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Field testing this sample from aisling of tea as a matcha soda because, firstly, Acai milk sounds unappealing and, secondly, I picked up a flat of club soda today so I don’t have to hoard my last can of it anymore.

This is made my usual matcha soda method: 1/2 tsp. of match dissolved into an ounce of hot water, and then a can of club soda poured in and a pinch of sugar.

My first gripe it that despite how much or well I try whisking this, it refuses to nicely dissolve for me! It’s not that I have matcha lumps – it’s just that I have this fine “matcha dust” type stuff floating in my soda that continuously sinks to the bottom and wont mix with the rest. Boo.

This smiles really nice; very fruity and pleasant – however the taste is a little weak/bland so I think next time I go this route I’m going to need to use at least 1 tsp. of matcha (that hopefully dissolves better) to get a more distinct feel for this flavour.

What I CAN taste is nice though; it’s light, but it IS Acai – or what I gather Acai is meant to taste like. I’ve never had Acai berries straight – just mixed with other fruits. But I’ve tried enough different fruit mixtures that included Acai to feel like I have enough knowledge on what the flavour is meant to be like.

I’m wondering if mixing this and Cheesecake matcha into milk would taste like regret or if it would make for a nice “Berry Cheesecake” kind of drink…

Sipdown (190/192)!

I made this as my work cold brew, but because it was so cold in the store I waited to have it until I got home, and then I got home and I promptly fell asleep for a solid seven hours. Thank God(!): the last three days combined I haven’t even gotten that much sleep – I really, really needed the rest. And now I don’t work until Friday, so lots of resting time!

This was decent though; sweet and nummy. I don’t think I’ll restock though; the flavour isn’t a unique one and can be replicated/closely matched through the other blends I do have.

One less DT blend in my cupboard!

“Eatdown” (191/193)!

I finally finished this at work today; I shared it with Bobbi (she said it was ok, but I could tell she didn’t really like it). It took forever – but I did it.

And it was gross.

Sipdown (192/194)!

Thanks VariaTEA for the sample! I’m a little sad it’s gone now, but not too torn up over it.

I brought this one to work today too. The heat was actually out this morning all throughout the store (it’s being fixed sometime between now and the opening on Friday, thankfully) so I was actually VERY thankful I had hot tea to keep me warm while working. However, my co-worker Bobbi wasn’t so fortunate – and she was freezing the entire time we were doing pricing, so I lent her my hoodie to keep warm and we split the tea 50/50.

It was good; thick and creamy. She said she liked it too, which made me happy; I’m sure I’ll make a tea drinker out of her yet!

Also, I’m super pumped because I set up a tea drinking station in the staff room today! I have a mug, measuring spoons, large teaball (and I mean LARGE – lots of room for expansion), and then I brought one of my two pouches of Butterscotch Banana, my tin of Buddha Bamboo, and a whole bunch of assorted tea bags! Hooray!

I feel like I’ll be very “at home” at my ‘new’ work place. That’s a good thing, right? ;)

Made in my timolino and sipped at all morning while at work. This blend is kind of unique because it’s a rooibos – but a caffeinated one because of the coffee. Because of that, it doesn’t get a TON of drinkage because I usually opt for cold brewed fruit rooibos blends for breakfast (which this is not), or at night time before bed.

I LOVE it when I do have it though; it’s the perfect balance of woody rooibos, kinda earthy coffee, and then sweet, creamy chocolate. Yum!

Today my work shift was short; basically all the new store employees went into the store and did the pricing of our inventory/got to know the store layout/met the other employees. It looks like, myself aside, there are three other Keyholders/Cash Managers; the two I trained with over the last two weeks, and then one other one who trained somewhere else. I got to meet her today, and she seems really cool (I adore her name; it’s Morningstar). However, she admitted she hasn’t really received proper keyholder training so it looks like the other keyholders (Bobbi, Hazel, and I) will be training her.

I didn’t get the meet many of the other employees; but the two I did meet left distinct impressions. The first, Arlene, seems very well put together and professional – I get the problem that we’re NEVER going to have problems with her as far as cashhandling/stock goes – she just went at it and worked super hard.

The second, Karen, I actually know! She worked with me at Calendar Club before they promoted me to manager and transferred me to my own store – and let me just flat out say that I was NOT happy to see her. She’s an older woman (I’m going to guess very late 40s or early 50s) compared to that age of all the other employees (both at Dollarama and Calendar Club) and she has a very extreme and annoying personality type; no matter what she’s doing she HAS to be the center of attention and is a very obnoxious “social butterfly” type. At the same time, she reminds me of that kind of stereotypical “redneck mother” type of thing. I remember at Calendar Club she got incredibly agitated when she couldn’t go for her “smoke break” when SHE wanted to go, and I swear I smelled booze on her breath one morning.

I could tolerate all that if she was at least a strong enough/competent employee – but she was HORRIBLE at any kind of cash handling/paperwork and the source of much grief on my/Jen (CC Manager at the branch that Karen worked at)’s end.

Thank GOD she didn’t recognize me – I don’t want her to “bond” with me in any capacity. This’ll be… Interesting.

Last tea of the night!

I unintentionally underleafed it, so it was a little weak/bland – but the peppermint did come through quite a bit despite that. The caramel? Well, not so much. That was a bit of a shame. Also, I drank it at stone cold temperature – and it made for a refreshing late night tea.

And now I think I’m ready to go to bed!

This cup was a touch cranberry heavy; but still perfection, none the less. I added some milk (not a lot), and that made this very thick and just exaggerated the creaminess of it.

Mmm!

I seriously considered another cup, but it’s late and I have to be at work in, uh, well shit six and a half hours. So that was a “nope” to the second cup, despite this being practically herbal.

…Yes, I’m still finishing off the bar of this that aisling of tea sent me.

I’m been nibbling on it a teeny bit every morning, and not really enjoying it a whole bunch. However, tonight I found it a bit more palatable and actually managed to eat a whole bite worth, heh. Because it was sorta palatable I kept the rest of it – though I was intending to just throw it out tonight and be done with it.

This tea/chocolate lives to see another day.

Taken with milk.

My mug of this was such and icky, murky, oily mess! And sadly, that carried over into the taste. Bleck. I don’t know how VariaTEA still loves this one – I’m really growing to hate it, and I know she personally really dislikes oily teas…

I know this blend holds a special place for being my “loose leaf introduction tea” but no it’s becoming a big “no” to me. However, that’s also my motivation for finishing it off and refilling the tin with my beloved Creme Brulee! The payoff of sipping this down will be great.

Sipdown (193/195)!

I definitely made some good sipdown work today! Hooray for me!

I left this to cold brew while I was at work and strained it right when I got home; apparently that nine hour time period was too much because this is hardly drinkable (then again, previous experiences with this have not been pleasant either).

It’s still more pleasant than the hot version, though. Regardless, I’m dumping about 20 of the 25 ounces, and saying my thanks that this blend is gone.