Tea Desire

I think this was from last weekend!?

It was pretty chilly – definitely a stay inside and hide under the covers kind of day. I made a giant bowl of extra cheesey and extra garlic-y paste and some broccoli cheddar scones from the ultimate comfort good, and I knew that I needed something strong but still warming to go along with my chilly weather comfort meal. I picked this tea because it’s got all the warmth and body of a Chai blend, with sweet cinnamon and fennel notes and a bit of a peppery finish, while still having a nice sweetness from the apricot that plays into the umami of the cup. I thought that little bit of brightness and fruit would be a good break from all the cheesy and garlic heavy food.

It actually worked really well too!

Now this is my favourite chai! Since I’ve been slowly inching my way into this whole ‘Chai Season’ mindset and attitude, it only feels right to pull down my personal all time favourite Chai. This is also the only chai I can think of that I simply have to have on hand at all times. If I run out, I immediately order more – even with the stupid, expensive shipping prices to order from Tea Desire online. I’m nearly at that point right now with my leaf, actually…

This is great; sweetness from the apricot but then lots of clove, cinnamon, and fennel. I adore the sharp contrast between the sweet and tangy fruit and those deep, flavourful spices. It also reminds me of heavily spiced apricot jam/marmalade. Plus there’s a great thickness to the mouthfeel! The best part, though, has always been the absence of ginger. It’s really, really great to not have to deal with that scratchy throat feeling I often get from ginger.

Very, very sweet and smooth! The spice was really satisfying/comforting as a winter sort of beverage/drink. Prominent notes of cinnamon/cinnamon sugar, clove, apricot, and fennel sweetness sans licorice-y elements.

Chai Latte!

It is both Chai and latte season after all; for once I actually have multiple Chai options on hand this year but this is still my favourite. Of course, it’s also the most non-conventional one that I own which is probably why I like it in the first place…

As a latte, the cinnamon, clove, and ginger are all quite prominent though softened and somewhat sweetened from the milk. The flavour reminds me of a mix of cinnamon sugar and gingerbread, dunked in milk. In a way, that almost paints a more festive and Christmas-y image in my head rather than something autumnal. I’m not sure if I’m just imagining it because of the gingerbread comparison, but I also taste hints of molasses this time around too. The apricot is more jammy, and obviously creamy as well. It adds a needed sweetness and juxtaposing flavour to the warming spice elements.

Always a fan of this one.

Mmm!

Very comforting morning cuppa before work from earlier in the week. It was weird though because the cinnamon notes were so strong, but with a surprising level of sweetness to them. I found myself almost thinking more of cinnamon sugar, than of Chai. With this sweet, fruity pop of apricot in the finish. Like some sort of pastry/baking!? Very off beat, for what this tea normally tastes like/reminds me of.

Still very good though, and not an unwelcome flavour profile.

Latte!

I mean, it’s about time I actually made this one into a latte – that’s kind of the thing you do with Chai, after all. There were no surprises with this one as a latte; it was very smooth with a thick creamy mouthfeel and just an absurd amount of delicious, warming clove, cinnamon and fennel spice notes. The apricot was this lovely sweet, brightness at the top of the sip that gave the whole drink a really fun pop of flavour, and made it feel like a great twist on a typical Chai Latte, which this essentially was. I mean, with the green base tea it was lighter overall than a black based Chai would have been – but all the boxes for the spice notes, the creamyness, and the warming, comforting quality of the drink itself were all checked off.

I shared some of it with a coworker who has fairly different taste preferences than I do; he’s VERY into rooibos, dessert blends, and sweeter teas in general. His favourites from DT are Cotton Candy, Creme Caramel Rooibos, Cinnamon Rooibos Chai, and Saigon Chai. Pretty well all of those are ones I’m not too huge on; however this tea is something we were both able to actually agree on as being REALLY good. It even blew his mind a bit that it was a green tea base, since neither of us are green tea fans generally speaking.

It’s been so weird not having a Tea Desire less than a twenty minute walk from my house since I moved back to Regina, and I’ve definitely been slowly but surely sipping down my built up reserve of Tea Desire blends so I finally caved and placed an online order with them. I kind of hated having to pay shipping for a company I’m very used to having immediate access to, but I have to say that it actually was a really pleasant ordering experience overall and everything arrived SO quickly/efficiently.

So, it’s no secret that I’m really not a Chai fan – but this one has always had a bit of a special spot in my heart. I’ve stocked it off and on over the last four years, and since I’m at a point again where I really just don’t have a Chai in my cupboard I thought it’d be a good idea to pick this one up since I was ordering anyway.

This Chai is a bit of a rulebreaker, and I think that’s why I like it so much. It’s got a green base, which makes it a bit lighter in flavour overall, and it’s sweeter as well because of the apricot. Plus, the spices are a lot more weighted the ones I really enjoy, like clove and fennel, over the ones I find more aggravating like ginger.

All of those things I enjoy about it were present in this most recent cup; the slightly vegetal and nutty green tea base with its whisps of sweet smoke, and a sweet tangyness from the apricot that reminds me of apricot jelly! I also felt like there were some apple notes, even though there are no apples in the blend. The spices were smooth and consistent, and I greatly enjoyed the sweetness of the fennel and warming quality of the clove. Clove has always been a big soft spot for me, and while in general Chai and I just don’t get along I’ve always been more open to ones with higher ratios of clove. Then the finish was hints of cinnamon and ginger with that peppercorn tickle in the back of my throat! Very comforting, overall.

Happy to have this one back and stocked.

GCTTB V1

Ok, so I’ve had this tea before… on many occasions, actually.

However I saw it in the box, and then I smelled it in the box and it made me nostalgic for past pots and mugs of this brew. I think it really is an underrated Chai and as someone who really dislikes Chai in general I’ve found that the combination of green base and sweeter, fruitier notes really does work so well for me. I just had to revisit this one.

So Cathryn and I are sharing a pot while we wait for the swimming pool to open up: there’s a strong aroma of cinnamon, ginger and apricot wafting from the pot and it’s making the apartment smell really lovely. Drinking it, I’m definitely hit with heavy waves of melancholic nostalgia. The flavour is lovely though: a great ratio of ginger, clove, peppercorn, and cinnamon notes though a bit more heavy on the cinnamon over anything else. It’s hard to taste the base, but there’s a certain smoky quality that’s more than likely the only trace of the gunpowder to be detected. The best part is the bright, sweet apricot note that pushes its way to the top, creating a very sweet and lively top note that forms an amazing contrast to the spicey base. It’s a very warming brew, but in the sunniest way possible.

I mean, Chai blends don’t really read as “Summer Blends” do they? But I think if you find a somewhat lighter one with a fruit ingredient thrown in as a bit of a ‘twist’ they CAN lend themselves to a more summery sort of feel. And this one does that.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to take the rest of this out of the box for myself; and I still might. However, I’ve drank my fair share of this over the last few years and I think I should try to be happy with just revisiting it and let some other people enjoy this unconventional Chai.

And yes I DID get moments where I tasted ketchup, just like years ago…

Sipdown (111)!

Wow, I’ve had this tea for a long time, but I finally finished it off this morning which was nice. I feel rather accomplished about it, actually. But since I was kinda sick of having this one straight and hot I did something different for my last cup (I’ve decided I probably wont restock – for a non Chai fan it takes to long to finish this).

So, I made this as a latte. It worked ‘cause my milk is on the brink of expiring but not quite there, and milk makes Chai rather tolerable in my opinion. So I generously over leafed the mug and the result? Just phenomenal. All the flavours I don’t like in this tea were totally masked; the ginger, cinnamon, peppercorns! And the flavours I do like? Well, they were the ones that ended up being strong enough to shine through the rich, creamy milk. So there were thick, full notes of cloves and fennel and then lush, fruity notes of apricot made so rich by the creamy milk. It was really good.

It doesn’t make me change my mind about restocking; but it’s a helluva great way to remember this blend!

Also, link drop because this clip made my laugh so hard tonight and of all the tasting notes left in my queue for today, this is the one that it probably makes the most sense to leave it? Sorta?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuvUaFp_qMQ

Cold Brewed in a few shots worth of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum.

This was ages ago; and I actually got the suggestion to brew this specific one with the rum from the Steepster Chat group. Strained it smelled not so bad; definitely spicey and Chai (lots of clove in the smell) with some way deep down fruitiness to it. Not sure if I can say specifically Apricot with any sort of confidence.

However, it tasted terrible. Like some sort of antiseptic or disinfectant. The first tiny sip I kinda choked on, and then I had Tre (my roommate) try a sip after saying I was “such a baby”. He immediately ran to the sink to spit it out. I did, however, finish it off eventually! I pounded it back and then immediately pounded back a mug of milk as chase. And then I of course rubbed it in his face.

But yeah; sorry beloved Steepsterites – this was a miserable miss that I wont be repeating.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I got hiccups immediately after finishing this one too…

Made in my timolino to sip on throughout the day. Overall, this timolino worth turned out surprisingly weak in flavour – which is not something I ever thought I’d say about this blend. Despite being watery, it was still ok though.

A fairly solid fruity chai.

This is what I started yesterday morning with before heading to my interview. It was mostly cinnamon/cloves and sweet apricot – so basically, really tasty like usual.

I made this for work because I was craving Chai, but it was stupidly and uncharacteristically busy at work today so not only did I not have time to use the internet at work but I didn’t even have time to drink either of my work teas. I think a big part of that was because head office shat on me, and sent me 50 boxes of stock – which took my ENTIRE five hour shift to put away and enter into the computer inventory.

So, I’m drinking my two work teas at home now. Despite being in a timolino all day and not being opened once until my arriving home, this has pretty significantly cooled down. It’s still delicious like usual though. Very prominent cinnamon, clove, and apricot notes today. Can’t taste the ginger at all – which is a plus. I really want to try Rivertea’s version of this, for comparison.

Typically good cup (well, timolino in this case) of this tea. For the timolino I used something like 2 tsp. steeped for about two, maybe closer to three, minutes. This is the second tea I’ve had today with peppercorns in it – and they definitely suit this one better.

I get lots of the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and peppercorn like usual. As someone who does not love ginger, I’m happy it’s primarily lost under all the other spices. Also, the fennel is especially standing out today, and I’m not ashamed to say I picked some of the fennel out of the leaf after it was done steeping and ate it straight. Man, I forgot how much I liked straight fennel (kind of makes me want to try David’s Bollywood Chai just so I can pick out the candied fennel in it).

Apricot is still pretty strong even though I’m not sure if I got a lot of it into the dry leaf (maybe one or two average size chunks). I always get something “ketchup” like with this tea, in the best way, but still can’t figure out what it is!

Glad to end my day with a nice chai like this one.

Resteeped.

Right now, this is perfectly complementing the spicy beef Hamburger Helper I’m eating. The spices go together, but the apricot is something sweet and much more contrasting in flavour. I think the contrasting flavours in the tea alone are such a huge part of why I love this chai.

This second steep has really brought out the taste of cloves.

Dry leaf stills smells delicious, and still SO much like the sweet and sour sauce from the vegetarian meatballs we made in class (see my previous note on this tea for a better description). Mmm, sweet apricot jelly and a tangy sort of ketchup smell. Dang it’s really making me want actual food.

The smell of this one steeping is extra smokey today with strong contributing notes of apricot, cinnamon, cloves, and ketchup. I swear, I’m the only person who has review this tea to taste ketchup notes in it. I think it’s a huge part of why I love this so much, though.

1 heaping tsp. steeped for about 2 1/2 min. – the liquor is a cloudy orange colour. The taste is a balance of sweet, tangy, and spicy like always. I think I taste the ginger more than usual, and I’m wishing the the apricot and ketchup notes tasted closer to how strong they smell. Still, this is the perfect tea the help ward of hunger, at the moment.

Out of the four teas I bought from Tea Desire, this is the one I was most interested in! It’s a flavoured green tea AND a Chai, both of which are tea types that are very hit or miss for me. However,smelling the dry leaf has me really excited to try it.

It’s hard because I have no idea how to explain how it smells, and yet I know EXACTLY what it smells like. In my senior year of high school in commercial cooking class we vegetarian “Sweet and Sour Meatballs”. The meatballs themselves were made with crushed nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese, and different sorts of shredded cheese. What the dry leaf really reminds me of is the “sauce” that the meatballs were cooked in. Sadly, I don’t remember all of the ingredients that went into the sauce, but the ones I do remember are ketchup and apricot jam (both in quite generous amounts), and then I know there was some sort of spice added to the sauce as well. The dry leaf smells exactly like this! And, that sauce was really weird – but SO good.

Following Tea Desire’s steeping instructions I’m steeping a generous teaspoon of this for about two and a half minutes. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect – but if this tea tastes anything close to how it smells I’m sure I’ll like it.

Steeping, the most prominent scents are cinnamon, cloves, and apricot. Maybe it’s because I’ve already made an association to those Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Meatballs, but I also smell a very sweet sort of tomato scent. The liquor actually reminds me of the colour of dried apricots or apricot jam.

First few sips… Mmmmm! It does taste more spicy than it smells, but in a good way. This is definitely a very sweet and spicy tea. Most prominently, I taste the cinnamon, pink pepper kernels, apricot, and cloves. I’m happy I’m not getting a distinct sense of ginger – it’s by far NOT one of my favourite flavours and I tend to avoid food and drink in general with prominent ginger flavour.

I love this tea, and I don’t have anything like it in the rest of my hoard so I feel like, once the 50g I have is gone, I can restock this pretty much guilt free! A success on the Chai and Green Tea front!

Urgh, my throat is suddenly killing me and I’m really wishing for something that’d go down smooth and gently. This is not it.

Part of my initiative to drink down teas that I don’t want to restock, I steeped a tsp. of this in my timolino (a little oversteeped, I was making Genmaicha too, and talking to Tre). Although it’s not helping my throat at all, it does taste a bit better than I remember it being. I’m ACTUALLY getting vanilla from this without having to add cream or sugar at all. Still, it’s good but not great and I have too many black teas.

Not changing my mind about restocking this.

Maybe when it’s done, I’ll chase it back with something minty.

Bit of a backlog from earlier this morning.

Woke up with a serious craving for this tea. Don’t really know why, since I wasn’t in love with this the first time I drank it. Maybe I just needed a stronger black tea with a little vanilla creaminess to it.

Steeped for around four minutes I think? First few sips, and sort of what I was craving? There’s the strong black tea base which is soothing right now, but there’s not really much creaminess to it. I think I actually noted that the first time I drank it, so what’s up tastebuds? I don’t really know what I was thinking exactly – I’m definitely craving something with a strong black tea base but MUCH more cream. I think I have to break my own rules and add milk and sugar to this.

Added about a tablespoon of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar. Still a very strong black tea flavour, but now the creaminess I wanted is there along with a more obvious vanilla.

I think I’m in a weird tea drinking mood today.

This is the first tea I’m trying out of the four I got from Tea Desire! Unlike the other teas I purchased, when I went to smell this one in store (they open the tins and then wave a fan over the leaf which blows the scent towards you) I was only able to smell the black tea base (since it’s described as an “East Frisian’s delight” the base is likely some sort of ratio of Assam and Ceylon) – none of the vanilla. Since only some of their teas have the ingredients listed I had to ask what was in this one. The sales lady told me that it’s black tea with vanilla bits and a natural vanilla flavouring. I was hesitant to purchase because I couldn’t smell any vanilla, but she promised I would taste it so I decided to give it a chance.

At home, I was able to smell the dry leaf much more closely, but I’m still only able to smell the black tea base – no vanilla. For my first cup I’m using 1 heaping tsp. for my mug and steeping it with boiling water for 4 minutes (the recommended time is 3-5 minutes so I just went right in the middle). Steeped, the liquor is a darker amber colour. It smells strongly of black tea, but again I don’t smell anything vanilla-esque.

First few sips and I’m hit with a very full bodied black tea. Black tea is definitely the dominant flavour here. A take a bigger sip (almost a gulp really) and let it sit in my mouth for a while. The longer it sits the more I’m, at this point surprisingly, tasting vanilla. After swallowing, the vanilla taste really hits me in the aftertaste. It’s a very creamy sort of vanilla, but it doesn’t taste artificial at all either. I understand where the “velvety” part of the name comes from.

The more I drink from my mug, the more I’m able to taste the vanilla without searching so hard for it. However, the black tea is also tasting fairly bitter as well. Once there’s only about half a mug left I add about 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar and a small splash of milk. This really tones down the bitter black tea, while still letting the taste of the black tea be present. It’s also really brought out the taste of the vanilla – which is another plus.

I do enjoy this cup, but I also dislike that I have to add both sugar and milk to enjoy it – I prefer a tea I can just drink straight. I don’t know if it’s something I’ll repurchase once it’s gone. Since it sort of needs the sugar, it’s also something that Tre can drink without me feeling like he’s wasting the leaves by adding a lot of sugar to the cup. I’m sure he’ll be excited for there to be another tea in the house that he can drink without my nagging him.

travelling tea box A!

Not a tea i would normally purchase for myself but i figured i should use the tea box as an opportunity to try and few “not normal” teas for me since that’s the whole fun of a travelling tea box! This is a pretty average tea for me. It’s nothing i need to keep in the cupboard, but i wouldn’t be opposed to drinking more of this. it’s not as light or refreshing as other greens i’ve had, but that’s maybe a bit of why i like it.

This tea smells like Christmas fruit cake (the good kind) full of cloves and other spices. The flavour of the chai spices is distinct but mild with cloves in the forefront along with a bite of black pepper and the heat of cinnamon and ginger. It’s a very ‘warm’ tea and perhaps it’s the memory of fruit cake, but it makes me think of winter and Christmas. I do wish that the apricot flavour was a bit stronger – as it is now it’s more of a sweet fruitiness in the background, though it works well with the spices.

This tea gets dark and heavy really fast so you have to experiment with the amount you put in your cup until you find the right balance. It feels a bit heavier to other black Chinese teas and leans more towards the Indian teas for me. Great tea to start the morning with or whenever you need a stronger caffeine pick up.