Featured & New Tasting Notes

When I make it, I cold steep the bag for 15-16 hours. However, I only every cold steep them so I am not sure how the flavor would change using a bag that has already been hot brewed and then iced.

What other SBT did you make btw?

I’m blanking out as to which one I made, as it was a while ago. We left it in the fridge too long, so it was icky by the time I got around to drinking it. :(

Oh no. I am trying the last of my SBT teas tomorrow morning and then I will be placing an order for more. I figured I should try what I had so I knew what to restock.

LiberTEAS cold steeps overnight, then hot steeps to get the most out of them. Check out their reviews. :)

I have to admit, they are tempting. If you’re going to order more, MissB, might I tag along?

OMGsrsly, I was going to offer to add some to my order for you and then realized that may not be the most effective plan given we don’t live nearly as close as you and MissB. However, if you are only looking to get a couple to try some, they are pretty flat and could probably pass as letter mail and therefore not really cost anything for me to send them to you. I will probably be ordering tomorrow evening so if you want me to add anything, just let me know :)

Ooo. Let me go check!

UH OH. Eggnog honeybush? Too tempting.

Haha. I was tempted by that too. But I don’t know if I want 2 oz of it. Mostly because I don’t know if I would like it. Although, no one does honeybush like Frank.

Heh. I’ve got a LOT of Frank’s stuff on the way from the Kickstarter, plus the new ones. One just showed up now, it was somehow held in transit for weeks. I grabbed eggnog, and will pass along some to both of you if you’d like. :)

I’d really appreciate that, MissB!

I have to admit the cart I built (Malted Chocomate!) is only $40. Tempting to just buy. Are all the SBT caffeinated? I don’t see any honeybush ones.

They are all black teas…I think.

And I just wish someone had reviewed the eggnog honeybush so at least there is something to guess how the tea tastes. I may just cave and order it anyways. I have a nice balance on my paypal account that can go towards my order.

I am also debating the Pineapple Angel Food Cake. It was so tasty the first time I had it but the second time around I was not that impressed. The fear that I won’t be able to have it again is pushing me towards getting it even though I am not sure that I would want so much of it.

Hmm. Umm. I might just order now and ship to MissB. hides head

haha. I think you should go for it.

Ok, ok… Let’s see. Oh no! It worked! Haha. MissB, you should be expecting a parcel for me…

What did you end up getting??

Too much! LOL. Rootbeer Float, Butterbeer, Strawberry Zabaglione, Honey Ginger, Almond Milk (?!), Gingerbread Smoke, Eggnog Honeybush, Malted ChocoMate. Oh boy, oh boy. :D

Haha. My cart right now is sitting at about $50 and that includes 13 diff SBTs (multiples of a couple) and the Pineapple Angel Food Cake. I made the mistake of looking through the Available Now and I am currently debating the Eggnog Honeybush, the Cinnamon Roll Honeybush, and the Frankenberry (but only because I saw it has Marshmallow root). I think I have a problem…

I have not had any SBT yet but have wondered for a while if you could just cut the tea bag open and get what you needed and repackage the rest. Is there a reason this would not work?

I don’t think there’s any reason why that wouldn’t work. They’re just a little more expensive than the loose teas – $12/2oz rather than $8.99. So if there’s a flavour offered loose, I’d probably just get it that way.

I wish I could just ‘like’ your comment, VariaTea!

Thanks, that is a good point about the difference in size/value. The main one I would get is sold out in loose & ya’ll are funny

I have a huge amount of Cinnamon Roll Honeybush, I love it that much!

NayLynn, I could easily cut the bag open, I just think I’d enjoy it more/more often if I was deciding how big my container is to cold steep, and then going from there.

OMGsrsly, sounds good!

Yeah, I wish I could cold steep smaller amounts also. I don’t even want two quarts. Because hello! I need to cold steep in my mason jar!

Both the containers I picked up are “two quarts”. One is actually 2 quarts, but the other is way closer to 3. I’ll probably keep that one for herbals as I prefer cold steeped tea to plain water.

I love my Breville variable temp kettle to bits, but I got my mom one by Kitchen Aid that seems to work quite nicely and was much more reasonable in cost. The one we have at work, a Cuisine Art programmable, had such an irritating beep that one fellow disconnected the wire to it lol, also the controls were not as easy to use and kind of annoying. Oh and it leaks water now haha. There’s my humble variable temp kettle assessment :)

I think I was looking at the breville but it did not have a feature where you could set your own temperatures. I might be mistaken but I thought it was all preset. I will definitely be avoiding the cuisine art one.

I just got the Adagio kettle utiliTEA. So far I like it.

I have an Oster that I bought half price at Canadian Tire. It doesn’t have good review, but I’ve had no problems at all. I like that it’s not preset black, green etc. I can choose any temp I want in 5 degree increments. LOL what I don’t like is that it DOESN’T beep – when it reaches temp it just turns off. I forget, don’t notice and have to reheat water quite often. I would like the annoying beep.
It was a good price on sale, and I figured even if it did break or leak in a few months, I would have decided if I want to invest in a really good one. So far so good, I’m happy with it.

@Teabrat – What do you like about it? Do you have anything you dislike? Also Adagio has the VarieTEA kettle which I had to use a lot of willpower to resist given the name. In other news, I realized I misspelled my name but we will just go with it.

@Dexter – I think I am hoping to get a kettle that has a keep warm setting which I am guessing the Oster doesn’t have? I will definitely look into it though.

My Breville One Touch (http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BTM800XL-One-Touch-Tea-Maker/dp/B003LNOPSG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390978336&sr=8-2&keywords=breville+tea) lets me set any temperature I want, as well as pre-sets, which makes it easy when there’s zero indication as to how to brew a tea. The only thing I can complain about is that it’s a bit tricky to clean, and I have to make at least 500mL of tea at a time. It is pricey though. I did just just a standard $50 kettle from London Drugs for a while prior until it burned out.

I have been so close to buying a one touch for months MissB. Alas, even with the amount I drink, I can’t bring myself to justify the price. My mother has offered a few times but it is just too pricey for me to feel comfortable with her buying it.

Plus I like to make multiple different teas at a time so that has also stopped my from going with a kettle that you brew the tea in.

My kettle does have keep warm….maintains set temp for up to 30 minutes. I don’t use it, but it has it.
Model Number BVSTKTVT01-033

Thanks Dexter!! I am definitely bookmarking this for later!

Mine is a T-Fal Thermovision, it has 160F, 175, 185, 195 and boil. 30 min keep warm for everything but boil (although you can set to 195, and boil, and it’ll boil then keep it at 195). I got it for $50 at Canadian Tire. It beeps. :) I don’t mind the beeping, it’s not as loud as my microwave.

I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-40996-Programmable-1-7-Liter/dp/B0083I7THI. It is the Hamilton Beach kettle if anyone has experience with that?

That has a lot of features for that price…I don’t have wake up hot water feature…. I don’t know anything about it, but for the price – it might be worth a try.

That’s what I thought. The only problem is when I go on Canadian sites the price goes up to about $70. I think I might give in though and just send it to my Dad in LA to send up here.

Regarding the utiliTEA, I like the fact that it’s stainless steel. It heats water up quickly but the one annoying thing is that there are no numbers on the temperature gauge, you have a setting for green tea and one for black but if you’re any good at math you can figure out what temps go in between that, lol. It has an auo shut off but doesn’t beep or anything when the water is done. Still for the price I think it’s decent.

I don’t have that particular HB kettle but I did get another for Christmas that has been working great for me (http://www.londondrugs.com/Hamilton-Beach-1.7L-Digital-Kettle—-Stainless-Steel—-41000/L7691330,default,pd.html?start=18&q=kettles%20%26%20tea%20makers) It doesn’t have the wakeup feature but other than that they sound pretty similar (and it’s available in Canada :))

The one thing I found when looking for “programmable” kettles is that you have to watch out for the ones that are programmed I had to return the original kettle I received because I could only use the 5 “programmed” temperatures :( The box even said programmable, but it lied…

Oh! I have the same kettle as Kirlika, and I love it! It heats up nicely, it doesn’t beep or buzz (which might be bad if you want to know w hen the water is ready, but good when you want steatlh tea in the middle of the night like I do), and it has a lot of variety for setting the temperature. I think it’s about 6 different settings for F and C each (it goes up by 10’s, and if you switch between F and C you should be able to find the temperature you want).

It keeps it warm for an hour too, unless you tell it not too.

I assume mine is the same (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hamilton-beach-hamilton-beach-pro-1-7l-kettle-41000-stainless-steel-41000/10261214.aspx?path=537c8ee81299072574239dbe620d6b35en02) this says it’s the pro, but it looks similar. I grabbed it for $45 when it was on sale in December.

The Breville is pricey, and I find I end up using it more to keep water hot (for an hour), to time my steepings (because I also do several cups at a time), and auto-set temperatures. When I do want to brew say two cups of tea though, it really is amazing, and hard for me to mess up a tea that way – a big plus for me! :$

I see some really great alternatives here though, I’d try those first if price is a concern. Just make sure wherever you do get it from, you can return it if need be.

Also, for the US shipping, there are companies just across the border that will accept packages on your behalf; all you’d need is an excursion with a friend one weekend to walk over the border and get them.

Luckily my dad lives in LA so I can ship to him and he ships it up to me. And though I can afford the Breville, I just keep thinking of how much tea I could buy if I get a cheaper kettle :P. I have seriously considered it many times though.

I have considered the Breville many times myself!

Good luck choosing! I think one thing I don’t like about the Breville is that you brew tea right in it – I don’t think I’d use that. What if I make Hot Cinnamon Spice? Will it corrupt the next few teas I make, no matter how hard I try to clean it out? Also, I don’t want to clean my kettle/teamaker. I guess I like things simple.

I hate when that happens

sounds incredible! what would you say it tastes like…if you could compare it to any flavor or tea? is this a flavored black, or a straight black with cream bits thrown in? or does it just have an inherently creamy quality sans additions? any notes you’re picking up on, like caramel or vanilla? from the way you describe this tea, somehow i’m picturing a dark, rich liquor.

It’s a flavoured black, no bits in there. It’s like Irish cream….so creamier…more like vanilla than caramel but it’s not vanilla….heh

thanks for your clarification! sounds delicious, added this one to my shopping list!

just poke me sometime mid February and i can send some your way if you like. saves you an order in case you don’t like it :)

I’d love to give this a try as well :)

[sheepishly adds to shopping list]

lol 5$ says you try it and wonder what crack i was smoking when i drank it :)

Dangit Sil, you made me snort tea out my nose!

puhlease..like that’s hard.

[looks down into the mug]

shush…

AHAHA! Ceylon Star, I love what you’ve put in your bio. :)

This has gotta be good, and something I can’t screw up…since I suck at making matcha.

Srsly? YOU, of all people, are judging me? Hahahaha!

Thanks Sil, you are too kind.. I’ll be sure to poke u in February ;p let me know if there’s anything in my cupboard you’d like to try, tho it’s hardly exciting!

pyarkaaloo – you’d be surprised at what i can find to tantalise my taste buds from ppl’s cupboards…i’m trying to taste ALL THE TEAS after all haha

that’s right!

Not judging, Ceylon Star! I think it’s awesome! And the icon too. :)

Oh wow – sounds positively amazing!

Agreed! Have you also tasted TeaVivre’s Premium Keemun Hao Ya?

Yes, it was really nice. I have had it before but forgot how good it was – I’ll have to order more!

No, I haven’t tried that one, looseTman. I think I have a sample though!

Just checked – I do have a sample pack of that. Do you prefer it?

So far I’ve enjoyed 1,500g of their Premium Keemun. However, I haven’t yet tasted the Superfine Keemun. I be curious to hear how you think they compare.

lol, I haven’t tried the premium one yet. I’ll have to compare them though!

I’ll keep eye out for your comparison. Thanks!

OK! : )

I had the premium one today, but still have to do a comparison against this one as well! I will be watching for your comparison though

They both seem popular. You’ll have to compare them as well! ;-)

Hopefully you can snag a sale! They seem to have great sales.

Oh, they have new blends?

That’s the plan, Cavo!

TheTeaFairy, they did add a few blends to their collection over the past couple months, it seems. Makes ordering more exciting now haha.

Yay I have some of this – I’m always happy to see positive reviews for teas I own but haven’t tried.

Hmmmm, Reeeealy?? (I.did.not.need.to.know.that.)

(TheTeaFairy – hiatus – remember the hiatus – shop in my cupboard instead…. Yay I have some of this means – yay you can get some of this – and whatever other ones I might happen to have) LOL I’m suppose to be supporting the hiatus. :))

Oh, but, Dexter, I was just making conversation…
(Cough, Icantbetrusted,cough, cough)
:-) :-) :-) thank you!

Oh hey, I have this one too. Is this one of your cold brews?

Yep! I don’t really bother trying fruit blends hot anymore. Straight to the jug and into the fridge. :)

I ended up doing a mish mash of random leftover bits. I hope it’s good! I’ll make this one tomorrow.

I’m familiar with draining days. I’m glad this could lift your spirits a bit.

Yay for comfort!

Sorry you also have those days keychange, and yay for comfort indeed morgana!!

Aww, I feel the same way about chai. I seemed to gravitate towards them when I first got into loose leaf too.

Yeah Fjellrev, it was like wham bam thank you ma’am , a slap on the face, like wake up, there’s something other than earl grey in this vast tea world of ours!
(BTW, how long will it take for me to think about something other than the Swedish Chef every time I see your new name??? Or maybe I should ask Sil that question…)

Haha perhaps you two will never escape the association. To make it extra agonizing, I should plant some børks here and there in tasting notes.

Hahaha! Yes please do!!!

:)) Glad you liked it. Off to a good start with the box.
My love of tea actually started when “asshole” introduced me to Indian food – with Indian comes chai, and the love of chai made me wander into Davids, Teaopia etc – the rest as they say is history.

I found chai long before loose leaf… Love it! Spicy, sweet and creamy… Yum! I always add sugar and when feeling indulgent.. make it a latte please!

Yes, Suziqzer, I’ll admit that although I’m a “no milk, no sugar” tea drinking, I do soy milk and a little coconut sugar in chai :-)

This made me smile! I want to start doing tea boxes as soon as I get more in my collection!

Abby, yes it’s a lot of fun, and you found the perfect crowd for it :-)

Dexter, opening the box was already a good start :-)
(Can’t believe you wrote his name, hahaha!)

Yum! Enjoy your Monday :)

I mean Tuesday. :P Days are mixed up for me it seems.

Ha! I didn’t even catch the mistake…shows how alert I am!

I hear you keychange! The only thing I want to do with the snow is build an army of miniature snowmen and then crush them! Bahaha.

It’s too cold though. OMG. I just checked my app and it says ‘feels like -30C’, which is -22F for you Yankees. That’s TOO COLD. If it stayed at -10 I would probably do a happy dance.

Wow, you make me feel wimpy for complaining about our 8 degrees F here…

I hear you, cavo. I’m only an hour and ahalf outside Toronto, and it seems to be frigid everywhere! This seriously needs to stop soon.

Yum… this is the tea that needs to be on my first ever Butiki order soon. Weather wise… yeah… -18C with wind gusts to 50km/h making it feel like -37C, that’s what they say. My body refuses to function in such weather… it’s time for hibernation, with hot tea in hand of course.

Yeah, I think there should definitely be some exception to functioning at this temperature!

I wish I experienced this the same way you did. I have more should you want it.

I may take you up on that! :D I’m not sure why it works for me? Two bags at boiling for 6-8 minutes, poured into a large mug = perfection.

I lost the last bag you sent me by dropping it into salsa. :P

Something tells me salsa and shortbread are not a great pair

You never know – sometimes sweet and savory go together quite well ;)

I never thought much of CS teas but now I want to try this!

Mmm… Now I wanna make this. I’m already prepping some Boatsman, though :(

I was going to make boatsman but by the time I got to prepping the water had cooled so I took advantage and went for the white tea instead.

waaaaaaaant my teas!

Haha – I have the advantage! Though, I want mine too :( I need more Pret a Portea for at night. I’ve also figured out that one travels well, too… I think I’ve asked you this before, but which did you get Sil?

uh….assam beast of the east, tropical dream and orange path + samples of a couple others :)

I love the name of Assam Beast of the East. Not sure why, but it’s fun to say – just like “Boatsman”.

no tea tonight sigh maybe tomorrow..which will end up being Wednesday since it’ll likely get stuck in mail jail…. bah!

This was the one I had to try first! I’m so happy I heard about it before I finalized my cart, or I would have had to create a second follow quickly after.

I still might need to. I’m so impressed so far.

And I’m trying Beast of the East tomorrow – I liked the name as well.

Awww. Poor Sil.
And everyone else still waiting.

Save a bit for meeeeeeee cavo!

Did you like it!? I think it’s fabulous! Right now, I’m most impatient about Sweet Helen, I think… And getting more Tea of Kings/Pret a Portea, but I still have a few cups left of each.

I have resisted an order so that I could try the teas that I was sent. Both were really tasty so it is oh so tempting but I am trying very hard to be good and not order more. Perhaps I should set a number and if I reach it, I can order more tea.

VariaTEA…don’t tell anyone that number or they’ll send you teas when you’re ALLLMOST there just to drive you bonkers with love :)

By the next time we swap, I should have received my RiverTea order, so maybe I can throw somethings in for you if they sound interesting. I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Tea of Kings.

Haha. Is that what they do to you, Sil? :P

And Roswell Strange, you know me so well…that was one I was looking at buying when I built my cart. I just realized I have built a lot of carts lately. haha. I guess I do have some self-control.

(May or may not be building another cart right now) I really like it. Best lychee black I’ve ever had, personally. I’d have sent you some in the last swap, but I’m down to about 2 cups – and I was being greedy.

VariaTEA – I always threaten to do it to Sil. It’s fun to make her squirm.

And Sil – done! (Well, noted at least. Lemme know if you want others, although I probably won’t see you at the tea fest)

Happy birthday stinker hugs

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday! May it be a lovely day.

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day! i hope your trees are still blooming for you

Dear Terri, for you’re birthday, I am offering you a performance. I have re-written the famous song “it’s my party” just for you. Here it goes: «It’s myyyy birthday, I can drink what I waaant to…drink what I waaant to….drink what I waaant to…..Laaa-o-shan Black, you’re my favourite to-daaay!!!»
Thank you, thank you very much… ( good thing Steepster is not in 3D sound just yet, lol!)

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday! :D Only the best teas for you today!

Happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!! Enjoy!

Yay! Happy Birthday! :D

Happy birthday! ♥

Happy birthday!!!!

Yay, happy birthday!

What a great way to celebrate your birthday! Congratulations :-D

Happy birthday!

Thanks everyone!!!
Tea Fairy, I feel really special, thanks for sharing your talents!
;)

Happy birthday!

Woohoo! Happy birthday! :)

Happy Birthday!

Your notes on this one make me want to re-try it haha. Hope you have a great day, despite the snow!

Did you not like it your first time? and, thanks. Made it to work, which is thankfully indoors. Now to get through the day and make it home! :)

I did enjoy it somewhat, but the scent overwhelmed me and the taste underwhelmed me.

I hope the snow lets up in time for you to go home. That is the worst! Whenever I wake up and it’s a disaster outside, I’m always tempted to roll back over and sleep.

I’m impressed by how quick the city is to clear the roads etc. Back in Vancouver, it seemed like the entire city would start to crawl once a bit of snow hit the ground. That or people would drive like maniacs and crash like crazy. Toronto seems much more organized in comparison. I guess you guys have experience here that we in Van do not. :P (Says the lady who wore sandals for most of last year)

Calgary is a complete disaster when anything falls from the sky, which always amazes me considering it happens all the time haha! Yay for Toronto. :)

haha so i have to laugh… i see this much snow and i SQUEEEEE with joy! I was SOOOO happy to get back to toronto and see that we got snow like chicago did. I effing LOVE this sort of winter. It hasn’t been like this in years since i moved out to toronto so i am all over the being outside, playing in the snow, making snowmen and snow forts and snow angels and getting cold and wet and loving every minute of it. Winter with no snow is awful.

Haha that’s awesome Sil. :)

sil, I’m glad someone is enjoying it! because I’m certainly not LOL—far, far too cold. and cavo, that’s what I hear about cities that don’t typically get snow: the city grinds to a halt at the sign of anything falling from the sky.

keychange – i will make a snow angel today in your honor so the cold gods leave you alone haha

Please do! that way I’ll have a little bubble of warmth surrounding me everywhere I go, and you can have all the snow men and angels and chilly wind! everyone wins.

haha

Horizontal snow here too…
And living the country life, it ALWAYS a mess here wintertime, lol!

Glad you made it into work ok keychange! Hopefully the snow dies down for you when it’s time to go home.

@Courtney: I always find that after the first few snowfalls people start remembering that they have to drive differently and things calm down some. Now I wish I could say the same about the C-trains… they’re always braking down in the winter.

I hope the weather settles, although they don’t predict it will for a while yet. Oh well, at least I lead a highly-indorified life.

Indoorified haha. :P

Keychange – I’m also with you on the highly-indorified life! I thought about rebuilding the snowman outside our house, but everyone is sick, so I can’t just take the kiddo out with me to do it. I’ll just hide inside and drink warm beverage after warm beverage.

I am glad you liked it. And yes, your prof may have accidentally (or perhaps not accidentally) accused you of not having a life.

thank you so much for sending it! gotta love a prof that puts up with grading extra work and then calls it like he sees it…. politely! lol!!!
yours should be there soon i hope!

Maybe he’s a little envious. I remember some of my undergraduate profs (mostly department heads) complaining that 70% of their time was dedicated to finding funding/politics, 20% to their own research and grad students, and 10% to the classroom.

well, he might be indulging me a bit because i appear to be the only tech savvy student willing to work with networking software for the NGOs, not just mine. also the fact that i have over 100 hours in and it should be more 36 and i’m trying to make it self-sustaining for after i leave as well. my classmates are just starting now, i’ve been at it full time for a month. (no sleep, lotsa tea…. that’s why no reviews!)

Goodness, with that amount of work in, it would be nice if you could at least get a tax receipt for your volunteer time. Sounds exciting, but don’t push yourself towards burnout!

you say what i think…. and yet there’s no one else with my particular spray of skill sets: art, language, people, programs, photo editing with a strong real world network as well. it’ll be fine…. probably. lol.

Anyways I feel for you…

thank you! xoxo…. are you enjoying your bits and pieces?

I am.. So far I have revisited Hepburn, and Toffee Dream, I was kind of too busy to give a tea proper attention today. I wm planning to explore something new tomorrow, looking forward to it!

i’m crazy busy, if you don’t have time to review i’d be the last one to gripe. just thought i’d ask!! =0)

No harm in it, James they all look fabulous! I think I’m going to have to close my eyes and reach in, to decide where to begin. I’ve also been wasting time contemplating a Betjeman order.

i did NOT just read that. i have enough tea… i have enough tea… i will not look them up online!! lol!

It’s a little bit more effort. To get decent shipping you have to do a phone order from Fouvrac in Montreal. They carry the full line, but don’t have a webstore. So you have to check out the teas at the Betjeman and Barton site. Shipping they said was cheap, someone had an order sent to California for $10.

Fouvrac seems to carry a lot of companies. They have Betjeman, and a lot of Kusmi, but I have also seen Fauchon, Compagnie Coloniale, and Marriage Frères tins in the pictures on their Facebook page.

I saw Montreal and perked up. I suppose I have another store to check out now.

Also this is a list (granted an incomplete one) of the tea companies they have: http://www.lefouvrac.com/grocery-product/en_tea.html

https://m.facebook.com/lefouvrac?id=220918191303544&_rdr. They have 2 locations. I’m not sure which is better but the Betjeman site lists the Fleury location. http://www.betjemanandbarton.com/en/content/9-world

They have really cute teaware as well!

The other location is closer but realistically the difference is insignificant unless you are driving there.

I AM COVERING MY EYES!!!!!! i am not reading! i have been SO well behaved. CURSES! lol.

Looks like you’re fine going to the Laurier location anyways. They apparently have an annex to the store dedicated to the Betjeman teas. http://voir.ca/voir-la-vie/art-de-vivre/2012/12/06/home-sweet-home/

Yeah. Damn. I really shouldn’t be buying more. It is just so tempting though.

Beware, according to the fleury St description they carry 48 companies teas.

And it’s smaller than the Laurier one

Hahaha. This could hurt my wallet. Perhaps I should avoid the store.

True, it does look dangerous. If you go set a limit, but it looks at least you can buy 50g.

James, we kind of hijacked this discussion, but you know when I finally get around to placing an order, some samples will be coming to you.

ha ha ha ha…. hijack away! i am a man of mettle! i’ll misbehave- i just have to save it up for next semester is all =0)

Oh wow, yyz, that is a serious thing to consider! I could get a lot of things I’ve been wanting to try all with just one order. :D

Yay! Congrats on 500!

Congrats on 500 MissB!!

Good show, MissB!

Yay 500! Hope you start feeling better soon.

I drink this tea so often as well, love it! Happy 500 notes!

w00t 500! Hope you’ll feel better soon.

Congrats on 500!!!

Congrats on 500, feel better!!

damn! i love blackberry! ah well, i have a ton of tea…. =0)

James, I know, right?

Aww, too bad they took it away from you. I like blackberries, but I’ll admit that I prefer more sour berries such as raspberries.

Fjellrev, I like raspberries a lot, too. This tea was really awesome though.

I’d send them a note; I’m finding them really easy to work with, and they’ll tell you if it’s a temporary or permanent removal.

Thanks, MissB, that’s a great suggestion.

We can tell you – we now offer two teas – Blushing Berry (which has all the red fruit – currants and strawberries) AND Black & Blue (which has all the black and blue fruit – blueberries, blackberries) SO my guess is you would like the Black & Blue – sorry we no longer have your favorite but we think these two are awesome as well.

Thank you. I’ll be sure to try them!

«…If ever a tea famine hits us…» ok, now i’m freaked out! You’ve got me thinking, there’s a small bunker in the basement (no I’m not a paranoid freak, it came with the house) it’s a REALLY good reason to order more Laoshan Black to store in my tea bunker, cause you know…a tea famine is pretty serious…just saying.

In case of impending doom, I vote we all meet at TheTeaFairy’s house and share her tea bunker. ;))

Haha. Dexter, the only fair thing to do is to bring our tea stashes along as payment into the bunker but something tells me that all of steepster and our tea stashes would certainly not fit into one bunker.

Yay, it’d be the biggest tea party ever!
And hey, not that I don’t have enough tea for all of you, but I can even offer free rent space for your own stash :-)

Haha. That would certainly be a HUGE tea party. We could probably live on everyone’s collective tea stashes for years.

Sounds like a plan! Sounds like an excellent plan!!

I’ll be here all alone in St. Louis. If you guys run out of tea, I’ll be here, holding down the fort :)

Hmm spring or autumn harvest? Any preference?

You know, I made the mistake of not labeling them, so I have both…

:) Perhaps i will try some of both :)

Sunday at 7?! Ugh, I feel for ya.

Hang in there Dex, think of how good lazy Monday will feel like tomorrow :-)
(maybe???)

My job would be a lot easier this morning if they would close the highways. Travel advisory in effect – blowing snow with poor to zero viability at times. ALl I can do is tell my guests this – I can’t DECIDE for them what to do.

Sorry to hear you have to work so early, but glad you have some tea to enjoy

Hope the day goes quickly and people remember to not take their frustrations out on you! Glad the caffeine helped. This one is quite bright, I agree. It used to be even brighter. It’s mellowing out a little. The other two Jinjunmei’s have very different characters. This one was probably a good choice for today though as the caffeine content is a little higher!

I’m trying to imagine cinnamon and lavender together and totally failing in the attempt.

cinnamon and lavender…how’s that working out? a creative pairing, no doubt. i imagine this to be a clash of titans. did u enjoy this one?

Its kind of interesting, the lavender I have is quite a spicy one. In some sips they kind of create their own unique entity, while in others the cinnamon is kind of woody cinnamon hearts and the lavender comes off slightly powdery compared to some of my other lavender experiments. Mostly its a sweet spicy mix with a touch of brightness.

I’m actually enjoying it. I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but for some reason it was in my mind to try it.

Haha! I like reading about your little alchemy blend testings :-)

Oooh, interesting. I can see lavender and ginger being nice together… the cinnamon makes it a little scary, haha.

I’m not sure if I like it as much as the lemongrass, lavender, ginger but it did taste pleasant to me, I think I want something to deepen the base a bit, but I really liked the last half cup. I might add it to the coconut experiment sometime maybe I can get lemon pound cake with lavender ( I have had that before).

YES Hello Sweetie! And Hattialli Golden Paw. :)

Courtney-Glad to hear you are excited about those 2! :)

Very excited to be able to try Hello Sweetie!

Also the others haha, but especially those two.

Excited about Hello Sweetie too, but also a little sad that the Irish cream cheesecake is changing. It was one of my favorites from my last order! Hope you have a great vacation in a couple of weeks :)

Hello Sweetie!!!
I have a lot of Butiki teas from the BF sale, and from what I grabbed off other people, but I WILL be buying 2oz+ of that one… And to make the shipping worth it, I guess I’ll have to get some more Caramel Vanilla Assam etc.

Will you give us all warning on the blends which are being removed? Just in case some of them are near and dear to our hearts?

Oh my! Hello Sweetie and a baked Ali Shan. Be still my heart. :D

Wow, lots of changes, everything sounds really good!

As for the teas that should be removed, the one that comes to mind is apricot Guayusa, never did anything for me, but doesn’t mean it no good, just my own personal taste.

I had stock up on Taiwanese Assam, but now I’m running low…hmmm, for the upgrade, did you really mention cherry notes??? OMG!!! I might be in trouble…

P.S. I won’t wish you a good vacation in february cause I just know it will be awesome :-)

Hello sweetie!!! Been dying to try that and the hattialli golden paw and Ali Shan!!! I have soooooooooookko much tea from you from BF though!!! So much!!!

i need more caramel vanilla….. and i think i have to have a hoard stash of black lotus. i drink it and it makes me poetical— i think that’s a sign, don’t you? and btw, the fact that steepster’s auto correct is not freaking over the word ‘poetical’ is HYSTERICAL! it must be a fan of firefly…..

Roswell Strange-Excellent! Glad to hear that you guys are looking forward to that one. It turned out so good!

Stephanie-Well, I hope you like the new version! I’m glad you enjoyed the old version. Thanks for the vacation wishes! :)

Cavocorax-The Hello Sweetie won’t be coming out completely until March, so you have some time. :) We will be giving some warnings when we decide which blends are getting chopped. I’m not quite sure which ones will go. All of the popular, highly rated teas will definitely be staying.

Moraiwe-Glad to hear you are interested in those two :)

TheTeaFairy-And those are just some of the changes. I can think of at least 10 new additions that I didn’t mention, including maybe one of Stephanie’s tea entries. I think you might be right about the Apricot Guayusa. It really has only stayed around as long as it has because a friend of mine requests it. I always make her a pot of it with a cinnamon stick and rock sugar. Oh yeah, I am definitely tasting cherry notes. Well, my February vacation is changing a bit but not sure how yet. Unfortunately, I tore a tendon in my foot pretty badly from ignoring my plantar fascistis and continuing to stay on my feet despite doctor warnings. Not sure how the vacation will change but will definitely be traveling less. Thanks for the vacation wishes, I will definitely have a good time!

BrewTEAlly Sweet-Glad to hear you are interested in the Hello Sweetie! A big thanks to James on that one, for letting the tea go wherever it goes.

JustJames-Hahaha, poetical. Love that word. Glad you are a fan of The Black Lotus. I love that one so much! :)

Oh nooo! That’s pretty tragic about your foot, so sorry about that…Hmmm, I understand why it might change your plans a little, that would suck though. I’m sure you will figure figure out something no matter what :-)

It will be hard to resist ordering soon…( keep it quiet, but I’m suppose to be on a tea hiatus)

TheTeaFairy-Of course it had to happen now. Doh! I can’t complain though, I have certainly had my fill of fun vacations. I know this will be fun too, even if scaled back. No worries, your secret is safe with me…and the rest of the internet. :D

Tea fairy… The two assams are totally different teas imo. I prefer the non upgraded version, but the upgraded one is tasty, but just a different tea. If youth in k of it as an upgrade to PTA, it falls short….treat it like a new tea:)

Sil-This upgrade harvest is a little bit different though. :)

SO excited for Hello Sweetie! :D When I read the description for it, I positively whimpered that it was a custom blend, haha. Especially since PTA is the base!

So glad that PTA and Upgrade are back in stock. :D I haven’t tried out all the teas I got from my last order from you, but I’m already loading up a cart for another. I miss my two PTAs!

… Just promise me that Foxy Roxy Banana Walnut Treat isn’t going. D: If it were to be discontinued, I think I’d go crazy and buy ALL of it and make it last as long as possible. xD

Will Mi Xian be gone forever? Or just until the next harvest?

For obvious reasons, I also hope you’re not removing Foxy Roxy :-)

No worries guys, Foxy Roxy is here to stay!

Chizakura-Glad to hear that Hello Sweetie sounds interesting to you. PTA is my morning tea, I’m glad its back too! I was rationing my tea out for that one.

It’s one of my favorites. At the moment its scarce but hopefully not for too long.

I meant to say that Mi Xian is one of my favorites and is scarce, not the PTA. Just wanted to clarify in case that is confusing.

Aw, I seem to have a curse where my favorite Butikis relatively few others dig and they get changed or discontinued! I’m not complaining really, I totally understand, but it’s funny being the odd duck out. I mean this as a compliment, not a complaint, but I love the Irish Cream Cheesecake! I’ve been drinking it as a breakfast tea and loving it that way, where it’s brisk like a breakfast blend but with that treaty reward for getting out of bed, ha. Looking forward to seeing what’s new and excited about Hello Sweetie!

oooo… I hope Pistachio Ice Cream isn’t going anywhere. I love that tea.

lolainred-Pistachio Ice Cream is safe! That was one of the first teas we made!

Aww yes. Another fruit juice type tea for cold brewing on my list. :) Which other ones do you like from there? I’m almost out of a few of my favourites, so I’ll need to stock up with something..

I think my two favourites would be Berrylicious and Summer Fruits, with this one trailing behind. They both feel like they have more going on, although this is quite good too. I also had Juicy Cherry, and it was good, but it has rose, so you may pick up on it? Creamy Rhubarb was ok but I wouldn’t get it again.

Rose is OK as long as it’s not the main ingredient! :) I wouldn’t go for a rose tea, but the Fauchon teas are totally fine. I’ll definitely check out those other teas!

Now I have another company to check out for more teas to cold brew.

If you want stuff, I can pick it up and mail it for you. Or get MissB to mail it for you because I think she has an account. They don’t have an e-commerce site…

That is a very kind offer. Although I have so much that it is probably for the best that a company is inaccessible. I shall keep that in mind if I ever get desperate though :)

It might just mean more swapping in our future! :)

I thought you could email her an order? But I’m not sure how she would take payment. You’d think they’d take PayPal.

I think they do credit cards, but shipping starts at $14.

$14 shipping…ouch. However, I am always happy to swap :)

Me and Bayswater have yet to interact in-person. ;)

We should make plans to go out there after you’re through your work-crunch, MissB! That could be fun. :)

Gross, I didn’t think shipping would be so much. :(

And MissB, you just have to go sometime! It’s so nice to be able to smell everything.

I have always wondered how the MATCHAccino differs from just plain matcha. I thought about picking some up to try but then saw it was like 50something calories and decided not to.

Yeah, it has some sugar in it. Not a lot (especially compared to a Starbucks unsweetened green tea latte), but some.

When I have an income and finally break hiatus (maybe sooner than later – my birthday is March so hopefully there’ll be birthday money), my first order is likely gonna be Red Leaf for some flavoured matcha. I think I’d likely get Caramel Matcha over MATCHAccino because that’s quite tasty too – I just know I need at least one of them in my life at all times, hah…

OMG ROSWELL STRANGE MY BIRTHDAY IS MARCH TOO!!! WE TRULY ARE KINDRED SPIRITS!! Okay I will stop with the super-over-excited-caps. But I saw “my birthday is March” and sort of stopped reading to come write my excitement.

Now I have finished reading and I definitely understand needing matcha in your life. Honestly though, I think I could forgo the caramel matcha in favor of the caramel popcorn because it is amazing!

Also, I only ended up placing an order with Red Leaf Tea because a friend of mine was going to order on her own regardless so I suggested if we ordered together we could get more flavors and split them so we went in on an order together. It is nice because now we are getting about 9 different matchas between the two of us that I can review and get discounts for. Then we can place more orders in the future. Without her I probably would have struggled with placing an order for such a long time given their prices.

I wonder what the odds are that your Birthday is the same day as mine? I guess 1/31…

My first matcha experiences were SO bad (sorry Lala), that had I not received some samples from Red Leaf free, and then the samples from you I probably would have written matcha off all together. Now I think I have eight different kinds on my “HAVE TO TRY THIS” list (though, I’ve had three of those eight already).

I have been lucky to have only good experiences with matcha and thanks to numerous people on steepster I have been able to try a bunch of different flavors and figure out what I like best. I think that is why I was not too anxious when I finally committed to placing an order.

Also I am born March 15. The ides of March and also fertility day in Japan (on which they carry around GIANT wooden penises).

Ah, so close! March 13th for me… And that is certainly some very fun trivia about your birthday! I don’t know if there’s anything significant surrounding the 13th.

So close indeed! My mom is the one who told me about fertility day. I would feel special that there is significance to the day if it not for the fact that my mom is born New Year’s Day and my brother is born Christmas day. Ides of March/Fertility day just can’t compete. On the plus side, I can go out on my birthday because stores/restuarants/etc. are actually open :P

My mom and Aunt (not twins, 11 year age difference) are both born Christmas Eve :P

Every day is a holiday, even if some are obscure ans weird. As a Pastafarian, I am pleased to be born on International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

All praise be to the FSM, for his noodly appendages have touched us all! R’Amen.

R’Amen.

I love love love this tea!
Were you there for the “we love Franks’s banana” discussion?

I was trying to think of something to summarize how I was there for that (yay me) and how I was laughing currently remembering it, but struggled so I’m just gonna plop this ‘Lol’ here to suffice ;)

I’m dying to try something that actually tastes like banana. This sounds delicious!

No – I think I missed this? Can someone link it? :P
And Yvonne, not only is it banana, it’s creamy coconut banana! I almost ordered some when Frank had 15% off, but it’s sold out.

Oh my, that sounds a million times more amazing. Coconut makes everything good!

Right? I wish I had had more than that little sample!

I have a thing about banana so when I saw Frank reblended it around BF I picked up a pouch. I think it is almost half gone and I actually haven’t even had a cup yet (though I have tried the tea and I know it is pretty delicious). Everyone keeps asking to try it and I am just happy to share given I have so much :). I am glad you liked it.

I’m grateful you could share it, especially since you haven’t even had it yet! :O

Haha it is okay. Better to share it than let it all sit and go bad. Plus it is always nice when you can help someone try something that they may not try otherwise. Frank’s blends are so hard to find so I always try to accommodate when someone wants to taste one.

And, it is not like others haven’t done the same for me so it is always nice to give back.

You are just beyond nice, VariaTEA. :) The world needs more people like you.

My pouch of Butterscotch Banana is nearly gone, which makes me really sad. I have about a mug worth of this and Napalm Ferret left as well. Soon I’ll be out of amazing 52Teas Banana teas :(

Also: http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/217401#comments

I’m so sorry. My Beni died almost two years ago, and I still have hard days. It’s because we loved them so much — we have to have this hard stuff because we had so much of the wonderful stuff. Be gentle with yourself and take all of the time that you need.

I’m so sorry to hear that! virtual hugs

So sorry for you loss, wishing you lots of love and support around you.

so sorry to hear about Spike’s dead.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry to hear this… :(

Sider passed three years ago, and there are still tears to shed. I’m so sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.

I’m so sorry! That’s so hard!

I’m so sorry to hear. :-( Comforting thoughts your way.

I’m so sorry to hear that :(

Oh no! :( that type of loss is never, ever easy. I’m glad you’ve got nothing but your faves lined up today.

OMG. I’m so sorry. :(

Oh, dear. That’s so sad, I’m sorry for your loss. :(

Oh no, I’m so sorry, Rosehips. :(

Haha “agony” is a great word choice here.

Very poetic word.

I can’t take credit for it, it is a real tea term. I read about it in a book about tea. Here is a link to a definition: http://coffeetea.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/g/Agony-Of-The-Leaves-Definition.htm

Agony of the tea…nice!

I love this one, but am hoarding it – heard a rumor that Garret might not be getting more. :((

Hi gang!!! The producer that I source these from decided last year to turn his leaf into something else other than pearls. With any luck, he will do pearls with his spring-picked leaf again this year. Trust me, I’m working on him!!!! We got our best black pearls from him.

Crossing fingers – happy to hear that there is hope for more of this. It is soooooo good.

I was so tempted to place an order after reading about this collection. Then I started adding other things to the order. Then I saw the total, got scared, and closed the window. Haha.

One day, one day I will place that order. Or better yet, one day I will travel to France and forgo the shipping all together :P

My thoughts exactly, VariaTEA! While I’d still like to place an order (maybe by the end of the calendar year), maybe it’ll give me an excuse to just physically go there so I can sniff ALL THE TEAS.

this one is really expensive…I’m not sure if i’d buy it again – i love it but this last tin i received, my parents picked up for me. I wish you could buy it in bags – then it would be a permanent restock

It’s more than the $25 tins? That is… ridiculous.

it’s 25euros…i think it was…

bags though are decently priced at 5-9 euros…but this is one of their exclusives

Dayum. Biting my tongue, but… really.