TARDIS Blend

Ok, so everyone has been posting this one lately and it reminded me I was due for a cup. I think I still have about 2 oz of this left in my pretty, keep me forever TARDIS tin! But I bought this in April, so I had better get sipping!

It was a great cup, as always. 2 min is enough to bring out the flavours so they can dance in my mouth and take me to different places through time and space… Now if only I could land in August 2014 to see the new Doctor Who Season. Or, Christmas next year for more Sherlock! :O

(I guess to be specific, they were talking about THIS Tardis tea: http://steepster.com/teas/custom-adagio-teas/42029-tardis but I don’t have it and never have. So, it’s time for this one! Some day I will switch from Cara McG teas over to Aun Juli Riddle. I’ve heard good things and for some fandoms I like the art far more!)

It’s been a busy day!
First, I actually left my house at 8:30 in the morning to meet with the new principal of the Visual & Performing Arts (VPA) middle school in St. Louis’ Magnet school system. For about 12 years I worked there part time teaching Harp. I had 10 students per class, with 3 classes (6th, 7th, & 8th grade). During the time I was there I had some really awesome kids, some of whom still keep in touch with me from time to time, & some who continued their studies with me at the VPA high school, & are currently studying Harp in college (Ball State, Webster University, Lincoln U). Sadly, the program began to fall apart, as we got a new principal who had no interest in the arts & set out to remove the “smart through the arts” emphasis. I quit, as it was a miserable environment. So now there is a new principal, who attended the VPA program years ago, & his big goal is to get the school back on track. He would like to start my Harp program up again, among other things. We had a nice visit.

Then I played at the nursing home, then at another event. I knew I’d be out & about for awhile, so I brewed up a strong batch of Tardis & then iced it down. I carried it around with me all afternoon in my venti sized double walled starbucks cup with a straw. It stayed nice & cold, & it is delicious as an ice tea, SO good. Leif agrees, he had some too.

Does anyone remember the TV Mini Series The 10th Kingdom? I remember first watching the DVD set when I was like 12, maybe? I decided yesterday that in between job hunting I’m going to rewatch the whole thing, and I’ve just absolutely fallen in love with it, again! I had the biggest crush on Wolf my first time watching it, and I have to admit I still find him pretty attractive this time around, lol. Although, I totally get more of the innuendo/adult humor now…

Anyway, this was breakfast tea #2! For whatever reason I’ve developed a minor “quirk” if you will where I’ll only ever reach for an Earl Grey/Bergamot heavy tea during the earliest part of my day. I’m not sure why, but I seem to only crave that flavour as a “breakfast” sort of tea.

I actually have two samples of this, one purchased from Shadowfall and one given to me from MissB. This particular cup comes from Shadowfall’s sample. My parameters were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for about 6 minutes (it may have been a little less than that). As far as the dry smell goes, I just smell a sweet Earl Grey, and steeped up it smells like a very light on the Bergamot Earl.

Taste wise, I was right about the Bergamot being pretty light. Like, it’s there and if you were just picking up a mug of this without knowing what it was, you would totally be able to taste and identify the Bergamot – it’s not that light. It’s not just too heavy or bold. Personally, I kinda like that. I also really get a sense of the vanilla in the mix. There is an additional fruitiness to the tea, but if I wasn’t reading “Blackberry” from the ingredients list then I would have no idea that’s what it was. I think many people have encountered that.

So overall, it’s a really nice light Earl Grey but I don’t get Blackberry notes from it. That said, I’m going to quite happily finish off my sample(s) and if I had an easy way (curse Adagio’s outrageous shipping prices to Canada) to get more, I think I would over some of the other EGs I have – partially because of the taste and partially because of the namesake ;)

Yet another fan-based tea blend, this time it’s Dr. Who! I just started watching Dr. Who and now I can’t stop! I love the smell of this tea. It is straight up berries. I know there is some earl grey in there, but it is more of a whisper than a real player. This makes me extremely happy as I am not a huge fan of Earl Grey teas. This also has a slight tart note that makes it memorable.
When I first tasted it I looked at my husband and said “it tastes blue!” I think that it tastes very similar to blueberry muffins or blueberry bagels. I’m glad that this is a black tea blend because I think that it goes better as a base instead of a lighter one. I think that this one is going to be a great blend for school days. I will have to try this cold because I think the berry would really stand out.
Great blend and as always, very cute art!

thank cavocorax I realised that i hadn’t tried this yet so today is the day! I love me some doctor who but i dislike most earl grey’s heh This isn’t a bad earl grey. It’s got a mildness to it that i like though it’ll never be a favourite. Thanks for sharing though Cavo! It’s pretty decent.

While playing poker with some friends, I got up to make some tea. When I asked if anyone wanted, one friend started to ask if I had some normal Tetley’s Orange Pekoe but then decided he would branch out and asked to try some TARDIS tea (being a Doctor Who fan it was obviously the standout choice for him). So I decided once I was making a cup for him, I would try it myself.

My friend ended up quite enjoying his cup – he said it was different from what he was used to drinking (Orange Pekoe) but really good. As for me, I found that this tea was a delicious Cream Earl Grey type tea. I did not taste blackberry. What I did taste was a really yummy Earl Grey with a hint of creaminess. Not what I was expecting but still very delicious. It makes me want to try the earl grey bravo on its own to see how that compares to a cup with additional flavors. Perhaps something to look into. Anyways, thank you Cavocorax for sharing with me.

When I got 100 cup points, I decided I’d get this. It was between this and the Sagittarius zodiac tea and now I feel like I should have gone with that. But they’re basically very similar…blackberry or raspberry? I have to choose blackberry.

I don’t really taste blackberry in here though until long after I take a sip. It seems like it’s just a floral bergamot flavor, but it finally fades into blackberry.

I’m surprised though at how smoooooooth it is. I gave it just a 3 minute steep, and it’s perfect for me. Not too strongly bergamot, and very easy to just sip.

A latte sounds like a great idea, especially since this one comes with FOUR ounces of tea instead of just three.

This is delicious, and I’m so glad that JustJames grabbed some in the Huge Black Friday Tea Buyout of 2013 (seriously, it was almost $500 in tea from fourteen different companies spread over six people)!

Smells strongly of an Earl Grey, but tamed down a bit with something dessert-like. Vanilla, I’m assuming, even though my brain says caramel… know JustJames would avoid something caramel unless it’s from Stacy at Butiki.

Steeped, it smells the same. The edges of a normal Earl Grey are smoothed out by the vanilla and something faintly berry-ish. Sweetened I get more of a creamy anise flavor, which is weird since there’s zero licorice anything in here. Regardless, it’s delicious, and I’m so glad I decided to go in on this bag!

Thanks to Kiaharii for this! It got here a wee bit late, but safe and sound, and due to my mistake, not hers! :)

I worked a 13 hour day yesterday because one of our cashiers called out, and I’m the best cashier in the store. (And I’m not bragging – all of my managers and every competent – read adult – employee in the store have told me this. I’m the only one apart from Liz, our Customer Service Lead who’s allowed to train newbies)

Came home exhausted, spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch cradling a cup of tea and sobbing about all the things I was supposed to do but couldn’t.

And then I was in work today to buy school supplies, and my boss talks me into working today too. It’s the height of Back to School and the cashier they had scheduled is painfully slow at the best of times, never mind during BTS. So after she got me in, she actually texted him and said not to bother coming in because she’s got me.

I’m gonna miss this store.

But there are holes worn in my working shoes and I can feel my arches collapsing where I stand.

So I was very excited to come hone and see this on the table.

I went for the TARDIS because I’ve heard fantastic things about it and also I wanted a fruity something tonight, not anything serious.

It’s good. The ratio of the blackberry to the black tea is good, although there’s a little too much bergamot for me. It’s not me steeping it wrong, since I steeped it at 2 minutes with 180deg water (the latter part by accident). No milk or sugar, but I don’t think this should need it. I didn’t taste much of the vanilla and found myself wishing that it was an EGC base instead of a straight EG.

Still, it’s really good. The blackberry is just right. A satisfying cuppa after work!

Mmmm. Dry this smells like a blueberry muffin and if you sniff a little deeper, earl grey. Brews to a really lovely red. I’d tell you what it smells like steeped but my nose is a little stuffy and whatever the scent is will not come through!

The taste is interesting. In some sips I get a ton of early grey, others the blackberry (that comes over more as a blueberry) dominates. The vanilla is more of an aftertaste on the back of my tongue. I added a bit of stevia to sweeten it up a tad. Definitely going to try this in latte form!