Tea Sante

Yesterday, I’ve started a “purge”. Meaning, I am throwing tea in the trash. There, I’ve said it.

I know, I know, why trhow it, why not send it to someone who might want to have it?

Well see, there are rules to qualify for the purge…

1) must be a tea that’s been in the cupboard for over two years

2) the tea was given a fair chance. Meaning, it has been steeped at different temperatures, iced, cold brewed, even mixed with some other tea to tone it down. All have failed.

3) the fear of ever drinking it again must still be very present. I gag when I think of it.

4) I’ve asked someone to try it, and was later accused of homicidal intent.

5)I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

6) if I’d send it in a swap, I’d be reported to Steepster for tea malpractice and therefore, would be forced to close my account. Goodbye Fairy :-(

I tried really hard to give Sour Sap some love. Before I gave it a final farewell, I cold steeped it to comply with the list of rules. It failed…miserably.

Sour sap…there are no possible description for it. Sour bile maybe? That’s the closest to a “note” I can get.

Sorry, it just wasn’t meant to be…

R.I.P. Sour Sap. 06/19/2014

I’m not sure how I feel about black current. I don’t think it’s my favorite fruit, and this isn’t just generic berry. This is black current. The flavor is quite strong and pretty much drowns out any hint of base. If you are a black currant fan, you should really check this one out.
Thank you TheTeaFairy for sharing this with me, fun little tea.

I received this from TheTeaFairy and she commented that this is better cold brewed. Again, since she never steered me wrong, I used the entire 2-cup sample in a 500 ml mason jar and left it for a couple of days. I always either a) forget about my cold brews or b) see it in the fridge when I’m in a rush and thus no time to strain them and so they sit some more.

Here we are, 36 or so hours later. I am telling this to you so you know that it is quite forgiving as a cold brew. And it is indeed good but have no idea how it would compare if it were hot steeped. Don’t really care. This works for me and that’s that. I get a bit of flavour, it lingers in the aftertaste but that’s not to say it’s overpowering the base. I actually get quite a bit of base in the sip as well. So it’s definitely not a “juice” tea where all you can taste is the flavour. Thank you, TheTeaFairy ! I enjoyed this for sure but it is not on my radar as a must have. Not because it’s not good but because there are so many companies out there and I just can’t keep up with ALL the teas.

I’ve drank a lot of strange, not to my taste teas today. I actually had a pretty icky tea day – not the fault of my awesome swappers – I was just choosing things that weren’t really to my tastes.
TheTeaFairy wrote on this one “The strangest tasting tea I’ve ever tried.” Not sure this is the strangest that I’VE ever tried but it is weird, and it is SOUR. I have no idea what sour sap should be, but offensively sour fruit is what I got out of this one. I don’t mind tart, and I wasn’t really afraid of the word sour – but this is beyond tart. It’s past my comfort level in the tart department.
(Should mention that as much as most of the teas I’ve drank today have been misses – it’s definitely been interesting. Love that swaps push me outside my comfort zone. They all can’t be hits and all the misses are worth it when you find that ONE AMAZING tea that you would never have tried. Thank you so much TheTeaFairy for pushing the boundaries. I also love the honesty on the notes written on the packages – it’s awesome)

Thank you TheTeaFairy for sending me this sample.

No thank you. This is like “spray on cardamom” – it’s just too much really strong – almost fake. Sorry this is a big mis considering I REALLY like NMTC’c version of this.

Cold brew from the tea fairy! thanks for this one madam. I like the black currant flavour in this one and the cold brew is really nice with a little splash of sweetener :)

I had this yesterday and it’s on the menu to try as a cold brew now. I have to say that this black currant flavour is intense. I’d take a sip and then be tasting it in my mouth well after i’d swallowed lol. I dont recall much about the base of the tea but i did really like the flavour. This was another share from the teafairy! thank you madam!

cold brew that i’m enjoying tonight with late dinner. Sadly the cold brew didn’t translate much of the pineapple taste that i liked in the hot brew. I prefer this as a hot brew, though maybe hot brew, chilled would be the way to go. Still tasty, but for sure missing some of the pineapple flavour!

Edit: 3400 tasting notes haha Also, down to 167

Another one from theteafairy I need to try this cold brewed. This had just enough pineapple that i enjoyed it, but it made me crave butiki’s pineapple oolong for that sheer juicy pineapple feeling. I have a sneaking suspicion this one will be even better chilled over ice (or cold brewed) with just a splash of sweetner. still a fun time though! thanks teafairy!

I love it." but not too much

great flavor

Just had it in the morning.