Sloane Tea Company

March Sipdown Madness

This is the last pairing of the first “tier” of my tournament – matched with W2T’s Little Red! The month is getting closer and closer to finishing though, so I really need to step up getting through these tournament match ups!

I like this tea a lot – that’s evident from my ‘91’ rating. I also like Little Red a lot too though, so I was mentally going back and forth on which I thought would win. This blend just seems like such an excellent representation of the craft of blending though; it’s really well balanced with the peach, cream, and white tea all feeling represented. The skill to that is how flavourful those notes are while not feeling bogged down or covering up a more delicate and gentle white tea base. Plus, both the peach and the cream used in this blend have insanely distinct flavours that really ride the line between sweet and artificial interpretations of “the real thing” versus actually mirroring the taste of ripe peach and fresh cream…

Ultimately I chose this as the winner – the craft/skill and final product were just too good.

Cold Brew!

Peaches and Cream!? More like nectarine and cream, with a bit of hay. It’s a subtle difference but definitely a detectable one nonetheless. I really enjoyed this one – it’s always been a favourite of mine since acquiring it.

Cold Brew!

Drank this one yesterday on my way in to work. I don’t think I like this one as much cold brewed as I do just hot and straight – but it’s still really delicious. Natural peach/nectarine notes, hints of cream, and a lot of white tea hay/straw flavour. Maybe a tiny bit lemony? It’s got sweetness, but isn’t sweet – if that makes sense.

Really great for when I want a good fruit flavour that’s more realistic and doesn’t outweigh the base tea.

Made this one in a carry travel mug to take with me to work yesterday.

I had a few sips at my house before I left to head. It was really hot still so I didn’t get to fully appreciate because I also didn’t want to burn my mouth, but it had a nice strong peach flavour with hints of nectarine. I was really looking forward to drinking the rest. I caught a ride into work with my brother though, and I ended up leaving the carry travel mug in the backseat of his car so it sat there throughout the whole day until I got home about ten hours later.

By then it was cold, bitter, and gross so I just tossed it out. Definitely a waste of a perfectly tasty cuppa, though…

Had to pull this one out and brew up a cup because, with the new White Peach blend from DT having just come out and it tasting quite similar, I just found myself thinking about it quite a bit…

This is still amazing; very accurate fleshly/ripe peach and nectarine notes accented with subtle, soft cream and the hot notes of the white base itself. I made this in a travel mug, and I think because of that it got just a little astringent. This particular travel mug doesn’t do white tea super well. Only minimal astringency though; definitely didn’t take away from the overall magic of this blend.

I’ve been putting off writing tasting notes for the last few days because I’m sick as a dog and all holed up on the couch under layer upon layer of blankets watching Gossip Girl reruns, but I just finished the season five finale and I think I need to pause for a moment and do something else, so maybe now is a good time to get some writing done…

I had this one last week, well before I started feeling unwell. As always it was a complete and total treat! I did feel like it leaned a little more towards nectarine/generic stone fruit notes rather than specifically peach, but the cream element was so smooth and divine and honestly the weird non-peach notes could also just be because I let this sit for way too long before I actually started drinking it and it was practically already room temperature by that time.

Still lovely regardless.

With a bit of milk.

Basically, spot on creamy deliciousness! I’m very in love with this tea; it’s yet to even come remotely close to disappointing me on any facet. And I know that holding it in such high regard is only setting myself up for disappointment in the future but I can’t help it, it’s how I feel about this one and I don’t think I can change that.

Also, I think I want to try and figure out a way to make this into like an Italian soda sort of thing? Like, probably make this into a simple syrup, and then add it to some club soda and top it off with a fresh whipped cream. Something fancy, and sweet and refreshing that takes advantage of both fruity and creamy aspects of the tea…

I keep finding myself inexplicably drawn to this one…

Had another hot cup of it earlier in the week and while I thought it was a little more weighted towards the peach in terms of flavour, with some nectarine undertones, it was still a complete and utter home run in terms of flavour. So smooth, and deeply satisfying and capable of conveying both the peach and cream notes in such an authentic, realistic way!

My Kitten and The Bear order arrived today, and along with it fancy banana spread and the two Sloane teas that I grabbed! I’ve got the first one currently cold brewing in the fridge, and this one I decided to brew up immediately – I was too curious not to!

It honestly smells so good! Very aromatic and rich, with really intense and sweet smelling peach notes! Not so much a candied peach like I was kind of expecting either, but something much more natural/realistic. Basically, sweet overripe peach: ready to pop with all those beautiful flavourful juices! It was making me salivate just smelling it, and it got even more lovely as it was steeping!

Steeped up I took my first sip, and I was super smitten!

This tastes so distinctly of very, fresh and just a little overripe peaches with hints of nectarine in the mix too. Just It’s really sweet, and juicy but ultimately also incredibly smooth! The vanilla undertones here are also just very rich, and super intense/creamy and ultimately very natural. They’re also just really thick, adding a lot of body to the overall flavour. The thing is, this isn’t peaches and cream in the sense that it’s creamy peach. No, it’s more like slices of peach topped in heavy, vanilla infused cream. In a way that makes it so much better though because it’s different from other “Peaches and Cream” teas!

I. Love. It.

Let’s see, other things going on with this tea…

It does have some of the typical hay/straw notes you’d get from white tea and there’s a little bit of natural nectarine/lemon notes that play well into the peach essence in the blend as well as a little natural cream that adds to the vanilla/cream component as well. The base and flavour pairing here just really connects so well on several different layers. Touches of floral elements too, but very very light ones. Gah! I just love this one so much!!!

My friend got this as her tea and honestly I think I just drank her tea more than mine. The consensus was between the four of our teas, this was the best. It was floral and certainly an oolong but a creamy vanilla/buttery oolong with a honeysuckle type floral that was really nice. Plus it held up to the teapot prep method that seemed to lead to the other teas being oversteeped. Not to mention we added more water to the leaves and it still had a lot of flavor. I’d drink this again.

Opening my cupboard wondering what to drink on this cold evening after spending my day off work volunteering at the museum, I saw this tin and realized that, wait a minute, I don’t think I’ve written about this tea yet. Do you know when I got this? On my birthday last year after having the greatest birthday meal ever with my mom. Seeing that my birthday is next week, that further made me realize that I need to stop hardcore failing and finally write about this. Gee, only took a year. Sigh.

I’m going to cut to the chase and say that this smells a hell of a lot better than it tastes. The flavour combination sounded full of win. Brazilian cocoa, currant, and rose combined with Assam (and Ceylon)? Are you kidding me? The dry leaf smells so dark: dark chocolate combined with a deep, dark currant note. Yet I barely smell the rose, and when it comes to the flavour, I can barely detect it either. Rather, it’s the high-pitched Ceylon that takes over the whole show, and I can barely notice any Assam qualities in this blend.

What’s very peculiar about this blend is that in spite of the generous smattering of cocoa nibs and rich cocoa aroma, the chocolate note tastes thin, like it’s been cut with other crappy ingredients. We’re talking mockolate. Why? And it’s not much better with 2% milk. The astringency piped down a bit but that’s about it.

Very Tasty Green Tea!

I picked this up when it was on sale right after Christmas (that’s about the only way I can afford anything from Holt Renfrew). The base is a medium strength, good quality mix of Assam and Ceylon. The flavours seem like they should be good – cocoa and rose – but I find that the execution is lacking. The cocoa comes across as tasting more like cheap, waxy chocolate and the rose is muted and has a slight mustiness like old potpourri. I know that makes it sound awful but it isn’t that bad especially when I add milk. I’ve taken to drinking it for breakfast when my tastebuds are less discerning.

We went for afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton where we were served by the Sugar Plum Fairy and a Nutcracker. It was festive and fun and very pretty but they brought the tea in le creuset teapots and I just felt this was oversteeped. It was astringent and it lacked the typical vanilla creaminess that makes this one of the better EG teas.

Eggnog latte sipdown (though this was never in my cupboard to begin with)

I got a tiny tin of this when I got the Mother’s Day gift of Kitten and the Bear/Sloane Tea stuffed truffles and since I don’t love EGs, I was worried I would never finish it. However, all it took was a bit of sharing and a latte to finish this.

Honestly as far as EGs go, this one is actually really nice, even with the blerg included. That’s because of the copious amounts of cream notes that make this smooth and delicious, with just a touch of citrus. As an eggnog latte, it is even creamier of course and oh so delicious. Yum!

I have never loved Earl Greys but this just sounds…well….heavenly. So when I went for Jam and Tea service at Kitten and the Bear and they were offering a selection of Sloane Teas, I just couldn’t pass it up. I actually really enjoyed this one and it complimented the jams quite nicely.

For more about my jam and tea service… http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/11/25/lets-chat-jam-tea-service-kitten-bear/

I grabbed this as a tea latte from the Pusateri’s under Saks while at work and they put 1 teabag in a 20 oz cup. Needless to say this was watered down and not really all that great. I guess I’ll stick to Starbucks holiday drinks and tea lattes at home (or from DAVIDs).

I would highly recommend this tea. The first time I tried this tea was when I ordered a tea latte at a local cafe. After the first sip, I knew I had to buy this tea. I had been on the search for a tea that tasted like this for quite some time and could not believe I had finally found it. What I like the most about this tea is that there is a strong floral essence to it. I paid 18$ for 100g and it is entirely worth it. This tea tastes delicious with a splash of milk.

This is the perfect tea to try out today. RIP, David Bowie, you magnificent soul.

I just had a Nordic mug of this with a shot of whole milk. It’s definitely a creamy one, and the bergamot isn’t too heavy. It shouts at the top of a mountain that it’s an EGC, alright.

Next time I’d consider adding a little vanilla extract to make this more London Fog-like. I don’t think it’s worth paying full price for, but I’m glad I was able to snag a tin of this for 60% off after Christmas at Holt Renfrew. Unimportant, but the tins HR sells around then holidays are different than the traditional ones you see online. This one is black with HR branding on it. Both designs are great.

Unrelated, but I’m back to the drawing board in regards to job-hunting. That one I started last week was really taking a toll on me with its insane early morning wake-ups. Eventually I would have had to get up even an hour earlier for their flex schedule, plus after seeing what was required for the (temporary) job, I didn’t think it would be worth it because they were also underpaying for the position. I know, bad time to let go of a job and be picky when the economy is bad but I’d sooner spend the next while looking for another one—and hopefully find another one—during the time that I would have been stuck at this one, and wouldn’t have been able to go to job interviews.

My mom just got home from her doctor’s appointment devastated that she has more (high-risk) surgery scheduled in the spring, so the Bowie news don’t help matters as he has always been a favourite of hers. “My Ziggy…” as she just said. Ugh. Bad day.

This was my choice tea at Remedy yesterday. I wanted their Chocolate Mint but they were out! The smell of these sachets, though? A heavenly waft of bergamot. I’m so used to EGC that this plays tricks on my mind and makes me expect a creamy note in the taste.

Without any additives, this is smooth and packed with bergamot. Maybe not the strongest bergamot I’ve had, but it’s oh so prevalent. It’s a great option to have when you’re out and about and have a hankering for Earl Grey when then house Earl Greys at places like Second Cup are on the weaker, boring side.

With maple sugar and cream, it’s good but I think I prefer it before I added these gimmicks to them. The bergamot stands very well on its own, plus the base is smooth so no need to calm it down with milk/cream/sugar.

I’ve finished my cup and am really feeling the effects of the caffeine. Maybe I used too much water or maybe it’s the type of tea, but adding cream to this made it taste a little watery. I’m glad to be adding a few different types of black tea to my cupboard so that I can start learning the differences between them.

Second Steep
12 ounces water + 212 degrees + 10 minutes

The second cup is still light, even after a 10-minute steep.

I am so achy today. My whole vacation I was fine but now that I’m back at work this starts up again. What is going on with this body of mine?!