Suziqzer select Send Message

I ordered this a few weeks ago when I stumbled on the site and found they had Pineapple Upside Down Cake on a 50% off sale.. & I’m a sucker for a sale. I just had to try it because I love Della Terra’s version and had to see how someone else did it. Anyway, this note isn’t for that.. so I’ll move on.

This tea was also on sale so I thought I would give it a try. I thought it might be fun as an iced blend, although I wasn’t sure how the chocolate would come through in a cold brew. Hubby likes fruit teas, wasn’t sure how he’d feel about the addition of chocolate, but thought it might work for him too.

Dry leaf smells mainly of rich chocolate with a hint of strawberry. The first attempt was at a cold steep. I wish I could tell you how long it steeped but I forgot to keep track.. :( I was surprised when I tried it how refreshing it was. The chocolate came through well and the strawberry and base was present also, although the strawberry was maybe a touch artificial. I’m guessing it is hard to do strawberry combined with rich chocolate w/o losing the strawberry.

Today I tried it as a hot cuppa to see how it turned out. My kitchen is chilly today and I felt like a hot cup would be a treat. I was surprised to find that the strawberry came out more pronounced and genuine in the hot cup when I had expected the chocolate to take center stage ( the chocolate is in the form of what looks like little chocolate chips which I assumed would melt). I’m wondering if I should hot steep this one and let it cool for an even better iced tea version of this than the cold steep.

I’ve enjoyed this more than I thought I might since I don’t often reach for fruit teas like my Hubby.. Maybe the chocolate helped? Or, maybe because I bought it primarily w/iced tea intentions. I will be sad if I go looking for this again and it’s not on sale… count me a frugal sale shopper. I guess that would give me an excuse to try something else instead. :)

Another backlog from this week. This came as a sample with my small order from Persimmon Tree. I’m not sure I would have picked this one out… I love Della Terra’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake but am not the biggest fan of green tea. Oddly enough, my order from them was green and white teas and no black tea (probably why they sent me a sample of green).. strange for me as black is my “go to” base.

Dry this smells mostly green and grassy to me.. not something I would buy if I smelled it in a shop. It steeps up to a nice green base that isn’t too vegetal/green for me, although I’m becoming more comfortable with them as time goes by. I can sense the fruitiness of the blend, but if asked to describe it I’m not sure I’d come up with pineapple. I understand that the name is Green Pineapple, implying that green comes first I would assume. There is just a fruity sweet smell to it that lightly translates to the flavor. I am glad to have tried this one but not one I would purchase… I would need more distinct pineapple to consider it again.

Backlog from earlier this week. What a busy one!

I don’t know why I had been putting off trying this one. I’m think maybe I was hoping it would compare to Fauchon’s L’Automne, of which I’m hoarding 2 cups worth, so I wouldn’t have to want for something that is so hard to get in the states, and who knows at what cost if I could find it? I knew this one didn’t have chocolate, but is an orange tea w/o the caffeine .. say evening tea. I used to think I wouldn’t ever gravitate to citrus and tea, but a couple of you fellow Steepsterites have proved me wrong .. Thanks!

Dry leaf smells promising of sweet orange. Steeped I get the typical nice rooibos color cup with a bit of orange and cream. I unfortunately found a bit too much woodsy rooibos for me .. Bummer. It is a drinkable blend but I think I prefer some of the black base orange tea blends to the woodsyness of this. Early on rooibos didn’t bother me, but the more I drink, the more I sometimes find I taste the woodsy notes… That said, there are some awesome ones out there that either work well with that flavor, or hide it completely…as I was so wishing this would. That said, this is good enough to finish the sample, Thanks EvaGrimm for sharing, but I’m not sure I’ll be buying more of this one.

First, I love how the tasting note of this one say Flowers, Stonefruits, Honey, Lemon Zest, Plants, Asparagus, Mineral, Potato, Orange Zest… Yet I get none of that in my blend :)

Spring is finally here and I’m enjoying with that the possibilities of new iced tea flavors. Late this week I went to an old favorite though… the iced tea I grew up on and have always loved in the summertime. My mom used to make this and it would disappear so fast we wondered where it could have gone.

I have a 3 qt iced tea maker I picked up at a garage sale a few years ago. I didn’t know how much I would use one, so a cheapy worked for me. I use 7-8 teabags, usually orange pekoe I believe although the box I have right now just says black tea, and decaf because I tend to drink this all day and wonder why can’t sleep if I use regular. I’m not terribly picky about the brand because the base isn’t the star of the show.. although I may change my mind now that I’ve been introduced to better tea choices. Then I add a generous handful of spearmint sprigs, rinsed and then squeezed to release oils, to the steeping basket as well. 3/4 of a cup of sugar to the pitcher w/some ice and we’re good to go. I sometimes add a pinch of baking soda if I remember because it’s said to help the flavor, but I often forget.. I haven’t noticed much difference myself. After it’s done steeping, I fill the pitcher the rest of the way with water and let it chill in the fridge, if it even makes it there.

I’ve been carrying this around in my Tervis the last half of this week… Yeah for running into a factory outlet while on a road trip :). and Yeah for the memories this tea brings of mom making it in time for when dad would come in from working in the fields.

I’m looking forward to introducing more flavors and varieties to our summer tea choices but know this will always be a staple .. especially when friends & family are over, they always love it. Thinking I will hunt down some peppermint and chocolate mint plants for my garden this year so I can experiment with those as well… maybe even some verbena ?

Ok… so I debated with myself as to whether or not to leave a tasting note for this one. I decided, “why not?”. So here goes.

My family often goes out to lunch after church on Sunday afternoons. This being Mother’s Day, Happy Mother’s Day to all you Steepsters by the way, we were going to let my mom choose where we would go. She passed the decision on to my son because a) today is his official 9th birthday and b) all of the restaurants she would have chosen would be crazy full today anyway. What an awesome mom I have!

My son chose McDonald’s because I instructed him “No Chuck E. Cheese!” He chose McDonald’s for the Play Place and the fact that he still gets a toy with his meal. One of these days maybe he’ll outgrow them. He and my 3 year old niece had a blast together.

Since the McDonald’s we went to had a serve yourself fountain, I decided to brave the iced tea… something I rarely do at a restaurant. I despise instant teas to the point I would rather go thirsty than drink one! This is fresh brewed, relatively, so I attempted it. I put some ice in my cup and just a bit of sweet tea… Blech, How does anyone drink this stuff?!? Soooo sweeetttt! I ended up mixing the sweet and unsweet to try and find a drinkable mix. The container ran out of unsweet, so I did with what I got, a little more sweet than I would have liked, but ok.

I found it more drinkable than I expected but with a bit of a weird aftertaste. I also find it a little thick feeling, maybe due to how long it sits in the container or something they add to it… ? I might get this once and awhile, blended w/un-sweet, if I was really feeling the need for tea but it certainly wouldn’t make the top of my ice tea list.

I tried this one this morning.. I picked it up as a sample with my recent order. I haven’t had too many white teas but this one intrigued me with the peppercorns.

It has a nice sweet smell, but not overly so. Steeped it is a nice butterscotch that isn’t too rich/heavy, but not too light either. I made sure to get a couple of the peppercorns in my steeper basket, but fail to find them in the flavor. It may be that I just love my spices too much and I need more personally to taste them.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Most white teas I just find too delicate and sometimes even vegetal (which I don’t care for). This one was balanced well and with a touch of sugar was like drinking a dessert.

I have several tasting notes to catch up on, but this has been a busy week and today we are preparing for a birthday party for my son who will be 9.. time goes by way too fast! I have made some homemade iced tea w/fresh spearmint (just enough in the garden..Yeah) to share.. My best friend from high school and I will likely drink most of it.. although I did make her a cold steeped mango rooibos to drink here or take w/her. I plan to spoil her this summer w/peach and mango teas… her favorite!

I don’t know what possessed me to buy a small tin of this tea having not tasted or even smelled it before since I generally going for blacks before greens, but I did. I didn’t even buy a black tea on this order, not even a sample! Somewhere between the description and the tasting notes, I got won over… well, that and I’m a sucker for a sale.

I opened up this cute little tin to a wonderful sweet caramel fragrance and these funny looking balls sitting atop the blend. The balls I assume are generously sized pieces of caramel just waiting to melt into your cup. I was tempted to bite into one before putting it into my steeper basket to see for sure that’s what it was, but I managed to refrain… It might happen the next time though.

Steeped the sweet caramel fragrance remains and the addition of toastiness from the little pieces of rice, and the green tea is present but not pushy…. How I like my greens, sitting in the back being supportive. I added a touch of raw sugar to bring out the caramel.

It still amazes me I picked this over a black tea but I think it’s a winner for when I’m in that craving for a green tea time that happens. When I started trying loose leaf teas Nov/Dec of last year, I thought I wouldn’t find any greens that I liked… boy I was wrong. I’m starting to find out that I really like having the variety of different kinds of teas more than I expected I would.

Grabbed this one out of my sample box this morning… Making a small cup and leaving enough for a small one knowing that I enjoyed this the last time I tried it and will have a hard time seeing it go.

Smelled sweet & lovely dry leafed and I had forgotten what the flavor profiles were since my first cup of it. I steeped it up w/o looking at flavors and was surprised by the raspberry & light mintyness… Very enjoyable tea.

A touch of floral notes are present, but only provide a bit of elegance to the cup. Will be a sad sipdown soon.. Been saving this one and L’Automne. So wish they were more accessible to the U.S. Thanks again MissB for sharing them!

I decided that I would give this one a try this morning out of the samples sent from Just Organic Tea. Earl Grey hasn’t been my thing to date as citrus in tea used to be something I avoided. My first attempt with Lady Grey was a bit of a shocker. Since then, I have come to enjoy a few nice teas with citrus notes, usually orange, although I have braved one lemon thus far, and I’m finding I have a liking to them if they are done well.

This one smells sweetly of orange citrus notes. Steeped, the base is present but not overpowering with a bit of depth. The bergamot comes through mostly as an orange note to me, but I have to say I’m not well versed in bergamot. This cup is smooth and enjoyable with no tartness or bitterness. To my surprise, I think I like it .. :)

Just one week left to be a part of their Kickstarter Campaign… You can find it here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/justorganictea/just-organic-tea-loose-leaf-tea-with-a-conscience

Dang sinus headache last night and today. I thought it was going away this afternoon, but blah… here it comes back again. Nothing seems to really help except putting pressure on my sinuses.

Had a little bit of a sample left of this and decided to give it a go today. Still really like this one. Cakey and a bit of pineapple. MMmmm…