Bayswater Tea Co.

Another one I keep meaning to write a note about but the jug is gone before I bother. Bayswater makes really good fruit blends for cold brewing, and this is no exception. It may not be my favourite of theirs, but it’s refreshing, easy to drink, and not too tart from the hibiscus.

I get mostly berries with some hibiscus, and then something vaguely tropical fruity. While I wouldn’t be able to guess that it’s pineapple and papaya, they give this blend a tropical punch vibe.

Sip down! Kind of happy but simultaneously realizing that I’m slowly running out of things to cold brew. Well, maybe not. But it seems that way!

Would I repurchase? No, but it’s pretty good.

Haha, I’m Skyping with my mom and she insists that I watch Paul and Ringo’s performance on TV, so she’s holding up her laptop to let me see the screen while she also watches. Sgt. Pepper’s FTW.

So glad I tried to cold brew this not too long ago because I really wasn’t digging it too much as a hot tea. Mostly raspberries flavour-wise.

Oh weird. So, I’m treating myself to a Cappuccino Skor blizzard, and I find that when I take a sip of this right after I had a spoonful of blizzard, the tea has a beer-like element going on. Like a raspberry ale.

Well, this day started out horribly wrong. RIP to my beautiful, baby pink phalaenopsis orchid, which I sadly only had for around a week. It fell off the ledge and the stem snapped right off. I’m a terrible mother. :(

In other news, this tea is a thousand times better cold brewed. The raspberry is somehow less artificial, and although I still don’ get the coconut, the base has really toned down and smoothed out. Overall, there is a better balance of flavours between the base and the raspberry. I’ll be enjoying this one this way from now on, without a doubt.

Upping the rating since cold brew saves the day.

I was feeling rather splurgy last time I was at Bayswater, and even though this one didn’t knock my socks off, the raspberry in this alone sold me. Plus there’s coconut in here so why not? It’s not a truly authentic raspberry. A little on the artificial side, like those hard candies with the syrupy centres.

This is probably the third time I’ve had it but never logged it up until now. I tend to prefer this with a bit of half and half. Without any additives, Merlin’s Magic is on the astringent side, but luckily, a swirl of raspberry comes through with every sip. No coconut nor rose. Bummer. After this cup, I’m going to go back to drinking this with the half and half, which takes the edge off the base and brings out the raspberry a bit more.

Perhaps a cold brew experiment should be in the works, as well.

Yet another sip down. I aim for one more today. Hey, that’s an accomplishment!

FWIW, I love this Bayswater one too and want to snag more next time I’m in Vancouver. Seriously like those coconut macaroons with a hint of almond extract in them.

Ok, so, that means that I sort of have a Fab Four rather than a Holy Trinity of Bayswater teas then.

It’s hard to believe that I got this over two months ago and I still haven’t written about it despite drinking it several times already.

So. Coconut. Love the stuff. The dry leaf smells like an actual coconut macaroon. Has that fluffy, sugary, almost almond cookie-ish thing going on behind the natural coconut note. Almond, you say? Kind of like almond extract. Do coconut macaroons even have almond extract in them? I just did a quick search for a few recipes and sure enough, some of them do. Learn something everyday.

And what do you know, the tea actually tastes like the scent. Marvelous! That rarely happens, especially when you want it to. It’s even better with some half and half. Makes the coconut ultra creamy.

Obviously, I shall be purchasing more in the future. Not hoarding this one either. No siree.

Hm. I’m finding this super syrupy and exceptionally tart, and I’m missing the chili entirely. Phooey. This is a sipdown, and I’m cool with that. Thanks to OMGsrsly for sharing!

I oversteeped this by hours and hours! Forgot I had a package waiting for me in Canada Post jail when I went to check out the kidlets and their snowman, and then… oops! It’s my bad OMGsrsly, I promise I will do this justice tonight.

Because of the oversteeping, I’m holding off my rating for now. I do get some orange in there, however it’s mostly cranberry, zest and hibiscus at this point. Really nice, almost like an unsweetened cranberry juice.

I thought I’d like this one, if I picked out the rosebuds.

Nope.

Dumped it. Which I rarely do.

Rosebuds aside, it is something I should like, so I thank Fjellrev (woo! got that one right before checking!) for the chance to try it, but something in it just disagrees with me.

On to the next tea…

Pretty sure thanks goes to Cavocorax for this one? But correct me if I’m wrong. And thanks for the hibby warning on the label! I cautiously steeped it for only 2-3 minutes, and that seemed to keep the hibiscus to a minimum… but I wasn’t a big fan of the flavour in general. There’s something about some of these “Christmassy” herbals that I don’t find appealing. Some spice or something; I’m really not sure. Interestingly, though, I finished my cup of this one off the next day, and it was much more pleasant cool, kind of juice-like. So perhaps that’s how I’ll drink up the remaining cup and a half or so!

Second infusion was a bit heavier on the hibiscus… drank it cool and it was about the same. Drinkable, not a favourite. So overall, nothing wrong with this one (as long as you’re mindful of the hibiscus), just not to my preferences!

Thanks for giving me a pre-blended sample of this, OMGsrsly! I actually have both and have blended them before, but this gives me an excuse to write a review here. :p

What can I say, the two really balance each other out, especially since Divine Temptation is quite sweet on its own and Creme Brulee has a coffee bite due to the toasted hazelnuts. The two make one powerhouse of a blend.

I’m enjoying this with 2% milk today but I like it even more with half and half.

Thanks for sharing this one omgsrsly I have to agree with you that this needs MOAAAARR ginger! The peach isn’t bad but it’s more of a peach tea than a ginger tea. still a decent cup but not a ginger peach blend. someday…

Sipped this down forever ago and I don’t think I’m going to miss it. Too bad, fresh in the canister in the store, it smelled so promising. Onwards in life (and with the presumably 2039834 other pumpkin-flavoured things that must have hit store shelves and cafes around the globe).

Having a cup of this this morning with half and half. Trying to drink down some stuff before I move next month, and I’m looking at you, random Bayswater teas. All except my Bayswater holy trinity: Creme Brulee, Divine Temptation, and Chocolate Macchiato.

Still smells more like a cider than anything else. Spices are muted and drowned out by the vinegary undertones.

I feel bad talking about myself on here, but has anyone gotten a swollen eyelid before? I woke up with one, presumably from the Clinique eye cream I started using. I’m sure it clogged the sebaceous glands. But I’ve been experiencing other really weird, unrelated symptoms over the past few weeks. Started feeling worn down and fatigued at the beginning of the month, then the other week, I started getting a fever which has been on and off still. Headaches. Sore lymph nodes too, particularly in one underarm. So bizarre! I was going to go run errands today but am going to stay home, do work, and drink lots of tea today instead. :)

I picked this up back in October, and I see that it’s never been on their site. This just may be one of the strongest teas I’ve ever smelled. Just before the manager opened the huge canister in the store, she warned me not to just dive right in and smell it because it’s strong. And damn, was she ever right. Within seconds, it felt like my nose was drowning in vinegar. It burned so much! It was the oddest experience.

So I thought, alright, this must be full of flavour. 50g, please.

After a couple months, it’s calmed down, but still quite strong. It kind of smells like a spicy cider. Not your typical pumpkin spice.

With milk, it’s alright, but it doesn’t make me think of pumpkin at all. The cloves are quite prominent here, and as much as I love clove, I wish there was more going on with this tea.

Whoops, sipped this down months ago. Still need to start cleaning. Instead, I just applied more pink dye to my hair. Priorities!

Taking a quick work break. This one is pretty good with half and half. I’m getting more cinnamon this time, and barely any clove. The cinnamon is more along the lines of cinnamon heart candies this time.

It’s one of those teas that are alright enough but not repurchase worthy.

I bought this back in October and still haven’t logged it yet. Whoops? Seeing that Christmas is in a week (!) I ought to get on that.

In the bag, this smells a lot like those cinnamon heart candies. And then the cloves start to slowly creep up behind the cinnamon. The so-called meringues seem to be cinnamon-flavoured (chocolate) kiss-shaped lumps of sugar. But there are hardly any in the bag anyway so you’re lucky if you get one every second cup or so.

I added some 2% milk and it’s alright. I barely taste any orange at all. Just like the meringues, there are hardly any orange pieces in here. It’s mostly cinnamon with a touch of clove. Kind of like a flat, two-dimensional chai. The base is very mild too.

It’s like I’m experiencing tea deja vu. So many teas are like this around the holidays. Cinnamon and clove, cinnamon and clove, cinnamon and clove.

…..and that’s a wrap on these two teas. sooo good as a latte tonight!

Even with the teas I received today i’m still only at 143 :) that still buys me some time to get down a bit further in my cupboard before my butiki order arrives (15+teas!)

Man… i’m a little sad….finished up the rest of this today but i’d really like more. I can see enjoying this throughout summer as that delicious cold brew with excitement at the end of it haha. I’ll have to see about reordering some :)

So i like this cold brewed the best. There’s something about adding a splash of sugar to this after it’s been cold brewing for a while…just the perfect combination of tasty drink + spicy kick at the end. think koolaid (but not super sweet) with a punch at the end of it… just loving it!

I tried this one cold brewed and it is pretty tasty as well! it’s not overly sour, though a little sweetner helps. I wish it had made the chili pepper pop a little more, but on the whole i can see drinking this either way and being happy about it

for anyone obsessed with lupicia’s hawaii blends – there are 2 on sale onlnie right now.

that’s my public service announcement for today because mostly people just suck. lol I’m having a cup of this tonight before bed because it’s tart and juicy and delicious. Now that i have a bit more of this from bayswater, i get to play with it more. it’s not super chili enough but it’s tangy and zippy and can i get a whoop whoop…yeah i dunno.. lol