Indie Tea

Woke up with this today. This is the most serious kick in the pants tea. Delicious when that is exactly what you want. I had it with milk and honey. It’s a bit shocking on its own.

Sipdown (118)!

Thanks VariaTEA for the sample!

I cold brewed mine ‘cause I’ve had some pretty good success with cold brewed date teas in the past; though dry the last thing I smelled was date. It was more burnt toast with a pinch of marigold which I think was probably as unappealing in reality as it sounds in theory. I can immediately see why you passed it along; the oolong is strong with this one!

I’m a bit disappointed because I didn’t taste dates at all in my cold brew. The focus was, instead, very heavily on the oolong base which belted out some seriously ‘in your face’ roasty notes with some support from smoke notes on guitar, mineral notes on drums, and some biting, kind of dry nut notes on bass. There wasn’t a whole lot “sweet” about it, let alone ‘date’ like. However, I felt like I could taste the marigold a little bit underneath all that heavy oolong flavour.

Also; I think if I’m gonna stick with the whole ‘this tea is a band’ metaphor “Ball & Chain” is probably a pretty fitting band name for the kind of ‘music’ this tea would play…

All that said, I kinda liked it even if it was close to the total opposite of what I wanted from it. If I drank it again, it’d probably be hot just to see if that brought out more sweet less dark oolong – but as is I think I can agree with VariaTEA that for me this is probably just fine as a “one and done” sort of tea.

Finally getting around to trying some more of the teas from my December Amoda box. I was actually really excited to see this one, as I’d been eyeing it on Amoda’s website for a while. I love dates, so it was a must-try for me. Luckily, it was included in the box so I don’t have to buy it separately! The base tea is a heavily oxidized oolong (it’s called Se Chung but that doesn’t help me). Dry scent is a nice combination of sweet, roasted, and nutty.

Honestly, I was hoping for more date flavor, but I suppose that was foolish of me considering it’s just the date pieces and not date flavoring. In my experience, dried fruit pieces don’t tend to add much flavor-wise. The oolong itself is nice, it’s roasted but not too harsh (I find some taste almost scratchy to me, like autumn leaves). There’s a subtle sweetness from the dates and a tiny bit of honey-esque flavor. It’s good, but I don’t think the dates add much.

The oolong is strong in this blend but the dates add a caramel and honey element that adds a nice sweetness overall. Still, my distaste for oolong makes this a one-time only tea for me.

I tried a cup of this last night, but it was stored in a thin bag and who knows how old it is. I had some flavour but nothing distinctive, just that sort of old tisane stored too close to other tisanes kind of taste. Oh well.

This to me tasted very much like a before-bed kind of tea, probably because of the lavender. I can taste it and the rose, but not so much the orange. I really enjoyed this, but for whatever reason it didn’t call out to me as something I have to have around at all times.

This is an interesting EG. Normally grapefruit isn’t my favorite because it gets bitter, and there is some bitterness to this cup, but the orange and bergamot balance it out and make it sweeter. It’s a nice mix of citrus and goes well with the traditional EG flavor.

I think I would accept a cup of this again, but I’m not sure I would buy it. The bitterness in the middle of the sip really isn’t my thing, although the orange is really done well—I tend not to like orange in my teas because it’s either overwhelming or too weak, but this is just the perfect touch of citrus. A very nice way to wake up this morning!

In the can, I smell spearmint and chamomile.

Upon steeping, chamomile is still the strongest thing I taste, with darker notes of the spearmint and tiny bits of the apple with a sour, granny smith peel type taste. The longer it steeps, the more I can taste the apple,and the sweeter it becomes. However, once it passes the five minute mark (as I have steeped it in the past) it starts to turn bitter and have the “old sock” taste some people say Valerian has.

This is an excellent tea for calming the nerves, even if the taste isn’t exactly the most pleasant. It certainly is not unpleasant but it does taste slightly medicinal, mostly due to the slightly bitter aftertaste.

Backlog:

This is a really pretty blend, one of the prettier dry leaf tisanes I’ve seen. I like that there’s no hibiscus in it. Any tea company that chooses NOT to use hibiscus in their tisanes gets big bonus points from me.

But it does have chamomile. OH well… I’d rather drink chamomile than hibiscus any day of the week. I also like that this has tulsi, because I’ve grown fond of the herb.

I don’t know that I taste jujubes with this tisane, but that’s OK because I’m not a fan of jujubes anyway. I like that I taste floral notes, fruit notes, and minty/peppery/herbaceous notes.

It’s alright … not my favorite blend from Indie, but it’s certainly drinkable.

Backlog:

Indie Tea is one of my favorite tea purveyors because they offer some very unique blends in a very fun format – the packaging is fun and the names of the teas are fun! It’s just a fun company!

A yummy tropical blend. I’m glad that the hibiscus was not overdone, in fact, the only place I really noticed it’s presence was in the color of the tea which brewed up to a very pale pink. (VERY pale!)

The mango and coconut do not overpower the white tea (and neither does the hibiscus.) Everything is soft and in keeping with the delicateness of the white tea. A soft, earthy quality and a hay-like vegetation, with notes of coconut and mango. Really tasty!

Backlog:

I revisited this tea recently because it was part of December’s Amoda Tea Box. Yeah, that’s right! Amoda is back, baby!

I was thrilled with last month’s box, which included four sample sizes of teas, DIY loose leaf teabags (which are really unnecessary for me but I know that some people like them), tasting notes, a ‘Stellar’ story link which offers you song choices to listen to as you sip on the teas of the month, and a yummy chai infused marshmallow.

I like their new format – I like the size of the samplers, I like that there are four teas and I’ve always appreciated the tea vendors that Amoda chooses to feature in their monthly boxes. I’m not really into the whole Stellar thing mostly because as I say in my full-length review of this tea – http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/12/17/ball-chain-oolong-tea-from-indie-tea/ – I’m more of a Guns N’ Roses kind of girl than an indie music kind of girl. But different strokes for different folks.

This tea is still just as tasty as I remember it being. I love the flavor of the dates: it’s a good, strong flavor. A nice caramel-y note. The dark Oolong brings a touch of roasty-toasty, smoky flavor to the cup. It all comes together in a really lovely way.

Thanks Amoda!

Backlog:

I really like the combination of dates and Se Chung Oolong. The Oolong has a sweet, slightly toasted flavor that melds with the date flavor in a really delicious way. Sweet, slightly smoky, a little bit nutty … really good!

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/05/12/ball-and-chain-oolong-blend-tea-from-indie-tea/

Steep Information:
Amount: entire sample ~6tsp
Water: 1000ml at 175°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: coconut, papaya, tropical
Steeped Tea Smell: floral, vegetal, soft
Flavor: tart hibiscus start, then a fruity coconut, with a vegetal finish
Body: Light
Aftertaste: light pleasant floral
Liquor: translucent light orange

it bring to mind hay, flowers, with a twinge of tropical

fun white that has flavor but isn’t overpowered by the flavors.

I am so glad I got this in my Amoda Tea monthly box.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2013/09/indie-tea-loose-leaf-white-tea-road-to.html

Another one gone! It’s a nice nutty oolong with sweet date notes. I enjoyed this tea while I had it but I don’t think I’d reorder it

Completely forgot that I had this tea. It’s nice, sweet, and slightly nutty.

Received this tea for my birthday and decided I’d have it with breakfast. The aroma of the dry leaf is very sweet. The flavor is nice. The oolong in this blend is nutty and dark. It has a bit of a roasted flavor. The dates lend a bit of sweetness. I really like this one.

I took one look at this one & decided I probably wouldn’t like, LOL.
I wasn’t even going to try it, but I figure, what the heck?
So, I actually like it :)

I fantasize about a real Moroccan sunset, but this tea will suffice for now. I really like the crisp taste of this mix.

The labor of love went into this tea. So far Indie Tea has not had a bad or under-the-bar tea that I have tried, and I’ve stayed close to this brand.

The old Laugh In theme definitely did that. I love this tea. I’llbe adding to this note as I get better at evaluating tea.