16956 Tasting Notes
Sipdown (208/210)!
Made this in a timolino (a little overleafed to use it all up) and brought it to work! I drank it while on break, and it was really good and yummy! This one definitely travels really well.
I have to say, I’m not that sad that it’s gone though, even if it was consistently good and I got to experiment with it in a lot of ways. This’ll just open up my cupboard even more to be able to try out other pear teas, because gee whiz do I love pear tea! Besides, this is from my very first online order and one of my first teas so it definitely feels like I’ve accomplished something in finishing it off!
I cold steeped this one over night (12 hour total), and then poured it into a water bottle for my first day of work. It was great having some refreshing tea with me while training to make everything feel more comfortable/at home.
Taste wise, it was flawlessly amazing and just like it tastes hot, expect – well, you know, cold! I love how full out pineapple this one is! Umph!
As far as the first work day went? Really well! I thought the job seemed easy enough and that I was picking things up really quickly and the people who are (temporarily, until construction in my store is finished) my coworkers are all really cool! The break room is huge, and has a nice tea set up so for the month or so I’m at that location I think I’ll bring some simple tea equiptment or matcha over so I can make things fresh while on break! Very, very exciting!
Plus I have my schedule for the next two weeks and I’m getting plenty of hours! All good things!
This morning before my first day of work I intercepted a MASSIVE package from aisling of tea/De right before the mailman was about to leave (without knocking). I only noticed because I was up in the bootroom trying to find my work shoes. If I hadn’t bee, he’s have left and I’d have been none the wiser.
Seriously though, there’s well over 250g worth of tea from what they sent me including a TON of matcha which I’m very, very excited by. I’m going to be set on matcha for a nice long time! Hooray! They also sent me the cutest most adorable plush Polar Bear and he’s currently hanging out on the couch along with my pile of build a bears.
Anyway, this was also included in their swap pack which was very unexpected and which I was really excited by. It was the first “tea” I had all day. However, sadly I didn’t really like it too much.
Personally, I ADORE white chocolate. I even, around Easter, would put in special requests to the “Easter Bunny” to only received white chocolate eggs/candies because I can’t stand other hard chocolate in larger than a Hershey kiss size amount – I get sick of it way too quickly. However, the problem I had with this was that it was WAY too sweet and sugary.
Like, I know white chocolate is sweet; I’m not an idiot. But this took it to a whole new level and I couldn’t finish more than a bite size this morning and then another small bite size later in the evening with supper while on break. It likely didn’t help that the matcha in this was super seaweedy, which was mostly counteracted by the sweet white chocolate but kinda left an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth on top of the sweetness.
So, I’m going to see if I can pass this on to someone else – but if not I’ll probably very slowly finish it off over the course of the next few days. Thanks so much though aisling of tea/De – if you haden’t passed this along I would have bought a whole bar for myself and then been pretty disappointed, so I’m glad I got to try this in a ‘no risk/loss’ way.
Flavors: Butter, Cream, Seaweed
So I am glad I got you the Cadbury bar instead of this. It being sold out was a sign :P
Yay! I’m glad the package made it to you!
Yeah, I had a similar reaction to this chocolate bar, although you were much gentler about it than me. I just thought the sweet/salty combination (especially the seaweed notes) didn’t work at all.
Officially the last tea of the night; delicious! Kinda tired though (need me sleep for tomorrow’s shift) – so not much else to write on it, heh…
Flavors: Cinnamon, Plum
One of the last teas of the night; bagged and caffeine free for convenience. One more cup of this and it’s a sipdown – the plan is to finish it off tomorrow night.
It’s a little sad how drinking this one has kinda become a chore. Lowering the rating a bit to reflect that…
“Why hello again, Sexy”. That’s what I said to this blend upon opening up the package of it and making a piping hot cup of it. As it was brewing, the hello developed a bit more into a “Get in my mouth now, bitch!”.
I was lucky enough to receive about 25g of this from both VariaTEA (for my birthday) and Scribbles (as an add in to the package she sent me). That makes me a very happy tea drinker; I’ve just fallen so in love with this one! This cup in particular is from Scribbles’ package. Since it was the older of the two I figured I’d use that one up first.
This tea is just amazing though. It is so creamy with plump notes of vanilla, and has such a thick mouthfeel and rich caramel taste that I cannot get enough of it. Once I’ve emptied the DT tin currently filled with Birthday Cake this is what’ll be going in its place! It’s for sure going to be a nightime staple for me – and I think it’s not unjustified for me to say that it’s my favourite rooibos blend from DT overall (I think Gingerbread would maybe be second? And then Jessie’s Tea). It deserves a much higher rating here on Steepster…
GET IN MY DROOLY MOUTH!
Flavors: Caramel, Cream, Vanilla
I’m happy that my first ever Mariage Freres tea is this blend, Marco Polo, which the company is very well known for here on Steepster. The sample was provided by my tea triplet VariaTEA – I’m assuming because she wasn’t all too impressed by it.
Dry, I don’t smell a lot. I guess some fruit – but it’s light and generic. I suppose that could be from the packaging and the fact it’s been sitting in my sample drawer for a little while now. I’m hoping the taste it much more flavourful.
Brewed up, it didn’t smell nearly as delicious and aromatic as the Creme Brulee from DT I was brewing up so it really didn’t hold my attention all too well. And then, once it was brewed up I wanted to dig into the Creme Brulee – and instead had to force myself to get to this one so I could try it before it went stone cold.
Now that I am trying it, I think it tastes pretty decent. I really like the black base used here and if all Mariage Freres’ black teas have a base like that then I’m sure this company and I will get along just fine. However, as for the rest I think the fruit here lets me down a little. I can’t for the life of me figure out what kind of fruit this is supposed to be. Strawberry? It’s definitely not a stone fruit – that’s for sure, and I don’t get apple, banana or any type citrus in any distinct way. So, to me, that kinda leaves berries as the most likely thing they’re going for. I don’t know.
The other thing I get from this is a floral in the end of the sip and aftertaste – and overall I’m not minding it but as I get to the bottom of the mug it’s kind of starting to build up in a perfumey/chemical way. I’m not smiling too fondly on that.
I don’t know… It’s just not distinct enough! I want more!
So overall thoughts? I think I side with VariaTEA all in all with not being incredibly blown away by this one or totally buying into the hype. I’ll stick to many of my other blacks over this one.
Preparation
When you’re in a Saskatoon berry mood, you’re in a Saskatoon Berry mood; and after my Saskatoon Berry tea infused hot chocolate this morning I had to have some Prairie Berry too! Plus, I paired it with the mixed berry muffins my Dad brought up for me when he was here on Friday… Mmm!
Unfortunately, I’ve been really spacing out all day and I forgot I had made my cup of this for a little while so by the time I got to it the tea was ice cold. Boo! It’s still pretty good, though I feel the maple is a lot stronger the colder it is and I really just wanted some berry explosion so it’s a teeny bit of a let down.
I think I’ll keep the last of this out of the closet and transfer it to the sipdown drawer; it’s kinda close to being in sipdown range (I predict three/four cups left) which is a bit heartbreaking since I probably wont be able to get it again…
Still, I’d really like to get a somewhat old tea out of my cupboard, and I really enjoy this one too! So it’ll be a fun, pleasant sipdown.
One more cup and it’s a sipdown…
This mug in particular was really good; probably the best I’ve steeped so far. The anise was really present, as was the chocolate and the spices were cooperating by toning themselves the fuck down. Also, it somehow has an especially cakey mouthfeel tonight. Mmm!
And, our water is finally back (which is why I was able to make more tea) – so I got to take a shower! Yay! I’m getting all prepped for my first day of work tomorrow. Anyway, BB has been a little boring today – though the War Room/Isolated guests were amusing for a while when they had to match the house guests to their jobs/personalities. They couldn’t, for the life of them, figure out the bearded guy was the model.
Also, they made their final pleas for votes today! Soon… Very soon…
