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Yes, I drank this today as a cold brew too! I found an untouched 50g packet of this in the back of a kitchen cupboard and have no memory of purchasing it. Smells amazing though. The flavours in this cup are banana runts and bubblegum, with a strong dash of Squirt or some other type of grapefruit flavoured soda pop. The general consensus around the house is it would likely take to gin well.

I drank a lot of tea today. We are dealing with crappy Wills & Estate legal issues and family fallout here. The teas, particularly those from Jayida Ché, have really pulled the weight today.

The nose here is almost all fluffy lavender, but lavender shares the stage equally with lemon balm (fresh and soft, almost minty citrus note) and rosehips to taste. One or more of these ingredients is tangy sweet and pleasantly tart. I just wish there was a tad more white tea leaf in the blend but I can live with this.

The chemistry and intent of this tea reminds me of apothecary and essential oils shops, as do many other tea blends from Jayida Ché. Their herb-focused teas are a nice change of pace for my recently enlarged cupboard, which is already full of trendy dessert teas, Earl Greys, Milk Oolong, and a much loved Silver Needle. The herbs complete me! :P

This blend has some pretty divisive ingredients in it, namely the hibiscus. The hibiscus is not hidden or pretending to be something else in this blend, nor is it added merely for the colour effects; it’s one of the main stars and it’s proud! It’s tart-sweet, almost metallic, and charmingly red-pink in hue. The ginger also provides a sweet note before jeering off into territory that’s as zesty hot as the hibiscus is tart. The gentler and quieter notes of sweet Mango, floral Jasmine and almost invisible but subtle floral White Tea kind of ground things a bit through the sip.

Second steep smooths out the hibiscus and ginger. Jasmine and a fruity sweetness from both the mango and hibiscus have more rein. Beyond the noticeable subdued ginger and floral jasmine flavours, there are fascinating notes, ranging from red berries, lemon, and even cardamom.

There’s a lot going on here, but the result is a complex cup that moves through mercurial phases of sour, spice, sweet, floral, and even the faintest hint of creaminess. I’m kind of a fan at this point and anticipate that this will be a favourite porch tea in weeks to come. You know.. when I need to pretend I’m at the spa. It’s definitely going to be cold brewed but I imagine I will drink it hot an equal amount of times.

Steep Count: 2

Ok, third amazing latte this morning. We are on a roll with the Naturel Milk.

This is an interesting combination of ingredients: roasted oolong, turmeric, ginger, peppercorn, and honey crystals. I don’t normally like this type of oolong but it goes so nicely with everything here. There are already roasted honey malt notes in the tea and the spices just kind of build off of and improve on that.

I sipped on this without milk, and then with milk. Both were enjoyable cups, but the real luxury cup emerged after adding the maple syrup. Now I have the perfect cafe-style yellow-hued turmeric tea (golden milk) latte. I’m a little weirded out how much I love this because at all stages I can still taste the leathery, woody, honey malt oolong thing that I generally don’t like. But now? Life is good. Lattes are good.

I’m steeping this again just to see if it can take it. (Edit: It totally can and it’s arguably better than the first steep, which is kind of typical of oolong, eh? It’s so smooth now. And also turmeric).

Steep Count: 2

Yes, this is good. I drank it alongside a cup of Jayida Ché’s Rooibos Vanilla Chai and I just feel so spoiled right now. Wow, awesome consecutive tea lattes.

If you’ve had Vancouver based Bayswater’s Creme Brulee/Divine Temptation this blend is kind of a relative. It’s smooth and rich, wearing its dessert tea status on the cuff of its sleeve. I had some reservations about the rooibos/black tea blend but it’s easy to forget that “they” exist half the time. Once I run out and when my cupboard is less ridiculous (in 2021) I’ll likely suck it up (argh shipping) and reorder, if just for the fantastic O’Connor’s Cream and this. Yum.

I may have forgotten that I love chai and forwent buying any for a few years. What a grave mistake. This is a delicious latte. It’s more cardamom and ginger forward, with a pleasant accentuation of cloves, and subtle cinnamon and vanilla to sweeten the deal. It’s well-balanced and pleasantly warming to the point of invigorating.

For a while there it seemed every chai I drank was mostly cinnamon so I’m appreciating this one immensely right now. I prefer the focus to be on the cloves, ginger and cardamom, and I actually like rooibos when it’s a chai base. Mom loves a good chai too, so sadly this one isn’t destined to stick around for long… and I’m already getting anxious about going without. I need to prioritize the spice more!

Ha ha… my mom finds this tea absolutely repulsive and gags anytime I open it up and wave it around. She says it smells of burning bodies. Dramatic much?

Like any smoked lapsang souchong style tea, the predominate flavour is campfire smoke and burnt plant matter. I think it is slightly more robust than most of its kind but it’s still a surprisingly smooth and smokey-sweet tea.

I don’t reach for this type of tea very often but when I do crave the stuff there is nothing better. It also provides some measure of comfort when one has to be out and about on a dark and damp Pacific Northwest fall evening. It’s the best (unless you are my mom, in which case this is the nastiest thing ever).

With Milk.

Ever had a Crema Bubble Tea from the likes of Chatime? The cream flavour is hard to describe because it has a savoury component, like a cheese, but is still used in a dessert-like context (cream cheese like in cheesecake). It is a flavour that makes me a bit nauseous but also a tad in love.

O’Connor’s Cream has a bit of that “dessert cheese” quality. It’s rich, velvety, tangy, and heady (boozy) to taste and to smell.

I’m surprised cocoa is present (yeah, I know it’s in the description and listed as an ingredient, supposedly helping to catalyze the flavour profile). It’s mostly subtle, like a Browned Butter Milk Chocolate, that is more parts browned butter and milk than chocolate (and add whisky). I don’t know if I would’ve picked cocoa out if it hadn’t been pointed out. It’s doing some interesting things, creating more persuasive flavours and food associations.

Anyways, I was apprehensive about ordering 100g off the bat, and was going to offload some on my old workplace if I wasn’t a complete fan or merely liked it. Now, I suspect it won’t last as long as any of us would like (family members are already fans too).

I went for a cavity filling the other day, which is quite the experience with the new Covid-19 measures (wait outside, text notification to let you in, hand sanitizer, temperature check, questionnaire sheet, more hand sanitizer, wait in room until the hallway/ other room is clear, etc.). It went all right at the time while the freezing was in effect, but a day later my face is a little sore (I’m a wimp).

So here’s my consolation tea, with it’s simple but comforting toasty dessert profile. I just need to remember not to oversteep or overleaf!

This was part of my “three tea mystery grab bag” purchase. I will upload a picture here in a day or two.

Mmm… this tea has a satisfying asparagus note, with a citrus-sweet finish that is currently reminding me vaguely of a honey-lemon Halls. There are some lovely nut and vegetal notes that someone with a better palate than me can try to pin down!