Kirlika Send Message

Hmm… I need to figure out how to get my leaves into my Timolino basket without getting them everywhere (I use a rather wide spoon to measure things out and with the basket being a bit smaller than I’m used to it’s been interesting.) That said, I think I’ve figured out the trick to brewing in the slightly smaller basket… Flip the Timolino upside-down and let it steep that way; I give it a shake every once and a while too but this seemed to give the leaves plenty of room to expand and still have space for the water to get in.

Onto the tea… had a minor emergency come up while I was brewing this so I over steeped it a touch, no bitterness though just really, really gingery, which worked for me today as I just couldn’t get warm. Lots of heat in my mouth and a really lovely tingle left over… the extra time also brings out a bit more of the orange peel and pepper than I’m used to tasting.

My first ever tea in my new Timolino! (A big thank you to my partner for this very thoughtful gift… my other one is a) plastic and b) has been dropped a few to many times :( )

So it’s my first day back at work after the Christmas/New Year’s holiday season and I am seriously wishing I was able to take the 2nd and the 3rd off too… My brain keeps saying things like “I’m sorry you want me to do what???” (That said I’d rather a short “back to work” week than a long one so there’s always a silver lining… somewhere :D )

To go along with this mental state I seriously couldn’t figure out what tea I wanted… I knew I wanted tea but everything I smelled just wasn’t “it.” In the end it came down to Santa’s Secret, Sweet Ginger Heat, Stash’s Green Chai and this one which seemed to be a combo of the two moods I was in, sweet and spiced. In the end though I’m still really disappointed that DT made such a significant (to me anyways) change to this blend, it’s just very weak in the spice area compared to prior blendings.

Don’t get me wrong it’s still a nice tea but it just doesn’t wow me like it did… Oh well there’s other Pumpkin spiced teas out there, now I just have an excuse to try them all! :D

Got this as one of the free samples from my Teavivre shipment, I’ve never tried a straight Pu’erh before and thought this would be a good chance to give it a shot. I actually got three different samplings of Pu’erh tea from Teavivre but read somewhere on their site that this is the one to try first. So here it goes.

Dry the tea is compressed into a tiny birds nest of dark brown leaves, and there was a small amount of powdered leaf left in the wrapper. I also found very little scent to the dried leaf, what little there was smelled of loam and old leather, a few hits of mushrooms too.

After a good rinse my first steeping was for 15seconds and left me with a dark brown liquor that had a bit of particulate settled at the bottom. The aroma was of leather, loam and a dark woodsy scent. As for the flavor, there was definite smokey favors mixed into the wood/loam base. I also noticed a certain astringency that started mid sip but by the time I noticed it it had already been replaced by a heavier sweetness; that said it’s quite a smooth drink. I don’t enjoy the flavors much once the tea has cooled though.

The second steeping was for 10sec and wow did that ever give me a dark brown-black liquor, it made me feel like I was going to be drinking coffee. The leather scent was more predominant now, though there was still the dark woodsy notes in there. Flavor wise, the earthy loam notes were lighter and with less smoke this steeping, plus I got a few more mushroom favors.

A third steeping of 10 seconds gave me a dark brown liquor that smelled of wood, loam and a bit of smoke. The dark loam flavor was lightened slightly by the woodsy taste and the mouthful ended off on a somewhat astringently sweet note.

I did one last steeping of 15seconds (this certainly could have stood up for further steepings but I had to head out for the day.). The medium-dark brown liquor smelled of loam and mushrooms with just a touch of smoke. The flavor was probably the mildest of all the steepings, earthy but sweet at the same time. The flavor lingered a bit after each sip as well, compared to the previous cups where the flavors just sat on your tongue.

For my first straight Pu’erh I think this went well, I’m not a huge fan but it could grow on me. I’ll definitely have to try the other samples and see how they sit before I make any sweeping statements (or even rate this one specifically. ) After that I’ll try this again and see if anything has changed.

Another of my free Oolong samples from Teavivre’s fall contest (thanks again Angel!). It always amazes me at how different tea’s can be within a “family” and this Oolong sample pack has just served to further highlight that for me.

Dry this monkey picked oolong is tightly rolled and has a very definitive vegetal scent to it. Underneath that are some darker roasted notes and a few floral (almost nectarine like) highlights; a vey interesting combination.

A quick rinse lead to my first steeping of 50 seconds; I tried 25 but it gave a very weak looking/smelling tea so I put the leaves back in for a bit (I might have under leafed this a bit… Oh well.) This gave me a light orange-gold liquor that had a very fragrant smell consisting of roasted peaches and cashews. The flavor, while soft and somewhat mild, was as distinctive as the aroma; the dark roasted notes came though first (though they didn’t give any bitterness to the brew) followed by some higher peachy floral notes and under it all was just a touch of the vegetal favors that where foreshadowed by the dry leaves. The mouth feel is rich and creamy and there is a slight after taste reminiscent of peaches left in my mouth. It all mixes for a surprisingly refreshing drink.

The second steeping of 1:30minutes gave me a gold liquor which had a slightly more subtle scent profile. The roasted notes were still there, as was the peach but there was a definite thread of warm honey warped throughout. Flavor wise there are more vegetal favors to this steeping; mixed with roasted notes it made for more of a hearty cup compared to other oolongs I’ve had in the past. There are still some peachy highlights to round out the flavor profile as well but they’re not as predominant, nor is the mouth feel as rich, though it is still creamy.

My third and last steeping was 2:30 minutes long, the color of the liquor lightened to a pale gold while the scent profile had also lightened considerably. There are almost no roasted notes mixed into the vegetal scents and the peachy notes from before were almost completely gone. As in the previous steepings, I found the flavor matched the scent profile; mild vegetal notes with just a touch of roasting on the back end of the sip. Every once and a while I would get a hit of peach but not often and the mouth feel was much lighter while still being somewhat creamy.

In the end, though it was a good oolong and the flavor profile was quite different, it’s not my favorite. The mix of roasted notes with peach and the vegetal favors just doesn’t work for me in the long run. That said I was brewing it at 93C rather then the recommended 100C so I will try it again after Christmas and see if that makes a difference (one way or another I’m getting a new kettle, my old one has got to go!)

My first (official) shipment of tea from Teavivre has arrived! As my partner could tell you I’ve been looking forward to this shipment since I ordered it. I don’t have many (good) straight teas at the moment and so finding out about Teavivre through one of their contests this fall was a bit of good luck.

Dry this tea is visually intriguing and being rolled into small balls certainly makes it easier to get it prepped for steeping! The first thing I noticed when I opened the bag was a lovely dark malt smell. My father used to make beer in our basement and the scent of the tea really reminded me of the malty hops that he would start out with.

After a quick rinse I steeped this for about 40 seconds. Teavivre’s website recommended 30s but I used a bit more water (just over 4 oz) than what they called for so I bumped the time up a bit. The liquor comes out dark orange-brown and the aroma is heavenly. Really it was a toss up if I just wanted to keep my nose buried in my cup or to actually drink it. Sweet malt notes with some honey highlights, a bit of dark chocolate and under it all just a touch of earthiness to bring it all together.

As for the flavor… Oh wow! This has become an instant favorite for me. The aroma carries through to the flavor, malt and chocolate mixed to form a wonderful smooth experience. The mouth feel was rich and full but not heavy at all. And there was just a bit of dryness to this tea that helped to keep it from being cloying. As it cooled the malt notes stepped back a bit and the chocolate really started to shine though.

For the second steeping I left the leaves in for 70 seconds; this gave an orange-brown liquor that smelled of chocolate with a few sweet dark caramel notes underneath. Flavor wise this steeping is a bit more subtle than the previous one, but the dark chocolate tones really shine thorough with just enough malty sweetness to round it out nicely. There’s a bit of creaminess to this stepping as well.

The last steeping was for 1:45 minutes and this time I got a subtle caramel scented and colored liquor. The flavor had some of those same thick, creamy caramel tones to it as the aroma but there were still some hints of the chocolate. It also wasn’t as dry as the previous steepings, which I found to be a nice way to finish off this tea.

I have to admit that this was the tea that I was most looking forward to trying and it didn’t disappoint. I was really surprised at how a non-flavored tea could taste so much like chocolate (though I think I said the the same thing about Teavivre’s milk oolong…) and there were no floral notes to distract from the flavor profile either, which was nice to find. This is definitely a tea that I will be keeping stocked in my cupboard. Honestly, had a hard time writing this log up as I kept stopping to drink some more tea. I guess thats not a bad thing eh? ;)

Well we just finished a Christmas potluck at work, so it’s appropriate to now have some Santa’s Secret to finish off my meal.

The water temperature was a bit cooler than usual today so I got less in the way of the darker notes from the black tea but it really served to highlight the vanilla which was a refreshing change for me. It was still minty though, but more of a spearmint rather than the definite peppermint notes that I’ve encountered prevoiusly. I find it so interesting that just a slight shift in water temperature can make such a dynamic change to a tea. Here’s hoping that after Christmas I can play with that a bit on my own rather than having it be a “happy accident” :)

sigh Now I really wish I could sit back and just enjoy my tea, but back to work I must go… On the plus side I’ve only got 2 more days of work to go before the holidays!

This morning served as a good reminder to always look outside before deciding what footwear to walk to work in. I’ve gotten in the habit of checking the temperature with my weather app (a balmy -3C today) but totally forgot to check how much snow had fallen… So there I was all ready to head out; I opened the door took one step outside and went “Wait a minute!” (We’ve probably gotten about a foot of new snow in the last 24 hrs.) Turned around and headed right back inside and started looking for my socks; high boots today it is! (I wear Vibram’s Lontra “shoe” when it’s not super cold out, or when I don’t have to plow through high snow drifts.)

Now for the tea! After a weekend filled with cinnamon and cloves (gotta love homemade apple cider!) I wanted something a bit different today so I reached for my small bag of Chocolate Chili Chai. The heat is still really subtle (see my previous note) but enjoyably tingly. I had a hard time finding the chocolate though today… not sure why. Oh well, it gave me a chance to enjoy the black tea base a bit more; to be honest it’s nothing to write home about but still a decent black tea.

I have a love/hate relationship with Chinooks. On one hand they change -20C weather into 0C, try to blow people over (you get used to this after a while) and totally make a mess of the roads; and on the other they give me massive migraines. So after a really poor sleep due to my head I needed something with a bit more caffeine than usual to get me going this morning. So a mate it is.

I can’t get over how murky the liquor is… completely understandable given the powder and the chocolate chips but it surprises me every time. Flavor wise, I still find the chocolate a bit subtle for my tastes but I’m getting a bit more of the roasted mate flavor this steeping and I enjoy how it breaks up the chocolate notes. The cinnamon is a nice touch too.

Accidentally over steeped my tea this morning, oops. This is what happens when you’re at work and people keep wanting to ask you questions… in person, on the phone, over email. Oh well.

Aside from that I love this tea. I’m not typically a rose petal person but there are those mornings when that note is exactly what I’m looking for… and in this tea those petals serve as a great highlight but don’t overwhelm the main flavor profile of chocolate and strawberries.

Ok back to work…

As the last of my teas from DT’s Chocolate gift set, this one was probably the one I was most excited about… and then disappointed in. I had a chance to smell the dry tea previously in store and I knew I had to try some, but since I had been intending on doing an online order right away (I love free samples :D ) so I held off on buying it that day. Instead I found the gift pack and since it was a good deal figured why not. In the end I’m glad I did the gift pack as it was a great way to try a bunch of new teas out without getting tones of leaf, but I really wish this one had come through for me.

Dry this tea smells absolutely delicious; the sweet baked cake aromas combined with the chocolate makes for a wonderful (and powerful) blend, but I don’t get much from the black tea… a few dark notes but they’re quite hidden by the rest of the scent profile.

When steeped the liquor comes out a murky brown-rose color, certainly not red despite the addition of the beetroot powder. And between the chocolate, sprinkles and the powder it’s no surprise that the tea is murky, nor that there is some film on top… To be honest I’m really not sure about the addition of sprinkles in this tea, while it certainly gives it some visual interest (and perhaps a bit of sweetness) I feel that they don’t really add much to the tea (then again I’m not a big fan of sprinkles in general so shrugs). Scent-wise I now get a few more “cake” notes with less sweetness, and I’ve almost lost the chocolate all together, and still no sign of the black tea either.

Now, I will admit that I’ve over leafed this cup since my previous experiences with it have all found a distinct lack of flavor. But even with almost 1.5 times my normal amount it’s still disappointing. The flavor is a weak mix of nondescript cake made from a box and a touch of chocolate with not much else. I’m getting the occasional hit from the black tea now but even at that it just doesn’t stand up to the scent profile of the dry tea. The mouth feel is very light and a touch gritty on the back end of the sip (perhaps from the powder? Not sure on that one.)

Well I think it’s time to give up on this tea, I keep trying thinking maybe I’ll like it at a later date but it just doesn’t seem to be growing on me. Oh well you never know till you try, right? :)