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I figured that since I was doing a teaware review already I’d toss up a review of this one too and add it to my cupboard, since I’ve had these teaballs practically since I started drinking tea and they’re an everyday part of how I make tea (I know, I know…).

I mean; they’re teaballs. There’s nothing special about them; they do what they’re intended to and the fact they came from DAVIDsTEA over other places really doesn’t do anything to change how they function.

For the most part I find that there’s enough room for expansion for a lot of the teas I drink; though definitely not all of them. However, I definitely have a wide range of teaballs/clamps from various stores and companies in a great number of sizes including one as big as my fist which I use for things like oolongs or black teas such as Butiki’s Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black; teas that need room.

But yeah… Teaballs. They are what they are, and that’s convenient and easy to use. Can’t really complain too much about that.

So yesterday I bought my first perfect mug; the glass one from the spring collection with the frosty white octopus tentacles on it. I’ve wanted one for ages but a combination of not having the funds and not seeing “the perfect design” has kept me from getting one. I no longer had that excuse though, so I guiltlessly splurged on this one.

I’m absolutely loving it so far, and I’m so happy I went with glass because none of my teaware (other than the mason jar) is glass so I rarely get to watch as my tea steeps (because the mason jar sits and steeps in the fridge), so this lends to a somewhat different tea experience, and it’s great! I’m finding that there’s plenty of room in the steeping basket, so I’m really happy about that too.

I also love the little lid/plate for the steeping basket once it’s done steeping. My typical set up is to wait in the kitchen for my tea to steep or to take it to the living room along with a little custard dish to put the tea balls/clamps in once it’s done steeping. This works much better.

My one “gripe” would be how thin the walls of the mug are. I’m sure it’s structurally sound, but I can’t help but feel freaked out by how seemingly fragile this mug appears to be. I’ll likely get over that, though. It may just take a little time.

Sipdown (171/175)!

I deliberately made this one as a cold brew for my brother and I to split because it’s the tea that “changed everything” for him, and made him realize that there were/are some teas out there that he does enjoy. They just happen to all be cold brewed/iced, and typically herbal (right now; I have faith he’ll eventually branch out).

Like expected, he loved it. To me this batch sort of tasted like really overripe peaches. But oh well, C’est la vie. Technically I still had more of this left, but I gave the rest to him to enjoy in addition to the 50g he bought for himself. This one is being discontinued by DT so I wanted to give it to him because he’ll make the most of it whereas I’ve reached a point where I’m ready to move on with it to bigger and better blends.

This cold brew traveled around with me in my thermos all day yesterday during our trip to DAVIDsTEA and the movies but was hardly touched. I had a few sips and my brother tried a bit too but didn’t like it all that much (we’re thinking because of the hibiscus – because he ate some dry leaf later in the day and thought everything tasted good but the hibiscus).

When I got home, after my Cool Cucumber, I poured this into my perfect mug along with a shot of vanilla vodka, and I drank it that way. Honestly; you couldn’t even tell that the vodka was in it at all, which makes me curious to try a cold brew of this straight into some vodka.

Anyway, lovely as always. Such a great, flavourful Guava flavour. Nothing like it, really…

I christened my new perfect tea mug (review on the mug coming eventually; I’m still working through yesterday’s backlog) with this blend yesterday evening after my brother and I got back from the movies. It seemed like the perfect tea to do so with.

Man, this really is the epitome of refreshing tea. Even drinking it hot, I felt totally relaxed and at peace with, well, everything… Just, so so very good.

Somehow in some weird way you’re able to taste each element separately: melon, cucumber, and spearmint. And yet all those things still uniformly make this astoundingly wonderful “whole” cucumber experience. I’m almost regretting just getting 50g instead of the full 100g – but I have absolutely no closet space left for tins of black tea. Seriously, my black tea tins are starting to spill over into other sections; namely Pu’Erh and Mate.

I drank this while portioning up “one serving” size cold brew sample bags for my brother. Since he’s grown to accept/love iced and cold brewed tea and even purchased 50g of tea yesterday I offered to send him off with some samples of things that work well cold brewed. So he left this morning with 18 different cold brew samples to work through. I’m so proud of him.

I should really take a picture of my closet of tea, so you can all understand and comprehend the craziness of it. It takes up a lot of room. If I get any more tins I’ll have to clear off another closet shelf. I don’t think Tre would let me live that one down. So yeah, that’s the rule right now: I am not allowed to buy any more black tea until I finish off at least two tins OR I finish off at least four of the sample bags.

Now I just need someone (VariaTEA?) to hold me to that. Especially since I plan on transferring Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black, Boston, and Ice Princess to tins eventually too…

Now’s the part of my backlog where I get to get into all the really fun stuff I did on my day with my brother! Hooray!

The day started out with a trip to Market Mall where I mailed off my package for 221Tea (which cost a lot less than I was anticipating, which is always a pleasant surprise). We then stopped at my Dollarama and I returned the work phone, which I brought home with my Saturday evening. Oops. It looks like they managed fine without it, though.

We took the bus from there to the downtown mall. My brother was both amazed with and pissed off at the bus system here in Saskatoon. The bus fare is more than a dollar higher than what it is in Regina, and of course he didn’t have a bus pass so he was unimpressed with paying the high fare – and then even less impressed with how long it takes to get anywhere in the city. Saskatoon is a fair bit bigger than Regina. That said, once we were on the bus he was really amused by the fact there’s a digital read out of the time/streets we’re on as we travel (which is hilarious, because I remember Tre and I being amused greatly by that as well on our first bus ride in Saskatoon), and the fact there are buttons not cords you push (instead of pull) to let the driver know where you want to get off.

Once we were downtown we only made one stop; DAVIDsTEA. Mostly we were going there for me: I bought my first perfect tea mug (the glass one with the octopus tentacle), 100g of Superberry (since it’s soon to be discontinued), 50g of Redberry Tonic, 50g of Cool Cucumber, 50g of Guava Cadabra (to top off my tin at home), 10g of Coconut Oolong, a brown Pu’Erh tin for my Caramel Pu’Erh (from Tea Desire), and this as a To Go, iced. I also signed up for the rewards program! Hooray!

Much to my surprise, however, my brother picked up 50g of Bamboozled (which I had causally pointed out was being discontinued earlier in the morning when I was preparing our cold brew of it). I didn’t even do any pushing. He just did it.

And of course his sales associate was my favourite (extremely cute) one! Jealous. In true excellent DAVIDsTEA service fashion he made my brother feel at home in the store (he looked painfully uncomfortable as he bought his tea). He asked how his day was going and why he was in town (I’m not totally sure how he knew he wasn’t from Saskatoon…), and Liam (my brother) said he was here visiting family. It was a nice exchange and I think my brother felt more at ease.

I’m wondering if maybe he knew he wasn’t from here because he recognizes me as a “regular” and I’ve mentioned in the past that I moved here on my own… Hmmm…

Anyway, this was the To Go tea I picked out because I wanted to try another of the Spring blends and this has fairly solid reviews, plus it has pineapple in it. It was iced. I have to say, I was pretty let down by it though. I vaguely understood the comparison to Blue Whale candy but mostly I thought it tasted very artificial in a negative way and also very weak and flavourless in general, except for the aftertaste which I couldn’t get rid of fast enough: there was something very chemical about it. I don’t handle Blueberries very well; they can’t taste artificial or have a realistic blueberry texture – so that may have tainted my view. I’m happy I decided not to buy any.

My brother loved it though. I would have just tossed it out once I’d left the store but he really, really enjoyed it and said it tasted pretty great (although he agreed that it could have been made stronger). I’m really proud of him; he used to reject any notion of tea or tea drinking but he’s really opened up. Although he is pretty set in what he likes: it has to be cold brewed or iced and typically he only goes for blends that are fruity and herbal.

After DT we went to the movies and saw Divergent. I honestly didn’t expect to love it as much as I did, but it’s been about a day since I’ve seen in now and I still cannot get it out of my head. I want to read the book series so badly now! In fact, next paycheck, I might splurge and buy the series since I’ve already set aside rent for the month of May so the only think earmarked in the next paycheck is groceries.

Seriously, go see it! It was surprisingly fun with good action scenes, comedic moments, and a fun, almost “surrealist” aspect with the fear simulations – and I really, really like Tris/Four as a couple. There’s that too.

All in all: crappy tea but a good day!

I also had this one yesterday morning as a breakfast tea. It sort of felt like I was contrasting a nice, “no frills” herbal (Forever Nuts) with a fancier, nuanced blend. I often think those pairings work the best.

I picked up the roastyness of the puffed rice and subtle cocoa notes – but mostly I got a dry, nuttyness and very light malty quality from this mug. It was tasty, but overall I thought that it was too light and gentle overall for a breakfast tea. In the future I’ll likely be reaching for this for more of a calmer, nighttime blend.

But that’s definitely not to say I disliked it. I just didn’t find it appropriate for the time of day.

Morning/Breakfast tea… Yesterday.

I picked something fun and straight forward to have in my Peekaboo Giraffe Mug yesterday morning while I parceled up a package for 221Tea and got ready for a day out with my brother.

This was nummy. Nutty and appley and sweet and mmm!

I should have this more often; but not too often, I feel like it’s something that if drank really regularly I’d get sick of quickly.

Sipdown (172/176)!

Looks like I have some backlog to get through. A few days worth, anyway! And lots of stuff packed into those two days including a trip to DAVIDsTEA and some new teaware. Squea!

Anyway, I cold brewed this one to finish it off – and it was like a delicious, mellow berry punch or cocktail. Insanely refreshing, for one thing. I really seemed to burn through my 50g of this, which I only bought something like three weeks ago? It was good though.

I’m sorely tempted to go back to McQuarrie’s and go buy more of it, but I just bought $65 in tea and teaware yesterday including 100g of Superberry so that should keep me going for a while too.

Goodbye, Grandpa’s Fruit Garden!

I was attempting to feed my brother because, apparently, one of the duties of hosting is actually feeding the minors in your care. He wouldn’t pick what he wanted to eat, though so I jokingly said that if he didn’t pick then I’d just feed him straight, powdered green tea.

That resulted in each of us having a small spoonful of this one straight. No water, no milk, nothing…

Ick. Yuck. Never. Again.