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I received my sample of this what seems like a very long time ago from my frequent swapping pal VariaTEA and am only just now trying it (sorry). The idea of a white chocolate rooibos really appealed to me, but everyone’s tasting reviews kept saying that it just tasted like straight rooibos so I kept putting it off. It’s been sitting in my “Immediate Try Me!” sample drawer for weeks though, so time to finally give it a go!

Parameters were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf to 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for about five minutes. In the dry leaf I used, I saw at least three white chocolate drops/chips, so if there’s no white chocolate taste I admit I’m going to be pretty disappointed. Steeped up, mostly I just smell the rooibos and sort of a generic sweetness.

Taste wise, I get a super strong wood-chippy rooibos, although I personally don’t mind that taste. As far as the white chocolate goes, there is an initial generic sweetness to the tea but it’s not heavily white chocolate by any means. Near the end of the sip it’s a lot more creamy, and I do start to get the faintest hints of white chocolate. After swallowing, the white chocolate notes are at their strongest. It’s like there’s a very thin coating of white chocolate on the roof of my mouth.

Concluding thoughts? Well, it’s not awful by any stretch but it is a little disappointing overall. Not something I’ll want to acquire again but I’m going to be able to finish off the last cup worth without difficulty and I’d likely not turn down any additional leaf if offered, as long as it was in small quantity.

Tasting Note 500!

I figured I sort of wanted to make this note a little monumental, so I’m drinking a new tea from a new company. The sample of this I just received today from who other than VariaTEA! The gigantic package I received from her this afternoon contained 34 teas, 32 of which I didn’t have in my cupboard and 30 of which I’d never tried before. That puts me, for the first time ever, over 200 teas!

So,As soon as I’m done this I’m probably going to get started on some sipdowns…

Anyway, I’ve heard good things about this one (KS’s notes stick out in my mind) and I actually searched for it on my own but couldn’t find it in my local grocery stores. I actually had trouble finding any Celestial Seasonings teas other than standard peppermint, chamomile and things like that. The ingredients sorta seem a little odd to me, and I’ll admit, it does smell kind funny dry and steeped up – but sorta in a good way. I think it’s gonna be a big hit or a huge miss…

So my parameters were 1 teabag in 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for six minutes. The tea liquor is a bit of a murky yellow.

Taste wise, I am just floored! I don’t know how they did it, but this taste EXACTLY like a liquefied sugar cookie! It’s sweet, and doughy and just kinda… Perfect. Mmmm! Definitely a hit! Now I’m a little sad that I only have like five bags left, but at the same time I’m excited that I get five more cups of this! Thank you VariaTEA, this is really good!

Well, that finishes up the cold brew of this one! Delicious!

Also, I just got the day’s mail, which included a very mustachioed swap package from VariaTEA! It’s huuugeeee and I can’t wait to dig into it!

I was craving something sweet, and fruity like grenadine but also a softer strawberry/milky chocolate combination and since I couldn’t think of a single tea that fit that description, I decided to make two teas instead! It was a great ‘compromise’.

The parameters for this blend were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of boiling water steeped for 3 min. and 45 seconds. I guess that was the sweet spot, because this is just so damn good! The chocolate is sweet and milky which perfectly satisfies the dessert craving I was in, and the strawberry is succulent and not hidden by the chocolate. Additionally, the black base isn’t even a touch bitter or astringent, and is just going down super smoothly. If I didn’t know better, I’d think there was milk in this just adding to the creaminess – but nope! I’m drinking it straight.

This and Monk’s Blend just worked out splendidly, adding to an already great tea day!

I was craving something sweet, and fruity like grenadine but also a softer strawberry/milky chocolate combination and since I couldn’t think of a single tea that fit that description, I decided to make two teas instead! It was a great ‘compromise’.

Parameters for this blend were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of boiling water steeped for 3 min. and 45 seconds. Turns out, that just happened to be the perfect steeping parameters for this blend! It’s sweet, with balanced grenadine and vanilla notes and not a single touch of bitterness or astringency. Just smooth, sweet, Monk’s Blend!

It’s really going to take me no time to finish up the 50g of this that I bought while on vacation. At least I know where to get more, and it’s not too unattainable…

I completely forgot I had a pitcher of this cold brewing. So, by the time I finally remember it was in my fridge and I had strained it, it had been cold brewing for over 24 hours. Eeeik!

That said, it was really good regardless! The current flavouring was very rich, and I actually got a strong taste of the champagne! There was also a light, vegetal taste to the tea but I actually found it pretty refreshing. I seem to not mind the vegetal quality of some teas when they’re cold brewed – maybe I should try more green teas as cold brews (although this isn’t a green blend).

Yet another way to enjoy this blend!

After my first banana tea of the day I couldn’t help but follow it up with more banana tea! I feel awful though, because I have two samples of this which I received from two different people and I can’t really remember who I received them from! I think one was from BrewTEAlly Sweet and I’m kinda sure the other was maybe from Janelle? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

For this cup I steeped up 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in near boiling water. I had aimed for a 4 or 5 minute steep and was using the microwave clock to time it out, but then Tre came out to make his lunch and ended up using the microwave. He was sorta a dick and refused to wait the remaining 4(ish) minutes to heat up his food, so I waited for him to finish making lunch whilst the leaves were steeping. He said he was only going to microwave his food for four minutes but by the time he was done, the leaves had been steeping for nine minutes (four and eight minutes are not the same!).

Despite being oversteeped, I don’t think the cup was too bad. I’ll definitely need to remake this under the steeping parameters I wanted, though. I could taste the banana, and it was very natural tasting compared to the sort of candy banana taste from the 52Teas blend I enjoyed earlier in the day. That said, it was weird because the Stevia in the blend made the tea very sweet, and that didn’t seem to work too well with the natural, almost unripe taste of banana. Not sure why.

The oolong itself was pretty present, although it did taste a little off – likely from the oversteeping. It was a little vegetal which wasn’t too displeasing because it kind of worked with the banana, and I also got floral notes that reminded me strongly of the floral notes in Vanilla Orchid.

Overall, this was a good tea despite a steeping mess up (like I said, I’ll try it again), but ultimately while it was definitely drinkable and I enjoyed it, somehow I still felt a bit let down by it. Maybe my expectations were too high? I feel like it could have been much more than it was, though. As of right now, I wouldn’t look for it again once I used my samples up – although I’m sure I’ll be happy each time I make some of it!

Finally! I’ve spent all day trying to log teas but Steepster hasn’t been cooperating, and everytime I go to click on a tea’s page to Steepster crashes! But for whatever reason, it’s working now!

When I woke up this morning, all I could think about was banana tea – so of course I reached for my sample of this, generously provided by Lala.

Dry, this smell fresh and sweet: a combination of real bananas and banana candy with vanilla/custard notes, and coconut notes! And of course the 52Teas black base. I’ve tried Butterscotch Banana from 52Teas and that smell similar – though with maple notes and a stronger sweetness/candy aroma. I’m wondering how similar the two will be in taste…

Steeping parameters were: 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of water just under boiling, steeped for 2 min and 30 seconds – basically how I do all my 52Teas black. The smell was super rich and creamy banana!

Taste wise, this is definitely quite close to banana pudding! It was really, really quite delicious and had a slightly thicker mouthfeel which works to enhance the pudding idea. The black base was fairly light, which I liked since the 52Teas black base starts to get a little boring since it’s always very distinct and usually pretty strong, too. The banana was definitely sweet, candy banana and the vanilla notes made it more custard/pudding like. Very true to the title.

Like I said, I have a full pouch of the Butterscotch Banana which I worried it’d be similar to, and yes they’re similar but the Butterscotch Banana is much sweeter with almost maple kind of notes, and in contrast this feels just a little more like natural banana. If very much enjoy both and would be happy to have either stocked on a regular basis.

In fact, I’ve decided that I always want a 52Teas banana blend on hand! I think Frank does the banana flavouring very well – perhaps the best of any banana tea I’ve ever had.

I pulled this one out early this morning but I can’t remember why, and now that I’m making it I’m realizing increasingly that I’m really not in the mood for yet another cinnamon tea – but I’ve started steeping it so I might as well finish now.

Anyway, I recieved this from VariaTEA who I believe received it from MissB. For the most part I like teas like this, though I’m relatively hit and miss when it comes to plum.

For my parameters I’m using 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in about 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for 8 minutes. Dry, the leaf is strongly cinnamon scent with some light fruitiness that could be plum, although I’m getting more tartness than generally associated with plum. Probably from the hibiscus. Steeping up, the smell is more appetizing than I thought it’d be: definitely heavier on fruit than on cinnamon which makes me happy because I was regretting the choice of brewing yet another cinnamon tea.

Taste wise – I’m actually surprisingly quite happy with this tea! The cinnamon is there but despite not being in the mood for cinnamon at all right now, it’s actually really tasty. Even better than that, I did not get the hibiscus overload I was expecting and on top of that I could taste the plum (and it tasted good)! All that said, despite being very surprised with this tea I don’t find it exceptional and therefore wont be seeking it out. I am glad I have at least one more cup left though!

This might be the best cup I’ve made of this one so far – lower than boiling steep temperature, for two minutes and then allowed to cool down so it’s consumed at the perfect temperature!

However, despite this being a really good cup, I’m still having issues really getting into this tea. I want to love it, but at best I just really like it? Sigh…