Metropolitan Tea Company

Yep, I like this one. I brewed it at a higher temperature today, and I’m getting even more of a sweet baked goods note. Bread and honey, maybe? Slightly floral, like maybe it’s wildflower honey. A little bit of pleasant astringency. Very nice, bumping up my rating a little.

I’m fairly certain this is what I’m actually drinking. It came in a subscription box from the super-sketchy tastecha.com (rip-off, strongly suggest to avoid) labelled “Temi Sikkim”, but the description they provided was identical to Metropolitan’s, so…

Anyway, this is actually a really nice tea. The dry leaves are a mix of colours, mostly black but some brown and some lighter (greenish or grey). It has floral notes in the aroma, maybe a hint of bread or biscuit as well. I was thinking that it reminded me of a darjeeling, and then found out Sikkim teas are described as “darjeeling-style”. The flavour is very light and smooth, a bit floral, a bit fruity (some muscatel, I think), slightly sweet, and with a slight astringency as I reach the bottom of the cup.

I’m not going to rate this one, because brewing it turned into such a fiasco. :) So first I over-cooled the water, it was down around 65C when I checked the temp in my mug. I let it steep for 2min, and it was weak. So then I let it steep for another 1min, and it was still weak. Then I put the tea basket back in the mug and promptly forgot about it for… I don’t even know how long. By the time I remembered, it was no longer too weak! But it was fairly bitter. It actually wasn’t undrinkable, but not particularly enjoyable. I decided to take the leaves for another steep, and for this one I added a little less than 1tsp of peppermint leaves to the basket, and steeped with water just off the boil, but for only 1 minute. After that I stirred in some sugar for the true Morroccan tea experience (in my kitchen, lol). Pretty good! But I think I’m mostly tasting the mint. :p

omgsrsly sent this one my way and i am a fan! Do i, as usual, wish it was a little more orangey and a little more vanilla-y, of course. But i really enjoyed the few cups of this one that i had. It’s not too sour and it’s got a really nice blend of flavours going on. It also tasted really nice hot and cold :)

Another sip down! Still on my straight tea kick. Not sure why yet. Anyways, last cup of this today. I’m still doing the milk and sugar thing but whatever. haha

I definitely get the jam/fruit taste which is fine, but not something I would go for everyday. I definitely prefer black teas that don’t have that.

But even still, this is a good tea and I can appreciate it for what it is. I probably wouldn’t get this again though.

I’m really not sure about this one. Trying it straight up, it’s very interesting. The description says jammy-like taste to it, but I’m not too sure if that’s what I’m getting or not. I think I’m getting more of a floral quality to it I think.

There’s just something about this tea that I’m not crazy about. I will probably finish it, but honestly it’s not for me… Even with milk and sugar I don’t find this tea to be overly exciting…
Oh well… Maybe I’ll try it in one of my new Gaiwans and see if that helps!

Day 4 Amanda ‘SoggyEnderman’ Wilson
TEA advent Calendar
Yum! Smokey goodness! This roasted green is just what I needed this afternoon. I was feeling cold and achy and this tea made me feel like I was sitting curled up in a blanket sitting by a fire. The flavor notes remind me of roasted chestnuts, leaf mulch, burnt apple wood and well, just the sweet lovely smell of a fire.

Tea Advent Calendar, day 4

I wasn’t overly impressed with this tea. It wasn’t anything special, although it wasn’t awful. It was actually much better as it cooled off in my cup, and I liked the last cold sip.

It did go well with the praline pecans that someone brought to the office today.

http://instagram.com/p/wMLr94gyTD/
http://instagram.com/p/wML0INgyT6/
http://instagram.com/p/wMOnLcAyVa/

From the Here’s Hoping TTB, Round 4

Ergh. No. Just. No.

So sad, because this box is kind of really lacking in good flavored oolongs. This tea is a crying shame. There was soo much potential there! But it tasted like old tea and soap.

HHTTB

Hmmmm… I’m not digging this one. It may be the association I have with an orange blossom soap. At the beginning of the sip the orange almost tastes old, like those asian fermented orange peel candies. It’s better in the middle of the sip, but I don’t think this tea is for me.

Cold steeped, but I cheated and wanted some now so I took a cup after 2 hours and topped the jug up with water and put it back in the fridge.

Mostly vanilla and hibiscus right now. It’s super thin, it needs a longer steep to become “juice”. But this is enough to take my vitamins and sip a bit before bed.

1.5 tbsp in a small takeya jug from teavana. I don’t think it’s quite a litre, which is weird, because the big one is just over 2.

I got this at Georgie’s Tea Emporium in Victoria.

It’s really nice. Yes, it’s the basic hibiscus-and-rosehip fruit tea base, but something about the orange and vanilla means it’s not too sour for me. It’s sweet and creamy, and reminds me of an Orange Julius.

This would be really good cold brewed, as well.

A nice morning cup. This smells like a very lemony Earl Grey with some floral notes, and tastes just the same. The lemon lingers nicely on the finish.

The liquor is pretty dark and surprisingly thick – I was expecting something with a bit lighter body, though this makes it a pretty great morning tea. I think I may have over steeped slightly at 4 minutes – there’s just the slightest hint of bitterness and astringency creeping in – not bad, but I think I would like this a bit better at 3 or 3.5 min.

As always, I’m a sucker for anything with bergamot and this doesn’t disappoint.

This is straightforward but awesome. Vegetal sencha, cherries and rose petals. Well balance, very flavourful, not at all astringent. A bit of sweetness and some moments where the flavour was strong enough to make me think artificial, but its actually quite an authentic cherry flavour, with less tartness.

This flavour combination has been a love of mine for a very long time, and this one does it well.

I’m pretty sure I have a straight Earl Grey in mu cupboard, but I couldn’t find it, so I grabbed this to make a latte, and it’s delicious.

2tsp steeped in 8oz of water for 4 minutes, added to maybe 4oz of hot milk, 1.5 tsp of sugar and 1tsp of matcha powder. The flavours of this come through really nicely and are complimented well by the matcha. Nice and decadent.

This smells amazing. Full of bergamot, creamy vanilla, caramel notes.

Steeped, the cup was a little bit bitter when hot, but mellowed out as it cooled. There’s a good balance of bergamot and creamy vanilla, with some pleasant sweetness that fills my mouth mid sip. There’s a bit of astringency and bergamot on the finish.

A very nice morning cup.

This is tart and pretty hibiscusy, but it’s also nice, because there are some distinct non-hibiscus fruit flavours in here that linger nicely on the finish. The orange and pineapple notes make this juicy and pretty pleasant. I do wish it was a bit sweeter naturally.

I think this would probably be pretty lovely iced, with some sugar.

I got this as a free sample from Sonya’s Flowers. That’s the only reason I have this and the only reason I’m drinking it. I don’t like hibiscus in blends, so I wouldn’t expect it to be different when it’s straight. And it isn’t.

The liquor is an intense red, which is gorgeous. The smell is tart and floral, and the taste is mostly tart, with a light floral hint that I don’t usually detect (or at least, identify as the hibiscus) when it’s in blends.

Best to send the rest of this sample off to someone who can appreciate it, because I definitely can’t.

Another sipdown today. This is such a lovely watermelon oolong. Sweet, natural melon flavour that is supported nicely by a green oolong base.

Cold brewed this over night, as I have it in my sipdown box (one teaspoon left and then it’s gone!)

This is really nice – melon and vegetal notes, with a bit of natural sweetness that isn’t cloying at all. Mostly tangy vegetal on the finish.

I’m reminded of my Cool Cucumber cold brew from the other day, but this is like a more mature, refined version of it.

The person at Human Bean gave me a very generous sample of this to try today. I tend to quite like melon teas and I’ve never run across melon with oolong before.

This is really nice. It’s very sweet and melony smelling, but much less sweet on the palette. There’s a bit of roasty and vegetal flavour from the oolong, but it’s pretty mild, and goes surprisingly well with the melon. This is light and smooth and there’s a pleasant cooling sensation. Very long melon finish.

I’m not sure I like this enough to pick up 50g of it, but I’d definitely drink it again. I imagine it would be fabulous iced.

So smooth, delicious, addicting. The cream flavor is vibrant.

My husband loves this tea, and as a brilliant and creative surprise last night, he mixed this with Roasted Almond by Capital Teas, Inc. LOVED it. It was creamy, yet nutty, had a vanilla aroma and still bit like an earl grey but had an almond aftertaste. Highly recommended combo. <3