Simpson & Vail

I made my first cup and then didn’t have time to drink it until it had cooled considerably, which worked for me since I prefer my teas that way, anyway. This is incredible. Sweet, fruity, cake-y goodness. I don’t really like cake, because the texture kind of turns me off, but this is delicious.

I wish I could order more, but shipping to Canada from Simpson & Vail is a flat rate of $30, and that is impossible for me to justify. Sorry, Strawberry Cupcake. I wish I could drink more of you.

Thanks, Mitch, for this delightful sample!

Thank you Marcel Duchamp for the sample! Sure enough, this has a very natural strong strawberry flavor. Also this is the most pastry or baked goods type flavor I’ve gotten from a flavored tea. Very nice!

Oh this is odd. So very odd. It’s buttery in a strange no good way. Plus, I taste chicory or carob. I can’t really say much more about it because I couldn’t take more than a few sips. The remainder is still sitting downstairs waiting for me to dump the cup.

This tea tastes really artificial, sour, and soapy to me. I actually have yet to brew a drinkable cup. I’ve tried different temperatures and steep times, and nothing helps. It just tastes like soap. I ended up throwing out the rest of the bag. What a waste of money.

SIPDOWN!

So this time around? This tea is much improved. I’m not sure if it was teh ratio of goodness in this steeping or what but its much more strawberry like than the first time, though the cake like goodness is also less noticeable in this steep versus the last one. Bumping the rating up since I can see the potential for delicious goodness that this one has.

hmmmm…so far, not overly impressed with this tea. I’m wondering if i brewed it a little funny or it just really needs sugar to reach it’s happy spot.

I for sure get a chocolatey, cake kind of taste from this, but there isn’t a lot of strawberry in this one. I’m wondering if this needs sugar to bring that out. Or maybe i have a strawberry tea i can blend this with to get more strawberry + cake. I have enough to give it another whirl (more than 1 if i don’t brew it in my giant mugs lol), so the rating might be modified once i get a chance to play a little more.

Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 27th of March 2013 but here are the snippits:

This Strawberry Cupcake from Simpson and Vail is one of the freshest tasting strawberry teas I have ever sampled. As a dessert tea however I do wish it were a little fuller in the mouthfeel. That is not to say it is thin or watery but I do think that somehow the ripe fresh juiciness almost hurts the thickness in the mouthfeel. I know that does not sound like too bad of a thing now does it? Because it does taste so amazingly fresh almost as if biting into an actual strawberry! I guess I was just anticipating by the decedent aroma and darker colored cup that it would be richer.

I really rather like this since a lot of teas have a wine like flavor, or even mixed drink type flavor, this is one of the few that have this beer type flavor!

I have been surprised by this tea and am thankful to my Steepster friend Marcel Duchamp who shared it with me. Yup this goes on the wish list and I will order it sometime in the future.

SIPDOWN! This here sample is from Marcel Duchamp! Thanks, again!

This one smells so delicious! It’s bakey/buttery, almondy, sweet, and has just a tad of the black base present, especially when brewed. My nose is in heaven right now.

Taste: First thing I’m noticing right off the bat is how thick this one is on the tongue…it’s almost like I added cream. Very cool mouthfeel. I’m getting the black base in the front, with slight honey/butter notes mixed in (the cookie portion, I’m assuming) followed by a nice nutty almond taste. It isn’t as sweet as I was expecting, but it is yummy. I don’t know if I’d shout “Almond Cookie!” had this been a mystery tea, but I would say that it’s an almond flavored black with a slight bake-y aspect. The more this one cools down, the closer it seems to get to representing it’s name, but it doesn’t quite make it all the way.

Overall, I like this one quite a bit. Does it live up to it’s name? Not 100%, but it’s pretty darn close. I might buy it sometime.

NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: I’m enjoying this one a lot more at a “warm” temp than at a “hot” temp. It’s a lot more “cookie”-ish and the almond shines through a bit more.

I really thought I logged this one…Oops!

Well, here we go!

I love how this one smells! It’s sweet wood – more sweet than wood. Not dirty wood either…not really earthy, per say, but a nice sweetness! There is a savoriness to it, too!

The flavor is lovely as well! Somewhat brothy, a little chewy, slightly vegetal – almost more on the gentle herbal side – like a sweet basil, perhaps – but just a hint!

It’s VERY yummy! A delightful Oolong! YUM!

Got this in an AWESOME, like out of this world, swap from Marcel Duchamp

So far I have tried this one, the Strawberry Cupcake, and the Red Velvet Cupcake and Strawberry is reining first place. This is a very very close second. The smell of this is fabulous, spicy cinnamon, creamy vanilla, and a bakery warm freshness. I am always hesitant with flavored rooibos because I don’t LOVE rooibos, but I love flavors so I’m always hoping for more flavor than rooibos. I get that with this, I get just enough of the rooibos tea taste for me, it comes through slightly but mostly it’s this amazingly smooth combination of perfectly balanced flavors.

I think this may have just gotten ahead of the Strawberry Cupcake. I’m having this right after lunch and the rooibos is being so kind to my digestion, but it tastes like dessert. I bet this is a killer nighttime tea or with a little cream and some rock sugar as a legit dessert. mmmm this would be a great latte!!

This has got to be the most potent tea I have ever had in my cupboard. Even just touching the bags its in, my hands smell like violets. This tea comes to me thanks to PositiviTEA.

From a distance this smells mainly like violet. STRONG violet. But when I sniff the tea up close, a clear rose congou aroma comes out and battles the violet for supremacy. Holy wow, this is a floral tea. I mean, I love florals and this is possibly a bit much for me. It’s actually calming down a bit as it cools, and while the rose is definitely there, the major flavor is VIOLET. I’m not sure that I love violet that much; I bought some violet candies once thinking that I would love them just as much as I love my rose candies, but I could never really get into them. I think this tea is the same way. That being said, I am still enjoying this tea a fair amount, as the base tea is smooth and nice, and the whole thing has even a light sweetness about it that complements it well. Happy to have finally tried a mostly violet tea, though, because I have been curious for a while.

It smells like cake or chocolate. Well, maybe a little like chocolate cake. The flavour is more chocolate (and berries) than red velvet.

Cinnamon and vanilla come through mildly. The rest is kind of just.. idk.. I enjoyed it but not something I’d order. Sample from marcel

Went to bed at 11 got up at 3. I’ve done that for a couple days now. I haven’t felt well but not bad enough I knew what was wrong. Well, Tuesday I did have to break out the nebulizer to feel like I had any air in my lungs, but other than that I just felt – blah. I haven’t even felt like drinking tea or much of anything else. This morning I woke up with a stomach virus. I have a job interview Friday. I have to feel better (even if I don’t – you know). I don’t have all the training they are looking for, so really my only hope is neither do any of the other candidates. The earliest Ivy Tech is offering any courses I need to update my skills is fall. Classes had already started this spring when I was let go.

I’m rambling, sorry. I have a bunch of new teas to review and I just don’t feel up to it yet. Having this one to start my day. It is a wonderful cup of malt and cocoa and fruit. Smelled very earthy as I was brewing it. I have got to get some fluids in me and this is pretty easy on the stomach which I apparently need this morning.

I’m through whining now ;)

Arrrrrggggghhhhh! I forgot to copy text before hitting post!

More irritating is I have a weak cup of this awesome tea. I had more leaf than needed for one cup but not quite enough for two. I tried to stretch it… You know, I could have just used less water. sigh.

It’s going to be 82 today. I’ll adjust. Go Spring!

Got this one from Nicole. Her opinion was it is nice but I wouldn’t get it again. My opinion is WOW this is really great.

The wet leaf smell is like green beans and cooked broccoli, followed by fruity Darjeeling like notes. If that isn’t enough it ends with cocoa notes.

The sip is at first cocoa and malt followed by the fruity Darjeeling qualities. No bitterness. Just enough astringency to add a kiss of dryness.

I steeped it three times – it was so very good all three times. I like Darjeeling tea. I love Yunnan teas. This is kind of a marriage of both styles. It is medium bodied. It is not an in your face cup but not so subtle you have to concentrate to detect the flavors. I Love it!

Fun note – I steeped the first cup yesterday. As it was cooling, mom and dad called to say they were bored and wanted to play cards. So after a few sips I had to put the remainder of the tea in a travel mug. I ooh and ahhed my way through the cup. Then mom hands me a glass of iced decaf Lipton…. Uhmmm, I normally can drink it and enjoy it because it has always been part of all family stuff. This time it was really hard to drink and even harder not to complain. Silently I kept wishing I had picked up my press as I went out the door. It’s all good as it made today’s steeps even better.

It really does smell like carrot cake. The flavour is a bit more mild, but I can taste some carrot cake.

So this is what violets taste like. Huh.
I don’t think I like it. Well, I want to… like it. And I can almost get there, but nope, it isn’t happening.
Shame, I expected to enjoy this one! After sampling the candied violets at Sloane tea, which this tastes almost identical to, I was positive I’d fall in love! After all, it’s essentially the same flavour profile… sweet floral and what? somehow the liquid vs candied form makes that much of a difference? I am a texture oriented person, so I should have known really. No reason it should take me by surprise but it does nonetheless.
So… if you are a person who loves floral tea, this is the one for you! don’t let my review stop you. It isn’t bitter or astringent at all, and I think it will go nicely in baking!
As for soapiness, I would say that it tastes the way lavender soap smells. Not the way it tastes, at all! I’ve accidentally eaten soap suds before and they are vile terrible things. Likewise, I’ve had tea that tastes like soap suds, which this one does not. So when I say that this tea is slightly soapy, I mean that in the most pleasant way possible. If there is such a thing. (not that I enjoy it, but I can see how someone would. In fact this might be foisted on the Mumster)

Tastes and smells like rootbeer! I love root beer and I liked this tea hot but as an iced tea it would rock!

Thank you Sil, by way of Nicole for this sample!!
I don’t know if this is my fave tisane. Usually I love minty teas, but somehow… I dunno, it’s not quite reaching that place for me.
It’s probably the green rooibos, as I felt it really overshadowed the cup and didn’t blend nicely with the mint.
With minty teas, I’m not used to adding sweetener as mint is typically pretty flavourful on its own. In this case though, I made an exception and that is when I got the candy cane reference. Yup! bona fide peppermint stick! and then I drained the rest of my cup.
So in the end… I managed to find me a nice dessert. I wouldn’t mind another sample closer to next Christmas.

On a side note… I’ve launched my blog!! Nothing to do with tea mind you, so bear that in mind. Well, I’ll probably mention it here and there, but its more about my career in HR than tea and the two don’t often interlace.
Anyhow, if anyone feels like taking a gander here is the link: http://hrslinger.wordpress.com/

With this tea, I mostly taste cinnamon and after that, vanilla. I only kind of taste carrot cake. It’s very good but it is missing something. It definitely makes me think of carrot cake, but I think if I was drinking this without knowing the flavor, I might not pick up on that.

To say this smells exactly like root beer is an understatement. I could smell this tea before I even opened the box it was shipped in. It is currently making my office smell like root beer. It took me a while to convince myself that it wouldn’t be weird to drink this hot, because hot root beer is kind of a strange thought. But I finally brewed it and it’s good. The smell of this tea is stronger than the taste which is a little bit disappointing. But it IS delicious. I can’t wait to make this iced.

Still as tasty as ever. Guh. I love it!!!

Edit: water was too hot on the second steep. A rather unmemorable cup.

I. love. this. tea.
Loooove it! A new favourite folks! Possible even more than my precious Dragonwell. Who’da thunk it…
It’s quite possibly the most unique, complex green tea that I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting.
Sweet like spun sugar, mildly vegetal like snow peas, and a hint of bitter like arugula on the finish. Beautiful.
Mind you, that was just the first steep. I wonder what more is to come?
Oh and I entirely forgot that it was green when I made a big mug yesterday… with boiling water. Guess what, it held up pretty decently! in fact, there was absolutely no bitterness. That part came out when I brewed it with cooler water. Of course, there was no sweetness there either. In fact, it was more malty than anything else. Beats me how that works but I’m not one to complain!