sTEAp Shoppe

Hmm. Maybe I underleafed, because this is awfully weak. I suppose that is possible, given the amount of fruit here! Anyhow, I can’t really taste any oolong, but am definitely tasting real, tart cranberry, which is quite lovely! I’ll either infuse longer next time or add more tea… this has potential, but this cup definitely doesn’t fully explore it.

Another sample from Sil, & another sipdown. Thanks Sil!

This is ok, but not really appealing to me. I like fresh oranges, tangerines, & other citrus, but for some reason I don’t usually care for them much in tea. That’s pretty much that.

This is an interesting mix of teas, & reads kind of like a who’s who of steap shoppe teas, almost as if they swept up a mix of leftovers from various teas, added a few more things, & voila! Pound Cake!

The truth is, I’m sure nothing could be further from the truth. I have never ordered from Steap Shoppe, but have received samples of quite a few of their tasty teas from various friends, & they’ve all been good, especially the cinnamon bread & brioche blends. So I know a lot of care went into this blend.

The results? It’s tasty! Bready, buttery, thick to the tongue. I can feel & taste the pound cake reference, & my hat is off to Steap Shoppe for their efforts. Thanks to Sil for this sample.

i don’t mind clove, quite like it actually… but for me it boiled down to too many acid ingredients without complimentary agents: orange, cranberry, hibiscus… and the clove doesn’t tone it down, if anything it boosts it.

i’d like a stronger tea component which ideally plays the part of a non acid baseline for all of the acids. maybe not a darjeeling because they can have acid flavours, maybe not a keemun because they can overpower. not a puerh (even though it’s my favourite)…. i don’t know what baseline changes need to be made… beyond my skill sets!

too much acid, not enough complimentary base. that’s my two cents worth. it does have potential though!

there are all kinds of apple pies. the kind you buy at walmart, the kind you get at a restaurant with a crumble topping, the kind you buy in a fancy bakery that’s teeny and costs more than a month of groceries… this blend actually reminds me of a tarte tatin that i make: light and fresh, a strong apple flavour, a light caramel.

however, that’s where the comparison ends. i think this tea has significant potential. it’s ALMOST there. i don’t get as much of a commitment from the spices as i’d like. the ingredient list says there’s allspice in there, but it’s a very hesitant component.

nitty gritty: do i like this tea? sortof. i really like what it could become. the apple component is strong and light. granny smith in its brightness. there is an element of caramel. so the pie filling is there… the spices could be stronger which would, in my opinion, improve the blend.

flip side: i don’t get any elements of pastry, and i do get an odd mottled element that i’m having a hard time identifying which i feel challenges the accomplishments of the blend. i really do think this tea could be brilliant, it just needs a bit more work.

We got home from the beach very late last night, and I got up early this morning to help my fiancee get ready to go to St. Louis to visit his family. After a crazy past few days of being at the beach and everything that comes with organizing vacation details for a group of people, I am a little happy to be home. And especially happy to be back in my kitchen with a cup of tea! I usually take tea and my little Bodum kettle with me on vacations, but didn’t this time because we had so many other food items/coolers/etc. to bring. Boy was I sorry that I didn’t have any tea when I got the worst headache ever the first day we were down there! Definitely learned that lesson – must make room for the tea!

Anyway, this tea sounded heavenly this morning when I was perusing my cabinet and trying to decide what to make. The dry leaves smell strongly of sugary caramel and rich chocolate, while the tea aroma has a malty black tea scent with a hint of burnt caramel. The flavor and finish is slightly malty and chocolatey. The caramel comes out mainly in the aftertaste, and is heavy and delicious. This is like a light cup of hot chocolate with a wonderful caramel sweetness at the end.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with pieces of cocoa and small pieces of flavoring.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of sugary caramel and rich chocolate. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and burnt caramel.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color with an oily sheen on top.
-Slightly malty and chocolatey flavor and finish. Heavy caramel aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A smooth cup with a rich cocoa flavor and a sweet caramel aftertaste.

Thanks to Cavocorax and, I think, Sil for this sample.

This tea is definitely a puerh. As soon as the hot water hits the leaves, there’s this delightful bready scent.

(Blah blah blah…)

I really like this one. It’s not bread as the texture is liquid, but the flavour is delicious. The rest of the sample is going to Heather, but I kinda wish I could keep it. Anyone with a Tea Mule planning on doing a sTEAp order? :)

(Edit: I’m drinking steep 2 today in my travel mug, and it’s delightful.)

Hmmmm….I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. I’m not used to finding Fenugreek in a tea, & admittedly, I’ve never been a real fan of it. I guess it’s interesting enough to finish the cup, with a rich mouth, but it IS a sipdown, so I doubt I’ll ever drink it again.
Thanks for the sample, Sil.
NEXT!

Another Sipdown from TastyBrew! Thanks!
This is a nice full Yunnan with a malty flavor & a rich resinous feeling to the mouth. Very tasty, just what I needed!

I haven’t done the math yet, but there are several teas I’m not reviewing today that I will be counting as sipdowns because I’m sending them to another steepsterite…not saying who…

Oh yeah!
I just got home from shooting pool with Tony. I needed a cup of something like this!
This is tasty, with that rich resinous malty flavor & mouth that I love so well, essence of chocolate & a bit of an aged almost shu-like flavor.
Big Thanks to TastyBrew for this one :)

Thanks to Tasty Brew for this sample, from our wonderful Black Teas Sample Swap.

This is a golden Yunnan, with hints of the things found in my beloved Golden Fleece: honey, allspice, bee pollen, smooth but tongue thickening sensation. Notice I said hints. There is an underlying bitterness that grows on the center of the tongue as an aftertaste.

Sipdown. Now I wish I’d brought some Golden Fleece to Tony’s.

OK….this is amazing! It’s like have cinnamon toast! It has just the right amount of cinnamon, it has a yeasty taste, probably from the puerh & possibly from some maltiness from the black tea, & it’s even lightly sweet. I drank it plain, including a resteep that was just as good as the first cup. I’m heading back to the kitchen for a third steep.
I’m sure it would be nice with sweetener & creamer, but I’m pretty happy with it as is. And I’m going to have to have MOAR!!!
Thank you Tasty Brew! I’ve been wanting to try this one for awhile!

Thanks to Sil for the sample, and the easy sipdown! (156)

So I can’t cheat with this and read the description, which is unsettling. What am I drinking? What should I be looking for? Well… it’s a black tea?

It’s also a little heavy, like the cinnamon swirl. I should have checked to see if there was puerh in the leaves, but now I’ll never know. It’s amber coloured and smells slightly sweet too. Hmmm… It’s a bit rich? It’s tasty? It’s MYSTERIOUS. I wouldn’t say no to more of this either, but I think I’d rather just drink the Cinnamon Swirl since it’s incredible!

I’m not often in the mood for Lapsang Souchong teas, but when I am, this might be the tea for me! It’s not super smokey, but instead it wraps around comforts, like a warm blanket of smoke.

:| My brain isn’t quite working today. Still sinusheaded. APPARENTLY. Lack of appropriate metaphors are a cluuuuue.

Thank you Tealizzy for the sample! This is a very tasty oolong. I’m not really getting any of the pastry type flavors as described on the package, but its pretty good nonetheless! It is very smooth and floral and not at all astringent. Buttery and vegetal, too. Glad to have tried it, but not rushing to buy more or anything :)

Backlog from last night.

I really enjoy this tea. If you like buttery, nutty, rice-y green teas or oolongs you need to try this. I love to watch the tiny little nuggets unfurl into huge leaves. It takes several steeps to get there, but the flavor stays strong.

This is a really interesting tea. Buttery, nutty, rice-y. I’m really enjoying it. Very unique. It’s kind of like the love child of a buttery milk oolong and genmaicha. I like it.

This tea really surprised me! I had the apple pie by sTEAp awhile back and was very underwhelmed by it. I just wanted something more out of it. This tea does not suffer the same fate. It is amazingly tasty. I love caramel apples and this tea honestly tastes like taking a bite out of a gooey caramel apple (without the mess!). The assam base is very mild in the background and blends so nicely with the flavors. This is a definite re-order. I’m so glad I finally tried it!

I didn’t have high hopes for this tea as I don’t tend to love apple teas, but the description sounded pretty tasty and i’m a sample junky so I added this to my cart. It’s an okay tea. I wish it was more of something though. It kind of tastes like watered down apple cider. Not bad by any means, but just no real oomph of any kind. I wish there was cinnamon or a richer apple or something to really make this into a pie flavor. I’ll drink the rest of my cup and sample bag for sure, but not re-order.

Steeped up some of this tea to see if it was better with a lower temperature, using my new variable temperature kettle (man, that was the best purchase ever!), and it wasn’t. Still super floral. The second steep was more nutty and a little buttery, but it’s just so overpoweringly floral. I didn’t make it to a third steep, but it might have been even better. Only thing is, I don’t want to have to wait until the third steep to get the best cup of tea!

This tea was very floral to me. I got a sample of it because the description was about pecans and butter, but even after a third steep, I didn’t really get that flavor. Maybe some pecan, but not to the extent I hoped. Oh well. It was fun to try.

Okay, I think I know what is throwing my taste buds off. It’s cocoa nibs! Why are there cocoa nibs in a vanilla tea? This would be better without them. As far as vanilla black teas, my favorite was ESP Emporium’s. I had a sample of Lupicia’s that I didn’t like….too much like rum. I wonder why vanilla teas are so different across companies. Now I know why some of you steepsterites have been searching for the perfect vanilla tea. This one misses the mark for me.

Lucky me…my 100th tasting note and steepster isn’t updating. Meh!

So, this tea did not meet my expectations for a chocolate tea. It really tasted like carob to me. So disappointing. I haven’t had a lot of luck with chocolate teas lately. Maybe my taste buds are off?

Got the sampler size of this, which is more than generous at 0.5 oz. This tea is a nice blend. The white tea lightens up the black tea. I didn’t even add milk, which is unusual for me with a black tea. It tasted like a combination of vanilla and cocoa nibs in a light black tea base. The second steep was a whole lot different, in that the white tea is more prominent, and there’s more of a vegetal floral note. I’m not sure I’m in love, but I will enjoy the rest of the bag.