I don’t know if that’s part of the flavoring or the tea itself.

Side note: Does anyone do a bullet journal? I’m thinking of transitioning my planner into one. I’m not so artsy (some of them are beautiful), but they seem really detailed and organized with endless possibilities and great benefits.

This was a sweet treat given to me by Nichole for Halloween last year. I love Earl Grey – it’s one of my favorites – and this one smells especially sweet and fruity. I steeped with boiling water per the instructions and I believe as a result this came out a touch bitter. Even so, this cup has a wonderful floral note to it that I’m really enjoying. I wouldn’t say that it tastes like other Earl Grey’s I’ve tried, but it’s lovely standing on its own.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 212 degrees

I steeped this again with boiling water for several minutes and it is just as flavorful as the first cup. I might be tempted to go for a third.

Holy crap this cup was good. I’m so tempted to give this a ninety now. Have a small tea ball full and in a 12 ounce cup, I got really strong cocoa and chocolate notes from an Earl Grey. FROM AN EARL GREY! Maybe the ball had leftover flavors from other black teas I drink, but I could still taste the bergamot WITH chocolate notes. And the notes began after 30 seconds and continued as it steeped each time as I grandpa styled it. WTF?!

A classic, relaxing, good Earl Grey. I needed something familiar. I’ve gotten lost in Oolong land and it’s nice to have a reminder of home. Nothing further really to add in terms of taste. If you want a good Earl Grey, this would be a good selection indeed.

I tried this again with more leaves filling an entire ball. I feel like I’m drinking the wisps of a jack-o-lantern flame. I’m definitely getting the pumpkin, cardamom, and the black tea which are pretty smooth. The pumpkin itself is subtle and I deeply appreciate that. Pumpkin, or pumpkin spices for that matter are usually potent and hyperglycemic for all the white girls, not that Jack Skellington isn’t able to make them fawn on his own. He makes wounds ooze and flesh crawl anyway. Nevertheless, this tea is really a light reminder to relax. We’re simply meant to be.

Like the wispy flame of a candle in a jacolantern. A little bit too weak. I need to try this again.

WOW, an amazing flavored tea. You could taste everything. It was like drinking a mulled spices and caramel apples! By far my favorite of the samples I got. Steep 1, 3 minutes, Steep 2, 4-5 minutes, closer to a crisp apple, and steep 3, just smooth, sweet and spicy. If you want notes, look at the ingredients. Definitely for new tea drinkers, lovers of fall, lovers of caramel apples, and lovers of black tea.

I think I screwed this one up by not shaking up the sample pack enough to get a good showing of this tea. All of the inclusions seem to be staring at me in the package still. Boo!

The tea as it sits now is ok. All of the flavors seem to be light but there. I made it into a latte and the flavors seemed to pop a bit more. It’s good but I have a feeling it could be so much better so later today I’m going to try the rest of the sample and see what I think.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/10/28/pumpkin-king-tea-from-geeky-teas/

Had to try this one first. It reminded me of the babe. Anyway, one teaspoon in eight boiling ounces after 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Peach, apricot, malt, and sweetness primarily come through. I could partially taste the other ingredients, but the ones I listed were dominant and mildly astringent. The peach was intentional, and any fan of the movie would know why. It was so smooth and so sweet on its own-no need for sugar whatsoever. Can’t say that cream, sugar and honey wouldn’t compliment it though.

It certainly made my day. Little obscure references are too few. I needed a reminder of one. Thank you Nicole, and thank you Geeky Teas!

I think almost anyone would enjoy this, but the audience is obvious. Some oolong lover might enjoy this one if they brew it lighter to get the same type of apricot note in their tea. Newbies would certainly like it, and certain connoisseurs might make an exception for flavoring this once.