The Tea Emporium

Decent, but not my favourite mate tea. I found it a little too bitter, and some of the flavours didn’t come through so well.

I’m bumping my rating for this up a bit; I’ve found that I really enjoy it brewed at home more than the sample I had in the shop, and my fondness for this is definitely not decreasing!

I tend to find that the colour of the liquor can be anywhere between a usual yellow-y green sencha colour and a medium red from the goji berries and acai berries, depending on how much of the berries you brew with. The red colouring also tends to sit at the bottom of my mug (when I brew in just a mug, rather then with a teapot) unless I stir it up. Possibly due to essential oils from the berries, or how long it takes the tea leaves to unfurl and release versus the berries? Don’t quote me on it, though; I’m not a chemistry major!

Sometimes I notice a lightly tart aftertaste, so I think if ever I want to try this iced or chilled some sweetener would be useful for mellowing it out; predicting honey or agave nectar, but we’ll see when/if I get there!

Sampled some in the store with my mom; very light, a nice sencha with great quality goji berries and acai berries. My mom bought some to take home and the cup I made for her was a lot stronger than the sample we had in the store; probably due to ratios of tea versus each berry.

I think this is the one I had in store today, I can’t quite remember what I ordered. I know it was one of the more expensive teas and this one was pricier on their website I just looked up so I’ll go with it!
Anyhow, I enjoyed it… but it was definitely milder than the one I tried from Staufs the other day. It didn’t have the same depth or complexity somehow.
Now, I have no idea if the staff are trained enough to rinse the leaves (likely not, they had no idea what sheng or shou meant. Not that I judge, I’m just saying I need to try this under more controlled conditions is all)
Overall, it was surprisingly bland until the finish of a sip when the hint of sweetness came out. Perhaps that would have changed as the cup cooled, but I was in no mood to wait so added a bit of sugar, which helped significantly. Normally I see no need to add sugar to a pu-erh so that was a bit disappointing.
Nonetheless, I did enjoy it very much. Over time, the mild nature of the cup grew on me. It was almost like a fruity liqueur in it’s light yet potent nature and reminded me of coffee somehow, that I can’t quite put my finger on.
I’m having trouble deciding how much I like it… as I feel somewhat under-educated to make a true decision. Well, I suppose that’s what I’m here for… learning experiences like this are awesome :)
Oh and I did get a bit of that same high. Not nearly as intense, and I only had one cup… but it was satisfying and I don’t think I would have wanted another while out’n’about. Hmmm.

I’m similarly confused about this one. I didn’t dislike it, but got more of a nutty, spiced flavour from it than apple. I tasted almonds and cinnamon with a little floral. Odd! Not bad, but odd. I think perhaps the apple flavouring is supposed to come just from the apple pieces, which aren’t going to impart a terrible lot of flavour.

This was . . . odd? I don’t know. It was tasty, but utterly unlike apples, baked or otherwise. I tasted a mild black tea with a distinct floral note from the rose petals, but not much else. Very strange.

Well, it certainly does taste appleish! and the black tea base is nice.
and with a touch of milk I got the “bakey” note as well. It needed a bit of sweet agave added, however… to cover up the sour. I wasn’t sure whether that was apple sour or astringent tartness.
But, and there is a but… and it’s that for some reason this tea does little for me. I guess apple is just one of those flavors that doesn’t speak “tea” for me.
Well, I’m glad to have tried it anyhow!!

Made this one as my last pot of the night, in the mood for something light but flavourful. Flavour I am definitely getting, but it is anything but light and delicate. It is almost too strong in my mind, and my throat thinks so too. It is starting to tickle, and my tongue isn’t happy either. Definitely not going to be buying this one. :(

I … don’t know. This one smells absolutely incredible. The caramel and grapefruit really grab me, and I was looking forward to what I was sure was going to be the Earl Grey variation I’d fall in love with and always want on hand. But it’s falling short. I’m only getting mediocre EG from this. No caramel. A lighter, more buoyant citrus note that must come from the grapefruit, but not what I was expecting. And, I’ve had it three times now and it’s always gone bitter on me at 2.5 minutes. Drinkable and not at all unpleasant, but a disappointment!

Coldbrew world of hell no.

I will never, ever coldbrew this again. It’s got orange peel, alright – that’s all I can taste. Doctored this with a metric ton of agave, at least I’ll get some energy out of it.

shudder

Today was a day of meh teas. When I picture my teas from today, in my mind I just see a sea of light greens and yellow colors. Not my favorites, but I don’t hate them. They’re just…meh. I started off my day with this, hoping it would inspire me to get off my butt and do something (it didn’t). It developed this weird orange film that stuck to the sides of my mug and moved weirdly as I tilted my mug…it was odd. I ended up just chugging this to empty the mug so I could put it in the dishawasher.

So…meh. It’s okay, but not a restock for me.

this tea was so good! i tried it at the tea emporium and then bought a large package of it. i am very pleased with this tea because i don’t even need to add sugar or milk to make it taste good! the aroma of this tea makes me sleepy for some reason. also makes me drool :p

To-go from the store yesterday, this didn’t quite live up to what I expected from sniffing the canister. It turned out a little bitter, and the super-fragrant peach was a lot more subtle. It was a nice peach flavour, though. Gentle but juicy.

This came out a little bit bitter, but it’s still got a fuzzy peach ripple through it, not even a mild back-hint of ass. Not the overwhelming peachy flavour I was expecting from the smell of the dry leaf, but an enjoyable black all the same. It will take some experimenting to find the proper steeping time and temp.

Coldbrew Sipdown (387/370)

This is so good. So, so good. I need to get my hands on more of this bright, juicy blend.

Cold brewed this and love it. I can’t wait to try it with agave instead of sugar, but this is love. It’s tart, but not too tart, and just delicious. Best raspberry tea I’ve ever had.

Yumyumyumyumyumyumyum. This is exactly what I’ve been craving these last few days. I made a big pot (affectionately named “Bertha” because she holds almost two liters) and stuck it in the fridge overnight to cool. I figured out why I don’t like the idea of coldbrewing! I’m a good Southern girl, and that means every tea I touch gets sweetened. Well, almost every tea. But sugar tastes much different when brewed into a hot tea and when stirred into an already-cold tea.

Unfortunately, I seem to have made Kool-Aid this time around by not paying attention and adding half a cup of sugar to the mix (I usually add two teaspoons for Bertha). Ah well, since the blend does have hibiscus in it, I iced it anyway. Yum yum yum I love it. It’s too sweet, but that’s obviously my fault. But I think this will become a definite favorite in the coming summer months.

Mmm. I got a cup of this iced today and immediately went back for a bag to take home. The hibiscus is present, but it didn’t take over. And it was so juicy! I look forward to enjoying the hell out of this raspberry delight this coming summer.

Had this as a to-go cup today during a tea meetup. Dry it smells like peach with a dash of ginger. Brewed . . . it lost most of the flavour from the aroma. It was a nice tea, and definitely had fruit notes, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. A nice tea, just not one that makes me think of millions of peaches for me.

Dry, this tea is outstanding. Just an incredibly heady smell of fresh fruit and light sencha.

Unfortunately, even after a steep at the correct temperature for much longer than I would usually do a green, checking every thirty seconds, the flavour remained stubbornly that of a lightly vegetal green. There was a faint aroma, a back-hint of the fruitiness of the dry leaf, of berries, but the tea was clear and light. Very underwhelming. Very unimpressed. Very disappointed.

Okay, I’m showing up late to the tea party. I only got around to trying this last night, but I was away most of the week. Gimme a break!

This is nice, though I don’t think (on first try) it held up to its scent for me. It’s a quite nice if unremarkable black base and lots of berry flavour. I’m getting some tartness from it (the gojis, I imagine), and maybe even a bit of floral, so I think I see where Indigobloom is coming from. I didn’t sweeten it, though, and steeped 2.5 minutes at 205 degrees.

I took my life into my hands unintentionally by making this, as we only have enough for one cup in the house.

I like this, it’s sweet and citrusy, with just a hint of the good-for-you stuff of the more medicinal teas without, well, the medicinal part. I usually find mates a little astringent for me, but the citrus does a lot to balance that out. I definitely want to pick some of this up to add to my wake-me-up rotation.