Tealyra (formerly Tealux)

Sipdown! 267/365!

This was yummy. Creamy and caramelly and sweet. I’ve found various versions of this from other companies and enjoy them all, so once day perhaps I’ll get to restock this or a variant! A nice, light, desserty evening blend.

Technically from Tealux (aka it’s old). Still yummy; tastes creamy and sweet and quite enjoyable.

Yummy desserty, light tea. Enough left for a couple more mugs, I think – so I’ll throw it in the sipdown bin. A nice change from straight tea (though a touch artificial, to be fair).

Looks like I’ll be doing some tea-adding in the near future…

Anyhow. This tea! Smells absolutely divine. Much like versions of Coconut Creme from various tea companies, but this doesn’t look like them (there are peppercorns), nor is this supposed to contain coconut. However… it definitely tastes much like it. There is supposed to be cinnamon in here, but I’m not really picking up on it. Mostly I’m tasting a sweet, coconutty white tea. I suppose it could be the butterscotch that’s coming off as coconut… I’m getting a bit of a dark background flavour here though, that I don’t recall tasting with Coconut Creme. And, I feel like the peppercorns are coming through a bit. Similar blend though! I was expecting it to be more like DavidsTea’s Buttercream, which it isn’t (unless my taste buds/memory are misleading me, and that’s what it does taste like, not Coconut Creme!) Which is actually increasingly possible the more I think about it…

Regardless, I like this. A light, sweet, desserty tea. I’m glad I just have a sample though, since it’s pretty similar to something I have in my cupboard!

And thus begins my foray into Tealux’s teas…

ETA: Yep. I still can’t figure out which tea this reminds me of. One of those two. But, there is definitely cinnamon in here (noticeable in the second infusion), which is NOT in either of the other two. It was already obvious that it wasn’t an identical blend to either of the two I mentioned, just has many similarities. Good, though.

Another one I didn’t try yet from my Tealux order… and I’m the first to write a tasting note! I’m hoping that it is because this one is so new to Tealux… and not because no Steepsters are ordering from Tealux! I think they introduced it right before I ordered. I love this one! It’s like a cinnamony mapley kettle corn! I’m not sure what the 71% black tea means… though the black tea isn’t a super strong one. But that’s fine, since the flavors here are so nice. An entire piece of popcorn fell into my infuser, so it does have a hint of a popcorn flavor. And I love the combination of the maple and cinnamon. It does actually smell and taste like I added actual maple syrup to this. Since this was a sample, I would definitely order a full two ounces of this (but that wouldn’t be for a while now.) And when I looked on tealux.ca they have the Maple Souchong back in stock! I was worried they were getting rid of that one when they introduced two other maple teas. I’ll have to try that one too.

Well, these leaves aren’t purple and the steep color isn’t purple, so I have no idea where the purple comes from. The steep color is really a light brown. The leaves in the infuser look even blacker than they did dry… very glossy & delectable looking! This is kind of like the charcoal tasting oolong I had the other day, but the taste of this one is better and more complex. I can actually tell this is an oolong. It’s a very full flavor and apparently this has a lot of caffeine. Tealux has a caffeine meter on their packaging and this one is higher than most of the teas I’ve tried from them. The second steep isn’t as tasty as the first one… it tastes more like charcoal. It reminded me of a less-nice campfire with something burning in it that isn’t very good to sit around. Yikes! I’ve tried a few dark oolongs the past few weeks and I don’t think I’m liking them very much. The first cup would get a higher rating though.

Sipdown!

Today with sweetened condensed milk. Because I can.

I now have 150g of English Breakfast from my mom that I need to drink my way through. Sigh. I need to keep working on convincing her that 50g is a maximum for me.

Yep, a super strong tea. Delicious with some maple syrup (Sil, your suggestions have created a problem) and cream.

I need to finish this because I still have just over 100g of English Breakfast my mom got me last Christmas. She believes in large amounts of tea – see the 250g bag of Earl Grey I’m only “almost” finished because I gave about 50g away to a friend. Where “almost” finished means I have a bit less than 50g in the cupboard. I’ve been working on that one for almost 3 years now. :/

So yes. This is one of the older teas in my cupboard, and I do like it for a morning kick in the pants. I prefer the cream Irish Breakfast from Tealux (mmm, cream teas), and the English Breakfast my mom gave me.

Oh wow this is a strong tea.

I think I like the English Breakfast my mom got be a bit better. And the Irish Breakfast from Steam.

Ahh well. This is still a good pick me up in the.. technically it’s still morning. :)

I wanted a strong black tea for an experiment, and ended up choosing this one out of my cupboard. It worked well! I think I’m going to pick up an inexpensive assam for more experimentation, though.

Thai Iced Tea (sorta):

http://www.wishfulchef.com/2012/04/how-to-make-thai-iced-tea-from-scratch/

I used 2 star anise instead of 1, because I couldn’t find powdered star anise. I used 1 tbsp sugar, and no tinned milks. The spices steeped 3 minutes, then I added the leaves and steeped 3 minutes more. I could have steeped longer, though, as the sugar and milk you add really disguises any bitterness from the tea. The star anise is the dominant flavour, and the cloves are making my tongue tingle. Yum!

Poured over ice and topped with whipping cream (I know, I know. But I’m out of soy creamer, and whipping cream is low in lactose!), this is amazing. Different to what I get at the local restaurant, yes, but still amazing.

This is an excellent morning tea. I keep the brew time to 3 minutes in order to ensure no bitterness comes through, so the tea is just somewhat astringent with a rich, malty taste. It’s so incredibly good with a little milk and honey, and just as good with just a little milk.

In my cup, it’s almost a milky red ochre colour. So pretty. Definitely something I’d like to keep around, although I think I’ll try some other versions of English Breakfast before I make a final decision!

Additional notes: Sad sipdown! I’ll miss this great blend. I’ll definitely order it again if & when I order from Tealux and they still have it. But they often stop carrying blends. It tasted the same as it did when I bought it too…at least 2 1/2 years ago. Black tea, roasted mate, vanilla, chocolate and cinnamon. Yum. It seems like there aren’t actual coffee beans, just a slight flavor of them, so that means without the actual coffee beans, this tea will stay fresh for longer.

I’ve been on a new-to-me tea spree, since I need to get a better handle on what might go in tea boxes. I’m kind of missing my favorites! Opening my sample bag, the smell of this one is DIVINE. oh wow. This is a roasted yerba mate mixed with black tea. I can see chocolate chips and little cinnamon pieces in the blend. There is also supposed to be vanilla! I don’t know why the package says this has zero caffiene since it is both a black tea AND yerba mate. After a four minute steep, I’m thinking this could be one of my favorites from Tealux. It’s a nice roasty, earthy, rustic flavor (I love roasted yerba mates). The other flavors aren’t extremely pronounced, but you get hints of chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon. It reminds me of Fusion’s Chocolate Mate but that one tastes slightly more like a barbeque. haha. I could easily order two ounces of this one!

To me it tastes a bit like a mix from Pu-erh and chocolate,with a smoky note.Very delicious and exotic.