Metropolitan Tea Company

Just finished this today. I made it a bit stronger than normal. 2.5 tsp for 16oz. It definitely was a strong tea. But, it was delicious and I’m glad to have had it.

I’m probably going to stick with my Canadian Breakfast though.

Well, this is pretty much a SIPDOWN at this point! Only a tiny bit remains of it which means it’ll be mixed with another delicious tea!

Again, really love this one. I overdid it with the steeping today so it was a bit more bitter and stronger than I normally would have gone for… And part of me was wishing I had had my Sugar and Spice tea from Davidstea instead. I think I’m enjoying the flavoured teas just a bit more right now. Must just be a phase. hahah

Anyways, probably would purchase again,… maybe… I think I like my Canadian Breakfast and the Irish Breakfast better though.

I forgot how nice this one is. 3min steep, 1.5tsp for 12oz cup. Way too much milk added, but I don’t care. It’s the perfect tea for this morning. It’s sweet and comforting for me this morning and a great way to relax and almost celebrate our roommate moving out after a year of living with us. Him being here was far too long of an amount of time for my husband and I to handle, and I am overjoyed that he’s moved on. Now I feel like my life can start again.

And, the nice thing is too, I’ve got tea that I thought was suppose to be delivered Thursday being delivered today!! The mailman can’t get here fast enough! lol
A VERY Good way to start the week.

This is my first ever English Breakfast tea! For shame!

As I mentioned in one of my last postings, I’ve been struggling with sinus headaches. They have been brutal. I’m not too sure what’s going on. I’m wondering if I need to vaccum my house. Maybe the cat fur is getting out of hand? Haha and maybe it’s the strong smells that seem to be everywhere around me right now.

Anyway, I went to get an Orange Pekoe and I couldn’t find one that I was looking for, so I decided to give this one a try.
Smell is very similar to an OP. It was little to no smell or ‘perfume.’ I actually really enjoy the smell of this one dry. It is so deep and almost dark smelling (if that makes sense). I thought I might as well give it a try.
Taste… well, I should have steeped it for 3mins not the 4:30 that I did. I’m finding it to be quite strong even after a little milk and sugar was added. It’s got a very strong black tea taste to it.
It is a nice option though to have. I love my OP and this is very very similar to it. Next time, I’ll just go a bit ‘lighter’ on the steeping time, and I think that’d make it perfect.

But I do like that for taste-wise, it’s an almost neutral flavour

Once again I was lured into the hibiscus teas. I didn’t realize when I bought this one that it had that in it. (I was too excited about the smell).
This one isn’t even as close to as bad as the last one for hibiscus though. I am finding that the balance of mango to hibiscus is definitely manageable. I’m happy to report, I’m actually noticing the mango flavour!
I have a different mango tea that I do enjoy more, so realistically I probably wouldn’t buy this one again, but it is a nice tea to try.

I hate hibiscus. I’m ready to fully admit that the stuff needs to go.
I bought this yesterday when I was out with my mom. There’s an amazing little shop only about 20mins from place that has a TON of teas. I had never heard of this one before, so I thought, hey, why not give it a try?
I love the smell of it. COCONUT!!! LOVED the smell. That’s what hooked me!
Taste… :( The poor coconut, apple, pineapple goodness was lost behind the hibiscus. I don’t know if I made it too strong or if I let it steep too long, but the hibiscus was too much. I know this is going to sound weird, but I’m wondering if it’s hard or easy to take all the hibiscus out of it? I’m going to try it again… :(

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea. I chose it because when I opened the box she sent, this was the tea I could smell. Mostly I grabbed it because I didn’t want to take the chance that keeping it around would influence the flavors of any of my other teas. I don’t generally keep a lot of Lapsang Souchong Teas here… with the exception now of my unsmoked Lapsang Souchong which doesn’t pose the same smokiness issue.

This is SMOKY. A few years ago, something this smoky in my cup would have elicited moans of displeasure as well as me dumping the cup out before really taking a sip… I might take a teeny sip and then out with the rest of it. But, I somehow have learned to like Lapsang. I do wish though, that I had rinsed this before the infusion. I think it would have given it a not-so-smoky and almost musty kind of flavor.

Under the strong smoky flavor, the sweet caramel notes are tasted. It is a pleasant enough tea, I think it would have been better if I was not quite so sleepy when it came to infusing it this morning so that I could have thought to do a quick rinse. As it is, it is just a wee bit too much.

I like my iced wines to be a bit sweeter and stronger. However if you don’t then you may like this one. No astringency, no bitterness, there is that sparky feeling in the mouth like other ice wines I have had. Just not quite enough of a punch for me :)
Thank you Indigobloom for ANOTHER sample! :)

Stuck a homebrew jar of this out on the stoop to make sun tea. Took one taste while it’s still hot and was pleased that the hibiscus-osity is low with a slow steep. Plenty of unsweet fruit punch “punch” that I’m looking forward to when it chills.

My little packet is from The Tea Table, but I’m pretty sure it’s just a private label of the same stuff.

Heard on Dr. Oz the other day that hibiscus (my tea nemesis most days) is actually good for high blood pressure. So, based on what I expect to hear at my checkup next week, I think Hi and I need to make our peace.

So, rummaging around my bits and bites basket, I found this, and was pleasantly surprised. The hibiscus stays politely in the background and lets the other fruit bits take the credit. It’s very much like an unsugared (as opposed to painfully tart) berry cobbler.

I have decided to pass this one along to a friend. Something about the black tea base in Metro Tea varieties are coming across a little bitter for me. I am sure I could figure it all out if I wanted to invest the time in finding the perfect brewing parameters for this tea, but I have only about an ounce left and it is not on my repurchase list. Maybe milk would have helped, but I seem to be getting away from teas that require milk these days.

It leaves a dry cracking feeling at the back of my throat. I have to drink water and still I can’t get rid of it. It has a weird smell and doesn’t taste like maple.

I’m an EG newbie, so I don’t feel right rating these just yet. This one from Metro Tea smelled delicious – citrusy and bright – but the taste! Lots of fruit loopy and manly. This next sentence will make me sound like a weirdo, I know, but the EG Cream smelled like a man – like cologne. And very much not in a good way. I don’t like heavy cologne on men; I call it “Pimp Diesel.” So while this one is tasty and hearty, it has a certain Pimp Diesel quality to it.

Maybe I oversteeped. Maybe I’m completely ignorant about EG. OK, actually I am. But I need to conquer this taste. Help me out, teasters!

Follow my EG adventures:
http://keenteathyme.blogspot.com/2011/04/earl-grey-part-deux.html

I had this one for the first time yesterday afternoon. It will definitely require further tastings to get a good read on it…I think I was pretty tired and unfocused, hence the need for a cup. I do remember it not being quite as smooth as the English Breakfast from Adagio that is a keemun. The smokey note was a little more intense than I expected.

From the tea journal:
I am just going to the source on this one. It is readily available at many vendors. I tried mine from Culinary Teas, and then purchased a larger amount from The English Tea Store. I do like the maple and blackberry flavors in this one. I don’t think I would rate it as among my favorites, but it is a pleasant cuppa. I probably won’t get more for some time once I am out. Too many more teas to try to keep purchasing one that is just pretty good.

Oversteeped.

Brewed in Tiny White Teapot

Pulled this out of the cabinet today to try, and quickly remembered why it had been pushed to the back and forgotten about. The little wooden box that the tea is packaged in has really affected the scent and flavour of the tea and there is no cherry anything to speak of. I don’t know what kind of wood this box is made of, but it tastes like it smells. In the trash with the rest of this!