188 Tasting Notes

88

I gave this one a try yesterday evening before we had to leave for dinner plans. I often don’t try something new when I know I won’t have a lot of time to linger and enjoy something new and to really take the time to evaluate it. This one came from the generous MissB and was calling my name to try it.

This is a nice cup of creamy cinnamon. Not too strong, but not to subtle… I love me some cinnamon and I was tempted to stir a little sugar in with a cinnamon stick to just add a little more to the cinnamon, but I didn’t have time to dig one out of the cabinet… I did add just a touch of raw sugar to help bring out the creamy icing flavor that I think was there, but could be brought out a bit more. Maybe I’ll add a splash of milk next time to try and bring out the icing flavor a bit more.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Cream

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80
drank Toffee Dream by Zen Tea
188 tasting notes

Gave this one a try this afternoon… Thanks MissB! Going to try a resteep & see if it holds up to it for another cup.

Dry leaf smells nutty, buttery.

Steeped I get white tea with toffee & maybe a hint of cream. I think the white base here is nice because it doesn’t overpower the toffee flavor.

Generally I prefer black, white, green teas in that order (not counting herbal/rooibos).. I think my taste buds may be coming around more to whites and greens as I’ve had more of them (flavored ones primarily so far though). Having grown up on mostly black teas, I guess I can understand the reason there. I’m glad they are becoming more welcome to my pallet so that I can enjoy more variety :)

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 15 sec

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I tried this one last evening. Thanks MissB for sharing this one with me.

Smelled of really yummy chocolate in dry leaf form. Steeped it was rich and deep flavors, but I didn’t really get chocolate.

I drank most of the cup and will try this one again with different steeping perameters and see if that makes a difference for me… was so looking for the chocolate that I smelled.

I will hold off on rating this until I give it another go.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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88
drank Eggnog & Pralines by Butiki Teas
188 tasting notes

MMmmmm… Love the smell of this tea dry. Sweet, nutty, dessert-like.

Steeped it smells a little more green tea-like at first, as it cools, some of that dissipates (which is good for me since green isn’t my fav but if the other flavors play nice and it’s not too vegetal/or green tasting, I can do it) and I get creamy, nutty goodness . The green tea is still there, mostly in the aftertaste, but letting the flavors shine in this one. After a few sips, I did treat myself to a touch of raw sugar in the cup to make it a bit sweet .. much better. :)

This doesn’t taste like eggnog to me, but is sweet and creamy in the eggnog style with a nice mouth feel and a touch of praline nuttiness (which comes out even more as it cools). I’m tempted to try a bit of cream in the next cup to see if it is even creamier.

I could certainly go for this one when I’m looking for a creamy lightly caffeinated cup.

If someone offered me a green tea.. I would love to find out that it was this one out of the selections I’ve tried so far! I’m finding that a flavored green done well, I can like :)

Thanks MissB for sharing this one with me!

Flavors: Cream, Nuts

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp

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70

Dry leaf this smells amazing! Mint and chocolate for sure!

1 Tbs looks like a lot of leaf for my cup but going for the gusto with the recommended amount.

Steeped the smell of mint decreases and the black base comes through. While it was still very hot all I get in tasting is the rich black base.

As it begins to cool the mint comes through nicely at the end of a sip (a little pinch of sugar helped a bit), and while the black base is still present, it comes through as a deep richness in this blend, almost like espresso like suggested with none of the bitterness, … not overpowering, but very present throughout each sip. I can imagine a bit of chocolate, though not real prominent, & I feel like I’m getting it from the black tea base.

To me this is a hearty, rich black tea good for a morning when you need a “wake me up, get me going kind of tea”. The base is great and the mint is a pick me up. I love how the minty freshness lingers in my mouth for a bit after each sip.

The second steep is much like the first, maybe a little less mint. This time I used just a splash of milk to see if it added anything. .. no real change noted from the milk except maybe a little thicker texture.

I think this is a nice blend for when I would want something rich and black without too much added flavor, & a bit of mint refreshment.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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80
drank Checkmate by DAVIDsTEA
188 tasting notes

Tried this one awhile back and just now getting a note down.

I find myself comparing this with Della Terra’s White Chocolate Coconut Cream. Probably because both are coconut & chocolate predominately.

Dry, this tea smells lightly of sweet coconut. I find the chocolate a little less present in this than the Della version. It’s funny to me that the chocolate in the Della version is supposed to be white but I find it much like the chocolate present in this tea. The coconut comes through more and more as this blend cools and at the end of each sip. I find this tea a little richer in flavor, but not necessarily better than Della as I’m getting something I don’t recognize.. could be the chamomile since I’ve not had many teas with it yet.

I think I’m intrigued by Della’s version because it’s got black, white and green teas (which I imagined I could pick out)for a base, as this one is black and white. Although I do like the large pieces of coconut in this blend.

The jury is still out on which I prefer of these two blends. I might have to do a side by side comparison.

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81

This came from the wonderful MissB and I’m glad she shared it with me.

When I went through the box she sent me, I opened some of the bags and smelled them & somehow I managed to lose the Ziploc baggie that this sample was in… so I kept wondering what that wonderful overwhelming mint smell was. As I shuffled back through the box I found this.. and that was it! Mint chocolate chip came to mind… even my 8 year old agreed that the smell was spot on.

Steeped the color is light and fragrance minty and green tea like. When it was still very hot, all I got was green tea.. not a favorite of mine by itself… have to have some additional flavor to make it work for me.
As it cooled, the mint flavor came through more and more and the green tea base disappeared some, but still very present. The chocolate is there as it cools, but very light for me… I’m tempted to add some chocolate bits next time I try it and see if it doesn’t improve it for me. I did add a small bit of raw sugar, which helped bring out the mint more, but less than my normal amount. I think I’m finding I’m using less and less on many of them lately.

MissB

I’m finding Assam’s greens fairly weak myself as well, although I did hope you’d get more out of it than I.

Suziqzer

Definitely drinkable, but not my favorite cup.

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93

I came home to Hubby sitting on the couch with a tea he selected from the generous box from MissB. I asked him what he was drinking… he’s like, “Why?” Um… I’m curious. I smell his cup… Chocolate?!?.. I say in disbelief because he always asks where the fruit teas are when he’s looking for tea. He says, “no”. I ask again what he is drinking… I don’t think he wanted to tell me. Finally he says that the package is on the counter… Cinnamon Chocolate Brownie… ? You picked chocolate over fruit? “Um.. well, it just sounded good.”

I managed to get a sip from his cup and I think he was afraid I would steal it from him. I was nice and didn’t, but could have! Yum!

Dry leaf smells sweet and mostly black to me, but steeped.. it transforms to rich chocolaty goodness. I didn’t find the cinnamon in this cup, but that is fine with me as I’m not often fond of the mix of the two. Probably because I’ve had too many chocolate sheet cakes thinking they were like my mom’s recipe only to find them with excess cinnamon.

I told Hubby it’s like dessert in a cup… without all the extra fat and calories.

Hubby and I will have to share the amount that’s left…I’m certainly not letting him finish it all himself. I will likely give some of mine to our son who I’m afraid will steal it away, but I think he would like this one… Now, if I can just get him to try it.

MissB

Oh, yay! So glad all of you enjoyed this. It’s relatively inexpensive too, so definitely something to add to your shopping list!

Suziqzer

I did look at it online already. Very good prices. My first from Simpson & Vail! I enjoyed the Candy Cane too :) I need to do a tasting note on it yet. It might be the next place I try an order from.

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I’ve had this one a couple of times trying to decide what I think of it.

It’s an interesting blend, first one I’ve seen with white, green & blacks teas. Looks mostly like black leaves until they start to unfurl.

Dry leaf smells of rich chocolate. Steeped this blend loses the smell of chocolate and smells sweet and comforting. Tastes like a lighter version of the chocolate scent of the dry leaf. At the end of of each sip, and even more so as it cools, I find coconut in the flavor.

At times I think I can taste the tea base flavors along with the chocolate or coconut notes. Probably just my imagination since there are 3 kinds of leaf plus the flavorings going on in this cuppa. My palate isn’t that refined :).

Yvonne

Mmmm – this one sounds absolutely wonderful.

__Morgana__

Blends of different kinds of teas always make me a little crazy because I’m never sure what temperature and how long to steep them, but this sounds really interesting.

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75
drank Winter Nog by Della Terra Teas
188 tasting notes

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Bio

37 yr old wife and mother who left her day job to take care of our son. Now running a property management business with my hubby.

I grew up on Lipton -hot w/milk & sugar, Lipton iced w/fresh spearmint and sugar, and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime … Don’t criticize.

I came across Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy out of chance and it spurred my interested in trying new teas because it was a flavor I had never had before in a tea. I’m now new to the world of loose leaf teas and looking forward to learning what I like as I journey through some new flavors. Hubby has always enjoyed the occasional cup when we’ve been out and about at restaurants.. now we will find out what good teas are really all about! On with the adventures!

Still relatively new to loose leaf, but I’m learning… Coconut, cinnamon, chai, chocolate, mint, & pineapple are just a few of the flavors I enjoy. I have found that I can do green teas so long as there are other flavors as well and it isn’t the primary flavor. I have only found 1 rooibos blend that was too woodsy for me, most of the time the base is hidden or blends well enough w/flavored versions for my liking. I’m beginning to enjoy fruit teas more and more. I occasionally like a straight black tea.

Hubby likes milder flavors, any base, berry flavors, sweet aromas, sometimes tart, and or floral, and chocolate to my surprise! Almost the opposite of me.. go figure!

My 8 year old just took interest and loves root beer.. so far Butterbeer is a hit, but we haven’t tried any root beer or cola teas yet.. soon thanks to the Marvelous MissB for sending some samples. He enjoyed Winter Nog (Della Terra) recently, but turned away something else I gave him.. darn if I can’t remember now what it was!

Location

Indiana

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