Joy's Teaspoon

Sweet, mocha, creamy, chocolaty yummy-ness :)

Check out our video-tasting here: http://blip.tv/the-tea-show/episode-30-joy-s-teaspoon-s-lapsang-souchong-5539013

Thank for the sample from many months ago.

I find myself craving this tea when it’s cold outside. It is very smooth and flavorful.

Today was quite the adventurous tea day. Four new teas to sample (counting my early morning tea). This one is courtesy of QuiltGuppy! Thank you!

This was my late morning tea. I prepped this in a cup with my new bamboo strainer. 1 1/2 tsp tea, 6 oz cup, freshly boiled water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

This one has a rich chocolate taste. I could definitely get used to it. It is probably one of the best chocolate teas I have had to date. It is hard to compete with my favorite, though, on cost. If at some time I am planning an order from Joy’sTeaspoon, this will be on my order.

Much love to QuiltGuppy for sending me this generous sample!!
Upon opening the package I was hit with a wave of sweet fruity goodness that took me back to my vacation in Mexico many moons ago. Heaven!
Brewed, I quite enjoyed it (for a green anyhow!) but had a feeling that Mum would looooove it. I made her sample a sip and yuppers! Funny, the fruity teas that I don’t fall in love with, she does… I guess I’m beginning to know her tastes.
Anyhow, she asked if she could take the rest of the sample to work!! My MOM asked if she could take some looseleaf tea to work! I was floored. Of course, given that I like this tea, and really do recognize the exceptional quality… I agreed. Anything to support a fellow tea addict right? esp one who’s fought it so vehemently ;)
Oh yah the tea… The pear and pineapple are definitely in there. Pear stands in the forefront while the pineapple lends a stronger, distinct sweetness that lingers in the aftertaste- esp in the second steep. Kinda like what you’d find in an oolong tea yet not as round.
I’ll be kinda sad to let this one go but its for a good cause! thanks again QG!

I’m kinda in love with this tea. I wrote a song about it… I didn’t actually write a song about it. However, I have been admiring its beautiful golden buds, and sticking my entire nose into the package to breath in its earthy aroma. This is a gorgeous second flush Assam!

The infusion is a rich, dark amber color, and the flavor of the liquor is bold with mallt(y) and spicy notes. The finish is very clean and refreshing. There’s an underlying sweetness to this tea that makes it almost wine-like.

I could drink this tea all day long. I was so inspired that I created a recipe for Mangalam Assam Yellow Curry with Chickpeas and Spinach using this very tea. Check it out here if you like http://bit.ly/nlINXr .

Addition: This song is for Kashyap who claims that I can’t be a bona fide tea-nerd unless I actually do write a song about this tea. Here goes nothing…

clears throat

Mangalam Assam you are the bomb
You’re such a tippy tea
You are the one for me
Mangalam Assam

You’re golden buds are never duds
You are the best
Above the rest
Mangalam Assam

Grown in the lowland clay
I’d drink you everyday
With you I’ll always stay
Mangalam Assam

acoustic guitar solo

Second tea of the morning….

I am realizing that I have a ton of samples to get through, and I am in the mood for adventure. This one is long overdue, but I wanted to give it a fair trial. A big thank you to Uniquity for sending this in our Pre-Canada Postal Strike Swap (seems like forever ago!)

This is good! I do get the perfect hint of cranberry. Somehow the raspberry and pomegranate are more subtle. Not too tart, and not too sweet. It just adds a nice dimension to the tea base which complements the flavor well. I love it when the flavor and the base are so seemlessly paired.

24 oz teapot, 4 teaspoons tea, freshly boiled water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

This oolong really lives up to its name! It’s a beauty to be sure and I’m so grateful to the incredible Naomi of Joy’s Teaspoon for letting be one of the first to sample it. I adore the perfect balance of the antioxidant benefits of green tea, and the depth of flavor that comes from delicate fermentation you find in oolongs. I’m partial to oolongs, but make no mistake this oolong is special.

Blue Beauty is a gorgeous, medium bodied, floral oolong with vegetal and licorice root notes. I’m in no way a black licorice fan, but the licorice root flavor is very subtle and tasty in this tea. I brewed this tea at 185 degrees for 3 min. and I was able to get a solid four steeps out of the leaves. I was so sad to finally empty my infuser, but I’ll defiantly be placing an order for more very soon.

Please check out my website for a Sharp Cheddar Cashew Spread recipe that I created to pair with this wonderful tea:
http://bit.ly/ovHxSb

Thank you again Naomi for sharing this tea with me!

Backlogging from yesterday. Received a sample of this From Naomi – thank ya!
And I have to say, this is the best chocolate tea I’ve had! I decided to try this right after I was disappointed by Read My Lips chocolate tea from Davids Tea. I have to say in comparison, this isn’t strange artificial chocolate tasting me to me at all, it’s more like fresh baked brownies! Scent and taste. And it still tastes like tea, it’s a great balance. I added brown sugar to really make it a decadent treat. I didn’t add cream because I was out but I’m sure that would be amazing!

Received a sample of this from Naomi, thank you! This is a blend of rooibos and honeybush. There’s also lemon bits and pretty cornflower blossoms throughout. It smells like sweet lemons and vanilla cream with delicate herby notes.
The website recommends using 1 teaspoon per 6 ounces of water. I steep in increments of 8 ounces, though, since I always use my Breville. (The minimum amount of water necessary to make tea is 16 ounces for the Breville One-Touch tea maker.)
So I steeped 1 1/2 teaspoons per 8 ounces, at 205 degrees, (Joy’s Tea recommends steeping in the range of 203-212 degrees for this particular tea,) for 6 minutes to get the maximum flavor.
Steeps to an amber liquor. Smells just as beautiful as it did dry. Tastes lovely! This is the smoothest lemon tea I’ve ever had. It’s very naturally sweet. The texture is satisfying. The scent of the dry leaves didn’t carry over as boldy into the steeped tea as I thought it would, and I’d probably like it a wee bit bolder, but this is very enjoyable. It’s like the sweetheart of lemon teas. I feel like maybe it’s not named correctly, like the name should hint at it’s creamy humbleness. It really is a great balance of sweet and tart, with the perfect amount of herbiness and a smooth creaminess that makes it a mellow lemon tea easy to fall for.

I thought I wrote a note about this one before >_> This is great – you never would think it is a pu-erh. So to anyone drinking this, I wouldn’t say to judge what you think of pu-erh based off of it (like “omg i love pu-erh I’m going to buy 10 oz of blah-and-blah aged pu-erh!!”). Taste an unflavored pu-erh before you make that decision.

This was fantastic! Which is why I’m glad I finally got online to order a larger amount (I only had a sample size). The flavors just exploded in my mouth and I could not get enough! I really think this will need to be a staple in my cupboard.

This smelled amazing when I opened the sample tin. Once I brewed up a cup I wasn’t so sure if I would like it. I did, I did! This was actually a darn fine tea that relaxed me quite a bit. Very smooth and rich and super yummy. The lavender is wonderful…I didn’t get a purple liquid in my cup. :( I think I will need to add this one as a permanent tea in my cupboard!

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this delightful Darjeeling. So good! Light peppery taste (but not hot, just a pleasing spiciness) with woody undertones and a pleasing fruit note. A very nice muscatel to this Darjeeling. I like it very much.

I’m trying to drink down my stash so I feel less guilty about it, so my new rule is I have to pick something that I’m nearly out of or I haven’t tried before. I enjoyed this one, but I don’t know, the phrase that comes to mind is “not enough.” There’s not enough…something. I just don’t know what that something is. I don’t think this is one I’d want to restock.

Thanks, QuiltGuppy for sharing this with me!

What a surprise!
Not that it should be, I just was not expecting such a bold flavor from pear and spice. All the teas I have tried from Joy’s Teaspoon have been great. This is no exception. Black tea, with pear and cinnamon. A perfect combination in proper proportions. The pear and cinnamon are out front, and the pear holds it’s own. This could easily be too much of either but, like the porridge in baby bear’s bowl, it is just right. Dry the smell of pear slices (I had to look closely, I thought I was going to find some fresh, diced up) dominates. Steeped, the cinnamon takes over with the warmth of the water. A sip however yields a winning trifecta. Thanks QuiltGuppy, for hooking me up with yet ANOTHER fine tea!!!

I needed something to clear my palate from my soil sample/divot experience earlier.
This is perfect. Rich, ripe plum and black tea. Simple, satisfying, and a pleasure to behold.
Reminds me of my younger days and liberating a few ripe red plums from the neighbor’s tree across the street. Steeped, the smell takes me back to my grandmother’s kitchen, waiting patiently to enjoy a spoon full of warm plum preserves she has just canned. Ahh, the good old days.

I’ve had sencha paired with cherry blossoms (yum!)…and green tea paired with cherry flavor (yuck). This one is part of the latter category, but distinctly reminds me of the former. The cherry flavor is loud and vibrant, but not overwhelmingly “fake” like some fruit-flavored teas. It also possessed a very nice and creamy aftertaste. A darn good sakura knock-off.

Full Review: New Review: http://www.teaviews.com/?p=28059

Finally breaking my sample out! Thank you Naomi. =)
Very nice and refreshing. The pinapple and pear in this work far better than I’d expect and the Chinese tea base is well balenced for smoothness. For a Floridian frog, this is just the tea I’d pick for refreshing iced tea but it’s so amazing hot. Ooh, I need to order this!

This tea is great for a spring sip! Thank you QuiltGuppy for sending it to me in the Hoppitea Swap! The tea is fruity and balanced and you can taste both the white and green tea. Yum.

Thanks to Naomi for this sample. :) I actually lost it in my bag, just found it tonight. So I’m enjoying a cup right now. Delish!

This tastes like a liquid almond cookie. Normally I’m allergic to almonds (which is a shame since they are so yummy), but I don’t have (too) much of an issue with this tisane. OK, it makes my mouth swell up slightly but a benadryl later, I’m cool.

Still, this is delicious treat – cinnamon, allspice, almond. YUM! I would buy it, but the allergic reaction is stopping me…however, that means the almonds are real. ;) It’s not the tisane’s fault that my body hates almonds (and other tree nuts).

It brews up yummy too – just like a cookie. I’m in love!

Thanks Joy’s Teaspoon, for the lovely samples! As far as the scent goes, I’m glad I chose this one. The mix of ingredients is definitely intriguing me (apple, blackcurrant, orange peel, etc…)and my cup’s too hot right now but I’m betting this is going to taste good.
Added a touch of honey and let this steep about 8 minutes. First of all it smells like berries (of course!). The blackcurrant is there for sure, but that and the other things in this tea also remind me of blueberries or blackberries, mixed the way they are. I think I can taste the apple on it’s own a bit too.
Underneath the fruitiness, it tastes floral, and the flavours are all mingling in a mild, pleasant way. All in all, this tea is tasting pretty nice!
I would drink this again for sure, especially on a spring day like this (20 degrees, in april, in ontario!!!! so awesome despite the storms we’ve had). It seems like this would be amazing iced, so maybe I will do that with the rest of my sample.

This was my second tea of the morning and it’s turning out to be a great day! I had purchased this a while ago as part of the Ocho Sampler at Joy’s Teaspoon. (If you don’t want to take a chance on a larger size bag, this is the way to go, and I LOVE the tiny tins that Joy’s T uses. They’re great for storing odds and ends when depleted of tea.)

I wasn’t sure what temp I should use to make this tea and I had to wing it as I didn’t have access to my computer at steeping time. (Thanks, Curious George on PBS Kids…) Anyway, I went with 205/3 min. It came out a bit strong for me, but still really good and full of promise if only I could figure out a better steep temp and time. I just made a second cup and it’s much lighter in flavor and I’m finding I love it so much more than the first. This tea is fruity and mellow. It’s really nice in that it’s not all black tea, but has the green as well. It adds another dimension to the tea and creates a very enjoyable cup of tea. If it were all black, I think it would change the focus from the fruit/tea balance. Right now, it’s pretty darn good. The fruitiness is slightly tart, slightly sweet. The tea is of medium strength and probably a really good tea to serve after dinner as I think it would appeal to many.

I second the other reviewer’s fear of this tea due to smell. I was cleaning in the kitchen while I brewed this tea and had a dirty crock pot that had made pork a few days ago. I thought that was the source of the smell….but no, it was the tea. WTH?

So anyway, I took a deep breath (away from the tea) and took a sip. Phew! It doesn’t taste like it smells! I’m not bowled over by the flavor, it seemed kinda meh to me upon first brew, but it may grow on me (perhaps like a fine mold…).

Not sure on this kind of tea…and I can’t pronounce it anyway.