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Sipdown #5: Why can’t someone make an outstanding raspberry tea for me to sip on? I love raspberries, but this one tastes like Absolut Raspberry vodka. I really liked it when I first had it, but now I can’t stand how fake it tastes. I have so much still too, I want to finish it so that I can get something else.

Sipdown #4: UGH Hibiscus explosion is more like it! I can’t believe I gave this such a high rating first time round. I love hibiscus, unlike much of the steepster community, but this one is ONLY that flavour. And then it trails off into nothingness. It hits my tongue so harsh and tart, and then THERE IS NO OTHER FLAVOUR! It tastes like cinnamony water after. Just no. Why are we losing great teas like perfect pear and yet this one is still IN STORES!!! No where near as good as pink flamingo or kanpe.

Sipdown # 3! I am trying to clear out my Davids stuff for the new teas this wednesday. It is getting crazy up in here, I’m going to do like 20 bags over the next 3 days. I won’t have any small samples left at that point.

This one is just ok for me. I really liked it initially, but it gets too bitter too quickly. Merry Cranberry is definitely sweeter and better. Maybe it is the orange but it just tastes like bitter green tea to me.

Sample sipdown #1 of the day! I still have a bit more of this in my tea for the holidays pack, but I finished off the advent calendar sample. This still tastes like Christmas. I wonder how it would be iced in the summer. It isn’t my favorite black, but it has its place on days that I crave it. Don’t oversteep or it gets really astringent.

Sunday Sample sipdown! This one has been in my cupboard for a while and I finally finished it off. It’s best brewed for 3 minutes at a temp in between green and black, or else it gets bitter. I added some aguave, yum yum! Great iced and hot. Not sad to see it go but definitely a great flavored tea for people who don’t love flavored teas.

I went in and got a wee amount of this one today as I was at the bank near Davids, but I cannot WAIT for Wednesday to go in and try all the new spring teas :)

The dry leaf smells like key lime pie to me. I was like yum when I opened the bag. I steeped for just a few minutes because Davids whites get bitter super quick. The liquid is a nice light gold colour. I did a little bit cold and a cup hot.

Taste: It tastes Thai that’s for sure. The coconut makes it thai for me, otherwise it would just be a lemon ginger tea. The predominate flavor is lemon, with a bite of ginger, and creamy sweetness lingering in the background. I also think it tastes/smells kinda limey but I don’t know if there is any lime in there.

If you like lemon teas, and if you like thai food, you will love this tea. It would go really well with an Asian themed meal.

Yay I get to have the first tasting note on this one!

I will start out with a story: I have been a bad spender these last few months since we came to Ontario. With a Davidstea so close, and being on steepster all the time, I’ve been buying a lot of tea. My hubby finally has a job, but we are still trying to catch up from the last few months and my tea addiction wasn’t helping. So after putting in an order with Red Leaf, and two orders with Della Terra, and an order with 52 teas in January, I put myself and my best tea buddy here on a no tea buying month until Davids Spring collection comes out March 6th!

BUT THEN THIS TEA HAPPENED! I love flavoured oolongs. Well I love all oolongs but I am always looking for amazing flavored ones. And so I knew I couldn’t buy it because 1) Shipping to Canada is now crazy 2) I was on the no tea buying restraint and I had already broken it for the iHeartteas sale. Which as a side note, my friend who was also no allowed to by tea responded as such: “WHAT YOU BOUGHT TEA! BAD!” Me: “It was such a good sale! I got 2 bags of 52teas discontinued blends for $12!” Her: “Why didn’t you tell me….” Me: “I didn’t want us both to fall of the bandwagon” Her: “But why didn’t you tell me so I could get some too…” We are bad enablers.

ANYWAYS so my husband and I have been doing gifts to each other every month for our anniversary, leading up to our one year of being married. We think its a nice way to let the other one know we still care, and we alternate so it’s like every other month one of us is being spoiled. So far my hubby is winning, he got me: A steeper, dinner at my favorite restaurant, candy, and now this tea because I basically begged him to get it. Yesterday was our “mockaversary” because February doesn’t have a 30 in it. So much to my “surprise” I got a bag of this!

And that is how I almost avoided buying tea for a whole month, while still getting one of the most exciting blends I’ve seen in a while.

On to the tea: I brewed this one up for 2.5 minutes. The dry leaf smells sweet and tangy. I literally couldn’t stop smelling the bag last night. It is a lot stronger than I expected based on Frank’s description, but I am totally ok with that. Brewed up it is a nice light gold colour. On tasting I am first hit with the sweet/tart cranberry, and then as it mellows on my tongue the smoothness of the oolong comes through. Definitely happy to have gotten to try this one, it is a keeper! I think cranberry anything is fantastic and I am happy to have the cranberry hugging my friend oolong here.

EDIT: I lied, and I cannot lie to your Steepsterites, I also went to Davids once and bought 3 15 gram samplers of some Mates. I was there with a friend…it was a semi successful no tea buying month. Luckily the Spring collection comes out Wednesday and I will be all over that. I may even get a new mug/pot :D

EDIT 2: I remember now why also we evoked No Tea Buying month, it’s because my friend and I had also placed an online DavidsTea order because they were discontinuing so many things. And then the next day we took advantage of Red Leaf’s new customer 50% deal. So within 2 days we had both spent $70 on tea, in addition to all the other tea I had already bought in January. I need to give myself an allowance.

This is my favorite out of the four flavours I ordered. It tastes exactly like a green apple candy, and goes really well with vanilla almond milk. This morning I mixed in 1 tsp of matcha with a half a cup of DavidsTea White Tiger, and then added hot Almond Milk to the top of my glass. Yum! It is sweet and tart at the same time. I tend to prefer fruity flavours so I knew I had to try this one, and I have to say it is a winner :)

I finally got my first order from Red Leaf Tea last week! I have been able to try all of them now, but I am going to start by logging the one that I had as a latte this morning.

I have been drinking matcha with half almond milk/half water. I got this one as basic grade/robust flavour. The raspberry is tart and the chocolate is sweet, but this is probably my least favorite of the four I ordered. I wish the flavours came out more, I found they got lost in how I prepared it.

This was one of the ones in my Mystery Box! I have been too busy to log a lot of them (I’ve now tried them all) so better to start late than never.

I had this one this morning with a hint of honey and some milk. The bergamot really comes through with lingering orange and floral notes in the background. It’s not my favorite tea ever, but it was a wonderful addition to the sweet/fruity teas they also sent me. I would drink this when I want something more traditional in terms of flavoured black teas.