Acquired Taste Tea Co.

Darn it, I know I logged this the other night. Ah well. This is infinitely better hot; cold, it’s just a faintly flavored rooibos. Hot, it’s all juicy tangerine/orange with something granular added to the mix.

Standard chai spices, with a solid chai flavor. A bit much licorice/anise for me, but otherwise, lovely.

Pleasant, fruity and light – although something I’m drinking, I’m having an allergic reaction to. Very pineapple-y, depending on the sip, with little coconut, but it’s still in there vaguely.

(Just moving this; I think this may be an original).

I swear there was some sort of Fujian base in here, as I’m getting faint chocolate notes along with the black tea and mint. It’s a lovely cup, although very different from the Moroccan tea I’m used to having after a meal. (Perhaps theirs is full of honey though). A solid offering.

This likely came from either Murchie’s or Market Spice originally, however I grabbed it from Acquired Taste in Edmonton.

Smells like lemon, tastes like a lemony chai, sort of. A bit drying. All it is supposedly is lemon and cinnamon with Ceylon, and I get the faint idea of a lemon flavored cinnamon heart. Mild though, just… drying, and it feels like it’s from the cinnamon. It’s not a bad tea, just probably better suited for someone else. I also brewed it wrong, as it looks like a green… maybe it was mislabeled? Dunno.

I’m going to hazard that this is the same blend that Bayswater here in Vancouver, BC sells, and that both companies grabbed it from Simpson & Vail (but they call it Citrus Paradisi Tea). Ah, I wish this process were easier. :) Maybe a name, supplier and where purchased needs to be added?

Anyway. This is a lovely tea, and I’m super happy that I grabbed it. A tiny bit tart like grapefruit, juicy and sweet, with zero flowery blergamot that I can detect. It smells amazing too!

Almost positive this is The Tao of Tea’s 500 Mile Chai, however I still need confirmation so I’m putting this here.

Hoo boy, this is one strong chai. The base is a bit much for me; I like my chai less in-your-face. Hasn’t stopped me from drinking it… the ginger is quite lovely here, as is the cardamom and something sweet, sweeter than normal in a straight chai. I do like it, it’s just something I probably shouldn’t have had at 12:41am…

I’m sure this is an offering from some other company, but I’m at a loss to figure out which. It’s definitely strong on the lemon and quite lovely, however there’s zero ginger in it – and I’ve had this three times now, all oversteeped in the hopes to pull some ginger out of it. Boo. It’s not a bad tea, it’s actually quite lovely… I just wanted ginger.

A straightforward chai, almost gingerbread-like in the smell and taste. It’s leaving a weird feeling on my teeth though, almost like it’s stripping the enamel? Hard to describe, it just makes my teeth feel… dry.

The description calls this a chai – I’m not sure what to call it exactly, other than shockingly delicious. Barely can taste the base, then there’s vanilla, some creaminess from the cardamom, something nutty, and orange. I love this tea!

Hm. Methinks this is the same chai as the Spicy Chai, except that this has vanilla in it. Interesting. I definitely like this better – smoother – however it’s still too bitter as it cooled.

I think (?) this is what I’m reviewing? I have two chais here, and I forgot which was which. From the ingredient list, this looks like what I should be drinking… I need to look at my pictures… yep, this is the spicy chai.

I’m finding it really drying, and spicy, but more that it’s got a lot of spice in it than any sort of heat. Very thick, full bodied chai. Bitter as it cooled as well, which blows.

Yum this made for a good cup today. It doesn’t seem as waxy, just sweet with heat in the aftertaste from the chilis. Warm on this frigid day. I wanted to go to the gym, but I really don’t want to step foot outside in -36 C windchill weather haha. I will just sit and have more tea I guess :P at least it’s not bad for me! See previous notes on this one :) oh and decreased rating a little bit, just due to the slight waxiness.

This is the other tea mom got me for Christmas, I tried to remember the ingredients the lady gave me on the phone but not sure if I got them all, no nuts at least! The dry leaves consist of black tea, chocolate chunks, what looks like strips of chili peppers, and red peppercorns. Interesting, kind of a version of Chocolate Chili Chai (davidstea).

So I’m not sure on steeping parameters, but I tried 2 mins with boiling water in my new little teapot. I stirred the leaves to get the chocolate to dissolve. Oh, the dry smell is wonderful, strongly chocolate with spice. A big smell for the tea flavor to live up to lol.

The steeped tea smelled kind of weird…almost a waxy smell? It could be the teapot too lol, as after I poured it it’s mellowed into a faint chocolate scent, maybe it’s the spices? Whatever it was, it’s almost gone luckily haha.

As for the taste, wow this is interesting haha. There’s a slight waxiness like a crayon….that sounds bad, but I think it’s just the chocolate being artificial. The wax fades in the middle of the sip to actual chocolate, then, pow, the spice from the chilies and peppercorns hits you and you feel a spicy burn. Definitely not just a chocolate tea haha. The chocolate flavor comes back after the heat too. The only other tea that has made me feel a burn like this was one from Della Terra, a rooibos I can’t find on their site now haha.

Oh, and as the cup cools, the waxy flavor is fading. Hurrah! What an interesting tea. I’ll have to try Davidsteas’s CCC to see how it compares. This one definitely warms me up! A good present from my mom, as it’s not one I would have picked on my own lol. Rating 81 (hard to rate on my tablet without the keyboard attached lol)

I got this as a present from my mom for Christmas, but waited until now to drink it as I had to check the ingredients list with the company. I called them up today and they were very helpful, luckily it looks like there are just almonds in this one and no nuts at all in the other tea mom gave me, Fireside Chocolate! :)

So I had to make a cup of this. I should probably go easy on the black teas, with the busy holidays and lots of travelling, my anxiety has not been the greatest lately, and caffeine has been aggravating it. But oh well haha. I can splurge today, I’m pretty relaxed.

This tea smells like vanilla and apples dry. It’s a blend of black tea, apple cubes, spices, almonds and natural flavoring according to the lady at the company, so sounds good! I steeped a little over a tsp for 2 minutes.

The steeped scent is mostly spices, I am getting cinnamon and maybe some cloves, with a light apple scent thrown in as well. I really don’t smell the almonds, and if I hadn’t seen one in the steeper, probably couldn’t pick them out in the tea from scent or flavor. The taste is like an apple tea with cloves, spicy but there really is apple in there. To me, it’s a bit like a black tea version of Mom’s Apple Pie by DavidsTea, but with less cinnamon and artifical flavors. I guess the almonds could be adding to the depth of the flavor, but I don’t taste much of them. Overall, a pretty good black tea, definitely wintery and festive!

Good morning Steepster!! I have energy today because I actually went to bed earlyish (a half hour makes a big difference lol), it’s supposed to be +16 C here today and the sun is shining :) and it’s not Monday!! Life is good.

So I needed to have a citrus tea today, as KittyLovesTea said, the sunshine brings about citrus cravings, they just go hand in hand. This tea is so good, I need to drink it more often, a nice black base with actual grapefruit flavor. Not too tart either, more of a sweet grapefruit. A very nice wake up tea for at work :) see previous notes!

I don’t think I’ve written a note on this yet, but I really like this tea! I usually reserve this tea for miserable weather days, rainy, gross..today it is kind of sunny and windy and somewhat warm, but the clouds made it seem appropriate. A lovely EG with a bite of fresh grapefruit, that’s what this is like. Yum!

I decided to try Davidstea’s ridiculously tea wasteful latte recipe tonight as this tea is getting old and if it makes a more flavorful latte I don’t mind using this one up lol. And it did indeed make a good latte! 4 perfect spoons in about 2/3 of a 12 oz mug for 2 mins, frothed up a bunch of coconut milk and heated it, and poured the coconut milk in with the tea in a big mug. There was a bit of overflow of foam lol but it was very tasty and I’m still enjoying it (it was a big mug). One more latte like that and I will probably finish off that tea! Delicious and creamy with no sweetener added, just what I needed tonight :) see previous notes on this tea!

My one cup of black tea for the day..I keep having it at night too lol, not sure if that’s a good plan, but at least I’m cutting down on caffeine! Although I did have genmaicha this afternoon, which has caffeine, but minor detail lol. This tea called out to me tonight. After an unfortunate incident of our kitty breaking both of my boyfriend’s favorite pieces of teaware (elephant teapot and halloween color changing mug), he ordered I put some of my teas away so we have a place for teaware. This one ended up in the rejects bag, but of course I had to have a craving for it tonight, so I took it out again lol. Oh, and I ordered him a replacement elephant teapot, so we should be good! Bad cat, he was in a bit of trouble for that :( but anyways, this is creamy and delicious tonight. I quite like this EGC, it has a tasty cream note but the black base and bergamot are still a tad stronger. I like it, yes indeed. See previous note!

The other new tea I picked up yesterday. Mom and I were smelling Earl Greys as my aunt is a fan of them so we were looking for a gift for her, moment got Lord Grey and I got this one. Both have bergamot and vanilla but this one is more creamy than the other. I’m going to let my mom have a few cups in case that is the one to get my aunt (the Lord Grey is currently for her).

This tea smells soooo creamy. Now, I really don’t need another EGC, I’ve found my favorite at Zen Tea Life already and Heavenly Cream by Sloane is a close second. Oh and I can’t forget the one by davidstea, strong, but I enjoy it. But this one smelled too good to pass up lol (I might go back and get Lord’s Grey as well, it also smelled wonderful, but more bergamotty).

So I steeped about a tsp for 2 mins. The steeped tea retains that wonderful creamy smell and adds in a bit more bergamot. The first few sips were almost too much bergamot, bordering on perfume which I don’t like in EG trash, but the aftertaste is a lovely vanilla cream. As I continue to sip and the cup cools, the vanilla takes over and the perfumeyness fades. It becomes rich, creamy, and quite tasty!

Overall, this is a fairly decent EGC. I recall not being overly fond of Zen Tea Life’s one at the start from the bergamot as well, so I will see if this one ends up passing it as the go to. It’s certainly closer to purchase! Good tea, will rate 82 for now (unsure if it’s a restock yet, but pretty tasty). Oh and it’s quite cozy too :)

Another tea in The Great Tea Purge/Sampling of 2014! This is a sipdown – it is also one of the two teas I had yesterday for Christmas Day :) – this tea served me well! Nicely spiced, and the vanilla really adds a sweetness and smooths everything out. This final cup is quite spicy from the bottom of the bag, but it is still very good! This tea lasted me two holiday seasons – I will probably look into getting a bit more December of next year! See previous notes :)

Sooo…if you are having a bad Monday, just picture waking up to find it SNOWING outside. Haha September 8 and it’s SNOWING! Ughh! It was +25 C on Saturday and snowing today. Like, I wore shorts on Saturday, got a slight sunburn, had to guzzle water to stay hydrated…and then today, total opposite. Only in Alberta…I guess I need to go buy some new boots and put my snow brush/scraper back in my car for the season LOL, hopefully I never took it out cuz there is definitely a bit of accumulation.

So on this fine cold Monday, I am appropriately drinking Yuletide Spice. Because, why not, it’s spicy, vanilla-y, and definitely fits the season. Merry Christmas! (too soon? haha) But seriously, this tea is tasty, and I’m happy it is keeping me company at work today. And also, it’s supposed to be like +20 C on the weekend, so this should be short-lived weather. We can only hope. Haha, see previous notes on this tea!

Gahhh with the weather turning sour and cold yesterday, I have been craving sugary, rich foods and sugary, sweet teas. So I made this in my travel mug this morning for work, a spicy, vanilla sweet black tea full of caffeine and sweet. It’s doing ok, but my co-worker is going to get an energy for her sugar desire today as well, so I requested some candy for the afternoon haha. Darn this weather making us all enter hibernation mode again! See previous notes on this tea :)

Mmm this is so cozy tonight. I made it in my big chai mug, about 1.5 tsp with some milk and brown sugar. Perfect for a cold evening, although I am feeling the caffeine from so many black teas today lol. Onto herbals after this! Oh and I’m watching the hobbit in preparation for going to the next one on opening night this Thursday! #soexciting, anyways see previous notes on this tea :)