Simpson & Vail

thank you again momo! I will be saying that some more… quite a few teas I haven’t made tasting notes for. I had this one yesterday morning. This one lives up to its name! If I had to guess the flavor, I’d probably say brownie. Though I could just think it is a very unique black tea. It almost tastes like a mild coffee to me. The cinnamon isn’t too present..until the second steep when I used just boiled water. But I like the brownie/black tea flavor anyway. I wonder if the tea just naturally tasted like a brownie? It’s an excellent deep, dark flavor. Hopefully it will wake me up, too!

Tea of the evening here and it’s a sipdown. I thought I would try this iced today and it’s very refreshing that way. Too bad S&V doesn’t carry this anymore…

I thought I had drank all of this but I found some lurking in my stash. I’m really sad this was discontinued because it’s so good. Strong apple flavor and cinnamon goes really well with the red rooibos. Looks like I’ll be on the hunt for another apple rooibos soon…

I had to work late tonight and decided to brew up a pot of this tisane when I got home. This is a really good rooibos and I need to remember to drink more of my tisanes in the evening. I love the apple and spice flavor here, it tastes so natural and almost decadent. It’s pretty good alone but also nice with a touch of coconut sugar. See previous notes for more details.

Now to start some yoga!

Hurray! This one is really GOOD and that’s not something I say about rooibos blends too often. The dry leaf smells incredible and after steeping this smells like apple cider. Yep, definitely apple cider-y in the flavor too. I am picking up cinnamom and clove and there’s chunks of dried apple in the tisane. It seems almost juicy!

This doesn’t have that “sour wood” flavor that a lot of rooibos blends have and I’m impressed that the flavoring here tastes so natural. This will be great for those chilly winter days. Yum – love it and wish I had bought the bigger size. If you’re a fan of rooibos you might want to try it. I’m happy I am digging a lot of my Simpson and Vail purchases but I think they need to do some samplers. :)

Note: I used approximately 2 tsp. in a 10 oz. mug.

After lunch tea here for me…

I am glad it’s Friday. I feel like a nap is in order but I don’t think I will get to leave the office early enough. More caffeine it is. This is a yummy dessert tea, I almost forgot I had it hidden in my desk. See previous notes for more info.

This probably isn’t a tea that one should be drinking at 10 am, but here goes nothing.

I don’t expect a lot from flavored tea most of the time but this was a pleasant surprise. I love the black tea base here which is a mix of Ceylon and a Chinese tea. It provides a rich background for the chocolate, which I can definitely taste, and the orange, which is refreshing and very natural tasting. You do see some bits of dried orange peel in the blend and they also used orange oil. Nice that it doesn’t seem artificial at all.

This is so tasty, rich and delicious. Simpson & Vail has created a real dessert tea winner here, IMHO. I had mine with soymilk but it would be good plain too. I only got 1 oz. which won’t last very long. :)

Backlog:

Last night, as I sat down to watch some television with my hubby, I brewed up a pot of this to enjoy while watching. It’s pretty good, but, it leaves a little something to be desired as far as red velvet cupcaked-ness goes. I agree with TeaEqualsBliss in that it SMELLS like a red velvet cupcake, but, it doesn’t really taste like one. Especially when served piping hot.

It IS tasty, though. I like it better after it’s had a chance to cool a few minutes in the teacup, because this seems to allow time for the chocolate flavors to really come forth. When sipped fresh from the teapot hot, the chocolate flavors are quite obscure, but, after a few minutes, they come forward. The raspberry and coconut are very subtle, but they’re there. This just doesn’t taste a lot like a red velvet cupcake, at least, no red velvet cupcake that I’ve tasted. There are some cake-y-ish flavors here, but, my palate feels the flavors are a little disjointed … it doesn’t come together on my palate as red velvet cupcake.

Disclaimer: Red Velvet isn’t my favorite cupcake so it’s not one I eat a lot, so, I don’t attest to be any kind of an expert in red velvet cupcakes.

I do like this, but, it isn’t my favorite dessert tea/tisane offering from Simpson & Vail.

I haven’t always been a big fan of floral teas but lilac is one of my favorite flower-y aromas, so I thought I’d check this out. Even though it’s called white lilac, this is a green tea.

After steeping I noticed little lavender colored blobs in the cup, I guess these are lilac pieces or tiny petals of some sort? This has a very relaxing and lovely aroma. I like the green tea here which is a Chinese tea, I think. It has a vegetal, almost buttery quality and a light yellow tea liquor.

The flavor is a bit… soapy which is not such a surprise. I love lilac soap, so there you go. This makes for an elegant afternoon tea but I can’t say I would drink this too often. Overall, I liked it but you need to be in the mood for a very flowery tea. I’m tempted to dab some behind my ears… :-P

Oh, I was a little nervous about this one initially because when I opened the tin the aroma reminded me of potpourri…. :)

Visually this is stunning with bits of cardamon, cinnamon stick, clove and ginger mingling around with the black tea. This is nicely blended because none of the flavors seem like they are overshadowing the others. I like the vanilla mixed with the chai, it reminds me of a chai creme brulee! This is delicious with soymilk.

I am definitely getting a ginger and clove “bite” in the finish. I agree with Hesper June, there is something about this that just reminds me of Christmas and it smells so lovely. It will be a nice cozy tea for winter, I think I’ll be keeping mine in the office where it tends to get very drafty in the winter time.

A very pleasant afternoon cuppa. I’ve had this tea for a while but I have no idea why. Some teas I drink a ton of and others I do not. Straight blacks are the ones I consume most often in the morning time. Flavored blacks I drink more often in the afternoon and since I’ve been trying to cut down a bit on the caffeine, maybe that’s one reason this has been languishing a bit. A good tea if you like grape flavors.

I decided to cold brew this last night for today’s lunch (veggie sushi) and am glad I did. It makes a delicious iced tea with a light currant/grape flavor. this is one of those teas that sits in my cupboard that I seem to forget about for some reason. Maybe I’ll be drinking more of it soon now that I know it’s good for the warm weather.

Tea of the morning, I’ve had this for a while. It seems like more of an afternoon tea so I should probably take it to work where I’d feel more inspired to drink it. Very tasty grape/currant flavor that goes well with the black teas. I’m enjoying this with a bit of plain soymilk but it is also good without additions.

Tea of the morning here! I haven’t had this in a while which happens when you have lots of teas. This is a very pleasant rich brew with a hint of grape flavoring but somehow it doesn’t taste artificial at all. I would definitely consider buying this again if my current supply runs out. :)

Tea of the morning here, I can usually count on a Simpson & Vail tea as a reliable morning cuppa. I’m not getting as much grape flavor this time around but I may not have steeped it for as long as I usually do. I wonder who Duke Cardiff was/is? Couldn’t find anything with a quick search on Google, might be fun to find out. :)

Still working my way through the Simpson and Vail order I received yesterday. This tea smells very fruity in the tin and has purple flowers in it. :)

This was steeped for around 3 minutes and soymilk was added, but I think it would be very good plain as well. This tea is hefty enough for morning but would also be good as an afternoon tea. The currant flavor is light and not too sickening like some currant teas can be. The description says China and India teas but I’m not sure I could place which ones – perhaps a yunnan and an assam? In any case I definitely like this blend and am happy I got a tin of this. It will be a great everyday drinker.

It’s a sipdown for me and this tea!
This was pretty good for a dessert tea, I have enjoyed it. Not sure I need more but might be a re-purchase next time I order something from Simpson and Vail. It’s good with a little stevia to perk it up a bit. Kind of an odd choice for breakfast but it works for me…

Tea of the morning here. a slightly odd choice for breakfast time, but then again, why not have a strawberry cupcake for breakfast?

This is a pretty good dessert tea, I’m not sure I would get anymore but will certainly finish off what I have. Lots of strawberry flavor present and there IS something about this that reminds me of cake. See previous notes for more details.

TGIF, Steepster!

Tea of the morning here — last night the heat did not come on in my apartment so it’s been chilly. BRRRR! I needed some tea.

All of my new tea orders came in this week so I’ll be busy logging & drinking soon.

This particular blend is nice but I think it needs more strawberry flavor, see previous notes for more details.

Second tea of the day from Simpson and Vail, I may need to stop soon before a caffeine overload. A co-worker remarked on how good the kitchen smelled and accurately identified this as strawberry & chocolate.

Another tea that tastes slightly better with sugar. This really smells like a cupcake and the flavor is pretty good. I do tend to like strawberry flavored teas and this is pretty nice. I only got 1 oz. but will have no problems finishing it off. Hopefully this will cut down on my dessert cravings a bit!

New order arrived from Simpson & Vail today – I was excited and I picked this as the first thing to try.

Steeped for around 3 minutes and with a little bit of soymilk added. I am finding the flavor to be slightly artifical tasting to me but it does taste a lot like pumpkin with a big wallop of nutmeg. Adding a bit of sugar helped it along and make it more dessert like. I’m not sure I will order this again but it’s definitely a nice tea for fall. I admit I was hoping for something a bit different but flavored teas are always kind of hit or miss for me. I do have a whole tin of it now so maybe someone would like a sample?

This came as a free sample from Simpson & Vail and seems very apropos for the autumn weather. This was steeped for 4 minutes in the Beehouse teapot and is a very easy one to drink plain.

I am definitely getting the orange rind as well as a bit of tartness from the cranberry. Compared to other fruit flavored teas I have had, it doesn’t overwhelm you with flavoring but is just about right. I don’t love this particular flavor profile, but if you are a huge orange/cranberry fan you should check it out. Very enjoyable for the afternoon.

Second time with this tea. I don’t think my first review even did it justice. I just love the delicious apple cinnamon cake scent. Liberteas notes described it well. So good!