A Quarter to Tea
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Shortly before this tea arrived, I had some awesome churros at a vegan Mexican restaurant that opened around the corner from my office. With the taste of those churros and the chocolate banana dip they came with fresh in my mind, I was excited to try this tea when it arrived, an excitement that grew immediately when I cracked open the bag and got a big whiff of caramel icing deliciousness.
With that said, I was a little disappointed when I drank this and the AQ2T honey flavor really took over. cinnamon was minimal and the bit of cocoa that should have been here was gone entirely. It has a little bit of pastry to it but not necessarily fried dough. It was sweet and tasty but not what I expected or hoped for.
Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2018/06/20/churros-with-dulce-le-leche-from-a-quarter-to-tea/
Sad Sipdown (693)!
Finishing this one off tonight as a cold brew; I normally save up all my tasting notes for the work and write them between Friday and Sunday but I’ve had a larger than normal amount of tea this week and I don’t particularly want to try to get through all those tasting notes in one morning or afternoon so I’m going to do some tonight – this is the tea I’m going to drink while doing that…
I’ve enjoyed this tea a lot and I’m sort of sad it’s gone now; it’s actually a really nice raspberry flavour while also still kind of being a unique one. It’s sweet and robust, and tastes distinctly like raspberry while also having this interesting perfumed/floral quality to it and a hint of a boozey grapeyness that I love. I debated getting this reblended in a higher quantity when AQ2T announced their hiatus, but there are a few blends that I enjoy more and it just wasn’t possible for me to get like six or seven teas reblended at the time financially…
So this one will be missed! But I’m sure glad that I tried it!
So, I discovered a new TV show and I’ve been binging that recently – it’s called Manifest. I actually found it through one of those weird FB video clips/meme things with one of those stupid captions like “What Would You Do If This Was YOU!? :O !!!” – it teased the pilot/premise of the show…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjsFg7e-ffk
I’m on episode four now and it’s basically amazing.
This was the tea that I was drinking when I watched the pilot – it’s a great tea. A little bit astringent, but in a way that seems really natural/fitting for a “wine” inspired drink, and adds more depth and balance to the cup. The raspberry is really flavourful and natural, and compliments the black base quite well. A touch of a floral undertone, as well.
Love the tea, and loving this new show.
I spent an hour or so yesterday measuring out teas for a Valentine’s Day project for my coworkers for tomorrow – and this is one of the teas I measured out for someone. In doing so, I just found I was really craving it myself so I made a cup at the same time.
Definitely very raspberry leaning, and a little less bright & sweet than the last time that I drank it – it is older though, so that’s understandable. Despite those changes in flavour, it’s still a REALLY lovely cup of tea and I really enjoyed the sweet but natural fruit notes and general smoothness as well as the lightly herbaceous undertone from the raspberry leaf in the blend.
Today’s cold brew.
I just had to revisit this one – I know I had it recently, but I couldn’t get that grape note out of my head. It’s something that AQTT does really well. True to my cravings, this brew was super smooth and juicy with really plump, bursting with flavour deep grape notes in the top of the sip and in the body, and then more of that raspberry taste in the undertones. It almost felt like it should be fizzy, but it definitely wasn’t.
Very, very good.
Now this was a really good blend!
I think we all know that I’m a sucker for a good wine flavoured tea, despite the fact I hate actual red wine. Still, a good Rosé, Ice Wine, or Red Wine blend!? Yeah, that shizz is right up my alley. AQTT has another wine-ish blend that I love A LOT too – the red wine apple cake. Steeped up, the wine notes in this remind me A LOT of that blend; very sweet and grapey, a little like Welch’s grape juice but just boozier. I’m super into that sort of flavour, and I really like the sweetness of it paired alongside a more ripe and juicy medium bodied raspberry flavour and then contrasted with a brisk, malty and just slightly astringent black base. It creates this mostly very smooth, and really well rounded sweet and fresh medium to full bodied profile. It’s not cloying, or really artificial. It’s also not super tart or bitter. One of the best new black teas I’ve had in a long time, actually. Really instantly smitten with this…
Sipdown (220)
Yesterday it dawned on me that in one month I will be done the semester, including my four exams. That seems like it should be a good thing but that means I have less than a month to prepare for four exams that are going to come and go quite rapidly. That was a bit panic-inducing so I am in full blown summary drafting mode. That essentially means I lose hours at a time while staring at a laptop and textbook.
I finally decided to take a break to eat food and decided to treat myself to a latte. This tea jumped out at me because it is on the older side and had just enough to make a latte. Also, I usually use black teas for lattes but after my Maple Marshmallow Latte the other day, I wanted to explore other bases.
My first couple sips of this were amazing. The whipped cream and latted tea combined so wonderfully to make an effervescent but creamy strawberry milkshake. It was honestly the best I had ever tasted the tea. As I keep drinking though, that creaminess is dulled to a milkiness that is making this a little flatter. I still get effervescent strawberry but the flavor isn’t popping like it was in the first few sips.
I was really excited about this one and I have to be honest that I ended up being underwhelmed. The strawberry was not as present as I hoped and the champagne was absent completely. Some fluffiness from the marshmallow root hinted towards cupcake but that was it. Alright but nothing spectacular.
Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2018/04/02/strawberry-champagne-cupcakes-from-a-quarter-to-tea/
Iced Sipdown (634)!
This one basically tastes like Cherry Blossom from DT, but with lots of jasmine and maybe a little bit of vanilla? I don’t mind the extra creaminess/hint of vanilla that seems to be present here but that jasmine is really killing the flavour of the cherry for me. Combined with the rose, it’s just too perfumey as a whole…
Thanks for the share, though, VariaTEA – I probably would have bought a bag of this for myself otherwise, so you saved me a few dollars!
this one is another sample from VariaTEA – i quite enjoyed this one, though apparently not as much as her :) I liked that this was a lemon tea with a great black base. It was just lemongrass city, which i haven’t been a fan of lately. I didn’t quite get “muffin” out of it but i really loved the base + lemon, sort of vanilla pairing that came though. thanks VariaTEA!
Final Count: 41
Sipdown (356)
This smelled really rich while steeping which was disappointing since there is flavour deterioration and so it is coming off a bit flat. There is a shadow of caramel and vanilla but it’s all pretty muted. No rancid coconut thankfully but this was a good time for a sipdown.
It’s weird Roswell Strange got chocolate macaroons because I am getting a lot of vanilla. Vanilla and malt with a touch of caramel. I think my tastebuds must be the funky ones though because I am looking for coconut which should be the main flavor here and I’m not getting much. It’s really creamy though so maybe that’s where the coconut is coming through for me. The black tea is also really present and treads towards astringent without quite reaching it, if that makes any sense to anyone other than me.
Sipdown (586)!
Finished this off in a tea press yesterday; I actually brought it with me to a birthday party. It’s crazy, I’ve been in Montreal a little over two weeks now and I feel like I’ve already been to more social engagements than I went to in the last six months in Regina. The crazy thing is, though, that I’m loving it – like for a very introverted and socially awkward individual I’m having a BLAST networking and getting to know all these different types of people. Plus, the venues have been AMAZING.
The coworker who’s birthday we were celebrating is the one person that I knew before moving out (the one who let me ship all my stuff to her when I was in the process of moving), and it was just at her house but it was a FUN party! Lots of people from our office that I hadn’t had a chance to really meet with that I’m now going to feel really comfortable interacting with at the office (again, YAY for networking!), but also people she knows from other places in Montreal. It was just a great time!
It was also a potluck – and that was such a COOL concept for a birthday party. However, what was even cooler IMO was that literally every person brought something homemade instead of store bought. And, like, really good food: homemade cheesecake, tabouli salad, croissants, pie, mead, etc! It was just really cool and noteworthy to me how much attention and pride this group of people took in making AMAZING home cooked dishes – and things that I would have considered fancier/a step above traditional potluck food. I made tea eggs, of course, but I’ll take about that in a different tasting note…
As for the tea, that was my drink of choice over alcohol since I don’t drink A LOT as it stands and I also can’t afford to hit up a liquor store right now and get something I would actually be interested in. I know I love this tea already, so it was a safe choice for me. I did love the sweet, toasted coconut notes and chocolate body profile though – it was rich and indulgent and a strong enough flavor profile to stand up to all these amazing dishes that we were eating. However, it also had a bit of a burnt sugar note that I don’t know I observed in my previous tasting – I liked it though because that very mild/soft bitter was the right contrast to an otherwise very sweet tea. It added complexity.
Potluck bday party with lots of homemade food. Sounds fantastic. I bet most of them were their favorite recipes too. Yum! Glad you had a great time :D
I used to LOVE potlucks when I was in Montreal. My roommate and I always hosted themed potlucks. So we had an Iron Chef potluck where we invited everyone by sending them a challenge video that said everything they brought had to feature lemons in some way. We also had a fantasy potluck and that was AMAZING! I made the sesame street which was literally sesame brittle that spanned the length of my table, decorated to look like a street with cupcakes that were decorated to look like the characters. My roommate made a basil-lisk from Harry Potter which was basically meat she cooked and scored to look like a section of the snake. Then people brought stuff like lembas bread or cauldron cakes. People got sooo creative though and it was amazing. One friend made vampire roses which are bacon wrapped cream cheese stuffed figs that look like roses and she put them in a vase with other flowers and people thought it was a centerpiece but it was food.
Just want to say, yay for any introvert having fun at the parties. :D I’m glad your move is going so well!
OMG – all of those parties sound so incredibly fun! I’m so sad that we lived/are living in Montreal at such different times :(
Me too! I miss Montreal! I am also an introvert but I also found it easier to go out and have fun in Montreal. It is an awesome city :)
Decided to cold brew this one,
Something just told me that I should do it because the coconut notes would come out spectacularly! Coconut cold brews often do, after all. I was correct as well; this is so rich and buttery with a spectacularly strong and pronounced coconut flavour. Still hints of chocolate, and a bit of a nuttyness but mostly coconut!
Really enjoyed this one as well; great dessert brew.
Not totally sure what “Cocadas” are, but I do know that this tea smells WICKED GOOD and 100% reminds me of really lovely, creamy and rich chocolate macaroons. In terms of taste, this is dessert tea done right! Sweet and smooth, and rich without being cloying. It’s got good milk chocolate notes, buttery toasted coconut, hints of caramel, malt, and molasses. Reminds me strongly of DT’s Chocolate Macaroon tea were it more refined and well balanced. I can see this becoming a major comfort tea, and one hell of a latte.
Thanks for the share VariaTEA – I REALLY enjoyed this one.
Cocadas are coconut pastries popular in the Caribbean, Central American, and South American countries. They’re kind of like macaroons.
Oddly enough, the first time I had something like one was in Hawaii. The lady who made them used tarot in one and guava in the other for flavor. They were awesome. The ones I’ve had since then….eh.
I’m still trying to get used to taro. There’s a place pretty close to my home that makes bubble and milk teas. I tried a taro milk tea recently. It was not my thing.
It can be very sweet.
Toasty Coconut? Lime? Green Tea? Check, check, and check!
Nearly out of this one now; it’s a green tea that I actually like a lot and I debated ordering a bigger amount of it when AQ2T was closing up shop/going on hiatus but I opted not to because of the stability of the coconut. This was a nice treat though; it’s so refreshing and well balanced. I love that it can feel cozy and fresh and bright all at the same time.
Cold Brew!
It’s been a while since I last had a cold brew, hasn’t it!? Well, I’m glad I made this one. It was my second flavoured AQ2T green tea blend of the day – part of a weird string of teas I found myself craving. It’s really rich, while still seeming light and refreshing as well – it’s so weird how some teas are able to do that! Creamy, buttery coconut in the top note; it’s pretty dominating. I drink my cold brews out of a giant mason jar (24 oz) and when I tilt it up to my face to drink the aroma of fatty, rich coconut also ATTACKS my senses – but in a good way. The lime is sort of mixed in with all the coconut; detectable but not as strong. A little green tea grassieness – but it’s mild and tolerable; actually plays into the coconut quite nicely.
Mmmm!
Hot w/ a smidge of agave; deliciously creamy and lightly toasted coconut notes with undertones of grassy green tea and a sharp, but not acrid, lime note at the top of the sip. Well executed blend, and still a favourite of mine for sure.
AQ2T put the lime in the toasted coconut, and I steeped it all up.
(Just relieved that after not having this for a while it still tastes crazy bonkers good, and the coconut hasn’t gone funky at all yet – still have time to enjoy this one!)
Gave this one just a little bit of time before revisiting it, just to make sure I still really enjoyed the flavour and that I wasn’t obsessing over it purely because of new tea excitement. It definitely holds up though; smooth, medium bodied flavour with buttery and toasty coconuts notes, a little vegetal green tea, and then the brightness of sweet, fresh lime. It’s really bloody good!
Slowly building up a dependency on this one…
It’s just a really good balance between all the elements; tart/acidic lime, buttery and creamy coconut, and comforting toasty elements. I don’t even hate the slightly present green tea base, it just melds into the lime as a sort of “just a little under ripe/lime peel” element. I’ve even started experimenting with other coconut teas in my stash, to try and recreate similar profiles…
Late night evening cuppa from maybe a week ago?
I was so excited about this tea; coconut blends are generally awesome and something about the idea of toasted coconut and lime? Oh boy did that appeal to me.
It’s quite lovely; a little lighter in flavour than I expected it to be (kind of a light bodied tea in general, really) but still really delivers on namesake flavours. Smooth, light buttery coconut with as edge of the toasted element right in the start of the sip before it’s interrupted by the lime now. Fresh and bright, tiniest bit acidity but a very small amount. Just enough to provide contrast to the buttery creaminess of the coconut. It’s one of those pairings that differs JUST ENOUGH to highlight the other flavour and really make the notes come to life. It’s a touch grassy, from the green tea base, but it’s honestly a nice backdrop for both flavours – it allows the blend to be flavourful and defined but still light and delicate. A white tea base would have been too light, and would have been swallowed by the flavours, and a black base would have been to strong and drowned out the delicate nuances. This just feels… right.
