Della Terra Teas

Posting queue appears to be growing explosively at the moment, so I’m going to do daily posts for a while. Blame the second round of the EU TTB! (But also a number of moments involving certain indiscretions made on certain webshops… Had to admit to having been a very bad dog last night.)

This came out of the EU travelling teabox (round 1), and I can’t actually remember if I took all of it or not. I think it’s possible that I did. I initially only took half, but then I can’t remember if I pinched the rest when I discovered I hadn’t taken enough to be able to close the box.

Anyway, the leaves smell absolutely wonderfully sweet, custardy, caramel-y vanilla. Very promising! After steeping it still smells wonderful, but this time it’s more vanilla-vanilla, rather than custard-y caramel-y vanilla.

The flavour, however, isn’t quite the smooth and soft vanilla-y flavour that I would have wished. I mean, it does taste like vanilla, very much so especially on the aftertaste, but there’s a certain harshness to it as well, which I think has to do with the base. I think the best base for my perfect vanilla is something that is smooth and full-flavoured, but doesn’t try to dominate the vanilla. I think this one does. I think it’s a little too strong for the flavouring. I shall have to try it with a shorter steep, I think, and then see what I think.

The level of vanilla is great, but the base doesn’t seem to want to play nicely with it.

Oh God bitter. Bitter bitter bitter. I only let it steep for two minutes at under boiling and it is almost too bitter to handle. Maybe I over leafed or something. Will rate when I try this again.

Dang sinus headache last night and today. I thought it was going away this afternoon, but blah… here it comes back again. Nothing seems to really help except putting pressure on my sinuses.

Had a little bit of a sample left of this and decided to give it a go today. Still really like this one. Cakey and a bit of pineapple. MMmmm…

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.I love how much this really takes on the life of the buttery caramelly brown sugar goodness of a true pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple is there, but just enough, and the black base just adds a really nice richness to the blend.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.I love how much this really takes on the life of the buttery caramelly brown sugar goodness of a true pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple is there, but just enough, and the black base just adds a really nice richness to the blend.I bought the rooibos version of this blend awhile back but I so wish I had bought this one… the added richness of the base just takes it to another level. Both are good, but I do like this one better.

Um.. Yum! Thanks Crowkettle for sending a bit of this my way.I love how much this really takes on the life of the buttery caramelly brown sugar goodness of a true pineapple upside down cake. The pineapple is there, but just enough, and the black base just adds a really nice richness to the blend.I bought the rooibos version of this blend awhile back but I so wish I had bought this one… the added richness of the base just takes it to another level. Both are good, but I do like this one better.I’ve been hoarding the sample because I don’t want to use the last bit. This one going on my shopping list for when I order from D.Terra again. :)

Back from the Black Friday order… but oh no! It’s the apple flavor that I thought Della Terra got rid of completely, as I haven’t tasted it in other apple blends for a while and the other apple flavor they use is so good. This one just isn’t for me. It’s the artificial perfumey apple, rather than the baked pie filling apple. Caramel apple! I was hoping this one was good. I don’t think the caramel cubes melt a whole lot, or there needs to be more of them. Also, there is supposed to be spice here? But it was an okay cup despite my distaste for the apple. It would have been so much better with the other apple though! But this one is actually better than the other teas from Della Terra that use this apple. Really, the only bad apple teas I’ve tried from DT are the Caramel Candy Apple and the Apples & Herbs. All of the others are GOOD apples.

Sipdown!! (156)

So long tasty rooibos, we may meet again. Thank you to Jeweled Thumb and the GCTTB for the opportunity to try this delicious cappuccino, caramel tea :)

This is a subtle cappuccino flavor atop a cup of sweet rooibos tea that ends with a little caramel deliciousness. Tasty and delicious.

This is one of the teas I grabbed out of the Great Canadian TTB and I am so glad I did because it is a tasty caffeine-free option. The rooibos is virtually non-detectable leaving room for the caramel to shine through. However, this stops itself from becoming too sweet and having a monotonous flavor by complimenting the caramel with a hint of coffee deliciousness. Thank you Jeweled Thumb for including it as it is something I have wanted to try for a while now.

Great Canadian TTB

This is one of the teas in the box I really wanted to try and I am glad I did because I quite like it. It is a touch rooibosy but has a nice caramel component with a nice amount of coffee flavor to keep it from becoming too sweet. Thank you IHateMyself (I think) for including it :)

Overboard TTB

This is a yummy tea and I see that I gave it a 95 last time I drank it. I would rate it just a bit lower today but it’s probably me. I’ve got a bit of an upset stomach and should have made a mint tea but this one was just calling to me. I enjoyed it but… I should have waited for another day. Luckily I have enough for a lovely cup or three on another day.

This is a wonderfully sweet dessert tea that I am thoroughly enjoying. The burnt sugar taste and aroma is awesome. I can taste the cake-y and the pineapple flavor. I am really enjoying tea this from the Tea and Card TTB. This is definitely going on my wish list and I will probably keep this sample.

Tea #6 from Considering a new TTB

I’m so excited to see this one in the box since I didn’t get a chance to order it this fall despite it being one of seasonal teas I really wanted to try. After all the green teas I’ve had this morning it was nice to have a little bit of a sugary kick to get me through the middle of the day. All the flavors I was hoping were there, the burned caramel, sugary marshmallow, and lots of spice. The black base was a little weak, but a longer steeping time would have helped, I had intended to steep this for 5 minutes like I do s’mores, but got impatient around the 3m mark. As much as I enjoyed this hot, I think I would enjoy it more as a tea latte, I think it really needs the creamy aspect the milk would add in order for it to be perfect.

Oomph…this is a smooth, creamy oolong that slithers along the inside of your mouth and leaves a sweet sort of caramel lingering on the palate. The oolong has all of these roasty notes that sit right in the middle of this whole caramel oozy delightfulness.

I’m kinda in love with this cup, honestly, but I will admit that it gets a little too sweet as it cools. I’ll probably put less sugar in future cups so that I can enjoy the flavour without so much saccharine heaviness at the end.

Great tea, though, and one I’d gladly drink again.

Even dry this tea is a bit…stinky, for lack of a better word. I wasn’t all that excited to steep it, but figured I might as well get it out of the way so I could figure out if it was worth keeping.

Post-brew it was a bit interesting, still. The pepper still sits at the forefront of the taste and has a definite burn, both during and after each sip. You can faintly taste the fennel in behind the burn…and I can almost tell that there’s some apple/cinnamon/spice layered deep under the rest of it.

I’m tolerating the burn today – although not what I would consider pleasant – because it does such a nice job of clearing out my stuffy nose. It’s not one I’d be willing to drink in the future, though, so into the swap drawer it goes.

Today is St. Patty’s Day. It’s the first tea I thought of to drink. A little cliche I know but whatever. Even though I don’t think it’s close to what they drink in Ireland (see link below) I still think its good. It has an interesting grassy, chocolate-y, minty flavor to it.

http://www.examiner.com/article/how-the-irish-drink-tea

Hello chocolate. I noticed each tea company has their own version of chocolate. I don’t mind Della Terra’s, but cacao is still my favourite. This cup is pretty rich tasting.

Thanks for the sample EvaGrimm!

Tea & Cards TTB

Absent-mindedly brewed this one up after a long day at school…I’m actually rather impressed with this cup.

The white chocolate is there, but it’s not overwhelming – it adds a smooth, sweet-ish note over the white tea base (which is actually a tiny bit bitter, but not obnoxiously so) and contributes to the overall nutty mellowness of the cup. I’ll admit that I like the aroma a bit more than the taste, but I think that’s more due to the head cold I’m dealing with than any failing in the blend.

Overall it’s nice enough, but I don’t know if I’d buy it in the future.

Today I learned several things. First of all, I learned that I do not like spinach pizza. Second, I learned that I can become waaaay too invested in a show ( I’m looking at you, Weeds). Third, I learned that I can enjoy jasmine!

I don’t like floral teas as a rule. They just don’t taste good to me and the scent can trigger my migraines. But I already have a migraine and foolishly grabbed the first mint tea I could find. However, it mixes well with the jasmine and creates a lovely, soothing tea. My migraine is worse, but them’s the breaks. I don’t blame the tea, I blame the Indian food last night and the dang sun this morning.

I just realized I am nine blog posts away from my 200th post, awesome! I will have to do something fancy for my 200th post, maybe I will throw a tea party Other than being on the mend, having some snow flurries, and making stars, it has been a very basic uneventful day. Tomorrow or Friday, however, Ben has promised me a trip to the thrift store to get a new iron, hooray!

Today’s tea is A Rabbit’s Garden by Della Terra Tea, this unusual tea came to me by accident, I ordered the Try Me Sampler and one of the teas I selected were out of stock so they substituted this one. I was a bit miffed because I was really excited for the other tea, but hey, I like trying new things! This tea is a blend of Green Tea, Green Peas, Corn Kernels, Peach Pieces, Carrot Bits, and Lemongrass, this tea truly is a garden in a cup. The aroma is very peachy with corn sweetness, there is an underlying aroma of dried peas and slight vegetal green.The aroma is very sweet, it is like an orchard with peaches and fresh vegetation.

After giving the garden a good watering the aroma of the brewed leaves is still very sweet and fruity, best of all there is no aroma of lemongrass (I still don’t like lemongrass). There is more of a vegetal tone specifically peas and spinach. I have to admit the aroma is a little odd. The liquid is very mild, quite peachy but not as sweet, with a touch of corn as well. As a finishing note there is a bit of vegetal.

The taste is surprisingly good, like really surprising for a tea made out of peas and corn. Imagine drinking veggie broth (made from the instant dip or soup mix that comes in packets) and then immediately drinking peach juice. And having both tastes in your mouth. It is a strange blend of flavors but it not unpleasant. There are notes of peach, spinach, tart lemons, it is very vegetal and very fruity. Once the tea cools the corn adds a bit of a nutty taste, the aftertaste is lemony and sharp and leaves a dryness in the mouth.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/della-terra-teas-rabbits-garden-tea.html

Interestingly, this is almost identical to my beloved Caramel Pu-erh from Tea Desire – although this is a black tea. How do I know they’re almost identical? Because I’ve been sipping them both all afternoon, and at times I have to question myself which is which. I like the pu-erh more (oversteeped it to get more depth out of it), however this Caramel Creme is quite yum as well. I might even buy more. Maybe.

I really hoped I would like this one, but I just…don’t. The flavors are too artificial, the pu-erh is too…earthy, and it’s just not my cup of tea. But the wife likes it, so I’ll have her work on drinking it down.

I received a sample of this in the box of teas I bought from BrewTEAllySweet. Thank you.

This is a decent cup. The vanilla is a tad on the light side. I have had a few flavored vanilla teas and this holds its own, but would probably not purchase again.

GCTTB!

Well i didn’t drink much of this or my other cup of tea tonight…somuch for getting through some of the teas in the box. This one taste like generic della terra “cake” tea. similar to upside down pineapple… there is not much in the way of spicy carrot cake, creamcheese icing sort of thing. This just reminds me of a rooibos upside down cake. meh. glad to try it though.