Della Terra Teas

First off, this tea is pink. I was most certainly not expecting that colour from a tea that smells like a lemon creme bar, but once I got over the initial shock I was pleasantly endeared by the fact that it looks so dainty and fanciful.

The taste is actually pretty impressive, also. The rose bits lend a sweet tartness that melds delightfully in with the sourness of the lemon…and there’s something else in there that makes me think of pastry and warm kitchens.

I’m not sure why I’m so enchanted with this tea, but I really do adore the way the flavours come together.

From this morning:

Wow, this is delicious! I’ve had pear cider before and it tastes just like that. I’m heading off for a few days to see a new doctor, and I went ahead and snuck the rest of this in with my stuff because I like it so much.

Sipdown! Obviously I liked it if I drank it up in one day. There’s just something comforting about it. On a worse note, apparently I logged this under the wrong entry last time? Oops… I think I’ll fix that now because I don’t want two ratings for one tea.

Yesterday morning I went for this one as I was looking for something black, and chocolate sounded good too.

I’m pretty familiar with Della Terra teas being that they are the only company that I’ve ordered much of so far… their sales real me in too easily! Now.. if they did 30% off and free shipping .. I’d be in trouble, and likely w/multiple orders!

This has a nice black base and the chocolate is just that… a nice chocolate. Not too rich, not bitter, but good. A touch of raw sugar and my Hubby called this dessert in a cup.. Sounds good to me. I have found a few chocolates in tea that just aren’t great for me.

I will admit that as I drank it, all I could think about was “What could I add to this?”. I like my black chocolate mint teas and this was missing my mint… A good tea, but I was missing something. I was considering an order of Harney and Sons the other day with their free shipping to try their SoHo (chocolate and coconut), but didn’t call in time (didn’t want a full tin & was going to ask for 2 oz if they could do that)… With that in mind, I wondered how I could add my own coconut flavor to this. Hmmm.. & if I had some more of this tea I could add fresh garden peppermint to the mix instead of buying it already in a tea blend…. Which would make it cheaper… a tiny bit, since I was adding my own mint & not paying for them in the blend…. Hmmm.. First time I’ve had a tea and thought about what I could add to it, I think.

Thanks EvaGrimm for sending me a sample of this one :)

Had to add a touch of sugar to this one. I am finding I do that a lot. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I may have overleafed this in my attempt to get a couple of the pineapple chunks out of the sample bag. Sadly, I don’t get much pineapple flavor. It is a very nice creamy dessert tea though. Very enjoyable. I could see getting this again if I don’t find something different to try when I use up the sample.

Accidentally oversteeped this…I was making colcannon and completely lost track of time.

The bright side is that this tea is bloody delicious, even with my human errors factored in. You don’t get too much of the pumpkin, but there’s a great spicy note and some pastry flavours layered in over a sweetly delightful black base. It tastes amazing hot, even better as it cools…I was hesitant to try this, but I’m so, so glad I did.

I’d happily have more of this in the future. Gleefully, even.

Very enjoyable cup. It didn’t impress me though. I was looking forward to a more robust strawberry flavor, which I didn’t get in this cup. I did get the ginger taste though, which I surprisingly didn’t mind. I am usually not a fan of ginger. I did steep the full three minutes and the packaging says 1-3 minutes. Maybe next time I’ll try it on the shorter end. I will likely get through this sample with no problem, I just don’t feel that I will order more of it with so many teas to try yet.

Sipdown!! (170)

Thank you Fjellrev for sharing some of this tea with me. It was fun to have on St. Patty’s Day and the smell is always so mouth watering. Tastewise, the chocolate is strong at the front of the sip but ends on a nice mellow minty note. It really is quite delicious though not something I am too upset about saying goodbye to as I am sure I have similar teas in my cupboard.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all celebrating!

Thank you to Fjellrev who sent me a sample of this tasty tea just in time to enjoy it on this festive day. It smells amazing, creamy, minty, and sweet. I am happy to report that all transfers into the taste (though a touch muted). There is also a hint of chocolate that rounds out the flavor. It is delicious but yet again similar to many other chocolate mint offerings from Della Terra and since I have those hanging around, I am not rushing to get anymore but I am certainly loving this cup.

It is late and I am nowhere near sleepy. Chamomile for me!

I was looking forward to this tea. Thus far, all the chamomile teas I have tried had citrus in them. I have found that is not something I often want in a tea that is meant to help relax me before bed. This one has peppermint in it. I thought a chamomile-mint tea would be perfect. Sadly, I am not tasting much, if any, peppermint. I am thinking of possibly adding peppermint to this one tomorrow to see if I enjoy a mint flavored chamomile.

Ohh Myyy. I’m in trouble with this tea! I like reading the reviews as I drink the tea for the 1st time, or if I havn’t had it in a while.

When it comes to dessert teas I am just not that big of a fan, so when 1 comes along that I really like…I can’t help but say “Seriously?!” It makes me think that I need to make an order to Della Terra, which I hadn’t really planned on because I’ve tried a fair amount from DT and there just was not many that I felt I liked enough to buy, not to mention the fact that I decided to use my Birthday $$ at David’s Tea and Butiki, along with a possible order to Verdant if Eight Treasures Yabao comes back in. (Yes I know there is a winter blend, but I’d rather hold out for the Spring…I hope they bring it back!

So, might end up making an order for Della Terra though am going to try and hold off for a few months, like till May or June, depending on when I move. And despite the fact that I really liked this, I’m mostlikely going to stick to samples as I could see myself getting tired of it fairly quick. But…I might talk myself into getting a 2 ou. LOL.

Also, tried a 2nd steep, it was tasty but less so then the 1st. Definitely not inspiring. But then…I am not an resteeper expert, I love the concept, but generally if I have more then 1 cup I prefer them to be different teas though I could see myself getting more into it with (Hopefully!) a partner that loves tea as much or more then I do, be a lovely sunday activity.

Thank you Kat_Maria for a sample of this tea! After lunch today, I was craving something sweet, so I made this tea. It’s definitely cinnamon-packed right from the beginning of the sip. It then leaves with a maple flavor that kind of sits in my mouth afterward. And it smells so wonderfully cinnamon-y that I kind of wish it were a candle. I usually don’t like dessert teas as much because I find prefer more subtle sweetness, but I had a major sweet tooth moment today and this tea helped quench that!

I got this sample from the Tea and Card TTB. Thanks! Smells good and lots of coconut pieces. I was expecting a little bolder taste on both the coconut and black flavors. Slightly sweetened it brings up the flavor but still not as much coconut as I would like. It’s not going on to my wish list but it’s nice.

Additional notes: I was craving this one today. Then looked up the tasting note: five years old. With coconut. uh oh. After steeping it up, it still tastes delicious! No rancid coconut at all and it is actually quite tasty. Exactly what I wanted today.
2019 Sipdowns: 17 (Verdant – Wild Spring Laoshan Gan Zao Ye)

Buttery green tea, coconut and almond slices (and almond flavor, I think). This is tasty! It seems to be more of an almond tea… marzipan. I can’t really taste the coconut. This blend works well together, and I’m always up for another marzipan-like tea! I’ll have to drink this one fast though, since it’s green and also coconut. I realized the other day that with my old tin of 52Teas coconut cream pie, the coconut has NOT started to age yet and get that weird taste! Nice! I thought this one might be hojicha from the picture (which might have been delicious) but it is the usual green tea. I’ve very happy with this one. I think it’s the last I had to try from my Black Friday order (oh geeze, it’s the middle of March!)

Wam bam another sipdown!
Got this from Shmiracles from our first? Second tea swap? Sometime last year haha. Old tea but good tea!

I know I oversteeped it by a ton bc it turned out insanely bitter that no amount of milk and sugar could fix D: Ahh that’s what I get drinking in a wee 2oz cup

I got this from shmiracles like… last month? Ahh so many teas to drink, so little time!
Spending the weekend with my cousins because I have to bring my younger cousin to school tomorrow for a field trip and her parents are gone sooo PARTY AT THEIR HOUSE!!! **Tea party, that is :)

I brought a whole lot of teas with me, and I just brought my wee little teacup with the infuser because they do not drink tea at all and they don’t have tea equipment, so gotta bring my own stuff with me! All the teas I brought with me either has never been drunk before, or has only been drank once.

So today, I’m drinking this very chocolatey tea WHICH I FORGOT TO TIME SO I THINK IT’S DONE AHH Darn. I think it was getting a smidge bitter ahh well, it’s all good. It smells fine! If it’s bitter, then I’ll just think it’s dark chocolate, not sweet like milk :) I wasn’t the biggest fan of chocolate teas before, but now I’m starting to love them! I freakin love my toffee and marshmallow and cream and caramel teas though. Those are so good.

At first I thought this was going to be a nice cup from the smell, but I just tried it and yep, it got bitter aww :( Aww well. Maybe the second steeping might be better, and I’ll remember it this time!

Yours truly spent entirely too much time playing my favorite board game today, Summoner Wars! Ben and I play it constantly, so much so that we developed an RPG style plot around it and use the game itself to have the epic battles. Today we were play testing a rules variation to have one ‘boss style’ Summoner with a super deck against two Summoners, after some tweaking we got it to work, meaning tomorrow is a boss fight for our heroes. Will they save the world or die horribly? I guess it all depends on how good my tactics are.

Today’s tea is secretly a cookie in disguise, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie by Della Terra Tea is a blend of Black Tea, Vanilla and Brown Sugar Flavoring, Cinnamon, Raisins, and Oatmeal. I have a real love-hate relationship with Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, actually it is mainly with raisins, I love their taste but hate the texture, so when I get a cookie that tastes wonderful but has raisins I just cringe. So of course I had to try a tea that is all about tasting a cookie and not actually eating it. The aroma is spot on, it smells just like an oatmeal raisin cookie! It is sweet, spicy, malty, raisiny (totally a word now), and of course has the grainy quality of oatmeal. The cinnamon is a little stronger than the particular cookies I grew up with, but I have had some that smell as strongly of cinnamon as this tea does, so difference in recipe I suppose.

Once the tea has been brewed, my tea area starts to smell like a bakery. The aroma of the wet leaves is powerfully sweet and cinnamon heavy with underlying notes of raisin. I am really enjoying how much the leaves smell like cookies, I feel like a kid waiting for a batch to come out of the oven (and then picking off the raisins as soon as they cool). The liquid is very sweet, blending the aromas of vanilla and brown sugar with a touch of raisins and a potent kick of cinnamon.

The taste is quite sweet! No need for added sugar with this tea, it is much like the cookies it was named after and comes pre-sweetened. The taste is a blend of vanilla and cinnamon with a hint of brown sugar, the taste reminds me more of a snickerdoodle than an oatmeal raisin cookie. The aftertaste, however, does bring in that touch of raisin that makes it more like its namesake. As the tea cools the taste becomes sweeter and you can detect the faintest hint of oatmeal. This tea is not a bad substitute if you are craving a sweet cookie treat and just either don’t have them around or you just don’t actually feel like eating.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/della-terra-teas-oatmeal-raisin-cookie.html

I came home today to find both my Della Terra Teas and my The Persimmon Tree sample orders in my mailbox. Perfect timing on their part. Today begins my spring break. I plan to try all of my teas!

I ended up closing my eyes in order to pick which to try first! The cup was drinkable but I decided to add Splenda. I have never added anything to my loose leaf as of yet. This greatly improved the taste, to me. I am on my second steep of these leaves. I believe that as I begin to sample more teas I may have to revamp my rating scale.

This was a pleasant surprise of a sip down. (385/368) I was expecting overwhelming rooibos flavor, but it isn’t. Instead I got a nutmeggy-caramel flavor. Coldbrewed the last of this and I’m glad I did. This is a nice moment on this snowy day.

I received this in MissB’s tea stash sale. Thank you!

I had this on my wishlist and when I saw it for sale thought I would pick it up. Unfortunately the cinnamon in this was way too strong for me and the pumpkin does not shine through enough to make up for it. I am glad I got to try it, but I hope I can find a home for the rest of it. It is not my cup of tea.

This is supposed to be a Parisian version of EG, huh? Truthfully I can’t tell the different between this and a regular EG. It’s not a bad cup, but also not one I’d be inclined to get from Della Terra, unless if it were thrown in as a free sample…though not sure if they do that kind of thing.

Just last night, I was thinking **How many teas from Della Terra that I liked enough to want to get? And the only 1 I could think of was ‘Wonders of Kashmir’ which I’ll have to have again soon. I mean Strawberry Sundae was good, but it tasted pretty much like Strawberry chocolate from Republic of Tea, while I don’t mind the idea of keeping a chocolate tea around, I havn’t gotten much interested in them. I really would love to try though: a dark chocolate tea with orange flavor. Those chocolate balls that you see around Christmas time that you smash….oh yeah dark chocolate. Not that I don’t like milk chocolate but it tends to be to sweet and can’t really deal with that much anymore :( Unless if it’s European, like Belgian chocolates….OMG, I remember when I was working at Big Lots (Worked there for almost 10 years.) We had gotten these Belgian chocolates in the shape of I think groundhogs…they were so cute. But when I tried it……Oh my my my! Rich, velvety, sweet but not obnoxiously so. Had just the right amount of ….something else to mellow it out.

Anyways…as this tea cools I’m liking it even less. It’s gotten a bit bitter. Yeesh. You know even when I don’t think I want to buy it, rarely do I not enjoy a cup of EG. Please tell me that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop liking EG’s! I would cry!