The Tea Emporium

Second cup of this one for me, and I really really enjoyed it. I may end up restocking it I like it that much! The fruit was more pronounced this time, perhaps because I added more sugar than last time.

Another member here of the Toronto Tea Party, sipping our first outing’s tea. I’m getting mostly raspberry from my cup, with a strong black tea base behind it. In fact until I added some sugar, the fruit notes were extremely hidden. The sugar brought them out to the party, though, and now it is a lovely cup. Sorry Indigobloom I’m not getting the hibiscus you had either — maybe you had a random bit in your bag or something?

This is definitely a lovely tea for fruit fans. I’m glad I got to try it. Am curious how it’ll blend with my other raspberry black now, as well!

Finally tried this from our Toronto Tea Party and mmmmm, very sweet and fruity without any sugar. I don’t taste any hibiscus, but I only steeped it two minutes, which seems the perfect length for most blacks. I like the berry in this one; reminds me of Tealish’s Bella Berry without the tartness of the melon added in.

Sweet tarts!! Tart, with a very faint hint of berry, which was brought out a touch with my addition of agave. The black tea base is pretty standard. I don’t really have much more to say… except that I am so sure that there is hibiscus hiding in here somewhere. yes, it was that sour without the agave!
Overall, it was nice but not especially unique.
Thanks to my tea peeps Jessie, De, and Aisling for sharing this with me! Epic times. Epic times…

Totally stole some of this one from Indigobloom to compare to the one I already had in my cupboard. Despite what the directions on the package said I used a full teaspoon since I had a big cup to fill. In the true style I added some sugar and off I went with my tea to work.

Hot, this tea is nice. The mint is strong but not overpowering, allowing the tea flavour to shine by its side. I found that it was slightly dry, a note that was emphasised the more the cup cooled down. By the time my tea had cooled completely I found that I wasn’t enjoying this quite as much. It is definitely a nice tea, but one that really needs to be enjoyed while still hot.

My wife snagged a cup of this from the lovely Indigobloom tonight and as soon as we got home, we brewed up a bubbe teapot full to share.

This is lovely! It’s juicy (which I consider a good thing ;) ) and the citrus cuts some of the sweetness…it’s just a nice little tea. Kind of like Pink Flamingo without the overwhelming hibiscus. I think we might need to investigate this further.

Had this one during the Toronto Tea Party today, iced. It was a nice unassuming tea with a raspberry and hibiscus flavour. I didn’t realize it at the time but apparently my teas of the day had a theme!

If you don’t like hibiscus, avoid this one. It doesn’t dominate but it does consistently fight for control in each sip.

Ah, a pleasant reminder of our own Toronto Tea Party today. My first venture into the Tea Emporium’s line up, the name caught me right away. My first steep of this (made in-store) was too bitter, but the second steep was very pleasant. It has a mellow, low-key creamy flavour, with just a hint of bergamot, just a hint of smoky green tea, just a hint of vanilla, and absolutely no back-hint of ass.

Sip down!!
Wow it feels good to get rid of a packet. With a whole bunch of them coming in this week, it is a small relief!
Though I must say, this tea will be missed. One day, I will get some again. The sugary almond goodness is just so tasty. How can I resist?!
Rating: 90

Yummy!! so very yummy. When hot that is. I was all set to rate this one supa’ high, because I was so very much in love. but then it cooled… and well, it just wasn’t doin it for me anymore. The heavy, lukewarm liquid became sour and the cinnamon began to dominate. Sour cinnamon is just awkward. Not terrible, but odd in a way that makes me cringe. So if I can get to the bottom of my cup before it cools, s’all good.
No matter, it’s better than I anticipated, by far. I was worried that it’d taste like Forever Nuts, which I hated… but it doesn’t so yay!! I’m not sure what the difference is, since the ingredients are identical, but this one just gels together so much better. Maybe it’s the ratio of contents? shrugs
Also, this gets negative points(I’d say 3 or so) because while beets are healthy-ish, they have serious glycemic index issues. I’m trying to lessen my sugar dependency here! esp with about 80% of my relatives dealing/passed on from Diabetes complications. Jus’ sayin…
Dang, this one had so much potential to be amazing! but then one thing after another tore my rating for this from a soaring 95, ten points down to 85. Sheesh. I feel like it deserves higher but then I consider all the factors and… well, I just can’t justify boosting it. Hmmmm.

Wait, so this WAS the tea I had last week??? why was it so much better?
I think I had the Bukhial last week and logged the wrong one. This makes no sense, as the tea I had today was much rounder, maltier, tastier… less bold, more malty… my bad, I guess! :/

This was… interesting! not bad. I’ve been on the hunt for bold teas lately, and it seems I’ve found one that is actually TOO bold. I didn’t think it was possible!
It reminds me of that Harrigate tea I tried ages ago. I mean, in yo face bold!! and yet not malty enough. In my view, bold and malty ride together. Like Bonnie n Clyde! they stand up to, and for each other!! but here, the malty was like a younger sibling trying to keep pace.
In fact, I guess this will seem really odd to some… but it hadn’t ever occurred to me that a tea could be so bold without the malty. This would blend nicely with some milder varieties… it could easily be part of an Irish or Russian “breakfast” tea.
Actually, in my head this is sorta what I imagined Queen Catherine would be… but then I tried the Queen and she is soooo much more refined than this clumsy beast haha. Maybe this could be The Queen’s evil twin :P
If someone offered me more of this, I wouldn’t turn it down if there were no other options, but I doubt I’ll pay for more.
Anyhow… I enjoyed the company much more than this cuppa!! I won’t call out my tea accompli (is that right? accomplices just sounds odd), just in case ya want yer privacy… but thanks so much for a lovely afternoon ladies! I had a fan*tea*bulous time :)

MMmmmmmmmmminty!!
Ever since I tried Moroccan Mint as a sample not long ago, I’ve been craving it. Badly! So when I saw that Tea Emporium carries some, my feet walked me there against my will, I kid you not! I told them, please take me back to the office or I’ll be late for work. My wallet and cupboard can’t handle this purchase!!! but off they went, taking me to the shop where my feet then handed off to my tongue, who did the work of ordering 50g. Really?! How do I not have control over this???
Anyhow. The tea itself is pretty good. Nothing compared to the sample I had, which would have easily scored 100.
I was pleasantly surprised when I experienced no nausea. It makes sense that I didn’t, but I wasn’t sure if hoping would jinx my chances. The mint is very strong, which I quite enjoy…. but it’s also a bit spicy the way spearmint can be. A little too much. However I think peppermint would be sweet in a bad way when mixed with gunpowder, so this is def the better option.
Oh and I can tell ya now… this will take forever to use up, since it only requires 1/2 tsp per cup! and with my penchant for resteeping, well it’s gonna be awhile before this is decupboarded :)
The first steep was amazing when it was hot… but since it is a green, well it didn’t stay piping for long. As it cooled, just a hint of abrasion came out. I think the mint actually became stronger.
The second infusion was more of the same, only a tad greener and less minty, obviously.
Then on the third infusion, the mint was overtaken somewhat by the natural sweetness of gunpowder that I’ve heard comes out in later steepings. and that is as far as I got because a) I was outta time at work, and b) that background sweet note (different than the one mentioned above) that I so dislike was starting to peek out and I wanted to avoid a confrontation!
So overall… This is just what I was looking for!! Sure, it could have been smoother but hey I’ll take it.
Also, in Morocco they actually serve this with sugar so I’m contemplating adding some next time just to see what its like!

okay so I tried this with a lower temp and steep. The lemon is alot stronger this way!! but then, so are the polyphenols and after some research, it seems that it’s those nasty little p-phenols that cause nausea. Apparently, oxidization, hot (piping) water etc changes the composition of the phenols into benign tasty things.
I guess I’m doomed to stay away from greens then huh. Too bad, I really quite enjoyed the tea, just not the side effects. and those are normal, nothing to do with my own issues!
So maybe burning the leaves wasn’t such a bad idea huh :)
I wonder if some mint would cut the nausea for me? mint and lemon go together right?
Anyhow, if you have no issues with greens, I highly recommend this one… I’m sure you’d love it. I do, so much that I’ve given it a high rating despite my concerns above!!

Hmmm. I’m not sure about this one!
Hot, it’s quite tasty. It reminds me very much of Tea Emporium’s Sunshine Mate. In fact, I’m almost positive it’s the same blend of lemon additions.
Maybe a little more sour because of the green tea astringency. More sour lemony than candy lemony. I’ll rate it next time when I have a better idea of it’s potential.
I think I may have slightly burned the leaves to. I was in a rush!! and I had forgotten to time when I poured the water… in retrospect, probably two min prior. So I have no idea how hot it was. Next time, I’ll try this at home. Maybe then I can get more than two steeps. ha!
Also, this might possibly be the first time I’ve ever been tempting to add sugar. I think it would compliment the lemon really well. not all the time, but for a treat.

Oh and something else!! I like to drink my tea HOT. Not like my friends who let it cool down until it’s practically iced tea. This leaves a teeny window for me to drink my greens. and whites! At least my black teas used to stay hot for more than three minutes. Hmph.

Lovely light white tea, with a mild hint of rose. It’s quite subtle but very beautiful. I usually can’t stand rose flavoured anything, but this tea is quite enjoyable because it is so mild. If you wanted to, you could toss in a few rose buds to make the rose flavour more intense.

This tea is perfect naked, without sugar or sweetener. It’s good for a second steeping if you are in the mood for a standard white tea, since most of the rose aroma will have faded.

I made a big pitcher of this iced and gave some to Mum. She looooved it! Mum the tea hater loves citrus sunburst! :)
We got into a discussion about how it could be used… and I mentioned that it’d be great for kids but she thought it wouldn’t be for some reason. Then I told her there was no caffeine in here and she was all “are you sure??”. No matter how many times I confirmed, Mum was not to be convinced that this is safe to drink at any time of day. sighs
Oh well, she loves it!
Rating: 90

So it’s been a long time since I’ve had any juicelike tea in the house. Most herbal fruity tisanes started to taste too much like plain ol’ juice and I wasn’t liking it. but then I remembered this one… which I had way back in the beginning. I loved it!! and now that I have it again, I still do. Despite the hibiscus. but only with honey or agave added. I know I know… it’s already a fruit drink. I have diabetes in the family, I need to watch my sugar! but the hibiscus makes it so sour… I almost feel like it’s a rasperry lemonade! with some honey, the sourness is kicked away just enough that I swoon :P
The lemon tastes so real. I guess the candied lemon aspect mixed with hibiscus really does the trick huh.
Next time, I might add some mint. and if I can remember, I’ll pick out a few of the hibiscus leaves.
The calcium carbonate can’t hurt either. It’ll help settle my tummy and boost my calcium intake. Yay for that!
Now, it’s against my nature to give a “juice” tea a high score. So let me just say that my ceiling here is 90. That makes my 85 pretty darn high, considering!

This is one of the most interesting teas I have tried and I had never heard of it before today!
It is complex to say the least with slight honey and nut flavor, silky feel, and unmistakable
Darjeeling influences (it is from the region without a doubt). Almost the best of both worlds, oolong and Darjeeling. I would say it is lighter on the oolong side but a very good cup of tea. I will be considering this in the future. Thanks Indigobloom! Your samples have given light to some dreary January days of late…

Thanks to Indigobloom for sending me a sample of this which I am finally getting around to trying!

I still don’t know how to tell if a milk oolong has real or an artificial flavor added. From the description it would appear that this one is natural. I’ve been steeping it in the gaiwan for 60 seconds or so this morning at around 180 F. this is a very buttery tea that reminds me of freshly cooked corn. There is also a slight floral element here which is nice. It is very tasty but since I seem to be allergic to milk I always worry about these. :)

It gets a little less milky around the 3rd and 4th step so that’s where I seem to like it the most. Amazing this reminds me of POPCORN!

Niiiiice! Thanks to Indigobloom for sending me a sample of this! I’ve been looking for a kenyan tea to add to my repertoire and this one looks like it will fit the bill very nicely.

This is rich with some beautiful floral notes but without the astringency or the tannins of a darjeeling. I’m getting a nice bit of malt here in my cup as well. I did decide to drink this with soymilk and it’s quite a swell morning cuppa! It’s a bit fruity too.

Well hey this was better than the last time I tried it!!! but not flowery at all. Just really sweet.
Bah, it was tea. I needed something to warm me up, the office was freezing today!!

Odd, that’s two bad tea Friday’s in a row! but I have good news. I emailed Teaopia and the Director of Comm got back to me. She’s issuing orders that if I request a tea bag instead of the tea master, they are obligated to do so! :)
This makes me SO happy. dances a jig
Anyhow, this tea… well it was really weak, with just a mild flower note. and scratchy on the throat! not smooth at all. The oolong part was ok. I prefer my Formosa Oolong but this would do in a pinch.
Oh well. It was a free sample! anybody interested in trying this out?