Le Thè

This was a surprise from Ninavampi and I bet it’s going to be good! The dry leaves are little, rolled up, green leaves with huge chunks of dried lemon. The aroma is lemon, grassiness, and a bit of pepper.

The brewed tea smells and tastes really lemon-y! But it’s not overdone or even acidic. There’s a hint of bitterness from the green tea but no astringency or tartness that makes your face pucker. It’s a very well-executed lemon green tea. Ultra delicious!

That hint of pepper from the aroma of the dry leaves appears in the brewed tea taste too. It’s really interesting. I’m definitely going for a second steep! Three minutes later, I have another steaming mug of tea in my hands. The leaves really opened up on this infusion. They’re huge! Absolutely HUGE!

The second infusion is not quite as flavorful as the first, but still yummy. I like it best when it’s piping hot. This strikes me as a good bedtime tea, even though it probably possesses some caffeine. Now if only I lived in Ecuador… :)

Thanks to Ninavampi for sending me a tea that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to try!

Play-Doh… Great fun when you are 5 or 25! And the smell is so memorable, that even though I haven’t played with this soft as can be dough in years, that I still remember it! This tea made my childhood memory area of my brain light up and scream out “Play-Doh, PLAAAAY-DOOH…” Not quite what I was expecting from a Cinnamon-Vanilla tea, but definitely an interesting experience!

The dry tea smelled like plastic and cinnamon. It was, by no means, a good smell. The only reason I decided to purchase it is because the sales person told me it was her favorite, and I was excited with the tea shop being in Ecuador… When I opened the bag of tea at home, it still smelled just like it did in the store. Silly me thinking that it would magically smell better once I was going to brew it…

I steeped 2 teaspoons to 12oz of water and ended up with a pretty generic looking black tea. But… it smelled just like Play-Doh!!! I sniffed at it multiple times, and every single whiff vividly reminded me of Play-Do!

Did you ever taste Play-Doh? I did… It smelled sooo good that it was bound to taste delicious right? Except, it tasted awful… One taste was enough to make me never want to taste Play-Doh again. So, this is where this tea is very different than Play-Doh! It tasted like what I wanted Play-Doh to taste like! With a little sugar added it was pretty good! Sweet Play-Doh flavor in a tea cup!

I know I will never buy this again, but I did enjoy getting the chance to enjoy Play-Doh in a palatable fashion!