709 Tasting Notes

64
drank Mom's Apple Pie by DAVIDsTEA
709 tasting notes

Revisiting this in an attempt to clear out some more tea. There is still enough left for 3 or 4 cups of tea, which is sort of annoying because I’m still not super fond. I steeped it at a lower temp this time which helped cut the green tea flavour, but this still isn’t right for me. It is shockingly like an apple pie, but the green tea is blechy and the hint of cinnamon is just not quite right. There is an aftertaste to the sip which I don’t appreciate and actually find hard to describe. It’s almost plasticky or chemically? It almost acts like pie crust taste, but then there is something off about it. I think this one is at it’s best while hot and if I can’t drink it within 15 minutes or so, I should just stay away. Oh well, at least it’ll be over soon! : )

Tina S.

I used mine up by making applesauce with it. It didn’t do much for me as a tea either.

Kittenna

I just placed an order for this… hopefully my taste buds have a different opinion than yours!

Cattibrie

I really liked Mom’s Apple Pie. But it was definately a hot drink not a cold one.

Daniel Scott

Huh, I adored Mom’s Apple Pie, so I’m always surprised by people who dislike it. I barely taste green tea in it, admittedly, but that’s generally a good thing for me.

Uniquity

@Daniel – Trust me, green tea taste is not my friend. I frequently seem to feel nauseous after drinking green tea, so I rarely try it (even inblends).
@Krystaleyn – I had no idea there was stock of it left?? It was a fall tea, wasn’t it? I saw a harvest tin in the boxing day sale at my local DT a few months back, but haven’t seen it since.

Kittenna

Well, I was able to order it off the website (50g), so I’m assuming there was some left! Pretty sure it’s not available in my home store anymore though. Just felt like trying it, although I know I won’t likely be able to restock if I do. The real reason I placed an online order was to get some Swampwater, though, as apparently it is also back in stock, and given how fast Cherry Blossom sold out last time…!

Kay Kanada

I’m actually not surprised that there’s some Mom’s Apple Pie left seeing as how it was not a crowd pleaser…

Daniel Scott

@Uniquity & Kay – I thought it actually sold out at most physical locations a while ago, and is mostly only available online now? I know it sold out in my city weeks ago.

Uniquity

What I was using was from the fall when it came out. It got relegated to the back of the shelf pretty quickly. : )

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84
drank Blueberry Fruit Tea by Teavivre
709 tasting notes

This may just be the best smelling tisane of my whole life. The beau and I steeped up a pot of this in the afternoon, enjoying another generous sample from Teavivre. The dry smell is fabulous – strongly blueberry, hint of tart and a hint of something raisin-y behind that. If I could smell only one fruity thing the rest of my life I would choose this. If this were jam, I would eat it by the spoonful. Oh man, it smells like jam!

I steeped 4 heaping tsp. in 12ish oz of boiling water for about 8 minutes, basically following the Teavivre directions. Lately I have found ymself pulling away from fruit based teas, but berry tisanes still hold a place in my heart, and this one smells like the queen of them all. Oh man, am I excited.

The brewed liquor has a tart smell from the roselle, but there is still distinctly jammy blueberry and raisin underneath that. The first sips are very tart, so we added a drop of honey and that made this lovely. The tartness is there, but it is muted a bit by the honey and the blueberry flavour becomes more rich. It still reminds me of jam and has a lovely aftertaste – this is a treat! I look forward to enjoying the rest of this sample, and likely will be ordering it at some point in the future.

EDIT: Made a second steep (10 minutes) and that was really good – the tartness was totally gone, and though the berry flavour was obviously light, it was naturally sweet and deicious, like over-ripe berries. Loving the lighter second steep to go with the bold first!

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73

This sample was provided to me by Angel from Teavivre approximately 1 to 2 months ago. My apologies in the delay before tasting, life got away with me. I’ve decided to do all my initial reviews on these teas following package directions. Though I would not ordinarily steep an oolong in boiling water for 1 to 3 minutes, I will give it the old college try, and hopefully post an additional note at another time with my usual parameters. For the tasting, I am using my gaiwan with one sample packet and sharing with the beau in our little double walled teacups.

Dry leaves smell sweet, and remind me of hay and grass. The beau proclaims them earthy but as in “of the earth” not dirt. : )

First steep: One minute, boiling water. The liquor is pale yellow with a hint of green, not nearly as deep as I feared. The smell is very vegetal, my first thoughts are boiled spinach and leafy greens. This does not appeal to me, but I’ll give it a shot – once it’s cool enough to drink! The leaves have opened a LOT and are very pretty in my gaiwan. As it cools the boiled greens aroma fades (yay) and the taste is surprising. There is an aspect of green vegetalness (ya, I said vegetalness, what of it? :D) but this is really nice. I am not a green tea drinker and tend to prefer oolongs that are more like black teas, but this is really pleasant. Surprisingly sweet and rich. There is a floral aspect which is very present in the taste, but not overwhelmingly. Reminds me of a few flowering teas I have tried and enjoyed. I’m impressed! The beau, on the other hand, says “it’s kinda plain”. Well.

Second steep: 2 minutes, boiling water. The liquor is much darker this time ‘round though the smell is fairly similar. Let it cool so I don’t burn my tongue and the taste is actually quite vegetal with a hint of bitterness. Jumping up to 2 minutes was clearly too much for me, I should have stuck at 1.5 for now. For an experienced oolong drinker the bold vegetal aspect of this might be appealing, but it is a bit too much for an oolong novice such as myself. Ah well, it’s my own fault! The beau proclaims that this steep is better and he likes it more. He has a recently discovered love for green tea, so this makes sense.

I think I will take a break now to prepare lunch and add any notes about further infusions later on, if I think of it. I have only tried 3 or 4 different Tie Guan Yins now, so I barely know what I am talking about but I found this to be really present and quite bold. Though I feared the boiling water, I think that is what maintained the strength of flavour.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec
SimpliciTEA

I like your ‘disclaimer’ in the start of your review. I have two teas myself of her’s from awhile back that I still have to brew up, and review (I did brew up most of them right away, though). She’s amazing at her willingness to send out samples. And from what I have seen and hear, its starting to pay off. I hope to order from her this summer/fall, when we will actually need tea.

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77

Just tried a cup of Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha (non vegan). Wow, is it ever different from the kind found in the 12 Teas of Christmas. I really enjoyed it with the marshmallow root, but what I just tasted was not the same at all. There was a strong smoke aspect which I did not like and the marshmallow was kind of yucky. After a few sips, I left the rest of the cup for the beau – blech! Numerical rating still stands for the vegan stuff, but this would have got a 40 from me.

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73
drank Monk's Blend by City Drug
709 tasting notes

Purchased this while in Yarmouth visiting family over Christmas. Apparently a local drug store (City Drug) has started blending and selling their own tea – Very intriguing. The beau and I decided to get a bit of this, but they only offer their tea in 50 gram bags. Bummer (and kind of a strike 1). We decide to get it anyway, despite there being no visible price chart (strike 2). This 50 gram bag came to 12 dollars with tax!!!! First off, no tax on tea in NS. Second off, that is an outrageous price – No wonder the price list is hidden. They also charge more than $10 for a 100 pack of T-Sacs. We won’t be buying any more tea there at those prices, so we had pretty high expectations of this puppy.

We finally rbewed a pot of this up with breakfast, and it was pretty darn good. no bitterness – which is great. There was a rich, creamy flavour which was more caramelly than anything else, but quite nice. The pomegranate they talk about on the packaging was nowhere to be seen, but it was prerty nice. I think I might even prefer it to the Sawadeee Monk’s Blend based on the richness, but at the price it is, we’ll live without when this pack is gone.

Erin

I just tried a local tea shop’s version of Monk’s Blend and I love it too!

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75
drank Honey & Pear by Lupicia
709 tasting notes

Another from my box of teas from LiberTeas on teatra.de – WEE!!! The beau and I brewed up a pot of this while watching the last two episodes of Arrested Development. I know we’re behind the times, but oh well. As for the tea, I’m not familiar with or fond of green tea, but this one appeals to me in terms of flavourings. Hojicha is totally new to me but I’m intrigued to give it a shot.

The steeped liquor is a rich honey colour, and has a chickory-esque aroma. Smells faintly woody/nutty but there’s also a sweetness in the aroma. Fairly appealing, and nothing like any green tea I’ve tried. According to my research, that’s no surprise. First sips are surprising. It’s so reminiscent of chickory! It’s got a sort of pseudo chocolate aspect going on too. There is a faint sweetness with a woody almost smoke note as well. Not getting much by way of pear, but I assume the honey is the reason for the sweetness. Another nice one to have tried and I think I might take what’s left of this one to work to finish up. Yum!

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C
Daisy Chubb

Yay my boy and I are late on the AD wagon as well. It’s a lovely wagon, thank goodness for Netflix!

Uniquity

We actually started watching it a few years ago and stopped for some reason with only 4 episodes left. Since they are talking about making another season and a movie now, I figured we ought to actually finish it up. It’s hilarious but SO bizarre! : )

Camiah

My husband and I recently started watching as well. It is fantastic!

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71

This sample came to me by way of LiberTeas and her big box of samples on Teatra.de. Since I am cleaning house (well, trying!) in terms of samples I opted to use this guy for a pot for the beau and I after work. I’m not getting much aroma from the loose leaves, but I’m assuming this tea is getting older, since most reviews of it are from a year ago or more. I will admit up front that I am very uncertain about banana flavour in tea – Most banana teas involve chamomile which is the bane of my existance, so the opportunity to try banana cheesecake is too good to pass up.

Knowing that Frank’s black tea base and I don’t always get along very well, I let the water cool to 95C and only steeped for 3 minutes. These precautions yield a brick red liquor with very little aroma, though there is a tinge of bitterness underneath (almost coffee-ish). There’s not much by way of banana or cheesecake in the aroma but there is a vague sweetness on top of it all. If I could just get the “top” lawyer of the aroma, this would be a very appetizing smell.

First sips are pretty nice. No bitterness, but also no banana. I’ll chalk that up to the age of the tea and the fact that it was in a little plastic bag next to lots of other teas for a while. The general flavour is sweet and lovely, reminiscent of 52Teas’ Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish. I’m not really getting cheesecake here, but there is definite sweetness. Very nice to have tried!

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74
drank Raspberry Mate by Fusion Teas
709 tasting notes

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a de-cupboarding! I’ve been drinking the remains of this sample for the past few days in an attempt to finish it up, and am glad to have done so. While there is a fairly authentic raspberry taste to this mate there is also a strong smokiness which seems more intense than it was when I first tried it a few months ago. It’s not particularly offensive, but it is unexpected. As the cup cools I find the smokiness really develops and takes over the sip, leaving a smoky taste in the mouth afterward. Different!

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73

Finishing up my sample of this today – Another one down, wahoo! I must admit that this tea has become less appealing to me over time. I have a tendency to have my strongest feelings about a tea on initial tasting and to gradually come to enjoy it less and less. Such is the case with this one. The apple that was so innovative at first is now too sweet, the mint too mild and the tea too cloudy (it is a particularly fine rooibos – Lots of little bits floating around, it’s almost like matcha in terms of consistency).

The chocolate has all melted in (according to the “oil slick” on top of the tea) but isn’t very present either. I am getting a lot of sweetness and a very slight hint of mint and milk chocolate at the tail end of the sip but I would prefer for them to be more bold. This is still a nice tea and different from most mint chocolate teas on the market, so I am pleased to have had some, but it doesn’t demand a re-order anymore. What is going on with my tea tastes lately??

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54

I feel pretty bad that I added a tea to the Steepster database just to complain about it a bit, but here I am. This is another that I received in my big box from LiberTeas on teatra.de and I steeped up about half the sample tonight for myself, the beau and a friend. Honestly, this tea appealed to me in theory (I am always on the lookout for a good apple tea, and a good caramel tea. If it can be both then that’s great!) but the reality leaves something to be desired. Once steeped I mostly got a rooibos taste with a faint whiff of something perhaps caramellish every once in a while. I tried it on it’s own at first, then paired it with supper (breaded pork strips and homemade french fries) which didn’t really help a whole lot. It was when drinking it paired with food that I got the most sense of caramel, but there was never any apple. Fine enough to drink for something warm, but not enjoyable, per se.

TeaBrat

more often than not I am lured in by these exciting description names and then sadly disappointed. :)

LiberTEAS

I am sorry you didn’t enjoy this one. :(

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Profile

Bio

I’ve been drinking loose tea since 2010 and my tastes have changed a lot over those years. For the last few, I’ve been a fan of unflavoured Chinese blacks and shu puerh. I still drink other things, but that’s where I am.

I live in a rural area with my husband, cat, and soon to be firstborn. I love tea, reading, doctor who, knitting, crosswords, board games, the marvel universe, and lots of other things.

I’m not often rating teas numerically any more but I want to leave this to explain my past ratings:
I try to only log teas once or twice because I drink a lot of the same ones repeatedly. My rating is based on my perception of the tea at first tasting and is adjusted if anything notable occurs in subsequent cups. I may also factor in the price and customer service but try to note that when I can.

81 – 100: These are great teas, I love them, regularly stock them or savour them as unique treats.
71 – 80: These are solid. I drink them, I like them, I may or may not keep them on hand regularly. This is still good stuff.
61 – 70: Just okay. I can drink it, but it doesn’t stand out to me. Might be lower quality, not to my taste, or outside my comfort zone.
41 – 60: Not likely to keep drinking…hoping hubby will enjoy!
0 – 40: No thank you, please. Take it away and don’t make me finish the cup.

Location

Canada

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