Simpson & Vail

So, I went out on a limb and bought a pound of this tea.
We shall see if I made a mistake or not.
Since it is blended with Earl Grey and has Lapsang Souchong, I was hoping that this was a tea that my husband and I could enjoy many pots of together (EG for me and LS for him)
Smelling the tea in dry leaf form, I can smell the bergamot and a hint of smokiness.
The tea brews up to almost a Maroon color.
Smelling the tea in the cup, and it smells faintly of bergamot and just a nice quality black tea. Not really smelling much LS smokiness at the moment.
Taste is a nice black tea, a hint of bergamot in the background, not much smokiness, but there is something else…there is a honey-like sweetness making itself present.
Very nice breakfast tea, I think I will enjoy it, but I don’t think there is enough smokiness present for the Hubby.

Drinking this again this morning.
We have an air quality alert at red today because of all the smoke from the numerous fires here.
My throat is burning and my nose is stuffy.
This tea sounded good to me this morning.
Hoping it will clear out my nose and throat and be soothing.
Drinking it while eating a pumpkin spice muffin.
Feeling better already.

When you are start out your Monday with a Mediation in the morning and then a funeral in the afternoon, you want your tea to make you alert but also to be comforting.
I choose this tea, I made it strong and then did something I hardly ever do with my tea, I added some milk and agave syrup.
It is clearing the mind fog and the spices are settling my nervous stomach.
See previous notes.

I guess I am the first one to review this on Steepster?
I had to enter it into the database, anyhow.
There are so many other teas I need to be drinking up before I open up anything new.
But, when we got up and the temperature was 35 degrees, this Chai was calling my name from the box.
It knew I wanted, no, needed its warmth and comfort.
So, I broke my own rules and I am not sorry. ( I am such a rebel )
When, it was brewing in my Bodum, I kept sticking my nose down over the cup and taking deep breaths…mmmmmm, Christmas!
It really does smell like Christmas to me. I think it might be the Anise and maybe the Vanilla.
This tea could certainly hold up to traditional Chai brewing, with milk.
What I like about this tea, is the spices are very present but you can still taste a nice strong black tea.
There is a nice spicy bite on the back of the tongue.
This tea brews up to a lovely dark red color.
Very tasty, especially for chilly mornings, I am going to enjoy sipping this many mornings in the months to come.

This is more like it. I bought a nice fresh four-oz. bag of my favorite version of hazelnut, Simpson & Vail’s. They have never let me down. See my previous tasting note. I was so happy to have my new supply, I practically gulped it down.

I’m giving this tea a higher rating than I would give this particular cup that I brewed right now. That’s because what I did wasn’t the tea’s fault. First of all, I have been enjoying this flavor of tea—one of my favorite anytime teas—for five years now. The problem? I’m still drinking from the same stash I ordered five years ago. I just realized that this morning. Time to overhaul the tea cabinet. Anyway, my girlfriend is worried about my Splenda consumption so she bought me some honey to try. I accidentally used way too much in this cup, not knowing the proper Splenda-to-honey conversion. The result? Not so good.

HOWEVER. You need to try this tea. I’m going to buy more. It’s got a wonderful smooth black tea base and the nutty flavor is just outstanding here. It’s a nice one to grab early in the morning when you want something flavored but not too crazy. I’m just going to buy smaller amounts, more often!

I bought this tea a while ago but have never really had a craving for it. I decided to pull it out today. It has a nice mild pumpkin smell. I added 2 Splenda to the cup, as I do. When drinking it, what I notice the most is the creaminess. There’s a little spice flavor and a little pumpkin flavor and a little black tea flavor. Just a nicely flavored tea with a hugely creamy mouthfeel.

I had too much sherbet at lunch so I had a bit of a tummyache. And I’m out of Moroccan Mint, which is generally a staple for me, and great for gut-rot. I decided to haul this one out, hoping it would do the trick. Anyway, the taste is mostly of chocolate, with a minty aftertaste. It’s delicious, but I would like it better if it were mintier. I don’t get the taste of the black tea in the background at all. I’ll probably use this up or give/trade some away but it won’t be a go-to like the Moroccan Mint is.

I have tried a couple of different carrot cake teas/tisanes, and I think that this one might be my favorite. This one definitely has a carrot cake kind of thing going on. I don’t know that I’m tasting a distinct “carrot cake” flavor here, but, then again, I don’t know that I’m not, either. If that makes sense. The cinnamon, the fruit notes, the carrot-y taste … it all works very well together to create a taste that seems to evoke thoughts of carrot cake.

Tastes like Carrots and Sweeter Green Rooibos. Not overly cake-E, tho. Or overly Cupcake-E. I do like the flavor – just fine…and as it cools I can pick up on the Papaya more…it’s juicy and welcomed. I’m missing the cake or the cupcake but enjoying the rest of this one, that’s for sure!

I wanted a gentle and sweet wake up this morning – this tea was just the thing! (Thank you TeaEqualsBliss ! I got hit by this tea ammo!)

Suuuper nutty, and the base is so smooth. It reminds me of Florence, but I’m not missing the chocolate notes. Sweet and perfect all on it’s own – but I was naughty and added a splash of vanilla creamer for a treat. Ah, yum.

OMG…Are you freaking KIDDING ME?
This smells AMAZING…BEYOND AMAZING! It’s HEAVEN in a cup! OMG!

This also reminds me of Las Vegas! I LOVE Las Vegas (and I’m not even a gambler!) I love the hot weather, the eye candy, the food, the drink, the entertainment, the melting-pot of culture and people! If I didn’t have a family and was by myself I would MOVE there!

Another reason I love this aroma and love Las Vegas is because of this place…
http://theredvelvetcafe.com/

The last time I went to Vegas (in March) we visited this place! The Vegetarian/Vegan options are wonderful! But my meat-eating DH enjoyed it a lot as well!

They are known for their Red Velvet Cake and it smelled EXACTLY like this Tisane!

These ingredients are incredible! S&V really jumped on a trendy dessert with this one! I have been seeing Red Velvet Cakes and Cupcakes in more and more places lately!

It’s cake-ier than any Rooibos I have ever had…it tastes like a cake!

The Raspberry is juicy and but NOT Tarty. It’s intensity level is perfect for this flavor!

The chocolate is like a chocolate malt fudge or German Chocolate Cake type chocolate…dark, robust.

The coconut contributes to the cakey/bakey-ness and isn’t stand-out/stand-alone coconut. It’s really yummy and necessary as it stands in this blend of flavors!

It’s RICH and Totally ROCKIN’!

I LOVE this in so many ways!

If you are afraid of Rooibos…try this one. It might change your mind. The level of Rooibos flavor is not upfront – the additional flavors are. The Rooibos is a nice sweet base tho…without being stereotypically Rooibos…if you know what I mean!

LOVE :)

Yummy! Yummy! To my Tummy! Tummy!
AMAZING! Sharing my last lil bit with Azzrian!

I need some comfort food. It’s going to be a HELL of a day!

This fits the bill. It has a strong black tea base. Followed by a strong Strawberry flavor. There’s also a dark chocolate flavor in there that is just as sturdy as the strawberry! There is a crusty type taste doing the jive in the middle of the sip. This has a slight bitter taste in parts of the sip but in a good way where it contributes to the overall flavor of this flavored black tea. As it cools it does seem to get a bit creamier…like frosting. YUM!

A nice kick in the pants today! I’m sending the last bit to Azzrian
Boo-Yah!

I’m always excited to try anything new S&V puts out! This is one of those teas!

I can see the almonds and coffee beans! Cool!

It smells like almonds and peanuts and a little bit of cocoa powder, perhaps???

The flavor is out of this world! It has a lot going on and I like that!

First…I can taste that bold coffee bean! Then I can taste the nuts! Then the black tea paired with something like powdered sugar, almost. The after taste is a little reminiscent of Almond Biscotti WHILE you’re drinking a cup of coffee! WOW! What a flavor combo! Very neat!

This smells DIVINE!
I took the lid off the pot to remove the basket and the deep, rich chocolaty smell of hot cocoa wafted up at me. If I hadn’t of known this was tea, I would have really thought it was hot cocoa.

This is one of the most amazing chocolate teas’s I’ve ever had. It’s like creamy cake. I added a little milk and it’s made the chocolate taste a little richer. There are raspberry pieces in the tea, but I can’t make out the taste of them – maybe because of the milk – so for me it’s more a chocolate cake tea than a Red Velvet cupcake. Nevertheless this is outstanding!

I also like the lined brown bag packaging the tea came in. On one hand I love nice tins, however it always brings up the already exorbitant international shipping costs. So I’m happy when vendors package simply.
The only comment I have is that the ingredients are not marked on the package and I have to go online to look for them.

But the tea? I can already see this is going to be a contender to take over the top spot in my “favorite chocolate rooibos” list, because of the cakey aspect of the tea. I will definitely need more than the 2oz I ordered!

1.5 teaspoons per pot

Suspect notes of peach, a little artificial flave over empowers the whole brew. Didn’t see it coming

Tea of the afternoon….. (SRP #3……..Sample Reduction Plan)

This one was included in my foodzie box from LiberTEAS. This sample box that she sells on teatra.de.com was a great way to try several kinds of tea from a multitude of vendors for one low price (yes, I am sounding like a commercial, but actually, I am just very happy with the contents!) I have been contemplating an order at Simpson & Vail for some time, but it is always nice to try a few things just to have an idea of the quality offered by a new-to-you vendor.

This is a good one. Light cinnamon, then the notes of chocolate hint, and then a cakey note. I do think the chocolate and cakey notes are somewhat from the flavorings as well as the tea base. The cinnamon still seems very much a part of the tea. It is strong and thick enough that it kind of reminds me of coffee. I do know that if I am ever in the market for flavored tea, I will place an order at Simpson & Vail. Right now, I think I am maxed out for cupboard space until I finish a few things, or several ;).

Usual mug method.

Holy rice cakes Batman!

Not the best genmaicha I’ve ever had, not the worst either. But if you ever have a craving for rice cakes this should help cure that! :)

Cold brewed it this time. Still tastes wonderfully fruity and light but there is definitely a tartness that I was expecting, and didn’t get, when I brewed this hot. I added a half of a tablespoon brown sugar (not packed) to about 1 1/2 liters, which is usually enough for me. I feel that it being more tart cold brewed I may need to add a little more sugar, but I’m afraid I’ll make it taste more like juice than cold tea. Either way, it’s a decent tea and makes a decent iced tea, don’t know if I’ll buy more though.

I went over to the local hole in the wall coffee place. I love that place. I enjoy the smell of coffee but I have never enjoyed the taste. But this place has those large canvas sacks of coffee beans overflowing throughout the little shop. They sell local organic stuff like honey, jelly, chocolate, etc. They also have some teas in there from Simpson and Vail. Most of what they carry are flavored and unflavored black teas, they do have some herbals and a few greens. I was running low on peppermint and I always check to see what else they have. This was a new tea they had and it smells delightful, I also picked up a genmaicha while I was at it because I haven’t had any from the them nor have I had any in a while (at least over a year now).

Anyways, I don’t know what acai smells or tastes like, nor do I know what yumberry smells or tastes like…I don’t even know what a yumberry is…google…interesting. but I picked this up because it’s a green tea even if it is flavored and it smells divine! The tea is very pretty looking too, there’s all sorts of stuff floating in there from dried pomegranate seeds to what is probably yumberry pieces and acai pieces along with the green tea. It’s not tart like I thought it would be, it’s actually sweet and fruity but not overtly done like a lot of flavored teas that just kick you in the face. It would probably be nice iced too. a nice mellow flavored green.

Another tea of the afternoon……

Oh, Amy oh. You were right! This is good. Vanilla and almond flavors all wrapped up on a good black tea base. (Have you noticed that a flavored tea for me is so dependent on the tea base?) This is also my first tea from Simpson & Vail. They have been on my ‘to try’ list for quite some time. I love to see tea companies that have been around for a while….it shows they are doing many things right to have that kind of longevity. This one goes on the ‘to purchase’ list.

Thank you for the sample, Amy oh!

Usual mug method.