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I got this in a trade… can’t for the life of me remember who though! Oh well.

So, I’m doing this Fast Metabolism Diet thing which lasts 28 days and has 3 phases per week. I do alright in the first and third phase, but the second phase kills me every time since you’re basically reduced to eating protein and veggies. Lots of protein. Lots of veggies. And whenever I get to phase two my sweet tooth goes bonkers and craves EVERYTHING bad for me: chocolate, cake, pastries, gummy candy, more chocolate, brownies, cupcakes… you get the idea.

Technically I’m not supposed to even drink herbal tea… only water—bummer! Too bad I’m bending the rules and guzzling this tea like there’s no tomorrow since I’ll be doomed to fail if I don’t! There’s still two weeks left of the diet… I can do this!

Sweet, delicious carrot cake tea… how I wish I could have carrot cake now. Alas, this tea will have to suffice.

Hmmmm… this was a swap from Courtney ages ago, I just rediscovered it while taking inventory of my stash. Why not brew some up!

Aaaaaaaaand I’m definitely getting strong hints of vegetation and tomatoes?? Weird. Maybe I brewed this wrong, but it almost tastes like tomato soup. In a tea. Not that that’s a bad thing, just unexpected? Looks like I have enough for another cup in the future… let’s hope I brew it correctly

SIPDOWN

I’ve been “spring cleaning” my vast tea stash and discovered a packet of this from a tea swap last year… and I hadn’t even tried it! Well, there was about enough for a pot so I threw it into some boiled water and let it steep.

I drank it nekkid—without milk or sweetener—in order to properly gauge the flavour. It was nice and dessert-y, but a little light on pecan pie-ness, I’m guessing because the tea might have been a tad old. Oh well, it was still lovely, and now I’m one tea closer to thinning out my stash!

My 3-year-old’s nonstop energy levels are exhausting me. I need a pick-me-up and this one was calling my name.

Sadly, it still has yet to deliver and I think the something in this is messing with my head because I’ve just now developed a headache. Sigh, and it had such promise too. Into the ‘swap pile’ it goes!

Have I not reviewed this recently?? Weird. I was totally sure that I had!

I might be in the minority here, but I actually kind of love this tea! The first time I flash-chilled it and, yes, it tasted a little metallic and strange. Lately, though, I’ve been pouring boiling water over the tea in my takeya pitcher, then putting that in the fridge to cool down overnight (or so… emphasis on so), THEN (and this is important) mixing it half-and-half with gingerale! Gaaaaaaahhhhhh. So. Good.

Plus, my tot totally drinks this instead of juice… ka-ching!

I never got around to trying this last year when it first came out because it was heavy and thus, expensive. I bought a pitcher pack last week because, hey, it was cheap… like 50% off or something, which makes it cheaper than buying a brewed tea in any form.

Threw it in a pitcher with water, then into the fridge it went to be forgotten about for a couple days.

Drank some today and it’s refreshing, creamy, tropically sweet (like watered down juice), and tasted alcoholic (!!) with what could only be rum flavouring. My daughter had a glass and promptly downed the entire thing and asked for more. Me, after drinking it naked, I mixed it with some orange juice… oh yum.

Blargh! Why, oh why, did I buy 50g of this?!

I thought it would be creamy and mango-ey and everything I’d hoped for in a mango tea! I’ve had it hot. I’ve had it cold. I’ve had it iced. Yet, all I taste is chamomile! I should know better! I KNOW that chamomile isn’t my favourite.

I sure hope DAVIDsTEA takes returns!

Well, Buttercream, it was nice knowing you… but all good things must come to pass.

So, my daughter and I enjoyed this tea at our makeshift tea-party on the deck, accompanied by gluten-free banana bread. Gotta make use of these beautiful summer days while we still have the chance!

First Steep: Not gonna lie, the tea was a tad bit stale, but still creamy, sweet and delicious. The tot is currently down for her nap, as is the baby, so it’s time to steep the leaves a second time and see if I can milk it for all it’s worth!

Second Steep: More white tea than buttercream, but still flavourful. The camomile definitely comes through now, whereas is was more balanced on the first steep. Quite lovely.

Dudes. Steepsterites. Fellow tea-drinkers.

I’ve been absent from here for a while now… two months, I think? Life just got crazy around here, plus it was (still is?) summer, which means that I’ve been busy keeping 2 little people under 3 preoccupied. Then there was the trip to the emergency room because my gall-bladder felt like a “bag o’ marbles” (exact words the consulting surgeon used when he described it after an ultrasound), then the subsequent Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (or E.R.C.P. for short) which removed 5 stones from my common bile duct, but still left the 2.5cm beast lodged in the opening of my gall bladder. The E.R.C.P. seemed successful and I was able to eat again… something I haven’t been able to normally do in over a year.

Then, a week ago I went in for the gallbladder removal surgery, and at long last the stomach issues that have been plaguing me since New Year’s Day 2007 are over. And this leads me to tea… something I haven’t really had a lot of since: a) it’s been so hot out, b) all the teas I have been drinking I’ve reviewed dozens of times already, and c) with my stomach so messed up I wasn’t really sure I should be drinking tea at all (although I still did).

Yesterday I packed up my babes and headed downtown to make use of the “get 50g of FREE tea with the purchase of a travel mug” and since my husband uses all the travel mugs for coffee, I thought it might be time to buy one made just for tea. Forever Nuts was the TOTD, they were offering samples, and I can’t say I’ve ever had some before! It’s not the tea I got 50g of (that would be Milk Oolong… yum, yum), and it didn’t really grab me, but I can see why people like it and think it tastes like apple crisp or pie. Yummy, but not sure I’d buy it.

And here’s to trying more teas again! At long last.