Thé Kiosque

Well, to start off, I don’t know whether the Angel Falls Mist tea I ordered from Trees Coffee was from this company, but I don’t know whether Trees makes their own blend or buys it from a tea company. Plus, I didn’t feel like adding yet another one of the same teas. This one matches the description given by Trees on their menu, so here we go.

It was a pretty strongly flavoured tisane. Could definitely taste the lemon and tartness of the various fruits in this blend. Could only smell the strawberry, I think the taste of it got drowned out by everything else. I would have added something sweet to it had I known. It was pretty decent hot, got a bit more tart/sour as it cooled. Not bad, but probably wouldn’t order it again.

1 tbsp for 375 ml

Spinach flavour. Sugary sweetness in the back of the throat. Slight buttery taste.

Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing!

Backlog!!
I’ve left my notes at work and my memory is fuzzy so bear with me.
This was… quite interesting. Rich and sweet, toasted, fruity and complex! with a note of… pineapple? peach? something along those lines anyhow.
As the steepings went on however, it became more and more like a white tea. I started noticing crisp vegetal like notes coming out, in a pleasant way. Reminds me very much of the Mango White base actually. I wonder if the leaves were from the same region. Hmmm I wonder.
Rating: 87

Dang this is tasty!! a little spicy this time. Is that basil in the background? Hrm.
Tempted to order more of this.

Backlog!!
Yum! I didn’t expect to love this, but I do! very flavourful without covering up the white base on the first steep. Most of the mango is lost thereafter but the base is lovely enough that I don’t mind. The depth and natural sweetness there is comforting, and has that freshwater note that always calls me back for more. Definitely something I am considering ordering more of(I have a sample), but we all know I won’t because there is SO much out there to try. Still, I wouldn’t turn down a cuppa this gem :)
Rating: 88

So… I had trouble finding the pecan here. It was mostly rooibos with a faint hint of something nutty, most likely pecan and something creamy like pudding.
I added almost a teaspoon of sugar (boo!) and a splash of milk, and it was much better! Definitely pecan notes now and some very mild spice. Cinnamon? I am finding it rather rich and satisfying. though I did get distracted and brewed it for almost ten min.
Not exactly pie, but pretty darn good.
As for my rating… I say it gets an 85/86.
Thank you so much for the sample David from Kiosque!

Another swap from Indigobloom Can you tell I’m trying to work through all my new swapped tea? I’ve got more tea coming so i’m desperately trying to make room in my tea cupboard since I’ve been told i’m allowed to have a shelf and a basket…and when it starts leaving those two areas, i’m not allowed to own more. Well right now? It’s there and all over my kitchen table as I’m still trying to find time to sort through it all lol

Anyway, on with the tea! I like this one – it’s blueberry without being artificial and light enough that it doesnt overwhelm me with BLUEBERRY IN YOUR FACE ZOMG! :) mmmmm….

I’M BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!! As a married woman!!!!!! :D

The wedding day was absolutely perfect! It was a whirlwind of a day, and already I can feel the details slipping. All I remember is marrying my best friend and soul mate, supported by our closest friends and relatives. It was a beautiful sunny day filled with unbelievable food, great live music, and the most beautiful floral arrangements I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe it’s actually over! So much buildup and now it’s in the past. I CAN’T WAIT to get back the video and photos. I’ll be sure to post some in case anyone is interested. For now, all I have is our engagement photos, which you can see here: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/finally-our-engagement-photos-yay-pic-heavy

We took a mini-moon the week after the wedding. We spent 2 nights at a local B&B in Newport, RI and then 3 days/2 nights in New York City. It was a blast! We saw The Phantom of the Opera, which was the hubby’s first Broadway show. :) We had lunch at the best restaurant in the whole city, Bouley, and then went shopping on Fifth Avenue. I, of course, stopped by DAVIDsTEA on Bleecker Street and picked up some more samples. I also found a delightful surprise in Bergdorf Goodman: Mariage Freres!!! WHAAAAT??! Yep, I bought my first ever Mariage Freres tea, Marco Polo. I also discovered a new-to-me tea company called Bellocq Tea Atelier. So, I grabbed a sampler of 8 of their blends too. Like I needed any more tea, right?

Well, my dear husband has decided that he wants to start drinking tea on a more regular basis!!! I’M SO EXCITED! Now I get to teach him all I know about tea!!!! Okay, well I suppose I shouldn’t come on too strong or he’ll just hate it, LOL! He bought a black Perfect Tea Mug with infuser and lid from DAVIDsTEA. Quite the minimalist, but now his tea journey can officially begin! Hehehe!

I’m going to try and spend most of today drinking down some old swap samples. I have some that date back to 2011! With all these new teas being added to the cupboard, I’ve got to make some room. Here come the tasting notes!!!

ON TO THE TEA:

I received this tea just before Halloween last year from Indigobloom. That makes this swap sample only about 6 months old. :P Hey, I’ve been busy! LOL! I’m finally brewing this one up, and I’m excited about it. All the reviews to-date have been glowing.

Oops, accidently sloshed a bunch of tea on myself in my haste to raise the cup to my lips. :( What a pain. Well, after running upstairs to change, I can now sit down and enjoy this tea. :) Mmmmm! This is great! It’s not very green or grassy like the other Chinese Dragonwell teas I’ve tried. Instead, it’s very softly green. Not in-your-face chlorophyll.

Bigger sips bring in more of the vegetal grassiness. Smaller sips bring in the roast-y toast-y elements. There are also caramel notes here, and am I detecting a nuttiness? Something akin to pistachio I think, though it’s very light. Yum! I’m not getting any spun sugar sadly, but that could be attributed to age. This is unlike any other unflavored green I’ve tried, and I’m really enjoying it! Big thanks to Indigobloom for the sample!

SIPDOWn!

ok this is a really weird tea. It reminds me for of a black than anything and has this really weird taste to it that’s fruity and woodsy and just totally weird. not sure i can get behind this but thank you indigobloom for the sample!

Sipdown! Thanks to Indigobloom for letting me have a sample of this tea.

I seem to have become quite fond of dragonwell – the rock sugar/caramelly sweetness is better than anything I’ve tasted in a flavoured tea, and rather addicting. This particular dragonwell is no exception, producing a delicious caramelly green tea flavour. However, it’s not as intense or as fresh as some dragonwells I’ve had, and there was some astringency (I’d prefer none). Overall, I’d happily drink it again, but I do think I’ve had better. I think on average, dragonwells rate between a 90-95 on my tea deliciousness scale; this one’s about a 91. :)

ETA: I killed the re-steep. Combo of oversteeping and leaving the leaves to sit overnight. I’ve really got to remember that straight greens in particular need to be fully re-steeped quickly as they just don’t last.

DOUBLE Sample sipdown!! I didn’t have quite enough of this, nor my pu-erh from Tao Tea Leaf, so I combined them. On my second infusion now, and oh man is it ever tasty.
A little breadiness, freshwater, honey, and salt. Yep, I really do wish I had more around.

I can’t believe I haven’t logged this before!! how did this happen?!
Anyhow, backlog from yesterday.
A rather refreshing pu-erh. Kindof like bamboo shoots? maybe? not that I know what they taste like, but it is how I’d imagine them.
And maybe some sort of bread. Sourdough or rye. With a natural undertone of sweetness.
No sugar or milk required, the body here is delightful, if not a little light. A tad biting to.
Rating: 85

On a side note, I’m getting the hang of this “networking” thing. Anyone who is on Twitter, feel free to follow me @MarilynBlooms
Stay tuned for more info, I have some fun stuff planned :)

A very light green – perfect for those who want the health benefits of a green without the typical green flavor notes.

Not my personal favorite but I can see why some love this.
Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on January 2nd 2013 but here are some review snippits:

Dragonwell Lung Ching as far as I can recollect is the first tea I have sampled from The Kiosque. Thanks to a Steepster friend I am getting to try this light, lovely, green tea, and a new tea company. The leaves look much greener in person than in the photo.

(note – Thank you to Indigobloom for this sample!)

For me, its a bit simplistic, and lack luster. Its not bad, please don’t get me wrong. It is good enough that I do want to try more teas by The Kiosque and I will, its not a turn off, just not something that is making me want to purchase a tin.

Now I will note that the mouthfeel of this tea is creamy, very creamy, and I like that – a lot. Yet I do miss the buttery, nutty nature that many greens have that this one is lacking.

Thank you indigobloom for this sample. It’s quite delicious! and that’s pretty high praise as i don’t love a lot of greens. I’m not sure if this would have a permanent place in my in my cupboard as I tend to stick with blacks. BUT if there was a green to stay in my cupboard, this would probably be it. It’s not very vegetal at all, which is what i really enjoy about this green. mmmm looking forward to additional steeps of this! Thanks Indigobloom!

I steeped this a bit longer today and added a bit more than usual so that it could be a sipdown of my sample. Only now… well I wish there was more!
There is a distinct taste of PINK, similar to what I found in a tea from Tealish. What was it called again? Dragonfruit somethingorother.
Anyhow, I love that fluffy bubblegummy taste when it’s in an herbal concoction. Can’t stand it in caffeinated teas, but here? deeeeevine!
On my re-order list to be sure, and that doesn’t happen very often!
Funny, this will make TWO teas I’ve repurchased from this company. Maybe I shold look into trying all their other ones as well :P

Another sample from the Kiosque! not a bad one either. Creamy, somehow, when the cup is hot. More tart/citrus like as it cools. (I blame you hibiscus!)
The creaminess reminds me of strawberries but I didn’t see any in the blend. shrugs
Rating: 81

By far one of my favorite chai teas. The black tea base is solid and earthy while the spices add wonderful layers to the overall profile of this tea. The ginger comes out as one of the stronger scents in the dry leaf. Steeped, the tea holds up fabulously to lots of milk. It did not get bitter astringent at all with a bit of an oversteeping. The ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom leave a wonderful spicy mouth feel, but are not overpowering. This is the chai that I’ve been hunting for, and will definitely be one of my staples during the fall and winter!

This is by far one of my favourite go-to black teas! It is deliciously strong and well balanced, not acidic or bitter at all. Being an Irish Breakfast there is a good blend of malty/earthy notes with the creamier notes. Good for morning noon and night with milk and honey/sugar. This is one that is a permanent feature in my tea collection!

So having just come back from a tea meet up/swap with Indigobloom and Kittena I pretty much felt compelled to reach into the HUGE bag of goodies they dumped on me to try and least one tonight. Randomly chosen from the sample they gave me was this one. This one smells wonderful! Caramel and coffee and toffee… Not sure just a wackload of yummy goodness. After steeping it, it tastes a lot like it smells, but it’s a stronger taste – less sweet than i’d expected but still really nice. I think there’s a version of this from another company that my florida friend loves so I’ll have to compare the two. Overall, not a bad start to the MOUNTAIN OF TEA that Kittena and Indigobloom have tried to bury me under!

Sipdown!!! finally. I’ve been after this one for ages. One of those that is contained in a small pouch yet no matter how many cups you have there always seems to be just a little more (which is terrible for a white tea, as all the flavouring here is gone. Well most of it)

I likey!! yum! now this is a tad weak… I had hoped for more wine flavour. Ah well, overall I enjoyed this much better than the red leaf version which I bought at the same time but tried first… which I disliked so much that I was scared off trying this one!
In the end though, I think I’d like something between the two. This is a hair weaker than I’d prefer and the other version far too strong. Call me Goldilocks! ah well. the white base here was really nice. Round and just the right depth. Worth ordering more.

so tired… just got home from a memorial service. They really suck the oomph outta me.
Bah.
This was ok. I feel as if I’ve had it before, only spicier. Mint, citrus, and a little creaminess. Meh. Not terrible, but then I imagine this would be super soothing when my tummy goes on strike!

Ohh man what a great tea. I love the white ones with some hazzah behind them.
What a body! A very sweet, mellow cup. Reminds me of orchids, orchid marmalade maybe. The first steep was my weakest… they seemed to grow in character each time. The last one, of four, had a really sweet finish. Almost syrup like. One day, I will order more of this. Ahhh I wish this was more than a sample!