Call Me Sweetea

TeaTiff TTB cuppa #5 & 6 on Monday 11/20/23

I loved this tea! Made the last of the bag as a 20 oz cuppa in my DT tumbler at work, also re steeped and drank 16 oz hot/plain mug.

The black tea base with the spicy really was a nice mouth/throat feel. Like that little punch of the red pepper flakes/pink peppercorn made it a nice cuppa to sip hot/plain throughout the end of my workday and then at home in the evening. (Thank goodness I don’t have sensitivity to caffeine.)

Sorry Dani is no longer making teas but glad to get to try some of her blends from the TTB and I think I did make a few orders back in the day so should go find those in my basement and see if this tea was one of them. :)

The TTB has arrived! So big, so many teas… no chance to try them all!
Tea #38

I would prefer a tea that would make “twin-Martin” or something like that. I need to split up as I am absolutely not keeping the pace at (in?) work.

Anyway, it’s quite yum tea. When I took the sniff, I notivced rather raisins, but when steeped it is almost cookie like and sipped it is cinnamon and chocolate chip cookies indeed. We call those cookies “addictive cookies” as you usually don’t pick just one when sipping the tea (or coffee). And they are great for dipping in preferred hot drink.
I have to say, in conclusion, that I enjoyed this tea and I would happily drink it again.

The TTB has arrived! So big, so many teas… no chance to try them all!
Tea #28

This sounded sooo good from the ingredients list. Orange, cacao, hazelnuts…

But sadly, in fact, it is very muddled tea, orange being very thin, cocoa was, luckily, without alcoholic aftertaste, but somehow fighting with the hazelnuts for the extra flavour. Both being present, but while drinking one sip was more like cocoa, second more hazulnut, they weren’t working together.

I am mostly sad for the orange, which wasn’t dominant at all, but also not present in taste, while in aroma it was certainly very nice and refreshing orange.

The TTB has arrived! So big, so many teas… no chance to try them all!
Tea #17

Okay, I think I finally found a tea from TTB that I will probably keep. Combination of black currant and earl grey (read bergamot) is unique, but actually working one!

The berries are just spot on, a little tart, a little chalky, but they give nice fruity vibes. The bergamot is opposite in the spectrum, refreshing and a little sour, but I actually liked this one. Only one thing is missing and was listed — creamy and vanilla notes. It was just smooth, which I assume is more because the Assam and Chinese black tea base used, instead of rough Ceylon one.

Sadly, I don’t remember the steeping parameters.

The TTB has arrived! So big, so many teas… no chance to try them all!
Tea #8

Well, honestly I have hoped to see some description or other notes about this tea, but… apparently nope.

So, every thing is up to me. It is, spicy tea by ingredients as well the scent; but no idea how strong it will be.

I took two teaspoons and steeped for around 3 minutes only (as recommended) and it was fine. It was great when hot, very warming and nice base assam tea, being strong and robust.As it was coling down, it started to be more spicy, I wold say ginger but there aren’t any! So, it was probably red pepper flakes and pink peppercorns. In the end it was really strong but I just finished the mug. I don’t understand that much to be honest, as the tea was already steeped?!

TTB
Bergamot and berries is what I taste here, not any vanilla. An enjoyable morning cuppa before it gets too terribly hot. Thanks for adding it to the box!

TTB tea!
I arrived home from a weekend away to a Huge box with lots of tea! I picked this one for an afternoon tea and it was ok, it was more chocolate the more it cooled, and I typically drink my tea hot. I did like the cinnamon in this blend, but overall I was looking for a bit more flavor for this blend since I thought I overleafed it.

TeaTiff Traveling Tea Box | No. 36

This had such a full, rich aroma as a dry blend, but tasting it now all of that sort of vanishes into this thin and tangy brew. There is a very light chocolate flavor, nothing like how chocolaty it smelled in the pouch though. It’s really a bit of a letdown. I’m honestly not sure I’ll finish this cup.

Sample from a TTB. The strawberry smells really candylike, and it tastes sweet and pleasant too. However the base tea seems pretty average. It’s a little thin and bitter and not exciting. I wish this delicious strawberry were paired with a better tea.

Was it butterscotchy? No, but it was like a warm spiced apple cake and I’m not mad at all. Super yummy!

Super sad the shop has closed, I love this blend.

Sky samurai was kind enough to send some tea my way, thanks! This one starts out promising with a nice strawberry smell and shortcake taste up front. But the lingering aftertaste is not pleasant. I might try cutting this with some lemongrass to counteract the astringent aftertaste. Or maybe I can pick the strawberry pieces out and add to a better base. The finish is disappointing as the dry leaf smells like a juicy strawberry :(

Lovely to see some green rooibos in the TTB! Unfortunately, this doesn’t turn out as light and lovely as many green rooibos teas. This one has hibiscus, which adds a lot more tartness than I’d prefer. It doesn’t allow the sweet, smooth green rooibos to shine. This just ended up sort of tart and plain.

I don’t usually go for coconut teas, but this one smelled absolutely incredible, so it’s the first one I tried from the TTB. Unfortunately the flavor doesn’t quite match up. I taste a lot of oolong, but it doesn’t taste the freshest. The coconut and fruit are there too, but again, not too special. The added flavors are too light, and the oolong isn’t a great one. It’s still always nice to try a new brand!

TTB

This is vaguely coconutty, but overall not very flavorful.

TTB #4

This smells delicious- sweet semi-realistic strawberry. Despite the sweetness of the aroma, I still added a sugar cube, as I was suspicious of how the flavor would translate.

Unfortunately, my suspicions were correct- this doesn’t taste nearly as good as it smells. Even the sugar couldn’t help temper the astringency. The strawberry flavor is barely noticeable.

Tea Theme (Not a sipdown yet): Tea with Honey

So the owner of Call Me Sweetea, Dani, finally closed shop for the foreseeable future. I am glad she is pursuing her future career aspirations but dang, I had just grown so attached to some of her blends: Believe, Cute, and Yum Cookies. I really dig the way she blended her teas with cocoa shells in black or herbal teas apparently. Anyways, I will probably sipping down what is in my stash this year and next year and morning my loss of them a little.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: The tea has some oolong, honey crystals and lavender in it and is pretty herbaceous. I think the honey crystals provide some extra floralness to the tea but it is not overly sweet. I am not particular fan of this type of oolong (I prefer more green or roasted oolongs, especially when they have floral or cinnamon or pastry notes). I haven’t done a second steep of the same leaves which could be better but I think it would lose most of the honey flavors.

The TTB tasting tour continues! I needed some caffeine today after a restless night, and the summery flavor vibes of this were appealing. Ultimately, it’s pleasant enough but doesn’t quite hit the spot for me. I think it’s because of the coconut cream pie flavoring – I would probably have enjoyed this more as a classic tropical oolong blend without the extra creaminess. BUT! I recognize that piña coladas are basically coconut milk + coconut cream + pineapple juice + booze and are beloved. So ymmv, if you enjoy a creamy tropical beverage you may enjoy this tea! I just tend to gravitate towards creaminess more for heavier flavors like coffee, chocolate, vanilla, etc. than for fruit.

Another fun try from the TTB! This one is infinitely better cold than it is hot. The flavors just don’t quite mesh until the tea cools. But once it does, it’s fruity, juicy, and tart. I get refreshing, generally tropical fruit vibes with sweet lychee and passion fruit that could just as easily be papaya or mango for all its distinctiveness. I like it well enough, it’s tasty, I just don’t love it.