Featured & New Tasting Notes

I am out of these, finally. A sipdown!

I have enjoyed these white tea blooms but it has taken me a long time to finish them off. Normally I am a green tea fan, but I would like to drink more of my white tea supply since they are so high in antioxidants. The trouble is I have so much tea it’s getting hard to sip anything down. I guess there could be worse problems to have ;)

TBH I kinda wish there was actually raspberry leaf in this tea.

Today I made it in a travel mug and I’ve brought it to work. It tastes a bit more like dirt, probably because of the echinacea root. And it’s sourer. More sour. Whatever. Probably due to the increased heat preservation of the travel mug VS a regular mug.

I still kinda like it. And I really hope I don’t get sick.

Cold Brew!

Well, I am officially on a self imposed tea buying hiatus. No more tea or teaware! After that last $380 Camellia Sinensis order and impending costs of repairing/replacing my computer’s hard drive and from Christmas I’m gonna be a pretty broke person. The good news is that I’ve got lots of goodies to look forward to! Right now I’m expecting four different orders:

1. A Tea Pet (A monkey!)
2. Samples from A Quarter to Tea
3. Teas from August Uncommon
4. This massive Camellia Sinensis order

Between all the lovely teas I’ve already got, such as this tea with it’s yummy cranberry notes, and the impending goodies that’s a lot to keep a tea drinker occupied until the new year.

A sample of this was included in my order. Thank you Lauren!

This weekend was intense. My husband went on a weekend trip to do a trail marathon in Mohab. So the kids and I had plans to hang around and check things out on the nice fall weekend. I woke up very early Saturday morning in horror. My stomach had other plans. I had managed to catch a stomach bug. Instead of enjoying the fall weekend I was wishing for death and praying my children didn’t hurt themselves while I dozed in and out of contentiousness. All help which I could have called on was also in Mohab with my husband. Single mothers I applaud you. I don’t know how you do it day in and day out.

Stomach back to normal and enjoying tea this morning. This is not my favorite cup. For me the strong note of coconut mixed with green tea is a little much for me. I would much more prefer the fruity flavors to shine and the coconut to just be a hint in the back ground. Thats okay. Can’t love them all. My wallet is thankful for that!

Almost a sipdown here, and I happened to come across some other teas in the cupboard that I managed to get rid of. Teaspoons here and there that just haven’t ever been drunk.

Anyways, I still love this, and still wish it were a black tea. Violet and raspberry. Yum. So good.

2 short steeps at 175, combined into a bigger mug.

Finally, I get to try this! Of course my opinion of this won’t matter at this point since it’s no longer available but I’m hoping I won’t like this too much or anything.

…but I must say, that this is probably my favourite flavoured matcha DAVIDs has offered to date. It’s not an apparent pumpkin pie flavour, but it has that delicate hint of spice combined with a whipped cream-like note. I’m enjoying it more than RLT’s Pumpkin Pie matcha. That one is really spicy, and as much as I like spice, it is a little too one-dimensional, especially because it’s really heavy on the cinnamon and/or clove, if I remember correctly.

This is more balanced. I added about 6g of matcha to a Nordic-sized mug with a dash of sugar and a couple teaspoons of fat-free creamer. I forgot that DAVIDs already added some cane sugar to this matcha, so I wonder if I didn’t use sugar next time, if the spices would be more prominent. It can go either way with sweeteners, it seems.

LOVE this tea. Seriously, chocolate goodness. I really want more of this. I love the chestnut flavouring – subtle enough to be present but not overpower the chocolate.

This tea was something powerful. I opened the package and was struck by a very prominent camphor scent. This aroma was fresh and intense. I broke off a chunk and placed it into my warmed gaiwan. The aroma deepens to an all encompassing camphor with eucalyptus. I could feel this scent begin to cleanse my body. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The wet leaves reminded my of the leaves of a eucalyptus tree. This session is largely composed of cooling sensations with an underlying of wood tones. The flavor was incredibly peculiar. The brew begins as cask wood and alcohol. The term “bourbon barrel” comes to mind. The drink carries a prominent menthol and camphor flavor that fills the mouth and follows through to the stomach. The drink emits a cooling sensation that encompasses the body. The qi is quite powerful and centering. The feeling begins in the temples and encroaches upon the body as a whole. This is a very “now moment” tea. The tea sips begin with a peppery kuwei and a dripping pleasant huigan. The mouth feel is nice and lubricating with a smooth filling. The aftertaste leaves a whisp of smoke. I love the mouth action this brew brings to the table, and there is plenty of hair prickling. However, there is a heavy bitterness present in the brew, as is with all other bulang. The leaves are large and unbroken with buds and some large stems. This cake runs in line with the classic Bulang material characteristics. The sips contain nice tantalizing kuwei, a sharp swift bite, light cask wood, and finish with a lasting slight huigan. The unique part is the storage, which added the menthol and camphor like tones. This tea is a prime example of how strongly storage can affect your puerh. I would compare this to the non-Malaysian stored version of this Bulang this company offers.

https://instagram.com/p/8gVFR9TGcn/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

NOOOO I wish I hated this tea as the price tag on it is high! Unfortunately, I love it. No wait, I hate it. I hate it so much that I need to consume it like a lust for revenge and blood like I’m a 90’s kung fu movie hero.

First off, cha qi off the charts. Maybe I should of made 3g instead of 7.5? I ran to the gym already and deadlifted 200lbs laughing like a maniac as I worked the railroad. Thankfully, it’s my birthday today so no one is questioning my sanity as I get a pass today, others think I hit the bottle early and needed a muscle pump before birthday dinner. But its TEEEEEEEa!

The flavor is freaking smooth, new born smooth with an aftertaste of pretty orchid floral and fruity green grapes. It’s thick and lubey (HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA) of a tea. That fragrance is the best though

I’m on steeping 10 and it’s not showing signs of quitting. No quitters here, just tea. RAWHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Dammit, my eye makeup is crooked.

Well, this was a lesson in don’t judge a tea by its name, or even necessarily by its smell. I initially passed this over, as it struck me as a slightly more savoury tea, and I’m not generally drawn to those. I was convinced to try it, however, when countless people were raving about it and recommended it highly, so I got some on my way home from work this morning to reward myself for going in for a few hours on a Saturday.

And my faith in my ability to like tea has been restored. I doctored it up with some milk and sugar because this tea positively begs for it, and it really does taste like a thick slice of sweet French toast with a bit of savoury cardamom. Thankfully, I don’t get the coriander, because I think that would be gross in a tea. I love the way it smells while it’s brewing, too—sort of like baby oil but a nicer, drinkable version (seriously guys, think about baby oil while this steeps next time and you’ll smell what I mean). Such an innocent, comforting smell. Mmm I already want more.

While I was at DT today, I also picked up 100 g of banana nut bread because nom, and couldn’t resist the santa’s secret white chocolate bar. There aren’t nearly enough white mint chocolate bars in this world as far as I’m concerned, so I’m willing to chance it, even if it means I’ll crunch down on actual tea leaves (someone seriously needs to tell dt to sort that issue out).

So yup, you done good, dt! you done good!

Still not sure where i sit with this tea. I don’t dislike it, but i don’t love it. Maybe i need to try brewing it gonfu or something. There’s a sweetness to this that i don’t typically associate with my favourite keemuns, which is maybe why this is throwing me off. I’ll also have to share this one with a few folks and see what they think. :)

Pu’erh TTB 2015 Tea #8

I can’t even…
This is the first tea I have on my Christmas list (yes it’s about that time to prepare it)

Absolutely mind blown by the freshness of this pu’erh. It reminds me of Japanese tea in a way. Smooth with a hint of sweetness associated with the vegetable tones. Clearly this is a top notch pu’erh and I’m not looking at price until after it’s purchased

HOLY LONGEST DAY EVER FRIDAY THANK GOD IT’S THE WEEKEND.

yeah that’s right. I had this one at some point during the day. I’m starting to feel like in a work environment, mtgs can only be 45 mins long…so there’s always 15 mins to get to your next meeting or go pee, grab a snack..whatever. I was home today thankfully, so i was able to make tea while on a call – something i wouldn’t be able to do at work. this one is almost done and i’m still sort of undecided on it. I like it..but is it snickerdoodle or just cinnamon….interesting to say the least and enjoyable… just not quite what i want

From Sil. :)

My first impression is Whoa, butter. This may partially be contributed to by the cream I put in the tea this morning. As I was steeping it I definitely smelled the caramel and salt.

I’m really enjoying this tea. Hopefully I manage to finish the whole mug. :)

I’m other news, I let my kettle rest and it worked this morning! Yayyyyy!!! Definitely need to remember to unplug it now, but the plan is to try to keep it going as long as possible. Maybe closer to Christmas I’ll get the Cuisinart one from Costco.

Today’s Cold Brew! Very, very tangerine! And oh so yummy!

In other tea related things: someone needs to take my laptop away from me because I’ve caught the teaware bug and cannot, for the life of me, stop looking and different websites and cart building. Currently, I’ve got a $362 cart built on Camellia Sinensis and itchy trigger fingers. I am weak. And the crazy thing is, I’m not even batting an eye at the three yixing pots in the cart – the thing that I’m most torn on is whether or not I want to pick up another fish gaiwan because the fact I broke the lid of the one I currently own is still breaking my heart…

But do you buy a whole new gaiwan to replace it!? I wish you could just buy “replacement pieces” the same way DT sells replacement parts for timolinos and some of the Perfect Mugs. If anyone has a broken white ceramic Gaiwan with an intact lid I’d be more than willing to buy the lid off them if they thought it’d match the fishy gaiwan. I don’t really need “fish” on the lid; I just want one that’s actually intact.

Here’s what fishy looks like: http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teapot/gaiwan/gaiwan-yu

I think this tea has a great name. Not because it reminds me of a snow day, but I just love everything about snow days. I love waking up thinking I’m going to have to go to work. Noting that the weather is a swirling billowing white mess outside, and then getting that miraculous, too-good-to-be-true news that work is closed for the day. My god. And even better if it’s a Friday!

Anyway, this tea. I had it in-store as a latte with soy milk, which was not a good way to have it. This afternoon I made it with a bit of cream and sugar, and it was alright. Creamy, powdery peppermint with a hint of chocolate. Honestly, I far prefered white chocolate frost from two years ago. Will not be restocking, I don’t think. Or at least not much. I do want to find one that was like white chocolate frost. Maybe I’ll try 52 tea’s white grasshopper whatever tea. Hmmm.

In other news, I met up with kitenna today for a brief tea exchange/to get my part of the 52 teas order! It was so good to see her!

I hope this isn’t a temporary tea. I might have to cry.

Now this is a dark, roasty oolong. The base reminds me of something I had from… I want to say Teavivre? It’s been so long. Without looking at the ingredients, I thought this was chocolate almond more than anything else, but the chocolate notes fade away once steeped.

The scent of the steeped tea has shifted to almond vanilla. Perhaps the chestnut is blending in seamlessly with the roasty base.

Flavour-wise, I’m getting mostly roasty oolong and toasty nuts. I like it but I’m not enamoured of it.

Oh man, this tea. It’s so good! Even though I ended up having to make it with boiling water this morning.

You see, my variable temperature kettle has lost its capabilities. It doesn’t understand the temperature presets, and it also doesn’t know when to STOP BOILING. So I made my tea, and hoped, and the tea is fine! Yay Lupicia and the ability for their teas to withstand boiling temperatures!

Boo, broken kettle.

So I’m in the market for a new one. I’m not really sure what to get, but my budget is tiny. And because my budget is tiny, I can’t order from the States as the exchange and shipping kinda ruin any “reasonable” price. Walmart seems to have a couple things. But IDK. I need to find my old regular kettle that still turns off when it boils, and I’ll try using that for a few days I guess.

I already miss the variable temperature options. Already.

Enjoying the “Gold Hai Lang” as my breakfast tea. Light fermentation shu so it is mellow, smooth, and richly flavored. Nice choice for the first cup of the day!

Second tea from my order…….

I was really excited when I saw the listing for this one. I’m not the biggest maple fan (I know it’s almost against the law here in Canada) and most pancake teas are maple something. This is Banana Nut Vanilla Butter Pancake. That makes me happy.

I like this – I really like this, but as others have commented I think it needs more banana. The banana flavor is really nice and should shine more.
There has been some conversation about the base in this one. I actually like it. I think there is just a hint of astringency and that helps cut the sweetness, it helps with the balance. I also like the mouth feel. Bold and thick aren’t the right words, but this isn’t thin and weak – it’s just right. Something about the mouth feel helps with the buttery aspect of this.
I’m rambling – Nutty, buttery, hint of vanilla, some banana, nice base. Really good – could be amazing with more banana.

Just a note – this is a really heavy tea, there isn’t much in the 1oz bag. That’s not a criticism – I’m just saying that there are lots of nut chunks in here making it heavy. If you want lots to play with order 2oz. :)

Finally a Kashmiri Chai from DAVIDsTEA. I’ve been obsessed with the stuff ever since taking my first sip of Remedy Cafe’s nearly seven years ago. Steeps’, another local company, loose leaf version didn’t quite cut the mustard but going from the scent of the dry leaf alone, this seems a little more promising.

I’ve had this a few times now, with coconut milk and sugar, without anything, with some half and half, and of course, I’m liking it the best with a touch of half and half and sugar. I purposely made the last cup the strongest, using the last 12g (although I was expecting more like 8g to be leftover in my bag so for me, this is really being luxurious) in my Nordic mug and let it steep for approximately six minutes.

The two most prominent spices are the cinnamon and cardamom, followed by the clove, and maybe a hint of ginger, but I get no nutmeg. The first two are quite powerful, constantly struggling to claim first place and the clove is at a distant third.

This is good but I’m not sure if I’d keep it stocked in my cupboard. Maybe I should get more though and experiment more with steeping parameters. Perhaps with the right parameters, and ratios of milk and sweetener, this could be wonderful. If I do get more, I should pick up some star anise to add to this since Remedy’s version is heavy on the anise, which I love.

A very valiant attempt, DT.

I hate those mornings when you wake up and are craving a tea you know you don’t have in your cupboard anymore lol. This morning, it was Laoshan Village Chai for me, which I haven’t had for ages! The chocolate notes of LB are what I needed, and I couldn’t find my sample of straight LB either (if I still have one even, I might have drank it!). So I got out the next closest – Verdant’s delicious Earl Grey, with LB!! The chocolate notes are present that I was craving, albeit quite muted due to the travel mug I brought this tea in to work haha. But it will do. See previous notes on this tasty tea!

Oh what a wonderful cup for the morning. This is some serious yum! I think Mazi said it, I am turning into a fan girl. I am already plotting the next purchase, b/c I mean who could pass up a sweet potato pie keemun? I am drinking this tea straight, which if I had my drothers I would be adding milk and sugar to chai, but those are off limits for now. Just straight it a decent chai. I get some spice, who the heck knows what kind, plus some maple for sweetness. I am not really able to pick out pumpkin in this one, but it is still delicious. The base works for me on this one. Not too strong and not too weak.

EDIT: As it cools I definately was able to pick up more of the pumpkin spice flavor. Also, I am finding 2 tsp for about 8oz of water is the sweet spot for these.