Nxtdoor Send Message

All I get out of this one is base. Why, boston, why? There’s something fruity at the back, I wouldn’t identify it as cranberry at all. And I get no almond.

Used one DAVIDs perfect scoop to 8 oz off boiling water for 3 minutes. 1 scant tsp of sugar. It’s not astringent, brews quite dark, smells like base, not much else. Wtf.

This is a crowd favourite but I tell you that whatever this is in my cup can’t be that popular.

Thank you to the oh so wonderful TheTeafairy for sending me a sample and satisfying my curiousity. All I have to say is “what’s all the fuss?” . I have a bit more so I can try again another day. Maybe I expected too much.

The lovely TheTeaFairy sent me some of this to try. Thank you! I likely wouldn’t have picked it up because although I need some greens in the house I always forget this and place orders for mostly black teas.
I am not sure about this. Smells great, which is why I picked it second out of the swap box, but it is just a little too green and a touch bitter. I steeped for exactly 2 minutes with 160F water. I am certain about it because I timed it and I have a variable temp kettle so there’s no guesswork. So why is it bitter? Not overly bitter but enough so that I likely wouldn’t reach for it given other alternatives. If I know I wouldn’t reach for it then of course I’m not buying it. Too bad.

It does taste like tropical fruit, more mango than pineapple to me. It brews pale green and clear. You can taste a lot of base. I have added no sugar. I’m trying to get away from sugaring greens unless they are really dessert-y. Anyway. Thankful for the sample but will not purchase.

Woohoo! My tea fairy came today and left me a mountain of tea in a gorgeous looking and gorgeous smelling box. Literally. The tea is from TheTeaFairy (she knows how to put together a swap, doesn’t she?) and because of her, tonight I’m totally blissful. Caribe, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata as we speak, steepster and the sweet anticipation of some pages from a good book. God, let me enjoy the simple pleasures for as long as possible!

I picked this to start tonight because it’s so damn fragrant. I have to isolate it also so I peeled the label written by TheTeaFairy and slapped it on a brand new tin. Stuffed caribe in there, ziploc and all. I have a feeling it won’t be around for long. It’s good but it is way more fragrant than flavourful.

To me it smells a lot like Kokomo green — the difference being of course than once brewed, this tea is enjoyable whereas Kokomo Green was the worst thing I ever put in my mouth. :)

I added sugar, I was afraid honey would add a new flavour to the mix and there’s already so much going on. It tastes like tropical fruit. People say guava. I’ll go with it because I know I don’t taste pineapple and it’s not coconut. There’s a gum that tastes like this. It’s not juicy fruit though.

Anyway, brews like most Harney’s black teas. Around 3 minutes, boiling, brews a dark brown colour and very aromatic. The sip is mostly base at first and then all the fruity flavours take over and leave a long lingering aftertaste. This would probably make an awesome cold brew. So so fruity. Aftertaste is amazing. I love the aftertaste more than the actual sip. I gotta find a way to make the fruit pop more. I already added sugar but it seems like the fruit is bursting to escape if you just said the magic word. Or something.

Thank you to TheTeaFairy for this great tea. A Harney order is on the horizon so you’ve given me the chance to see more of them. It will be an epic order.

Did I mention the freakin smell of this?!? It’s to die for. You have no choice but to drink it fast because the juicy ripe fruit smell can drive one NUTS!

ETA: good second steep. Less fragrant, not much change in taste. Used just a little less water for second steep (7 oz instead of 8) and left it maybe 15 seconds longer.

Sorry, just had to post this note for sh*ts and giggles. I’m sure someone on here, you the regulars, must have drank this at some point but just didn’t note it. I drink it all the time. I wouldn’t say it’s in my fridge always but quite often.

This is so tasty. Too sweet but oh so tasty. Of course you don’t get a resteep. And you also shouldn’t drink more than a glass a day. If you have never tried this, you must.

Sipdown. Had these matchas in my fridge for a while now, it’s time to let go. I’m not a milk lover and with water they don’t taste all that good. At least not these low grade that I bought just to try.

The last dregs of this was tossed in a smoothie with fresh berries, banana, yogurt, honey and milk. Couldn’t make out the matcha. It was also a bad idea to add the berries because it made my smoothie a yucky brown (green + red = brown).

Bye passion fruit matcha. You were too much work for not a lot of fun.

I bought this in the fall from one of the local tea houses I’ve been meaning to check out. I can’t say I dig pu’erh (the only exception was the one that tasted exactly like a Cinammon bun and no pu’erh taste in site) but vanilla mint pu’erh I might be able to handle, I thought to myself.

I sent some to dexter3657 without trying it beforehand. It’s a good thing I did because had I tasted this, she wouldn’t have gotten any. Cause it ain’t that good! It’s really minty. I don’t find it muted like I thought it might be. And gosh, it smells so dirty. I don’t think I’m going to be able to finish this cup, my stomach lurches every time I bring the cup to my nose. OMG. How do people drink this stuff. Lol

ETA: the cup cooled a little so it’s a lot less aromatic. The taste is not bad, it’s just the smell that’s revolting. I can’t even tell you if this is good pu’erh or not. I might be able to finish it, I’m halfway through.

A looong time ago this sample came my way via none other than Dexter3657. Although I do enjoy mint teas I wasn’t in the mood for it back then. And then, well, we all know what happens to samples if we don’t drink it shortly after we get them.

I have been going through a mint phase. Santa’s secret, read my lips, then yesterday I went to Starbucks with a friend and opted for tea (a first for me. Green tea frap doesn’t count). I had the Tazo refresh which is a mint tea with tarragon — of which I tasted none, since we are on the subject.

This tea was sorta “meh” at the beginning. I thought it was herbal and found out it wasn’t only AFTER I poured boiling water over it. Realized mistake quickly enough, pulled out the sachet, dumped an ice cube in the mug and put the sachet back in. Saved the cup for sure. No bitterness.

At first I didn’t think it was much like a mojito. I actually didn’t think it was like a mojito even later. It’s hard for any tea to mimic alcoholic beverages. But as the cup cooled I could pick up the lime behind the mint. I only added a bit of honey to this. I did try a few sips without but it wasn’t happening for me so I fixed it.

All in all, a good mint tea. Conveniently packaged in sachets, I so would stock this if it was more available to me. As in, go and buy when I want, not pay for shipping and wait weeks for it to come to me. Because, you know, I’m flighty. My desire for peppermint might have changed again by then.

Many thanks to Dexter3657. Luckily for me she hates mint.

I fished out a clove. I will take the suckers out where I see them.

This is better with my ever present vanilla creamer. Last time I didn’t have any creamer because we were leaving for three weeks and didn’t want stuff growing in my fridge so we emptied everything out.

The tea is better with the creamer. It helps the mouthfeel be more like pie. Otherwise it’s a bit watery. Also, the taste is better as it cools. The last dregs in the bottom of the jar are way more awesome than the first sips.

Yes, yes, this is good. What I mean by good is that I can drink it without sweetener — I need a few more of those kind — and while I can tell it would probably be way better sweetened it is enjoyable without.

I’ve had my fill of sugar this morning with my two cups of coffee that had both vanilla creamer and sugar so I figured I would stop ingesting empty calories, it’s but 1 o’clock.

Which is why I grabbed this tea. It smells sweet and apple and popcorn-like. The dry leaf is mostly other stuff and then some tea. Looks like goji pop in that respect. I was quite afraid to steep it at the recommended 201F because last time I steeped a green that high (Kokomo green) it was awful! So I started to be a little mistrustful of their steeping instructions. But then again, you look at the giant chunks of stuff in here and treat it like an herbal. Ditto for steeping times. 5-7 minutes? Someone’s surely on crack. But I did it because I have a large enough bag to take a chance.

It tastes good. (Sorry, keychange! We don’t agree on this one) I do detect a slightly sour note at the back but not an unpleasant one. And yes, the aftertaste is total popcorn. I wouldn’t smuggle it into the movie theatre though. It is not THAT good and part of the movie experience is filling up on the bad shit there.

Speaking of movies, I’m going today. August:Osage County. Oscar countdown is on folks. Got a lot to catch up on.

Gosh darn it I love this tea! Only ever drank it iced. Well, ok, one time I wasn’t patient enough for the ice to fully melt so I did get a taste of it warm but it doesn’t count. I ran out a while back and I waited — I don’t know why because it’s my go to “juice” tea. Ok, who am I kidding, it is my only juice tea. It is so good that I stock no others. God, is that bad to admit?

So anyway my order came and I am so pleased to have this in the house again. I don’t know what I will do if they ever pull it. I mean, even if I buy several 250 gram bags, I will still run out at some point. That’s how much I like it.

I don’t even know what to say in a tasting note. Because really, how do you talk about love? Talking about love is like dancing about architecture. :)

But ok, since someone who hasn’t had this might read this I shall give it a go. The dry leaf is chunky because of all the dried fruit so you need a lot which would make it a bit expensive. It tastes like melon. It’s red from hibiscus but you can’t taste hibiscus — at least I can’t. The second steep gets a bit more tart but the first steep is all melon and goji berries. Which is odd because apple is the first ingredient on the list.

Good enough?