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Sample sipdown! I’m trying to get through the box from Dexter3657 to make room for the Fusion tea arriving this week and the small Butiki order I placed yesterday.

I didn’t replace this because although it is very good the goal is to try as much Butiki tea as I can without going over budget.

I wouldn’t normally pick this as a morning tea but I need something low caffeine to give my liver a break from all the meds it has to process. Some of these also upset my stomach, I feel so very painfully full although I haven’t eaten since yesterday at 6. Uuugh! So anyway, I picked this tea. So, so delicate.

Going for a second steep as we speak. Just what I needed. Might not have medicinal properties but at least it Is gentle and very enjoyable.

And since we’re sharing pictures, this is what tea looks like a my house this morning:

http://instagram.com/p/aWAqmwHqdk/

Sample sipdown from Dexter3657

I really should have bought more of this. I didn’t receive my Fusion tea order yet but I only ordered a 10 cup sample size. I had only tried it once before placing my order and was still not head over heels in love. I enjoyed it the first time around but apparently not enough to order more. Moronic move.

It’s perfect for an evening when you want to curl up with a warm cup of comfort. To some, that cup of comfort might be a chocolate tea, or a chai. Although I enjoy those also, there’s just nothing like hazelnut for me. I used to put hazelnut creamer in my morning coffee all the time. This tea, with hazelnut creamer is just to die for.

It’s not Christmas but so what? I wanted to try this because it’s the only chocolate peppermint I have and I’m in the mood. Thanks for this sample goes to Dexter3657

Sadly, I find it weak. I’ll try more tea next time but right now it’s not too minty, not too chocolatey and really not much of anything. It’s pleasant but really weak both in flavour and in mouthfeel. I was thinking it might be something along peppermint patty but it’s not.

Maybe I shouldn’t have read all the other notes as it might have given me a bias. But no, because if I hadn’t, I might have expected this to be even mintier. Most notes agree that it’s more vanilla chocolate than mint. It would have been perfect had it been.

Will add more leaf next time and revisit note if warranted.

My mouth hurts like a sonofabitch (for those who just started following, I had oral surgery yesterday) even with all the ibuprofen I’m taking. So I sent my partner and temporary nurse to the liquor store to get some vodka. Imma brew this hot, ice it and booze it up for a nice anesthetic. :)

Will let you know how it goes.

18 hours later

This tea promises Passionfruit and it does give you just that starting with the nose of the dry leaf to the aroma, colour and flavour of the liquor. Aided slightly by artificial Passionfruit flavour and a little tangy for me because of the hibiscus. Before you write this off because of the hibiscus, I’ll tell you it doesn’t bother too much. Personally I don’t mind hibiscus but for those who do, its presence is not agressive. As i mentioned, it lends a tangy-ness to the blend but that’s what sweeteners are for. Brewed following label instructions and poured over ice does make a pretty good cocktail should you happen to have vodka lying around.

Nobody rated this or logged this. Not sure a newbie should be the first to do so… Ah, the pressure. Especially since Rooibos is my least favourite of teas. However, Dexter3657 sent this to me and I can’t possibly not try it! Rude and wasteful, right?

It’s a coffee flavoured Rooibos so it gets points from me right off the bat. And the thing is that whatever is going on in this blend masks the Rooibos quite well so I’d say this is a better introduction to Rooibos for those who are just not sure.

There’s coffee on the nose, and in the aroma and flavour of the brewed liquor. I do find it a little on the weak side at 1.5 tsp for 8 oz with near boiling water. It brews a clear caramel brown liquor. That’s the best I can do without sounding too pretentious.

It’s one of the better Rooibos I’ve had even if a little on the weak side.

Dang. Someone at work said this was their favourite DAVIDs tea. I don’t know the woman at all so of course I didn’t buy this because of what she said. I bought it, coincidentally, just the weekend before having had this conversation. I didn’t open the tea until today.

To me it smells and tastes like banana bread. Not the banana part, but the spices part. Although I taste nutmeg not cinnamon. I can just see the moist pieces of banana bread in my mind as I drink this. The colour screws it up for me, I really don’t know why it has to be pink.

Not my favourite, not by far. Glad to have tried it but sample size was enough. Moving on.

Dry nose: roasting nuts. Clear pink liquor with aroma matching the nose. Flavour… Apple Nutmeg. Sorry, can’t say almond cause it ain’t there!

I cold brewed this for 24 hours in a pitcher. No infuser, just free leaves and cold water. It is way better than the hot and iced version but we’re still far from friends. Still has that mild bitterness. What is going on? Flavour is good though, this could be so yummy with a white base maybe?

I will be enjoying a few cups of this courtesy of Dexter3657 . It probably would have been a while before purchasing Verdant on my own since a) it is a little pricy and b) I would have been afraid I’m not ready for such goodness.

I don’t know much and since the bag says laoshan village chai — black I brewed it like a black tea. Afterwards I read all about the stovetop method and also infusing milk but alas, too late. I probably would have been too lazy to do the stovetop thing.

I like it, the spices are nice and everything, but can I ask why this tea tastes almost like milk at the end of the sip of the 1st steep?!?

The second steep doesn’t have the milky taste, it’s all ginger and cardamom.

I really wish I liked milk so I could drink this like I’m supposed to.

I should add — although it has nothing to do with tea — that it’s my last tea for the evening, and possibly the last in the next 24 hours. I’m having oral surgery first thing tomorrow and I’m supposed to stop drinking/eating for at least 8 hours before. And afterwards, well, one can assume that I might not be thinking about tea right away. So that’s why I picked this, I wanted to have something good!

I had a cup of this 17 days ago according to tea log. Don’t worry, I don’t have a spreadsheet or anything. Can you imagine?!?

I didn’t like it then but I thought it was because of the Rooibos. I have since made good friends with Rooibos so I decided to try it again as this is my first honest to goodness sipdown weekend. I placed a rather large DT order last night — large quantity-wise not necessarily price. I basically bought 650 grams of tea, the most I ever bought in one shot so I’m freaking out a little.

This tea is still not for me. The first steep of 1.5 tsp for 3 minutes was too strong. Not astringent, just strong and reminiscent of smoky bacon. Of course, maple at play. I don’t mind maple at all but there’s something weird about this. I left the first steep in the pot and put the second steep on top, and sweetened with maple syrup. Makes sense, right? It tastes better and I can finish the pot this way — I was worried I’d have to dump it and I hate doing that — but still there is something about it I do not like. And there’s just a touch of bitterness barely there but it’s there and I don’t dig it.

Thanks goes to Dexter3657 for this generous sample that is not yet a sipdown.

This is delightful. I can’t articulate what is it about it that I like. I like the spices for sure. I’ve only had cheap bagged chai before but I like the cardammom and the cinammon. Ever put a pinch of cardamom powder in your smoothies? or sprinkle just a pinch on top before drinking a smoothie? try it sometimes.

As for this tea, I sweetened it and added creamer. I tried it without them first but I figured for the sake of emulating authenticity I shall do as the Romans. Or in this case, the indians.

My goal is to collect a bunch of chai and make some for my brother-in-law who, after a two-week trip to India, said he misses the chai there most, and that he has not been able to find any here that tastes anything like it. And they make it with milk. I hate milk though, what am I going to do?!?