Kirlika Send Message

From the GCTTB. Yet another DT tea that I’ve been meaning to try, I was a touch uncertain of this one given the amount of lavender in it but as I’m still looking to flesh out my caffeine free options it was certainly worth a shot.

The dry tea is filled with lavender and coconut scents, it’s a lovely, soothing combination. There’s also a nice undertone from the honeybush which gives a bit of sweetness without being too heavy. The flavor is very different; creamy and soothing, the lavender gives a nice subtle flavor that in combination with the honeybush ends up tasting a bit like wildflower honey (without being super sweet). The coconut gives an interesting bit of freshness, complementing the honey/lavender combination in a very flavorful way. I actually don’t get too many notes from the rooibos, those that do come through blend well with the rest of the flavor profile.

I really enjoyed this tea, it’s quite different from most other rooibos blends that I’ve tried. I think I’ll end up picking some of this up for myself some time soon.

Lemme guess… Another from the GCTTB? Yep! :D So when I was sorting through the box I found this curiously labeled tea; blackberry, lemon, basil white. Now I love basil, it’s one of my most favorite herbs and I like to use it everywhere (especially sprinkled over vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries… Top with a bit of reduced balsamic vinegar and you’ve got a dessert to die for! Anyways…) but I’ve never thought of basil in tea, so to see it listed as an ingredient just blew me away. I had to try it!

The dry tea smelled of sharp lemon citrus notes mixed in with the darker basil. The blackberry added just a touch of sweetness with a bit of berry tartness, but I didn’t get much from the white tea (granted I’ve not had many white teas at this point so take that with a grain of salt.)

The infusion came out a deep yellow and smelled of lemon (almost camomile like but a bit sharper) with undertones from the basil and blackberry though nothing particularly distinct. There was a bit of a floral note there as well that might have been coming from the white tea base. Taste wise the lemon definitely came though (again almost like camomile but there were some grass tones in there that I’ve seen from lemon grass as well), as was the basil which helped to tone down the high citrus notes. I got the odd hint of the blackberry every once and a while but overall I didn’t find it very often. The tea itself was very smooth and had a slight astringent bite at the end.

An interesting, subtle tea with a decent flavor profile despite the slight lack of blackberry flavor. I really liked the addition of the basil, it gave a nice depth to the flavor and intrigued me enough to keep coming back for more.

From the GCTTB. This is another one from Della Tera that I’ve been wanting to try. I love cinnamon buns but since I’ve discovered a gluten intolerance I’ve not been able to have anything more than a bite every blue moon. So if I could find a tea that tastes like them I’d be in heaven.

Dry the tea smells quite nice, like a cinnamon bun though not as yeasty. (I personally like my cinnamon buns to be a bit yeasty but that’s just me :D). The liquor is a dark medium brown and smells of sweet cinnamon and butter. There’s a few darker notes from what I’m guessing is the black tea but nothing particularly distinct.

I ended up having to oversteep this to get close to the kind of flavor that I was hoping for. So after 7 minutes it ended up being a bit bitter but it was pretty close to a mild cinnamon bun. Lovely buttery notes blended well with the sweet cinnamon and the black tea gives off a few yeasty tones as well. It just wasn’t as cinnamon bun like as I was hoping it would be… The yeast notes fom the black tea didn’t quite translate into the baked goodness that a cinnamon bun is but it was pretty close.

A pretty decent tea overall, though it doesn’t quite live up to its namesake, but that’s ok.

From the GCTTB. Ive seen quite a few tea logs since I’ve been part of this community talking about lychee teas and they got me intrigued as to what all the hype was about; so when I saw that Lala had included some of this in the box it immediately went into the “to try” pile.

I found the scent of the dry tea very… different. Dark and yeasty with a touch of coca underneath it all, but on top of that were the super-sweet lychee notes, fruity and a touch floral, they almost seemed a bit artificial.

The brewed liquor is a deep medium brown and smells of sweet lychee, flowers and a bit of yeast. My first few sips were not bad but I wasn’t getting much in the way of the lychee flavor. Mostly just the notes from the black tea, yeasty, warm and just the slightest touch astringent, it’s a decent black tea. As the tea cooled I started to get a few more of the lychee flavors which gave this tea a nice fruity tang, complementing the black tea nicely. That said given the scent profiles I was really hoping/looking for a bit more of the lychee right upfront. Oh well…

Despite the slight lack of flavor I did enjoy this tea, if you’re looking for something that isn’t as “in your face” as some flavored teas can be then it’s a decent one to have on hand. That said, though I’ll probably keep some of the bag when I send the box on, I’m still on the look out for other lychee flavored teas to try as I really do think that there’s going to be others out there with a bit more to them than this one had.

Another from the GCTTB. I’ve been on Della Terra’s site before but I’d not seen this one listed (I see it now though!) and so when I saw it in the box my first thought was “hmmm, almond biscotti?!? Ok I’ll bite.” (well drink really, but you get the idea.)

Dry this tea is almost overpowering in its scent profile, sweet and filled with artificial cherries. There were a few mild almond notes underneath but nothing to write home about. I also couldn’t find any hint of the green tea. Speaking of it, I was really surprised to find that this was based on a green rather than a yeasty black or a buttery oolong, but I guess I’ll see.

The pale yellow-green liquor gives off a less intense scent, it’s still filled with cherries, but I get a few more buttery almond tones mixed in with a sweet almost pastry like scent. The flavor is even milder, though the first few sips of the freshly steeped tea felt very disconnected with all the different notes almost fighting each other. Once the tea cooled a bit I finally started to see the biscotti coming together. The darker almond notes do show up quite nicely and mix reasonably well with the cherries and buttery notes. As for the coconut… The more it cooled the more those notes came out as well; they actually helped to balance the profile quite nicely.

I don’t get much flavor from the green tea but I can see where a “lighter” base lends itself to the overall profile better than a black tea would. That said though there is a creaminess to this tea that I’m guessing comes from the base leaf; overall the mouth feel is really quite a nice complement to the overall profile.

In the end it was an interesting tea to try, decently balanced once it cooled and not as sweet as I was expecting. That said, it’s not my… well, cup of tea ;) If I had a package I’d certainly drink it but I don’t see myself going out of my way to order more.

So I’ve got the day off today (yay!) and what better way to spend my day then relaxing at home this morning while drinking a cup (or many cups) of tea! This is another one from the GCTTB, when I first came across it I found the scent very compelling. I don’t generally enjoy lemon in much but the scent profile, though lemony, had quite a few sweeter caramel-like notes mixed in which almost reminded me of a lemon meringue pie.

The steeped liquor is orange-brown in color and smells of subtle, sweet lemon (almost mayer lemon like) with a few deeper caramelized spicy notes underneath. As for the flavor… This is definitely a Darjeeling, just a touch astringent with some lovely spicier notes layered underneath the refreshing hit of lemony citrus. The caramel notes are subtle and just sweet enough to not need sugar if you’d rather keep it straight.

I tried a second steeping with a touch of cream (had some left over from last nights dinner) and sugar. The result was almost decadent; rich, creamy and sweet… the caramel notes were definitely enhanced by the sugar and the lemon was just the right highlight.

Overall a lovely Darjeeling, flavored just right. I was really surprised at how well the vendor did in balancing this tea out; natural and subtle but yet brisk and refreshing. It made for a wonderful relaxing morning.

Another tea from the GCTTB. I love creme brûlée, so a tea that supposedly tasted like it was definitely something that I wanted to try out.

The dry tea is sweet smelling with a bit of tang from the marigold and the natural flavoring. It didn’t smell like creme brûlée but I was willing to wait to make any kid of firm opinion.

The steeped liquor comes out an orange-gold with a scent profile of creme and sugar which did start to remind me of the traditional dessert. Again there were a few highlights from the marigold and safflower but they blended in better with the overall profile.

As for the flavor; subtle, sweet and it definitely tasted like creme brûlée. I was actually rather surprised how well the dry tea translated into this most interesting flavor. The mouth feel is creamy (which helps to make it feel like I’m literally drinking dessert) but at the same time much lighter than I was expecting. And the best part is I don’t get any artificial tastes or aftertastes, it’s all very natural and smooth.

I really enjoyed this tea and since I’ve been looking for more caffeine free options think I’ll end up getting some for myself. Even my partner liked it, which definitely says something! ;)

I’m off to an all day meeting and needed something fresh and flavorful. I love this tea, it bright and citrus-y but yet sweet enough on it’s own to just go down smooth… The little bit of vanilla really just finishes things off nicely.

Ok off to the meeting… don’t you just love budget forecasting sessions! :S

My first tea from the Great Canadian Traveling Tea Box! It was so exciting to hear that the box had been delivered, I probably spent the first half hour after I got home from work opening bags and smelling all the different teas. But since it’s a work night I had to limit my choices to caffeine free options and this one caught my interest.

Dry this tea has a very strong scent profile, sweet with a bit of tang that reminds me of cream cheese frosting. I don’t get much in the way of carrot at this point but there are some deeper notes under all the artificial “cake” scent that could be the carrot. I can also detect some of the spices as well which try to break up some of the super sweet notes present in this tea.

The liquor is a deep red-orange and smells of sweet cream cheese icing and cake (a touch artificial.) I get a few carrot notes every once and a while but they got a bit lost in the rest of the aroma. There’s also a film present on the top of the liquid.

Flavor wise, I defiantly get cake when drinking this but not much on the carrot side of things. With the various spices involved it’s almost more of a spice cake than a carrot one; I get definite hits of cinnamon while the rest is a bit muddled but I find that there’s hints of nutmeg and clove. The mouth feel is rich and creamy which complements the cream cheese frosting flavor, though I do find it to be a bit artificial.

An interesting tea and I can see why people like it but like the few DT cake teas that I’ve tried… Its just not for me. If it wasn’t for the “cake” notes I would probably like this more but I just find myself unable to really enjoy the artificial flavoring.

After a late (and long) night last night I woke up wanting chai… but I couldn’t figure out which Chai I really did want… Chocolate Chili was too sweet, same with Cinnamon Rooibos; Pumpkin wasn’t spicy enough; Green just wasn’t what I was in the mood for… and the only other Chai I have at work at the moment was DT’s “Pure Chai” which wasn’t all that impressive either. So I decided to get “creative” and take a little bit of the pure chai and mix it into the Pumpkin to see if that would help the lack of spice issue that I’ve been running into with this tea.

It’s not quite there, but it’s much closer to what I remember it being. The mix washes out the pumpkin a bit and there’s an odd aftertaste that I can’t quite place but other than that it’s pretty good; warm, some decent hits of spice and the black tea base is coming through nicely as well. This gives me hope that if I can remember to bring some whole cloves and cinnamon bark into work I can adjust this tea enough to truly enjoy the rest of the bag.