Cornelia Bean

Hidden Gems TTB #19

Wow, such a unique flavor combination for tea! This is something I would never have purchased for myself, but I’m so glad I got a chance to try it out. (Thanks for putting such a great box together, Anlina!) Both the orange and rosemary flavorings are strong and pretty much drown out the base (which is fine by me, because I’m not a big fan of red rooibos). I mostly get a nice smooth orange flavor as I’m sipping, but the rosemary comes in strong at the end of the sip and leaves a lingering savory aftertaste. Surprisingly, the combination works quite well!

Hidden Gems TTB #17

Mmm, this is such a nice fruity tisane! The pear is the strongest flavor and it’s wonderfully juicy and natural. Alongside that, I’m tasting some other fruits…watermelon, maybe? And a hint of pineapple? Whatever it is, they blend together beautifully. The rose is in the background, mostly coming out in the aftertaste. (And since I don’t like overly floral teas, that’s okay by me!) This was a sweet taste of summer in the middle of winter and I would definitely consider purchasing some to try iced when warm weather actually arrives!

Hidden Gems TTB #15

Wow, this is the most thick, creamy oolong I have ever encountered! The floral flavor was a bit overpowering for my tastes, but I’m still glad I tried this just to experience the unique mouth feel.

Another sample from Anlina. :) It’s interesting to experience a tea without knowing what’s in it. I smelled this one and thought, “oooh, lemon!”. And then after it steeped, I smelled it again and thought “no… mixed citrus maybe? bergamot? lemon danish?”. Then my curiosity overcame me and I looked it up on steepster. Mango and bergamot, huh? Well, now that you mention it, I can definitely smell the mango. And interestingly, I don’t really smell the flowers, but I can taste them. This is a neat blend, lots of different flavours somehow coming together and making something yummy.

Hidden Gems TTB #12

This is one of those wonderful oolongs with HUGE leaves that you can just keep on re-steeping all day long. The flavor is fantastic too…rich and nutty with silky smooth mouth feel and a lingering creamy aftertaste. Absolutely delicious!

Hidden Gems TTB #11

Wow, this stuff is potent! Super strong and malty with a dense, “chewy” sort of flavor. I followed my standard parameters for black tea (3-minute steep at 205F) but I’m thinking a shorter steep time would benefit this particular tea, as it came out slightly bitter and quite astringent.

Hidden Gems TTB #8

Although I’ve tried quite a few English Breakfast teas, this is only my second Irish Breakfast blend. The first one was from Great British Tea Store and it had a delicious caramel flavor that I couldn’t get enough of. This one is nice…robust and malty and takes milk well…but not outstanding.

Hidden Gems TTB #7

Ooo, this is lovely! I didn’t realize it was a green tea and probably over-steeped it, but it came out delicious anyway. I would never have thought of putting apricot flavor and chai spices together, but it works so well…warm and sweet with just a little bit of spicy kick. This got my day off to a great start!

Hidden Gems TTB #3

I tend to stay away from red rooibos, because it often has a woody flavor that I don’t enjoy. But this one smelled so delicious, I just had to give it a try! And I’m glad I did. This stuff is non-alcoholic almond amaretto: rich and sweet with a strong (but not too overpowering) almond flavor. Thank you to Analina for sharing all of these wonderful Cornelia Bean teas…I’ve discovered lots of true hidden gems thanks to you!

Thanks to Anlina for this sample. :) This has a lovely, fresh scent – sweet and vegetal. The flavour is rich and full, with a creamy mouthfeel and a lingering sweetness in the aftertaste.

It’s been a really long time since I’ve had this tea, and I’d finished most of my bag and put a fair bit into a TTB, so this was my last cup.

When I first had this tea it was around last Xmas, and it had been relabelled Vanilla Eggnog. I do remember really liking it and getting the eggnog comparison. Today, it’s all tropical fruity green for me, both in taste and smell, with a touch of a creamy note.

It’s tasty, but my tastes have changed a lot, and I’m currently in a phase of not caring too much for fruit flavoured greens. If I get back to craving them, I would consider restocking it, as it’s lovely and not terribly generic tasting, like many are. But for now, I’m glad to sip this down.

Thanks for sharing this one with me dexter i like the caramel flavour of this one and the oolong doesn’t bother me. It’s not a perfect caramel tea but i do like how the tea and the caramel are balanced in this. Neither one over powers so it doesn’t feel like i’m just drinking a flavoured tea. :)

Also another from dexter jury is still out on this one. it was interesting to say the least, and for a girl who doesn’t much like oolongs, i wasn’t finding this one as offensive as most oolongs lol. I just need more time with it to really focus on it…i’m just way too exausted tonight. Prbably was a stupid idea to drink it…but at least i have more :) and it was a good cup with dinner!

FInal Count: 126 – i’d like to get to at least 120 this weekend…preferably 115.

I asked Anlina to send me some interesting green teas, and gyokuro is definitely different from your average sencha. :) I brewed the whole 8g sample in 8oz of water at 50 degrees C which yielded quite a strong infusion. It’s very savoury and vegetal and a bit bitter, but not in a bad way… maybe a bit more like chard or bok choy than spinach. I’ve steeped it twice so far and I think it will be good for several more.

Update:
After 2 infusions I had to go out to a meeting, and when I got back I wasn’t in the mood for more green tea. So I added room temperature water and cold steeped it overnight. It’s really good cold steeped! Less bitterness, more of the savoury green flavour. Then I had the tea leaves with a little bit of hoisin/soy sauce/sesame oil for breakfast. :)

Cooking TTB #11

Another 5 am conference call means another tasty tea picked from the tea box to help keep my eyelids open and my brain functioning – darn international time zones!!

This is another tasty non overpowering rose tea selection from the TTB only this time there is a pop of peachiness which is a really nice touch to help make this tea stand out from the many rose teas I seem to have inadvertently sampled recently. Another winner for my taste buds!

My kitty’s mouth pain has magically (surgically) been transformed into wallet pain. $800 and six extractions later, her mouth is in much better shape than it’s ever been.

She was rescued from a hoarding situation with about 30 other cats, so she’s pretty inbred and had terrible health problems when she was taken out of there.

She’s had mouth surgery in the past to clean and remove teeth, as well as surgery to remove an eye that was too badly damaged by infection to heal, and then a few years ago was hit by a car and broke her pelvis. She’s an amazing, resilient little thing, just the most loving, tiny cat ever, and totally my fluffy orange baby. I’m hoping this will be the last big health thing for her for a very long time, though I would do almost anything for this cat.

So today was getting up super early and then three hours of driving to drop her off at the vet and then pick her up again, and I am dead tired. I’m at my sweetie’s house tonight to keep an eye on kitty post-anaesthesia, and had this tea with a friend who came over to visit.

I always enjoy this one – smokey, sweet and complex. Hints of coconut. Our friend was less impressed and thought it tasted like dirt. Lapsang is definitely an acquired taste for some.

Oh so nice. I’ve had a lot of smokey teas lately, but not a lapsang souchong in quite a while.

The smokey flavour is bold but not overpowering, and there’s space for the complexity of this tea to shine. In addition to the smoke, there’s lovely notes of malt, caramel and coconut. So very tasty.

Oh I think this tea is not for me. Maybe I oversteeped it – I wanted to give it enough of a steep for the chocolate to melt but maybe that was a bad idea.

It’s incredibly spicy and the chocolate flavour is pretty mild. Even with milk and sugar the intensity of the chili is a bit much for me, and I generally like spicy food a lot.

I don’t think I can finish this cup sadly. I have one teaspoon left of this – I’m not sure if I’ll try it again or just pass it on.

Made this for a mid-morning snack today. Funny, because everytime I would look in my tea stash box at work to decide what to make, I’d see this one – “Dark Horse”. Then inevitably get that awful (IMHO) Amanda Marshall light rock jam of the same name stuck in my head.

I went into the kitchen and there was an Amanda Marshall CD on the table .Like, wtf. Once in awhile people leave stuff in there free for others to take if they want it, like magazines, etc, but I’ve never seen a CD in there. And the chance of it being Amanda Marshall!? Crazy. It wasn’t the one with Dark Horse on it, though.

Anyway.

This is a strong brew. I didn’t let it steep super long but still had to add some 10% cream. Then had to go back to add more, because it was still super dark.

It is a tasty, bold, malty tea though. Just what I need on a Friday!

Happy my Secret Santa sent it to me!

I received this in the package from my Secret Santa – Anlina – and quite enjoy it.

Definitely intrigued by the name…I’ve had this twice now.

The second time was this morning, so that experience is fresher in my mind. I would say I oversteeped it, because it was VERY bold. I left it for about 5 minutes, not thinking about the CTC aspect.

Though a little stronger than I normally would want, I still enjoyed my cup today. Slightly malty, thick, rich… I added a splash of 10% cream to it, and thought it was very tasty. I’ve been yawning nonstop all morning, so I’d actually consider having another cup right now! It definitely makes for a perfect breakfast tea.

I will try again with a 3 minute steep vs 5. I am going to see how well it resteeps after lunch!

Thanks Anlina :)

(The only downside to this tea is now I have that awful Amanda Marshall song stuck in my head)

This sample came from Roswell Strange. I once tried a tea from Zen Tea Life that had the same name and looked identical to this one, so I’m going to assume they’re the same tea and it’s from some kind of wholesaler. The white tea leaves are fairly broken up and there are tiny blue flower petals mixed in. Dry scent is mild and sweet caramel.

The steeped tea smells quite caramel and toffee-like with a touch of cream. Hmm, this tea is just okay for me. The caramel and/or toffee flavor is much milder than I expected, and it sort of tastes coconut-y for some reason. There’s also a vegetal flavor from the white tea that reminds me of cucumber, and it doesn’t mesh all that well with the sweet flavoring. It’s also a touch musty. Meh!

Hmm, there’s cranberry and apple and a lot of tartness, but also a medicinal flavour that’s just not working for me right now. Boo.

I wonder if I’m getting sick – this is the second cup today that’s tasted medicinal. My partner is sick right now, and my sweetie was also sick recently, so between the three of us, it seems unlikely that I will successfully dodge that bullet.

Still drinkable. Maybe if I think of it, I’ll cold brew the rest and see how that works for me.

I made my partner a carrot cake, since he’s feeling crappy and had a sweets craving. It’s pretty delicious.

Edit: Okay, cooled, this is loads better. The medicinal note has faded a lot, and there’s mostly just lots of cranberry now. Bumping up my rating.

Oh, I really enjoyed this today. It was smokey, rich and meaty, like broth, with thick dried fruits flavours – dates, prunes and raisins. No bitterness or astringency, just a very satisfying cup.

1tsp, 8oz, 3min, 96C