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This was the free sample I received from Della Terra Teas. Thank you!

The dry smell is incredibly chocolatey, exactly like After Eight mints :D as soon as I opened it, I was craving it all afternoon, so I made a cup tonight. It’s a bit late for a black tea, but I couldn’t resist after the intoxicating chocolate smell!

The wet leaves are not quite as chocolate, but the mint becomes more pronounced. I steeped for about 3 minutes with boiling water. The chocolate returned after steeping, and now the apartment smells like it haha. My boyfriend is not a fan of chocolate, so he is not overly pleased lol, but I made him a cup of green tea to counteract it a bit. I love it! It reminds me of dark cocoa on a ski hill!

As for the taste, the intial one was nice and minty, with a hint of dark chocolate. I decided to add some sugar (I never add sugar!) as I had read a few reviews that said that it brought out the chocolate. I agree that it did! It’s now a malty dark chocolate brew with an excellent cooling mint taste. I might try steeping a little bit longer next time to see if I can bring out even more chocolatiness.

Overall, a pretty good chocolate tea. I might also try with a hint of milk to add some creaminess to it. Very happy I got to try this as a free sample :)

Ahh finally having another Yixing teapot session. I am using my new cups from Verdant as well as my teapot, will try to post a picture later. Although I seasoned my teapot with the Phoenix Dancong oolong, I am going to use it for both that tea and this one to see how the flavors affect each other.

So I began with a rinse, over the cups and over the teapot. I don’t have a little pitcher for pouring so I am improvising with my larger glass teacup. It’s a bit messy, but I am containing it on a plate :)

The first steeping was sooo toasty and roasty, rich and buttery and intense, so warming! This one reminded me a bit of roasted fine coffee actually, but a lot better tasting and zero bitterness!

The second steeping was honey coated, dripping with it, so good. I loved this one. The creaminess was present in this one, not quite as sharp roasted flavored as the first, more rich and thick and mouth-watering.

The third steeping the honey has been muted slightly, and the toast with butter flavor has returned. Also a slightly interesting note has appeared, I can’t really describe it, but it’s definitely different. This one is not quite as rich, and a bit more light.

Oh, and the aroma has been wonderful throughout, vanilla and cream and toast and yummm.

So far the second steep is my favorite. I will continue with this for a while this afternoon. I like both of the oolongs that are going to make their nest in my Yixing teapot, I’m excited to see if the honey flavors of the dancong will meld with the honey flavors of this, and how the richness will develop over time :)

YAY my Della Terra order came yesterday, as did my teacups from Verdant! Will try to put some pics up later :) oh and I also tried the Papa Bear’s Hibernation Blend from DT but I couldn’t find it in the database! Might have to try to add a new tea lol.

So I have this tea again! Hurrah! It’s still excellent, lemony and sweet and caffeine free, which I need for my barrage of finals in the coming weeks (caffeine will just increase my anxiety too much, however, going to have a Yixing session later today anyways haha). The lemon is light and sugary today, maybe because I only steeped it for 4 mins, and usually I steep rooibos for 5. Still delicious though!

So happy I have this back in stock! Probably my favorite or second favorite rooibos tea! Oh, and upping rating due to that fact!

This is my project companion today. Ugh I am very sick of writing trying to market a product that doesn’t exist yet! Haha, anyways, tea tea tea..buttery, creamy, lovely, and caffeine boost to get me focused. Pretty good, and hit the spot for me to get to work. Now I’m getting super hungry though, the boyfriend is making an epic dinner of meatballs and things..it smells amazing!

Oh, and see previous notes on this tea for details. Also, steeping for 5 mins was quite nice today.

Having a cup of this today because I haven’t had it in ages since I had a really blargh bitter cup. It smells quite sweet and licorice today, so I don’t know how it will go. Also lots of bits floating that made it through the steeper lol. Oh well, trying to finish up the bag so I can make room for when my new teas arrive!

ETA: The lower steeping time helped a lot. This is a sweet little cuppa that is warming and not too bad today. Still not my favorite due to all the fennel, but I will be able to finish the cup at least :)

So even though today was the last day of classes for this term, I still have an extensive business plan assignment due on Friday. Sigh. So since I had 2 matchas and green tea earlier, I am still full of too much alertness. So out comes this tea, so I can actually maybe sleep tonight. See previous notes on this tea :)

This is my first matcha! Haha, of all my black Friday/Cyber Monday orders, this was the second last one I placed, and it’s the first to arrive! Yay for fast shipping :) so yes I tore open this box and was super excited to see all the matcha, unfortunately, only one pack is for me and the others are for Christmas presents! Also got 2 whisks and 2 scoops for the gifts as well, not one for myself yet. But onto my first experience with my matcha, the blueberry one!

Here is the type I ordered:
Blueberry Matcha
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular Matcha
Flavor: Robust

So upon opening the package, BLUEBERRY!! SOO MUCH BLUEBERRY! I was amazed at how intense it was! That must be the robust flavoring haha! It smelled ridiculously berry like, and I was very excited to try it out.

So now here is where my attempt begins. It was not the best attempt, but bear in mind, it is my first, and I didn’t really know what I was doing, and also didn’t have the proper tools haha. So I measured out roughly .5 tsp (used a baking spoon) and put it in my metal strainer to remove clumps. I put it in a plastic blue bowl, and got out my kitchen whisk. It was a big big for the task to be honest, and I really wish I had ordered a whisk for myself! I boiled water, and let it cool for a bit, then added roughly 3 oz to the bowl.

And then I tried to whisk…lol, it didn’t really work! I got a few bubbles, but I’m pretty sure it was more my unorthodox (and not very good) whisk/technique that caused this.

But I persevered with my task. And finally i thought hey I’ll just try it like this. So I put it in my cup, added some more water and a bit of sugar.

And it actually isn’t too bad! For a first attempt, it tastes pretty decent :) it’s a lovely green color, LOVE IT, and it smells like a blueberry, and what I’m tasting is a muted blueberry (and a real blueberry at that, fresh and juicy!) and some green teaness. I confess, I haven’t actually tried plain matcha before trying this, so I’m not really sure what matcha tastes like. But overall, this is pretty good, which means it must be AWESOME if I actually knew how to prepare it right!

Oh, and I feel a caffeine buzz coming on, probably contributed to this long review hehe. I am so excited to experiment with this! I want to try it cold, with milk, smoothies, everything! I can’t wait to get this perfected. I will hold off on rating this until I get my technique down.

ETA: I had to try it again haha, so after finishing my cup with water, I tried again using a ceramic bowl and a bit less water when whisking this time. YAY I got some bubbles to stay!! And I added it to hot milk with a bit of sugar and it’s really good this way too! :D

I have joined the world of Matcha! :)

Mmmmm having this tea again…I don’t ever want to finish my bag of this…it is slowly nearing the bottom. :( I love this green tea, brothy and amazing, I always feel like I’m having some delicious soup when I drink this! Off to have another few cups, see previous notes on this delight :)

Again drinking this out of my timolino, it’s soooo cold out today so this is hitting the spot. I actually am finding it prefer this in the mug than from a cup at home. I should however mention that I brew it in a basket in a cup and then transfer it to my travel mug. Yay I might actually finish my massive 50 g bag lol – I bought it back when I didn’t realize in store at Davids you can get smaller sizes.

Also, reallly hoping some of my black Friday orders arrive today, I hate waiting :/

Brr the hot water heater is off/broken in the bfs apartment building … And – 21 C out. So I made a cup of this first thing to attempt to warm up. Excellent start to Monday, when it’s cold and I can’t shower /sarcasm. At least I have tea to keep my spirits up :) see previous notes on this one.