The Tea Emporium

Adjusting the rating on this one again now that I’ve had the pleasure of tasting other teas :)

No change here – still one of my top teas, though I woudln’t be surprised if something knocks it out of the park eventually :)

Still one of my favorite teas – love the peach in it

I had this iced the other day. WAY too much lemon, not enough darjeeling. Perhaps it’d be more muted when hot? bah.
Also, I had to drink it up fast because I was at the Toronto Pride festival and we were entering a liquor controlled area… where there was to be a concert by one of my fave bands, The Cliks! oh my… they are AHHHHMAAZING! http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecliks.com%2F&ei=0GrwT8_oFOLA0AH0xPX6Ag&usg=AFQjCNH1YLuqTvVa4Dl9K2j7NdC4P5F35g
after the set though… the lead singer sang a duet with his gf, she was SO shy and timid, wouldn’t even look up as she sang. Anyhow… after the song… Lucas proposed! swoons
And then… like a moony teenager I bought a t-shirt and the band signed it. I talked to Lucas. OH MY GOD. I’ve somehow regressed fifteen years…
And I am never washing that t-shirt. ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G-Y__6zIig&feature=related
Oh and Bif Naked was on afterwards. She was pretty good to! :)

Thank you IndigoBloom for this exotic Sample!

Early this morning the lightning and thunder (the flash first) woke me up. Crash, flash and I was unplugging the appliances not hooked into circuit breakers (we didn’t have ground lightening in San Jose, CA.) then I went back to bed and woke again to gentle rain. This is my favorite type of weather for tasting puerh or malty tea’s. So comforting don’t you agree?
Indie-Bloom (I think I’ll write a Bollywood Movie for her to star in…she’s cute and young)…sent me this Nepalese tea that is a bordering Darjeeling growing territory. What would that mean for the tea flavor I wondered?
Curious like a feline, I set my timer for a 4 minute steep and waited…anticipating an interessting 24oz pot of tea! “Brrring” the timer rang ready.
The aroma (not a scent…it was much too manly for that) was very malty indeed which was sensually exiting. I do so love the malty tea’s as I’ve said over and over before.
I gulped the first taste…like I was drinking a cold beer on a hot day. (Amazing I didn’t burn my mouth). The flavor was just as malty as I wanted it to be, salty with a big rich muscat finish. There was so little astringency that it took several sips before I noticed any at all. The tea is naturally sweet from the maltiness like good honey wheat bread and still I added a bit of morning sugar and cream because I’m a spoiled woman. I like my tea my way especially in the morning.

This is darjeeling…and not. A malty black tea, and not. It appears to be both married with muscat wine sans any smoke or heavy astringency. I would like to see others review this tea and give an opinion. I think it is unique and different enough to pay some attention to.

The Finest Illam Nepal Tea Review IndigoBloom Marigold Hotel…now there’s a movie title!

Thank you IndigoBloom for this tasty sample tea!

Outside the evening drizzles have finally arrived and I can hear the spash of car tires on the road going past my home every now and then. I like the sound of rain and splashs. The air has cooled down and I have a sweet tooth tonight.
I was sitting on the couch with my Kindle reading the review that Krystaleyn wrote about Candied Almond Tea and it sounded like the kind of desert tea I was in the mood for. Besides, Indigo-B had sent me a sample. Perfect timing! Off to brew!

Even dry, this tea (herbal) smells amazing! From dry, to steeping to pour, you could blindfold anyone and they’d think there was a Cinnabon store at hand.

The steep time was 6 minutes. The first sip was sweet and full of quality cinnamon, apple pieces and sweet almond. I am serious about the fine quality of the cinnamon. There are different types. Some are bitter, some not very spicy, some average, a little like cinnamon cardboard. The best for baking has spice but is sweet and is what draws you to Cinnabon when you smell one. The cinnamon does not hide the apple or almond taste. This allows the herbal blend to become a pastry which I wanted and enjoyed.

Next to my cup was a piece of blue, foil wrapped Godiva dark chocolate. My one piece for the evening. I ate the chocolate and sipped the cinnamon, apple Candied Almond Tea. Oh my…it was so good. I have a good life.

The Spring slosh of the rain continued outside.

Finally, it seems my tastebuds are open to flavoured teas again. So time to start attacking that sample pile!

First up is a sample from the lovely Indigobloom!

This one smells so similar to DavidsTea’s Forever Nuts, but it almost seems sweeter, with a gentler cinnamon. I like Forever Nuts (but have none on hand atm), and would have liked to compare the two, but that involved too much effort.

Steeped, it smells like warm cinnamon with a touch of apple. Like a cinnamon apple streudel, or something of the sort. Perhaps a big sticky cinnamon bun. I’m getting hungry…

Ok, this tastes like warm, sweet cinnamon in a cup, with a touch of apple. It’s nice. It’s a little weak, which is funny because I used up my entire sample from Indigobloom (which was at least 2 tsp in my average-sized mug. Maybe I should have steeped it for longer. I seem to recall Forever Nuts being a touch more potent. Either way, it is nice. I’m going to let it cool a bit more now; I liked Forever Nuts cool as well.

Yum, it’s good cooled down to probably 30ish degrees. Still weaker than I’d like, but a very pleasant cup. I’m likely to stick with Forever Nuts because it’s way easier for me to acquire, but I think they’d be pretty good substitutes for one another.

(Oh, and although I can taste some almond, I’d hardly call this one Candied Almond, which makes me think moreso of a caramelly nut flavour.)

ETA: Second infusion (for forever, i.e. probably as much as two hours) has much more flavour and is quite delicious, even cold. Quite sweet, cinnamony, nutty goodness. No sourness as Indigobloom described. Love.

Thanks again Indigobloom for this big sample!

This is a young Pu-erh and a prize winner. Hum. That was interesting to find out after tasting the tea. I usually read reviews after I’m finished tasting because I’m easily influenced by the words of others and don’t like that to happen. It’s fun to find out that I’ve discovered the same qualities (either good or bad) on my own, that other more qualified and trained tasters write about.

Before steeping I did a 30 second wash. The steep time was 3 minutes in my glass traditional teapot with stainless basket.

The leaves were the darkest chocolate brown and I picked at them. They looked like long threads of petrified leaves, tea turned into dry wood that was now soaking wet and shiny.
The aroma was promising! Salty, a little musty and scented with crimini mushrooms.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
I could taste the tea in the steam. No disappointment in the first sip. Wow! Nom (as so many Steepsters say) this was super tasty! Very good! Better than I was expecting!
I was salivating from the first mineral juiciness when the tea changed. It turned a corner and became a soft, buttery, salty roasted pecan flavored richness. Really it did. Fantastic taste!

I’m about to preach now! Watch out!

If you never have added sugar or splenda to a Pu-erh…try it! This is something to try because salt and sweet play off each other. Sweet will bring out the flavors in the salty tea. Also, there are people who will never, ever drink straight pu-erh. We all know this. We are not in China and North Americans like sweet stuff. The health benefits of Pu-erh are worth trying a little milk or cream or some sugar (what I use is splenda because I’d be as big as a truck if I used sugar all day) and introduce skeptical friends to a latte.
This is how I am introducing my grandchildren to pu-erh’s. The sweetness creates such a compliment to the aforementioned flavors elevating them in a special way that makes them linger on the palate.

The mildness of this particular pu-erh is just right for those who are queezy when confronted with too much earthiness or mustiness. No old shoes and socks here. No old fellows or grannies (other than myself). A very tasty mild Pu-erh!

Every time I opened the container I got a burst of flowery fragrance that was intoxicating. The tea was superb-fresh, floral and intensely malty at once. Though not as dense or as syrupy as most Assam teas I prefer, this one was a joy to drink. It’s certainly the best Assam I’ve found locally.

Wieeeeerd. This tea, it wierds me out! I’m so glad I only got a sample. Thank you SO much to the TE associate who gave me a sample!
The flavour on the first steep was very bubblegummy, in a fruity way. Like bubblicous! A little to much for me.
Then the second steep, there was far less fruitiness going on, but for some reason all I could taste and smell was SOAP! Bleh!
At first I wondered if my hand creme got in the cup somehow but there was nothing in the bottom of the cup and… well I would have noticed a big glob of hand goo falling in my mug!
Ah well, I’m grateful for the experience and the first steep wasn’t bad! (79 for the first, 60 for the second, I’ll leave it at 70ish then!)

Thanks Indigobloom for this tea!
I love Pu-Ehr in the morning! Rich and delicious,this cup starts my day right.
The steep time here was 4 min. and produced a mild sweet bakery earthy aroma. I had rinsed earlier for 20 seconds.
The flavor was mild. Peppery on the tongue and barely earthy, with sweet salt and nice drinkability.
Whenever I find salt I am tempted to sweeten my tea to experience the contrast and see what flavors develop. When I did this, the earthiness rose up from hiding. Good! I do love this sweet savory tea!
I wasn’t going to do this but as an experiment I added milk and pow! Salty caramel heaven! I was surprised at how delish!
I’ve learned that a rinse is a good thing if you are weary of pu-erh’s, and try sweet or with milk or cream to see what your preference is!

I finally buckled down and tried some of this today; I wanted something indulgent, and for me tea lattes are some of my favourite things to indulge in.

The package this comes in has its own label that reads “Our Matcha Latte Mix is made using only premium stone dround green tea and grape sugar. Matcha is very high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Use one tablespoon and mix in 12 oz of hot or cold milk. Ingredients: grape sugar and stone ground green tea.” The bag is 200 gr. for $9.95, so depending on your budget that could be a good deal, a great deal, or not a deal at all. It’s sealed shut, unlike when you buy tea in store and only the zip is shut, so you will have to tear or cut the bag to open it. It makes sense, though, since I think the matcha is bagged and then sent to stores, and regular zip seals can never be 100% trusted.

The matcha itself does seem pretty good quality; it’s a bright green and has a pretty regular matcha taste. Not the pinacle of matchas I’ve ever had, but not the worst. The matcha sent is really diluted from the grape sugar (and grape sugar is just another way of saying glucose). Unfortunately, there’s no breakdown of percentage for the matcha or the sugar. I’m wary at the grape sugar being listed first on the ingredients list, since usually that means there’s MORE of that ingredient. I’m sure an employee or The Tea Emporium could argue that it’s alphabetical, though. When I bought my bag there was another woman in the store considering buying one and she said that it would be great if there was a better description of the ingredients and a breakdown of nutritional facts like calories. The woman in working at the time didn’t say all that much in response. Another time I was in the store and talking to a different employee about the mix, he said it was really good, had all the good stuff (I’m assuming he meant the matcha), but also had the bad stuff (the sugar).

So if you’re calorie counting, I’d say you’re just as good using regular matcha of any grade you prefer and mixing in whichever sweetener you prefer. This mix is nice, quick, and easy, and if you’re in a rush or don’t want much trouble it’s pretty tasty, but it’s definitely not the Epitome of Matcha.

TASTE WISE, now, I think it’s delicious. It tastes just like a match green tea latte from Second Cup (and I can’t vouch for other coffee or tea shops/cafés, since Second Cup is all I know), except without the frothed milk. I didn’t really pay attention to the mixing directions on the bag. Following my usual procedure for hot chocolate, I nuked about 3/4 of a cup of 2% milk in the micro (in an mug) on high for 2~ minutes, spooned in about 1.5 tablespoons of the matcha mix used a small whisk to mix it up, and then topped it up with some cold milk so it wasn’t too hot to drink. And? Delicious. Really, really delicious. I have no delusions that it wasn’t due to the sugar, though. It DOES taste like matcha, but a really big matcha fan who wants more of a matcha bang would probably find it too weak.

Obviously having a milk frother or any kind of Tassimo-like machine would make a huge difference, buuuut since I don’t have one, nuked milk in the micro it is. If you don’t mind the lack of frothy-ness, I’d say you don’t need frothed milk to enjoy this.

I finished mine in less than five minutes; I think next time I’ll use less cold milk to cool it down, just to keep it warmer longer, but this could definitely be addictive.

Depending on your budget, if you look at this and think “WOW that’s a great deal for matcha, I don’t care about the sugar content”? Go for it. If you prefer a nicer matcha and controlling your sugar content? Using reglar matcha would work just as well (if not better!). All in all I think The Tea Emporium’s Matcha Latte mix is nice, makes a good treat, but isn’t a staple for any cupboard.

Decent tasting, but I wasn’t a fan of the fact that there was already sugar, etc. added to the matcha.

The first looseleaf tea I ever received as a gift. I adore this blend, and it makes me think of good friends and good times. Unfortunately now that the Tea Emporium has closed up shop and I used the last of my stash, it will have to live only in my memories. It was a truly great berry blend, though, with a delightful pink tone to the water once steeped.

Probably one of the best blends sold by The Tea Emporium — well balanced and refreshing. Smells amazing and always gets compliments from guests.

I have so many good memories associated with this tea, and really like that it isn’t too fruity despite the strong peach scent it gives off when dry.

There is definitely a strong taste of ginkgo in this tea. It is the major note, and blends nicely with the papaya. I like this tea, but it’s not my favourite of the Tea Emporium’s flavoured green blends.

Not a big fan of this one. I adore Darjeelings most of the time (one of my favourite black tea varieties) but this one is so lacklustre. I still have most of the package that I bought years ago. It just doesn’t have that characteristic flavour I was looking for.

A good mint tea. Not too overpowering.

Nice lemon flavour, with a hint of sweetness. Enjoyed it for sure.