Culinary Teas

Bleh – my house feels like it’s boiling! The thermostat is set to 75F/24C, and it’s always up to 4 degrees Celsuis hotter in my room than the main floor… so I’ve been writing my thesis from the couch instead of my bed. Many pluses, including proximity to kitchen therefore less distance to travel with tea/to get more tea, and reduced likelihood of thesis-fatigue-induced-napping (the heat has really curbed this one… too uncomfy to sleep!)

Anyways. For some reason, I’m drinking hot tea. While to be fair… it’s lukewarm now, but I really should have stuck some in the fridge so I wasn’t dying so much. It doesn’t help that laptops get HOT when working constantly for like, 10 hours…

Whoops, rather off-topic. So this tea. Sipping it down (821), minus the Sil portion. It’s pretty tasty, as caramelly/butterscotchy teas go. Quite enjoyable, and astringency-free with a short infusion.

This one was good. I drank it a bit absentmindedly while the boy was over, but I recall it tasting better than I expected; like a light, creamy toffee. The second infusion was also tasty! For some reason, I had previously dismissed Culinary Teas as being a company I’d perhaps want to order from, but I am now wondering if I’ve done so in error, because I’ve rather enjoyed most of the teas I’ve recently tried. The last one I have from Jackie is on the list for a bit later tonight (gotta get through some re-steeps of the previous ones first) – maybe I’ll check my swap list to see if I have any others lurking about that I could try.

Thanks again Jackie T :)

Sipdown! 816. 800 by the end of July? Haha, seemingly simple goal but given my failures so far…!

Anyhow, I enjoyed this more today than previously, though I didn’t really taste maple. Just a pleasant flavoured black tea.

I’m assuming that this tea is what I got a sample of, not Maple Cream. :D Thanks for yet another one from Culinary Teas, Jackie T :)

The first sip of this one, for whatever reason, instantly made me think of 52teas. My suspicion is that something about the flavouring is very similar to a 52teas blend… though I’m not certain which one. I’d say Pancake Breakfast, but I’ve actually only had that tea maybe once. It actually may be Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake (RIP) that I’m remembering.

Anyhow, this tea is probably better than the maple ones I have tried from Tealux, but it doesn’t quite satisfy me as a maple tea should. The flavouring is fairly weak (although not bad), and there’s some astringency despite my short steep. This is probably my least favourite of the five Culinary Teas I’ve tried recently (I don’t know if I’ve tried others previously… memory problems!) It’s still ok, though.

ETA: Bleh, not a fan of the second infusion. Astringent and almost no flavour.

Sipdown! 820.

I like this about as much as last time. It’s tasty enough, but I’ve had others quite similar. Not to say that I wouldn’t happily drink it again, but it’s just not super unique for me. Candy strawberry flavour with a slightly astringent base.

Another tea from Jackie T :D

This tea smells and tastes very much like other strawberry teas I’ve had recently. Like Yaya Strawberry (is that a tea? I’m too tired to look it up. Although whatever I’m remembering was green). Also like… something something Strawberry… something. From Sil. By Majesteas. Ah – Leslie Grove Strawberry Patch! There’s hope for my memory yet (watch me get it wrong).

Anyhow, basically yes, the flavour here is familiar. It’s candy strawberry. But the big difference I’m finding here is that there is very little or no astringency. Woo! Of course, it got only 2 minutes of hot water, but if my memory serves (hmm…), LGSP had some serious astringency issues. So, this tea is superior in that sense. However, I don’t think that this is much like strawberry shortcake… perhaps the strawberries on the top of shortcake, but I’m not getting any cakey flavours. DavidsTea’s Strawberry Shortcake was better in that regard for me.

Thanks Jackie!

ETA: Yum! Tasty second infusion.

Sipdown! 812.

Hmm, after having had 52teas’ blueberry blends recently, this tea is no longer quite so enjoyable. Ah well, still good, just not enough blueberry flavour for me! All gone now though, and the rest is off to Sil…. because eventually we’ll meet up again! Stupid thesis…

Delicious! This rivals Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish as the best blueberry tea I’ve tried (for a while DavidsTea’s Blueberry Jam held that spot… until the stevia became too much). There’s a strong, delicious fresh blueberry aroma and flavour, and although the cream isn’t overly apparent, it’s present as a softening of what could otherwise be a tangy flavour. This is definitely a well-done tea. Thanks for passing some along Jackie T!

ETA: Also a mediocre second infusion.

Sipdown! 818. Teas from Amoda came, so numbers went back up again. Le sigh.

Anyhow, I ened up drinking this one chilled and though I think it’s better hot, it was still pretty good! All malty, nutty goodness, which yeah, was a bit strange to have in a cold beverage. I’m such a fan of nutty/sweet desserty blacks, haha :D

Trying a whole bunch of teas from Jackie T today! Thanks so much!

I couldn’t smell much from this one while steeping, but after it had cooled a bit – yum!! Definitely nutty, malty, pecan pie. This is pretty good – there’s a bit of astringency, but I imagine if I went with my intended time of a 2 minute infusion, it would mostly disappear. I would love to put a bit of cream into this tea, but I’m afraid that the flavours, which aren’t super strong, wouldn’t hold up to it, but luckily it is quite enjoyable plain as well.

I would happily drink this one as a travel mug staple – there’s enough flavour and a twinge of sweetness, which is pretty much what I look for in that sort of tea. Sadly, I only have enough for another cup (+one for Sil), so will enjoy it while it lasts!

ETA: Mediocre second infusion. Not unexpected for a flavoured black.

Earl grey tea has been a favorite of mine since I was little, but I haven’t had much experience with EGC so I ordered a few different ones to try out. I hope to add one to my regular rotation of teas just to change things up a little. I’m looking forward to the day where I can compare these side by side, but I’ll have to wait for now since I’m ready to head off traveling again soon.

My first sip of this was when it was still very hot and was surprised by the lack of astringency that I normally notice when I drink an EG before it has cooled off. This was one creamy EGC, I got the vanilla straight off, but it completely takes over this blend. I really like the black base they used for this although it doesn’t stand out as much as I would have liked, this ends up being pretty mild and I like my EG a bit stronger. This may change if I go with a longer steep time, for my first cup I went on the lower end to be safe.

I think that this would make a great tea latte so I’ll have to play around with that soon.

I really wanted to save this sample until we had a warm day so I could make iced tea, but I had 2 lbs of fresh strawberries calling my name this morning and just had to drink this with them. Since is was in the low 60s today it ended up being another hot tea day. I probably shouldn’t complain, but I really really wish we’d have some warmer weather. It is absolutely not supposed to be in the 50s-60s in the beginning of June. I’m a southern girl, we don’t like cold weather, and June is suppose to hover around the mid 90s so I can run through the sprinkler and goof off with the baby. So far this summer has not resembled summer at all, but the strawberry tea helped a little.

I was pretty impressed with this one since it was the first strawberry tea that I have come across that didn’t taste completely fake. I love that it had actual freeze dried strawberries in it as well as the natural flavoring, i’m sure that made all the difference in the flavor. I didn’t find this overly fruity, but it sure had a nice creaminess to it that reminded me of cake. I think that this would have reminded me more of a strawberry short cake if the floral flavors hadn’t taken over once the tea started to cool. This makes me excited to try some more teas from Culinary Teas.