Herbal Infusions

OK call me crazy – it’s ok, I don’t mind….
This is Neapolitan ice cream. When it’s melted and all the flavors are mixed in the bottom of your bowl – that’s what this is. It’s more Neapolitan than the big name one that’s out there. This is good – it’s really good. Chocolate, strawberry, creamy – awesome. Maybe a hint thin on the mouth feel, but I can over look that.
Thank you so much VariaTEA for sending this sample my way.

Ohh my goodness is this ever good. Haha, the dry smell in the bag was very minty chocolate, reminding me of an After Eight..chocolates that I really enjoy. I steeped for 5 and a half minutes again, and was a bit worried, as the initial smell of the water on the leaves was kind of weird, a strange vegetal mint scent..not very nice. But after steeping, it smells like milky, buttery chocolate with mint, very happy it straightened out!

As for the flavor, yeah, this one is just so buttery milk chocolate tasting. And I love mint, so the mint is wonderful in here! Not quite an After Eight, as it’s more herbal tasting, but the peppermint is good and the cacao shines in this blend. I almost like this one a bit more than the original..haha I will have to compare them! Not tonight though, can’t have that much cacao in one day!

This tea is great! I’ve been quite disappointed by most of the teas I’ve tried that try to incorporate coffee, but this is a hit. Had it for afternoon tea today with the husband after a kind of stressful, crappy day. It’s delicious, with coffee playing a solid role without entirely eclipsing the tea, and the chocolate and nuts add a lot of flavor without making it an oily mess. So far, this is probably my favorite thing I’ve tried from HI. Would restock again in a heartbeat for the cooler months.

Oooh now I see Dexter3657 says it’s delicious iced! I can definitely see the promise there.

Wooo! My Herbal Infusions order came! Hehe, I managed to get a bag of that wonderful marshmallow EG, I had it in a travel mug for my course tonight and it was SO GOOD. But I will save that first note for when I can truly do the tea justice in a cup at home. So I got home and made a cup of this, I also ordered the mint cacao and they threw in a sample of the vanilla! So excited to try them all!

So this tea, tisane, whatever you would call cacao shells..man oh man, smells like decadent hot chocolate in the bag. I steeped this for 5 and a half minutes with boiling water, and it smells like hot chocolate!! Off to a good start!

As for the flavor, yes, this is quite good. Very true chocolate, a tiny bit watery, but it is a tea lol so that is forgiveable. If my lactose intolerance wasn’t acting up so bad lately, I would probably have added some milk, but we will take a break from that for a while lol. This is pretty darn tasty sans additives anyways. So far, a delicious start to Herbal Infusions teas, and always exciting trying teas from new companies!!

Afternoon tea of the day. Nice, subtler and less eerily dead on and strong than Della Terra’s S’mores, but also avoids the off-putting built-up plasticky element in DT’s. I don’t think I’d restock but it was no problem drinking it down today.

I totally had this because Amariel did. :)

I added a tiny bit of sugar and a splash of almond milk.

Sadly, I’d rather have hot chocolate. The texture just isn’t there. Maybe steeping it directly in almond milk? But that seems like so much work right now.

Smells divine, didn’t live up to the promise.

(10 min at boiling)

So I tried this tonight. I don’t love it nearly as much as that ridiculous mint/lavender/cacao blend I got from MissB. Next time I think I’ll steep it on the stove in some almond milk. It was just too thin.
1 tbsp in 12 oz boiling for about 20 minutes.

I wonder how this would cold steep…

Thank you Cavocorax for sharing but the more I drink this, the more medicinal it tastes :(

Thank you for sending this Cavocorax but I just don’t think I like it all that much. It reminds me of Tea Forte’s Cherry Marzipan with a slightly less vegetal base. I guess it is just not for me.

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I was a little hesitant given the mention of licorice but I think it actually works to enhance this cup. This is a very pleasant cup of white tea. It is minty but in a relaxed, and muted way. And the anise just rounds out the flavor.It is flavorful without being in-you-face. Smooth, and calming really. Thank you Cavocorax for sending some my way.

And more from Dexter3657 (I should have that put on my logs automatically somehow, the equivalent of letterhead, ha!). Thank you!

Aw man, I should like this because it’s heavy on ubersweet licorice root which is one of my guilty pleasure tisane ingredients (I totally agree with Cavocorax that it reminds one of Stash’s licorice tisanes, which I loved as a teen staying up late doing my homework). That aspect brings to mind Steven Smith’s Bon Bon which I discovered and got a bit fanatical about over holiday break. But the other components, while definitely in the background compared to the super sweet licorice, include chamomile which I tend to be ehhhh about (like I’ll tolerate it in wellness or sleep aid tisanes for its soporific effect but I don’t enjoy it) and lemongrass which for some bizarre reason I actively hate in tea (love it fresh, love cooking with it…yeah, I dunno either; for some reason it reads like bathroom cleaner which leads to some weird urine smell association for me). All together it becomes something sharply, sickly sweet with a weedy (as in dandelions, not pot), musty (good word, MissB!) evocation and a hint of bathroom cleaner. It’s actually not as horrible as that sounds thanks to the crazy sweetness of the licorice root and the cooling quality of the mint—I finished the cup and I do see the way it evokes candy canes but with more oomph from the other less orthodox flavor additions—but you get the idea. Not my thing. Ah well.

Snow day! I will have a lot of at-home assignments to do to make up for it, but at least I can be in my pajamas and sipping a cup of tea!

What better tea to start this snow day off than with a cup of Marshmallow Snowflake Earl Grey?! The snowflakes in this tea are so pretty – not the cheap little sprinkle ones, but bigger gleaming white ones. I could smell the marshmallow aroma from this one even before I opened the little sample package. I couldn’t smell any of the bergamot, but it comes through in the tea as a light lemony flavor. This is followed up by a creamy marshmallow finish and a light bergamot and vanilla aftertaste. The creaminess and flavor of this tea is absolute perfection! I get tired of such strong bergamot flavors after a while, but this is one that I could drink everyday. I like that the Earl Grey flavor isn’t overwhelming, and it’s just softly floating in my cup wrapped up with the marshmallowy sweetness. Thank you to VariaTEA for sending me a sample of this one – I love it! I looked on their website but didn’t see it – is it still available to order?

-Dry blend has large black tea leaves with small blue and white petals and small white snowflakes.
-Dry leaves smell very sweetly of marshmallow and sugary vanilla. Tea liquor aroma is of rich vanilla with a hint of bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Light lemony bergamot flavor with a sweet and creamy marshmallow finish. Soft bergamot and vanilla aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. A smooth cup. Light Earl Grey with a creamy sweet marshmallow flavor.

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I mixed this with Simpson & Veil’s Strawberry Cupcake to finish them both off, which you can read more of here:

http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/228193#comments

Thanks Courtney for both of those teas!

Thanks Courtney for the sample.

I have to keep this short because I’m due at an interview in an hour, but I wanted to get the two backlogged teas I have from Monday evening out of the way first.

Also, an update on yesterday’s interview: It was really short and brief. Basically I came in, shook the manager’s hand and filled out an availability sheet. No questions or anything; just my availability and a copy of my resume. I find out tomorrow morning whether or not they’re hiring me.

So the tea: I’ve tried this before and was kinda “meh” but asked for it again in the hopes that I’d be able to find something to mix it with – it seemed like an interesting idea. I had this cup straight though, and left about a cups worth left to mix with something else.

It was still weak like I remembered from before, but for a calm and relaxing evening it hit the spot pretty well. Some milk maybe would have made it a little bit more drinkable, but I wasn’t complaining at the time of having it.

Tre said it smelled nice – and I told him he probably liked the smell because it was basically just weak hot chocolate.

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This is backlog from last night, after Tre took back his laptop.

I do prefer this one to the plain Cacao, I’ve decided, however after brewing up an extra strong 10 oz. mug of this (2 1/2 tsp. of leaf, effectively using up the sample from *variaTEA) and letting it brew for 30 min. so it was extra strong, I still felt dissatisfied with the taste. It was too weak and thin tasting, despite having split second moments of tasting like Strawberry Nesquik syrup or melted Neapolitan.

Just not my thing, I suppose.

So after making the plain version of this in the morning (ok, not the morning – but it felt like the morning to me) and being a little disappointed but then receiving some good feedback from different people, I decided to make the other cacao sample that VariaTEA had sent me as an “early evening” tea to take a break from the bulk of black teas I’ve been having today.

I used more leaf this time (2 tsp. for 10 oz.), and left the teaball in the mug the entire time I was drinking it because I knew it wouldn’t get bitter. Drinking it this way/with this variety, I actually enjoyed it a lot more. While I did still find it kind of weak, there was definitely more dimension to the tea from the strawberry and I think the fact that made it less “flat” (mono-tasting) was a huge plus.

The strawberry actually reminded me of Strawberry Nesquik milk flavouring, which is definitely my favourite. That said, obviously that has a sort of artificial quality to it but it’s one that doesn’t put me off. I don’t get “cream” in the flavour, but that could be remedied with some milk – except I’m all out at the moment (and only have myself to blame for it) so that’ll have to wait for another day to be tested.

I wouldn’t get the plain Cacao again, but I’d consider maybe getting more of this one.

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Since I found this kind of bland on its own I finished off my sample by adding some of DAVIDsTEA’s Buttered Rum into the leaf as well. I have lots of that lying around, and the two seemed like they’re make a compatible and interesting pair, so why not?

And I was right, the two marry perfectly! The Cacao brings a delightful chocolate taste, but the black base in Buttered Rum and the smooth coconut and butterscotch aspects keep it from tasting weak. If I had any more of the Cacao I’d use it up by drinking it this way – but I’m not going to get any more just so I can mix the two.

Anyway, it was ultimately an experiment done well.

Also, I just burned the side of my face making a whipped lemon marshmallow cupcake topping. I was melting down marshmallows and lemon spread (it’s like the jam/jelly but right light and airy – it kind of reminds me of lemon pie filling) together to use as a topping on some vanilla cupcakes, and when I pulled the bowl from the microwave it bubbled up and splashed on my face.

Ouch – though it does taste pretty good.

Thank you VariaTEA for the sample of this – I’ve been curious about it for a while. It’s been in my sample drawer since getting it (as opposed to sample bags stuffed in my closet), and I’ve been waiting for the right evening to try it but this morning I finally just went “Fuck it, it sounds like a good breakfast tea” – though it’s 3 PM, so not really breakfast time. Except I just got up an hour ago, and this is the first food/drink I’ve had all day – so sorta breakfast, I guess.

How much leaf do the people who really enjoy this normally use? I used 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of boiling water, steeped for 8 minutes and the result was pretty tasty but incredibly weak. Now, I’m sure part of that is because I used 10 oz. – but just wondering? It also weirded me out a little but that this steeped up practically clear? I was expecting at least a little colour.

Anyway maybe I just had steep expectations? Hah, get it? I’m punny. Don’t judge me – it’s 3 PM and I practically just got up. But yeah, it’s not like it was a bad cup or anything…

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Thank you Cavocorax for sending this my way. I am actually finding this cup very nice. The green tea has provided a very smooth for the almond flavor which is nutty and sweet. I bumped the rating on this one.

I had a stroke of genius at 4 am last night when I realized that since I use water bottles to make my SBTs, I could pour the cold steeped teas back into the bottles when it was done steeping and use the pitcher to make another flavor. That will enable me to try multiple flavors at once without having to drink a whole pitcher of cold tea by myself in the middle of winter. So now I have 4 bottles of Key Lime Cheesecake SBT to enjoy at my leisure while a pitcher of Rainbow Sherbet SBT steeps in the fridge.

Anyways, I ended up making this tea for a friend and myself. She came over for a day of tea and homework and by the time she arrived the kettle had already boiled and started cooling. I figured I would take advantage of the cooled water and make one of the greens I was sent in swaps. When given the choice, she picked this one out from the box Cavocorax sent me..

I steeped 2 tsps in 16 oz of 165F water for 3 minutes. The result was a very smooth and pleasant green tea. My friend really liked it and though I enjoyed my cup, it was a pretty simple tea. There was a tiny hint of almond and a slight berry sweetness. All very good but nothing I was blown away by. Thank you Cavocorax for sharing. I will enjoy the sample you sent but I don’t think I will be too heartbroken when it is gone.

I have to say that this tea SMELLED really tasty. I do love a spiced apple cider, and this seemed like it would be a nice blend. In fact, it is overall fairly tasty but there is just a hint of fake-ness to the apple component. It really reminds me of the taste of powdered instant apple cider, rather than fresh cider. I could definitely use more spices (ginger where?), but my main problem here is that it just came out bitter. And somehow, while being bitter, the flavor of the base tea was MIA. Oh well, thanks for the sample, MissB!

This one smells very interesting. It’s a blend of rooibos, raw pumpkin (almost like it’s been recently scraped out) and spices. The combination doesn’t sound that bad, but it sure does create a rather stinky scent.

Sipping… well, not as bad as I thought it would be. The rooibos and the spices come together quite well. It reminds me a bit of a spice cookie. I detect a little bit of something fruity, but it’s mostly a mystery fruit, nothing specific. There isn’t any pumpkin in sight, but the cup is still tasty. I also like the creamy bit that comes at the end of the sip. It seems to come from the rooibos, almost as if it were a vanilla rooibos base.

I think that pumpkin pie must be a very difficult flavor to create in tea form. I haven’t found a tea blend that has been able to accurately bring that creamy, buttery pumpkin PIE flavor to a cup. The blends have either been too heavy on the spice, strange and without anything resembling pumpkin pie. I’ll continue the hunt, but I’ve lost some faith in finding that perfect pumpkin pie tea.

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Goodbye minty tea. You were tasty but there are better mint teas out there. It was fun while it lasted though. Thank you Cavocorax for bringing us together :)

So this is a pretty mellow cup of minty tea. It has a touch of creaminess but I wouldn’t exactly call it “irish cream”. Really it is not bad but whenever I have sweet minty teas such as this, I can’t help but compare it to others I have had (Anti V-Day Treat and Santa’s Secret immediately come to mind) and it just does not have as much of an appeal. I am glad I got to try it though so thank you Cavocorax for sharing. I have enough for one more cup and I am sure I will enjoy it but this is not something I will miss when it is gone.