VariaTEA Send Message

Yesterday Toronto got a fancy Tim Hortons right across the street from my office. It has specialty draft drinks and a whole line up of foods including gourmet donuts and timbits and sandivhes. Check it out here: https://www.blogto.com/cafes/tim-hortons-innovation-cafe-toronto/. It also has a giant line up and has since before it even opened. So, as much as I want to try new things, I couldn’t be bothered to wait…until today when I worked late and had an hour to kill before my train and discovered a relatively small line.

I got 20 timbits, a dozen donuts and their draft nitro peach mango ice tea. I was so confused by this drink because in pics it was just “nitro peach mango” and since nitro is usually related to coffee but those flavors seemed weird with coffee, I didnt know if it was coffee or tea.

Upon learning it was tea i got it. It was delicious because it basically tasted like peach mango juice. With that said, it was only filled 3/4 of the way when i got it and it was mostly foam. So it was good but also not worth getting again.

GUYS!! IT’S HAPPENING!! MY FIRST GONGFU STEEPING SESSION!!! I finally have a gaiwan thanks to Roswell Strange and now I feel like I am on a new level of tea drinking. YAY! Or maybe not yay because I can see this inspiring spending. Look how cute all the teaware is though: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0SFC3_hOsa/?igshid=tonuknbumysd

Anyways, I chose this tea because a lot of the plain teas recommend weights for mls and this just said 2 pieces for 200 ml. So I ordered a scale for tomorrow and then popped 1 piece in my new 100 ml gaiwan.

Per the instructions, I rinsed the tea for 10-15 seconds, though probably longer because the gaiwan conducted much more heat than expected.

My first steep was for 1 min. Or 1.5 mins by the time I got it all into the cup, because again, hot. Then I came here to start my note and then I went to instagram and now I am drinking it. The tea tastes very similar to how I remember it tasting brewed Western style. Malty, though this is a bit more earthy, maybe a touch grassy even. I am new to this so sorry this will probably be terribly non descript. It’s also slightly metallic.

Do you guys put the lid on when you steep? Or just use it to strain the tea? The second steep was 30 s, though more like 50 s once it all made it into the cup. I tried a different pouring method and mostly got boiling tea on my finger. Also tea trays make much more sense to me now since a lot has ended up on my counter as well. This cup is smoother than the last. A hint of smoke. I wanna say the tiniest touch of vanilla right at the back of the sip? Maybe honey? I have no clue what I am doing here. Clearly.

Steep three is 90 s, well actually 98 s. I am getting better already! This one is sweeter but back to being a bit earthy…like honey coated wood…or leather. It’s syrupy but I get wisps of smoke.

Finally steep, per the package directions is 3 minutes. While it steeps, I’m just going to say I think I have to do a guided gongfu where someone tells me what to expect and then I can see if I have any real sense of what I may or may not be tasting. I know everyone is different but I think it would be fun. Ros, I am looking at you.

Okay, back to the tea…this was like 3 min and 18 s by the time it got into the teacup. This one is leathery. Much more leather than the last and I don’t know if there is actual smoke or I just associate smoke with leather flavor. It’s also got some raisin to it. That is what is contributing the sweet this cup as opposed to honey. And some malt is back as the tea is a bit thicker of a mouthfeel.

Alright. That was fun. Thank you Roswell Strange for making it happen. It’s super interesting how the flavor can change steep to steep. Plus, my family was also highly entertained since I basically pulled a kitchen chair up to my kitchen counter by the kettle and sat in the corner, facing the corner, steeping tea, and writing this note. I feel like more time and a better set up would make this more enjoyable. How do you guys usually go about gongfu brewing? Do you move your kettle somewhere comfortable to sit and relax? Do you put water in a pot and take that with you? Do you set up a kitchen chair in the corner of your kitchen? Give me all the advice, steepsterites!

Iced Latte Sipdown

I brewed this up this afternoon and only really took a sip just now. It’s sweet but mapley. The chicory and stevia weren’t as offensive as I thought they may be but the sweetness is a lot.

Iced Tea Lemonade that could be nice if not for a weird herb note.

I made this as an iced latte and its a nope. I get a hint of cereal and a lot of the weird artificial cream flavor and a touch of stevia. I topped it with toasted marshmallow whipped cream and i think that was just a waste of whipped cream.

This tea lemonade has sent next to me untouched for 8 hours and its still ice cold. Good job, perfect tumbler. In fact, there is still ice in here. I’m impressed.

Also now that ive tried it but should be sleeping, I’m sad i didnt drink this earlier. Its pretty refreshing. Of course the lemonade is crisp but the blue raspberry holds its own, contributing a nostalgic candy-like blue raspberry flavor. The stevia is dulled this way so thats good too. It’s nice though not necessarily my favorite.

ETA: This is still cold and its 30 hours later

So this morning i woke up a little early and decided to make a tea lemonade. I set the kettle to steep to 200F and went about my morning routine. I returned and considered steeping a fruit tea but that would take longer than a black tea so i explored my black teas and either the flavor didnt seem like it would go well with lemonade or my sample was too small so i explored my green tea, white tes, and oolong drawer only to pick something and realize the water was too hot. So i ended up with this tea which was an unopened package that came from either Sil or Evol. Thank you to whoever shared it!

Anyways, once I finally settled on this i realized i should have just gone with my fruit tea because i probably wasted more time searching for a tea.

Now that im drinking it, i also wished i went with the fruit tea because really there is a reason this package was unopened. I dont love bergamot and i dont love Lavender and here i have both and it tases quite soapy. Its cold and lemonade-y which is nice but the flavor isnt the best. Sometimes i convince myself something will taste better than i know it will and this is one of those times.

If you like these flavors, this might be the combo for you but for me its a big nope.

Also, sorry for the crappy spelling and grammar. Im writing this at work on my phone and the usual autocorrections that allow me to be lazy, i.e. capitalizing “I” and adding apostrophes, has decided to stop working.

It appears I have citrus pastries on the brain. Yesterday I grabbed Lemon Meringue Croissants from Butter Baker downtown Toronto and today this was calling my name.

This is a tea Evol Ving Ness shared with me a couple years back. Thank you, Evol! However, it maybe hasn’t been stored in the best way (sorry tea) so I was surprised when it was still quite lovely.

There is no distinct flavor but there is definitely a fruity pastry vibe. Not the typical apple or red fruit fruitiness which I am happy about. Alas, 52 teas has incredible blackberry flavor and that’s not coming through as much as I would like. Granted that’s probably my fault but I do miss it. Plus, the lime is slightly present but not popping like I hoped. Again, that’s probably my fault.

Hot Chocolate Sipdown (208)

This is long past it’s best before date and thankfully the coconut hasn’t gone rancid. Though if it had I don’t know how much i would taste it between the hot chocolate ingredients and toasted marshmallow whipped cream. Honestly the whipped cream is what counts and the hot chocolate is providing a tasty foundation for it so I’m happy. Not much to say about the tea though.