513 Tasting Notes
Aaahhhhhh!!
The damage:
-one spring tea sampler set
-one matte white Nordic mug with shellfish and pale green interior.
-I can’t believe that was all. I just can’t. I saw and fell in love with the lime green timolino, and think it will be mine very very soon, just not yet.
I also saw their new travel mug, which is said to be leak-proof. It seemed nice, although for some reason I wasn’t crazy about its esthetics, or maybe it was just the way it felt in my hand. It’s a rubberized textured type of metal, and it just feels wide and clunky, and I’m not sure how I feel about the handle on the lid yet.
But yeah, this tea, sorry!
I got it to go as a soy latte with agave. This tastes pretty comparable to what a peaches and cream flavoured oatmeal tastes like, minus the grainy taste of oats. The peach is a soft, rounded peach as opposed to the fresh juicy variety, and is not even remotely tart or tangy, although this could be due to the vanilla, which gives more of a cream note than a distinctly vanilla one. I also didn’t get any apple at all, which whatever, fine by me.
This is a solid tea, and makes a fine latte. I’m pretty excited to play around with the sample I have!
So before going to bed last night, I downed a few Advil in an attempt to at least dull my joint pain. Woke up in the middle of the night (but uncomfortably close to morning) and realized that my joints actually do feel a bit better if I dare say so myself, but I had, like, raging cramps. And I was very wtfy about the whole thing because seriously? cramps? who gets cramps at my age? (I’m 28). And as I lay there remembering my teen-aged years, I felt so juvenile. Like I didn’t want to go into work only to sit in my office doubled over and have my boss ask what the matter was and have to tell her I have cramps of all things! anyway, after a cup of this tea, I’m actually feeling a bit better. Moving around a bit helped, plus this tea is quite gentle and unobtrusive at the best of times, and despite overzealously getting like 200 g of it back in November, I’m kind of glad I had it. We complain about it from time to time, but it’s just so wonderful to have a real tea collection isn’t it? And it’s funny how intrinsically bound up with memory it all is—as I was sipping my tea, I remembered the first time I had it. I was in Ottawa, and had just finished my last licensing exam, and it felt so wonderful to sit in the warm, cozy teahouse with my best friend and drink lots of tea with breakfast.
No breakfast for me this morning though—just this tea. Now off to go to work. David’s tea after work today!!
Feel better! Also, not to make you feel worse or anything, but cramps can be a reality at ANY AGE (well, almost).
I totally still get cramps and I’m teetering on the edge of 30. I feel your pain. warm cuddles
My cramps have never gone away – I didn’t expect them to so at least it doesn’t bug me on that front! I also get ‘growing pains’ sometimes which makes me want to laugh. Feel better!
Thanks, anna and sami. I suppose they can materialize at any age, although being on the pill has kept them at bay for the better part of my life now, and I was kind of hopeing that’d just last forever. Cuddles are always welcome!
And uniquity, it’s funny you mention still getting ‘growing pains’. I get them as an adult too and think it’s so very peculiar. Because I’m done growing upwards…maybe my legs are resisting growing outwards? LOL
Are you the cuddly type, keychange?
And man, don’t get me started on going on/off the pill.
I went off the pill once, and it was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made. went back on it, and that decision could easily claim second-worst decision. I feel like I’m damned either way.
yes, I am the cuddliest person in the world. There’s pretty much no one I won’t cuddle with if they let me. Snuggling is like, a friendship requirement.
But sitting too close to strangers on the bus is disgusting. Or when randoms fall asleep leaning against you. Or (ooh hate this one) when someone in public is like omg blind person, must grab her and vacuum her away from car (even though I’ll be like walking down a sidewalk and be nowhere near the intersection).
Are you the cuddly type?
So… the cramps would explain the joint pain. I always get arthritic type pain in my knees with hormonal changes. Advil is a wonder drug!
Cuddles good! snuggles everyone
Yay for endless snuggles! Like a good cup of tea, there’s very little that can’t be solved by snuggling, imho.
and morgana, you might be onto something.
I hope you feel better!
And I was on the pill for 10+ years, and finally went off it because I relized the increased cramps were better to deal with than the emotional instability I had when I was on it. It was like insta-tears all the time. Yikes. At least I can take advil for cramps!
Yes and no – I think I’m probably much like you. It’s not possible for me to be chosen family-close to someone who doesn’t like being touched, because that’s one of the most important ways for me to share love.
When it comes to people I dislike, or people I just don’t want to be touched by, though – no. No touchings.
That’s exactly it. Strangers and people who I’m only medium fond of-no touching. ever. And family and chosen family: snuggles always.
You know what it’s called when you cuddle a Steepster friend?
…wait for it…
…wait for it…
…wait for it…
TEASPOONS!
Hue hue hueee.
LOL
Oh my god. My day has just been made. That’s perfect!!!
Oh, that’s hilarious! :D
So far, bringing the mini keurig into work to use for hot water has been a sort of success. Sort of because it’s a bit finicky to operate, but given that there are only two buttons, I feel I can handle it.
It’s never quite the same when you’re brewing away from home, but I suppose that’s to be expected. The flavour, given that I was using a tea filter, was a bit muted, but still creamy and delicious. Certainly helps me get through the morning when I’m pretty much the only one here. tea can really find your sore spots and massage them just so. And now, because i’ve disposed of said filter into the wastebasket in my office, all I can smell is blueberry and I’m loving it.
When I’m feeling under the weather or otherwise particularly sorry for myself, I reach for what I call “the big guns”, and this tea is one of them. As I tossed in my sleep last night, I realized in that semi-conscious way that you do that my knees were hurting. I woke up this morning and my knees were indeed hurting, along with my elbows and fingers. And as is typical for pretty much everyone I know with any medical issue whatsoever, no one knows what’s wrong because “it all looks fine”. Oh ok then, I’ll just eff off and admit that i’m making the whole thing up. Need some drama in my life, ya know? things get a bit dull without joint pain.
Haha sorry. I feel I complain far more than is appropriate in tasting notes. This tea was as delicious as always, and made me feel as though I was drinking a liquefied funnel cake drizzled in confectioners’ sugar. Add strawberry and you really would have the entire funnel cake experience. And although I might go so far as to say this tea doesn’t “need” guar, I always add some (along with some cream) to really emphasize the tea’s natural and unique sweetness (seriously, I’ve never tasted a sweet tea with this type of sweetness—must be the leaf hoppers!)
“Things get a bit dull without joint pain”. Hahaha.
:D
ok, that’s it….I’m trying this tea this week….I have a sample at home…..thanks for the poke in the behind to motivate me….and good luck with your knees. I take New Chapter Zyflamend, if that helps at all. :)
Oooh, definitely try it!
“liquefied funnel cake drizzled in confectioners’ sugar”!!! o_O
yum-meee. so gonna try this & then add strawberry to it.
Cue the sense of dread that just courses through you (or otherwise sits in your stomach) when you see the work week stretching out before you, accented with awful, awful weather. Sometimes it feels like tea is the only thing that can cheer me up on a Monday morning. After having this cup turn into a disaster of epic proportions on Saturday, it was lovely to have a perfectly creamy vanillay cup this morning. I am also taking my mini keurig into work today, and i’m hoping i’ll actually use it to enjoy tea in the afternoon, but it’s starting to feel complicated, and I might not. I hope I do though!
Work is so much better with tea. You can do it!
It really is. Thank you!
Sorry you have a dread about work today.. hopefully your Keurig and your tea will warm your spirits and the rest of you and make your day better :)
I know that sense of dread well, and I don’t even have the awful weather to deal with.
Sad you guys can relate. I have 85 (week) days left here though!
Ok, so this isn’t actually going to be a tasting note about this tea, because I’ve written about it enough for you to know that it’s a lovely EGC, and that’s about all you need to know.
But last night, I decided to take a timolino full of this to a friend’s place for dinner and hanging out. And instead of using my Keurig to dispense the hot water like I typically do, I used Watson (Watson is the name I’ve given to our Culligan water cooler, that has both a hot and cold water tap—we named him Watson after the computerized jeopardy contestant! /nerd). Anyway, from my understanding, the water dispensed from Watson is around 107 degrees F, while the Keurig website says that the Keurig dispenses water that’s 192 degrees f, so that’s definitely a noticeable difference. The thing is, however, that I never never successfully brewed a cup of satisfactory tea using Watson, and it seems odd to me that a temperature of about 207 (ETA—sorry, I originally wrote 107, which explains the general wtfness in the comments below, but it really was 207) would be too hot for absolutely every tea (especially since I drink mostly blacks, which are reputed to almost always take extremely hot water). As for the water I use, the Keurig takes filtered water through my brida filter, and Watson uses Culligan’s water—both are filtered, but are provided by different companies, so perhaps that has to do with it. But last night’s tea tasted bitter and horrible, just horrible. No vanilla cream notes to speak of—only an amped up bitter bergamot note that was bitter and gross.
But this has me terrified to ever get myself a variable temp kettle, because what if the Keurig is the only acceptable source for hot water for me in this universe? this is actually really upsetting to me! Because i so badly want the Bonavida goose-neck one liter variable temp kettle, but like, if I drop 100 dollars on it but it makes all my tea taste like bile, then…then…then what?!?!?!?!!?
Please comfort me.
Preparation
(Have you actually checked Watson’s temperature?)
I haven’t checked it myself, but I have a friend who works as a distributor for Culligan, and she checked the temperature of her hot water dispenser and reported back to me.
Maybe that’s a good first step to rule any temp problems out. But isn’t 107 exceptionally low? Like 42 degrees C?
Uh, sorry, you want comforts, and I just want to crunch numbers. I’m so sorry you’re having Watson issues. I’m sure it will be okay. I see a goosenecked beauty in your future that will make everything better and easier.
If it doesn’t work for you, you can ALWAYS pack it up and return it.
But you should probably check Watson’s temperature, because every water heater will be different. That would be a LOT different, but 107F is not very hot at all. It’s tap water hot at 40C. My tap water is actually way hotter than that (think green tea steeping temps about 65C) depending on how long the boiler has been on for.
I hope you’re right. I was so so so so close to ordering one just now! I literally had to sit on my hands and rock back and forth to stop myself. And yeah, 107 is lowish it’s true, but I swear this water yields the nastiest tea ever. And the Keurig, by contrast, makes a perfect one. Maybe I just like all my tea at an incredibly low temperature? I have no idea. But you can barely tell you’re drinking the same tea—the differences are that noticeable.
Ok, you guys are right. I should just check Watson’s temperature. I just checked my conversation with my friend on FB and she admitted that her thermometer only went up to 200 f, so I imagine she couldn’t get an accurate read, either. But like, do you guys think it’s just that Watson is super hot in real life and that the keurig is cool and that makes all the difference?
But how do you adapt the steep times if you use 107 degree water? Or 192-degree water for blacks, for that matter.
And if 207 f is so low, but Keurig’s website says its water is 192, then isn’t that even more odd still? that I would prefer (even black) tea at such a ridiculously low temperature? but I’m seirous, guys. No one would enjoy the tea from Watson. It wasn’t keychange bitter—I had two other people taste it and they thought it was nasty, too. Maybe I should try boiling our random kettle with the same water I use to fill the Keurig and comparing that against Watson. Because maybe it really just is the water.
I don’t. I always steep for about four minutes (if I’m steeping blacks) when I use the Keurig.
Hm – 207? But you said 107 in the original post. 207 would make more sense, I guess.
And Omgsrsly, it never occurred to me that I could just return the bonavida if I don’t like it. I’m so stupid LOL
This is all just so very odd!
Sorry sorry sorry!! I meant 207! oh my gosh.
Wow. Wow. And you guys kept on being like “107? that’s so low! crazy! so so low!” and I was thinking: isn’t 207 just five degrees shy of 212? how bad is my math? aaaahhhhh."
Ok, so now that we know it’s more 207 than 107, and that the Keurig really is 192…then is it more likely that culligan’s hot water just sucks?
Haha! That was so confusing! The hot water is probably too much for you. :) I steep all my black teas at 195F, so about your Keurig temp. 207 is too much for me.
There, there. (Comfort comfort.) My guess is it is something about the water filter rather than the temp that is causing such a major difference. I steep my blacks at different temperatures (200,205,212) depending on the seller’s recommendations and my own tastes, but I rarely steep them at lower than 200. My parents had a Culligan system and it included water softening. Does yours? I wonder whether if it does, it’s some of the additives in the water that are making the taste sub par. In any case, I wouldn’t rule out the variable temp kettle. I love the convenience of being able to set the different temperatures without having to use a thermometer or just guess.
Morgana, omgsrsly, and anna—you are all heavenly. Just divine! thank you!
We have an answer!
Morgana, I think you were right: because I just did an experiment.
What I did was use our regular kettle that was lying around, and filled it with Brida water (so, Keurig water). Brewed up grandma’s pumpkin pie from dellaterra tea, mostly because I know what that’s supposed to taste like, and have brewed many a consistent cup. And it tasted pretty damn near perfect! soo, I think it’s just that Culligan’s hot water is a no-go for me. Morgana, I imagine that the water in the cooler is treated, so you’re right about it affecting the taste. Omg, now I want a variable temp kettle so badly!
Man, I love science. And all you amazing women, of course.
Isn’t it all just so wonderful? process of elimination FTW!
Yay! :)
Yay for finding an answer! I think you’ll love having a variable temp kettle so I have no problem encouraging you to spend your money. ;-)
Now to get my variable temp kettle!
Stopped at David’s at a friend’s urging…what? she urged me! and I smelled a bunch of tea and settled on this one (omg omg omg omg they are getting a lime green timolino!! omg omg omg!).
This tea tastes like the creamiest of creamed milk, with some more cream on top, all garnished with the slightest sprinkling of the finest white chocolate. That’s all I have to say. Delicious delicious. I had it as a soy latte (I’m lactose intolerant, and although I “tolerate” lactose of my own choosing, my stomach becomes apoplectic when it sees like 16+ oz of actual milk).
David, you done good, you really done.
this is why i’m jealous of Canada.
Lime green timolino? AWESOME! Did they tell you about any other colors? PINK, maybe hopes
Isling, I didn’t hear pink specifically. They said “royal blue”, and said they didn’t know of the rest.
Pyarkaaloo, want me to send you some?
i’m so sorry, i didn’t see this note til just now…
this sounds so yummy! that is so kind of u to offer :D
i’m located in the US tho….is that okay?
Yup, I’ll message you.
Although I enjoyed this in my timolino at work today, I have to say that either it doesn’t travel well, or else this tea has lost some of its magic. I suspect it’s the former, as both Mr. keychange and I swooned over our cups of it when we had this in a normal mug. That, and I’m starting to think that pretty much every tea ought to be enjoyed in an actual mug, as due to the fact that I tend to not be able to look beyond the immediacy of my situation, a bad encounter with tea in a travel mug that otherwise tastes good could change the way I feel about a wonderful tea, and we can’t have any of that.
I still get the strong, creamy coconut flavour, and i’m sure the splash of milk helped bring that out. That being said, the overall swallow still feels particularly thin and incomplete for me today. Not incomplete enough though, as my timolino is happily empty.
I know, I know. It’s such a shock that I had the Queen this morning. Had her with a bagel and cream cheese, and experienced a small slice of heaven before having to change into stupid work clothes and then plunge myself into the god-forsaken outdoors.
Stay warm, guys!
Also, is anyone else watching jeopardy? Holy smokes, Arthur!
I swear I’m going to bolt my doors and refuse to go out until the temps change…
I’m with you there!
Wow, I can’t believe how often you’ve had the Queen. She must be quite flexible, eager and … tireless?
I’m blushing now.
Thank you, Cavo. LOL!
Ahahahah. It’s Friday. Time to be extra silly. (I typed swilly, but that makes sense with all the tea sloshing…)
This is one incredibly powerful cinnamon tea. I’ve finally found a tea that is perfect, without fail, every time I take it in my timolino. Although I won’t be restocking this immediately upon finishing the tin (which will happen very quickly), it will absolutely feature in my cupboard come fall and winter of next year. we’re having record lows again today, although I frankly shouldn’t even be surprised at this point. But hot spicy cinnamon makes even this awful weather feel slightly more palatable. I love, love a tea’s ability to soothe ruffled feelings.
And how the heck do i still have four hours left at work? aaahhhh.
Wizard. I love peachy oatmeal tea!
Yay for new tea and teaware!!! althought I must admit I’m a little disappointed you behaved so well, lol, would have loved to hear more!
I, too, am disappointed with the show of restraint. I expected actual damage, darn it!
I haven’t opened my computer in hours, and scrolling through my feed now, I see lots of David’s purchases haha. Nice choice!
Yay new tea stuff! :)
Haha guys I still spent like sixty dollars!! It really is a wild wild world out there. And, um, I think I’m going back tomorrow. Because whales. Whales!
WHALES! :D I’ll probably get whales on Friday.
waaa waa waaa me too!
Ahh thanks for the review on the new mug I saw it online, Im sure ill purchase that lime timolino…omg did u see that lime steeper?! And might push it for the mason jar…lol
Oh, I nearly lost it over the timolino-glad you want it too! and I own and love love love the mason jar. Amazing and wonderful and perfect. And omg yes the steeper! but it’s massive.
I hope they come out with more colours in the smaller steeper. :) That would be PERFECT.
I too showed restraint lol only 2 mugs, the glass octopus and color changing lobster, and both with my bf in mind!! The octopus one is Def for him and I might test the lobster one, I think I will be returning for the shell bubble cups and teapot though haha :D and I also got 8 teas lol so still a fair amount
Sounds like you had fun shopping today. I love reading about all the excitement about the new teas and tea ware.
Whales!!! I’m getting the color-change mug next week. I tried really hard for this week but only got cleared for $20 because, ya know, responsibilities and bills. Blegh! Doesn’t my mortgage company know the Spring Collection is out? How dare they?
Sounds like a good shopping experience! :)
It was awesome!