English Tea Store

Picked this up mainly for now odd the combination sounded. Very enjoyable tea, though. Very creamy with a bit of milk and sugar. The toffee flavor is in the forefront, with the woody mustiness of the pu-erh trailing behind.

If you like bolder dessert teas (more along the lines of coffee) I would give this a try.

Tea #5 for Traveling Tea Box C

I’m always hesitant about green teas. On one hand, I have some I absolutely love, but on the other, most I’ve tried have not been very tasty to me. However, this one had such an interesting name that I even give it the chance to open the bag and take a quick sniff. And it smelled amazing! I was scared that if I brewed it hot, the green would make everything taste terrible, or the cherry would make everything tart or cough syrup flavor, or the rose would be way too floral. You can see how finicky I am with greens!

So instead, I cold brewed this one over night. There wasn’t much left of this one, and I used up what was left. I tried to make the water about the right amount, but it still ended up a bit weak. I could still taste it though! My first thought with this was “Wow! This tastes like bubblegum!” But as I sipped more, I could pick apart the flavors. There’s the green tea base, here’s the rose adding some floral notes, there’s the cherry, not cough syrup flavored. This is one that I would have loved more of.

Tea #2 from Traveling Tea Box C

I didn’t expect to get another tea in last night, as I work until midnight, but the entire campus locked down due to a nearby crime scene and my boss drove me home from work.It was waaaay too late for caffeine, so I decided to go for one of the caffeine free options. This one had a really intriguing name and a tasty sounding list of ingredients.

It smells strongly like rooibos, both dry and steeping. If you’re put off by that smell, avoid this one. It definitely tastes like rooibos as well. It’s the predominant flavor. I didn’t get a lot of vanilla. It seemed to more so smooth out the tea overall. I got the cinnamon as a slight tingle in the back of my throat. This is one that I would like to try different times and temperatures on to see what I get. I may keep this one.

Hmmmm. This chai was a little on the ho-hum side of average, and I didn’t really get any vanilla in the flavor… but then, I also didn’t notice the steeping instructions on the page here, which are a little different than my usual method of making chai. So, I will reserve judgment until I try it again their way! It sounds promising! :)

Traveling Tea Box C #22
Having this as a sleepytime tea tonight. I don’t get much cocao, I do taste the vanilla. I have to say I need to start looking at this tea site! They have made me a believer in rooibos. Crazy I know! Well goodnight steepsters.

Traveling Tea Box C #6
Mmmmmmmm! Perfect cup to put me to sleep. I was nervous that this was another rooibos. And I’m very peculiar when it comes to rooibos. BUT the bourbon pairs perfect with this Rooibos and the vanilla is the perfect after taste. The dry leaf smells so creamy with the vanilla and the bourbon is obviously present as well the rooibos smell does over power a little bit but I enjoyed this one a lot. I may have to purchase some of this!

I finished my little sample that I got from TTB! Delicious tea. I love the deep orange flavors and the spicy cloves. I had to put this tea in a disposable teabag since there were a lot of fine black tea leaves (crushed?). The cloves were blended well and were not overpowering. This is a good black tea that tastes good without additives.

meh. not a fan of this one. Especially when i can drink butiki’s version for less money and it’s tastier. So what if it’s not black…not like i don’t have a zillion black teas in my cupboard haha. The base of this one just isn’t the kind of black base that i enjoy. This one is going in to the swap box for others to try for sure. Thanks Cavo? Not the tea for me..but good to cross another one off my list!

do not like. holy mother of all things sour. This is way too in your face sour. It’s like being punched in the face. no thanks! i think? cavo passed this one off to me…sadly i forgot to put it in my cupboard, so i can’t take it out..but woah. glad to have tried this but yowzers…sssoooouuur! and not really “raspberry flavour”

TeaboxB! I’ve had worse smoky teas but I’ve had better. The scent is heavy the flavor is the mid level of smoky. The flavor isn’t bad. Kind of like a BBQ. The black tea is mid-strength. Not too much to say! A good one to try if you’re looking to try lapsang for the first time, but I really like Zen tea life’s blend.

Tea #30 from Traveling Tea Box C

I almost opted out of trying this one, because chai is not typically my thing. But when I opened the bag and got a sniff, I just had to. I love Indian spices, and this is just amazing.

It smells like curry, and coriander, a little cumin, and cardamom. Just like my apartment when I’m making a curry. Woo!

I brewed this with a teaspoon and a half of leaf to about an ounce of water, then poured over milk and a tiny amount of sugar. The result was exactly what was promised by the smell. Creamy Indian-spiced goodness. I think this would be a chai blend even Fiance would love!

I don’t think this one is going any further. This is too awesome, and too weird to pass up.

Another tea I had a strong liking for in the past but can no longer drink.

Considering this is now my second English Tea Store blend in which I find the artificial flavors amped up, I can only assume that my palate has changed since the last time I drank this. I can taste the tropical notes in it but they seem to be overwhelmed by an artificial quality that makes drinking it unpleasant for me.

I’m very disappointed because I was quite fond of this tea, but I guess now it’s time to come to a parting of the ways.

This tea has a sweet, fruity aroma that wafted up from the pot as I poured the hot water on the leaves. After a 4 minute steep, I added milk and sweetener. The tea’s flavor was not as fruity as its aroma promised and it had a very slight artificial tasting undertone. However it was enjoyable and I will re-order once I’ve cleared some space in the cabinet.

Tea #12 from Traveling Tea Box C

There’s definitely more going on here than a typical vanilla rooibos. I think the almond adds a kind of depth and richness. I don’t know that it really strongly comes across as almond, but it’s there. It’s also nice and naturally sweet, and would probably make a good latte.

The cinnamon adds a spiced note at the tail of sip, but other than that isn’t really present in the cup.

Neither flavor overcomes the rooibos, but it’s a smooth rooibos that doesn’t really have any landscaping chip notes to it.

Tea #8 from Traveling Tea Box C

First thought “Holy crap they recommend a seven minute steep time?”

Second thought “Holy base, Batman!”

Third thought “You know. I never really liked chai…”

That said, it’s a brisk (and strong) black base and the chai spices aren’t super potent. Surprisingly, it’s not the spices that turn me off this. The base is a bit much for me, and has some very slight bitterness and some less slight astringency. The spices I got initially were clove and ginger then some cinnamon. They all intensified as the cup cooled. As it cools down I can pick up the vanilla, but it’s never really in the forefront. More like an afterthought that never got completely realized.

Hopefully there are some chai spice lovers further down the tea box!

So. Fiance and I went up north(ish) to have a weekend of kayaking, swimming, mini golfing, bonfires and general amusement. The plan was originally to head home tomorrow afternoon sometime, but we left tonight to avoid the traffic. We still got in everything but the swimming, so it’s all good. Definitely heading back up over labor day to spend some time with my sister and her boyfriend.

Tea #3 from Traveling Tea Box C

There’s quite a bit of stuff in this box with little or no caffeine, and while my caffeine addiction might not be thrilled with this, the part of me that likes going to bed at a reasonable hour is ecstatic.

The dry smell of this tea is sweet and desserty and has a nice subtle vanillaness to it. Brewing though, I can definitely pick up the rooibos. That being said, this tea has a nice vanilla sweetness that comes through in the forefront, and a natural cocoa note lingers at the tail of the sip. It also goes down really nice and smooth. This isn’t enough to mask the rooibos though, as the other 90% of the flavor is rooibos.

Honestly, rooibos and I are still at odds. It’s starting to taste less like cedar chips now, but I’m still not in love with the flavor so this is definitely not really a tea for me.

Tea #19 from the traveling tea box.

First a bit of a complaint about improper ingredient listing, then I’ll move on to the tea. I have food allergies, some more severe than others, so it really bugs me when a company isn’t clear on what ingredients are in a tea. Nowhere in the ingredient listing for this tea did it state there was cinnamon in it. I’m highly allergic to cinnamon it gives me hives and in some cases causes difficulty breathing, so I go out of my way to avoid it. In fact, when the tea box first came in I had my husband go through and set aside anything that clearly stated it had cinnamon in it so I could take some allergy meds ahead of time in case I needed to touch the package or got a wild hair to try one.

Natural flavors does not mean cinnamon. I’m just glad that the baby didn’t get ahold of my cup of tea today because he is even more allergic to it than I am.

end rant

Now on to the tea. I had to dump this out for obvious reasons, but I did drink a fair amount before that. I think that this vanilla rooibos blend has a lot more depth than most that I’ve tried. It is slightly sweet, but you can still taste the rooibos and the cinnamon adds a spicy kick at the end of each sip.

Tea #18 from the traveling tea box.

For a tea that is supposedly the Champagne of Teas I found this rather unremarkable. It didn’t have an overly strong aroma or taste and I wonder if the process to make this decaffeinated might have something to do with that.

I don’t find this to be undrinkable, but I have certainly had much better darjeeling teas.

Tea #16 from the traveling tea box.

I made this first thing this morning and somehow forgot all about it. When I finally rediscovered it I tossed it in the fridge to enjoy cold later in the day. This makes a pretty nice iced tea if you like rooibos. The vanilla gives it just a hint of sweetness that really appealed to me.

With a five minute steep time I can taste more vanilla bean than cacao and the rooibos comes through very strong. Since I’m not a huge fan of rooibos this tea isn’t for me.

For a cheap tea that smelled pretty artificial this didn’t turn out so bad cold brewed. It definitely needed to just sit and mellow out for an extra day though.

There’s this weird floral quality to it though as it warms up. I don’t care for it. But I think I only have enough to cold brew another pitcher and I’d never have it again. But it tastes enough like mango. And black tea. I guess. It’s still nothing special even though it doesn’t taste terrible.

I have not been drinking much of anything interesting outside of water lately. Or probably much of anything at all. Blah. Such blahs.

And I did a go-kart race last night in some really intense go-karts and my entire body still hurts. I had to get up for work at 5 today too. It’s amazing I was actually able to put together the pastry case today and not have my arms fall off and I didn’t drop a plate of pastries on the floor either yay.

But in exciting news: THE PANDA AT THE ZOO HAD TWINS! and a hockey facility is being built half a mile from where I live. I am going to just go watch everyone play hockey because I can.

This comes far later than intended, I should have just put it off till morning but I meant to do it 90 minutes ago! I went to a yelp party tonight, it was ok, I always feel left out but eh. This one guy there, he’s a yelper too, but he takes pictures not even as one of the official photographer and tbh he’s the best. LOOK AT THIS. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/yelps-deco-dence-otps-first-yelper-party-marietta?select=eIHKdZKe6TLJwd4PhkjbZQ#jgwwq6EtoVO24tx2MVeutg
I have no idea how that is such a good picture because he was trying to get one and this little fly was getting all up in my face and I was trying to watch it to swat it away before that haha.

ok so I really really oversteeped this as a coldbrew. Like I hadn’t finished up my tons and tons of Sansa Stark tea so it kind of sat there a bit longer than necessary. It’s strong. it’s not very sweet. Though, I have never been much of a fan of this blend. There’s vanilla, but there’s really nothing else to it imo.

Well I used half the bag so at least there’s not much more.

Leif & I are cleaning house today. The kitchen is done, as is my studio. Now we’re taking a break, & sampling a bunch of teas from the TTB-A, so that I can send it off. We have 6 gaiwans lined up, using 1/2 tsp or so per Gaiwan This is our first sample.
This one is fairly astringent & has a hint of apple, which would probably be more prominent if we added sweetener, but both of our 2 oz cups are already empty.