Simpson & Vail

I’ve been spoiled after Della Terras Apple Pie tea. This does not measure up, in my opinion. I get a little apple, and some burnt “baked” flavor, but its not impressing me.
The smell, however, is very nice, and I am going to keep playing with the shorter steep times, to try and get what I want.

I am not getting what I want out of this tea. It smells very nice, but it doesnt brew up to what I think it will. I think I was expecting pie, even though this is supposed to be cake flavored. I’m not getting that either, actually.
I do taste apple, but its subtle, perhaps a little too subtle for me.

Hmm. Nope. I am not overly impressed with this one. It might be my problem, and not the tea. I’m getting a little cinnamon, but no apple. Its not the cup of pie I was hoping for.
My reaction to nearly all teas that I’m on the fence with is “I will tinker!” and I play around with steep time an leaf amount, to try to find the proper steep. So I will play along with this tea, and see what comes of it.

Determined, determined to get this gone. And now I have!
To recap. I got coconut from this, never the creamy and crisp flavor of a creme brulee.
I’ve tried everything. Lots of leaf, a normal amount, oversteeping, understeeping, glaring at it while it brewed, shouting encouragment to my tea pot as it steeped- nada. Nope. Such a disapointment. I love creme brulee, and really wanted this to work out.
Well, onwards.
Sipdown!

Goodness, this tea is a Mary Poppins tin. I cannot seem to get through it.
I think I have only one more small pot left, and I will buckle down and get it. Never again, though.
Its not that its undrinkable, or bitter, or even really unpleasant. Its jus disapointing, and does not live up to its name.

The quest to get these S&V teas gone continues.
I’ve given up on this ever tasting like Creme Brulee. This does not have the crisp sugary quality, or the smooth custard taste of a proper creme brulee.
Instead, I still get the mysterious coconut, and today is just a bit bitter. Meh.
Well, thats what I’ve got. I’ll get it drunk, and free up my tin for new and better brews.

Today this was a bit more custard-y, but I still get coconut out of this. This is very annyoing, as creme brulee is one of my favorite things, and coconut is not.
Oh well.

Short steep- a lot of tea in my strainer baskets, and still this tastes more like coconut than anything else to me. Hmmmm.

I feel, due to the unsealed nature of the S&V tea containers, that I should sip them down fairly quickly. And I havnt felt an overwhelming desire to hord them, so sipping down I will go.
I am still tasting cocounut. What on earth? Why? Gah. Coconut. I do not care for coconut. Where is the promised caramel and custard? Hmmm.

I woke up with yesterdays headache still floating around the brain. Drat.
So I’m trying to brew up this, in the hopes that sweetness will help.

Coconut? What on Earth? I am tasting coconut, and a smaller custard note, but mostly coconut. Drat! I love creme brulee, but have distinctly less interest in coconut.
Hmm, well, I will play with this.

Tea #9 from Another TTB
This one brings back memories of my childhood. Every birthday my stepmom would bake me a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and chocolate sprinkles for my birthday. That is all I would eat and nothing else would do ha ha.
The strawberry flavor is this tea is so natural and fresh tasting. There is a great creaminess to this one as well. The chocolate pairs perfect here! Mmmmm! You do get little hints of bakery “esque” flavors. That cake flavor you could say. I added a little sugar and cream and wow-y! There you go! Strawberry chocolate cake in a cup! I love the memories this tea brings back. I could really use a stroll down the narrow road of good memories. I’ve been dealing with stupid bank customer service who took a huge chunk of money from my account and it is not getting resolved. I am broke and will probably not be doing any Christmas shopping. I hate banks so much! I am going to just hoard my money in a box under my bed for the rest of my life. Ha ha.
Anyways, this tea was a great ending to my night. It makes me want to go bake a strawberry cake now! What fascinates me so much about this one is the strawberry flavor. I swear it tastes just like fresh strawberries :) I may have to keep this to stroll down memory lane every now and again (the low calorie version) ha ha

Agressive overleafing and a short steep time give this an almond quality, but not the cookie that I have been hoping for.
This is the first of the Simpson and Vail teas that I’ve managed to sip down, for which I am glad. (ETA- Lies! I sipped down Gingerbread! Gah. Its obviously too early in the morning for me to think)
Sip sip sip.

I get mostly the black base flavor, tempered with a nutty almond flavor. Not what I was hoping for, when I bought this tea. Oh well, thats the way it goes with tea, isnt it? There are worse things, than an only ok tea.

Ok, its my break! I have just enough time to excercise and also to eat lunch, but priority number one, as I finish up paperwork from the morning session, is a cup of tea.
I’ve tried to overleaf this and give it a 2 min steep, which was recommended to me. This process makes it pleasant, but not memorable. I’ll use this technique on the remaining cups of Simpson and Vail tea (and I’ve got a lot of those, eep), to try and encourage deliciousness.
Well, onwards, and to the next thing!

Maybe there is something wrong with my batch. I am still not impressed.
I can taste the almond, but its normal almond, not a sweet almond, if that makes any sense. And I am getting none of the sugar or the cookie aspects of this. This is a problem, as I have a sweet tooth the size of my head, and tea is an outlet for this. Tea will not make me gain insane amounts of weight, like an endless supply of baked goods will.
Gah. And I have a lot of this Simpson and Vail tea, as I got a fair amount with my black friday orders. And the paper packaging worries me, just a little.
Well, I will make an effort to drink this all quickly, both for purposes of freshness, and for reasons of meh.

This was the one in my Simpson and Vail order that I was most excited about, it and creme brulee.
So I steeped it up this morning with excitment. A tasty cookie!
Well, sort of. The nutty flavor is very nutty, and a little bit bitter. I do not taste the sugar component of the almond sugar cookie. Hmm.
Its not bad, but its dissapointing, and, as usual, I am finding that I do not like the black tea base. It tastes “dusty” to me, if that makes sense.
Well, it wont be a problem to drink, but I wont get it again.

Backlog:

Sweet and minty … I found myself wishing the stevia wasn’t in there when I started brewing it, but after tasting it, I like that the stevia is a light addition. Just enough to enhance the sweetness and give this the candy cane taste that it needs.

Not bad at all – a very enjoyable green rooibos.

Aha! Its gone. This was the very last of this tea.
The final recap- It does taste of almond, so points for honest advertising. However, it seems to be lacking something. It falls a little flat.
I’m not in love with this, though its done nothing to offend. Off it goes, and it shall not be missed!
Sipdown!

Another endless batch of tea, though I think I’m one pot from the end.
This S&V tea at least does what is advertised, but I wont be looking back when its done.

This may be my only cup of tea today. Horrors.
Well, I’d better make it count.

Bleh. Still not well, but doing my best to get better!
Am drinking vast quantities of tea that I do not particulrly love. This fits that discription exactly.
The best of my massive order of Simpson and Vail? Yes. Does that translate to a very good tea over-all? No.
This is mildly nutty, and perfectly reasonable, but do I love it? Nope. I’ll be happy when its gone.

I spent all of yesderday coughing up various chunks of lung. Yay.
I seem to be a bit better this morning, thank goodness, though still coughing. I swear, if I have any more Ricola, I will start to yodel.
But! Its time to move away from the lemon teas, and try some more regular teas. But still not the precious favorites.
Well, enter Simpson and Vail.
This, I think, is my favorite of the S&V teas I got. Its actually living up to its discription.
And you got to love the soothing properties of tea.

This is the S&V tea that tastes most like what is advertised. Its a very mellow nuttiness, which is good. I think, of all the Simspon and Vail teas I’ve had, this is maybe my favorite.

The standard operating proceedure for S&V teas this morning. Overleafing, and a short steep.
This appears to have worked, as I like this much more than the first time I tried it. Its not a sweet tea, but it is almondy. A normal almond flavor, not the candied almond, or an almond baked good (not that there is anything wrong with that. I adore those). This has brewed up toasty and mellow, and perfectly pleasant. And the shorter steep time has taken care of the overpowering black base problem. Good.