The Tea Girl

2020 Advent Calendar from The Tea Girl – Day 1

I am so excited for this advent calendar for a variety of reasons: they are a local Edmonton company, I haven’t tried many of their teas (except the one they made for a local brewery collaboration which was an AMAZING BEER), and the packaging is SO CUTE! So hurray for new teas in the cupboard, hoping to find some that I want to order larger quantities of! #supportlocal

So Day 1, Candy Cane oolong – how festive! This tea smells SO MINTY. And tastes SO MINTY. But a sweet mint, not a peppermint – truly like a candy cane! Did not get much of the oolong base, but the caffeine was a nice pick me up in the afternoon. The mint opened up my sinuses and was awesome! Pretty intense, so not one I’d have every day, but a great holiday tea to start off this advent calendar!

Sipdown! I went from hoarding this because of its ultra eggnoggy awesomeness, to months later, perplexed by its aged ketchup chip-like aroma. Months ago, despite smelling like ketchup chips, it luckily didn’t taste like that. However, I noticed these last couple cups did taste a little like that when I added actual eggnog to it so perhaps that allowed me to really notice the difference in flavouring of the aged tea.

It’s so scrumptious fresh but not sure if I’d get more unless I knew I’d drink it a ton and not let it age.

This tea ages so strangely! Over the past couple months, I’ve been trying to figure out what the scent of the dry leaf reminded me of. Fresh, it was exactly like eggnog: creamy and spicy, especially heavy on the nutmeg. But lately, it’s been smelling a little on the astringent side, kind of like vinegar? At first, I thought that maybe it reminded me of something cidery, but that’s not quite right either. Sniffing and sniffing as I was waiting for the water to boil, it finally dawned on me. This smells like ketchup chips. KETCHUP CHIPS. Especially the Old Dutch brand. I freaking love ketchup chips but I’m not exactly stoked about the idea of a tea tasting like them. My mom also agreed with me that this is SO that.

Luckily, the steeped tea does NOT smell or taste at all like ketchup chips. Whew. The spices come back, although the creaminess has taken a back seat. With light cream, this is a lightly spiced nutmeg tea. Yummy. Still not as good as it was when it was fresh, but it’s something that one ought to really drink up fresh. Yeah yeah, you can say that about any tea, but not all teas turn into ketchup chips after a while. What a fancy magic trick that would be.

Ok then, so since this is the third time having this already, then perhaps I should actually write a note about it. When I initially picked up this tea three months ago (how did 1/4 of the year already go by?), it smelled like pure eggnog. Real eggnog loaded with nutmeg. By far the most realistic eggnog-scented tea out there. I was also excited about the orange peel in it thinking it would add a nice new dimension to the classic eggnog flavour.

With half and half, this tastes so creamy and nutmeggy. But now that I’ve recently switched to 2% milk, it’s not as good. It could be that or maybe that the leaf itself has aged a little more.

Three months later, the dry leaf also smells more acidic, akin to a cider. It still smells good but it’s not as warm and fuzzy as before. I’m going to have to experiment with this tea more to see which perimeters work best for it. And next time I go to their store/cafe, I’d like to try this one prepared their way since it’s apparently amazing.

Sipdown topped with eggnog. The spices paired beautifully with the eggnog, although I’m glad this is out of the way. It makes a nice chai, but I would only consider repurchasing if I were running low on tea and wanted to grab something nearby.

Silly brain, I had a dream about this tea last night. I actually had this the other day with milk and sugar but never bothered to write about it. Other than weird dreams about going through security screenings in a strange metallic building (largely influenced by catching up with Scandal over the past few days, I think), I had this other dream that my mom had old high school classmates of mine to visit her at the K-12 school that she taught at, and where I went to school for thirteen years. There she was making tea for them, and happened to choose this one to serve them. Worried that the guests may not be as impressed having it without any additives, just as I was about to tell her that it’s better with milk and sugar, this sugar bowl appeared out of nowhere and she was pouring light cream in. Huh, ok then, move right on!

It sounds weird, but the aftertaste of this tea an hour after I finished it reminded me a little bit of Remedy’s masterpiece which bears the same name. My guess is because this time around, I got more star anise in my basket.

Good job taking this long just to try this, Swedish Chef. This is the last of the Tea Girl tea I picked up back in November that still needs some love. How does this measure up to my favourite Kashmir chai in the world brewed in a hometown cafe? We’ll see.

To try to emulate the sublime aforementioned chai, I added organic granulated sugar and some half and half instead of drinking it straight. Too bad I just used up the rest of my ground almonds in my cereal the other day because I could have sprinkled some on top.

I cracked open the green cardamom pods before brewing in order to get the most out of them. In flavour, I’m detecting mostly cardamom, cinnamon, and fennel. No clove or anise, unfortunately. Maybe a hint of ginger far in the background. I’d dial it back on the sugar a bit next time, otherwise this is a decent green chai. I’d say it’s the best home-brewed one I’ve tried thus far. And for the record, I’m sure this is the exact same one that Steeps sells, which I tried years ago but never made it with milk/cream and/or sugar which seems to bring out the best in this.

The almonds and rose cannot be detected either, as they’re lack of presence in the dry leaf leads to ultimate spice dominance. Ground almonds and pistachios need to be brought into the picture. Maybe a few more rose petals.

Since the cloves are rather sparse in the dry leaf, the taste of the tea will definitely hinge on the amount and variety of whole spices that randomly get scooped up with each spoon. Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious. So next time I play Kashmir Chai Roulette, I’ll see which spices wind up in my strainer, subtly altering the experience/flavour.

Oh yeah, I actually finished this the other day. It was pretty good for cold brewing but not overly amazing, and especially for the price. I’d actually sooner have DAVIDs Berry Poppins or Redberry Tonic, and those are quite a bit cheaper. Most importantly, they’re tastier, I’d say.

Pre-move stress is already kicking in. Put my sofa up for sale online. Got one bite so far but they offered an insultingly low price considering it’s barely been used. Moving company emailed me back tacking on another $216 as an “off-route” fee. It’s going to cost nearly double than what I thought I would, and that’s if I’m lucky enough for them to not tack on even more at the delivery point and hold my stuff hostage unless I cough up an obscene amount of money.

Sitting here drinking some morning cold brew as I catch up with emails. This is better than last time, I think, especially since I apparently got a waxy berry note from this reminiscent of DAVIDs Goji Pop. I can still sort of see what I mean but it’s barely there this time.

Mmm, tasty but not worth getting more. Drinking up more tea = less to pack = hopefully lower final moving bill. Newfound motivation? :/

The dry leaf smells so delicious. Sparkly tart strawberry and apples. The liquor is a deep red. But the flavour is a little disappointing. Has the same undertone that David’s Goji Pop has (which I used to love so my tastes must have changed). I can’t describe it. Like a waxy berry? I mean, it’s good, but I get quite distracted by whatever that is.

More testing in the future.

Sipdown! I wasn’t able to find marshmallow root to mix with this, at least without having to order online. So next time I order from a place that does have some, I’ll get more of this and execute that awesome plan.

That said, I would totally buy more in the future. It’s a nice change from berryish cold brews.

Bahaha, trying to finish up the food in the house before I jet off in a couple days, I ate a bunch of chocolate, looked at the package, and realized I consumed a little over 500 calories worth. So I was all, “Welp, time to get off my ass and bust out the ole HRM.” Nearly 700 calories burnt later, I’m back at home itching for something cold and refreshing. IN YO
FACE, CHOCOLATE.

So here I am guzzling this light, creamy orange magic. Hits the spot! I’m going to have to make sure I save some leaf for mixing with marshmallow root. I’m sure that’ll make this even better.

Kind of having an Ode to my Sort-of-Hometown morning. Took a shower with some scrumptious Pumpkin Spice soap handmade in Edmonton. If, by the way, you’re a fan of good quality soap and are in Edmonton, I highly recommend Wild Prairie Soap on Whyte avenue. And now I’ve been trying out these Tea Girl teas.

This one caught my nose, so-to-speak, in the store with its tart orange aroma. The liquor is a pretty bright, deeper melon orange, and smells very sweet, like a super sweet tangerine. I was kind of worried for a while thinking it may taste too artificial. First sip initially hit me with sweet orange but every sip after has been relaxed. Not overly sweet at all. It also doesn’t have a thick syrupy mouthfeel like many fruit blends with hibiscus do. The hibiscus, by the way, is very minimal, so minimal that you almost wouldn’t suspect that there is even hibiscus in here based on the colour of the liquor. The more I smell the steeped tea, the more it’s reminding me of a fluffy orangey marshmallow. I almost forgot that this was supposed to have a creamy aspect to it so it’s all making sense now. Oh yeah, the more I smell it, the more creamsicle-like it truly is. Cool!

But it doesn’t taste as creamy as one would expect. It tastes more like orange slush with a tiny hint of creaminess than full-on creamsicle.

It makes a great cold brew.

Enjoying the last cup of this, finally, so that’s another sipdown. Wouldn’t buy more since the base can easily go bitter, but if you get it right, it’s sweet, creamy, and slightly nutty.

Under 70 teas now! Yes! It makes me feel better about going semi-crazy on BF sales today. I haven’t made any online tea orders since the spring so I’d like to think my actions are justified. And hey, yes BF makes people spend more money, but in a way, I’d like to think it’s helping me save money since I made orders to places that I put off ordering since the spring anyway. So there.

Evening tea that smells and tastes like fancypants breakfast (pancakes and syrup with chopped nuts). Yes please.

A little bit of factoid power: The owner of the Tea Girl used to work at Steeps, an establishment found in Edmonton and Calgary, purchased one of the Steeps locations in Edmonton and rebranded it as her own. It has a similar system, where you buy teas by the tin. There is also some tea overlap between the two. In other words, she seems to have kept a lot of Steeps teas in her inventory, but there are a bunch that I never recall seeing at Steeps, such as their #YEGnog and maybe even this one.

I was automatically drawn towards this one because it smells so delectably creamy and nutty. The dry leaf is laced with slivered almonds, rose petals, and walnuts.

No rose here, but I’m getting a ton of creaminess, a touch of caramel, and of course, toasted nuts. The aroma of the steeped tea actually reminds me a lot of Butiki’s Maple Pecan Oolong (yep, even more so than David’s Toasted Walnut). As much as I looove that one, I’m really liking the base in this one. It seems to go well with the creamy nutty flavours. While I get tired of oolongs and/or really need to be in the mood to drink this one, greens can be enjoyed almost anytime for me.

I’m going to have to play around with the ratios, however, as I noticed that if you add a little too much, the sencha can get a little bitter. Otherwise, the flavouring in this tea is great.

another one from my swedish chef. This one is really quite tasty. i can’t really say if it’s eggnog-y like since i haven’t had eggnog in a really long time because it’s gross. blech. but this tea? it’s creamy and delicious! I’ve never heard of this company before, and this particular tea isn’t on their website. However, they’re from my old stomping ground and that makes me happy. I really enjoyed this one! thank you for sharing these treats my swedish chef! :)