Bayswater Tea Co.

Really didn’t like the cold brew of this so I figured a hot brew was probably out of the question (if it was piercingly hibiscus cold, it was bound to be hellish hot) but actually I think the hot brew was, super shockingly, better!

It was like hot pink lemonade, similar to DT’s Pink Flamingo blend. Only difference is this was more hibiscus and less citrus. Pink Flamingo is definitely better than this one in pretty much all regard, but the mug I this I steeped up was at least drinkable which is more than I can say for the cold brew.

I guess I’ll be finishing this one off hot. Definitely not something I was expecting to do.

The last one from Courtney!

Visibly, this one has a TON of lemon grass and hibiscus and stuff in it, so I was definitely a little scared of making a hot cup so I took the route of cold brewing. I have to say, I didn’t really love this one so much as a cold brew; it was super, super hibiscus tart and after a few forced gulps I dumped out the majority of it.

Sorry Courtney, while I totally appreciate receiving it I can sorta see why this one wasn’t so much for you. That’s ok though; I’m willing to play around to see if I can get it to work better for me. It just sucks because last night I really could have used something cool and refreshing to sip on.

Last night I had a definite not awesome evening. It started with balancing the cash profit for the day and doing the closing paperwork. One person does the cash, and the other does the paperwork – and then at the end we both come up with a total number for all the profits for the day, and they’re supposed to match. Except they didn’t. My number for cash was $250 less than the paperwork number. That’s a big difference.

It took an extra hour of Bobbi and I scouring the paperwork and recounting every till to figure out what was wrong; turns out neither of us has screwed up – our assistant manager did earlier in the day when he was doing a deposit. He dropped five $50 bills ($250) in an earlier deposit but had incorrectly filled out the paperwork for his deposit (he forgot to record the 50s, but recorded all the other bill/coin he dropped) so that money was unaccounted for. We had to call him at 10PM and explain to him how big of a fuck up this was; not just because it screwed with our paperwork but because the inaccurately recorded deposit is sealed in the vault that Brinks collects – and which cannot be retrieved by store employees, regardless of whether they’re a Keyholder/Ass. Store Manager/Manager or otherwise. It through our whole night off.

And then, on top of things I ended up forgetting a completely full 2L of Milk at the bus stop which made me feel like a total idiot, and then for the cherry on top (because FUCK THE NEW BUS ROUTES) I got on the wrong bus home and ended up taking a 40 minute bus ride and getting off the bus farther away from my house then when I had started (I normally don’t take the bus home because I’m only a 15 min. walk away, but I had armfuls of groceries I was nervous about having to carry home). God Damn.

Plus side? There was tea and eggs waiting for me when I got home! My swap from Cameron B. had arrived, and Tre had made midnight over easy eggs for me because he know my day was stressful! Aww!

I still think this tea is weird.

It’s super warm here, and there’s a heat wave this weekend (it’s been the dryest June ever I think, all the berries in the forest are sad…), so I’m drinking iced teas.

The tea still tastes toasted, kinda like the rice in genmaicha, but I do like the mango flavour.

I used 1 tbsp in “some” hot water (to the top of the logo in my DavidsTea steeper thingamabob), over ice, and topped up my glass with cold water to make 16 oz. Also 1/4 tsp sugar.

I only have one serving of this one left, and I don’t think I’ll be buying it again. While I do like mango, the toasted tea flavour is not for me.

I tried this cold steeped yesterday, and… it’s weird. It only steeped for about 5 hours, in a DavidsTea bag in a thermos filled with ice and water. But I think the weirdness is the oolong. It’s slightly toasted, and combined with the mango and passion fruit flavour it’s quite odd. I had troubles drinking it all, when I had an iced Crio Bru and coffee sitting there, as well. :)

Smelling it, now that it’s been in the bag rather than the tin, it smells a bit like kombucha! So weird.

I definitely need to try this one hot, as well as iced. Maybe the flavour will be different if I do that.

Sipdown (145)

Thank you Sil for passing this along from, I’m assuming OMGsrsly. Thank you both :)

This is a tasty tea. Today, I am getting a little smoke (perhaps from using the same mug I had lapsang in earlier) which is highlighting the sweet maple element. The taffy is coming through as a burnt sugar/caramel flavor mixed with the rich maple. All in all, very nice though there are better maples teas out there.

So I am super confused by the popcorn in this blend because I don’t really think it adds anything. With that said, this is still a very nice maple tea. It has cinnamon in it which couples nicely with the sweet maple. I enjoy it and wouldn’t turn down a cup if offered but I don’t think I would seek it out either. If I am being honest, if I were to get any maple tea from Vancouver it would probably be Maple Seduction from Steam but this is a pleasant alternative and one I am very grateful to Sil for the chance to try. (162)

I made this more than 12 hours ago in my carry mug and just remembered about it now. It is still warm so yay for efficient thermoses! I am especially happy because this is the last I have of this blend and it would have been really hard to not get to enjoy it. As it is now, I am savoring every last sip of the sweet but toasty deliciousness. I will definitely see this again because it is awesome and I will definitely miss it now that its gone. Thank you Cavocorax for sharing!! 168.

Oh no! I never tried this as a latte. Well, I guess I have to get more of it now :P

Having this iced and the flavors have melded together to create a creamy flambeed nougat dessert tea. Yum :)

So I have tried (and loved) both of these two teas separately. However, I liked them so much, I never got to try out OMGsrsly’s beloved combination of the two since I drank them up too quickly on their own. Luckily, Cavocorax was sweet enough to share some of the preblended mix so I wouldn’t be tempted to drink them separately again.

Honestly, this is VERY good. At first I am noticing the delicious creme brulee sugar crust – all warm and gooey and amazingly glazed. As I continue to sip, the sweet nougat appears and coats your mouth so that when you are all done, it is almost as if you had a tasty dessert treat. Thank you Cavocorax for sharing this with me! I look forward to trying this as a latte next :)

(156)
I forgot how much I liked this tea. It’s good! So good! Just add milk and you have a nice creamy, coffee-like substitute with cocoa notes in it. And maybe hazelnut? I’ll have to get more. Maybe someday Bayswater will ACTUALLY get their webstore going so that I can do so without relying on others to get it for me. :D

OMGsrsly generously sent me a sample of this fruity herbal. I was curious about this one when the group visited Bayswater, but was too chicken to buy some at the time. Now that I’m into iced teas I’m even more grateful for the chance to try this, as it makes an awesome cold steep.

The flavours are predominantly citrus and cranberry with a tiny amount of cayenne pepper that is not always present. The overall effect makes a tart, sweet, and refreshing cup.

Sample sipdown from OMGsrsly, my second creme brûlée tea of the night.

It’s a pretty potent tea. I definitely get that slightly bitter burnt caramel note.

It’s a very heady dessert tea that I wouldn’t mind having a small quantity of, but nothing I would want to drink regularly. I’d probably add a bit to my cart if I was ever going to place an order but I wouldn’t place an order just for this.

Thanks for sharing, OMGsrsly!

Funny, I just commented the other day that I’ve never tried a Bayswater tea before but last night when I was digging around in my sample basket I found this one from OMGsrsly!

I made it to drink while I finished up season one of SOA.

It tastes unique for sure….definitely sugary and a bit roasty and reminiscent of creme brûlée. I didn’t get the coffee feeling that everyone else mentions, but I have enough left to try another cup later.

Overall I enjoyed it! Thanks to OMGsrsly for sending along my very first Bayswater tea to try :)

I had a cup of this today and it was good but not as good as TRIPLE CHOCOLATE should be. Maybe it’s just me. I sent the last of it off to Shadowfall for a second opinion. :)

Latte of this one with dinner….added a few cacao nibs just to really make it chocolatey…sooo delicious…

hello friends… i’m sort of back. Moving and work have occupied much of my time the past week and i haven’t had much time to log or drink much tea. we have internet at home now, so that’s good news…however not being able to drink tea much has meant that my cupboard has imploded. I’m currently sitting at 242 with 2 orders and at least 1 swap still in bound. eep! Catching up on drinking notes, though only doing a few for the teas that i tried that were new or that i did something a little different with, as in the case of this one…which i finally made as a latte…and THAT ladies and gentlemen…is the way to drink this. Sooo much more yummy and delicious this way!

This would be better with some Cavalla added for REAL chocolate flavour!

Otherwise, this is a decent chocolatey coconutty tea, better with milk than without.

I’m probably going to keep a tbsp or so and send the rest in the box. I think it’s worth trying, although it’s not a favourite.

Made this morning, with cream. It’s a general sort of creamy chocolatey mildly coconutty tea. More chocolate because I added some Crio Bru to the steeping basket, which was nice.

I had it with a dollop of cream.

I don’t think I’ll get it again. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I always want to drink, like either Creme Brulee or Divine Temptation…

So this is interesting.

Dry, I really smell chocolate and coconut. Steeped (as a latte!) it’s kinda all blending together. However, it’s very dessert-y and in that way it’s quite tasty.

Would I get it again? No. Doesn’t measure up to the divine Creme Brulee/Divine Temptation mix. But it’s pretty good. :)

(Steeped as below and added to 8 oz microwaved almond milk because I’m lazy.)

I picked up some of this while I was out tea shopping for Sil and Keychange and picking up a scarf I forgot somewhere on the weekend… and I didn’t think I had tried it before, but I had.

Still, it is tasty. I brewed it hot and iced it well. Very refreshing, considering today was one of those fall days where the sun is out and really warm, but the breeze is quite brisk! My body doesn’t know what to do, so I end up being a sweaty mess. Teas like this are just what’s needed to rehydrate.

I had this tea hot again last night, and I really do prefer it this way. I finally got a kick of ginger nearing the bottom of my cup!

So I think I’ll hot steep the rest and pour it over ice/chill it in the fridge. Quite a tasty tea, especially with that ginger!

I’m having this hot tonight, and I must admit, I’m enjoying it more hot than I did cold! It’s like… the lime or margarita jelly beans. It’s an incredibly sweet flavour, with some ginger coming through gently in the background.

Yum!

Not sure I’d get it again, but I’ll definitely drink it all up. :)

This is pretty darn good! A lot sweeter than I was expecting. But! No hibiscus! Just rosehips. :)

It reminds me strongly of Numi Dry Desert Lime, only it’s not just lime – there’s lemongrass and rose hips and possibly other citrus peels as well. AND it’s fairly sweet for an unsweetened tea, unlike the mouth puckering sourness I was expecting.

Score!

Now to see how fast I truly drink this up. That will be the ultimate test of how much I like it.

(Cold brewed ~15 hours. 3 tbsp tea in 2 L water.)