Tea Guys

This should be called “Clove Tea” and nothing but! :)

The flavor is predominately cloves…maybe with a smidgen of cinnamon and orange peels scattered here and there as garnish.

I noticed that there are rose petals and carrots on the ingredient list, but I taste them naught. Perhaps as the tea cools I detect a hint of floral?

But if, at some time, you are craving the taste of cloves (Djarum cigarettes maybe? ;) ) drink this and it’ll do in a pinch!

This tea was a true delight. I loved the strong Chocolate flavor that brought a Big Smile to my face as I steeped this first thing this morning.
If you are looking for a wonderful chocolate tea…..This is a Must Have!!!!!!!

Being fairly new to teas, and an “ex” coffee drinker, I was eager to try this. The coffee/chocolate scent that hit me when I opened the pouch had my mouth watering! I actually thought I’d be going back to drinking coffee.

I brewed enough for 2 cups. The first cup I drank straight up, just as I did my coffee. There was a mild coffee taste, and the black tea is what stood out, along with a slight cocoa taste. I really liked it, but didn’t think I’d be giving up my “My Morning Mate`” for it. The second cup, I added a little raw sugar, and some heated up milk…. it blew the top right off my pot! This has just repaced my Morning Mate & Mate Vana! All the flavors came bursting through, and made me feel I was drinking one of those high price lattes from Starbucks! I would have given it 100% rating if is was good for resteeping, but it just comes out flat.

Tomorrow I’m going to their place in Hatfield and buying their biggest container! I’m grateful I live fairly close to them. The other samples I’ve tried are just as impressive. However, this one far outshines them all!!

This is my standing favorite loose-leaf tea. I prefer it with just a touch of honey and a little milk. When I first buy a canister of this tea, the creamy vanilla note is perfectly balanced with the Earl Grey. After it’s sat in my cupboard for a while (because I don’t drink just ONE tea, now do I?) the vanilla fades away, revealing smoky notes that are different from other Earl Grey Cream teas. I enjoy it in both phases, but a little more when it’s fresh!

Usually I have this in the morning and I love it. It’s not overly sweet and I haven’t really understood why so many people describe it that way.

But this morning I could barely finish my little cup. Perhaps the maple chunks are heavy and now that I’m getting more than half way through the canister I’m steeping more into my tea. D’oh, gravity!

I used to be a coffee drinker when I was younger but gave it up for a variety of reasons. I always drank it black but for some reason this tea is an awesome substitute if I ever get coffee cravings. The ingredients (while a bit sweet with the maple brittle chunks in it) are so reminiscent of coffee flavors in the aftertaste. Definitely will remain a staple.

Thanks LiberTeas for giving me a sample of this delicious tea.

I love the freshness of the blueberry. It doesn’t taste artificle. It is refreshing and light. I would go as far as to assume it would be delicious iced and absolutely thirst quenching.

Thank you so very much to RABS for sending me this. I cannot imagine living without it now.

I rolled the die two times today for my GEEK PRIDE contest and came up with numbers that had already been used. Mindful that I could only take 3 rolls a day, I focused hard and came up with a “7” and this is the delightful result.

I don’t adore maple sugar. In fact, if given a choice between candied maple sugar and chocolate, the chocolate will win 100% of the time. I grew up in a family of 8 and packages of maple sugar candy were the default gift chosen by friends, family, and other unfortunates who had to find a gift to appease the gift-giving gods. I always thought that maple sugar was TOO sweet and used to give my pieces away to younger siblings who, in return, had to sign up for a tedious length of indentured servitude in making my bed, cleaning my room, and. my favorite of all, being compelled to speak in a French or English accent. It was the time of the Cold War so sometimes I made them approach a stranger on the street and announce that they were Russian as payment for the maple sugar. It was also the time when approaching a stranger on the street and speaking of your antecedents did not seem to shockingly creepy and dangerous as it does now.

In any event, the dry tea smelled like the maple sugar candy on quaaludes: the sweetness was muted so I was gung ho. I do like maple sugar when it’s taste is softened by a sufficiently of waffles, pancakes, etc. and you don’t feel as if you are applying cavities directly to your teeth.

I liked the aroma and was optimistic. But then I went crazy. Black tea is the BEST delivery system for maple sugar! This tea is sweet and filled with the great flavor of maple sugar but it is never cloying. That’s what I don’t like! Cloying and treacly! This is perfect. Now I totally “get” why people love Maple Sugar so much.

And I will place an order! This is simply the best use of maple sugar known to humankind, in my opinion. Totally and outrageously deliciously sweet but not too much at all. Just right! It’s a Goldilocks moment.

Thank you so much to RABS!

Ahh, now this is bliss after my last few teas. I rolled a “2” this morning, but had no more “2” teas. (Yes, I used the entire sample bag of the rose in my tea last night, I wanted SUPER fragrant rose scent and flavor). When I returned from work my luck improved and I rolled an “8”. The single package labeled 8 was Maple Sugar by Tea Guys. Super excited to try this I was. (My try at yoda speak).

The leaves smelled amazing, and probably would have paired well with scrambled eggs and bacon, or some chocolate bacon chip cookies (I’ve only heard of these, never consumed/made them myself). This was a tasty sweet afternoon tea to enjoy as a pick me up. It tastes like I drizzled a bunch of syrup in with my afternoon basic black tea. I bet this would handle cream well. I have a bit left over so I will try it that way next time I roll an 8.

Thanks again to Rabs, for allowing me to try such tasty teas:) Now to decide which teas to bring to the in-law’s house for the evening. Showing them how to work their new phones!

This is a sweet mapley black tea, hmmm impressive! Thank you Rabs for letting me try this one. I don’t think I could drink this often though, just when in the mood for liquid pancakes hehe.

I was very lucky and won in the supremely entertaining, intelligent, and creative Geek Day Tea Giveaway that Rabs planned.

The tea package came with intriguing instructions and each tea beautifully wrapped. I had to wait to procure my camera from my son and then took some pictures: the pictures do not do justice to the elegant packaging.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/destro/4675973000/

I hope that the above link will show you the beautiful and drop-dead gorgeous packaging. I am certain that this is the way gifts are packaged in the Tokyo branch of Tiffanys.

Today I rolled the die that RABS included and came up with an 8. The tea is Evening Escape by Tea Guys. Even though it was close to 3 in the afternoon, I decided to drink it instantly because the packages says “black tea, flower petels”. I opened the package and smelt——my sorely missed morning Lapsang Souchong!!!! Really! I wouldn’t consider Lapsang Souchongs an “evening escape” unless enjoyed with an opium pipe. The smell really stoked me to expect a great tea and this one did not disappoint me at all. I see that the Tea Guys are from Massachusetts and I can visualize them having Arlo Guthrie over for tea, music, and a pipe on the evening. They are on Adirondack rocking chairs on the wrap-around veranda of a retropurposed farmhouse which is now a tea blending company. As I wait for the tea to steep my mental image of the tea guys is complete. There were those lovely purple-blue flowers in the tea as well—-I believe that they are mallow flowers—and I like them. Anyhow, I see the Tea Guys as looking a bit like Crosby, Stills, and Nash of 45 years ago. “Carry On” they sing as they pick their mallow flowers.

My first impression is that this tea is a light Lapsang with the sweet floral highlights. I really like it a lot because I start to slurp it eagerly. It does taste a bit like a combination of Leland Lapsang and Mariage Freres Eros and in the combination it becomes unique. I know I will have to order this tea!
I felt as if I had been prudent enough. I waited almost 24 hours before the lovely package from RABS arrived to roll the dice so I decided to have a second cup and to try the sweetener/milk combination. NB: I do end up preferring most teas with a bit of whole milk and a few little brown/amber sugar crystals. This tea stands up to the milk without compromising any of its integrity and the sugar if anything enhances the sweetness of the floral element.

All in all, I pronounce this tea a quasi-divinity and pronounce Rabs a tea-Goddess for coming up with this lovely and alluring competition.

Evening Escape by the Tea Guys is very versatile: it will taste like bacon in the morning; like a robust lapsang with flowers in the afternoon. And the evening? It might just be an escape, but it is no soothingly lazy herbal blend. This is a daytime tea for me and a delicious delight.

May thanks to RABS for her exquisite inventive imagination and her superb good taste.

Another awesome surprise from LiberTeas! Thanks girlie!!! You spoil me!

I have said it before and I will say it again!!! I LOVE Grapefruit!

This is intensely flavored! It’s a little ‘spitfire’ that is for sure! It has quite the attitude and I like that in a tea. Now…let’s see if the taste is as forward as it’s aroma…

Oh…this is nice! Damn nice! :)

It’s grapefruit but the green tea makes it so it’s not a stingy type grapefruit but it’s not a ruby red either…it’s pleasant and refreshing and yummy! It has a hint of a floral finish, too. On the label it says TEASE. I believe it. This is a fun tea! If you like grapefruit…take it out for a spin!

yum! As per the usual.

I really enjoy this tea! This is the first Chamomile I’ve ever liked in my life. Yes, I’m serious.
Though, like the other taster, I find that this tea doesn’t need any sweetener. (though, I wouldn’t have guessed about the stevia leaf in it…interesting!) I had this tea at a coffee shop a couple blocks from my house, and was expecting something much less impressive than this. This tea was placed in a sachet at the coffee shop, something that I took home and drank all day afterwards. I figured the sachet would affect the taste in some way, because the chamomile leaves were pretty tightly packed, but not so.
I am SO purchasing this in bulk for myself.

My first tasting note today, and using up the last that I have of this tea. Sorry to see it go, but, glad to have more space in my tea cupboard. (actually, it’s more 4 shelves, plus TWO DRAWERS in my china cabinet/tea cabinet of tea, plus a rather large bowl and a box of samples).

I’m currently on my second infusion of this tea. The first was lovely… I made it a latte (but I didn’t froth the milk), and this makes it sort of more like a “breakfast blend” sort of tea rather than a maple-y tea. I like this one much better without the milk.

This is one of my favorites from Tea Guys (my favorite is their Papaya Ginger, which I have hidden from myself in my large stash of tea LOL). It has a nice, maple flavor, sweet, but not too sweet, the black tea has a very smooth taste to it. Maybe the next time I order from Tea Guys, I might just have to order this one again…

Decided to start my day with a cup of maple-y goodness today. This really is a great change up from a breakfast breakfast blend. The black tea is pleasantly brisk, with a very smooth temperament. It also has just a hint of smokiness to it that compliments the maple flavor nicely.

The maple is sweet and lip-smacking YUMMY, but not too sweet (at least, not for me!) Overall it’s a very rich tasting cup with a good amount of “get-up-and-go” to it that I look for in a breakfast tea.

I chose to finish off my sample of this tea this morning so that I could compare it with the Colonille I had last night. Oh yes, they are both yummy-nummy. I think that the Colonille has a simple elegance about it. This one is more in-your-face with lots of stuff going on, but it still works. I would think of this more as a desert tea than the Colonille.

Before I tossed the sample packet I noticed that there’s actually some green tea and almonds in the mix (there’s coconut too, but I think those are for the visual appeal). I can’t tell if the slight almond aspect is the power of suggestion or not, but I’m liking it. There is a creaminess here that wasn’t in the Colonille.

What it boils down to (tea-hee!) is that I will definitely be purchasing more of either one of these teas. JacquelineM is spot-on with her assertion that vanilla teas are so very wonderfully different and not boring at all. When I visit new virtual tea shops the first thing I check is their Lapsang Souchongs, Caravans, and oolongs. I think that I shall be adding Vanilla to that list. (bumping up the rating from 80) NE

Due to the mentions that JacquelineM made in regards to homemade vanilla tea (yum!), this particular tea leapt out at me when I was placing a Tea Guys order. I’ve had several teas that have had vanilla as part of a wider range of flavors, but this was the first straight-up vanilla black tea that I’ve had. It was nomaliscious.

The smell of the packet was very “I’m vanilla hear me roar!” The smell mellowed post-steep, but there was no doubt that this was a vanilla tea. Oh so smooth and vanilla-ey! I steeped it three times (steeps 2 and beyond were all 4 minutes) and on the fourth I tossed in a teaspoon of Talbott Teas’ Caramel Sundae Escape that Doulton had sent me. NOM! I did one more steep and I’m a happy camper.

I have no sense of reference on whether or not this is a marvelous vanilla when compared to others, but chances are I will buy some to keep on hand sometime in the future. A soothingly-sweet treat. NE

NEEEEERRRDS!!!!!

I suspect that Willy Wonka is secretly one of the Tea Guys. I popped open this sample and thought Caaaandeeeee! Not only is it a candy, but it’s like Runts. With some Nerds and SweeTARTS thrown in ta boot. But mainly Runts.

Post-steep it still has that distinct Wonka sugary candy smell, but the rose is more prominent. It’s like Willy Wonka thought “Hey, I could turn roses into a candy and then turn that into a green tea!” If you hate rose, then avoid this one. If you’re craving mango, then avoid this one. I can tell it’s rose, but mango is just a vague presence.

I have a crazy sweet tooth (Nerds being a favorite) and this tea satisfies that particular sugar craving. I’m on the third steep (still good, but probably this tea’s last) and the green tea has been able to keep up if not grow in flavor during each steep. This final steep is like a really sweet green tea. Mmm…candy tea… TG

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there (including the “Moms” of pets as well)! My mother absolutely loved this Carrot Cake tea. She did her first “dance of tea joy” when she unwrapped it and read its name. Carrot Cake is her all-time favorite cake, but she has to limit sweets and caffeine for her health so this tea was a dream come true for her :D

I was impressed with how much like carrot cake this tea smells from the bag to the cup. I asked my mom what score she’d give this tea and she said without hesitation 100. But I think she’s a little biased because of several things in this situation: 1. it’s a gift, 2. the gift is from me, and 3. it’s carrot cakey. She also made a great comment about how with coffee she always wished that she had something sweet to go with it (whether it be a pastry or some flavored creamer). But with this tea she feels completely satisfied. Hooray!

Obviously I didn’t base my rating on my mother’s love of this tea. It just has a bit too much of the rooibos present for me to like. Plus, I’m not a carrot cake fan. I’d rather eat the frosting ;) I think overall if you’re a lover of carrot cakes then you should definitely try this tea. For me it was NE.

But wait! There’s more!

I finally followed through on my threat promise to create a flickr account in order to show off the pretty tea cozy that Doulton sent as part of the Shakespeare box. Here it is in all of its glory: http://tinyurl.com/2whsc2j I had a few other shots but I learned an important lesson about photography: if you have reading glasses, then you should wear them both while taking the photos and while editing the photos. ::facepalm:: So a lot of the pics were too blury to post.

But wait! There’s even more!

My mother surprised me with a “Kitty Mother’s Day” present. It was this figurine of an angel holding a teapot: http://tinyurl.com/35rttlu Here’s a closeup of the tiny teapot: http://tinyurl.com/2wfu2o7 Neither one of us are crazy about angels, but my maternal grandmother used to collect angels-playing-flutes figurines (she had been a professional flutist). I was able to select my favorite angel figurine that had belonged to her sometime after her passing. Therefore, it was particularly sweet to get a surprise present that had many levels of meaning for me. Hoorays!