The Tea Brewery

A decent, generic breakfast tea. I like it better than bagged blends, but I guess I was sort of expecting more from it? Maybe I’ve become a bit of a tea snob over the past couple of years!

I’m not usually a fan of drinking blueberry teas first thing in the morning, but this one has enough of a breakfast blend base (at least to me) that I actually don’t mind doing just that. And I enjoy the fact that this is from a smaller company than what I usually buy from. This is my last bag of tea from here, so the next time I’m in Nova Scotia, I’ll clearly have to get a refill.

Sipdown (126)!

One of the oldest samples in my cupboard (if not the oldest?), so it’s probably good to be finishing it off. I’m so sorry but I can’t remember who gave it to me! It was so long ago, and I didn’t mark it when I got it because I was really new to swapping.

Really there are two reasons I waited so long to have this one though; I basically have no information about it at all (the packaging is super nondescript; just the tea name, company and that it comes from Nova Scotia) and it’s not a resealable package. For those reasons I kinda just went “Fuck it” and cold brewed the whole thing.

It actually turned out better and tastier than I was expecting though! It was sweet and have very fruity notes that I’d maybe call strawberry or, like, candy Grape flavour? You know, big fake purple grapes. That sort of grape. And then, there was the sweet vanilla note dancing around in the background and lingering in the aftertaste. That, with the strawberry, definitely made me think a bit of grenadine. So it was good!

I should really look up Lady Londonderry blends because it looks like that’s a thing given how many there were on Steepster (just not this one, which I had to add). Maybe this is something I’ll want to try more of if they all follow the same kind of flavours…

Another sample from my friend, I accidentally ruined it.

I’m always disappointed by maple teas, I expect too much mapley deliciousness from them apparently. Reality never lines up with my hopes.

So I kind of assumed this would be no different. And then I got the genius idea to add some cream to it, I figure it would make it extra desserty and the creaminess would make up for the lack of maple flavour that I was anticipating.

Anywaaaaay, I went to add the cream and forgot how full it was, so a bunch came out and made my tea pretty much white.

I took a few sips but it wasn’t anything but watery, creamy, tea flavoured liquid.

Sorry, tea!

Wow. I didn’t expect much from this for whatever reason, but it ended up surprising me as being one of the most delicious and realistic tasting blueberry black teas I’ve ever tried.

The fact that it’s from a Nova Scotian tea company is a major plus because though I’ve been in NB for 19 years now, I spent 8 important years of my childhood in NS and still have relatives there, so it will always feel like home to me.

My friend sent me this sample but I’d consider buying some one day!

Ewwwww.

Another sample from my friend.

I made this at night thinking it would be low in caffeine, but I didn’t examine the leaves whatsoever, clearly, and I didn’t clue in that the “blush” they referred to meant ROOIBOS.

My arch nemesis.

It tasted very medicinal to me. I wouldn’t have bothered making it had I known.

I won’t rate this one, because it would be a low number, considering I dumped it out.

I. HATE. ROOIBOS.

My friend gave me a sample of this with no brewing directions, all I could smell was peppermint so I just made the cup last night with boiling water.

HOWEVER, I forgot about it while steeping, and it was a good five minutes if not more…. so when I tasted it all i got was EXTREME peppermint.

I see that the ingredients also contain licorice, i didn’t pay enough attention to the two mouthfuls I had before dumping it, but I don’t enjoy anything licorice flavored so that probably contributed to my ICK.

I’m really not THAT big on straight up peppermint tea, and it was wayyyy too ‘in my face’ because of the oversteepage.

So yeah, i dumped it.

In mid summer, while I worked in the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve tracking Black Bears, we would reach a point where half the bears would dissapear from their home ranges as they left in search of food. That population is basically dependant on the success of the blueberry crop for survival. Once they started to leave their home ranges we would spend part of the day tracking/searching for our wandering bears, and part of the day sampling blueberry plots among other duties. After which we had tons of berries to freeze, eat and turn into many baked goods. At the study site we had two species of blueberries; Vaccinium angustafolium, which had smaller tarter berries and smooth leaved shorter plants, and V. Myrtilloides which had furry leaved taller plants and big sweet berries that tasted a little like blueberry bubble gum. This tea reminds me of the latter, with a rich sweet syrupy scent and flavour that reminds me a little of a blueberry pancake breakfast drank with a hearty rich tea.

This tea does a really nice job of balancing the flavours between the base tea and the flavouring. The scent and the taste are of those large bubble gun tinged blueberries I picked in the field up near Chapleau, with a nice sweet slightly syrupy notes, all over a malty and slightly biscuit noted base that has a slightly tart fruit reference. The sweetness of the flavouring is tempered by both the tannins in the tea and the blackberry leaf. The base tea is only slightly astringent, but has enough texture and tannins to give it a nice density in the mouth. Despite the flavouring and scent being quite distinct they do not overpower the base and the tea does not require sweetners for the flavouring to pop. Well done Tea Brewery At the moment this is my favourite blueberry tea in my cupboard.

My Nova Scotian friend gave me a sample of this, drinking it now and will report back!

edit

Ok here I am.

This is a perfectly good breakfast tea that tastes like a breakfast tea.

The description on their website says this:

“One of our popular NOVA SCOTIA BLENDS!
A hearty breakfast blend of three uniquely flavourful estate teas from India.
Ingredients: Black tea.”

And that’s what it tastes like…black tea.
I put milk in it. It’s hearty.

Nothing unique about the flavor…..honestly I don’t find too much difference between this and the old Atlantic Canada Tetley Tea standby….is that bad? I mean, Tetley will always have a place in my heart but what’s the point of drinking tea that tastes like it came from Sobeys the grocery store?

It’s decent….generic but decent. Is that taste an India tea thing? Why do some black teas have layers of amazing tastes to them and some just taste like Tetley?

I’m here, world, and I’m ready to learn!!

hum, when did blueberry become my default comfort tea? it wasn’t a conscious decision, but the day has been long, the sleep has been little and i am grateful to yyz and her swap package for this tasty sample!

by the by… what contractor builds walls without a vapour barrier? by the by part II: if you get a text from a tenant about a ‘little’ mold in a closet… break out the blueberry tea. the long day is going to segue into several more.

this tea is not candy or jam. it is soft, fresh blueberries with beautiful sky swirled flowers falling in my cup. the tea itself has a warm element, almost woody and somewhere in there i detect a note of green… as though the odd stem or leaf had been left with the blueberries. the green makes me smile further.

i think is my favourite part of swaps…. trying teas i never would have otherwise, being sent things that my friends think i may enjoy that i really, really do. i wonder if swapping teas counts as a hobby.

i dislike contractors…. at least the ones that cut corners.

thank you for my lovely cup of calm, yyz….

I finished up the last bit of this today. The samples don’t come in resealable bags so I’ve tried to make a point of finishing this up. Also, the tea storm that is about to embark on my house from the Black Friday sales is slightly embarrassing and there needs to be room for it. Anyway, sipdown!

Changed up the steeping for this one. Instead of 3 minutes, I did 2 and it made a huge difference. There was a lot more maple in this cup and it had almost a creaminess to it. I’m still glad I only bought the 10gram sampler and I think I have maybe a serving or two left. It kind of reminds me of maple brown sugar prepackaged oatmeal.

2tsp + sweetener in my 16oz steeping mug

When we were in Halifax, there was a market set up near the dock and I of course had to check out the lone tea company inside.

Instead of buying 75 gram portions, I opted for their sampler which included 6 10g bags of some of their more popular blends.

Maybe a didn’t use enough leaf (or steep long enough), but this has a much lighter flavor than I was expecting. It’s not bad but I was expecting more oomph. Good thing my husband suggested the sampler (even if it was biased to reduce the amount of tea I was bringing home)!

My Nova Scotian friend received some of this as a gift and passed on the rest to me, with a warning that it’s “strong”.

I thought it was a decent cuppa Earl Grey, a bit strong but not too bad. I like EG teas to start with so it was a perfectly enjoyable way to start my day, with a bit of milk :)

I’m a bit depressed because I haven’t been able to drink as much tea lately, so I’m being choosy and drinking ones I love, make it worthwhile. I miss writing reviews. I’m still reading everyone else’s though!!

This is a wonderful desert tea. The almond flavor is very strong. It tastes wonderful plain, but is enhanced with a little bit of sugar. This is definitely a tea to try if you love almonds!

This is another very old sample that I had purchased from The Tea Brewery about a year ago. Finishing it off and finally writing a tasting note. I didn’t really pay attention to the look of the tea before I steeped it, but afterward it is clear that this one has hibiscus in it. It is very red, and probably a bit over-steeped as I didn’t notice there was hibiscus.

The taste of this is berry, but not specificly apple. There isn’t much sweetness, but nor is there much tart from the hibiscus. I’m guessing there was only a touch of hibiscus for colour more than anything else, but it seems incongruous to have hibiscus in a “sweet” apple orchard blend. This was another disappointment, but I could chalk that up to age. I really need to kee cleaning out some of the older samples in my tea stash. It still amazes me how quickly time flies!

This tea is an older sample that I purchased from the Tea Brewery’s stall at the Market, and I am finishing it up today. Apparently I have not made a tasting note for it before and I honestly don’t remember anything about it, so it’s just like starting over! I steeped this about five minutes in boiling water. The liquor is fairly yellow and very mild in aroma, as was the loose “leaf”. The smell and taste are not very present, possibly because it’s age. I get a hint of something appley, and this is enhanced when I have a few almonds as a snack to pair with it. The beau finds this quite pleasant but I see it as a disappointment. It was too bland to be interesting and not really worth absent-mindedly sipping. If nothing else, at least another sample bit the dust! :)

Tea of the afternoon…..

And day 15 of 24…. This one is from Uniquity, and I have to say this one is so worth the try if anyone gets the chance! Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I love that I have had the opportunity to try teas from all over.

I definitely get a wine taste with this one. It is lovely (I am usually a dry red drinker if I partake). I also get hints of pear and berry, but they are fairly seamlessly blended with the wine flavor so that there is not a great distinction that they are there. The black tea base is good, and there are no hints of bitterness or astringency. I did a slightly shorter steep than usual, and it works…. Yum!

Usual mug method for 3 minutes.

Tea of the afternoon…..

And Day #13 of 24….. This one comes to me from Uniquity. Thank you! (I do really like this one!)

Blueberry black tea goodness. The tea base is pleasant, and the taste of warm blueberries is bringing back the memories of this blueberry crisp I made over the summer after taking my kids to a U-pick blueberry place. It was heavenly!

Usual mug method.

Smelled this at the market today and fell madly in love. The wine smell is so authentic that when I gave it to the beau (without telling him what it was) his first guess was wine. I don’t know that I get pear or berries, but I do get a deliciously sweet fruity wine scent. I’ve unfortunately not yet had an ice wine so I can’t speak to it’s authenticity on that front, but it definitely smells like a wine.

The Tea Brewery (unfrotunately) doesn’t list any information about their teas or steeping parameters on their website or the packaging. Accordingly, I made it up. It looks and acts like a black tea, so we boiled the water. I gave mine about 3 minutes of steeping, and the beau kept his closer to five. The liquor is rich and dark, a deep wine red in the pot and a reddish amber in my mug. The smell is similar to that of the dry leaves: fruit, wine. Delicious!

First sips match the smell wonderfully. No bitterness, no tea taste at all, in fact. It’s like drinking wine, only without the alcohol tinge. This really captures some of my favourite aspects of sweeter wines…Unsurprisingly, I love wine. I have no real taste for it though, and happily drink the $10 bottles from the NSLC. For times when I oughtn’t “drink” (aka during the work day!), this tea will be a lovely source of comfort…Wonder if I could succesfully drink it from a wine glass?

As the cup cools I start to get shadows of the tea taste, but that is not a problem. It is a wonderful merging of wine and tea…a real treat on this rainy evening.

Okay, preparing some of this on the stove tonight. I threw in some milk, some water, some random loose tetley I got in the grocery store for 50% off over a year ago that is definitely not the greatest, and of course some highland chai mix. Couldn’t say the proportions I used, it was all a fun experiment. Of course, I realized afterward that a tea ball might have been a better aproach than throwing it all in loose, but too late!

The loose tetley is really throwing me for a loop. The tea is all broken up like in the teabags and really looks like coffee grounds. Why did they make this? Why did I buy this? Will I ever use all of it???? Anyway, everything is steaming away on the stove. I’ve not a clue what I am doing, so it will be interesting.

In the pot, it has an exceedingly revolting look, but the smell is nice. Getting that warm gingerbread smell I get from The Tea Brewery’s chai latte. God, I hope it tastes like that! Okay, tea finally made and strained. Looks quite like the tea latte they make…it’s surprisingly thick, though that’s likely because of the milk. Smells really good, but also like I should have added more chai spice.

First sips are thick and creamy. I am not a fan of milk, but I do like this. I know the milk is there, but the chai spices are rocking it out. I think definitely a titch more chai next time, or maybe a better distribution of the components, but this is a definite win. <3!! (Also, it DOES remind me of their latte in taste. YAYAY!)

I’ve figured out what it reminds me of: Ruby Red from Joy’s Teaspoon. Which I love and have 6 ounces of. This isn’t quite as strong in flavour as the Ruby Red (though I suspect that has to do with the dried fruit, which I have learned to carefuly spread out) but is still fairly potent and very sweetly flavoured. I enjoy this, but when it is all gone I won’t be getting any more. There is almost a pseudo smoke note in the middle of the sip, but I suspect that is the rooibos. I have had this small amount for quite some time, and look forward to finishing it off and de-cupboarding it after one more cuppa. I’ve become quite fond of the idea of de-cupboarding lately, although I never seem to finish any teas. I should get to work! : )

Really nice! Definitely smell and taste the rooibos, and the mango came through pretty strong. It reminded me of something else but I can’t place what. Lovely!

Here’s another that smells sort of unpleasant (too strong, really) while dry but actually is nicely flavoured when steeped. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought a tin of this, but I did. The dry smell is over-whelmingly cinnamon, which is something I have grown to have very little tolerance (and even less appreciation) for. Luckily, when steeped the cinnamon is much less present. I get a hint of slightly bitter black tea and then some muted cinnamon on top of that. Though there are other components floating in the tea, they are not coming through in taste. As it cools, the tea is becoming more bitter and making me wish I had some honey.

I think it will be a bit of a struggle to finish this tin, but at least I have definitely learned to better know my tea tastes over the past few months. I have gotten much better at resisting the urge to buy tea just because there is some in front of me (though I still have my moments). As much as I want to support my local tea shops, I have been finding the quality lacking, of late. Verdant Tea has spoiled me!