RiverTea

Farewell RiverTea! i figured since i can’t restock this one anymore, i might as well just call it a day and finish off the last of it. This was my morning tea and it was delicious! gotta love a tea that is unobtrusive.

Nearly done this one..and then i guess it’ll be a permanent sipdown given the demise of Rivertea. That’s unfortunate, since they had great customer service and most of their teas seemed to be fairly popular. I vastly preferred their fruit teas/tisanes but this was one of their straight teas that i really have enjoyed.

you know….i bought this tea after i received a sample from dexter (at least i’m pretty sure it was dex)..which means i enjoyed it. And for whatever reason, it’s never the tea i reach for, but then when i DO have it, i’m always almost surprised by how much i enjoy it lol. Go figure. but i do really enjoy this and i am quite happy to have been having it. I’m just not sure i should restock it, if it’s never something i seem to reach for lol

backlog from yesterday – it was a surprisingly busy day for me. I’m still enjoying this one, though i don’t think i need to reorder it. I prefer the straight blacks from a vast number of other companies over this one. still a decent cup though!

Cup from this morning in between special dark steepings heh. going to be a loooooong day. i still hold that River Tea does fruit teas much better than their black straight teas. that being said, this one isn’t too bad. there’s a maltiness to this one that goes along with the slight bitterness that i kinda like from time to time.

I had this one this morning with breakfast. Sometimes this is just the right cup of tea. Today was one of those days – smooth, slightly malty…just the right cup.

this was another of my teas from this morning. I’m trying to spend today just enjoying whatever i feel like drinking. I might even bust out more puerh if we don’t have to go over to friends. Still enjoying this one and i’m glad that after getting a little from dexter, i was able to pick up more for myself. This is my favourite black tea from river tea so far i think, as i generally prefer their fruit teas. :)

mmmm tasty morning black tea! This one was sent my way via dexter and it was a tasty one! I am loving the malty, deliciousness of this one today. I had this a few hours ago and i’m so exhausted from last night’s lack of sleep, that really all i can say is “mmmmm goood….”

Sipdown (172/174)!

Even though I’m just drinking this one – this is sort of a sipdown on my Tiramisu Oolong as well. Or, at least, I’m sending the last cup of it to Cavocorax.

A while ago she sent me some samples, including this tea, so now that I can afford to I’m happily returning the favor and sending her some back! Currently I’m sipping on a lovely cold brew of this blend while packing up her tea.

This cold brew is pretty awesome! I set it up yesterday afternoon/last night but forgot about it overnight so it didn’t get strained until around an hour ago – I was worried that sitting that long would have made the cherry too potent and maybe medicinal, but it’s actually still quite delightful and lovely.

There’s a slight grassy undertone, but the strong balance of cherry and grapefruit flavours overcome it in a pleasant enough way.

I’m sad to see this one go; it’s something I would maybe consider reordering for cold brewing. Who knows, perhaps I’ll see more of this in my future?

It took me forever to find this one to log it; I couldn’t for the life of me remember what it was called and I was typing in all sorts of weird “Cherry -” names into the search bar trying to get it to come up. I tried Cherry Potion, Cherry Love, Cherry Romance, Cherry Bliss…

Finally I had to get up, go to the kitchen and look at the label on the sample from Cavocorax. Cherry Dream; Why couldn’t I think of that!?

Anyway, I had halved my sample of this so I could do half hot and half cold brewed, but after cold brewing this I’m not sure if I feel the need to “be adventurous” and hot brew the rest – I had it cold brewed and just really, really liked it that way so I’m probably fine with finishing it that way too.

Basically; there were only good points to my cold brew. The grapefruit, which I think is hard to do in tea, especially because grapefruit is a fruit that can be bitter on it’s own, was very present and well executed; it felt real, and juicy, and refreshing. It especially came across in the smell of the cold brew – though in taste it was pretty 50/50 with the cherry. And speaking of the cherry, that’s a flavour that can also turn into a whole mess of “nope” because it can be medicinal; but this wasn’t medicinal! It was plump and juicy and sweet. Mmm!

As far as the green base goes, it was present but in a way which added character to the fruit and didn’t come off as grassy. I was really impressed with this one; and I’d maybe consider buying it again. At the very least, I’ll happily drink it again, and I look forward to the sipdown.

Thank you, Cavo!

dexter sent me this one off my wishlist and i proooobably should have cold brewed it. but i was really excited to have more non caffeine teas in my house..plus i totally read the label as SUPER STAN! and i was like hmmm let’s go see what makes him super. this is a nice enough tea, but there is less flavour POP than i want there to be. I’m getting more of the honeybush than i want, though the flavouring that is coming through is quite nice. I think this is probably one of those cold brew teas…nice, but better cold :) thanks dex!

Final Count: 150 (2 more packages inbound + 4 purchased teas…)

Another sample from Roswell Strange!

Sometimes I don’t find hibiscus all that bad, and tonight is one of those times. It’s certainly tart, but it wouldn’t say this one is bad. I have a feeling it would be decent cold. I don’t know if I can truly taste anything beneath the hibiscus.

Thanks Roswell Strange!

Sipdown!! (172)

Thank you Kat_Maria for the opportunity to try this tea. It really does smell amazing but unfortunately this is 100% star anise and I am just not a fan.

Every time I see this tea, I am always intrigued by the name. I mean, who wouldn’t want a big slice of Granny’s cake?!? However, when I take a second to look at the ingredients, I realize it is just full of all things I tend to avoid – chai spices, citrus, and star anise. Nonetheless, I was super grateful that Kat_Maria shared a sample because you never know for sure unless you try. Plus, sometimes you might just get surprised.

As I opened the package, I was immediately taken in by the smell. It definitely captured the sent of a moist and delicious spice cake. Amazing! However, now that it is steeped and I can taste the tea, I am realizing, as per my suspicions, it is not really for me. To be fair, it is much better than I expected, and the cup is pleasant enough, but the star anise is a little more prominent than I would like it to be and that is really detracting from the overall experience. I am happy I got to try it though so thank you Kat_Maria for sharing :).

Sipdown (179/181)!

Well, sort of a sipdown. I made a cup for myself to help settle my stomach after gorging on supper (it was the first home cooked meal I’d had since the Grand Opening of the new store last week – and man did I take advantage of that), and then I tossed the rest of the sample into VariaTEA’s growing swap package!

I know she, too, wants to try as much Genmaicha as she can – so I figured I’d share since RiverTea samples are so generous anyway.

This is good, though! I mean, there’s nothing shockingly special about it, but it’s still good. I think this cup is leaning a bit more to the vegetal side, and personally I like my Genmaicha to lean towards the toasty rice, so I wouldn’t order this in any quantity – but it’s still enjoyable.

Oof, this was a super thoughtful surprise gift from Dexter3657! Tried it late last night as it’s a tisane (or was it the night before? G’ah). I love a good pear “tea”—Joy’s Teaspoon’s is perhaps still my go-to—but they’re hard to get right, often either too wispy or they turn into something dangerously close to the kind of tart apple tea I for some reason can’t stand. I loved the way this one smelled brewing and the chocolate intrigued me because I adore fresh pear slices with squares of super dark chocolate (the absence of apple or beetroot in the listed ingredients also gave me hope!), but alas, it proved the latter sort of apple-y pear and I struggled to finish it because of that specific apple juice-like tartness I just can’t handle in a hot drink. Aw. What makes this whole experience great though is that there’s a MESS of “Sweet Helen” pear teas, many of them from Frenchy can’t-try-before-I-buy, a-bear-to-obtain brands, and this keeps me from finding out the hard way, buying 100g with pricey shipping. So I’m super grateful to Dexter3657, whew. I have a feeling I’ll agree with Cavocorax, that this might be quite good cold (last fall I found the Berkshire Apple and Fig tea that floats around under various brand names is undrinkably apple juice-tart to me hot, but delicious cold). I’ll coldsteep the rest of the generous sample Dex gave me when it heats up here (any moment now!) and see.

Hm. I loved this hot – it was really quite lovely, and very, very similar to the other mulberry tea I just had – down to them both having papaya in them. They smell the same, they look the same, however this one got really weird and off-putting as it cooled. Something tart and drying made it into the mix, instead of the initial sweet juiciness. If I get my hands on this again I’ll try to see if I can get something else out of it, however right now? I can’t finish the cup. :(

I’m pretty sure this came from Cavocorax and for that, I thank you.

T&C TTB 16/23

I was happy this tea made it to me in the box :) It sounded so good. It reminded me a little of Davids Sugar & Spice but not as spicy or sweet. I have to go by memory right now, I know I enjoyed it but not sure if I would order it, well maybe I would, not sure yet.

Thank you so much for sharing this tea Kat_Maria!

T&C TTB 14/23

My son and I both liked this even though I messed this one up. I think I was afraid of the grapefruit being too sour and may have under leafed this when I cold brewed it or maybe I should have left it in longer. It smelled and tasted like grapefruit but very light and no puckering. I think when I try this again I will do a normal iced brew because I don’t like the idea of hot grapefruit.

Thanks Kat_Maria for sharing your RiverTea :)

Sipdown!! (183)

Thank you Dexter3657 for the chance to try this tea. It was nice while it lasted but it is not heartbreaking to see it leave. I like the green base RiverTea uses but the flavoring in this cup is a pretty generic berry taste. I enjoyed the cups I had but there are many other teas I would reach for first.

Thank you Dexter3657 for sharing this with me. I don’t even remember putting it on my wishlist but I am glad I got to try it. It is a nice enough tea to sip on every now and then. It has a great berry flavor mixed with a smooth, slightly vegetal green base. Very pleasant but not something I would stock. Nonetheless, I am glad I got the opportunity to try it and I am happy I have one more cup worth of leaf left. Thanks Dexter!

Sipdown (185/187)!

Made the last of this in a timolino, but at work using a basked I brought in for the timolino. I knew I was going to be able to make less tea this morning (because two of my three thermoses got left at work), so I planned to make some on break or before signing in. Ultimately, I made this right before leaving though.

I think I was wrong about this being the kind of blend that keeps growing on you to the point where you just can’t do without it; it doesn’t taste bad this time around, it just tastes bland. I hardly get much of anything – and certainly not orange or raspberry. Hmm…

My “tea game” seems off today.

Oh well, I guess that just makes it easier to part with this one. I’ve still yet to find a Pu’Erh (of the under ten I’ve tried) that I’d want to keep restocked. Next up will be Tea Desire’s Caramel Pu’Erh – I plan to get some for myself when I go to pick up VariaTEA’s Buddha Bamboo on Thursday.

I brought my sample of this into work as well; and an empty timolino (I was too rushed/horribly panicked to make my regular two timolinos of tea). When I was on break, I took advantage of the shiny, new electric kettle that my manager bought specifically for me and made this in my timolino at work.

I then drank it on the walk home.

I think this was better this time around; while I lost the flavour of the raspberry pretty much altogether, the Pu’Erh base was much more tolerable. It did taste oily, just really earthy/muddy so that was a trade off I was more than ok with. I don’t mind strongly earthy teas (which seems to be Pu’Erhs thing) – but I have a big issue with when it feels/tastes like I’m drinking an oil slick (and sadly that also seems to be a Pu’Erh thing). The orange was very rind like, but it worked overall.

So yes, I better cup! I could be right about saying this is the sort of tea that is an acquired taste and grows on you the more you have it…

I have one more cup left at work, maybe I’ll finish it off tomorrow.