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Discovered yet another tea shop/cafe while out in the world. This shop sells pre made cups of chai and various homemade snacks and desserts.

I had a large cup of Masala Chai made with Kenyan tea with cardamom and milk. Absolutely fabulous.

https://www.yelp.ca/biz/elchi-chai-shop-toronto

Stopped into DT’s today to try samples and pick up a bit of retiring tea. While there, the person helping me was kind enough to mention that I had FS points that had turned into a a free tea of the day set to expire within the next couple of days. So I had a cup of this—not a tea I would have chosen if I had had a wider range of choices.

That said, I quite enjoyed this cup. First of all, I was served out of the big vat of pre made tea. Thankfully, either the vat had been freshly steeped or the measurements and steeping times were more accurate than when I have had samples of this previously. A nice cup of gentle green, delicately flavoured with green apple. Refreshing. A far more pleasant experience than I had anticipated. Not a false flavour note in any of the sips that took me through to the bottom of the cup.

The other day I stumbled upon a wee tea shop/restaurant here that sells healthy plates of homemade food. The noodles and rice are both made with green tea. It seems each plate includes some sort of tea food. I didn’t have a chance to eat there, but I did have a big mug of Hong-Kong style milk tea made with Orange Pekoe and evaporated milk and a bit of brown sugar. It was seriously strong and glorious. Delighted to have made this find. Lovely ambiance. Lovely human being running the place. Great art. Excellent tea. All around, a big win!

http://www.crimsonteas.com

Drinking this like there is no tomorrow and soon there won’t be any tomorrow.

I adore this one. Today, it was all chocolate and caraway and rich malt.

Dexter noticed that I was a fan and hence, this cup. Thank you, Dex!
(COME BACK!)

Beautiful blend of pear and spice and the honeybush masquerading as dense pastry.

My 1000th reflection/post! Gah, that’s a lot of drinking and thinking, or not thinking. :)

Opened packet for the first time today.

The vanilla bean plays nicely against the roasted oolong, which looks to me like a really dark roast as the appearance is that of black charcoal nuggets which barely barely open throughout the early steeps.

Perhaps I should use boiling water rather than my usual slightly cooled boil approach.
Nonetheless, the vanilla becomes more prominent in later steeps, perhaps it needs softening for the taste to fully bloom.

With a roast this dark, I expected it to be harsh, but it is not, not at all.

Also, I miss Liquid Proust and his insights and his experiments and his kindnesses. I hope you are well, LP!

I found a happy surprise packet of this as I shopped in my stash. YAY!

One thing I truly enjoy about this blend is the many flavour things going on in the mix: cardamom, coconut, maple, spice, pastry. All of which I like. The point here is that sometimes all the flavours appear in a cup. At other times, depending on the mix in the spoon of leaf, one or two flavours dominate. To me, this variability is an asset, but I realize others may have a different take on things.

I fondly remember moving through my last packet of this in which all the coconut bits had collected at the bottom, so the final few cups were just coconut glorious.

This cup is all cinnamon/cardamom/maple glorious.

So delighted to have discovered loveliness that I had thought was gone for good.

Root beer without the fizz. I have moments of feeling this to be an inspired tea, and it IS an inspired blend, but I am speaking here about personal preference. Must say that I do enjoy the sarsaparilla and the unusual sweetness, yum. And I like the base a lot. I like this blend and I appreciate the craft of it, but it is not one of my super favourites.

And it’s a sipdown (of this particular taster packet)!

Sipdown 73
(13 of 2019)