Epicure

Epicure’s version of “Sleepytime Tea.” This version is a tad tart from some underlying hibiscus. It’s just okay for me. I prefer Celestial Seasonings as theirs has spearmint in it and this one doesn’t. I find mint to be very soothing and comforting in general and this one could have really benefitted from the brightness that mint would have brought to it.

Another tea from the coffee/tea bar where I work.
Predominantly peppermint. That’s the star of the show here. Has a backdrop of something vegetal which I believe is the dandelion root. I get no lemon at all.
Pleasant enough but not very bright. I prefer a pure peppermint tea, the vegetal flavour in this one makes it taste a little muddled.
I can’t speak to how well it works for digestion but if it is effective for that then that’s a bonus for sure.
Overall, this tea is non-offensive, if not a tad boring and at Epicure prices, I would just buy a more cost-effective box of tried and true plain peppermint tea.

Cold Brew Sipdown (944)!

This cold brew really feels like an accomplishment because it wasn’t just a sample that I finished off but a whole tin of it – go me! The last brew was really nice too; more chocolate and hazelnut-y tasting rooibos with a hint of mint. The mint really faded in intensity quite a lot over time, but that just exposed more of the rooibos flavour and it turns out that the base is a really nice rooibos profile.

Don’t know when/if I’ll ever have the chance to replenish this, but I might consider it if I didn’t have to commit to another full tin – it grew on me near the end.

Lovely cold brew from yesterday – just complete perfection in terms of the fudge-like chocolate note but offset by a delightful cooling menthol finish. Super smooth, and now that I’m nearing sipdown territory it’s getting a little melancholy…

Another one of those very simple/basic and reliable teas that I was talking about as a safe choice for an evening cup of tea that I would know exactly what to expect from. Smooth, rich/dense cup of chocolate (kind of that powdery “grocery store quality” milk chocolate) with a hint of mint. Simple – and satisfying because of that simplicity.

There’s an epicure building on my walk to work every day, so for the last three(ish) weeks I’ve walked by it and had the same thought – “Oh, I have an epicure tea that I haven’t had in a while… I should brew a cup of it!”.

And then I never do.

Well, I was hunting through my stash yesterday for a tin of something else and I found my tin of this tea – which was enough of a reminder for me to actually brew it up and squelch that nagging thought that pops of whenever I pass by that building. The cup itself was perfectly average, with a very mild and mediocre mint and chocolate profile (with hints of something more nutty). It worked as a sweet treat to distract me from all the other goodies I’ve stocked my new apartment with because “it’s Christmas and that means lots of festive treats and snacks around the house!” and that’s really probably the best thing that I could ask of this blend right now.

That and shaking that thought every time I pass by the epicure building.

Latte!

I mean, this was bound to happen eventually because mint chocolate is the best pairing, made only better when you add milk to it to boost that creaminess! And that’s what this latte was; a sweet and highly smooth explosion of milk chocolate and cooling, crisp mint in your mouth! Simple in nature, and impactful in flavour.

More peppermint agave experimentation.

So I made this one in the teapress with some almond milk and a splash of peppermint agave. I’ve been struggling to think about what to use the peppermint agave with, but this seems like a logical pairing to me. I mean, it already has mint in it – this will just make that element more intense, right?

I got impatient to drink this one, and I took a sip right after pushing the press down which was a mistake because I actually burnt my tongue very badly and have been dealing with the consequences of that choice for the last three days now. Flavour wise, once this cooled down, it was great too! Definitely a richer mint taste, but the following flavours of milk chocolate and nuts were really complimentary too and I liked the stronger/intense mint with the honeyed quality of the rooibos base a lot too. I don’t think I actually have a plain rooibos on hand at the moment, but maybe this is something to look at pairing with a more simple flavoured rooibos since it did work so nicely?

Yet another late night cuppa chocolate mint tea!

I wasn’t kidding when I said that this is quickly becoming my favourite combination of flavours for the evenings! This one is nice because, unlike DT’s Snow Day, it’s a much softer flavour so it has those sweet and cooling elements but it’s more gentle. Because of that gentle quality, I think I works better for the quieter/calmer evenings when you want something peaceful. You know, delicate tea kind of evenings verses robust tea evenings. Does that makes sense?

Man, I don’t remember where this one came from at all…

I’m enjoying it a fair bit tonight though; it’s essentially like DAVIDsTEA’s Mint Chocolate Rooibos, and all the others like it – not unique at all, really. However, it’s definitely coming off as a lot richer tasting to me tonight than I normally get from DT’s blend. The chocolate is just stronger, and very natural tasting. I think the mint could potentially be a bit stronger, but it is present and does compliment nicely. All in all, it’s very much like an After Eight chocolate bar – which is what the name is a reference to, but a little more boozey tasting? Quite good, and nice for the evening.

Sipdown (126)!

Stole a sample of this from my mom’s stash and just as quickly as it was stolen it was finished off as a cold brew. To be blunt, I’ve had both better and worse mint chocolate cold brews (and teas just in general). There’s nothing specifically bad about this blend, other than perhaps a very slight metallic kind of taste but none of the flavours pop because none of them are really rich. They’re just… there.

I don’t care which flavour, but something in this blend has to be kicked up a notch for it to really do its job and appeal to me. It could be the mint, chocolate or maybe even a third flavour like vanilla but if none of the flavors step up this tea just taste flat.

I haven’t posted on Steepster in a while because I am now on a self-inflicted caffeine hiatus until further notice, hopefully at least a month. This weekend I very much over-did it with two grande tea lattes from Sbux and kept the teabag in both of them for the duration of drinking them…let’s just say the result was a massive panic attack (also from missing the bf, who has been out of town for over a week) and insomnia from 2 am until around 5:45 am that night. Worse is that I know how caffeine sensitive I am, and it just was not a great choice on my behalf to have that much in one day. Not the best time I’ve had haha, ended up skipping Monday morning from work to sleep ugh. So now I am off caffeine and on herbal teas only, cold turkey. I have also been making some lifestyle changes this week in terms of what I have been eating and it has been positive as well, not as many carbs and many more greens ftw!

This is the tea I chose for today to help me deal with caffeine withdrawal (pounding headache, general crankiness) and a weather change headache on top of that one. This tea is still quite good, I am running low in the tin and might restock at one point. It is a relaxing ginger blend with lots of spice. Now to sit and fester with my caffeine withdrawal and keep on working on a computer screen, very good for headaches. Sigh. At least it’s sunny outside. I miss actual tea :( see previous notes on this tea!

Haven’t logged a note in a while..the yard is keeping me busy and went to the lake this weekend with no internet..and I really didn’t drink much tea this weekend either haha. Well now it’s Monday and tea is in order..had a cup of this in the morning as I had a terribly upset stomach last night, no idea what it was from, but it was short lived and so far no after effects are present today. It was very spicy and clogged up my steeper, but worth it. Now onto peppermint tea, as my head is feeling strange (probably from my allergies lol) so I will try to straighten it out with tea before resorting to a darn allergy pill. Happy Monday! See previous notes on this tea.

After a sleepless night and slogging through 3 and a half hrs of work with my head feeling triple its size (sinuses are quite inflamed) I am at home taking the rest of the day off to recuperate. My sinuses are finally beginning to clear (I think) so I will continue downing tea until I can breathe normally again lol. This tea seems to help a lot with its ginger and lemon. Hoping I am improved by tomorrow as I tried to go to a walk in clinic today but they are all packed and I don’t want to give anyone there my sickness, or catch something worse. Fingers crossed! I hate feeling like crap. Ugh. See previous notes on this tea (as this note isn’t really a review lol).

Le sigh. I caught a terrible cold from my bf this weekend..luckily his is subsiding, and mine is about 2 days behind, so I should be out of the worst of it by Thursday. Today wasn’t the best day though. Hacking up my lungs at work=not fun. So now I have been guzzling tea and am ready for bed from good ol Tylenol cold/flu. And my cough has slightly subsided from this tea with tons of honey and the tylenol lol. Also had some Sichuan Caravan earlier and it was stellar as usual, but am too tired to write a note on it. Off to bed to fight this terrible cough! See previous notes on this tea, it’s really quite good with honey :)

Another Epicure tea from my order :) I had to try this one, ginger herbals tend to draw my attention, mostly because I love ginger! I am almost heading to bed, so this note will be short tonight haha. Basically this tea can be very strong if you use too much leaf, and can also clog fine strainers such as my Finium. But by using a metal brew basket or in this case a fillable bag tonight, it is much better, actually a lot better with the bag than a basket. The bag keeps the fine floaties contained and tones down the crazy spiciness this tea has going on. Gingery, spicy, strong. Some peppery flavor from the lemongrass, a lot of ginger. However with honey added it turns into a milder, more friendly brew, and while I like ginger, this one without sweetener has a LOT of spice. Tumeric could also be the culprit, I think this is my first tumeric tea haha. Anyways, with honey, it is awesome. Soothing, if you will. Haha :D anyways, enough babbling for one night, tasty tea!

Backlog – I sipped this down last night when it was soo hot in my house lol, about 29.5 C according to the T-stat. Gahh it was much too hot for hot tea, but I had this anyways, mostly to help with my heartburn that randomly showed up last night. And it did help a bit :) and it was a tasty sipdown too! I will consider getting a bit more of this at some point, as it’s a nice not-too-floral tasting herbal, and it was a good choice for guests that come over and want a relaxing herbal that also looks nice. See previous notes on this tea!

Happy long weekend!! After working two extra hours at work the past 2 days (on projects that were not really mine as well, very aggravating), I finally can relax for 3 whole days. Worked on the raspberry cane pruning tonight after a nap, and was going to have a nice hot toddy but had to take an allergy pill after working outside lol so that won’t be happening…instead, I made a nice cup of this caffeine free tea for before bed.

This is a refreshing and relaxing cup, like Mother’s Little Helper by DavidsTea but without the valerian and a bit more floral. Perfect tea to unwind from the stressful week and hopefully help clear up the final vestiges of my cough, which is still kicking around a little bit haha. See previous notes!

I finally picked up my Epicure order from my cousin at a surprise birthday party for him last night! Been looking forward to trying the 3 teas I ordered back in January :D this is actually the second one I’m trying, I tried Soothing earlier today but was not at my best to review it (bad headache) and I think I oversteeped it. Hopefully will review that one later tonight!

Anyways, this tea! I actually tried a sample of this at the Epicure party and quite liked it, so I ordered about 80g of it or something. It came in a little bag in a nice tin, so I dumped it into the tin immediately. The dry leaves are a colorful blend of flowers, so pretty! It smells minty and a bit floral.

I steeped it for around 5 to 6 minutes with boiling water, it’s recommended to brew for 5-7 minutes by the company. The liquor turns a nice light pink color from the hibiscus, and it smells again like mint and a variety of flowers again.

As for the flavor, this is quite a nice mild tea. The mint is present but not overpowering, and I taste some chamomile and yes, it’s a bit tart from the hibiscus. This actually reminds me a lot of Mother’s Little Helper, but not as much mint and more flowers and no valerian. It’s relaxing and summery and perfect for this ridiculously warm day we are having FINALLY! It actually feels like spring! Only sad part is that it will probably snow and be -30 again in a few weeks :( oh well, that’s AB! A tasty tea and I think I will have no trouble getting through this tin!