Tea Desire

I dug this one out of my tea box. Haven’t had it in a couple years and apparently they don’t even make it anymore. Well I’ll be, it’s yummy! Don’t know why I didn’t just finish it off earlier.

The osmanthus adds a wonderful drop of sweetness to this. Very hot, the tea has the perfect balance of green tea and osmanthus, but I find that as this begins to cool off, the osmanthus begins to take over. It’s still nice, but I prefer when the combined tastes are equal. The pieces of dried osmanthus in the dry leaf are quite tiny but they definitely don’t stay quiet.

Sip down from months ago. I would buy this again most likely. I’ve actually gone through probably a pound of this stuff over the past five years and even though I never gotten tired of it, I just don’t know if, that this point, I’d stick to it as a staple anymore.

It’s nice to have this one back in my life. I’m sipping on this hot, but am oh so tempted to cold steep a jug later. I’m picking up on mostly pineapple and coconut. And I like that the base is mild.

Yikes, time flies. All work and no play makes Swedish Chef a dull Börk.

Sipdown to the extreme. This is awesome iced, but how could I be shocked. Pineapple, lemongrass, and coconut in a swirl of Sencha and Bai Mu Dan is a recipe for sheer iced tea awesomeness. It smells tropical and gentle, and for me, taste-wise, this is a perfect balance of all of the above flavours. I shall purchase more someday.

I’m glad I finally picked this one up after all these years. I bought a 50g pouch of this not even two months ago and I’m almost finished it already. The dry tea itself looks so light and airy. Delicate. And there are beautiful yellow rose buds in here. And it smells wonderful. It’s primarily pineapple and lemongrass. It makes me think of summer. I can see this making a mean iced tea.

Steeped, this actually smells creamier? Like there’s some vanilla caramels mixing in with the coconut. Onto the taste. Also delicate and very gentle on the palate. I get primarily coconut with a touch of pineapple. There’s a perfect balance between the Sencha and fruits. Out of most of the flavoured green teas that I’ve tried, I find that it’s difficult to achieve that extra flavour from the fruits without oversteeping the tea itself and thus creating a bitter tragedy. So I’m delighted that I can steep this for a couple minutes (actually, I accidentally steeped this for almost four minutes this time and it didn’t get bitter. Yay!) and actually taste the coconut and pineapple. I’m surprised that I can’t pick up any lemongrass, as there’s a fair amount of it in the mix.

Usually when I can’t make up my mind about which tea I should have, I just grab my genmaicha as I find it’s very reliable. This one is becoming one of those teas too.

This was one of the first teas I ever bought from Tea Desire. So many moons ago. This review is a little unfair though because I’m going by some of this tea that I gifted my mom around two years ago. As a side note, she personally loves this tea but still has some for the mere fact that she developed a throat infection that lasted a long time and tea agitated it for a long time.

But, onto the tea. If memory serves me correctly, when I bought this tea I was also a fan of it. I distinctly remember the bright, sweetened raspberry note the dry tea gave off. And taste-wise, it was basically a raspberry green tea. The raspberry was a bit artificial but not overwhelmingly so. I could smell the mango and papaya a bit but once steeped, the aroma went away and I couldn’t taste them either.

Now though? After sitting for two years, the artificial quality of the raspberry note has been amped up even more and the taste isn’t so appealing. It’s ridiculously raspberry, but in a juice crystal kind of way. I can no longer finish a cup because it’s too artificial and cloying. But again, maybe it’s because it’s been sitting around for two years. Either that or my tastes have changed.

This is another tea that I bought when one of the stores and shutting down and everything was on discount. Despite growing a little tired of rooibos, this is one that I’m glad that I actually decided to buy.

Dry, this really does remind me of raspberries and cream. When I was small, I used to go to my grandma’s to pick raspberries in her garden. She’d then wash the fresh, juicy raspberries, put some in a bowl, then add some half-and-half, and I’d eat them just like that with a spoon. The aroma of this tea reminds me of that.

The flavour is quite lovely. Once steeped, the creaminess fades and isn’t palpable aroma- or flavour-wise, but the raspberry stays strong. I find that raspberry and rooibos make a great pair because the tartness and brightness of the raspberry helps to mask the things about rooibos that sometimes bug me.

I bought this primarily for the sake of having something around that may work as a great tea for when I’d be sick. The funny part is that whenever I’m sick, I always forget to actually drink this one.

Mixed in with the rooibos are the lemongrass and lemon peel which are quite noticeable. The aroma is predominately lemon, although the ginger eagerly follows behind.

Steeped, the aroma also leans more toward lemon. The taste, however, is more balanced, although I’ll admit that this blend is very rooibos. As a side note, I actually got kind of tired of rooibos after trying so many rooibos blends, so anything rooibos-y annoys my taste buds at this point.

I actually tried this in stir-fry. I steeped a cup of this for a good six minutes or so, and while I was stir frying some vegetables in garlic, I poured the tea in there and let it do its thing until it evaporated. I was hoping to get lemon ginger awesomeness but again, it turned out very rooibos-y. It’s interesting biting into a carrot or snow pea and tasting rooibos, but it’s a little confusing to the brain. Also, the lemon showed up but the ginger was lost. Interesting experiment but don’t think I’d bother doing that again.

This is like the fourth time I’m sipping this one down since I’ve bought it so many times in the past, but I think I’ve finally had my fill of Walnut Truffle. There are so many other teas out there, so repurchasing won’t ever happen again.

Funny how years ago, this used to be one of my favourite teas. I swear it tasted nuttier and just overall more flavourful than now? Right now, with half and half, it’s really reminding me of a better version of Florence. It tastes like a nut cluster thing. I don’t even know if this has chocolate flavouring in it, but I swear it’s like nut chocolate. Whatever it is, it’s better than Florence’s chocolate note.

Maybe I’ll lower the rating a bit. Just a touch. I mean, it’s still good for a nutty chocolate black tea, in my opinion, but just not as good as I had remembered.

I just came home expecting to Skype with my mom since my uncle was supposed to take her apartment shopping today but I just got a text that she’s been in the hospital since 2pm because her eye is going haywire and they can’t figure out why. Scary considering she is scheduled for surgery starting on her other eye in a few days.

’Spose I better go get more marking out of the way then.

Seeing that I’ve already finished nearly 150g of this tea, I think that’s a sign that I dig this stuff. I initially kind of ignored this one and only ended up buying it when one of the stores was shutting down and everything went on discount. So glad I did.

The dry tea itself looks warm and inviting. There are generous pieces of walnut in there, and even slivers of red sandalwood (love sandalwood oil so this feature alone intrigued me). The smell? Warm and nutty, and I swear I smell a hint of chocolate in this.

Who needs an actual walnut truffle when you have this? It tastes like nutty chocolate, although the chocolate flavour is barely there. The black tea isn’t overpowering at all, although I do find with this one you have to watch how long you steep it for, lest it’ll get a bit astringent.

Yesterday, I enjoyed four cups of this (crazy, I know), and enjoyed the third and fourth as a second steeping. It was mellower but I could still taste the nuts.

It’s the not-so-final sip down! I already know that I’ll get more next time I go to Tea Desire. I must have gone through 200g of this by now. Who wouldn’t like a liquefied cinnamon bun?

Cinnamon bun latte to go with Lebkuchen.

ZOMG, this + light eggnog + light cream = liquid Christmas. This is the lovechild of eggnog and freshly baked cinnamon buns drizzled with vanilla icing.

At last, I have more of this in my cupboard. I began my Cinnamon Star journey over four years ago, when a Tea Desire first opened in Edmonton. The last time I had it was two years ago after going over a year without out, and still loved it. So let’s see if I still like it.
Tea Desire usually packages this one in special holiday packaging in the late fall, so when I was in the store a couple weeks ago, they were marked down. Score!

I’ve described this tea as a cinnamon bun in the past, and I still agree with that. I pick up on vanilla, almost icing-like notes underneath the cinnamon, and if you don’t oversteep or overleaf, it is seriously like a liquid cinnamon bun. The cinnamon flavour is akin to a cinnamon stick rather than, say, cinnamon hearts, understandably so since the dry leaf is speckled with chunks of cinnamon bark.

So, in other words, this tea still wins at life in my books. One thing you got to watch for though is overleafing. I’ve done that once before and the base easily took over the other flavours.

The second I smelled this, I knew it was going to be a winner. In the large canister, it truly smelled like cinnamon buns with icing on top.

I’ve brewed this for as long as five minutes in the past, and one good thing about this tea is that it doesn’t get über astringent. The black tea behaves itself and the cinnamon and vanilla are truly the stars of the show.

Simply put, it tastes very close to how it smells: smooth, sweet, and spicy. The cinnamon is rounded out by the icing and isn’t too sharp. I almost never add sugar to my tea anyway and I can’t imagine adding sugar to this one because it’s sweet enough already. I just finished my 50g pouch so now I’m going to have to get some more!

Not sure if this counts as a sip down but I just threw the rest out. Oh no! I’ve had this for nearly FOUR years though so who can blame me, plus I’m not a fan of rooibos. All the tropical flavours died out a long time ago.

Slowly cleaning the place for the not-so-big move at the end of the month means chucking out majorly old, flavourless tea.

When I picked this up fresh, it smelled so wonderfully fruity. In the pouch, I can detect the black currant, pineapple, and a hint of papaya. It changes when you steep it though. In the cup, the scent of rose comes through, the tropical fruits disappear, and the berries dominate. I smell mostly raspberry now, and the black currant is very faint.

Now onto the taste. It’s definitely heavy on the berries. Again, it’s mainly raspberry, however, I can also detect the rose. It’s enjoyable for a rooibos but it’ll take me a while to use up my pouch since I always need to be in the mood for all rooibos in general.

Dry, this really does smell like strawberry candy. It’s the only palpable fruity note in the tea.

Steeped, I find that the aroma stays the same, and the main note I can taste is the strawberry. The raspberry is barely there. It’s a bright blend that evokes an image of bright red. I haven’t tried this iced, although I’d imagine it would taste pretty good. Hot, it’s great if you’d like a green tea with a hint of tangy berries.

Overall, I can see why this is a popular green tea blend at Tea Desire, but I just don’t find it enticing enough to reach for my pouch and brew this on a regular or semi-regular basis.

Sip down over here. I’m enjoying the last of it iced. Didn’t think it would work that well as an iced tea but it has proved me wrong. It’s like a creamy sweet, mildly chocolatey iced black without any actual cream. Totally get why I’ve gone through 150g of this.

This was one of the first teas that piqued my interest when I discovered Tea Desire. In the store, it sucked me right in with its creamy, rich aroma, and I liked the idea of the chocolate chips. I figured it would add a hint of sweetness to this.

Despite the fact that this is a black tea, I find that I really need to watch how long I allow this to steep, lest I end up with bitter Irish Cream. I usually aim for three minutes, which seems to do the trick.

Once it has steeped, it loses a bit of the creamy aroma that it has dry. As one of my friends described it when she first tried it, it kind of goes a bit “savoury” on the taste buds. Honestly, it doesn’t resemble Irish cream at all. Sure, it’s mildly creamy, but doesn’t have that bite that Irish cream has. The chocolate chips, while adding a touch of sweetness, are otherwise not noticeable, taste-wise.

It’s still delicious and keeps drawing me back in with its gentle, creamy, comforting aroma and taste. I love drinking this in the autumn and winter when I’m feeling cold and need something comforting, yet not overly sweet. Even though I wouldn’t call this a super über fantastical blend, I’ve gone through over 150g of this stuff, which in itself says something.

This tea sounds soooo fancy! I kept mixing up which one this was, as it just smells like chocolatey tea to me!

Praline De Champagne as dried tea leaves looks impressive and Valentinesy. Sexy black leaves, heart shaped chocolate, chunks of strawberry – YUM! And pralines in it? Oh man – I can pig out on this tea without the calories.
Interestingly the sales guy mentioned that this tea has more calories as well as the act of drinking tea burns more calories (concept I know of called negative calories).

There is a rooibos version, which they had a sample at the store – but I found it too rooibosy overpowering, thus I went with the black tea one. That and I like my caffeine… and black tea.

So, I’m home making a cup of this tea. I try to get a nice scoop to get a bit of everything – this proves difficult as the strawberries are HUGE slices so I can see additional cups I make might lack the strawberry flavour. There is a fair amount of chocolate bits and pralines, but alas, I could see at the end I’ll just be drinking black tea. I think it would be nicer to have smaller chocolates and strawberries for flavour spread, but visually what they did here is nice.

Leaves steeped – very strawberry smell, hint of chocolate and a sweet sting of candy sweet like praline. 65% of the chocolates has melted down. Hot damn I’m ready to chug this beast (hopefully not burn my face off)

Taste wise – smooth caramelly, tart strawberries – not too sweet. Nice aftertaste of black tea and tart strawberry. Not so much chocolate taste, it’s more in the smell. Pretty simple yet effective.

Valentines tea? Check. This be a great tea to buy to impress that special someone that likes tea. Or make a pot in a clear teapot, making sure to show them the leaves first.

Me? I’m still sad over the huge chunks of chocolate and strawberries being gone when I’m at the end of this tea and I’m stuck drinking black tea with praline stumps. With that said, I think this tea would go over great steeped for bigger batches (heh, to share with someone).

Since I drink quite a bit of DAVIDsTeas.. lets compare this to “Love Tea #7” another strawberry choco tea. Praline De Champagne is more smoother with the pralines and stronger strawberry taste (pending, as I made sure I had a chunk of strawberry in this cup) and a stronger after taste of tartness. Love Tea #7 has MUCH more chocolately flavour and a floral punch with the rose reducing tart a bit.
Presentation wise, Praline De Champagne wins… but that I think taste should win.

So – not bad of a tea. Simple, strawberrly, praliney without the crazy sweet. I think this tea is ment to be shared to ensure optimal flavor spread vs for a single person. For me, since my fiance hates tea, sinful teas like this is like curling up with a bucket of ice cream, without the guilt. I don’t think I’ll buy more once my 50 grams is gone.

This tea might make a good latte though… mmmmm

sip down! Goodbye Choco Cinnamon and its cute little chocolate stars. Last cup is so so as I got mostly dredges and not many chocolate stars.

I’ve been sipping down quite a bit lately, I should do a new tea order! haha!

MMmm, almost out of this tea – so tasty with the cinnamon and white chocolate stars! Sadly, not much cinnamon flavor in this pot, but just as creamy chocolately as always!

Really good with my Pistachio matcha pound cake! Oh man, owning a bread maker is going to get me fat again /cry