Simpson & Vail

Early today I had a cup. I think this is a good tea. I like how the pear tastes light and natural and the mild green tea here that luckily is not over the top for me. This would probley be good iced to

I drank a cup of this earlier. I can see the ingredients. Dry I can smell both the green tea and the pear. I steeped it up. The to me Is a balanced tea where I can taste both the green tea and the pear.which Is a medium taste and natural also. This tea Is really good.

Sipdown! 815. Hmm, I don’t quite seem to have the same impression of this one as Indigobloom… definitely not better than a dragonwell for me. While it was steeping, it smelled almost metallic, but the flavour was much better, a bit of that chewy vegetal flavour. Unfortunately this cup fell victim to clumsiness, as I knocked it off the table :( Luckily for me it was a short drop and not hot tea, so no injuries or breakage were sustained, but it also means that I really can’t tell you much more about this tea. I would certainly try it again, but don’t think it would beat my more favoured green profiles, which are heavier on the boiled veggie/beany flavours or sweet, rock sugar notes.

Second infusion is very meh, standard green tea-ish. Can’t blame the tea though, because I know better than to let greens sit in the infuser for a while. They just don’t last like everything else does, and that leads to losses of yummy flavours.

Thanks for letting me sample this one Indigobloom :)

This was one of the samples provided for my Battle of the Earl Greys project, and it made for a fun morning of sharing the kitchen with my husband!

The dry aroma was definitely my favorite part – you can definitely pick out the elements of the traditional Earl Grey flavor profile, with its rich black blend of teas and the spicy punch of bergamot oil. The orange and lemon peels added their own layers to the wonderful smell, although they did not translate as overtly into the steeped tea.

It actually tasted more like a straightforward Earl Grey than a variation blend, and I think I’ll wait until I have some fresh lemon on hand to brew the rest of this up. The cold version had just enough of a citrus kick to make you crave more, and I think an iced cup with some floating lemon would be absolutely delightful!

You can read my full review at:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/07/mrs-greys-blend-by-simpson-vail.html

Ahhhhh! Smooth and somewhat creamy! Naturally semi-citrusy! Cooked Greens! This is delicious! Completely fresh! The end-sip on to the after taste is a bit drier but pleasant! Lovely!

Oh, this was just delightful! I wanted to add to the Battle of the Earl Greys blog this morning, but found myself craving something a little different. This was the perfect choice.

With my allergies, I can’t often stick my nose into a bouquet of flowers. This tea gave me the experience without the sneezing! I was very pleasantly surprised by how fresh the three floral notes both smelled and tasted. I’ve tried floral teas before which smelled and tasted more like perfume than fresh flowers, but this tea manages to overcome all that.

It’s not the strongest Earl Grey, but the bergamot and black notes of the usual flavor profile do make themselves known. Overall, I found myself really enjoying this tea – and I will go back for a second cup!

You can read my full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/07/victorian-earl-grey-by-simpson-vail.html

Backlog:

This is a rich, delicious, malty Assam … and I loved it!

It’s got a good morning kind of GUSTO to it … you know, that extra kick in the butt that we need in the morning sometimes to get our rear in gear? Yeah, this one has that!

It’s a very finely chopped CTC but don’t let that dissuade you … but do let it persuade you to watch how you brew it! The smaller the leaf, the less time it needs to brew because there’s more surface area and the smaller cut to the leaf, the faster it will brew strong to the point of bitterness!

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/04/03/beesakopie-estate-assam-black-tea-from-simpson-vail/

I really thought I sampled and logged this already but I’m thinking it was a straight-black base with flavoring instead of a black/herbal blend. I remember really enjoying that other one. This one is pretty good, too, but not as drawing for me…I think it was because of the minty notes being more intense in the other one. This one is not as flavored. It taste more herbally. The black tea base isn’t as pronounced. Perhaps this one is a more laid-back version. I can understand why – I know some people don’t care for mint and most people don’t like mint as much as I do so I totally understand this flavoring. It lingers nicely. Just a hint of freshness. This is pretty good!

This sample was given to me for review, and came with six of their other Earl Grey blends. I’ve made my way through over half of them now, and this is by far the best Earl Grey in the lineup. The general Earl Grey was a bit of a mild cup, but this one packs a lot more punch!

Most of its assertiveness is due to a much larger dose of bergamot – it smells amazing and translates very well into the cup. There is a slight astringency, but adding a dash of milk is all you need to balance it out.

You can read my full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/07/earl-grey-extra-by-simpson-vail.html

The name is perfect for this one – it’s summertime in a cup! From the gorgeous Baltic amber color to the absolutely wonderful peach flavor, I’m really, really enjoying it!

Now, that said, sometimes for your own happiness you just have to take a piece of information and drop it. For example, I can’t watch The Queen of the Damned if I try to line it up at all with the books. I have to think of it in its own alternate universe. That’s how I stay in my happy place. For this tea, well, drop the “Earl Grey” from the name. This is a peach-flavored black, and a good one at that.

It’s delicious hot, and pretty good iced as well. It’s one that I’m going to keep in my cupboard… with those two words crossed off the title! ;)

Pictures and full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/06/summertime-earl-grey-by-simpson-vail.html

The latest contender in the Battle of the Earl Greys! This was a very interesting and somewhat playful cup, and the dry smell was completely different from the steeped taste. Dry, this blend smells like you just cut into a juicy grapefruit – it actually makes me crave one!

Steeped, the black teas take the helm and the grapefruit fades into the background. To me, this tastes more like a grapefruit black than an Earl Grey, but for the most part that’s because I can’t pick out the bergamot. Still, a tasty cup and a nice way to wake up!

You can read my complete review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/06/citrus-paradisi-earl-grey-blend-by.html

I love to start the day with Earl Grey! This is the latest tea in my summer project, and it was given to me to review. This is a nice, fragrant tea with a smooth, mild citrus taste. The bergamot is actually pretty light, which makes the black blend the focus of the cup. It’s a matter-of-fact Earl Grey, but a good place to start before moving on to their other variations.

You can read the full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/06/earl-grey-by-simpson-vail.html

Delicious! Very fruity, mellow tea. The liquor is very light, and the leaves are beautiful once they unfold to their full size. Definitely a new favorite oolong for me.

Just what the doctor ordered! Refreshing mint with a nice, aromatic green tea. Crisp, but still calming. Definitely great in the evening with honey. Will be purchasing this tea again.

certainly misty!
it’s so light, am i even holding this cup of tea? i think it’s floating away! wafting on the wind!
if i get too excited i may accidentally crush it’s wispy thin cup!
it’s such a delicate flavor that i needed to drink it with a fresh morning palate to really grasp the details.
a vegan pub here has bbq jackfruit sandwiches on the menu often. it’s mostly used because the texture is interestingly meaty for a fruit. its fruit is the largest tree-borne fruit that exists i think. basically it’s tropical and weird. maybe it’s like a really bland pineapple? not really. nevermind.
point is this tea is very subtle but definitely breezy and mangoey and barely even has that greenness. no dryness. no bitter notes. barely any even grassy notes. i’m feeling enthusiastic about this tea.
it’s like holding a baby kitten.
thank you moraiwe for this orchid of a tea.

Tried this tea with double the leaves. Sadly the notes of apple, cinnamon, and coffeecake are drowned out by the black tea. What the what, black tea, stay in the background! But it didn’t. So sad. Still a good tea when steeped normally.

During and after steeping, the blend smells just like an apple cinnamon coffeecake. The taste? Well, it’s alright. The taste of coffeecake is there, but it’s delicate, not as strong as if you were eating one. I might try steeping with twice the amount of tea in 6oz of water next time.

Almost as sweet as an almond cookie even without sweetner, I can only imagine the decadence of this cup with sugar or honey (I take neither with my tea usually, so dessert teas need to do a lot to impress me). Simpson & Vail make some of the best dessert teas around, and though the background tea isn’t the best, the foreground of flavors makes up for it.

sipdown! thank you fiddling for sending some of this for me to try. There are a number of S&V blends out there that i enjoy and some that are a bit more on the “miss” side. this one falls somewhere in the middle for me. It doesn’t come across as overly cupcakelike but there is that “something” there that reminds me of how carrot cake tastes. That combination of icing mixed with the spices that go in to carrot cakes. It’s why my other half loves carrot cake…with cream cheese icing! I don’t think i’ll restock this, but not because i don’t like it…simply because there are other teas out there that i prefer. thanks again fiddling!

Another TTB sample. This was possibly the one I was most interested in because I’ve had reasonably good experiences with Simpson & Vail teas.

Mm, this smells buttery, creamy, vanilla-y, and caramelly in a burnt-sugar way, all what I would expect from creme brulee. And those are all present in the flavor as well; I particularly like the burnt sugar flavor, which is subtle but definitely present. The black tea base isn’t the star of this show but it has body and makes a decent background. There is a touch of astringency to this that is somewhat at odds with the creme brulee feeling of it; I would expect smoothness and richness, but this is a touch brighter. Definitely a pretty tasty tea and I’m glad I got to try it!