kimquat Send Message

Sample from Ost! Thanks hun!

Not too bad; it’s very straightforward. Green tea and coconut. No frills, no choir of celestial beings singing. The sencha base is buttery and grassy, but otherwise nondescript. The coconut tastes very “green”. It’s not like coconut cream pie or artificial coconut flavor. It’s very natural. It makes me think of one specific childhood summer, when my mom would crack open coconuts and we would sit in the front lawn eating coconut meat off of the shell. It calls to mind that specific texture. There’s a slightly floral, almost soapy aftertaste that I’m not a big fan of. Otherwise it’s alright. I’m not a green tea person so that’s as much as I can say!

Thanks Veronica for sending this my way. I was curious to see if it lived up to the hype!

Each sip starts brisk and bold with the flavor of citrus fruits. There’s a little astringency, even though I used water under boiling. (I steeped for 3 minutes instead of my standard 2.) That initial punch of bright citrus transforms into deep, rich notes of cocoa and heavy malt. Heavy, heavy malt that has me licking my teeth and thinking of chocolate cake. It’s crazy rich! There’s a lighter flavor like sweet potatoes and caramel. A little bit of hay, I think. Some honey. (Especially as it cools down.)

Holy wow. I think I would really love this if I tweaked the brewing parameters a bit. Maybe lowered the temp a little more, steeped for shorter times…yeah. I’ll do that with the rest of my sample. No rating until I get it right! I see potential. That initial brisk, biting citrus flavor doesn’t jive with me. Astringent = no. I just hope it’s not a finicky tea.

This tea opens with the taste of evergreen trees: pine, cedar. Warming spice follows closely behind, then mellows into a soft, creamy freshness. (At a cooler temperature it becomes slightly floral.) The finish is very roasty with hints of basil and spearmint. Clean, but with a velvety mouthfeel. I’m noticing a lot of qi in this tea tonight: my feet and hands feel hot and my head’s a little woozy. Interesting! It’s very good. It makes me think of standing underneath a cedar tree, with the cool wind tugging at my hair…the gurgling sound of a stream in the distance. It’s refreshing and earthy. The spices—especially the peppercorn—are making the back of my throat pleasantly tingly. The taste that clings to my tongue long, long afterwards is like vanilla, pepper, roasted nuts, and brown sugar.

I just checked WPT’s site and Evergreen Spice isn’t listed anymore? ): Oh no. I think I’ll share the last of this with my nature-loving friend. I had a pot of Ashes of Autumn with him yesterday and he loved it.

Received two servings of the old blend from Veronica. I must say, I’m not a fan. I tried a 3min steep with the first sample, then the 8min steep that MissB recommended with the second one. Neither one was a hit with me. Brewed up, it smells promising. It smells like graham crackers, smoke, and fruit (likely from the rooibos). Sadly the taste doesn’t match. It’s a little smokey, a little malty, and a lot of woodsy-fruity rooibos.

…I think that’s my main issue. I don’t really like rooibos but when I drink it, I want it to be matched with fruit or cream flavors to temper the weirdly drying wood flavor it has. To me, those are the more effective rooibos blends. I DEFINITELY don’t like it to be blended with actual tea, and to blend it with a smokey tea was just courting disaster. This cup tastes like burning wood, fruit, and dryness. Bleh. Not for me. And NOT s’mores. ):

I’m holding out hope for the new blend, though. I really like the base tea December, plus there’s marshmallow and cinnamon! And more importantly—NO rooibos!

Backlog and sipdown! Ost sent me a generous sample of this, and I finished it off with a friend of mine yesterday. (: It’s a very good tea to have with friends.

Best when you use water just under boiling and steep for about 3min. (Boiling water made it too bitter for me.)

This doesn’t seem like a very complex tea to me. It’s straightforward and it’s pleasant. There was the tang of citrus and tart berries, maybe red currant, vanilla and caramel. A chipper little tea, bright and sparkling but also with grounding qualities. There was a whisper of cocoa in the background. The tea base itself was also very fruity. It didn’t taste a lot like bergamot to me. Tart and citrus, certainly, but not quiiiite bergamot. It was fruity and a little floral, almost perfume-y, but not overly so. (I’m usually turned off by perfume-y teas. It didn’t taste like soap or potpourri though, thankfully!) I liked it well enough but I don’t know if I’ll buy it myself. It’s good to have around, especially for company, but I think it’s too unexciting for me to keep as a staple in my cupboard.

Thank you Ost!

Time for afternoon tea! I had a stomach bug for several days, so now that I’m feeling better I should be back in the swing of things! I missed all youse guys.

This cup is courtesy of the lovely Veronica. Brewed up, the tea is a clear shade of warm amber. I’m catching scents of wet wood, bonfire, dark chocolate, and sea salt as they waft from my cup. There’s some fruit tones there too, but I get “berry” while others have gotten “citrus”.

Each sip starts brisk, with a fruity sweetness that to me is reminiscent of Ashes of Autumn and its “longan fruit” flavor. Is this what longan fruit tastes like? I couldn’t say! It’s still not citrus to me. From brisk and bright it moves into a smooth roastiness with undertones of sweet, fresh wood. There’s some cocoa and some malt at the very end, but the predominant tone is a light honey-sweetness. What is that fruit…it’s not citrus, but reminiscent of citrus. Phooey. I give up. There’s a light, hazy smokiness that persists throughout the cup. It gets sweeter as it cools and it gains a sort of thickness in body. More malt—it coats your tongue. Delicious! I’d love to have a cup of this with an omelette or a plate of crumpets. That’s my fantasy and I’m content to live it in my head for now.

Thanks Veronica!

I feel like this one is going waaaaaay over my head. It’s nice enough, it’s pleasant, but it’s SO light. It’s delicate and hay-like, sweet and creamy. The best description I can come up with is “coconut and cream”. Why coconut, I don’t know. It doesn’t taste like coconut but it reminds me of it, maybe because of the silky texture. I’m at a loss for words here. It’s nice, but it kind of leaves me wanting. I feel like I should be tasting much more than I actually am.

I’ll try a 4 minute steep instead of a 1-2 minute steep next time.

Tried this again tonight using 1 heaping tsp for 10oz of water. It’s MUCH better! The citrus is mild, there’s no bitterness, and it’s pure nutty-maple goodness. It’s naturally sweet and sits lightly on the tongue. Creamy aftertaste again. I’m so glad I finally figured out the right parameters for this one. Worth it. (:

Maple-y tea before bed tonight! As all of Stacy’s blends, I find that this is very lightly flavored. The scent is crazy strong in the bag, but the tea itself is mild in comparison. The flavors are more suggested than stated. I used 2.5tsp of tea to 10oz of water—overleafing, per usual. As a result the base tea is the star of the show. It’s medium-heavy bodied. The first impression I have is of citrus fruits. It’s got a little tang and a little bite to it. There’s a little bitterness that I associate with the nuts in the tea. There’s maple sweetness and a light nuttiness from the pecans, and there are woodsy flavors tucked in there too. It all finishes on a smooth, creamy note that reminds me of ice cream. That’s what ties it together for me, that creaminess. I don’t think I would like it very much otherwise. It’s a very understated flavored tea but it’s very pleasant.

I really need to use less leaf next time! I think it would cut down some of the citrus and bitterness that I’m tasting. Overleafing with most other teas works for me, but it’s not a good idea for this one. Either that or I need to cut down on steep time, which I think would affect the way the flavoring in the tea comes through. To be tried again…no rating till then!

Thanks to the lovely Ost for sending this my way. I was painfully curious.

It smells freaking amazing in the bag! Not a big fan of rooibos, however, so I went in with some trepidation. I used 1.5tsp for 10oz of water and steeped it for a good 9 minutes. It tastes like carrot, cinnamon, and some nonspecific pastry item. No cream cheese icing that I can tell, though it is awfully sweet. Not bad. It’s close! Unfortunately it left a medicinal rooibos taste in my mouth afterwards and that is a thing I can’t stand. I might keep the rest of it around as a before-bed dessert tea, but I won’t be getting any more. Maybe I’ll try it with milk and sugar next time, see if that helps!