Simpson & Vail

SIPDOWN!

This one’s a little more ginger-y than my first cup so that’s nice. I like seeing how the actual presence of ginger impacts the tea. I really like how the two flavours come together in this tea. Still on the look out for a delicious pear (found grapefruit, now i’m on to pear!). This is probably my favourite so far.

aaaah I understand now why kittenna likes this one. It really is a nice pear tea. Ginger? Not so much. However, that is MORE than ok with me since all i’m really after is the pear. I don’t really get the perfumey-ness, instead i just have a strong desire for the pear to be a little more OOMPHY! It’s not that it doesn’t taste like pear…it does..but the tea as a whole seems muted a wee bit. That being said, I’ve been drinking it all night and it re-steeps really nicely, without losing much in the way of flavour.

Thank you kittenna for sharing your precious pear tea with me! S&V DOES have a green pear tea so we may need to check that one out next :)

Fake sipdown! Haha had a small cup of this tonight before putting the rest of it in my soapbox for terriharplady. Still pretty delicious :)

Oooh i like this one :) Again, i either went in on it with Kittenna or she gave me a taste. Either way thanks to Kittenna who arranged things!

I REALLY am enjoying this one even if the apple is totally subtle. It is totally tasty cake like and delicious. I let a friend try this without telling her what it was and she was like “caaaake!” I am for sure going to look to try more of the S&V teas – at the very least there are likely a few more dessert type teas that I want to try.

Edit: mmmm this resteeps really nicely!

Tried this again today..dropped the temperature a bit down from boiling and steeped for about 2.5 mins. That seems to have done wonders for this tea and makes it a much more enjoyable cup of tea. That being said, is it creme brûlée? No. Is it a tasty dessert tea? Yes. I’m choosing not to increase the rating though since its not really cremem brûlée, which is what’s should taste like. Still though, a tasty c up if you’re in the moods or a dessert tea.

Another cup of this today and it’s not really a good cup today. the taste is all over the place and is most certainly NOT creme brulee. I think i’ll stick with the other teas from S&V since they are much truer to their flavours. Dropping the rating a bit even just since this doesn’t appear to be a consistent cup either.

mmmm I can’t recall if this was one of the teas I purchased or just one that kittenna let me sample. I know…that’s bad lol In either case, thanks go to her for getting this into my life :) One thing i’ve learned about S&V teas is that they are SMELLY! haha I’ve had to lock all the ones i received into tupperware containers so that they don’t dominate the entire house. However, they also, appear to taste exactly like they smell.

This one, is quite yummy, though I’m not sure i’d call it creme brulee exactly. It’s sweet…and caramelly and there’s a vanilla/custardy sip at the end of this. But it doesn’t scream creme brule to me. it IS however a delicious tasty dessert tea. :)

Apples! cake! Oh my!
Yes this is quite delicious. And bakey. Just like coffee cake. No milk required! maybe a tiny bit of sugar. S&V seems to be really good at creating black tea blends that work well solo. Fingers crossed that it travels well.
Bah, either way I am impressed.
aaaand also a little overwhelmed. I picked up so much tea this weekend, that I have no idea how I’ll ever get through any of it. Upping my intake and a serious purge is in order.

I’ve finally determined without a doubt- I like this one much better at 2 minutes. Anything more and it gets heavy, losing the delicate root beer flavour which seems to get lost under whatever base is used. Makes for a lighter cup but I kinda like it that way :)
Great with or without a pinch of sugar!

Root beer indeed! add a little carbonated water and it just might become my fave summer tea. Thanks so much for the sample Kittenna!
It smells strongly of root beer. Positively intoxicating. I could sit here and sniff it all day!
The aroma is a fair bit stronger than the taste. The base is well balanced, coming out more in the first part of the sip while root beer dominates the tail end as well as aftertaste.
Will definitely consider this as a purchase in future S&V orders

Found this in the drawer in a baggie. I didn’t even remember it. Read my tasting note from two years ago. Apparently it didn’t impress me back then. Today, the base tea is a really nice black with some good malt notes. The fruit smells tropical but light. Tastes even lighter which I am OK with as I’m not much on tropical flavors. The real problem is it leaves a taste in your mouth. Maybe because its old. Maybe because I just don’t like it. Two years ago when it was fresher I gave it an 80. Today, it wouldn’t be fair to give it a number.

Another from Nicole – thanks! The leaf is kind of pretty to look at with the blue cornflower and marigold petals. There is also some white or silver colored something in there. This reminds me of mellow mango, because, well, its mellow and tastes of mango. This really is a very light flavored tea. I think sweetener is a must if you want to bring the fruit flavor out. When a tea is this subtle it needs to be really complex to draw you in. This is ok but not great.

Sipdown, 243 (back log). Those of you who have taken notice of my tea numbers will notice that this is a sipdown but my tea numbers have gone up by three! Well I got Nina’s samples and a swap in the mail, so my total number has once again risen.

I may have over-leafed my travel mug a touch, as this was a tiny bit bitter, but holy crap did it smell intensely like cinnamon brownies. The hint of bitterness made the overall sip taste like unsweetened chocolate, like you were making brownies and forgot the sugar. I bet brewed strong like this, with the addition of sugar, this would be so decadent.

This tea came in a swap package from Tea Sipper that I got just before I moved, and promptly forgot about until just now. Sorry about that! But I found the package and now I have a lot more teas to try. :)

I have had at least one tea from Simpson & Vail that I liked and I have wanted to try more, but I haven’t ever gotten around to ordering from them so I usually take the opportunity to request samples in swaps. This one sounded delicious. The aroma of the steeped tea is interesting, and it reminds me of an unflavored nice black. After all, chocolate and cinnamon are common flavors in those types of teas.

Flavor is quite nice, with strong chocolate notes that are both unsweetened cocoa powder type and that bakey brownie type as well. The cinnamon isn’t strong, but it a pleasantly spiced background note. There is the tiniest hint of bitterness so I will try to steep it at a slightly cooler temp last time. This is a tasty tea, but then again it is also not all that different from a really nice unflavored black, and I would probably just drink one of those instead if I wanted. I suppose this could be a cheaper alternative if necessary!

Sip down! Thanks Nicole. Ok, not sure what I did different this time. Man this is really good. The water was boiling and I kind of let it steep a pretty long time. Anyway a great ending to this neat tea.

A big thank you to Nicole for this one. Twisted pieces of broken leaf with rust colored buds well represented. It has some similarities to the Golden Monkey I had yesterday but much much more subtle. It has more similarities to a breakfast Assam without being in your face. It does have some bite and is a little drying. A nice tea I would not turn down. First cup was a pretty reddish orange. Second was bronze and was more planty tasting.

Drinking this today.
I went to the doctor this week and had a recheck…I am now on even more of a liquid restriction.
Which is truly frustrating to me.
So, this is why I have not been on here much, folks.
I am not drinking much tea (although, I am getting really good at brewing tiny amounts of tea…it looks I am having a tea party for fairies;)
And reading all your delightful reviews makes me feel pouty that I can not drink (which is something I just need to get over)
Still liking this tea. In fact its growing more and more on me.
Although, any tea I enjoy now a days feels almost naughty to be indulging in.
I am hoping that all these health issues clear up soon.
Missing you all and my lovely tea too:(

I have been drinking a lot of this lately.
Which is why I have not been seen on here as much.
I like this tea, but I have to admit, I have been drinking it a bit more for the health and diet benefits.
I actually have been seeing some weight loss due to drinking this tea.(by this tea, I mean Pu-erh itself, just not this particular tea by S&V)
I have missed drinking other teas,but I am loving that the waist line on my jeans are lose!
Upping the rating because of this new development,plus the taste is growing on me more and more:)
See previous note for more.

My amount of knowledge on Pu-erh is about as big as one of these cute little buttons of tea.
The only true way to learn what I like and don’t like is to drink more of this type of tea.
So, I bought some of this in my recent S&V order.
I am glad I did.
I think this would have been a good Pu-erh for me to start with.
It has all the typical characteristic pu-erh flavors but muted.
It would have helped me ease into the flavor, I think.
But, thats all water under the bridge, or water poured out of the teakettle.Whatever:)
This tea is earthy with notes of fruit and mushrooms.
It reminds me of firewood in the woodshed, not fresh cut firewood, but the firewood that has been in the shed about a year.
I know that might not be the most flattering description and one that a lot of you might not get.
But, I like that smell.
It reminds me of home.
I consistently get about 4 steeps out of this, with the flavor going from mushroomy wood down to more wood and a bit of fruit, but like a dried fruit.
The fifth steep is extremely soft and light, I usually do not go beyond that.
Pu-erh is a adventure, It is a tea that keeps surprising me.
I am not sure what an experienced Pu-erh drinker would think of this tea, it might be a little to light on flavor for them.
But, for now, in this part of my Pu-erh journey, I am immensely enjoying it.

I am finally getting around to trying this sample that Nicole was so kind to send me. I accidentally (kind of) fell asleep while I should’ve been studying earlier, so now am a bit groggy and need a tea to wake me up so I can get back to my stacks of homework. This tea has a nice, very light fruity scent. I added a little sweetener to this tea, which seems to help to bring out the faint fruity flavor. As soft as this tea’s flavor is, I don’t think that it would stand up very well to milk. The fruity flavor tastes mostly of mango and apricot to me. Overall, a pretty good cup of tea to wake up from a nap!

-Dry blend has tea leaves and a few twigs with small blue and yellow petals. Petals expand during steeping.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of sweet fruit. Tea liquor aroma is of mangoes.
-Tea liquor is a clear orange color.
-Warm fruity flavor with a somewhat malty undertone. Smooth, honey-like finish.
-Best with a little sweetener. Milk would overshadow delicate flavors.
-Good tea. Sweetener brings out banana flavor. Would be perfect as a fruity iced tea during the summer.

Before adding water noted the Dark blue-green leaves and bits of flowers. At first sip was surprised to find the floral taste weakened the usual bitterness of black tea, tasting dry, but not over sweet like some floral teas will. This taste was good to the bottom of the cup. On second steep, the same effect was not possible the tea became too weak to create the same taste or color.

Additional notes: Sipdown! I was hesitant to drink the last of this, because I loved how ghostly it was last time: tobacco, roses, maltiness, cherries. This is still very nice, but I think some of the flavors are gone. To be fair, I probably steeped it at boiling last time, rather than waiting ten minutes and steeping for three minutes. I wanted to sipdown at least one tea before organizing my tea collection today. Should be fun!

Thank you Nicole for sending this one to sample! The only other Simpson & Vail I’ve tried is their Chocolate Brownie, but it’s a good one! This one is tough to describe but so so so good. I steeped for 3-4 minutes. It’s malty but it doesn’t have that deeper flavor. It’s a medium bodied tea. Maybe a tiny hint of tobacco. And I swear I keep smelling cherry cough drops, and there is nothing in here like that, so it might be this tea. And maybe a bit like rose petals. So recap: malty, tobacco, cherry, rose petals. Such an odd combination but good! This tea is almost haunting… because the list of flavors is almost like lingers of things a ghost might leave behind. But my cat has not wanted to come in this room at ALL for a few days, so maybe it’s just the ghost. ;D

Having this for the 2nd time-it was a sample that was sent with my order last fall. Very nice balance of flavors, different than a Chai, and well suited to a coolish winter day. I had it with a little stevia, without milk, and am really enjoying it today. It makes a delicious dessert tea. I would order this again.