McQuarries Tea & Coffee Merchants

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Recent Tasting Notes

68

Sipping on this one right now since it was something I woke up craving…

I can’t remember why my rating is so low for this. I mean, it’s not like I gave it a bad rating, but as I’m sipping on it currently I’m actually enjoying the mug quite a lot and I can’t help but think how it’s basically tasting exactly like what’s advertised just in a way that’s not as aggressive and sickeningly sweet as real ice wine. Is it simple? Yeah, but it’s also just nice!

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68

O is for… Ontario Ice Wine White!

Cold Brew!

I didn’t have a lot of options for O teas, and I picked this one because it was one of the non-orange flavoured options, but I failed to account for the fact I had enjoyed Niagara Icewine the day prior which is a very similar (and IMO better) blend. So, this felt a bit like over kill on that sweet/boozy grape note and I more just found myself wishing I was enjoying a cold brew of the black tea blend from MTC instead.

Pro tip, though, both this and the Niagara Icewine black tea blend are both from MTC and use the same grape/icewine flavouring. I usually like the black tea better, but sometimes the lightness of the white tea better hits the spot – and if you’re just a fan of that grape flavour in general than this is another way of getting to enjoy it in a slightly different format!

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68

Cold Brew!

This is one of those teas that feels a little “full circle” to me, if you know what I mean? It was one of the first teas that I ever bought for myself when I moved to Saskatoon years ago, back when I was still a wee baby in terms of tea drinking knowledge/experience/exposure. I liked it alright, though it was never a favourite.

Well, my mother recently sent me a care package with a bunch of different teas from McQuarries in Saskatoon, and this is one of the things she included. How nostalgic!

Interestly, steeped up as a cold brew, I actually agree with my rating from years ago. It’s a pretty soft flavour, but does have the slight sweetness and ice wine/boozy grape flavour that make the name so fitting. The white tea isn’t great but it’s not bad either – just middle of the road, though refreshing chilled. Really, it’s a perfectly fine tea that neither stands out for super positive or negative reasons – it’s just good sipping for times when you don’t want the fanciest or most nuanced thing that will require attentiveness.

Thanks mom for picking it up and taking me down memory lane!

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68

Made this for work today. I have lots of it left, so I really should make a better attempt at drinking it down since I’d love to free up the tin it’s in. Maybe I’ll stick it up for swap…

Preparation:

- First cup I used 1 1/2 tsp. of leave steep for 1 1/2 min. in 80 degree celsius water
- For the second cup, I resteeped the leaves using the exact same steep time and temp. of water
- Poured into my 20 oz. water bottle
- Added 1 1/2 tsp. of white sugar since, sadly, this tea needs it to be drinkable

Taste:

- Lukewarm at time of consumption
- Sweet, but not cloying
- Floral notes present SIMILAR to jasmine, but definitely not jasmine…
- Some berry notes
- Very lightly astringent
- White base present, but not overtly

Honestly, this was probably the best I’ve yet to make this. It’s ok as an occasional tea, but not something I want to repurchase.

Lala

Have you tried it iced or cold brewed>

Roswell Strange

I’ve made it as a hot tea, and then drank it at work after it was a cold tea (not super awesome) – but haven’t deliberately cold brewed or had it on ice (I don’t actually own an ice cube tray or have the freezer space for bagged ice, so I very rarely have tea on ice: usually I cold brew it or make it as a hot tea and just stick it in the thermos in the freezer for a few hours).

Lala

I find sometimes you get a different flavour profile when you cold brew vs. iced (iced meaning making it hot and then cooling it off with ice or fridge or just letting it sit). I find that cold brewing helps me to get rid of teas faster. But if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. Just an option :)

Roswell Strange

Maybe I’ll try it that way. Sometimes I just have Tre drink the teas I don’t like, since he’s typically too uncomfortable to drink tea when I’m not around and when I am around he usually lets me pick the tea (or goes for Red Velvet Cake, which is his favourite and my least favourite – which works out well). However, he expressedly hates Ice Wine, so I doubt I could get away with serving him this…

Lala

Tell him it is concord grape, he he :P

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68

I’ve had internet for a whole ten minutes! I think that’s the most I’ve had all day…

It’s really cold in the basement right now, so I decided I needed something to warm me up, and I was sort of feeling like berries would be the way to go.

Picked this tea, but remember to add a teaspoon of sugar. The sugar really brings out the berry notes in the tea, and does a decent job of eliminating the bitterness of it. I’ve experimented with different steep times, and I just can’t find a balance where I don’t get at least a little bitterness. There’s also some astringency and the sugar doesn’t really do anything for getting rid of that.

Had a second steep that was about the same. I could have gotten a third steep out of the leaves, but I wasn’t really feeling a third cup. Overall, tasted better than I remembered but I still hate that this one needs sugar to taste good.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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68

Sweetened with around 1 tsp. of sugar & enjoying with some raspberry jam covered toast! Mmmm…

I had an issue with some bitterness last time, but nothing similar to that this time! Some very light floral notes here accompanying the light notes of berry – I’m sure that’s the Reisling win adding to the tea.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec

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68

Holy tea! Just got home from a day of touring loose leaf tea shops in my new city! I went to DAVIDsTEA, McQuarries Tea and Coffee Merchants, and Tea Desire. Overall, I think I liked the service at McQuarries the least – the sales lady seemed really impatient as I took my time browsing the aisles. In the end, I ended up buying 50g (the smallest amount I could get) of two different teas. This is one of them!

The packaging it came in (a small brown paper bag carefully folded over) has absolutely no information about how to steep this one – nothing on amount of leaf, steeping time, and water temperature. I didn’t really want to guess (even if it would have been an educated guess), so I checked their website to see if I could find any information and, thankfully, there’s some listed. Even though everything is SUPER general, it’s enough to go on and 50g of this one is enough to tinker with as well.

So, 1 1/2 tsp of tea steeped for only 1 min. I’m making my first cup by the book! Err… Website. The dry leaf smells very light and floral with berry notes, however the berry I’m smelling isn’t really distinct enough to pinpoint what kind of berry I’m smelling. Steeped, the liquor is a sort of medium yellow, although it starts off as more of a pale green.

Personally, I’ve never had Ontario Ice Wine before but my roommate Tre has & he says the dry leaf smells exactly like what he had. I think that’s a good thing, although he says he didn’t particularly enjoy the ice wine he had. Steeped, it smells less floral but I still get that unidentifiable berry smell.

First few sips and it tastes good. It tastes different than other white teas I’ve had so that must be the Ice Wine I’m tasting. Yeah, I’m personally not tasting anything floral anymore. I taste berry in the end of the sip, and a bit in the aftertaste. There is a mild astringency – but the keyword there is mild.

I don’t really want to add sugar to this cup, but I wonder if it would bring out the taste of berry or whether it would kill it. Since this cup is pleasant enough I’m going to wait to try that another time. I’d also like to try leaving the tea leaves in another minute or two longer.

EDIT: By the time I reached the bottom of my mug the tea had grown noticeably bitter, so I think I will try adding a small bit of sugar next time.

EDIT: Second steep! Followed the same steeping parameters as before, but added a level tsp of sugar to it. Still as flavourful as the first steep but I think I was right to add the sugar – it DEFINITELY brings out the berry flavour. I think I prefer the second steep more. Looking forward to what a third steep will bring out of this tea!

EDIT: Third steep of this one went to Tre. Steeped this for 2 minutes and, at Tre’s request, added 2 tablespoons of sugar to it. I snuck a few sips before I gave it to him and it just tasted like sugar water to me. I’m not sure if that’s because of how much sugar he wanted added to it or because three steeps is too many. Even though it just tasted like sugar water to me, though, he said he could taste ice wine. Interesting.

Preparation
1 min, 0 sec

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82

Made this one as a cold brew. Brewed for about 12 hours. It was pretty good. Tasted pretty much the same as the hot brew. I still think it was much more strawberry shortcake tasting. As a cold brew, there was less cake-y flavour. The strawberry was a bit more artificial as a cold brew.

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82

This tea is made of large fruit pieces. A lot of strawberry and apple pieces. It smells like dried strawberries and apples. Brewed the tea does not taste like cheesecake but very similar to strawberry shortcake. It is sweet, I added 2 small pieces of rock sugar. There is a light, spongey cake type flavor to it. Like angel food. Not sure which ingredient is giving it that taste. I am surprised with this one. Better than I expected.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Sil

Ooh sounds fun!

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59

Made this one as a cold brew. There is just wwaaaaaaaaayyyy too much hibiscus in this blend for me. When I picked out most of the hibiscus and brewed it hot, it was actually pretty good. But I don’t have the patience to be sorting through the tea today. So I made this as a cold brew. For the most part I do not like hibiscus in a cold brew. So I only brewed this for about 4 hours. I was a bit worried but the colour was bright ruby red. But it actually tastes not too bad. I think I took it out in time. It is just on the verge of being too bitter. There is a good balance between the sweet peach and the tart hibiscus. I did add a tsp of white sugar for my cup to balance out the tartness a bit. Very juice-like. Reminds me of raspberry juice. Definitely can drink the rest of the tea this way.

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59

The first time I had this one, it was very much hibiscus tasting. I am not a big hibiscus fan. So I made it again but this time picked out most of the hibiscus. It took a while because there was lots of it.

It is better this way. Not so much sour hibiscus but still some hibiscus taste. Not too much peach flavour, but you could make it out. I forgot to steep this for a bit less time.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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59

This tea smells delicious. Like fuzzy peaches. After brewing…Holy Hibiscus. Wow, in colour and smell, I knew it was going to be strong on the hibby. On first sip, it is all fuzzy peach candies, then by the end of the sip it is bitter and burning hibiscus. Too bad, I had a lot of hope for this one. I think I will try a much shorter steep, and maybe blending this one with a few others.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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62

I am pretty sure this is the same as the Metropolitan Tea Company Tea but I am not sure as the website doesn’t have a description up yet.

I bought this one based on smell. There was no ingredients listed on the jar. It smelled like a sweet black tea, kind of spicey like a chai. But not super chai or anything.

I did not realize, there must be chocolate in this tea. I am not a huge chocolate tea fan, but I can handle some blends. This tea has a chocolately taste. Reminds me more of rocky road. It is quite sweet because there are sprinkles in it. There are fall spices, cinnamon. Not a lot of cardamom like would be in chai.

Overall an ok blend. I like the name of the tea more than the tea itself. Ha ha. It got a bit bitter towards the end of the cup, but I also let it steep longer than usual because I forgot about it. Oops.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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34

This…this is lemon with lemon and the scent of pledge. My husband requested it, so he can have it more then likely. Hot its almost acidic. I’m going to give it a shot over Ice the way its suggested in the description, and see if that makes it any better because WOO does it feel like I’m drinking pledge.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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78

SIPDOWN! (269) Finally feel like i’m starting to get somewhere with my sipdowns though i do have a few teas coming from cavocorax and i might have just picked up a few teas for terriharplady and i to share. BUT! i think i can get under 250 by the end of the weekend so i think i’m doing ok. Not great, but ok and i’ve certainly managed to curb my spending impulses a bunch.

Really happy with this one from lala! It’s one of those unexpected happy teas :) Sad to see it go but at least i know i enjoy it and can get more eventually!

Terri HarpLady

I think you & I are riding the steeply spiraling slippery slope, lol

Sil

lol at least we’re doing it together!

Terri HarpLady

That’s right, we’re on the Buddy System! :)

TeaLady441

Well at least my samples for both of you are relatively small. I just stuck with what you asked for!

Sil

bwahahahahahaha

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78

OOOH thank you lala! As one of the most unique teas that i’ve had the pleasure of being sent from lala, i wasn’t too sure what to expect. But this? This is an unexpected delicious surprise! I love it! I can’t even explain WHY i like it..but it’s refreshing and light and slightly lemon/citrusy and yum! Thank you for this treat lala!

Lala

You are welcome. I like this one at the end of the night, something light.

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84

backlog and sipdown!

I tried this hot brewed yesterday and man it was super delicious! I actually think i prefer this hot or would brew it hot and then cool it down. It was super tasty and i ended up gulping it down and getting to the bottom of my giant cup way too quickly. Thanks so much for this one lala! love it! especially since it’s a herbal i can add to my list :)

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
Lala

This is definitely one of my new favorites too!

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84

Thanks to Lala for a share of this one. I’m totally intrigued by this tea. I have to say i’m not yet sure how i feel about it haha. I tried this as a cold brew first and i’ll save the rest of this for a hot brew. This reminds me a lot of instant iced tea but tastier. The only downside is the significant number of brown floaties in the cold brew. Such that my other half wouldn’t even try it lol I’m pretty sure this is a win in my books but i’d like to see how it fares hot first as well :) Thanks for the share lala

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more
Lala

Mmmmmmm tea floaties!! :)

Terri HarpLady

So what exactly was floating around? I like the name of this one :)

Sil

Pretty sure it’s just the pieces of dried lemon. Nothing wrong with the taste its just reminds me of when instant tea powder isn’t quite mixed in. :)

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85

This is more of a tasting note for me to rant and complain, so feel free to skip on by if you don’t want to read about it.

So I do not get at all why companies think that when you are sick you want yellow dye # whatever and massive doses of sugar to help you feel better. I would figure the all natural route would be the way to go. By the way, all you “all natural ingredients” companies, any type of colour dye # whatever is not a natural ingredient. Just saying.

I made basic noodle soup (powder and noodles from a packet), full of dye and sugar. I don’t think neon yellow soup broth is why I want to eat this right now. Same with the neocitron I rarely drink but am giving a chance today, I don’t need my mouth to pucker from the amount of sugar in it. Let’s be clear, no one drinks this because it tastes good. Anyway, jeez!!!

So I am drinking a cup of neocitron at the same time I am drinking this tea. The lemon flavoured aftertaste of the neocitron actually tastes pretty good with the oolong. I may have to try to add some lemon next time I brew this tea. I am finding the oolong to be not too bold, there is just a slight orange blossom flavour. Not too chemical tasting which I find some orange blossom teas taste so that is a plus today.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Fjellrev

I don’t get that either. Slightly off-topic, but that reminds me of a conversation I had the other day with my mom about bought soups. Packed full of sodium and chemicals. I feel sad for people whose only idea of soup is that kind of stuff.

I only tried Neocitron once and it didn’t seem to do anything. But I hope you’ll nevertheless feel better soon!

Lala

I really wanted to make homemade chicken soup but didn’t have the ingredients and wasn’t in any shape to go out. So I had to settle for what in the cupboard. Ha ha. I am feeling better today than I was yesterday. I just have to watch how fast I move.

Fjellrev

Haha yeah, that is the thing. Homemade soup requires ingredients, time, and energy. When I used to live near my family, my grandma would load me up on containers of her homemade turkey vegetable soup and borscht, so whenever I needed some healthy hearty food, I’d just fetch one out of the freezer and warm it on the stove. That seems to be the only way to get good soup when you’re sick!

yyz

My aunt used to brew a earl grey tea bag in neocitron. I onlynhad it once and I was so sick I could barely walk but I remember it making the neocitron taste a little less sweet and medicinal. I prefer to avoid the dyes and additives when possible too! I love either having soup or daal in my fridge in winter. Easy and comforting.

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85

The product description on this tea says it is excellent iced. So I actually made a cold brew. Brewed for about 5 hours.

This tea is excellent as a cold brew! The jasmine notes are still present but very blunted. It is only very slightly sweet. There is not much orange blossom flavour, but I do get hints of flower petal type flavours. The oolong is smooth. It is very reminiscent of real unsweetened iced tea.

I might just have to replace my current iced tea recipe with this one.

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85

This is a mildly oxidized oolong. Tastes slightly vegetal, there is a bit of a roasty flavour noted in the aftertaste, but is not very strong. There is a strong jasmine taste, especially at the end of the sip. There is a very slight orange blossom flavour with a bit of sweetness, and a mildly citrous flavour. This is a really good tea, but I wish there was less jasmine and more orange blossom. I would describe this one more as a jasmine oolong vs. an orange blossom oolong.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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86

Decided to have some tea fun today. So I made a few tea cocktails and other drinks.

This is the first one. I steeped 1 tsp in 2 oz gin for approx. 2 days. I then mixed it with soda water.

At first it tasted like a gin lemonade, which is one of my favorite drinks, but it was quite tart lemon tasting. Not bad, but I wanted a bit of sweetness so I added a tiny spoon of white sugar. It made it the drink much better. Still tart lemonade but the sugar balances out the soda water taste. I am thinking I might just have to infuse some gin with this tea and keep it on hand at all times :D

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86

My favorite summer drink is iced tea lemonade. I usually make my own using orange pekoe and lemonade mix. But I thought I would try a bit of a different recipe. I used black dragon pearls from teavivre and king tut lemonade. I didn’t really measure but there was more black dragon pearls than king tut lemonade. I cold brewed for about 10 hours. Lemon is the prominent flavour. There is a slight black tea flavour but it does not really speak to how good the black dragon pearls are on their own. I think this one would have been better made iced, and much less of the king tut lemonade. I did add a few tsp of white sugar to give it a more lemonade flabour vs just lemon. Just not the right balance of flavours. I am going to have to work on this one.

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86

Oh, my!

This is wonderful. I cold brewed this overnight for about 12 hours. I think it might have been a bit too long becuase it is quite tart. But overall tastes almost identical to freshly squeezed lemonade. I added just a bit of sugar to sweeten it up. Tastes like the drinks you get at lemonade stands at fairs and exhibitions, but not as sweet. Just perfect for me!

Sil

want! lol man… you and your secret tea places that have ghetto websites. May need to do another swap sometime or just bite the bullet and blind order from them lol

Dexter

Their web site may not be the best, but that looks like a really fun store. Hmmmmmmmm, it’s only an 8 hours drive from here…..

Lala

You both need to come and visit and then you can get all the secret tea you want!

Sil – I would be interested in some of you A and D when it comes, so we can certainly do a swap!

Sil

Lala – It’s here! lol so we can swap anytime. though I’m happy to wait as well, let you get a chance to buy some more teas lol

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