Christina / BooksandTea Send Message

Sipdown.

I made a pitcher pack of this after I found out Rob liked it. It’s better if you add a lot of sweetener to it – the sugar picks up the coconut taste and the strawberry. Otherwise it’s a big pile of hibiscus puckeriness.

Had this last night, but the little stash in my metal tin is losing some flavour. Luckily, I have another stash saved in a heat-sealed pouch fresh from the vendor.

I think I’ll coldbrew the remainder in the metal container. I hope I like it that way!

When I first opened the package, I immediately smelled the spices and the orange peel, but I didn’t smell much coconut at first. However, I could definitely see big flakes of coconut in the dry leaf, along with flecks of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and orange peel. The leaf was just lovely to look at. Eventually, I did notice the smell of coconut, but it was light and faint at the back of my nose near my soft palate.

Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-tea-reviews/

The brewed smell was quite similar to the dried smell: sweet, soft, fruity, powdery. I added a spoonful of agave nectar (too much, I realized in retrospect) to the cup, which helped bring the flavour forward. The apple was gentle and appeared mostly on the back of my tongue. The ginger was there if I squinted, but it wasn’t that strong.

Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-tea-reviews/

The dry leaf for Jubilee was a mix of rose petals, calendula petals, green rooibos, and mango pieces. The smell was like ripe, juicy mango edging into overripeness. In the back, contributing to that overripe smell was the rose, adding a bit of tartness, and the calendula, adding a bit of floral peachiness.

Full review at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-leaf-co-tea-reviews/

Backlog from this morning. A nice, unobtrusive tea. I probably have enough left for 1 or 2 cups, but I’m glad I got a chance to try this.

Not quite a tea, but: I got my pu’erh knife in the mail last week! Bought it from eBay a few weeks ago, and it’s gorgeous.

Full review and photos at http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/teaware-review-puerh-knife-from-ebay/

I put 10g of this into a gaiwan to steep. That was a bad idea – I should have just stuck to using half that.

Here’s why:

http://booksandtea.ca/2015/07/tea-review-fengqing-ancient-tree-spring-chun-jian-raw-pu-erh-cake-tea-2012-from-teavivre/

Sipdown

It’s with great sadness that I bid this tea adieu – the first time I tried it, I loved the spice and the tangy hint of cream cheese icing, but that tanginess is gone. Plus, the status of Della Terra teas is still a big question mark – they say they’re coming back soon, but I’m doubtful.

Goodbye, carrot cake. We had a great thing together.

I had this one iced to go this afternoon with a bit of agave nectar. It was nice! Good mix of fruit and green tea, with neither overpowering the other, and a lovely clear yellow colour. At the back of my mouth I felt as cooling sensation like mint. Quite refreshing.