Featured & New Tasting Notes
All the RiverTea hype going on right now has made me pull out my two remaining small sample packages of this blend and Pret a Portea. Internally, I’m a hyena right now laughing loudly and egotistically at you all because I get to drink my RiverTea blends and you do not.
Mwahahaha.
But honestly, I’m so happy that RiverTea is receiving such a warm welcoming and so many people are placing orders because I’ve been nothing but impressed with the blends and the company itself. I hope everyone enjoys what they ordered as much as I’ve enjoyed the teas I received. I have my cart all built and samples picked out, but sadly I’ve yet to pick up a prepaid card to actually place my order.
So anyway, parameters for this mug were 1 tsp. of leaf in a 10 oz. mug steeped in boiling water for three minutes.
I still love the taste of this one – it’s a lychee black that really does taste exactly like a lychee. Not artificial or overly sweet, just perfect. Alongside the lychee, I also get floral notes of rose but that’s not uncommon for lychee since it’s often compared to roses, grapes, some wines, and perfumes.
For me, the sweet spot with this tea is after you’ve allowed it to cool down a little. If you try to drink it piping hot, it’s ok but cooled for 5-10 minutes and it’s just mind blowingly delicious. The black base for this one is also quite nice to boot.
For me, I only ever pull out my lychee teas (whether that’s Butiki, Tea Desire or now RiverTea) when I feel I really have time to sit down and appreciate them. I’m very excited to be getting a larger amount of this one!
So I finished off last night with 465 tasting notes. This is tasting note number 490. That means I have drank 25 cups of tea today. That can’t be good :S. Apparently when I compete, I compete to win. Go hard or go home. Alas, my worthy competitor, Roswell Strange, has fallen behind due to a bad tooth ache and winning is just not fun when it comes at the cost of someone else. So I hope you feel better soon and I am definitely happy to put off this competition for when we are both up to it. If nothing else, it definitely helped me explore my tea collection and make a dent in my stash.
Anyways, on to the tea…
Majority of this was sent to Pandeme but before weighing it out to send her way, I decided to grab just a few teaspoons for myself. I had a lot of this and don’t drink it nearly as often as I would need to to get through the amount I had so sending it away was a good plan. However, I am glad to have just a couple more servings for when the mood strikes because this is actually not a bad cup of tea. I definitely taste blueberry more than anything else but the Pineapple Kona Pop adds a nice apple sweetness and a hint of floral to the blend. All in all pleasant every now and again but not anything I plan on restocking once it is gone.
Preparation
Wow! I hope they were SUPER SMALL cups.
8-10 oz mugs. It was probably not the best choice.
That’s insane. I feel waterlogged enough once I reach 12 cups. And let’s not start talking about the trips back and forth to the washroom haha.
Oh the bathroom might as well have had a revolving door on it because I was frequently running in and out.
That is a crazy amount of tea! I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit bit jealous of your tea drinking skills.
Also, I’m super excited for this! :D
I really hope you like it. And I don’t know what is up with Canada Post but I just checked your tracking # and for some reason it is still just listed as “accepted at the post office”. Meanwhile, a package I dropped off today is already in transit. GET YO SHIT TOGETHER, CANADA POST!!
Hahaha, oh the joys of Canada Post :P I know what you mean though, I mailed a birthday present to a friend of mine in Tofino two weeks ago and it is still listed as “sorting”…whatever that means.
That is almost better than USPS – I just checked an order number on a package from Red Leaf Tea and apparently it was delivered on the 13th. Unfortunately, I don’t have that package so I am a little frightened of who it was delivered to.
Ack! That is definitely the last thing you want to see when you don’t actually have the package.
25 cups! That’s reaching Sil-levels! :) Good luck with your Red Leaf package.
hey!
LOL. You drink huge cups of tea, Sil. Don’t front. :) (I’m eyeing the Davids Latte Mugs. 24 oz!)
moi? i fake innocence! or is that claim grin today is a good drinking day…i hope it continues over the weekend!
Ahhh I want one really badly. I was actually debating about putting all my teas that are in bags into the tins I have left. Then I figured I would have an excuse to place a Davids order and once I was ordering I could toss one into the order.
I’ve been wanting to try these savory teas for near forever now. Our normal grocery store doesn’t carry them, so I didn’t have much hope, but the store near Fiance’s parents’ house did. So here we are!
I got the sampler with all six flavors and this once sounded the least weird, so it’s where I started. But it was still weird. Good weird. But weird.
On the front of of the sip is a salt and delicate pepper flavor, mingling with a brothy tomato with a little bit of lemon brightness. Then the mint hits somewhere in the middle and is pleasingly balanced with the other flavors. The tail of the sip is more straight on pepper and just a little bit of lemon.
This is so much like drinking soup, but it’s not nearly thick enough to even feel like a broth. I really enjoyed it, but I cannot emphasize enough how weird this is.
Preparation
If this is the least weird I can’t wait it hear about the others!
Remind me to bring over my lemon basil oolong next time I see you. I think that one is my introduction to savory tea :)
From Fava? I actually have some here!
Yes from Fava, I should have assumed you did XD
Honestly, someone needs to create a drug and call it “waking up just isn’t so bad when you’re doing it on a Friday morning” because it’s the truth. I slept soundly last night for the first night in a while, and had a delicious bagel and cream cheese breakfast with Mr. keychange this morning. I was actually debating between this and dt’s blueberry jam, but Mr. keychange rightly pointed out that blueberry tea probably wouldn’t accompany an herb and garlic cream cheese bagel all that well. I bet the jury’s still out on that one, but I chose this one anyway. The more I drink it, the more I get a general sense of creaminess, instead of a specific vanilla taste. I’m mostly ok with that, although I think I was hoping for more of an authentic vanilla flavour. That being said, this is probably the only EGC I can handle, as I find many of them to be a bit too heavy on the bergamot.
Despite the original high I felt this morning, I’m crashing, and wish I’d had a second cup of tea before leaving the house this morning. Oh well: up next, Rose Scented!
Oh you’ve inspired me, I think I’m going to have a rose tea today as well! If it makes you feel better, I’m feeling the same way this morning. Getting out of bed was not what I wanted to do this morning, I wanted to be snuggled under the covers until at LEAST 9 am
I know. getting out of bed takes unbelievable effort for some reason, but some people seem to just spring up and go! LOL. And yes, enjoy a good rose tea today—I’m loving my rose scented at the moment!
Usually I am that annoying spring out of bed person… today though not so much :)
My husband is the “spring up and go” kind of person… He springs up out of bed every morning at 5 am, even on the weekends. Sometimes earlier. Me on the other hand… I’m not an early morning person. Getting up before sunrise takes effort… huge effort.
Oh yeah. I mean, I’m known to set my alarm a good half hour before I actually need to be up, because I need to get up slowly and languish.
I have two alarms and if I’m feeling up to it I’ll lay in bed and play with social media on my phone before actually getting up. The only way this would be better is if I had tea to accompany this, but I’d have to invest in a Breville. Or a Butler, I guess.
Ah, boo. I underleafed this one; used only 1 tsp for a 8 ounce cup. I LOVE Della Terra’s samples (I think I maxed out on their sample offerings my first order, and am still working through them). I just wish they had steeping instructions on them.
Having said that, this is DELICIOUS. I seem to strongly favor DT’s chocolate blends and a few herbals OMGsrsly shared with me, and kinda feel meh about pretty much everything else that has that ‘pancake syrup trying to be maple syrup’ flavor to it.
Really though, try this. The salted caramel is bang on, and kinda sorta blew my mind. Reminded me of the gelato I get when I’m on Salt Spring, when I mix their dark chocolate with salted caramel, and get only awesomesauce explosions of sweetness and salt in my mouth.
Preparation
this is a very cool tea! strawberry jam in the tea, and cupcake in the smell… they achieve strawberry cupcake by clever layering… i really have no idea how they do that!
cake without being sticky or heavy, strawberry including an essence of seeds!
very nice…. i’ll buy again.
Preparation
Oh, yay!! Was wondering how this one would work out.
Onto the shopping list this goes…
Nvm. Apparently it was already on there.
lol. weeeeeeeeeeeeeell…. i kindof have a bag. as long as a letter envelope doesn’t offend i could ship a bit off as a teaser? =0)
That is very kind of you. And I would hope letter envelopes are inoffensive as I use them to :O
Perhaps there is something I can send in return? Let me know! I will be going to the post office tomorrow so if anything tempts you I can have it sent out in no time.
I HAVE ENOUGH TEA FOR A WHOLE SEMESTER! lol. but, i’ll ask a favour? can you review the mityana tea for me if i include it? honestly. they need whatever feedback you honestly have. =0)
Of course. I review all the teas I drink :) And are you sure there is nothing at all I can send? I see Transsiberian Chai on your shopping list and I have about 40 g of it upstairs :P
I feel a need to play cheerleader again. Do it, VariaTEA! Send James the tea! :D
hahaha OMGsrsly, it might already be in the envelope…shhh
lol, geez. i can’t think of a chai i didn’t want to try. that would be lovely. thank you! OMGsrsly… now i see you with tea bag pom poms :0P
this sounds SO good.
That’s an idea, James! Maybe for Halloween!
i want a picture!!
Aimee Popovacki… you’re back! it’s a great tea. my favourite simpson and vail so far.
lol ya finally, but i’m behind in reviews haha… i dont even remember like half of what i’ve drank…. i definitely want to try more simpson and vail.. i’ve heard good things : )
And another sipdown! :O
This was so good. I’m totally relaxed for bed. :)
Good night, Steepsterites! Good night!
i have a sample of this….. hmmm. thinking, thinking….
Would you like some more Cavo? I haven’t quite sealed up your package. I think I counted 23 teas though and 24 is such a nicer number :P
*24 is a much nicer number.
Do it, VariaTEA, do it! :D
It has been done!
It’s a decaf, and really finicky about being oversteeped. Try it, JustJames! VariaTEA, do it… ;)
I am learning from you MissB! I just keep adding and adding. I think I opened and resealed the swap package to Roswell Strange like 4 times. I have to say though, it is very satisfying to both reign in my own cupboard and share with others.
Omg. :O
I’m laughing at this on the bus and I don’t care! I feel spoiled.
I love our community!!
The leaves of this tea are beautiful. Rolled and all golden and black, amazing to look at.
I’m not educated enough to understand what is going on in this one. It has the right mouth feel of a rich, thick black – but it also is lighter in flavor than I normally prefer. It’s smooth and gentle – zero astringency, but has a bit of the “dry mouth” thing that I’m not fond of. I’m not sure how to classify this. There is no doubt that this is a high end tea, but I don’t think it fits my favorite black notes.
Thank you so much ifjuly for sending me some of this. I feel like I don’t deserve to be “wasting” this beautiful tea.
Just enjoy! :-)
:)
yeah, what caile said. (:
What caile and ifjuly and stephanie said: :)
Hmm… I have to try mine still. I feel like I’m saving them for a treat once I drink some of these samples!
I LOVE Mandala Tea, and as much as I think this is a special tea – it’s not really to my tastes. I think others would appreciate it more than I do – this tea deserves to be loved, and I don’t love it.
OMGsrsly – I have lots that I’m saving for the right day…
I don’t think you wasted it. Trust me it will “grow” on you.
I got an ounce with MissB. :) So excited. I got some of the cones as well! Once my sample box doesn’t spill onto the floor when I look at it, I will indulge.
When I sent majority of this package off to Veronica, I decided to save a few tsps just to make sure my initial dislike was not just a fluke. So this afternoon I grabbed out my packet and brewed up a cup. This time around I get the faintest bit of what could be called cotton candy if I stretch my imagination and concentrate but realistically it is just a sweet black tea and not much else. I am glad it went to a home where it has been given far more love than I ever could. As for the last tsp, I am opening up the swap to Roswell Strange (yet again as I may have added stuff last night at 3 am when I couldn’t sleep :O) so that she can give it a try.
Preparation
Oh Gosh, I get the feeling this swap is gonna be huge!
It fits in a bubble envelop still, I have not reached the point where I need to put it in a box. However, it is definitely the biggest swap yet. And I think recently I have had a tad bit of a panic over the surplus of teas I own so I am sending some of that your way :P
Your’s is in a bubble envelope right now too, but I think it’s the biggest bubble envelope I’ve sent (anyone) yet…
I am quite fearful of my cupboard exploding. I keep thinking about the packages on the way and between my few orders, this swap, and a package from MissB (who is ever so sneaky with adding tea), I worry what that number might be.
**Yours(?) Oh gosh, I’ve been out of school too long – I can’t remember my grammar anymore… I’m trying to do some sipdowns today: I’d rather not get over 200.
haha I am very conflicted over what I should drink. I don’t know if I should be diving into my samples box, drinking teas from swaps, going for sipdowns, or drinking older teas (not that any of them are THAT old since I only got into teas in August but still). I keep leaning towards sipdowns just because I keep trying to control my stash haha.
Right now I’ve got samples that are close to sipdown size, some of my oldest teas (mostly DAVIDsTEA blends), and the 2 Butiki teas from my BF order I’ve yet to try out of my closet – and I’m kind of rotating between those things. I was hoping I could make Orange Matcha a sipdown today, but I still have a little left. I was tempted to add it to your package, but I’ve already sealed the bubble envelope up since the little strip was coming off :(
haha I decided to recycle an envelop I got in an old swap (mostly because I didn’t have one large enough at home and it is always so frustrating to have to package everything up at the post office. People look at you funny when you have a giant pile of teas :P. Anyways, in order to seal it up, I used a whole bunch of duct tape and then I keep reopening it and resealing it with another strip of tape to ensure it stays closed when it travels. So I will apologize in advance for the surplus of tape. However, speaking from experience, it is actually quite easy to peel away and open when you want to.
I have a small(ish) stack or regular envelopes and then a second of various sized bubble envelopes so I can package everything here at home instead of doing the awkward at the post office thing. The one I used for this swap was the biggest size I had.
Alternate! 1 sipdown, 1 older tea, 1 tea you like. :) Keeping everything in rotation is a good idea. I’m focusing on samples right now though because stuff keeps falling out of the box onto the floor.
hahaha mine is quickly getting to be that full too. Although my bag of swaps is also exploding. I guess just reaching for whatever appeals to me at the time is a good way to go about it.
All my tins or bags of tea which are large enough to stand upright are kept in our living closet sorted by tea types (grouped, basically) with the exception of the 20 or so teas I have in the kitchen on rotation. I then have a drawer with is filled with samples I immediately or quickly want to get to. All Matcha is kept in the freezer. Everything else (samples, small bags of tea, etc.) are kept in huge ziploc bags labelled by tea type (Black, White, Herbal, etc.). I then have a spreadsheet on my laptop which organizes things by company and then, within company, tea type. Next to that information is something like: “Tin”, “No Tin”, “Sample”. If it’s in a tin, I know it’s in the closet, same with “No Tin”. If it says sample, I know the look for it in the immediate sample drawer or one of the labelled tea type bags. With this system, I’ve never ‘lost’ a tea :)
Oh, and all my Tea Bags are kept in a special chest from my Grandmother (it has about 10 perfectly tea bag shaped compartments) in the kitchen…
haha Roswell Strange, you are so organized. I have all my teas on the floor surrounding my staircase. Some are in a large box which is my sample box, some are in a bag which is the swap box, ones from swaps are kept in the original package they came in and all those packages are sitting in a huge teavana back on top of my tins of teavana teas. There are some teas stored in tins on my kitchen counter (those are mine and my roommates favourites). I also have a spreadsheet where the teas are sorted by company and highlighted in different colors based on type. Also I list where (who) each tea comes from, who I sent the teas to, and if I would buy the tea again. On that spread sheet, I also include tasting notes so I can quickly see why I would/would not restock them. Also, last night I made a separate list of all my caffeine free teas so I can quickly decide what I want to have in the evenings/at night.
Yeah, the tea types in my spreadsheet are done by colour too (I use DAVIDsTEA colour system because all my tins are DAVIDsTEA tins that match tea based on the colour). I also have a system in the spreadsheet to know whether I’d restock: N/A (Haven’t tried yet), No Restock, Restock, and Unsure. I should mark who teas came from in swaps, but I don’t. Usually I can remember…
How much to do you guys charge for setting up and data entering onto one of those fancy spread sheets?
Dex, I would happily make a spreadsheet for you. Granted I can’t fill in the origins of your teas or tasting notes or stuff like that but I can use your cupboard as a guide and organize them by company and color code by type :)
I was just about to offer to do the same thing! Honestly, it doesn’t take long to do so I wouldn’t at all mind helping :)
LOL Thanks guys, really I was kidding. I would never be disciplined enough to keep it updated. I was just in awe that both of you actually keep that kind of data.
My mom used to be a bookkeeper and so I kinda grew up with spreadsheets. I think it is more habit than anything :P
Similarly, my Mom was a secretary for years before she quit to return to school and get her Masters so as soon as I started having to use Microsoft Word or Excel for school she taught me how to do everything properly according to MLA Style Guides and things like that – though tea is the first time I’ve ever used a spreadsheet practically outside of school :P
I work accounting, I look at spread sheets all day. I can appreciate how awesome it would be to keep my tea organized, but it would end up being too much like work. Respect you guys for keeping yours up to date.
I feel as though i try to come up with different and interesting ways to describe my fondness of a tea each time I review it, because I don’t want you guys to all be like “wow, keychange is awfully repetitive, let’s all have a tea crawl and not invite her!” haha (I’m kidding). But seriously, I think this tea travels extremely well, and tastes good both in a cup and in my timolino, which came as a very pleasant surprise because i’m always afraid that the stainless steel will somehow tarnish creamy, somewhat delicate notes—but that isn’t the case at all. This tea only gets better as it cools, and is also a hit with Mr. Keychange. I get a lot of coconut, and just a hint of sweet, slightly tart raspberry at the tail end of the sip, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
In other news, I’m reading the second book in the divergent series in order to kill some time, and although it’s an action-packed series full of twists and turns, something about the entire series is a bit obnoxious and induces many a proverbial eye roll (I’m not sure if I can actually roll my eyes; as a blind person, I’m not even sure which muscles are involved-like I can move my eyes up and then down, but like, is that the same as rolling them? anyway, I’m rolling my eyes on the inside, so let that count for something LOL). Ok, back to this book. The Hunger Games trilogy was way better, in my opinion, but I also think the whole dystopian genre is headed to hell in a handbasket. Where’s the current day Orwell at, guy?
We would never tea crawl without you, keychange! And I agree with your take on the dystopian genre although I guess that’s why Orwell’s book has persisted to be popular overtime and most of the modern series are just fleeting fads (except Harry Potter…Harry Potter will be popular forever!)
I love your descriptions!!! Keep it up :) And I just did an eye roll. Best way I can describe it is moving it like a clock hand ticks along, except with your eyes. Sorry if that sounds ignorant or offensive, you made me think about it and so I sat and thought about it! :)
Haha variaTea, I’m glad I’d be included. And let HP live on forever!
Tuscan, the description makes sense, although I can’t seem to, like, do a circular movement. Maybe the next time I’m with a sighted friend, we’ll practice me rolling my eyes and then die of laughter ha! (I’ve tried for a long time to master the pissed off look, but the consensus was that I just looked constipated!) LOL
There’s nothing wrong with not being able to look pissed off!!! That’s a good quality because then no one assumes you have bitchy resting face (the people who just being normal no expression, look extremely pissed off.) I have a friend who is like that and when I first met her, I thought: Whoa! This girl needs to smile once in a while. She’s a very happy person, just doesn’t convey it when she’s relaxed and not emoting.
You might be right-besides, I’d like to keep my emotional reactions to things private sometimes, so that’s one way to look at it. And I’ve heard of the people who seem to constantly wear a sour expression—I’m glad I don’t have that particular problem.
And eyerolls dont come natural to us either. I had to practice, actually. It takes work. Uusally, when I see someone do it, they just look up with suggestive eyebrow wiggling, and that does the trick.
Ha! I just tried it, but the combination of both eyes and eyebrows just felt very ridiculous to me. People move their faces around a lot eh? I’ve asked people if I have an expressive face, and most don’t think it’s unusually blank or anything.
keychange, it feels ridiculous to me too. Yet I still do it to convey things. Mostly to this one teenager who really doesn’t like to talk much. :)
That’s great. I’m going to start moving parts of my face around all over the place and have fun at peoples’ reactions.
Woah! I just dumped a scoop of this in my timolino full of milk, shook it and left it in the fridge for 2 days.
THIS IS GREAT. It’s so dark and creamy. I love it.
Oh Cavo, you always inspire my matcha prep practices. I will have to give this a try once me and my matcha are reunited.
Do I inspire you with how lazy I am with my matcha? :P I always feel like it’s matcha abuse, but it turns out nicely!
Haven’t you heard that lazy people will always find the most efficient way to do a task so they can get it over with quickly? You taught me to mix matcha in cold milk and most of the time that is far easier and tastes much better than prepping it in hot water like a tea.
That is if you’re not too lazy to do it in the first place, VariaTEA! ;) I need to try this. I still have the Bubblegum matcha to try (I think). I’m a little suspicious of it…
I don’t blame you, OMG! I think there’s a reason that I won such a large amount of it. It’s a little odd.
Laziness wins. :D
pretty sure the version i have is not this version, as there are goji berries in it…but i am lazy tonight, and i don’t think anyone has entered this version in to the database. it’s insanely late..just got home from work team building exercise but i drank this waaay early today. Still not enough tea in me to make me a happy camper…yet but it’s a start. Tomorrow i should be home earlier in order to be able to sit, work at home and get in some evening tea. This version is tasty, but not as much as the original version i tried…but certainly not bad!
I also liked the previous version better, I think there was alot more ginger in it, for one thing. But that was a year or so ago…
Yu lu yan chai had elderberries and goji berries in it if I recall. I don’t remember any being in the laoshan village chai but I would have to look.
That’s funny, neither version I can find on Steepster now mentions Goji berries (one of them used to), but the Verdant website (and my own bag of it) has them.
Sorry for the. Confusion. I KNOW my version is not this one. This is the new winter version they made with goji berries. I was just lazy last night and didn’t want to add the new version to the database. Verdant changes their blends up seasonally.
Soooo i haven’t had any tea since Sunday. When i woke up this morning i knew i needed a couple of old favourites to get me through the day since my next few weeks are going to be a little crazy. Got in last night, and now i’m at an offsite for two days which means the work is piling up! There’s a release over the weekend and then i’m back on a plane for a couple of days, which means more work piling up. Long story short…looks like there will be some overtime for a while! eesh.
This is such a wonderful tea to kick off my time back in Toronto. On the upside, i think the team is going bowling tonight which will be awesome! even though all i want to do is go home and sleep haha.
Gee, welcome back busy woman!!!
No tea since Sunday? How did you survive??
No tea since Sunday? But… but… it’s Wednesday today! Welcome back!!
Overtime means more money to buy tea!
(Or, I guess for your wedding…)
At least you made it through and it’s all behind you now. Curl up with a nice cuppa and forget your tealess days in a puff of aromatic steam.
Nice choice, especially since you’ve been hella busy! When you have the time, make sure to go through my cupboard and pick stuff out that you’d like to try so I could return the favour and send some back your way. :)
oooh i’ll try and take a look this weekend before i leave again. maybe this time my hotel room will have a damn kettle!
Amazing! Must steep at a lower temperature from now on in. It takes an amazing tea and makes it truly special. Now I get chocolate first, then orange, and all of it delicious.
Preparation
you’ve been doing that alot lately… it’s working? better spin? different spin?
I think it’s that I’ve set the Breville to 200F and keep on forgetting to change it to 212F. Which, in these cases anyway, it seems to be working. The last several teas of the night however, not as much luck…
=0(
Ah! You remind me, that’s a swap sample I’m gonna have today! Sounds wonderful this tea…
I want to try this tea just based on the reviews I’ve seen from you!
Good tip! I’ll have to try it. I really love it but I add just a tsp of milk for added creaminess.
Stuff has a tendency to add up and I don’t want to stand here in a few months with the realization I would need 8 full boxes to escape with even half my stuff. So I’m doing the responsible thing and am bringing two suitcases home with me – one full of stuff I can’t possibly need. If I start jonesing for Christmas ornaments in May, you need to just tell me off.
In light of this, and the fact that I’m trying out a new flight path from Rome and hence have no idea whether I even have fast track (although, to be fair, the FT at Fiumicino is a little overrated, and they’ve checked me for explosives twice in four months, so they obviously have it in for me) I clearly need to gather some strength. Hence, Cookie. Let me tell you, with a couple of almond biscotti on the site, it’s f*cking delicious.
I bought a new carry-on and I love it so much I gave it a name and slept with it.
Preparation
What’s its name?
Hah, I want to know the name, too!
I understand this. I’ve also named our water cooler (Watson!)
The navigation system in my car is named Nigel. :-)
Yeah, I’ve been waiting to hear the name.. must still be having a good sleep with that new carry-on. ;-)
From the poor neglectede queue! I’d just nearly learned the habit of keeping and posting from the queue regularly, and then Christmas and moving happened. So it’s time to get back in the swing!
Here’s another one out of the EU Travelling Teabox. It took a little detective work to find out what exactly it was, but I asked Google and eventually learned that this is a Sri Lankan black from the Uva district, Saint James being the name of the tea estate/factory. At least I found a tea factory by the name of Saint James in Sri Lanka so I’m going to assume it’s the same place.
Therefore,
Project Ceylon!
If I am correct in my aforementioned assumption then this is a high grown tea, which fits well with the very floral aroma of it. The more high grown a tea is, the more floral it will smell/taste in my experience. There is also a malty and slightly woody note underneath the floral aspect, but it feels like it really is struggling to get through all the floralness.
The first sip reminded me strongly of something but it was so fleeting that I can’t put my finger on what that something was at all. I think it was some sort of food. It was there again on the second sip, but less fleeting and I know what it was now. Persimmons. I’ve never tasted that in a tea before, but that’s exactly what it reminded me of. Possibly because I bought some last week and have been enjoying them. It’s been a long time since I last had persimmons, so I’m extra-aware of their flavour right now. There are other fruits involved here. I’m thinking mainly of things like grapes and possibly plums, but for me it’s large just persimmons.
When I first saw that this was a high grown tea I was instantly worried about the floral aspect, especially what with how floral the aroma was, but I needed not fear. The floral notes, while very much present, are actually quite controlled and there’s no hint of that slightly sour grassy note that I also tend to associate somewhat with high grown. Darjeeling tend to have that note in spades, and I’ve noticed it in many of the high grown Ceylons I’ve tried as well. This makes me wonder if this particular tea is actually closer to mid-elevation than I thought. In my book it would only be a plus if it were.
I found a small amount of malt and sort of brown sugar-y notes at the very bottom of it, but they were really not coming through much at all, so it was mostly the fruity notes with a highlight of floral for me.
This is actually a pretty good tea, and I hope whoever tries it next will enjoy it as well. I will let it remain a ‘try’ rather than a ‘take’, though. Unless I find it difficult to control myself when adding things from my shelves to the box. I was considering earlier what I could put in and it became clear that I would have to either take some more things out of the box or resist sharing some of my things. As I would prefer to share… I shall have to drink some more ‘tries’. :)
Project Ceylon reference map: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=211803378882467968316.0004d6ff92c6d663176b9&msa=0&ll=6.956929,81.038246&spn=0.135296,0.1478
(Husband says it reminds him of tomato soup… I don’t know, guys. I really don’t know.)
lol tomato soup!
I can’t for the life of me see where he gets that from.
Also, sorry about the crazy big link. Google maps refused to generate a small one for me.
haha Maybe it is the persimmon note you noticed – although I haven’t had one for so long, quite can’t recall the taste – sort of softly sweet and a wee bit like a melon is what it brings to mind… They sort have the shape of a tomato though! ;-)
The big link works though!
lol, this reminds me of the things my husband says when he’s trying a tea or just food in general. He has a strange sense of smell/taste, but I mostly find it amusing, as I did your husband’s conclusion.
Was craving genmaicha tonight. I thought organizing my tea stash was suppose to make it easier to find thing. If you were me where would you have put genmaicha? Uggg I was doing better when the tea was everywhere. Oh well, will hunt it down another night.
Thanks to MissB and the shared order Black Friday extravaganza, I have a whole tin of this. I still LOVE it, and it is making me happy tonight.
This sounds interesting for sure. Did it satisfy your genmaicha craving despite not being a genmaicha? Or are you still searching for your genmaicha?
It’s not genmaicha, but it’s nutty, roasty sort of like that. I did not continue looking for the genmaicha. I found this and thought – close enough. If I could sort my virtual cupboard by “type” of tea, I would find it. Too lazy to scroll through all my tea, I KNOW I have an unopened package from Verdant that I could find if I went looking, but I think I have an opened package or sample too. Don’t really know what I am looking for so it makes finding the package difficult. If I saw it in my virtual cupboard that would help job the memory. Tomorrow is another day.
I can imagine searching through over 300 teas must make things difficult, especially when you are not sure what you are looking for.
Heh. I just found my Moose Tracks after weeks of having lost it… it fell down in my cupboard behind a bunch of other things.
Yay you found your Moose Tracks – it was just hiding from you.
Sometimes, it’s better NOT to find a tea than finding it at an unreachable place…just saying.
This was my tea of the morning (no incident today, y’all, smooth easy going morning…)
I probably like Darjeeling as much as I do Assam. Some of them are as effective in the morning as any bold Assams.
This is another one I purchase by the tin (when I say by the tin, I mean 100g or more).
I only slightly prefer SF to FF cause they usually hold more of that fruity muscatel taste I like so much. I also love the fresh citrusy astringency this one offers (not bitter) that activates my tastebuds. That feature is usually more present in the FF I own. So this tea makes the Dajeeling worlds collide!
I’ve said in previous note on this tea that it feels like my favourite pair of denim: it hugs me in all the right places. Well nothing has changed.
I’m in love with this tea and always surprised it hasn’t received more reviews.
(See previous note)
Today was a very good day, I was at home with the cats and dog. I watched some old Seinfeld episodes and laugh really hard. «Master of your domain» and «Goerge’s world collides» for those familiar with the show…OMG, a gem.
Laughter is the best therapy. If your a cat lover like I am please don’t hesitate and click this link. If you’re not a cat lover, don’t click cause it will make you hate them even more. I don’t want that!
A special friend sent it to me 2 days ago, and i can’t explain how much it amused me. Still does. Thanks, you know who you are :-)
my cats would never do anything like that ;)
Mine doooo!!!!
Cryptickoi, were you being sarcastic, or are your cars really well behaved, lol, just curious :-)
haha…i’m glad you had no mishaps trying to get to your tea today…
Damn typos, I meant cats, of course your cars are well behaved!
They are all at eye level now…you live and learn!
haha…yes i’m being sarcastic…its their house,they just let me stay here….
luckily my car does behave…
“its their house,they just let me stay here….” That’s pretty much how it is, and mine has me really well trained
I’m with you, we live in their houses, but I like all opinionated living things, so it’s all good!
Hahaha! Good to know you can be tamed after all, Dex!
yeah,mine typically get what they want….
I’ve added this to my shopping list! let the revolution begin!
Haha! Keychange, you are putting much pressure on me, my dear partner in crime!
Thank you for the YouTube link. I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Our cats have done all those things except intentionally turn off the TV :)
And your tasting note on the Darjeeling sounds interesting. I have added it to my shopping list – Thanks!
TeaExplorer, I know, right? I also thanked the person who sent it my way :-)
My cats have turn on/off/change the channel of the tv, more than once, stepping on the remote controL ACCIDENTALLY, I’m hoping, lol…(though after watching this, I’m not quite sure!!!)
This tea is good but can’t be compared to the complexity of the finest spring Darjeeling you’ll ever taste, but I just love how it suits me as a good morning companion:-)
You can say what you will about Tuesday, but one thing’s for sure: it’s not Monday, so at least there’s that.
I slept fitfully last night; waking up for no reason an hour after I’d fallen asleep, and then couldn’t get back to sleep. Then cue the panic about only having a few hours of sleep left before the alarm inevitably ruins your life.
But The queen. She can fix most anything. She was pretty much the reason I managed to wake up and make it to work. I’m running scarily low on my supply of her, though, and need to replenish that “forthwith” as professionals in my world would call it. She’s still the perfect combination of smokey and sweet, bracing but gentle. It occurred to me that as I amass more and more tea, I seem to want each one less and less as it becomes old. Or maybe that’s just the way I am about a lot of things. Like the timolino? well I obviously need four or five of them. Want to start incorporating running into your life? ok, sign up for a marathon! Like hoodies from Lululemon (yes, a phase from a few years ago) then own one in every colour. But Queen has withstood the test of time, at least so far, and I love her for it. It’ll never get old, or so I’m hoping.
A good Tuesday to all of you. As early as tomorrow afternoon, the weekend ahead of us will be closer than the one behind us. Woohoo!
Hahaha, I laughed at the Lulu comment. I have probably 6 of them, which I still wear to and from yoga and such. But I haven’t bought anything from them in over 2 years. They are not the company they once were.
I’m entirely with you on the decline of the quality of clothing at lulu. it’s really too bad. And because of that (and the fact that it’s not really acceptable to wear lulu to work), I haven’t purchased anything from there in a while, either.
I’ve recently abstained from Lulu as well – I used to be huge on their clothing, loved every bit of it. Last thing I bought and probably ever will buy is a pretty flower spring jacket last winter that was on sale. The zipper tends to jam up, and the fabric is very flimsy and thin…it feels like something I would have paid maybe 75% less for than what I did. Definitely not up to par compared to the other Lulu clothes I own.
I used to adore their headbands and nothing worked better, but the newest one I have is awful and won’t stay on my head. :(
I know. Quality has really gone out the window. even their hoodies used to be so much thicker and more flexible. Now they’ve added all sorts of cheap fabric to the sides. Their clothing is neither as functional or as flattering as it once was. It’s too bad.
Agree with both you ladies, although I do like the scuba hoodie with the ribbing on the sides. I’ve been hard pressed to find other clothes replace the lulu pants I will have to replace soon. So far I’ve found a couple brands – Public Myth and one that I can’t think of the name on right now. All made in Canada. Also, if you need just a plain yoga pant – TNA still makes theirs in Canada as well. Have yet to try the crops, but want to. With all the heat that Lulu has taken recently press wise as well, I cannot continue to support a company with a founder as obtuse as he is.
100!!!! I must try this now!
OM NOM NOM.
I steeped this (possibly) forever. Even having the lid on, it’s down to guzzling temperature. Oops? Oh well. It is DELICIOUS.
Preparation
I am so jealous you get to have this!! I can’t wait for the reblend :)
I got a lot during the summer sale. :) I want more, though. I’m keeping an eye on MissB. Maybe we can all do a big order!
That is definitely a great plan. I only got a sample and when I fell in love I learned I could buy no more :(
I heard she’s doing a black tea version, but I might be wrong. I might need both versions in my life, if it’s a base I like. :)
I just love the Marshmallow leaf but I wouldn’t turn away a black tea version
I feel like my taste buds are broke because this was one WEIRD for me.
It reminds me of vanilla marshmallows. The expensive hand made ones. :)
See, and I got edamame beans. Either my taste buds are broken or I lost my mind.
LOL! For me, the laoshan green is like edamame beans and seaweed. :)
Oh, we can definitely do a large order. ;) It’ll just have to wait until Stacy is back from holidays to discuss the details. I’ll order whatever quantity she needs to reblend it, so that everyone who wants some can enjoy it.
I wish I loved this one too. I bought a bunch months ago and haven’t really been drinking it.
@Chizakura – there are definitely a bunch of people on here who would happily swap for it :)
This was one of the ones I bought from MissB! I’ve heard so much about S&V teas but haven’t made the jump to an order because I was afraid of the shipping costs (which are actually cheaper than listed to Canada if you just email and ask, or phone to place your order!)
Anyway, I was slightly disappointed with this, as I steeped it for 4.5 minutes and it was a little bitter. So perhaps I just need to steep it less. I’ll try it again tomorrow! (I’m not that disappointed. It smells really good and I fell it just needs a little tweaking to pop!)
…I miss tea….
Awww. You couldn’t bring any with you?
Yeah, I was an ignoramus and absorbed the $33+ shipping they threw at me at checkout.
Poor Sil. :(
I know it’s been a while, but maybe if you email them and mention that the catalog says shipping to Canada is $9 there, they would refund the difference? Can’t hurt to ask!
Oh, yes… I found steeping this 2-3 minutes is what works best. I would email them, they’ve been great with me about shipping. Wait… pam at svtea dot com is who I spoke with just the other day.
the hotel i was in had no kettle. the office? no kettle…. my pass? didn’t work so i didn’t want to beg someone to take me out for tea…
Oh, that makes sense! I hope you’re better set up for your next city!
Sil, that’s terrible! :( (And I’m being serious here.)
I’ve been ridiculously busy – lousy timing, since I have samples from the ever-amazing Ysaurella that I want to try and write elaborate tasting notes for, but, alas, no such luck.
Okay, so looking back at the previous notes for this, I’ve really fiddled about with the rating. And it’s seemingly a never-ending story, because I’m going to nudge it back up to 90. I love this tea, and until I find a better pear tea (if ever) I want to keep it around.
The leaf is beautiful, the tea itself is fresh and clean and natural-tasting, and I enjoy it very much.
So much, in fact, that this tasting note will have to cover the four cups I’ve had over the course of the past two days.
Preparation
Love me some juicy pear tea :-)
Pear Spice from Fava Tea is very good as well!
Rachel – that’s a black tea, though, right? And someone should write a tasting note for that one!
Oh i love pear. This i will make sure to include in my next order from LPDT. And their lovely matcha candy of course ;)
Oh, awesome, Dag – I hope you’ll like it. I want to try some more of their teas. The vanilla green could be better, but the Hammam teas, both the green and the rooibos, are excellent.
I love pear so i should really take the dive. I’ve been wanting to try LPDT anyway.
If you do try it, I think playing around a bit with the suggested temp/steeping time is worth it with this one.
For me, 90C/2 min tastes most deliciously pearful, but I’m sure that’s highly individual.
Aaaaah pear tea I haven’t tried! Aaaaaaah
+1 Sil :)
Sil/Ysaurella: I laughed so hard at this.
Anna, yes, it’s a black tea. I am going to have to rectify the tasting note issue soon! :-)
Chain reaction:
Feed the dog.
Attention, kibble escape: reaches for the water bowl.
Vaguely notice, don’t care.
Dog notices.
Dog eats kibbles, keeps the extra juicy one for dessert.
Dog has a choice: drink the water (it’s full), but not that patient and thirsty.
Dog goes for what seems to be the obvious choice: spills the water all over the kitchen and eats kibble.
Dog now satisfied.
Water everywhere, slippery, I fall once. Soaked PJ’s, bruised tooshie.
Haven’t had a decent cup of tea yet.
Take a break and read some Steepster notes.
Get inspired by this tea, decide to fix myslef a pot.
Tin is out of reach.
Pull out the mini bench from under the counter.
Stretching, on the tip of my toes.
Tin is really at an awkwardly high place…
Oh-oh…feel a bench slip coming. Water…spill not cleaned properly.
Damn kibble.
Major dangerous off balance feeling…tin is grabbed at last second…
I go flying… I mean, FLYING folks.
Stainless steel stove drawer ends my fall.
Ouch.
Assam tea tin: checked! Still firmly held in one hand.
I know tea dedication when I see it.
Tea is good right now…was it worth it? Let me think about that…
ETA : in this disarray, I forgot to describe the tea, sorry!
It provides such a beautifully rich malty smooth assam cup, a tad astringent just the way I like. It’s on the fruity side this one. Very good quality, at such a decent price once again. Zen tea is so affordable, perfect place if you are starting a straight tea journey, you can buy many samples for very cheap. I buy this one by the tin, time to replace it!
My! what an ordeal! Now stay in one place, for heaven’s sake!
LOL (sorry!). Hope you’re OK! :-)
Keychange, i’m standing still!!!
Caile, «LOL» to say the least! Too bad there wasn’t a camera on me, i would have posted it here. I’m ok thanks :-)
i’m glad you’re okay…
When I loose kibble, or cereal. .heh, really anything that lands on the floor for that matter. . .Ive learned my lesson to tend to it immediately. I have four dogs who always show up, but I bark a really loud “HEY!” at them, so I can get to the dropped items first. However, I have managed to slip on my one dog’s drool a few times. Usually I have to put him outside while i prepare food (he never drools except at food time and its a LOT of drool. yuck!!). But sometimes he thinks its food time when its not, and I don’t notice, until I slip on it. :)
Thanks Cryptickoi, just a little sore!
Caile, yay for preserving the tea at any cost, right? Paraplegic, but tea fortunate!!
Shelly, i have only one dog and he’s a neat freak and so obedient! i’m very surprised he did this!
Wow, guess you have to be organized with 4 dogs in the house! (I have a few cats also). But as much as I love him, I don’t think I could handle another dog. ( maybe the fact that he’s the size of a giraffe has something to do with that lol)
I have cats too. Its a zoo, I need to be in control. haha. My dogs are all spaniels 12-20lb. As for giraffe dogs, I don’t think I could afford to feed more than one of those regardless of what my patience can handle :D
Omg.. lol.. I’m sorry! Well, I’m glad you’re ok and the tea is safe. :)
Ouch, I hope you are not feeling too sore. So, now that you have had time to think, was the tea worth it? :)
Well roughage, I’ve consulted the tooshie, and all is find, was totally worth it. Not the tea’s fault. Must reevaluate my storage abilities, why such a favourite was kept so out of reach to begin with?
I’m so glad you’re ok!
Ouch! Glad you are OK & that your tasty tea was spared as well.
I’m so sorry for your day!
Thanks guys, I’m ok, really, thank god the rest of my day was better :-)
:(( Boooo glad you are ok, be careful, sometimes the hurts show up the next day. Relax and drink some tea.
Thanks Dex, i will :-)
I typically don’t have flavoured tea with breakfast, preferring instead to save them for later on in the day. But blueberry things seem appropriate at breakfast anytime, and so I chose this one to accompany my croissant. I think I messed up by accidentally adding too much sugar; I should have remembered that this tea is already pre-sweetened. even still, it felt like drinking a cup of fresh blueberry juice, with a bit of creaminess present to remind me i was drinking tea and not actually juice.
I’m exhausted because it’s Monday, so that’s all this tasting note is bound to say. I steeped for six minutes, and think I like the relatively strong cup it yields. Can’t taste much of the base until the tea cools slightly though, but when I do taste it, I’m happy it’s there.
Such an innocent tasting tea.
A good Monday to all of steepster! and someone please find me a country that celebrates three-day weekends.
And good Monday to you as well!
Thank you! :) so far I can’t complain..much. There’s always the waking up early part.
Good monday, keychange! Hmmm, a country with three day week end…worth a search, but…that would make Tuesdays awful, and I usually like tuesday, it’s a quiet little day, it usually minds its own business, wouldn’t want to mess with that…
Hmmm, tea fairy, that’s a fairly accurate description of Tuesdays indeed. Still though, let’s find us this three day weekend country and see how it goes, shall we? think of an extra day to laze around drinking tea.
Well I think I’ve come to a compromise: let’s keep on hating mondays, cause hey, we already do, and find a three day week end country that offers friday-Saturday-sunday as a week en bundle, how’s that keychange?
I think that’s an excellent idea. And if we don’t find a country that offers this, we’ll just make one of our own!
Yay, that’s the spirit! You and I should be politicians and run the country then, see how well we negotiate? Our leaders should come on a field trip to visit Steepster and get an idea on how it’s done, what do you think?
I was just about to suggest we experiment with a co-career in politics. Given all the options and variations at steepster, I think it’s a groundbreaking way to experiment with one’s political prowess (sp?), and so we should pretty much just start recruiting government officials to learn of our skills immediately.
Lol, aren’t we the clever ones :-)
haha, you cheeky lady with your special introduction to RiverTea. You feel pretty special, don’t you?
Well, you can feel special too – you have Boatsman and Mulberry White headed your way (sent everything out yesterday), and they damn well better make it to you before all the recent RiverTea orders are delivered.
By which I mean, if the damn parcel takes two(+) weeks to arrive then I’ll be pissed, since usually we get things for one another in less than a week. But yes, I feel very special.
Har! You’re cracking me up. I will continue to feel unspecial and enjoy being a fly on the wall of the River Tea discussion while I sip my way through lockdown.
What did you get? :D
You really want to know? There’s about 13!!!
I got some darjeeling, assam, puerh, cherry kiss, spring fest cherry jasmine, peach, banana, nougat almonds, crazy mint, raspberry meringue, gentle rose, and yes Boatsman!!!
13 isn’t so bad :P I’m looking at six/seven right now, but I already have two at home… Boatsman is probably my favourite just because it’s fun to say, although it tastes great too. Cherry Kiss was good too (it was a sad sample sipdown), but I have similar already stocked so I’m passing on getting it.
Oh noooo! Don’t tell me I found another tea enabler???? Lol, 13 is waaay too much when you have over 250 in the cup-hoard!! Thanks for the heads up :-)
(Cup-hoard – that’s funny – I might have to steal that from you.)
Dexter, you can have it, it suits you pretty darn well I’d say…
@Roswell Strange – I do feel special :) I am excited to try them out now. And I hope the packages don’t take too long. Weirdly enough your package was already in transit last night where as Cavo’s is still just accepted at post office. And her’s is supposed to be express post.
I have a tracking number for yours, but I stuffed the slip into one of my many jackets and I don’t remember which one now, but I’m confidant I didn’t toss it.
Woah! That’s a great list. I had such a hard timenarrowing it down.
Maybe I should have got Boatsman? Hmm.. Maybe next order! :D