A Quarter to Tea

Noooope. Not a tea for me. I wasn’t thrilled that this was a flavoured green, to begin with, but I did not care for the flavouring. There are hops in here (yuck), and something else that I wasn’t keen on. Alcohol/cocktail lovers might find this more appealing; it’s definitely not for me.

Oh dear. I drank this and didn’t make notes :(

One of the November teas of the month, and it looks to be using my favourite base tea! However, the base tea wasn’t as prominent here – it was definitely more of a candy-flavoured experience. Yams? I’m not sure. But it was tasty. I do prefer when the base shines a bit more, but we’ll see if it does on another cup.

I am digging on this today! I usually add cream to non flavored malty teas, but I kept hesitating as I sipped my hot cup and am enjoying it plain. It’s heavy, malty, warming and has a smoothness that is almost sweet. I’m falling hard for this tea today. Figures. Another AQ2T offering that I like!

Sipdown (578)!

Definitely worse than the first cup of this that I tried; which is surprising to me since I thought the first cup was pretty lousy in and of itself. I wanted so much more from this tea, and maybe my standards were just too high but I found it incredibly disappointing. That caramel flavour is just so bad though…

Currently drinking this one, but finding myself a little disappoint with it. It essentially tastes exactly like the Creme Caramel Flan oolong tea also made by AQTT. Probably similar combo of flavourings used in each blend? This just has a milder base to it and is a little more of straw-ish undertone.

I didn’t love the Creme Caramel Flan, so I’m not loving this either.

What’s a girl gotta do to get an awesome cup of caramel tea!?

Enjoyed this one – if I recall correctly it tasted as advertised – pear and apple with fall spices and vanilla! Not overly strong, but a solid choice for the season.

Yum yum yum. Fluffy vanilla genmaicha, really.

This was delicious! I’ve had horchata before but had no idea how it would translate to a green tea – but it’s really tasty. Basically another take on a delicious, sweet genmaicha, which is usually a solid winner.

Drank this; literally have no recollection of the flavour except that I unexpectedly enjoyed it. For some reason I didn’t think I would.

Definitely better cool. It just tastes weird hot. Cool, though, it’s a nice, fruity blend. Strong notes of melon with a background of ginger and lemon(grass). The rooibos makes for a solid base, and didn’t bother me, which was great.

Enjoyed this one despite it being a rooibos – I wish I’d picked it up sooner so I could have cold-brewed it, as I think it’s definitely best as an iced tea. Can’t recall specifics about the flavour right now, but I did enjoy it.

Sipdown (331)

I used the entire sample of this to make both a latte and a plain cup of tea. The lapsang smelled so strongly of smoke but I had some giant pieces of banana so I am hoping the flavors balance.

I of course topped the latte with whipped cream which immediately latched on to the banana flavor. So I instantly got creamy banana medicine. As I drink the tea, the smoke really takes over, pushing the banana to the aftertaste. Flavorwise I am getting the grill but the spiced smoke smell is so pungent that I find I have to prepare myself to take each sip. I like it but at the same time I don’t.

Drinking the plain tea, I think the latte brought out some of the flavors more. I feel like the smoke is less pungent but there is also less banana in the plain tea.

I think overall this tea is quite good but I think it is so distinctly flavored that it is a one and done sort of thing otherwise it would be easy to grow tired of the flavor.

I really enjoyed this combination of flavors. I am going to try more teas with this flavor comb because it suited each other really well. It was somewhat fruity but the pistachio cut it nice.

Another new arrival from yesterday! Never has a “cream cheese” flavoured tea actually smelled so tangy. It was strange. The dry leaf has a definite aroma of banana (halfway between runts and natural banana – not bad) and tanginess. Once brewed, it’s more vanilla banana cake than anything, and that’s kind of where the flavour is too – the tanginess doesn’t really translate. But, it is tasty enough, and the aftertaste is truly like a banana cake – colour me surprised! The oolong is pairing quite well with the flavours, and probably contributing to the delicious cakiness. Overall a solid banana oolong; would recommend.

Just received this in the mail today! I’ve previously loved figgy teas, and was particularly excited about the dragon pearl base. However, I’m finding the tea to be too perfumey for me. I’m not sure if it’s the fig flavouring, or if the dragon pearls are jasmine-scented, but it’s just ok. Not really picking up anything great from the base black either, except late in the aftertase, after the floral dissipates.

Overall, probably good if you like floral blacks, but doesn’t scream jam to me, which would have been more of a rich sweetness.

This tea was in many ways similar to one of my faves from A Quarter to Tea, Peach Crostata. Therefore, I enjoyed it – but not as much as PC. In this last cup I had, I didn’t catch the heat nor the honey, in particular, but I also drank the tea cold while thirsty and trying to calm a fussy baby. So probably wasn’t paying 100% attention. Either way, it was good and definitely reminiscent of PC; I’d be unlikely to choose it over my fave, though, which has some additional delicious flavours.

Friend enjoyed this; I enjoyed the resteeps. I don’t think I’m overly keen on the combo of lavender and chocolate (or maybe it’s the honeybush here that I don’t care for), but it’s still enjoyable. Just not a combo to seek out again, until it occurs to me to mix cacao shells with lavender… hmmm….. maybe I’ll try that combo before dismissing it entirely.

Travel mug tea #1 for Easter outing

Long time no post. I’ve been busy and going to sleep early, also suffering from frequent headaches, which is really no fun at all. Not migraines, just headaches… not sure if it’s dehydration, sleep deprivation, or something else entirely. Oh well…

Anyhow, this was my least favourite of the 6 teas I brought along. Too much chocolate and not enough lavender (but that’s probably because I really just wanted a lavender tea).

I just needed some lavender tonight. This did not disappoint. Really couldn’t taste any chocolate here either, although there’s some cakiness to go along with the floral. It’s possible that due to Pirouline overconsumption, my tastebuds are currently not picking up the level of chocolate that is in tea, as it is used to that which is in delicious chocolate wafery straw things…

Currently obsessed with lavender and although honeybush is not my favourite, I had to try this. It lives up to its name fairly well – deeply chocolatey with a nice touch of lavender. I do wish this was on a different base, though.

I’m fairly ambivalent about this tea – it’s fine, but tastes a little over-flavoured for me. I don’t specifically taste pistachio or strawberry; it just tastes like a fruity flavoured white. Which again, isn’t anything bad, but isn’t anything special.

Drank hot at the same time as Pink Lemonade, and while I enjoyed it, I can’t make any specific comments as I think I confused the two teas!

Definitely obsessed with icing this one now, though it’s not going to last all that much longer. I also discovered it can withstand an epic oversteep – I poured 4 cups of ~200C water over 4 generous tbsp of tea in a measuring cup… and then proceeded to forget about it for about 2 hours. But I threw it over a pitcher of ice and it was delicious. I usually just normally brew and ice teas that actually contain camellia sinensis, as I often find that cold brewing brings out an astringency that I don’t care for, and that doesn’t get hidden since I don’t sweeten, so it was a pleasant surprise that this one was still good even without sweetening!

Also, I then proceeded to drink the entire pitcher (yes, like 6+ cups of tea) that evening. It was hot out, ok? (And I was doing yardwork.)