Simpson & Vail

This was a first for me. The first time I dumped a cup of tea without drinking it.

There is probably nothing wrong with the tea, except that it has a coconut tone and I can’t stand coconut. If I am ever abandoned on a tropical island I am in big trouble.

And um ok, isn’t classic creme brûlée just vanilla? Why is there coconut here? I didn’t expect it at all.

So I opened the envelope. Slight coconut smell. Uh oh. Well, let me brew it. Smelled it when steeping too. Maybe it won’t be there when I taste it. First sip: I just drank suntan lotion! I am that hyper sensitive to the flavor.

Personal taste thing. Sorry world! No rating since this is a me thing.

Tastes better as it cools. Not exactly what I was looking for this morning, which is no fault of the tea’s. :)

I don’t have a lot of experience with hazelnuts, except in Nutella (which isn’t exactly a wholesome way of eating hazelnuts)!

I liked this tea. I like the hazelnut taste, which is different than other nuts. The black tea base was pretty mellow, and the hazelnut taste comes through well.

I over-steeped this the first time so this is round 2! This tastes so much better with a little cream added as it really helps bring out the richness of the caramel. This is what I would consider to be a “light” dessert tea because the caramel and chocolate flavors are there but subtle.

Thank you Courtney for introducing me to Simpson & Vail! I love me some dessert teas. ;-D

Thank you, MissB for sharing some of this treasure with me (227). It really is liquid candy cane.
It really is delcious. It really is the perfect cup before bed…

Sipdown…dumped the rest of the sample into the steeper without measuring, and it came out pretty good! I think maybe last time I underleafed. I was worried that I might be overleafing this time, but yay, I didn’t!

I liked it much better today than the first time, so I have to up my rating a bit. I’m not sure if I like it enough to buy it, but I am glad I could try some, so thanks for that, OMGsrsly. Maybe when the fall comes around again I’ll want more of this, but for now, I’m good. :)

Gave this one a go today, given the weather. Sadly, it has not wowed me. I find the base a little strong, and the spices a little generic. Nothing about this tea really makes me think of gingerbread, but it might have just been an off brew, so we’ll see how the last of the sample goes. This is ok, but not great.

Thanks, OMGsrsly for sending this. Maybe the last bit will be better.

This is from a swap with Courtney, a swap to expand a little my tea horizons. Because this is really not my type of cup of tea, but I find myself really interested in this type of tea. Not sure it will be love or if they will overcome my beloved afternoon-type teas, but I am definitely intrigued.

This is presumably a black tea from Java. I never had indonesian tea before, so not sure what quite to expect. Maybe something Ceylon-ish? And somehow that was what I got, though a bit more delicate, flowery (and ok, thinner bodied) than I would expect of a Ceylon tea. It had that some copper-y (I can not think of any other way to describe it. Kind of metallic but not unpleasant?) feeling I associate with some ceylon teas. I think it had some wood (besides floral) notes, and a bit of tannin as well, which was not unpleasant. Sadly not quite as much body as I wanted of a first-thing-in-the-morning tea, but I can put this in afternoon service with please. Really interesting. Thanks Courtney!

Yay, Spring Break! No students, no PARENTS for one whole week :)

This tea smells awesome and tastes pretty good too. Definitely nice cinnamon and apple taste. I made the mistake of drinking it with my McD’s breakfast burrito with salsa so the taste was a little funky but now that I’m done and ate cookies, definitely a nice dessert tea.

Thank you ifjuly for this sample.
Smells heavenly. I’m a big fan of ATR Brioche and they smell similar. While I was reading previous reviews I noticed JustJames recipe. I made it in the perfect mug 12 oz and split it in 2 cups. 1 cup I added 1tsp agave syrup, 2nd nothing. I didn’t have salted macadamia nuts on hand, but had white cheddar popped corn chips( not to salty, not strong flavor just right)
I wasn’t impressed with either of the cup. The smell doesn’t match to the taste. As it cooled sweetened cup reminded me of sugar cookie but no almond taste. I prefer w/ agave syrup cooled. Brioche still my favorite.

Wow! This tea!!! I like this tea just a whole lot. I also love that the samples from Simpson & Vail are HUGE so I have enough to have it several times. It tastes almost like an Earl Grey chai thingie. Rose and cardamom, my very favorite spice. This is really smooth, not bitter at all. It is even good cold as I got on a phone call and forgot to take it to go and left. When I came home, it was cold and still very very delicious. The rose isn’t obnoxious – this is just really nice tea and I will likely keep this one stocked. As I tried to add the flavor notes from drop down below – I was interested to see that cannabis is a choice and cardamom isn’t which made me LOL.

Today I wanted a sipdown. So I decided to have one. Bye bye, Violet Rose Tea.
This kills the Simpson and Vail teas I got back on Black Friday. They were cheap, which is by far the best thing.
Nothing was undrinkable, but I just wasnt impressed, so I dont think I’ll be ordering again.

I didnt want anything overly nice this morning. Do you ever have those mornings, when really, its just an unexceptional cup of tea that you want? They’re rare, but its a good time to drink something you are only meh on.
I will say that this is better than a lot of the teas that I got from S&V, but I still find it underwhelming.
Well, it was an interesting tea experiement, I suppose.

Once again I cannot find the proper balance in this tea. It tastes very much of candied violet, but I cannot pick out the rose.
Its not bad, its just a little one dimentional. I was expecting more balance and flavor layering.

The last of my Simpon and Vail order from Black Friday. It seemed like a good day to break it open.
In the bag, the dry leaf smells like a candied violet (side note- who was the first person to go, “lets make a candy out of something. I know, that flower! That’ll do.”)
Experience with other S & V teas tells me to brew this short and hot, which is what I did.
The liquid is light and clear, and smells sweet and unspecifically floral.
Its not bad, actually. More violet than rose, I think. And its very, very sweet. No sugar added and it tastes as sweet as two lumps.
I had some trepidation, after my other S&V disapointments, but this is pleasant. And good for this fine spring day.

Sipdown!! (170)

Thank you Fjellrev for sharing this with me. It sounded delicious and people really seem to enjoy it, but having yet another cup, I think I have decided it is not for me. I believe sugar would really help this out but since I am back to behaving and sticking to the diet, that is not even an option for me. Plus, at the end of the day, if a tea needs something to be amazing, it is not a tea I would stock. I am so grateful to have gotten to try it though.

Thank you Fjellrev for sending me a sample of this tea. It is one I have wanted to try for a while so I am super grateful for the opportunity. I am impressed that it is pretty reminiscent of a coconut macaroon but it does lack some of the sweetness associated with the tasty treat. I imagine that is nothing a little sugar couldn’t fix but since I am not one for adding sweetners, this probably won’t be something I get again once it is gone.

It’s been a while since I made a tasting note and I blame it on piling up coursework. Thank you to Courtney for pulling me away from the hum-drum by sending me a sample of this! This smells and tastes a lot like root beer. Although, it has a dark (slightly smokey) black tea base flavor that reminds me it’s tea. I think I’d like this better chilled but it could be because I feel odd drinking hot root beer… I’m going to add a little sugar, put this in the fridge, and use this free time as an excuse to sample some others. :)

I originally bought this tea because the ingredients sounded so unusual and interesting to me. Citrus tarragon black tea? Yes, of course I want to try it. Yet it’s sat here for a little bit with me avoiding it for whatever reason. Why?! This is surprisingly delicious.

I get a creamy mouthfeel first, followed by faint (yet definitely present) tarragon. There’s a hint of the black base which is smooth, and then a hint of sweetness that’s vague yet citrus-y. It makes me think of using this tea as brine for cooking something, although frankly I think I may just want to drink it as-is. Definitely a savory tea, and the smell of tarragon is much stronger than the taste – in this case, I think that’s a good thing.

Savory tea lovers, I definitely recommend trying this one out.

1.5 tsp in 12 oz.

I guess I’m on an almond tea roll this morning. Now that I think about it, an almond pastry roll would be delicious right now too!

This tea is much smoother than the last almond tea I just tried and for that I am grateful! It has a nice round almond taste, but that is about it. There is no wow factor. It isn’t bad by any means, but it isn’t grabbing me either. It was good to try, won’t be a restock, but isn’t going into the “get rid of it” pile either.

I received a sample of this from Marcel Duchamp! After falling in love with a green chai with the name Kashmiri, the similar name of this tea is intriguing.

I’m smelling rose and cardamon when the tea is steeped. Wow, rose and cardamon go really well together! I used to work next door to this shop that sold a specific type of middle eastern food (the exact country is escaping my memory) and they would have desserts that I would get regularly. Most had rosewater in them, but one ice cream was rose and cardamon, which is why this tea is bringing back that memories.

The tea is really smooth and I’m not getting any bitterness. I’m finding I like it just as much with as without sugar. The cardamon is strong, but not overpowering which is a really impressive balance. The rose merges so well with the cardamon that it is hard to pick out on it’s own at times. The tea looses it’s smooth edge just slightly once the cup has cooled. I really like it, but I haven’t decided if it is a must have or not. Maybe I’ll know in a few more cups.

I made this tea with German rock sugar and some cream. It has a nice little spice to it, but it is not really chocolatey. I think maybe my tastebuds are use to coffee mochas, so this is a lot more mild. Maybe I just needed more of a kick this morning.

Wow… what a long, crazy day! Snow, cold, too much paperwork, stress, kid who doesn’t want to do homework … UrgH!, making 2 food dishes to take to said kid’s Cub Scout meeting, Cub Scout meeting … along with Pinewood Derby (small wooden car race)… which my kiddo won, again! He won last year too. In a few weeks they will go to district and see how he does with a larger group of cars. Then home to get kiddo who is worked up and excited off to bed, more paperwork -put in an offer on a house.

Sigh… time for some tea!

This one is familiar and yummy…I needed something sweet and comforting tonight… I’ve especially grown to like that this is a rooibos, but has no woodsy flavor, caffeine free late night dessert like treat! This is soon to be a sad sipdown, only to mean I will finally be forced to place an order w/Simpson & Vail. I keep hoping they will do some random free shipping offer but I will likely meet the free shipping minimum w/little effort as I have several there I’d like to get more of and some I’d like to try anyway.

Thanks again MissB for such a generous sample of this one… I surely have enjoyed it, and enjoyed sharing it.