New Tasting Notes

I went through a phase some years ago where I craved a good masala chai. The problem was, I really strongly dislike clove and almost every single masala chai out there is like being smacked in the face with a 5 lb bag of cloves. shuddder

For some reason, every single time I try to drink a tea containing clove, it brings to mind something my mom would make over the winter. She’s put a pot of water on the stove and set it to a a temp that would allow it to steam, but not really simmer or boil. Then she’s put in an old manky orange that was due for the trash, a cinnamon stick, and a bunch of cloves. In her words, it made the house “smell nice” and added some much needed humidity.

To this day I still associate cloves with mushy, pulpy, disgusting oranges.

Anyway, Painted Desert seems to be seriously satisfying that craving I had for a masala chai that didn’t overwhelm with clove. I have a feeling this is going to turn into a seasonal staple.

There are a lot of flavours that others have tasted in this tea!

This is another I always keep in my cupboard and re-order once I’m out and have for years. I’m nearly out of this again, so I may replace it soon (I’ve been waffling on what else to put in the cart — just enough to hit the shipping threshold — suggestion are welcome!).

This one is a great straight black tea. It’s a little malty and a little bready or grainy and a lot of goodness. I prefer this one fairly hot. Depending on the day, as it cools, I either like it more or don’t like it at all haha.

Also, I made vanilla cupcakes with lemon icing last night (vegan) and that’s what’s accompanying this tea for breakfast!

This tea is good, but after drinking so much of the milky oolong and jasmine pearls, I have to bump it down a couple notches. I appreciate the caffeine though!

I like the smell coming from the zip-bag – solid but not overwhelming smokiness, spiciness from the red peppercorns, a bit of citrusy notes. Very inviting.
After steeping the aroma is more mellow, with less smoke, but it still has this spicy and citrusy touch.
And the taste? Distinctive pu-erh notes, a bit of smoke, slight sweetness, slight peppery spicyness well matched with the citrusy lemongrass. Plus some earthiness in the background.
Nice tea to drink on an autumn evening, but I certainly wouldn’t call it “The Big Smoke”. More like the moderate one. :)

I’ve never had hot buttered rum, so I can’t comment on the realism of the flavor. But, I like this! Luckily, I can’t taste the rooibos. I’m mostly getting the smokiness of the lapsang and lots of ginger as I first sip, but the aftertaste is this lovely caramelized sugar. A bit of a clove and cinnamon spice kicks in, but it’s not overly spicy. I usually love ginger, but feel like it detracts from the other flavors here.

Got this one from a mystery bag. The first time I had it, I mostly tasted the green tea, which was a bit harsher and grassier than I prefer, but kind of tasty in its own way. I could also taste some light pleasant fruitiness. In some sips, there was a bit of spice, but it’s not very obvious. The second time I tried this tea, I paid more attention to my steeping parameters, and found it to be rather gentle and creamy. I’m glad I gave it another chance and didn’t just pass it along. It really is like apricots and cream. This one is super well executed.

I was so excited to try this tea! I saw a comment that said it tasted like a liquid, matcha dessert! :)

These are just my opinions, since I know many people enjoyed this tea. I absolutely love Deb. She is such a wonderful person, and I will continue to support her since she makes some wonderful blends (hello, Raisin Bread Pudding!)

However, when I tried this Matcha Cream Puff; to me, it tasted strongly of coconut. Again, because there are whole coconut pieces in this, when they get hit by the hot water, they release natural oils, which gives this tea an oily mouthfeel and taste.

I think I might need to try it again, maybe I can cold steep it instead of warm steeping it? Maybe that will bring out the vanilla and matcha notes more? I will update this log if I do try it brewed differently!

To improve this tea, I think it needs more sugar since I cannot taste much maple! (I enjoy my tea sweet, though. So this might just be me) And maybe vanilla, to increase the creamy notes? Or maybe even some shredded white chocolate?

Although this tea was not for me, when you order from Deb, she gives free samples! :) I requested this as a sample to try, and maybe I got a bad scoop? Not sure!

I put the rest of this sample in a mason jar in the fridge one night, swearing to myself I wouldn’t forget it the next morning… and did exactly that. I’m not sure how long it’s been in there at this point other than less than a week. I ran out of creamer about a week ago as well. Trader Joe’s rarely has it in stock because they sell out so fast and are limited by distribution on how many they can order for each day. All that to say no lattes for me. Still, this is a decent cup. As I’ve been sipping it I’ll run into one sip that has a flatness to it only to have it gone for a few more sips. I’m sure I didn’t do this tea any favors with days in the fridge. The start of the sip is muted, but towards the end the coconut comes out and there is a sweetness from the maple. I do wish there was a little more maple flavor instead of just the sweetness. Somewhere in the finish I think I get custard like notes. This was a fun tea to try!

Another Damn Fine Tea in my cup this morning!

I think this is the only straight Indian black tea I own, just because I tend to favor Chinese and Taiwanese varieties. In my experience, Indian teas have a tendency to be more bitter and astringent, whereas Chinese ones take steeping abuse quite well with nary a peep.

But this is one yummy tea! So malty with lovely raisin and tobacco notes, just what I would hope for from an Assam tea. There’s some lovely baked bread and oak here as well, giving a nice bottom note to the flavor. I do get a bit of astringency, but it’s fairly mild, and there is no bitterness at all.

Did I mention the leaf is gorgeous? Dark and twisty with little pops of bright gold, sort of like a reverse tiger if you will. And don’t even get me started on the tin…

I loved this one! Sometimes when there’s apple in teas, the tea has no apple flavour, and the apple is just there to add sweetness. And I understand why, since it can be hard for the hot water to absorb the apple flavour, and the apple then just acts as a sweetener.

I have only had this tea hot! But with this tea, you can really taste the apple. The spices remind me of a pumpkin pie latte, which I love! This is such a wonderful blend for the Fall!

I think this tastes more like an apple, pumpkin-spiced pie! But I really enjoyed it (even if it does not taste like a pumpkin! Maybe dried pumpkin is very expensive? Since I have never seen it used liberally in teas anyway).

I think I will repurchase this one.

This was my first time trying earl grey! I have tried the Spiced Earl Grey Muffin with both milk and hot.

I think I liked this tea, but it is not one of my favourites from the Dessert by Deb collection. Although I think this might come down to a flavour preference as opposed to the tea itself being bad. Spiced Earl Grey Muffin is still a great tea, and I can see why people rated it so highly.

When you smell it, you definitely get a strong bergamot note. When I tasted this, it tasted like bergamot, lavender, with a hint of spice. I think the bergamot was the most prominent note, and it made it hard to taste the other spices in the blend. However, I think I got a hint of clove from this?

Overall, I enjoyed my first earl grey tea experience! I think I might not have enjoyed this one because I like SUPER spicy chai teas. But I felt like the spice in this element was very mild and just there to accent the other flavours.

I also hope Deb releases a spicy chai with a black tea base soon! :)

Woah! This tastes like cinnamon raisin bread pudding! I am shocked, in the best way possible.

I am notorious for never thinking teas taste like their namesake. I am usually very critical, since I want my teas to taste like melted versions of whatever they are trying to replicate.

I think using the roasted green tea in this blend was such a smart idea! Similar to Deb’s, S’mores Fireside (which incorporated roasted black tea to give it a smokey taste), Raisan Bread Pudding really invoked the taste of what she was trying to replicate.

When I smelled this, it gave off a very warming, cinnamon aroma. I have only had this hot and with milk, but it definitely tastes like a bread-like pudding. Although next time, I want to try it without the milk, since I think it can stand on its own and still taste great.

I would highly recommend this! It is such a fun tea. Perfect for Fall or Winter. I will repurchase it for sure.

Using this as my chaser for my iced black coffee this morning, because I have wall-to-wall Zoom meetings until 11 and I need the extra caffeine boost. PG is my favorite way to make a delicious cup of builder’s tea quickly. No frills, no fuss, just the straight dope. Perfect.

I tried this hot. I enjoyed this blend! I love refreshing flavours, so peppermint and spearmint are definitely some of my favourite herbal tea blends. This smells very minty, with the slightest hint of chocolate.

I would say this tea tastes expensive and fresh. Obviously, I think that is because Deb does not use any artificial flavourings in her tea. I even took a bite of the chocolate pieces and the cacao nibs, and they tasted like organic, antioxidant-rich chocolates I would eat when I was on my health kick!

The mint is very strong in this one, which I love. I would say the chocolate is more so in the background as opposed to being a prominent note.

I also liked that the rooibos in this blend was in the background. In fact, it does not taste like rooibos at all! I would have never guessed it was in here (which I like, since I am not a huge fan of rooibos teas).

Although I enjoyed this tea, my one piece of constructive criticism would be that it needs more chocolate. Mint is a strong flavour, so I think adding additional chocolate would have amplified this tea so much more!

But overall, I liked it. It was simple and refreshing.

Wow! I am so impressed by this tea! It tastes like a blood orange, which I think is a tricky flavour to replicate. And the blood orange does not taste artificial. It tastes very natural, and when you brew this tea, it smells like fresh citrus.

I rarely like rooibos teas, but in this, you can barely taste the rooibos. Mostly, I think Deb does a fantastic job with her rooibos blends. Rooibos is in the background, while the other flavours can shine through. I was also afraid that this tea would be too tart, but it is not. It just tastes like a refreshing, warm, blood orange tea!

I do not think this tastes like cider, though. When I think of cider, I think of spices. However, this is more like a sweet, refreshing, blood orange tea.

I will definitely repurchase this one.

I absolutely love Deb! And I wanted to like this tea. When I read the ingredients I was like, toasted rice, toasted coconut, sugar, and green tea – YES! Those all sound like ingredients I would love.

I should preface this by saying that I feel neutral about genmaicha. I have only had it one other time; I neither strongly liked nor disliked it. But it could have just been the brand I had. Or I might just not like genmaicha? I think I have to try it more to make a firm decision.

However, I unfortunately did not like this tea as much as I wanted to. When I first sipped it, the coconut took prominence over the rest of the flavours. Deb also only uses natural ingredients to make her blends (which I love), but when steeped, the coconut releases oils. It gives the tea a heavy, oily mouthfeel which I dislike.

I love Deb, and I want her to improve and thrive! <3

I think to improve its current formula; it needs more sugar (although I understand why Deb used it sparingly since some people might want a dessert-inspired treat, without it being overly sweet, and I can easily add it to the tea at home), ONLY toasted coconut or even no coconut, and vanilla notes. Instead of palm sugar, maybe Deb could add icing sugar to make it taste more like a marshmallow?

Given the ingredients, I obviously never expected it to live up to its namesake. I think this tastes like a genmaicha, with a strong hint of coconut.

I absolutely love Deb! And I wanted to like this tea. When I read the ingredients I was like, toasted rice, toasted coconut, sugar, and green tea – YES! Those all sound like ingredients I would love.

I should preface this by saying that I feel neutral about genmaicha. I have only had it one other time; I neither strongly liked nor disliked it. But it could have just been the brand I had. Or I might just not like genmaicha? I think I have to try it more to make a firm decision.

However, I unfortunately did not like this tea as much as I wanted to. When I first sipped it, the coconut took prominence over the rest of the flavours. However, while I was drinking it, the coconut note died down a bit to let the rest of the flavours shine.

I definitely taste the toasted rice and earthy, green notes. I think to improve its current formula; it needs more sugar (Although I understand why Deb used it sparingly since some people might want a dessert-inspired treat, without the sugar, and I can easily add it to the tea at home) and vanilla notes.

Given the ingredients, I obviously never expected it to live up to its namesake. I think this tastes like a genmaicha, with a hint of coconut.

I really liked the ginger berry crisp! It has hibiscus in it, but I think Deb only added it to give it a beautiful, bright colour as opposed to tartness. I do not really taste the hibiscus (which is a good thing for me since I prefer my teas to be sweeter than tart)

It smells like berries and ginger. I steeped this with boiling water, and after sipping it, I think it also tastes a bold ginger with some berries added into it. I tried this with honey, and it really amplified the flavour.

I think this is a tea I could definitely see myself repurchasing. It is very warm and soothing.

Another tea from White Antlers Thank you :)

And same pouch as derk had, she sent the left amount to me. So yeah, June 2014 harvest, best before June 2017. But it still looks pretty well.

Dark green cannon balls, which looks bit more to oolong than actual green tea.

But anyway to the brew. I took around 10 those cannon balls, which were unknown weight, but on the label there is 3-4 balls per cup. I used again the 300 ml cup, so well, maybe it was just right? Steeping was minute and half, maybe two minutes recommended time is 45-60 seconds. I think I maybe used recommended temperature, it is said 75°C/167°F. But I haven’t measured it.

The taste should be good lemon blossom taste. Again, I have no experience tasting lemon blossom, nor smelling it, so I hope… it is correct. I noticed lemony notes, sweet grass, buttery and well others say astringency but I don’t had it at all. Maybe the age mellowed it?
Anyway, pretty tasty, though old. The caffeine boost was somewhere in the middle. Quite smooth and mouthcoating. I look forward to try another brewing methods. Maybe gongfu would work better to unfurl the balls completely.

I had this tea yesterday, but I haven’t got time to write and I don’t even wanted to. Mostly because I felt bit puzzled about this tea.

The aroma is bit buttery (expected) and not sure if rum like. I am not really a rum drinker, though I drank some.

The taste, after 3-4 minutes steep, was quite mellow which I am grateful for. Maybe I have expected some spicy notes, which isn’t much present. It was quite on sweet side and very woody. Oak wood, like a barrel aged beer, or actual rum? I expected some harsh notes and some alcoholic notes, but none of them (luckily?) aren’t there.

It is smooth, which is another quality I haven’t expecting. I don’t mind drinking it, but called it rum-like? I am not that sure. But well, maybe it is actually good blend, just expectations were different.

tap tap
1-2… is this on?

Ok, so it looks like Steepster is working again. I left (again) because I was so dang frustrated that it wasn’t working. But it seems to be functioning again, so I’m here for the moment.

Now, I already reviewed this tea once (Thanks Shae) but I’m doing do again because I learned a valuable lesson for this tea.

Don’t add sweetener.

I was thinking that “oh, I love this tea, but what about a touch of sweetness?” Nope, doesn’t work. All it does is kill all the nuance and subtlety of the flavor and make it taste like a store bought earl grey. And if I wanted store bought earl grey I wouldn’t have reached for Bergamot White Peony. I mean, it isn’t gross, mind you, but it isn’t good either. Sweetener doesn’t make everything better, although I will admit that, as I get down further into the cup, the flavor is improving.

I’m gonna go have a resteep and hope it’s better.

Song of the Moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfv7_iRHXv8

Wow, am I in the minority here. The dry leaf smells decadent. I feel like this had no flavor, though, probably because the base teas are very light. This tasted mostly like raspberry essence, and light malt and tannins. Not much cocoa. For something called Cocoa Truffle, I would’ve expected more chocolate and body, both from the black tea and the puerh. Then again, they used a Ceylon black and those typically underwhelm me in blends.

A weird thing about this tea, and this happens sometimes with flavored teas like this one, is that the raspberry essence aggravated my lungs, like I could feel them tightening up. It’s not an allergic reaction. The best way to describe it is the feeling of inhaling a chemical irritant, like cleaning agents.

I want to love this one because the raspberry and cocoa aromas smelled so damn good but the liquor itself just didn’t have any oomph. And, yeah, the lung thing.