The Tea Emporium

Sipdown! 28/365

Glad to finish this one off; it was okay, but nothing I’d pick up on my own.

Back from vacation; too lazy to sip anything down. Ha.

Looks like this is a sample from Sil – thanks! This is a pretty solid black tea. Rich and malty, not astringent, but without some of my favourite black tea flavours (chocolate, smoke, raisins). Certainly a tea that can easily be drank straight, but just not my favoured profile.

Very heavy on the rooibos, lightly fruity and floral. Mostly just rooibos though.

Sweet, fruity, slightly floral, but most of all…weird. Very heavy on the rooibos.

I’ve had prickly pear jelly and fruit before, this isn’t quite the same, but similar. It reminds me of starfruit and watermelon. I have 150g still, so I’ll be drinking this a LOT until it is gone.

I noticed I didn’t have anything lemony in my tea cupboard, so I picked this tea up over the weekend. I was hoping for something with a stronger lemon flavour, but this tea is still quite nice. There is a slight bitter taste – I can’t tell if that is from the tea or the lemon pieces.

This tea got me by its name, but it doesn’t live up to the name. It has a very weak flavor, and the strawberry notes don’t come out. Won’t be buying again.

Mmm… This is so good! This smells like fresh strawberries, and just when I think that’s all, I get this awesome whiff of cake, sweet and spongy. Not really any cream to it, but like just thawed strawberries with lots of juice poured over vanilla cake. This Rooibos base was a good choice too. Not overly woodsy, and not sour. Best of all, no caffeine, so this is a great after dinner treat. I really like this. If I found other teas I like as much as this one, I might make an order from this place.

Thank you for sharing Roswell Strange but this is a big ole mug of nope for me. The coconut is lotiony and the oolong is strong making this taste like a glass of butter and I’m not okay with that. It’s nice to try something new so I’m grateful for the share but this is a tea I would be okay with not encountering again.

GCTTB

Another from the magic box. I had some less than stellar experiences with some of the tea emporium’s teas so i haven’t been back in a while, but this tea called out to me to try even if only because i miss my walter bishop tea :( this tea smells divine! in fact a lot like WB… brewed the rooibos is decent, not that woodsy srt of rooibos that ruins delicious teas. It’s got a very nice strawberry flavour to it, though i’m not sure i’d call this one “shortCAKE.” it’s good though…very tasty and would probably be delicious as a latte!

Final Count: 161 (plus the travelling tea box)

This is a nice yunnan black – smooth and malty with a hint of minerality and sweetness at the end of the sip. I’m getting some citrus/bergamot notes from this, wondering if that’s the tea, or if this sample just spent some time snuggled up against an earl grey. Thanks to Anlina for the sample! :)

Oh man, this is good. I was iffy on picking some up, but the person at the counter convinced me to give it try, and I’m glad I did.

This is a fairly green oolong, that smelled every so faintly roasted in the bag, without much else in the way of smell. But the taste, oh my. Really intense orchid notes, distinct honey, a touch vegetal and an incredibly long, sweet finish, where the orchid just lingers and lingers.

Toward the end of my cup there’s a bit of astringency developing, but the first 2/3s were smooth, and the sensation is only mildly drying and not unpleasant.

I just grabbed this from my untried box because I figured I should take a break from black teas, and I wasn’t expecting much, but I’m pretty blown away. This is a fantastic oolong.

Edit: Tasty enough to warrant a second steep. This one is more vegetal with subtler honey and orchid notes.

Cooking TTB #19

“Sunrise” is the perfect way to describe this tea! I was so not expecting what I got out of this cup. I thought there would be oranges or some citrus sort of thing. Instead there was this tangy (but not like hibiscus tart) sweet deliciousness! It was such a pleasant cup. I think I’ll be nabbing at least a couple more teaspoons of this before I pass it along!

TTB #9

I don’t think I’ve ever had a rooibos/mate blend before and I find the concept quite odd, since I usually reach for mate when I need a jolt of caffeine in the morning and for rooibos when I need a caffeine-free option. But flavor-wise, the combination does seem to work pretty well in this tea. The roobios gives it a pretty orange color and the mate brings a touch of earthy richness to the otherwise light tropical flavor. I don’t think this is something I need in my collection, but I enjoyed trying it out!

I like this best iced, even though I think the flavor is stronger hot. It is admittedly pretty weak, but I think that is why I like it better iced. It still feels refreshing to have a light, slightly fruity flavor. I wouldn’t purchase this, but I am happy to finish off what I have and if I ever came across more I would be content using that up too.

Oh so good, and a sipdown, though I may have to snag some from my sweetie’s cupboard, as I really like this.

It’s mildly smokey and just rich and delicious with fruity and malty notes. Definitely a re-purchase at some point.

This is my first cup of tea of the day, and it is so wonderful. Today’s cup has some rich smokey notes, along with dates, plums and chocolate. Just fantastic, and just what I’ve been needing.

It’s been a rough day. -30C this morning. I drove to the grocery store and then my car wouldn’t start again. Fortunately, I was just a few blocks from home and from my partners’ work. My sweetie came and brought a battery booster pack, but we weren’t able to start it, so I borrowed their car of the day. I mostly love my Smart Car, but it’s just not built for weather like this – I suppose not much is, and even fewer diesel vehicles.

Spent several hours scrubbing every surface of the fridge and stove, showed the apartment to a potential subletter, and then picked up my partners at work, so they could help me with another go at getting it started, or towing it back home.

Luckily, it warmed up a bit (only -22C! Why do I live here??) and so we were able to get the car to turn over. So now I’m at home drinking tea, and about to make another cup of tea. I am so done for the day.

I hope tomorrow is less of an exhausting clusterfuck.

Oooh this is nice.

I picked this up for my partner, as they tend to like smoky teas, and smoke was one of the dominant notes of the dry leaf. And steeped, this is just lovely. There’s a top note of smoke, which is mild, not at all overpowering. Next there’s a nice coconut note, with chocolate and caramel. And then on the finish, malt.

I may not give the whole 50g to my sweetie after all.

This was alright but not very exciting. I think it got a little over steeped (to go cup), so there was probably a bit more bitterness and astringency than there would normally be, but there’s also a strong charred, woody note that I’m just not that into, and that I find fairly common in oolongs.

Second steep is smoother and less astringent, but this still isn’t much to my taste.

Mmm meaty and malty. Quite bold tonight too.

This was today’s cup for disability awareness training. I threw a couple of teaspoons into a travel mug, steeped for three minutes in about 3/4s of 94C water and then topped it off with cold water to make it drinkable.

Today’s cup was just okay. None of the really intense brothy notes that made me pick this up after my togo cup from Tea Emporium. Ah well, I don’t think I steeped it well.

I’m resteeping the leaves in my gaiwan, gongfu, instead of continuing with them western style.

The second steep, which is 2tsp in 100ml of 96C water for 1min, is malty and surprisingly floral. Really nice.

Third, 1.5min is starting to loose complexity of flavour. There’s still a bit of maltiness, but there’s a depth that’s missing.