Simpson & Vail

Oh I love the tiny little buds in this tea! Such a nice touch… the flowers so tiny you can barely see them. Lilac season is almost here! There are a few lilac bushes in the yard — probably the best time of year for the yard while they are in bloom. Maybe because it’s towards the end of winter I can’t really say how much this tea resembles lilacs, but the tea is certainly floral enough while not being too much for me. Nothing can really beat fresh lilacs though. First steep session, one teaspoon didn’t seem enough for my tastes. With a teaspoon and a half, I get a depth of black tea that pairs perfectly with the floral – a nice brisk black tea. There aren’t too many floral teas in my collection (especially not unless they are jasmine), so I’m very happy I bought a bit of this one. Will be drinking it especially in Spring! The price was amazing too. I wish others would give S&V a chance. They have been around since the 1920s! Nothing but positive things to say about online ordering… though I do wish they would use different packaging for the teas. svtea.com
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// few minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

I can’t believe this glorious green was free with my order! It’s one of the best green teas I’ve ever sipped! I love complex green teas with so many elements to them. The dark twisty leaves have a fruity fragrance in the tin. Both steeps were so different, maybe even with each sip. And all sips were absolutely delicious. At times, the sips were nutty, fruity, creamed corn, vegetal, floral. So hard to describe but this tea reminds me how much I love tea. I think I steeped this one perfectly, both steeps.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep

I had to try this unique herbal from S&V. The ingredients: organic cinnamon, spearmint, organic rosemary, lavender and lemon verbena. It’s quite a colorful blend! Taste wise, I notice cinnamon, spearmint and lavender in an equal delicious balance. The lemon verbena probably adds sweetness and fruit while I’m not noticing the rosemary at all. Minty, floral, fruity, and spicy sweet from the cinnamon. Somehow it works. Overall, a tasty combination and definitely something different when I’m looking for a caffeine free option. It was a great price which helped me stock up on this one and I’m glad I did!

Sipdown no. 42 of 2016 (no. 253 total).

Not the most elegant exit for this tea. I made it, then didn’t have time to drink it before I had to run off to no. 1’s baseball game (he pitched two innings and gave up 0 runs!). I drank it upon my return. It’s better hot, but was ok cold. The spice note came out more strongly in the cold.

Not my favorite among the S&V well done florals. Unlikely to buy it again, but I wouldn’t refuse it if someone wanted to serve it to me.

First tea this morning and I’m noticing the spice a lot more.

I haven’t had a Simpson & Vail tea I didn’t like, but I also haven’t had one I adore. They fit into a bit of a niche for me, which I suppose if I had to name it I’d call “nicely done floral.” I expect that if I drank a number of them side by side I’d be able to differentiate them, but when I drink them only occasionally, they meld together as a memory.

This one is reminiscent of the Earl Grey (which had no bergamot flavor to speak of) and I wonder if it is because the cardamom is serving the same purpose, which is to be a punctuation mark within the floral.

I’ll enjoy it while it lasts, but I have a large number of other S&V “nicely done florals” and this one isn’t enough of a stand out to go on the list for 2020, when I come out of lockdown ;-).

In the tin it smells remarkably like every other Simpson & Vail tea I’ve ever had. Floral, particularly rosey. Reminds me of the various incarnations of Earl Grey from Simpson & Vail, but even the non-flavored teas smell this way, which I attribute to their being stored together in their paper bag sample bags. And like the other S&V florals, it’s a pretty tea with the petals and pod pieces adding visual interest.

I don’t really smell cardamom in the tin. After steeping, I smell something in the aroma that is spicy, and if I try hard enough I can single it out as cardamom. The spice is actually the predominant note in the steeped tea’s aroma. The floral sort of heads to the background. The liquor is clear medium brown.

It’s mild, pleasant, with some spice and some flora. I have to run out, so I may have more to say about this a bit later.

A lovely assam here with dark twisted leaves with hints of gold. I think assam is so unique — I just love the briskness that also has sweetness and there is plenty of that here! The coppery rustiness in the best way… only assam has that! Always have to have a few great assams in the cupboard. I can’t say much about this one but everything positive and I’m very glad I bought this one. It’s a very comforting and delicious cup! I love that S&V specializes in both unflavored and flavored options… they are always quite delicious teas!
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug// few minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox – Round #5 – Tea #30
S&V has so many decaf options! I love that. A decaf assam sounds like an oxymoron since assam is usually bold. This one is on the lighter side (which is understandable). It still has an assam flavor, despite being a decaf tea. I can only describe assams as having a brightness to them or crisp, fruity, brassy. I’m only ever using ‘brightness’ as a description for assams and not other types of tea. I guess they could also be rusty in a nice tea way. This one might not be a bold assam, but it’s delicious for a decaf.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon // just boiled // 3 minute steep

Herbal & Decaf TTB

YES! This tea is perfect! I absolutely love Mango Black teas, though I do find that sometimes the blending isn’t up to par but this one is fabulous. There’s just enough Mango flavor but not too much and the black base is very mellow. This is my ideal bedtime tea. Thank you Allan K for putting it in the box!

Herbal & Decaf TTB

I believe Allan K put this in the box, so thank you! I actually did a little research on the company and I’m definitely going to take a trip to stop by their store when it gets warmer out! As for the tea, it’s definitely on the sweeter side for me, but the mango and papaya make a strong appearance while letting the rooibos shine still. This is definitely one of my favorite rooibos blends so far! It’s a perfect blend of rooibos and flavoring which is really hard for me to find.

Sipdown no. 36 of 2016 (no. 247 total).

Nothing to add to the previous note in terms of description. I liked it but some other yunnans do more for me.

Busy week! I have been drinking tea, but not trying anything new on purpose because I haven’t had time to write notes. No. 1’s basketball season is in full swing. Fortunately I think it only lasts a few more weeks, because little league baseball season has started. Both kids have games today. They also both have a piano contest in about two weeks. Things should calm down a bit after March, which I’m also expecting to be a very busy month at work.

Still liking the new job. Now just have to get the rest of my life (exercise, writing) in order. Oh, and my shoulder stopped hurting after three days of Aleve and heating pads, pretty much as abruptly as it started. I’m now wondering whether I had the standing desk at work positioned too high. I lowered it some and haven’t had a repeat.

It will be interesting to see what this tastes like, as it has been living in its paper sample bag in a plastic container along with other Simpson & Vails, some of which are florals, in their paper sample bags.

The dry leaves are small and medium in the tippy and curly department. They smell a little perfumey, which scares me some.

The tea steeps dark, darker than I’ve seen in most yunnans. A clear, dark mahogany. The aroma is malty-deep, slightly sweet, with just a hint of pepper. The perfume smell doesn’t carry over into the aroma, fortunately.

The flavor is surprisingly mild given the dark color and smell, but flavorful. Gentle on the stomach. There’s just the smallest amount of perfume carry-over, but not enough to give the tea an altogether different flavor from what it is. It’s not the best yunnan I’ve had, solid, but not overly interesting. It sort of reminds me of the Numi Chinese Breakfast.

I suspect I’ll sip this one down easily and quickly, both because it’s a pleasant drink and because with all the other yunnans in my cupboard that I prefer to this one, I’d rather sip down this one as a distraction from focusing on the others.

Now for the life update. No need to read if you’re in this for the tea. ;-)

Sorry I’ve been rather scarce. I’m still getting a feel for the new routine. I’ve been doing coffee first thing in the morning for the extra alertness jolt with fast preparation time, taking tea with me in the Timolino, typically a green of some sort, and always one I’ve written about before and so far there hasn’t been much to add by way of notes.

There is tea at work, by the way. There’s a full Starbucks in one of the campus buildings, and a variety of bagged Numi teas in the kitchen on my floor. I also brought some tea to work. Essentially all the bags I have left. I haven’t actually steeped any yet though. I’ve been occupied with trying to learn everything there is to learn which makes the time fly and before I know it, the day is gone and I haven’t made any tea at work again.

On the home de-cluttering front: continued success! This morning I packed up five boxes for storage, mostly my old toys I’d saved from childhood for the kids that they’ve outgrown and the toys they have sentimental attachment to but don’t play with anymore. With that, the toy project is pretty much done except for the random things that continue to turn up in weird places. I can pretty much be assured to find at least one Lego in every drawer in the house if I look hard enough. ;-)

So to recap: toys are done, office is done. What’s left? Books and clothes, mostly.

Last weekend we took some books to the library to donate. They don’t put them in the library but they sell them for fundraising. There will probably be another box or two of these coming as I finish going through the kids’ books with them, but there aren’t too many left to go through. Then there will be are a few boxes of books to store—baby favorites that they don’t want to let go but don’t look at much anymore.

The book project was pretty amusing. Who knew we had five copies of Goodnight Moon, until we looked through everything?

I’m hoping to finish some of this packing up this weekend, but I’m not going to stress about it. As long as I continue to see progress, I think I can keep motivated to finish.

The one thing that has suffered in all of this is my writing. I have several stories I’ve workshopped and need to revise, and some stories that have been sent back from magazines that need to be resubmitted. Maybe I’ll be able to make an hour or two tomorrow to work on my Writers of the Future entry for this quarter. According to my readers it only needs some minor revision, so if I can get it revised, I can set it aside until next weekend, do a reread, and submit if I can’t think of anything else to do to it.

Very refreshing! When you first open the can you get the very strong aroma of pear, but it doesn’t come across in the taste after brewing. It is light and crisp, which offsets the potential bitterness of green tea. I definitely recommend this one for those who don’t mind a flavored green tea.

Picked this one today because of my insomnia. It is fairly nice. It’s got a nice flavor that I have a hard time describing because I put a spoonful of chili honey into it for a nice spicy kick. Got the honey at the Coffee and Tea Festival NYC last March.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

As errands cost me time to drink some puerh before it was too late for me to have caffeine I thought I’d drink this. This is a fairly tasty black tea. I do not know how it compares to other assams of the non decaf nature. This one is good overall. It has little in the way of bitterness, astringency, or malt. It has a bit of a fruity flavor to it, I’m not sure which fruit I would identify it with. On a bad point it has a bit, just a bit of a sour note to it. Not enough to bother me though. As tomorrow is my first day at a new job I didn’t want to have anything with caffeine after four o clock as I need to sleep tonight and I already have insomnia. Simpson and Vail has done well with the decaf teas of theirs I have tried. Most have been good. They don’t noticeably lower the quality rung to get a decaf. I know some decaf are just horrible but this one is alright, good for an afternoon like this. I usually cold brew their decaf teas which works well too.

I brewed this one time with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper for 3 min.

Standard green tea with light rose scent. Delicious.

Usually you can tell in the flavor when a black tea is decaf, but not with the decaf teas from S&V. I love being able to drink a black tea at night when I’m craving one. I know that a black tea isn’t entirely empty of caffeine but there is certainly much less than a typical black tea. I wouldn’t be able to tell this is decaf and the black tea itself is actually quite strong in flavor. Definitely not weak and odd flavored like some decaf teas can be. I love the idea of a flowery Earl Grey. This one is lighter on the bergamot, or possibly the lavender takes over and drowns out the bergamot. I see plenty of lavender and roses in the blend but the rose is harder to distinguish. I would have liked all three elements to be more balanced in this blend (maybe by not including as much as the lavender?), but otherwise this is a great decaf.

Thank you to the lovely Phi for this blend! I am quite enjoying it. The roasty coconut flavor is refreshing and super yummy as an iced tea. It’s a nice counter balance after a heavy meal. Sipdown!

This tea has light floral notes and is somewhat vegetal. It is a nice green. It’s hard for me to judge the sweetness of the tea because I added suger. It is pretty good as green teas go. Simpson and Vail ran a promotion on this tea and gave out a free ounce in a mini tin.

I steeped this one time in a Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 175 degree water for 3 min.

Additional notes: I also have a ton of this from TreeGal! Thank you so much! It’s a favorite so I’m quite happy to have more of it. Love the cocoa notes. Very comforting. Otherwise, I’m still working on the Angry Tea Room advent teas and other various holiday teas. There are a whole month of them. I should have really made an advent for the swap you guys did, but most of my holiday teas are older now, so I’d rather not share not-fresh teas…. I still enjoy them anyway. AND I love reading about the advents everyone else is doing!

Additional notes: I was craving the flavor of this one today and HEY it is a Christmas tea, so why not? It’s my ‘whipped chocolate in a candy’ tea. I’m thinking like those Russell Stover chocolates with the whipped chocolate inside. It’s the whipped chocolate! I wish I had some of those now, actually. This blend would be even more divine with a deep Chinese black base. The base is a bit weak for me as is.

I thought I had copied and pasted this one from a couple days ago:
Just in time for the holidays here is a delicious one: cocoa and almonds! There are certainly plenty of cocoa nibs and almonds here. The flavor is mostly a delicious milk chocolate with hints of almond on a medium strength black tea. There should also be vanilla and maple here, but I’m not tasting much of those. Maybe the sweetness of the maple is combining with the chocolate…it’s almost like a creamy whipped chocolate candy. The second steep is a little nuttier probably because the almonds were soaking in the wet tea leaves for a bit. This is certainly a tasty blend though, especially when I’m craving chocolate. I’m glad I bought some. Delicious stuff. I hope everyone is having the best holidays possible!

This is very floral. The scent is really nice and natural, not artificial smelling like perfume, but like flowers. Rose and lavender were the foremost notes in the liquor, bergamot took midrange for me and the rosemary I’m not sure about. I prefer this before it cools. After cooling, it takes on an unwelcome sweetness with the pure floral notes fading. The tea base blends well with the florals, a mild strength black tea. Going to experiment a bit with steeping parameters. It was good enough to drink it all, but I feel like there is more to be had from this tea.