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I can’t remember who I got this sample from! Um, I think Rosehips!? If I’m wrong let me know; I’d like to give thanks where thanks is due!

That said, this really isn’t doing anything for me. The orange is present but it’s rather bland and unexciting; just mediocre. And, the black base is really putting me off – probably because it’s a Ceylon; I don’t usually do well with Ceylons. So overall I’m not really happy with this one; I’m just gonna call it a miss.

That said – it was cool to try it! As a tea which isn’t available to me I was very happy to receive the sample. I still have at least one more cup (probably more like two) left, so I think I’ll do some experimentation with that last little bit.

Apparently the cravings for “nutty” teas continues today. This is getting to be like my string of “plum” inspired teas…

Anyway, I love this one. I know I’m in the minority – but you’re all crazy! This has such a distinct and unique flavour – it’s so hard to not love it. And I must say, it probably has THE most flavourful and lingering aftertaste of any tea I’ve ever had; and that’s speaking to every cup of this that I’ve ever brewed. For you people who dislike this, I imagine that’s probably a huge “con” on your lists, whereas it’s this giant “pro” to me.

I feel like I’ve sent this tea off to a lot of people, but have been personally putting off trying it. So, since I’ve talked Pineapple/Bacon tea I decided there was really nothing left to keep me from tackling this one.

When I bought this one sometime around December(ish) I bought it on smell alone; I asked the Tea Desire sales associate to pull a really unique/interesting black off the shelf for me and not tell me what it was – to just let me judge based on the smell. And man this smells intense; like a full on blast of sweet marzipan and almonds and almost sweet candied cherries. I don’t know if the amazing smell of this blend has carried over in the samples I’ve sent off to people; but it just smells GREAT.

So, I bought some. And then I was really disappointed when I read the description: bitter almonds. Why the hell would you make a tea that is DELIBERATELY supposed to be bitter? Are there actually people out there that enjoy bitter food/drink? If there are, then they’re crazy. And that supposed bittness is what has kept me from trying this for so damn long.

Steeping this, I knew it was intended to be bitter so in an attempt to minimize that I kept my steep time very short; just around two minutes. I typically never steep blacks so briefly; the exception maybe being DAVIDsTEA’s Salted Caramel which also gets very bitter very quickly.

I have to say, I was bracing myself for the worst – maybe that’s why I’m so pleasantly surprised. I mean, there’s nothing jaw dropping or fantastic about this but my mouth has not been flooded with a tidal wave of bitterness and astringency like anticipated so I’m really happy about that. It also takes very sweet and confectionery-like. Marzipan (and also cherries; which I ALWAYS associate with marzipan) is the predominant flavour and it’s pretty ok, even borderline “nice” :P

There really wasn’t a need to be scared of this blend.

When I steeped this up this morning (well, afternoon; but I had just gotten up) I found the smell to be really unappealing and it made me feel a little sick which was really disheartening given that I thought it tasted so wonderful just a few nights ago.

However, now that I’m drinking it and still finding it to taste AMAZING I think it was probably more to do with the fact I had just gotten up and had had nothing to eat/drink yet after a long 11 hour sleep.

Phew!

Sipdown (188/190)!

What goes better with hot, fresh out of the oven brownies than a glass of cold milk? And, what goes better with a glass of cold milk than a tasty matcha whisked into it?

Anyway, this is only sort of a sipdown; there’s still enough left for one more cup but I’m going to be sending it to Keychange. Now that I’ve properly tried all (except the White Chocolate) the matchas I have, I’ve started to compile my “matcha sampler” for her so that, come payday, I can send it out to her ASAP!

This cup is pretty good; I actually taste the cotton candy a bit more strongly than I remember tasting last time – though it’s still a little weak/fleeting for my tastes. I’d love something more akin to that tasty pastel pink/blue cotton candy ice cream you can buy! If I ever place an order for more of this one, it’s definitely going to be at a higher flavouring level.

That said, I’m ok with saying goodbye to this one; out of the match/milk combos I’ve tried I think I liked Bubblegum a lot more, and it sort of “fills” the same spot in my cupboard that this one would have – so right now Bubblegum is the one I’m looking to eventually repurchase.

From VariaTEA.

When I first tried this blend and Good Morning Sunshine, I liked Good Morning Sunshine much more than this blend – but having another cup of this months after my first, I think this is actually the better blend.

The guayusa isn’t as “sharp” but is still present, and the apple/cinnamon combination is done in a very gentle sort of way where it’s rich and flavourful but kind of mellow and not really “sour/sharp apple” which I associate with poorly made ciders. As well, there’s a creaminess (almost vanilla but not quite) to this blend that really tapers the cinnamon and almost makes it seem pastry like. Overall, what I think I’m actually most reminded of is that Apple Pie flavoured dessert gum!

Once my tin of Good Morning Sunshine runs out, I will be replacing it with this blend instead; I think the apple is much more of a contrast compared with the other Mate/Guayusa blends I stock so I feel like I’ll have more variety, and I like that this is high caffeine/energy but it feels gentle and would be a almost tranquil way to start my day (especially work days).

If I remember correctly, it’s also very good cold!

So, I’m currently watching an episode of Bones (the one that aired last night) called “Carrot in the Kudzu” and while typing the name of this blend into the search bar I typed in “Salted Carrot” and it took me an embarrassingly slow time to figure out why the search results were not yielding the correct type.

Also, my kitchen smells AMAZING; there are brownies going in the over and they just smell so divine! I had a thought while making them, though and I’d like to pose it to people here on Steepster: Do you think you could infuse cooking oil with tea through cold brewing it? And then, how concentrated do you think it would have to be to really affect the flavour of what you’re baking? I was considering making something like an “Earl Grey Brownie” or maybe something more caramel flavoured, like this blend perhaps.

Anyway; short steep time for this blend is key! And thankfully, I nailed it. There’s a lovely “burnt caramel/brown sugar” flavour along with the black tea and none of the massive amounts of bitterness that comes with this blend when you oversteep it. Also no salt – but I’m not complaining on that front.

The little “salt floaties” are maybe a bit annoying though; I can sort of feel their presence in the mouthfeel.

Tonight this blend made an appearance outside of the closet! Because I’m running low, I’ve been hoarding/savouring what I have left of this – but I felt like after a sort of “mediocre” tea day I really needed a pick me up, and this is what stood out tonight.

It brewed up lovely; sweet grenadine and almost “raspberry” fruit notes and a brisk black base with a touch of astringency, but in a good way.

Definitely the best tea of the day, and I think the perfect one to end the day on.

This afternoon/tonight I mixed a bag of this in with some Raspberry white tea from Cuppa’T Specialty Teas for a cold brewed “Raspberry Lemonade” sipdown. For the full details of that, you can read the tasting note here:

http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/233955#likes

Sipdown (189/191)!

When I got home from work right before passing out I set this up to cold brew! In addition to the last little bit of the leaf, I made the decision to add in a bag of Stash’s Meyer Lemon to the cold brew. All I could think about what “Raspberry Lemonade” which sounded really appealing.

About nine hours later, I strained everything out and I’m drinking it now. I have to say, the addition of the Meyer Lemon does add something though it’s not an astoundingly distinct or present flavour – just a light, fun kind of lemon/citrus layer that makes an effort to make the “coffee” flavour in the blend.

And I say makes an effort because it doesn’t REALLY succeed, though it does help.

I finally looked up what woolflowers (the ingredient in this that I BELIEVE is contributing the coffee flavour) are supposed to take like; and I guess they have a vegetal, almost spinach like flavour. Um… No. That’s not what I get from this. I GET COFFEE, DAMNIT!

I swear I’m not crazy.

So yeah, this was a fun/creative way to finish this blend off and I must say that it feels REALLY nice to have gotten a tea that I had in larger quantity out of the way (though admittedly I passed a TON of it off to VariaTEA). It feels like I really accomplished something!