Tealux

This is another chai-without-the-tea blend, though it is a lot heavier on the cardamom and also has rose petals. I like the extra cardamom (might have gone through and crushed each of the pods before steeping to enhance the flavour, lol) and can’t really taste the rose. There’s a really obvious sweetness and throat-coating-ness to this from the licorice root, which I don’t hate but wasn’t really in the mood for when I steeped this. Meh, I think I’ll have to just try it again another time.

Interesting! I like this but don’t love it. The dry tea smells strongly of spices – mostly ginger and clove. It’s interesting to try a “chai” blend that doesn’t have cinnamon dominating the spices! As it steeps, the earthy scent of pu-erh and a bit of maple add their scents to the spices. The flavours are actually pretty well balanced. You can definitely taste the pu-erh, the spiciness (I’m not really getting individual spice flavours, they all blend together pretty well), and just a hint of sweetness from the maple. Hang on, let me try the 2nd half of the cup with some milk and sugar. Hmmm… so the maple and the spices definitely benefit from the milk and sugar, but now the pu-erh base suddenly seems a bit out of place – I don’t usually go for “damp earth” flavours in my desserts, you know? I don’t think I’ve quite made my mind up about this tea yet.

From the SSTTB #2…I woke up all sorts of sinus-y this morning. Nose was stuffed up, and eyes were super crusted over (not sure if still possible infection or just environmental issues) so I opted to have this one today, as I did not have it yesterday with the pu erh as I had thought I might.

I had this twice. Both times I had it sweetened with milk. I found it to be rich and mildly spicy, but not over the top. It was also strong enough to feel like a nice chai. Considering that most of my chai teas these days are combos like Pumpkin Chai or Chocolate Chili Chai, it was nice to have this one as a straight chai. I think I might like to mix this with some pu erh and sweeten with maple next time.

I don’t think that this is my ultimate chai blend, but it isn’t bad. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure I would seek it out. I think I am happy enough with the local ones I can get over this one. Still, glad to have tried it. Will try it once or twice more, then pass the rest on to someone who wants to try it.

I opened this bag and was a bit overwhelmed by the scent – very caramel but also kind of boozy, like a caramel flavoured liqueur. It’s pretty intense while steeping too. I put a heaping teaspoon in a bag (hooray for remembering that rooibos + mesh filter basket = badness) and just let it hang out in the mug while sipping, so the steeping time is a bit vague but in the realm of 5+ minutes. This is actually pretty good! Slightly sweet and good caramel flavour, without being too weird or artificial-tasting. A good after-dinner caffeine-free tea.

I was curious, and I know I usually like Taiwanese blacks, so here we are. :) The leaves are big, rolled, dark, and very light (I measured out 2.5g and it looked like a lot of leaf!). They have a slight bread-y scent, and I was reminded of baked goods when I smelled it as it steeped. The liquor is lighter than I expected, both on colour and in taste. It is noticeably sweet, with very little astringency. I’m still reminded of baked goods – warm bread with honey, sugar cookies with cinnamon. This is definitely not a wake-you-up morning black tea, it’s more a mid-afternoon relaxation sort of tea. Very nice.

Addendum:
The second infusion was still sweet, but less like a bakery and more like an orchard, lol. Fruity and just a little bit floral. The mouthfeel of this tea is really interesting, “creamy” isn’t quite right, but very smooth.

Overboard TTB.

Getting notes of grapes from this and something else that I can’t quite identify. Maybe its the note listed on the Steepster writeup called oddly enough perfume. In any case I am not sure I like this tea. I don’t have much experience with Muscatel Darjeelings. Its not a bad tea, the flavor is just not to my liking.

Brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 min.

Hey, Ho, Pip and Dandy.
My lunch time tea is this White Paradise chai chosen to aid me with a kick of spice and flavour after lunch. This low calorie diet is no fun, my 300 calorie pasta lunch was virtually tasteless and I long for something to express flavour in my mouth. Something that is no calories that is.

The blend as a whole smells thickly of cardamom and cinnamon with a refreshing boost of anise. Not overly strong but stronger than expected considering the white tea base.

Once steeped the tea tastes similar to it’s smell. The cinnamon and anise are dominant flavours in front of a dry and spicy pepper and lemongrass herbiness. I can’t taste the white tea but am happy it’s there non the less. The lemongrass is a little odd in this, I seem to be having an issue with lemongrass blends today. Then again I don’t think lemongrass goes with chai and spices so it can’t just be my taste buds today.

On terms of chai this is average, not digging the miss-match of flavours and I’m also not a fan of strong anise in general. It just doesn’t feel like a full chai though with that lemongrass, I just can’t get past it.

Darjeeling adventures continue.

The liquor smells lovely, both fruity and floral, and reminds me of being in a conservatory or greenhouse.

On the palate this is interesting, but not what I was expecting. Rather than being sweet or grapey, this is all earth and very dark green vegetal flavours, perhaps kale and asparagus, with some mineral, peppercorn, and then a whisper of malt on the finish.

I don’t really know what to make of this. It’s interesting, not bad, but an odd combination of flavours. My mouth wants some of that perfumey floral that’s on the nose.

The cup is fairly smooth, except for a slight scratchiness at the back of my throat, which I think (hope) is the tea, and not me coming down with my partner’s sick.

This is an interesting tea. The dry leaves are all rolled-up and snail shaped, with a blend of black and gold colours – I would say maybe 20-30% golden. The aroma of the dry leaf is pretty mild, maybe some sweet potato? But as soon as it starts steeping, the aroma gets really malty. And then about 1-2min into the steep, I started to get another aroma – kind of an earthy, tobacco-y thing? It tastes quite malty, with a bit of sweetness, maybe some notes of dried fruit, and that tobacco-y mystery flavour. This is a pretty robust black tea, reminds me a bit of an assam, actually. I think I might take it for a shorter first steep next time.

I really want to like this one. It sounds so good, so I will have to come back to it again later.
It could just be that I got some stale leaves as I did order this off of amazon. The dry leaves are weak in scent. Maybe a faint whiff of clove and very little in the way of maple. There just isn’t much of a scent.
Brewed the clove scent is increased, not a lot though enough to make my mouth water. I can taste the cloves on the front with a tiny dash of cinnamon. The after note has a faint taste of maple, like the lingering aftertaste of a pancake breakfast.
I added about 1/16th a tsp. of stevia to this, which helped the maple notes on the end, but not enough.
I only brewed this with 1 1/2 tsp. leaf, maybe next time I will try with more.

Good Morning Steepster-ites! It’s amazing what a good nights sleep, morning shower and 82 calorie juice breakfast can do to a gal. This day is officially the start of D Day, which is diet day for me and not about the Normandy Landings of WWII. Though honestly the beginning of a diet feels like a war, there will be hunger, pain and suffering after all.

This loose leaf looks heavily Kukicha or Stem tea, I can’t see the chamomile, St. John’s Wort or gingko amongst them easily at all. For those that are unfamiliar with Kukicha or Stem tea it is literally the stems of green tea leaves so they are thin, longish and consist of both green and yellow colours.

Whilst still raw it has a sweet and rich grassy scent with a dry herbal background.

Once steeped a darkish yellow liquid is produced that bares a sweet yet oddly savoury scent of grass, herbs and soup broth. Must be an umami appearance. Again if anyone is not familiar with umami it is the fifth taste which is often featured in Japanese teas, it’s savoury and soup like. Some wonderful light reading here if you’re interested in umami. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

Flavour is sweet and thick with savoury umami tones that linger on the tongue, resembling grass, soup broth and flowers. Slightly dry in the after taste though forgiveable. It starts of savoury but sweetens and lightens gradually. For the most part it tastes like a standard Kukicha but there is a touch more herb and flower flavours present, though hard to define what they are without knowing. Also a little toasted, like toasted sweet grass, the more I drink the more this stands out.

It’s a nice blend, since I usually prefer unflavoured teas I find this particularly delightful. Plus I would like to point out the added bonus for both the Kukicha and chamomile being organic. I would say this is nice enough to even buy more of in the future, though as it’s mainly Kukicha tea it would so be a nice introduction to Japanese tea for anyone wishing to try umami.

Green beans.

Whoa.

That is all.

I’m feeling a bit under the weather so I was sorting through my overflowing cupboard for something that might help me out a bit. Sage, rosemary and lemon sounded like they would do the trick so I decided to give this one a try. Sniffing the dry leaves I was a little concerned as it smelled heavily of roses with no other scents noticeable.

Steeped it’s still very rosy, but thankfully some of the other flavors are coming out as well. I can definitely taste lemon which works surprisingly well with the rose. I wish the rosemary and sage were more noticeable, as that’s what drew me to the blend in the first place, but they’re barely noticeable hanging out in the background. Overall it’s a perfectly nice tea if you’re into florals. Well balanced with strong bright flavors and no astringency. I appreciate that they used gunpowder in this blend, as most tend to chose sencha for flavoring. I think the vegetal sencha would have seriously clashed with the flavors in here.

I probably won’t restock this one, but I enjoyed this cup. A nice fresh spring-like tea in the dead of winter.

I liked this tea but I’m having a tough time quantifying how much. I would have preferred more pineapple, for sure. I thought this would be like “three friends” but with pineapple instead of chocolate. Having said that, I prefer it to the “pineapple upside down cake” from della terra.

It smells delicious once steeped and certainly more so once it’s cooled off. I have just 1 oz so maybe I can make up my mind about it in later cups. I’m looking for more Tealux faves so I can make regular orders. There’s only so much “dragon lychee pearls” one can buy.

Overboard TTB

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a tea from Rwanda, so when I saw this in the tea box I knew I had to try it. Just one of the reasons I love ttbs!

The tea has a medium body and is fairly biscuity. There’s a sweet note at the end of the sip. It could be fruit, but I’m really just getting sweet. There’s also another note… at first I wanted to say wet granite, but after reading the description of the tea I’m going to say volcanic rock… so pumice? There is a wee bit of astringency, but it works well here.

This was nice! I can’t say I feel the need to buy some, but it’s an interesting tea and one I’d have again if I were offered a cup.

Another tea that I’m almost certain I wrote a note for, but now it’s gone. Thanks so much to JustJames for this! It was delicious. Equal parts jasmine and blueberry without tasting artificial. Good for at least two steeps.

This was sent to me by cookielady in the Christmas card swap. It is a dry, strong tea. I didn’t get any notes that stood out but it took cream very well. It would probably be quite good with sugar or honey as well.

I’m just starting to get into Darjeelings – it’s more of a curiosity at this point, than having a palate for them yet. So this is one of my first, since I started learning a bit more about them.

Brewed 2tsp in 8oz of 85C water for 1 minute.

The last time I drank a Darjeeling from Margaret’s Hope I wasn’t too impressed. This, I’m liking a fair bit. Interesting combination of sweet grapes and char. Lightly astringent with a bit of a vegetal tang on the finish. Medium body. Very distinctive.

A second steep for 1:30. More grape, less char. Very nice.

Grapes and wood. That’s what I mainly get from this tea. xD
not really for me. But hey, I tried it, right? :P
Thanks for the sample, The Cookie Lady!

Mmm deliciously malty, with raisin and stonefruit notes. Very smooth.

I often forget how delicious Assams can be. Like Darjeelings, I think I started off my tea journey with a lot of Assams that were poor quality and not steeped properly, and so I don’t mentally associate Assams with delicious, high quality tea.

I definitely should do more tastings of Assams, and I certainly have plenty to choose from.

I made my sweetie a cup of peppermint tea last night and even though I washed the brw basket with soap and rinsed it multiple times, it still managed to totally taint this cup with peppermint.

Not what I was looking for but actually, pretty tasty. The mint works well with the malt and sweet potato notes of this.

Not rating for now, but I think this is quite a lovely tea.

Overboard Traveling tea box

After having Assam “Black Beauty” #8, this just doesn’t even compare, even though it’s a different type of tea. It smells sweet and almost fruity in the bag, but unlike the Black Beauty, nothing translates to the actual tea. I added sweetener just because otherwise it just wasn’t special enough? I mean, why drink something ho-hum when you can have sweet potato in a mug?

I taste cinnamon, apple and popcorn, but no pear. The smell is quite strong, but the flavour is mild, even using a lot of dry leaf.

A pleasant cup, but neither spicy nor pear flavoured.