Murchie's Tea & Coffee

I’m up for an online meeting, and ended up spending the 20 minutes I had set aside to shower, installing Java on my computer and fielding calls. This is the first meeting I’ve attended. At least I know for next time.

I’ve already had coffee. Now I’m moving onto tea.

This is a good tea to follow coffee. A little delicate, yes, but infinitely soothing. It’s a little spicy, fairly mild, really tasty with (gasp!) milk and honey.

Had this one in my travel mug this morning with a little sugar and milk. Not much to say about it besides the fact that it performed well for me!

I treated it like a black tea, not knowing any different, and it worked. I’ll have to have this one in a cup at some point to see what it’s like on its own, and not all packaged up with additions.

This is definitely better with a 2 minute steep.

The last time I had it there was a horrific soapy flavour. It’s diminished this time with the shorter steep, and so much better.

Weird, because the first couple times I had it I really liked it at a 3 minute steep…

Another gift from my friend! (Yeah, she got me 5 (FIVE!) teas.)

This one… I’m not so sure about. I brewed it as I would most black teas, but there’s something about it that didn’t work for me this morning. Maybe it was the maple and bacon potato chips I was having for breakfast. IDK.

Will have to try again. :)

(2 tsp, 2 cups water just off the boil, 3 minutes, milk and sugar)

Oh, this was a good tea this morning. Smokey, richly flavoured, kinda like a campfire. :)

I had it with homemade coconut creamer. So good. And I also had oatmeal with maple syrup and coconut.

All with a whiny cat on my lap. Seriously. He pushes me around on my bed at night, then demands loads of snuggles as soon as I get up. Cat, you are ridiculous. (Of course, his name is Princess… for a reason.)

With coconut cream and maple syrup.

At least I can taste it!

I’m feeling better again today, but so so grateful it’s a holiday. I’ll probably go in to work tomorrow for a part day, just to get some stuff started, but wow I did WAY too much yesterday. Cleaning takes a lot out of a sick person.

Uhh, JustJames, I think I have a problem.
https://twitter.com/omgsrslyfolks/status/402152147568975872/photo/1

Thanks for that. It required some negotiating to find this tea in the cupboard.

I actually really like this smokey tea. I didn’t think I would, until Sil suggested maple syrup, and then I ended up with Too Much whipping cream. Maple whipping cream + Russian Caravan tea = match made in heaven.

This tea probably isn’t the best quality out there, but I’m enjoying it and that’s what counts. Right? It will definitely be a void in my cupboard when it’s done, but what to fill it with…

This is SO GOOD with maple whipped cream. So good.

Just don’t over-whip your cream. You might end up with a couple chunks of soft butter in your tea.

It was still good.

This is an odd one to have in my travel mug today…

With milk and sugar, because I’m feeling rather toast. Time to go home soon, though! Yay!

Another tea included in a recent thank you gift (yay!). As per some suggestions, I rinsed it briefly (pour lukewarm water in, swirl, dump) then steeped as I saw fit (2 tsp, 2 cups water just settled from a boil, 3 minutes). I poured it over honey whipped cream in a shallow bowl-mug.

I haven’t had a Russian Caravan tea in years. The last one I had was super strong and smoky and I found it really hard to drink. This one is nice and… well, not subtle, because campfire smoke would never be subtle, but very drinkable.

tl;dr: Yum.

I ended up quite enjoying this tea. A lower steeping temp and a bit of honey made it sweet and fruity every time.

Would I repurchase this one? Maybe. Mostly it has made me more inclined to try other apricot teas instead of peach ones all the time!

(195f, 3 min)

Not bad, not bad. Not really what I wanted tonight, though.

It’s super fruity. I like it better in the summer, but there really isn’t anything wrong with it now.

As with all Murchie’s teas I’ve tried, cooler water is better. Way less bitter.

This did not turn out well at all this morning. Bitter and astringent and just bleh. I guess the water was too hot. I’ll blame that on the fact that my kettle doesn’t turn off automatically anymore, so I don’t get that 3-5 minute wait between hearing the click and getting off my butt and into the kitchen. :)

Sipping on this very fruity and sweet tea (I may have put too much honey in it) as I wait for some stuff to happen at work so I can finish some other stuff I need to do today.

And then I need to go home to drop off my computer, then head for dinner and shoppings with my brother.

Whee! At least I’m caffeinated, and have tea to drink!

Oh, this is a good morning tea in my travel mug with a little milk and sugar. Really tasty, but I’m still not really getting apricot out of it. Delicious related tree fruits, yes.

And I totally forgot to drink my other tea today. Oops.

A friend gave this tea to me as thanks for taking care of a bunch of stuff for her. Yay! Tea gifts!

It’s pretty tasty. I had it with a little sugar this morning, and really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t specifically call it apricots, but it’s peachy nectarine-y apricot-y fruity tea.

2 tsp, 2 cups, 3 minutes, not boiling water.

Sipdown! (93)

This is ok. It’s not great. I drank it, but I don’t want any more.

Oh why would I do this to myself? I accidentally steeped this for 10 minutes while doing work, and now this is awful. It tastes like soggy bitter seaweed.

I had a feeling it would, and yet, like a hardcore tea addict, I tried it anyway.

Yeah, I’m done with this one. The idea is great, but I’m sipping the tea and meh. I had no choice but to add cream and sugar, to try and smooth out the flavours. This way it’s drinkable, but still not that great. And it’s becoming more bitter and cloying as it cools.

I don’t need “meh” teas in my cupboard in large quantities, especially when they’re using up a precious tin. So, goodbye tea. Hope you enjoy your new life in the compost bin.

I’m not too impressed with this tea. Not much else to say, really. Just that there are other teas in my cupboard I’d rather be drinking.

Of course, I have a couple bars of soap that essentially smell like this tea. So it’s not the smell that I don’t like. Just the execution in the blend is kinda meh.

Cold-brewed this and K adored it. I had the last of it this morning – yum! He likes to add sugar + lemon to his which I don’t understand but whatever :P :P

Now I have mint cold-brewing… which I loooove.

Interesting! Not what I’d expect if I bought something called chai, but yum enough anyway. Thanks Cavocorax! >:D

Time to finally get some backlogging going. This is the first EG cream I’ve ever had! I assume the addition of a vanilla/cream flavor is what separates the cream from the usual. I think 4 min is a bit of overkill on this tea. I definitely could taste bergamot in here, but vanilla, not so much. It was probably borderline bitter, but tolerable for at least half the cup…I ended up making dinner in the midst of drinking it and honestly didn’t miss it.

Next time, shorter steep.

Thanks, Cavocorax!

Murchie’s had this out as a self-serve sample today, along with the Oolong Magnolia, when I went to go pick up a Tiramisu cake for get-together. Why don’t I go to Murchie’s more often? Their desserts are delicious and the teas aren’t bad either.

I thought this was going to be nasty when I read the name but it turned out to be quite pleasant. The berry flavour reminded me of the soft fruitiness found in jam. Very smooth and dessert-like, particularly with the vanilla and cinnamon- not spicy or hot like what I think of chai, but “spiced”. I could see this being an item at a children’s “tea party” if that makes sense. I didn’t get a very good overall impression but it was enough to intrigue me!