87 Tasting Notes

Very fake strawberry flavour, with a very bitter base. Nope, not my cuppa tea, that’s for sure.

Thanks for the sample Fjellrev

Bear With Me

Just realized it’s a darjeeling base. yep, that explains it. Me no likey darjeeling, even if I baby the heck out of it. Yuck.

Daddyselephant

omg I love the name of this tea.

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1 tsp Lapsang Souchong (Silk Road)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
hearty splash of homemade strawberry syrup

I’m not sure what to think of this. It’s not horrible, but it’s not exactly tasty either? The spice of the pepper flakes goes great with the smoky lapsang, and the strawberry both heightens the fire and dulls the burn (how is that even possible?!), but strawberry with smoke? It’s like bacon dipped in strawberry jam at breakfast, only not, because bacon dipped in jam is amazeballs, but lapsang with strawberry? not so much. The strawberry’s sweetness makes the smoke stick too much, which is weird because I mix lapsang and maple syrup allll the time and it doesn’t do that? Hmm.

I can easily finish this cup, but I’m not sure I’d do the combo again. red pepper + lapsang + maple? totally! strawberry’s just….odd..

VariaTEA

I’m sorry that I steered you wrong with my suggestion of strawberry syrup. You never know unless you try though so now you got to have a unique taste experience (even if it is not the most pleasant :P)

OMGsrsly

Ceylon Star, have you tried strawberry-hazelnut puerh yet? I think I need to start a list for you.

Bear With Me

no I haven’t OMGsrsly, but it sounds pretty fabulous! haha

Bear With Me

might need to try mixing something up when i’m done this cup (I’m too wired to sleep anyway, so caffeine is moot)

OMGsrsly

Tomorrow when I get home from work I’m going to work on parcelling out tea samples for everyone.

VariaTEA

OMGsrsly, is your plan to send all your tea away to others to get your cupboard under control?

OMGsrsly

YES. OH MY GOODNESS YES.

I’ll need to stop by a dollar store and get more baggies, too. Hmm… I see some erranding before work, then work, then home to deal tea. :D

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Random slightly-over-steeped assam
Splash each of homemade hazelnut syrup, homemade english toffee syrup, and pure maple syrup
Hot goat’s milk
Hot goat’s milk foam

This is apparently what came out of a “What tea should I make right now?” game on Facebook. OMGsrsly suggested toffee/caramel and maple black/pu’erh. She decided to make herself a hazelnut/toffee/maple mix, and it sounded freaking amazing, so I decided to do the same in latte form! I’m on a bit of a goat’s milk kick right now because a friend has a goat who’s producing way too much milk to feed both her baby and my friend’s family, so she’s been giving me a bunch and OMG YUM!

Pretty darn tasty latte, made the assam strong enough that it wouldn’t be overpowered by the syrups and sweet-and-tangy goat’s milk, and it turned out perfect! Might need another one momentarily, or I might mess around with a different combo.

suggestions?

VariaTEA

How did I miss this game?!?

Bear With Me

I posted in the other group. But I might post again in the big one because I finished my cup and don’t know what else to make!! :(

VariaTEA

Ahhh. That is how haha.

OMGsrsly

My randomize suggested Russian Caravan and… creme brulee… and chai. ??

Bear With Me

smoky + chai + sweet is actually delicious. I got given a sample of an Adagio fandom blend (Smaug <3 ) that’s lapsang/chai/candycane and ohmygawd YUM O.o Haven’t been able to duplicate it yet, but the trials have been tasty!

OMGsrsly

I’ll have to test it out then. But tomorrow. I’m soooooo caffeinated right now! :)

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drank SoHo Blend by Harney & Sons
87 tasting notes

Another Fjellrev sample and, I believe, my third Harney experience (first loose leaf H&S blend, the others were sachets).

It smells mostly like coconut. I expected there to be something floral to it (I mistook the amaranth petals for pieces of rose) and am pleasantly surprised to realize that the petals were merely to prettyfy the blend.

I only steeped it for 2min30sec in 175F water, but it’s kind of bitter. Makes me think there’s probably darjeeling in the base and I’m really not a darjeeling fan.

There’s a faint sweet aftertaste, but I’m not really getting coconut or chocolate, just generic sweet.

I have enough left for a cup or two, so I might play around and make a latte out of it next time and see if that makes any difference. I’m all out of milky stuff or i’d add a splash to this cup and see what happens.

Thanks Fjellrev for the sample!

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I am possibly the WORST person ever right now. I’m super backlogged on notes, half the stuff I’ve sipped down I never wrote notes on (but enjoyed very much), and what I do have I’ve lost the page I wrote down who gave me what to try, and UGH! Life. It hates me right now! I think this came from Fjellrev ?

Anyways, this is my first B and B tea as far as I can recall. Sorry if anyone has sent me others, I either still have them hidden in my “to try” box, or I had them and failed to write a note. As I said, I currently suck super bad right now.

I’m currently in full-blown breakdown mode, smack dab in the middle of the worst anxiety/depression bout I’ve had in YEARS. It’s to the point where I’m so stuck in my own head and all these really intense feelings and such that I haven’t been able to get out enough to walk from one side of my room to choose a tea, to the other side to make a cuppa.

I was finally convinced (well, threatened-with-violence-if-I-didn’t-finally-make-a-cuppa) to make a cup, and blindly grabbed this one. Not sure what to expect, but it smelled lovely in the baggie – crisp and sweet.

Steeped, the liquor is a pale green, and smells almost creamy. I want to compare it to honeysuckle, but that’s not quite right. Close though.

It tastes almost like it smells. There’s a crisp freshness, without being overly grassy or vegetal, combined with a sweet fruitiness that I can’t really pinpoint. It’s really lovely, nice and light, a bit like a sunny romp through a grassy field, all in a teacup.

I’m glad I have plenty left to enjoy later, when I’m a bit less, umm, emotional? because I can see this being a tea I’d like to keep on hand. It was definitely a glimmer of sunshine at the end of an absolutely horrificaly stormy day, so thank you Fjellrev for the generous sample!

Bear With Me

And fellow Heffalumps, Woozles, and Faction friends – this was kind of my way of saying “i’m alright”. I’ll be back once this blackness blows over and I can handle large numbers of people again.

Sil

Mwahahahaha sil teas make the rounds! Remember mister….we’re here if you need anything. Don’t make me pounce on you!

Bear With Me

This one seemed like a “originated in Sil-land” tea. Glad you shared enough with Fjellrev that she could share it with me. Was definitely what I needed today (just ask Indogobloom, bless her patient heart O.o).

Sil

Just remember… we’re all here for whatever you need. Even if it’s just a smile. I mean, i’m good at supplying random bouts of insanity if you need it. ;) just think about my rubber boots….

Sil

ooor…. “matcha matcha maaaaan…i’ve got to be, a matcha man!”

Bear With Me

Yes, that matcha of yours has been the only thing to get me out of bed, into clothes that I could wear out of the house and not get arrested for wearing, and out to do what I need to do every day. Toss it in a shaker bottle with some almond milk and I can actually sort of almost function (and make it most of the way home before I crash again, woo!), so THANK YOU!!!!

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90

As always, a visit to Janet’s left me with a grin on my face and a slightly lighter wallet. If you’re in Victoria and haven’t stopped in to Janet’s Special Teas in Sidney (on Beacon Ave), you don’t know what you’re missing! Janet, the owner, is a total hoot, and treats everyone like family. She’s truly passionate about the tea she sells and offers generous sample pouches for $1 (with enough leaf for at LEAST 3 cups). She’s even been known to bring in teas that she wouldn’t normally carry for customers who request it, so don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t see what you’re looking for.

But on to the tea itself. I LOVE orange teas, and orange juice. Which is funny because I can’t stand oranges (but I’ll happily eat a whole grapefruit) or creamsicles. But I do make my own “creamsicles” every summer, using tea and condensed milk. And that’s actually the main reason I picked up 50g of this tea.

I generally make my creamsicles out of DAVIDs Orange Blossom rooibos, but after experimenting last year, I found that rooibos just doesn’t make the nicest popsicles, it’s just not strong enough. So when my lovely hostages, I mean tea companions, asked to sniff the Dolce Orange, I couldn’t resist grabbing some to play around with. I brewed up some double strength when I got home, then split it into two parts. I added 2 TBSP of condensed milk to one part, and 2 TBSP of vanilla simple syrup to the other (when making popsicles you really do need to add sweetener. The extreme cold of freezing the tea cuts a lot of the flavour, and the sweetener helps to highlight the flavour of the tea and make it pop despite the coldness, without being overwhelmingly sweet). Poured into popsicle molds and put them in the deep freeze overnight. Wehn I finally crawled out of bed at 2pm, and despite the below freezing temperatures outside, I grabbed one of each pops and tested them. The creaminess of the vanilla in the tea, mixed with the smoothness of the black base, the pops really didn’t need the condensed milk! I prefer them with just the vanilla syrup, actually. In fact, next time I’ll cut the syrup in half and do just 1 TBSP.

Of course, after testing the popsicles, I had to warm up, so I made a cup of this hot. And by cup I mean my 750ml teapot-sized-mug, haha! 2 heaping tsp (so close to 1 TBSP I guess?) to 750ml of water, steeped for 2.5minutes at 175F. Beautiful orange liquor with a sweet and creamy scent very much like melted creamsicles. First sip was pure orange goodness with a bit of vanilla left on my breath at the end of the sip. As it cooled I got more vanilla notes, and a slightly malty black note as well. Janet mentioned Sri Lanka, but I don’t remember if she was referring to this or to the back based Sidney Sunrise (which I also picked up even though I have a bit of the rooibos base left. The black base just smells nicer, though I’ll keep the roobios based blend on hand for the sake of having a tasty caffeine free option. but I digress.), but I almost wonder if the base to this one is an assam?

I’ll definitely be popping over to the shop on Friday on my way to see the pony (since he’s boarded literally across the highway from Janet’s shop, so when he’s going good and steady in the cart I want to attempt to drive him over and tie him to a post outside her shop, haha) to get more, both for drinking and for popsicle making. This may be my favourite non-spiced orange tea, very slightly beating out the blood orange pu’erh I keep on hand.

Flavors: Cream, Malt, Orange Zest, Vanilla

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 3 tsp 25 OZ / 750 ML
Sil

Need to try this one someday :)

Bear With Me

I’ll make sure to add it to your box (seeing as there’s not a heck of a lot else I have TO add to it so far, haha!)

OMGsrsly

That sounds so good! :) I need to make another Island Pilgrimmage soon, I think.

Bear With Me

Let me know when and I’ll gladly play Taxi Driver :D The only downside is Janet’s closed sundays and mondays :( (and would you like me to throw a sample into your box with the carrot cake?)

OMGsrsly

Umm, ok! :) (Twist my rubber arm!) I’d probably end up coming over on a Saturday, just because most things are open..

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100

I LOVE jin xuan! The milky creaminess, sweet buttery notes, and crisp finish make it feel like I’m drinking creamy yogurt.

After spending a few months bed-ridden after a really serious ankle injury and not being able to make tea to ease my deep depression, as soon as I was able to start making tea again I took full advantage! Tonight is the first time I’ve been able to sit down and do a gungfu session, and I reached for the sample I got from Tea from Taiwan of jin xuan to celebrate.

The sample was packaged in a single serve vacuum sealed package, enough for two gungfu sessions (I tend to use less leaf when doing oolongs this way because of the shape of my little glass gungfu pot. Too much leaf, while giving a more authentic steeping session, unfurls to block the sieve in the spout, and I can’t actually get any tea out! haha) or for one mug. the leaf is tightly curled and bright green with a lovely sweet cream scent as soon as I tore the packaging. the vacuum sealing was a smart move on the company’s part, and protected the leaf well during transit. There was minimal leaf “dust” at the bottom of the envelope.

I typically do 5 steeps in the following order:

30sec
30sec
1min
1min30sec
45sec

The liquor retained the thick creamy sweetness right through to the 5th steep, and I’m actually going to lay the leaves out to dry so I can use them some more in the morning. I’m really impressed, other milky oolongs I’ve tried have “dulled down” by the 3rd steep, but this one has some staying power. By steep 3 there was a bit of vegetal notes coming through, like sweet peas with fresh churned butter. Simply lovely!

I’m definitely enamored with this tea, and I’m glad I have enough left for a few more steepings. It’s definitely one to restock!

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100

Finally getting around to reviewing this. I got a sample from the Vancouver Meet crew a while back, but drank it too fast to manage a tasting note, haha!

First off, I definitely didn’t have optimum steeping parameters. I’m still laid up after trashing my ankle (though at this point the ankle is pretty good, but I still have hellish nerve pain in the thigh of that leg), so being able to do a decent steep is REALLY tough. I tend to stick with teas that I can just toss in a filter bag and throw in a leakproof travel mug with hot water, and basically forget about it. Normally not the best idea with blacks, but after getting my package from OMGsrsly and being punched in the face with grapefruity goodness as soon as I opened the box, I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait to have a cup of grapefruity bergamoty amazingness.

My filter bag has been in my 16oz leakproof mug for probably 20 minutes (water was originally about 90C so that I could drink it fairly quickly) and while it’s a tad pithy at this point, it’s not really bitter or astringent. It’s still incredibly juicy with a burst of citrus vibrancy, the grapefruit pithiness is just starting to show itself. But I like the pithiness, it’s part of why I like grapefruit so much. I’ve been living off of grapefruit juice and fruit cups (Costco has individual servings of grapefruit segments in white grape juice, so it’s easy for my mum to throw a couple of the cups in a cooler with a cold pack for me to eat while she’s at work) while i’ve been laid up. I can’t get enough of the stuff.

My only qualm with this tea is the fact that it’s only available at Bayswater in Vancouver, and I never get over to the mainland. But that’s why I love OMGsrsly so much, she makes a killer tea mule! ;)

Thanks again buddy, this has really made my “stall rest” a LOT better (and my room smells freaking incredible!)

Now to get around to trying all of the samples OMGsrsly sent (that she received from Sil and graciously shared with some of us Islanders via the package sent to my place) and add to my list of places I want to order from after the holidays as a reward for not causing mayhem while being laid up.

OMGsrsly

Haha! Not a problem. :) I totally forgot to get myself some of this one. I think I need to make another trip out to Kits.

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steepster ate my note! Or I fell asleep and someone turned off my computer for me and I lost it…. yeah, that sounds like what must’ve happened.

I’ve been stuck in bed with a trashed ankle for 6 weeks now. Fell off of JAva and got my toe caught on part of the stirrup, so as I fell, my whole body weight came down on my ankle, snapping it back. Not a single bone is broken, but I shredded the ligaments and totally dislocated the foot. Let’s just say that if I didn’t have skin, I wouldn’t have a foot right now…6 screws, 2 plates, and a couple different casts later, and I’m put back together (for now). second surgery in January to remove the hardware, more time off the foot, and then a TON of physio. Ugh. Breaking my ankle would have been WAY better. Ah well, worst injury in 16+ years of horses so I shouldn’t complain too much.

The worst part of this bedrest has been my inability to make tea! I’m stuck in bed, less than 10 feet from my tea wall and my kettle, but crutches + trying to fill a kettle/make tea = bad times. Dad got a wheelchair for me, and I can finally make tea myself! still need someone to fill my kettle for me though…

But because it’s still tough to make a proper cuppa, i’ve been living off of teas and tisanes that I can toss in a filter bag, toss in a leakproof mug, then toss across to my bed. This has been one of my go to choices.

I LOVE mulberry leaf. It’s sweet and buttery and feels a bit rich. it’s a comforting thing. I enjoy Mulberry Magic, but find it to get a tad bitter after a while, possibly something about the macademia nuts in it. I really really like the pistachio substitution, it’s a lot creamier, doesn’t get bitter no matter how long it steeps, and the chamomile has been an added comfort that takes the edge off of any soreness I’m feeling.

All in all, the perfect balance of feeling like i’m drinking proper tea, easy grab and go, satisfying my sweet tooth, and bringing comfort and warmth to an otherwise depressing existence.

Bonnie

How horrible to be immobilized! Bad for your horse too! Steepster will keep you company. Read the puerh and newbie boards to get free tea if you haven’t checked that out. Get well!

Bear With Me

Thanks Bonnie. I’m on week 8 of being laid up, dealing with the worst nerve pain I’ve ever had now, so REALLY hoping that tomorrow’s assessment with the physiotherapist can bring me some good news.

I’ll totally check out the boards, thanks :) Haven’t been on them much lately. was avoiding the black friday posts, haha

Bonnie

I had a $10 off coupon from Verdant and picked up my staple Laoshan Black Tea. Bought their view Yu Lu Yan Cha Chai also. I don’t buy artificially flavored tea’s. Prefer puerh, great black yea and natural blends. Need to start writing on my blog again. teaandincense.com I often have pain from migraines and fibromyalgia. Hope yours goes away quickly! Tea helps!

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83

Thank you OMGsrsly !!!!!!!!!! After the Vancouver meet (that I sadly had to miss due to money issues/dog sitting) Heather was sent back to the Island with goodies for me. AKA The Vancouver meet group spoiled me and I’m now drowning in grapefruity goodness.

I LOVE grapefruit, can’t say it enough! OMGsrsly had some issues making this one work, so I jumped at the chance to try some myself! Pithy isn’t a bad thing for my palette, it’s one of the reasons why I enjoy grapefruit as much as I do! It has a wider range of flavours to it than other citrus, so it feels like it offers a lot more to different uses.

With the warning that this can be pithy and the black base can be astringent, I decided to play around with a smaller amount of leaf and lower temperature water to start, so I can make the most of the sample she sent me. So I used about 1/2tsp of leaf in about 5oz of water (eyeballed it in my gung fu pot, and then poured into a glass bubble cup from DAVIDs)and used water heated to approximately 185F (white tea setting on my Breville variable temp kettle). Steeped for about 2 minutes, and it’s perfect!!!!

The black base is definitely bold, with a slight earthiness to it that’s accentuated by the pithy grapefruit. there’s the tangy POP at the end of the sip that lingers a bit on the tip of my tongue. It reminds me a bit of Silk Road’s Golden Phoenix pu’erh, but without the spices that are in GP. It’s the same richness with the pop in the aftertaste.

I really like it, and see myself getting more if I manage to get over to Steam at some point. Might need to make it happen sometime between now and Christmas and pair it with a visit with my younger sister (who is over in Vancouver for her first semester of University).

Thanks a bunch OMGsrsly for this one! Can’t wait to see how it works cold steeped too :D

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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Bio

Part of the Heffalumps and Woozles brigade!
I’m a tea addict. Oolong, Pu’ehr, and Lapsang Souchong are my favourites. I share tea with my pony, Java (Competes under the name “Bear With Me”). I’m pretty sure I’m the only person ever to buy matcha JUST for their horse, haha!

I’m on the hunt for the PERFECT peach tea. Something juicy that screams “I am PEACH!” when you take a sip. Ideally a Green, White, Oolong, or Yellow base (I find peach black teas to be too much tannin not enough peachy goodness). Suggestions are appreciated!

Bear with me (haha) while I update my cupboard. I recently did a huge reorganization and my cupboard is no longer accurate.

Location

Vancouver Island, BC

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