Tea Desire

Nothing of significance to add today, but MAN this is good!

1 1/2 tsp. in a 10 oz. mug steeped in 80 degree celsius water for three minutes.

I think I’m gonna finish my mug and then resteep the leaves right away while I enjoy catching up on Misfits. It’s nice to have all evening off to just do whatever I want.

After work today I realized that since I was going to DAVIDsTEA in the mall downtown by bus but had forgotten my bus pass (I was rushed and forgot my keys too, luckily I was also so rushed I forgot to lock the door as well) I was going to have to break one of the twenties in my wallet since I had no other change. I had forgotten about the second thermos of tea in my backpack (the first I had drank was Raspberry Oolong from Tea Desire, the second was a 2nd steep of David’s Choconut Oolong), so I decided to break it by buying a Tea to Go at Tea Desire.

Since last time I bought a tea to go there I wound up finding another one to add to my stash (Buddha Bamboo – which I purchased 50g of yesterday), I decided to play it safe this time (on my wallet) and get something I was familiar with… So, this one (a favourite of mine)!

It was really nice sipping away at something hot while I waited in the cold for the bus, and it was good (this one hardly ever disappoints) – but I found that it was actually really weak and that was a little disappointing. Although (while I love everyone who works at Tea Desire), it was made by the young lady who works there who seems to be the newest employee (and also my least favourite, but not because she’s new) so maybe she underleafed it.

I also had another realization today… Since I’m moving malls because of my promotion I’m going to be in a mall that doesn’t have ANY tea store. That’s really disappointing since 3/4 of the major malls in the city have loose leaf tea shops (two have a DAVIDsTEA, and the one I’m currently in has Tea Desire). So, no daily Tea to Go during my shift at a discounted price anymore… That’s really sad. Although, I’ll still be over there enough because my bank is in this mall too.

Dammit! Steepster ate my tasting note – and I had this one really well written out! Urgh. I guess I’ll summarize basically what I had said…

First, I had started with an interesting story: Last time I went into Tea Desire I was looking to get more of this, but I was unable to do so because apparently it’s so popular here in S’toon that a woman came in about bought 450g of it – cleaning out the rest of their stock, so now I have to wait. I believe I also shared that story on Lala’s tasting note of this tea…

And then I also mentioned that I haven’t bought tea in a really long time – actually, since my first day starting at the mall. Yay me! I’m just biding my time until I have enough saved up from paychecks to put in a really large Butiki order though, so maybe not yay me?

Preparation:

- Heavily over leafed because tonight is about doing whatever I want to feel good (so about 2 tsp. of leaf)
- Steeped for a short period of time (between a minute and a minute and a half) so I can still get a potent resteep out of it
- Water temp was pretty close to exactly 80 degrees

Taste:

- Strong notes of currants which make me think of currant jam
- Very subtle and slight notes of strawberry; perhaps as a psychological thing from reading in Lala’s review that she tasted strawberries
- Clear presence and taste of the white tea base

I think I’m actually being able to taste the base in white teas much more than I used to be able to before. I think, perhaps, that’s because I’m more knowledgeable now and have further developed my palette to the point where I can clearly identify such notes and distinctions in white tea (since it’s a tea type that is pretty new to me – typically I’ve drank herbals or blacks).

Anyway, now to stretch out and do something totally lazy and relaxing. Curse you steepster for eating tasting notes! But also, bless you tea for being a great turn around for a miserable day!

I love this tea so much. I don’t know if I can pick a single tea as my favourite, but this is definitely in my top fives favourites and is by far my favourite white tea (although, I’ve recently discovered that I love many white teas). This tea alone can halt any cravings I have for junk food or sweets.

According to Tea Desire’s steeping instructions, you should use 2 tsp. of this and typically I have (and it’s be orgasmic). However, since I drink this one so often I don’t want to blow through all the leaf I have super quickly, so I decided to use less leaf this time and see if I could produce a tea that’s still great but, in doing so, average out more cups per 50g.

I steeped 1 1/2 tsp for 4 minutes, and the answer is… Yes! This tea is still JUST as yummy and flavourful, so I think I’ll be using 1/2 tsp. for each cup from now on. Yay for be stingy with my tea leaves!

Also, I think JUST MAYBE I have this whole internet issues thing figured out… I seem to not lose my connection when I stay in the laundry room, which happens to be the same room as the modem. As soon as I leave the laundry room I go back to the same issues I’ve been having where I disconnect every two or three minutes. So I’ve done the logical thing, of course, and set up my laptop on top of the dryer with a chair next to it and turned that into my desk.

If I can’t make the connection come to me, I guess I’ll come to the connection.

Final cup of the night? Probably…

Enjoying ANTM and catching up on the last few episodes. I don’t know why, but I’m rooting for the guys this cycle so much more than the girls. Only guy I dislike at this point is Marvin (though, I still like him more than most of the girls) – but I’m seriously supporting Chris, Phil, and Nina.

I keep coming back to this tea though! It really is perfect for all moods.

Morning cup! Just as lovely as last night’s cup! Mmm!

Tre’s dad is here today for a visit (and mine is coming tomorrow) – so before I woke up (Tre is definitely an early riser, while I’m WAY more of the type to go to bed at 5 AM and wake up at 3 PM) Tre made him a cup of DAVIDsTEA’s Birthday Cake.

His Dad said it was really good, but I remain sceptical as to whether or not Tre made it properly… And just how much sugar he added.

Steep #2: Yes! This tea is definitely not a one shot wonder – at the very least you can get a second steep out of this one that is JUST as juicy and flavourful. Seriously, I’m tasting everything I did in the first cup! I love love love this tea!

Final tea left to try from Tea Desire! Somehow, I managed to save this one for last even though it’s been taunting me since I bought it! This tea is $8 for 50g, which is the high end of Tea Desire’s pricing. The sales lady shared with me that this one is pricier because all of the tea leaves are soaked in Champagne; personally I just find that really interesting.

I ended up buying 50g of this one, which is the smallest amount you can get at their store, and man did I get a lot of it! The amount of dry leaf that equals 50g is about enough to fully fill one of the tins from DAVIDsTEA. It’s a lot!

The dry leaf smells very rich and decadent and juicy! There are lots of large bits of currants, and lots of full currants as well! Smelling it, I’m reminded of really high end jams and jellies. It’s so sweet smelling too! Very, very sweet. Almost too sweet in fact (but not quite). The predominant smell here is definitely juicy black currents! Mmmm

Steeped, the liquor is a darker golden yellow that smells EXACTLY like the dry leaf. Same juicy black currant scent and sweetness. This might just be the best white tea I’ve ever smelled. If this scent could be captured into a perfume I have no clue how much I’d be willing to give for it! Probably a whole lot.

First few sips: Oh it’s so sweet! It tastes just like black currant jam, with the light taste of white tea and champagne kind of floating on your tongue in the aftertaste, along with a much lighter tasting currant flavour. I have no clue how someone could justify adding a sweetener to this – it’s SO sweet as is. Every sip is perfect! There’s absolutely no bitterness or astringency either.

Honestly, this might be the best white tea I’ve ever had. I’m going to have no trouble going through my 50g of this! For sure I saved the best for last! Even if this is a one hit wonder and doesn’t resteep well, the first cup more than makes up for it (I am excited to resteep though).

However, if you don’t like the taste of currants or really sweet teas this one probably isn’t for you – just a warning.

Cold Brewed, and just… Ick.

It was like I was drinking Mango and Grass scented perfume, and the little bit I drank before dumping it all out did not sit well with me, either.

It’s hard to believe this used to be my go to flavoured green that I could actually tolerate; now I can’t wait to be rid of it. Just further proof tastes change, I guess…

Slowly finishing this one off.

This is actually tasting pretty stunning right now – and it hasn’t in quite a long time, though I’m thinking the reason it seems so good is because tonight it’s the follow up tea to a very disappointing blend; so just the sharp contrast is probably making this seem a little better than it really is.

I’m getting tons of lychee tonight; though the downside is a really grassy finish to the floral notes of the lychee. Better than my previous cup tonight; but still a “no”.

I’m sleepy again, so I may take a power nap and do some more tea drinking closer to around midnight…

I cold brewed this one over night; 13 hours in total which I’m kinda worried might have been a little too much time, but alas; nothing I can do about that now.

This tea has sort of lost its “sparkle” for me. I mean, when I first started out drinking loose leaf it was amazing to me because it was a green tea that I could actually stomach – but since that discovery I’ve found several other flavoured greens which do the same thing but taste more impressive (Pistachio Ice Cream, Potato Pancakes & Applesauce, Kiwi’s Big Adventure – to name a few). So the last few times I’ve been drinking this it’s been with a gradual sipdown in mind, and no plans of restocking.

So, I’ve adjusted my rating to something I feel it fitting, and today I transferred the last little bit into a ziplock, cleaned out the tin, and then moved Potato Pancakes & Applesauce into the tin. That blend it a little more deserving of that coveted spot.

So anyway, taste wise this retains its sweet cocktail syrup like mango/lychee notes, but there’s also a fair bit of vegetal quality that, I’m not gonna lie, isn’t sitting too pleasantly with me, and also a really weighty bitterness under the fruit flavour.

It’s palatable, overall, but only borderline enjoyable.

Made a timolino full of this – not really sure why. Parameters were 2 tsp. of leaf steeped in 12 oz. of approx. 85 degree celsius water, for one minutes. That used up all the leaf I brought with of this one for my vacation.

The steeped smell is very grassy/seaweedy, but the taste is a more mellowed out vegetal green tea base with strong floral notes (but nothing super distinct), and present but not highly strong notes of mango. Not a lot of lychee this time around. As it gets cooler, it’s a bit closer to drinking semi-floral cocktail syrup.

Brought with me to work.

To make it, I made one cup like I normally would have and then added an extra 1/2 tsp of fresh dry leaf to what I’d already steeped, for the second cup. Both were poured into the same water bottle.

By the time I started drinking it at work, it was pretty much room temperature: neither hot nor cold, and that was kind of weird. I don’t really like room temp. teas – I want something toasty I can cuddle up with or something cold and refreshing.

Still, it tasted pretty good regardless. The taste of the green tea base was extra present today – and I could really taste floral notes like rose alongside the typically present mango notes I usually get from this tea. Downside of all this was, for whatever reason, after I was about 3/4 done what was in my water bottle I started to feel just slightly queasy and nauseous. It might not have been the tea – I felt kind of the same way a few days ago and I wasn’t drinking any tea at the time, but even so I haven’t finished the last 1/4 of what’s in my thermos and I think it’s probably just going to be thrown out.

Transition tea! Today I’m going to be trying as many of Teavivre straight tea samples from Lala as possible in between doing laundry and trying to finish season four of Supernatural. Since my breakfast cup of tea didn’t quite hit the spot I decided to drink something I am familiar with before venturing into other teas that I might not enjoy as much.

I can’t help but think that this tea tastes like chocolate covered mangoes – but that’s because I just ate a large spoonful of Nutella. I steeped this cup in a lower water temperature than when I had it last time, and for a slightly shorter amount of time. The green tea base tastes a little bit weaker than I remember it being last time.

This morning, I’m really reminded of the syrup you get at the bottom of a bowl or can of fruit cocktail – an amalgamation of sweet fruit juices (the primary one being mango). Yum.

Since I just put in a Della Terra order for six new teas to try, and since I have a package on the way from the VERY kind Dala, it’s probably a good idea for me to actually try all the teas I bought earlier this week. I only have two teas left to try from my purchases, so I think the goal for the rest of the night will be to try them both, starting with this one!

I saw this one on their website when I was looking at different things to try, and even though this is a green tea I was really curious! I checked to see what people on Steepster thought of it and, well, the tea wasn’t even listed here – let alone reviewed. I had to add it in! When I went in store to go check it out, the sales lady said it was very new – one of the newest teas they were offering, but that it seemed to be doing well with fans of green tea. I’m not really a fan of green tea, so I’m not really sure what I should be expecting.

However, upon smelling it, I was sold! I don’t smell stinky vegetal (and seaweed like) green tea – I smell fresh fruits! Like listed in the description, I honest to goodness smell sweet, juicy mangoes and lychees! I smelled every other tea they had in stores with lychees in it, and this is the ONLY one that smelled distinctly of lychees. YES! I love love love lychees! All of the bathroom products in m apartment are lychee scented (and soap, body wash, shampoo, lotions), and lots of my make up has lychee scent in it too! Mmmm! The great part is that this doesn’t even smell artificial (not that it is, but most lychee teas seem artificial to me) at all! It’s kind of interesting, actually, considering the blend doesn’t have any actual bits of fruit in it – just “natural flavour”. The dry leaf looks quite pretty too; it’s a whole range of bright cheerful colours!

For my first cup, I steeped 1 tsp for three minutes (the high end of the spectrum for their recommended steep times). The liquor is a sort of golden yellow, and smells more grassy than it did as dry leaf. It’s still quite fruity, and I get a very full aroma of mangoes, with a much subtler scent of lychee. The sickly sweet “cocktail syrup” smell the dry leaf had is gone now, but it still smells pretty delightful.

The green tea base is pretty present – definitely not covered up at all. For me, that’s a bit of a downside, but I can see it being a plus for others. Right alongside the green tea base is a very authentic mango taste. The lychee flavour is there too, but not as present and not easily detected without some searching. The after taste it leaves is really present, and it DOES remind me of a Asian fruit based cocktail. I like this tea! It’s not totally what I expected, but I like it. I guess you could say ‘come for the lychee, stay for the mango’? It’s not something I can see myself craving on a daily basis or anything, but right now it has a place in my cupboard.

I’d like to try steeping it for a shorter period of time in the future, I wonder if in doing that the green tea base would be less present and therefore wouldn’t cover up the taste of lychee as much? And, dare I say it, would sugar enhance the flavours or make it taste really artificial? Hmm…

I think this was from last weekend!?

It was pretty chilly – definitely a stay inside and hide under the covers kind of day. I made a giant bowl of extra cheesey and extra garlic-y paste and some broccoli cheddar scones from the ultimate comfort good, and I knew that I needed something strong but still warming to go along with my chilly weather comfort meal. I picked this tea because it’s got all the warmth and body of a Chai blend, with sweet cinnamon and fennel notes and a bit of a peppery finish, while still having a nice sweetness from the apricot that plays into the umami of the cup. I thought that little bit of brightness and fruit would be a good break from all the cheesy and garlic heavy food.

It actually worked really well too!

Now this is my favourite chai! Since I’ve been slowly inching my way into this whole ‘Chai Season’ mindset and attitude, it only feels right to pull down my personal all time favourite Chai. This is also the only chai I can think of that I simply have to have on hand at all times. If I run out, I immediately order more – even with the stupid, expensive shipping prices to order from Tea Desire online. I’m nearly at that point right now with my leaf, actually…

This is great; sweetness from the apricot but then lots of clove, cinnamon, and fennel. I adore the sharp contrast between the sweet and tangy fruit and those deep, flavourful spices. It also reminds me of heavily spiced apricot jam/marmalade. Plus there’s a great thickness to the mouthfeel! The best part, though, has always been the absence of ginger. It’s really, really great to not have to deal with that scratchy throat feeling I often get from ginger.

Very, very sweet and smooth! The spice was really satisfying/comforting as a winter sort of beverage/drink. Prominent notes of cinnamon/cinnamon sugar, clove, apricot, and fennel sweetness sans licorice-y elements.

Chai Latte!

It is both Chai and latte season after all; for once I actually have multiple Chai options on hand this year but this is still my favourite. Of course, it’s also the most non-conventional one that I own which is probably why I like it in the first place…

As a latte, the cinnamon, clove, and ginger are all quite prominent though softened and somewhat sweetened from the milk. The flavour reminds me of a mix of cinnamon sugar and gingerbread, dunked in milk. In a way, that almost paints a more festive and Christmas-y image in my head rather than something autumnal. I’m not sure if I’m just imagining it because of the gingerbread comparison, but I also taste hints of molasses this time around too. The apricot is more jammy, and obviously creamy as well. It adds a needed sweetness and juxtaposing flavour to the warming spice elements.

Always a fan of this one.

Mmm!

Very comforting morning cuppa before work from earlier in the week. It was weird though because the cinnamon notes were so strong, but with a surprising level of sweetness to them. I found myself almost thinking more of cinnamon sugar, than of Chai. With this sweet, fruity pop of apricot in the finish. Like some sort of pastry/baking!? Very off beat, for what this tea normally tastes like/reminds me of.

Still very good though, and not an unwelcome flavour profile.

Latte!

I mean, it’s about time I actually made this one into a latte – that’s kind of the thing you do with Chai, after all. There were no surprises with this one as a latte; it was very smooth with a thick creamy mouthfeel and just an absurd amount of delicious, warming clove, cinnamon and fennel spice notes. The apricot was this lovely sweet, brightness at the top of the sip that gave the whole drink a really fun pop of flavour, and made it feel like a great twist on a typical Chai Latte, which this essentially was. I mean, with the green base tea it was lighter overall than a black based Chai would have been – but all the boxes for the spice notes, the creamyness, and the warming, comforting quality of the drink itself were all checked off.

I shared some of it with a coworker who has fairly different taste preferences than I do; he’s VERY into rooibos, dessert blends, and sweeter teas in general. His favourites from DT are Cotton Candy, Creme Caramel Rooibos, Cinnamon Rooibos Chai, and Saigon Chai. Pretty well all of those are ones I’m not too huge on; however this tea is something we were both able to actually agree on as being REALLY good. It even blew his mind a bit that it was a green tea base, since neither of us are green tea fans generally speaking.

It’s been so weird not having a Tea Desire less than a twenty minute walk from my house since I moved back to Regina, and I’ve definitely been slowly but surely sipping down my built up reserve of Tea Desire blends so I finally caved and placed an online order with them. I kind of hated having to pay shipping for a company I’m very used to having immediate access to, but I have to say that it actually was a really pleasant ordering experience overall and everything arrived SO quickly/efficiently.

So, it’s no secret that I’m really not a Chai fan – but this one has always had a bit of a special spot in my heart. I’ve stocked it off and on over the last four years, and since I’m at a point again where I really just don’t have a Chai in my cupboard I thought it’d be a good idea to pick this one up since I was ordering anyway.

This Chai is a bit of a rulebreaker, and I think that’s why I like it so much. It’s got a green base, which makes it a bit lighter in flavour overall, and it’s sweeter as well because of the apricot. Plus, the spices are a lot more weighted the ones I really enjoy, like clove and fennel, over the ones I find more aggravating like ginger.

All of those things I enjoy about it were present in this most recent cup; the slightly vegetal and nutty green tea base with its whisps of sweet smoke, and a sweet tangyness from the apricot that reminds me of apricot jelly! I also felt like there were some apple notes, even though there are no apples in the blend. The spices were smooth and consistent, and I greatly enjoyed the sweetness of the fennel and warming quality of the clove. Clove has always been a big soft spot for me, and while in general Chai and I just don’t get along I’ve always been more open to ones with higher ratios of clove. Then the finish was hints of cinnamon and ginger with that peppercorn tickle in the back of my throat! Very comforting, overall.

Happy to have this one back and stocked.

GCTTB V1

Ok, so I’ve had this tea before… on many occasions, actually.

However I saw it in the box, and then I smelled it in the box and it made me nostalgic for past pots and mugs of this brew. I think it really is an underrated Chai and as someone who really dislikes Chai in general I’ve found that the combination of green base and sweeter, fruitier notes really does work so well for me. I just had to revisit this one.

So Cathryn and I are sharing a pot while we wait for the swimming pool to open up: there’s a strong aroma of cinnamon, ginger and apricot wafting from the pot and it’s making the apartment smell really lovely. Drinking it, I’m definitely hit with heavy waves of melancholic nostalgia. The flavour is lovely though: a great ratio of ginger, clove, peppercorn, and cinnamon notes though a bit more heavy on the cinnamon over anything else. It’s hard to taste the base, but there’s a certain smoky quality that’s more than likely the only trace of the gunpowder to be detected. The best part is the bright, sweet apricot note that pushes its way to the top, creating a very sweet and lively top note that forms an amazing contrast to the spicey base. It’s a very warming brew, but in the sunniest way possible.

I mean, Chai blends don’t really read as “Summer Blends” do they? But I think if you find a somewhat lighter one with a fruit ingredient thrown in as a bit of a ‘twist’ they CAN lend themselves to a more summery sort of feel. And this one does that.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to take the rest of this out of the box for myself; and I still might. However, I’ve drank my fair share of this over the last few years and I think I should try to be happy with just revisiting it and let some other people enjoy this unconventional Chai.

And yes I DID get moments where I tasted ketchup, just like years ago…

Sipdown (111)!

Wow, I’ve had this tea for a long time, but I finally finished it off this morning which was nice. I feel rather accomplished about it, actually. But since I was kinda sick of having this one straight and hot I did something different for my last cup (I’ve decided I probably wont restock – for a non Chai fan it takes to long to finish this).

So, I made this as a latte. It worked ‘cause my milk is on the brink of expiring but not quite there, and milk makes Chai rather tolerable in my opinion. So I generously over leafed the mug and the result? Just phenomenal. All the flavours I don’t like in this tea were totally masked; the ginger, cinnamon, peppercorns! And the flavours I do like? Well, they were the ones that ended up being strong enough to shine through the rich, creamy milk. So there were thick, full notes of cloves and fennel and then lush, fruity notes of apricot made so rich by the creamy milk. It was really good.

It doesn’t make me change my mind about restocking; but it’s a helluva great way to remember this blend!

Also, link drop because this clip made my laugh so hard tonight and of all the tasting notes left in my queue for today, this is the one that it probably makes the most sense to leave it? Sorta?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuvUaFp_qMQ