Cornelia Bean

I think I prefer this tea cold brewed to hot, The strawberry flavor comes through more strongly and the apple, though present, is not overly sweet/prominent like it was in the hot cup. Though I feel this might actually benefit from hibiscus (gasp!) or some other source of tartness, it is not a bad cup. It is like sipping on a sweet juicebox.

This tea is both sweet and tart. I don’t know if I would call it a strawberry tea but it captures the goji berries quite nicely. However, as much as I enjoy apple in teas, it is adding a rather prominent sweetness that I wish was more mellow. I will have to see how this tastes cold brewed because right now I am not sure if this will be a restock or not. Luckily, I have 50g of this tea to help me decide.

Sipdown!! (180). So long Lucky Star.

I tried cold brewing this to see if I preferred it that way but I am still unimpressed. It basically tastes like sweet rooibos and nothing else. Really leaves me wanting more.

The stars in this blend are very cute but they really don’t add much to the flavor of this cup. This is smooth and a touch sweet but the taste is really quite nondescript. This won’t be difficult to get through but it won’t be something I restock either.

Oh Swaziland rooibos, you are truly a mystery. You have so many ingredients but they are expertly hidden in the cup. As a cold brew, there is a a hint of fruity sweetness that might be pineapple and the sip trails off with a touch of mint. Very, very weird.

This tea is supposed to have a bunch of different components: pineapple bits, mango bits, cherry bits, apple bits, hazelnut leaves, sunflower blossoms, rose hips, rose blossoms, mallow blossoms, marigold blossoms, and peppermint. I definitely would have never guessed because flavorwise, I am getting rooibos, a generic floral/fruit sweetness, and maybe a hint of mint right at the end of the sip. It is not bad but it certainly does not deliver on all it promises. I did prep some of this to cold brew so perhaps more flavors will come out that way? We shall see…

So I have a timolino and I loved it then one day I made SoHo Blend in it when I was back home in Toronto and something about that tea tasted off and metallicy. I poured that out and cleaned the timolino only to forget it at home (the Toronto home). When I finally got it back with me in Montreal, I noticed it was very discolored inside and despite soaking it with baking soda & vinegar, soap, etc. I couldn’t get it clean and any tea I made had the same metallic flavor as the SoHo Blend. Then I was given the awesome idea by many steepsterites to use polident tablets. Amazingly, they returned the timolino to its original condition and yet, this tea still tastes rather metallic. I have never had this tea, or any other rooibos teas from this company, so it is possible that it is the tea’s fault but I am more inclined to believe the timolino is the culprit here.

Made a giant mason jar cold brewed. I was surprised to see it looked almost fizzy by the time it was done. Now I am sipping on it and getting a lot more floral notes than in the hot cup. It is also lacking a bit of tart to make the pear “prickly”. In future, I think I will stick to having this hot but it is not a bad cup either way.

A fruity herbal with no hibiscus, can it be? It can!

This is a tasty cup. Sweet fruity flavor with just a little bit of a sour kick. It is like a jelly belly :)

Final Sipdown of the night, #74.
This tea traveled from Dexter to the Great Canadian TTB (I think), then to Sil, & then to me!
It’s actually fairly tasty, especially with a little sweet added. The flavor of almond is especially nice, but after I took a few sips I was looking at the ingredients list & realized it has Mate in it. Not wanting to stay up past midnight tonight, so as a precaution I dumped the rest of it into a jar & stuck it in the fridge for the night.

As an aside, my ending teacount for the day would have been 342, but I receive a box of samples from a friend, adding 13 new teas to my cupboard, so I’m ending with one tea more than I started with today, LOL, 355. It would be nice to end this week with 300 teas, but I’ll also be happy to complete the goal set earlier today, which was to get through 100 sipdowns (only 25 to go in that case). Really, it doesn’t matter either way, as long as I enjoy the journey!

This is from Dexter3657’s awesome package of teas! thanks so much! I love nutty teas, so I couldn’t wait to try it. This is a local tea company of Dexter’s. I couldn’t find much info on the site for this one. It seems to be out of stock. I’m guessing it has black tea with walnuts… looking at the leaves it looks like their are rose petals and orange pieces. Odd combination! I steeped this at just boiled for a few minutes. The steep color of the cup is a pale brown. The flavor of the black tea isn’t strong, but that lets the walnut flavor be noticed. The walnut is nice if not strong… not playdoh like that David’s Snowbunny tea. :D But actually walnuts. The orange and rose petals don’t add much to the flavor. I think I’d rather just have the walnuts and the black tea anyway. Not bad but not strong enough for the morning for me!

I have been sitting on this tea and reserving judgement for a couple of months but I think I am almost ready to form an opinion. This tea was not what I thought of when I smelled it and heard chocolate. The base tea shines through a lot stronger than what I had initially expected. This means that it is a much more finicky black than I like to deal with. That being said, when I actually sat down, watched my steep time, and was careful with my water temp, this actually is a pretty great tea. The black tea base is strong, but their is a chocolate note underneath it that is absolutely divine! This tea is really worth a try, but give it a short steep and keep an eye on it!

This was completely not what I was expecting!! I thought I was going to get a sweet, raisin kind of tea, but this is much more of a savoury blend. First sip and I didn’t know what to make of it, second sip I thought it was interesting, by my way through the cup I think it was not really what I was looking for in a morning cup of tea, but it was actually a really good, savoury tea.

I would drink this again, later in the day, really happily! Both the cardamon and the peppercorns come through very strongly. The dates and raisins give a sweet background to an almost chai inspired blend. This is a really different blend, but, after getting used to what it was, the bf and I have concluded that we both really like it.

Lesson of the day though, read your ingredients before you decide what a tea will taste like!

This is another holiday tea I tried from Cornelia Bean. I liked it, not as much as the Eggnog, but it was another solid tea. It is fruity, like I expected, but the rosehips, hibiscus, and dark chocolate also give it a bit of a sour taste. I think this might be one that would benefit if I watched my steep time just a little bit. As it steeped longer and longer in my traveller, it began to get more sour as the rosehips and hibiscus began to dominate the flavour.

I really liked the idea and the first half was great, I am going to give it another run with a shorter steep time and make sure that was my issue, but, with a short steep, I think this is a neat option for a holiday tea. I will certainly be playing around with this tea more, because it was a really interesting taste!

I was looking for a light, vanilla tea today and this delivered. Sweet, slightly vegetal from the green tea, and smooth tasting, this is one of my favourite greens. It reminds me of the holidays, but it doesn’t feel like a tea exclusively for the holidays. I am enjoying it as I wake up this morning.

I was really impressed by this tea! I bought a batch for the bf, who is far more into green teas than I am, but I was curious so I brewed myself a cup this morning. It is actually a really nice tea!

I watched my steep time for once, so there was none of the bitterness I generally associate with green teas. This one had a definite green base, but it was softened by the mix of fruit and vanilla flavours also present. The tea has enough natural sweetness to it that I felt it did not need any additional sweetening. Overall, it was a really nice vanilla/fruity green that I could totally see going with the holidays!

I don’t think this tea would fare at all well with a long steep, like in my tea traveller, but it is certainly a cup I would love to brew at home once in a while.

I steeped a pitcher of this up again but I am still just getting apple and mixed fruits. I am really not able to draw out the strawberry or the goji very well. It is not a bad tea and I am sure I can get through my pitcher easily enough, but I am not sure this is one I will be reaching for again very quickly.

This is not a bad tea, in fact it tastes really good, just not what I had expected. I gets lots of apple and a berry blend taste, more strawberry heavy than goji? I have had other goji heavy teas and this did not taste like what I had expected it to. I think it is a good tea, and one I will reach for when I am looking for a good fruity tisane, I just wish it was a bit heavier on the goji and strawberry.

After a restless half-sleep, this is what I’m sipping now (cold) as I try and rouse myself. Mate, make your magic!

I left this in the fridge overnight, as I brewed it, took a few sips, and then realized it had mate in it. My daughter poached the majority of it for her thermos to take to school… “Mom, this is so much better than the Root Beer Float tea in the fridge.” “Yes honey, that’s because Root Beer Float is cold brewing and likely needs more time.” In typical teenage fashion, she shrugged her shoulders and ran off. She graciously left me one cup to try, so I could actually log and rate it here.

Cold, this is thick and slightly buttery. I taste the rooibos and lost the mate, except for at the end with a touch of dryness. There’s caramel in here too somewhere, although I’m only getting it hidden in my jaw, like a tartness I’m just shy of tasting, yet know that’s caramel giving me that mouth-watering, tingly reaction. A touch of Truvia really brings out the caramel flavors to a burnt toffee-ish taste. There’s something else in there that I can feel, however there’s zero taste to it. Adds to the faint dryness at the end.

A lovely cup, and a huge thanks to Dexter3657 for the sample!

Dammit! It’s 1:35am and as I went to log this tea, I discover I’m drinking mate. First sips have been lovely, however I need to put this aside until tomorrow if I’m going to get any sleep. Lesson learned: review tea ingredients that Dexter3657 meticulously sends with her swap to me prior to steeping.

Amazing!! I like this one even more than I liked Prickly Pear, and I really liked that one! This tea is much more berry influenced. Given my love for Redberry Tonic, I can taste the sea buckthorn, but there is so many more berries and fruits that it just makes for a lovely sharp blend. I tried it hot and am looking forward to trying it cold too!