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I feel like tonight is going to be a VERY long night as I try and figure out what my orders are going to look like. I’d really love to have them all completed by the time I head to work tomorrow at 8:30. I know the Butiki sale is live now (is Della Terra’s? Time zone changes kinda confuse me) but I still haven’t tried the teas I MOST want to try to figure out if I need more of them… And, that’s the first order I’m making.

Left tonight is this one, flowery pineapple oolong, and creamy eggnog. The others can wait – I think. No way am I getting through nine or so (whatever number is left) teas tonight. Just, NO way. I also have one last Della Terra tea to try: Lime chiffon.

Anyway, when I opened my Butiki order this is the FIRST tea I could smell. Automatically I homed in on the scent of lychee. I love that fruit so damn much and I have great faith that Stacy will have done it justice. On the scent alone, I’m in love. It’s just like fresh juicy lychees. I feel like, in smelling the dry leaf, I can taste the juice running down my tongue. And the scent it SO powerful: none of this wimpy artificial perfumey lychee crap that some companies try to pawn off.

Anyway, steeping 1 level tsp. in 10 oz. (not 8 oz.) of water at the recommended temperature for 4 minutes. I’m also using the musical note shaped steeper that RiverTea sent me as part of my reapings from their contest. This is my first time using it (it’s just so flipping cute!).

The smell of it steeping is delightfully lychee like, and just feels so juicy and playful. First few sips – overwhelmingly lychee! Oh, I am in lychee heaven. Folks, I may have done it! I may have just found my perfect lychee tea (of course it would be a Butiki blend)! Yes – this is going into the tea order! I need more.

I’d love to rave about this some more, but so much tea to drink and so little time…

Still trying to finalize my Black Friday orders – and I feel like that can’t be done until I try a few more teas. I wasn’t expecting to, but I may make a second very small order (one or two teas) from 52Teas.

Also, Tre has been broke and unable to buy bread or milk, among other things, for weeks now (I refuse to cave and buy them – it’s his turn) but I am partially forgiving him since he came home today with two fresh loaves of white bread which he made in his Siast culinary coarse. I’m sitting here drinking tea and eating slice after slice of straight bread and I just feel SO damn good about it. It’s about fucking time I had some bread!

Anywho, this is officially the first tea from 52Teas I’ve ever had (although I have five different blends on their way to me at the moment), and I feel like it’s a fitting first one. Doctor Who is a show I enjoy, although I’ll admit to not exactly being the biggest fan girl: I’ve only watched the stuff with 10 (because of David), bits and pieces of 9’s seasons (because I like Billy Piper too – she’s the best companion imho), and the first few episodes with 11. If we’re talking Doctor Who fangirls, Tre beats me by a mile. More than a mile: many miles. Currently in my house, we have a talking Dalek plush toy, SIX sonic screwdrivers, a Doctor Who calendar, and two Doctor Who t-shirts. He is a HUGE fangirl.

Dry, neither Tre or I could smell any kind of scent coming off the leaf. I was expecting to smell something, at least, so I was kinda dissappointed. Tre often claims my teas smell like either crap or are odorless so he seemed kinda content about it. Normally I think he just wouldn’t care at all, but since this tea is Doctor Who related he just has to be involved.

I wasn’t really sure how to steep this: I guess there aren’t really steeping instructions. So, what I did was skim the reviews on this tea and try to average it out. I ended up going with 1 1/2 tsp. level steeping in boiling water for 2 min. 30 seconds.

Now, steeped, I’m able to smell the tea base and something kind of caramel like. It’s not strong though, so if I didn’t know it was caramel I might just leave it at “generic sweet smell”.

Taking small sips now… Mmmm! Yum! This tastes like caramel corn! I really am getting popcorn out of this, and caramel too – albeit a light caramel. I really wish it was just a little more in your face, but I suppose this could just be from my not steeping it long enough or using too little leaf: I was just guessing after all. I do have enough from what I purchased from Janelle for at least one more cup, but I think I’d like to purchase this just to have to play around with, and to share with Tre and Robyn (both huge Whovians). Tre might be in my good books right now, but no way am I sharing with him when I currently have such a limited amount! He seems content with the iced tea I made him though, so that’s good I guess.

Butiki Sample sipdown! Normally I’d try to sort of prolong having my samples – but right now I feel rushed to chug back (but not really – I want to enjoy the cup) as many of my new teas as possible so I can determine what I want to order larger quantities of in my Black Friday orders (I’m limiting myself to a Della Terra and a Butiki order, even though I’d love to be placing orders with other companies too).

Earlier today I had Grape Oolong, and while it was good it was a miss in terms of “OH MY GOD I NEED TO HAVE YOU STOCKED ALWAYS”. This is one that I picked a sample of in my last order, mostly because I have a fair amount of teas with almonds in them (I love almonds) so I wanted to more so focus on trying teas that I didn’t have similar(ish) counterparts to.

Dry, I couldn’t really smell anything. If I stuck my nose straight in the bag and took a big whiff (I may have inhaled some tea – not gonna lie) I SORTA got cinnamon and very faint almond, but that’s kinda a stretch to say.

For preparation, I stuck to the info. on my prepackaged sample: pre measured sample size in 8 oz. of boiling water for 4 min. (admittedly I think this was closer to five, though). In the aroma, I’m getting notes of black tea (yum), a light cinnamon sort of like powdered cinnamon sugar, and almonds.

I know I’m going to fail at explaining this – but I always loved almonds growing up (especially in baking) because strongly concentrated almonds didn’t taste the same as regular almonds to me. When my mom baked around Christmas time she’s make almond cookies with almond extract and I used to sit at the table where she was mixing things, with the bottle clutched in my grubby little hands sniffing at it. I used to say the smell reminded me of sweet candied cherries (like marachinos) but I know now that’s not what the smell was. Still, it’s very distinct to me and separate from an almond you’d eat straight (those are still good too). I’ve been skimming other people’s reviews to see if someone else has figured out the words for the flavour I want to describe, but no luck.

Anyway, that’s what I’m hoping this will taste like: Mom’s almond cookies with that indescribable almond extract sweetness.

First few sips… It’s good, but I’m not really totally blown away. Maybe that’s because there’s a little bit of astringency here that I really wasn’t expecting at all: but that’s probably my fault for nearly letting this steep way longer than the 4 recommended minutes (I have that problem of setting things up to steep and then getting distracted and losing sight of the clock). My tongue feels kind of peppered with cinnamon and there is a cookieness to this tea.

If I let the liquor sit in my mouth for a while I start to really pick up on the almond sweetness and I ALMOST get the flavour I’m looking for – but sadly this is a bit more “actual almond” nutty and less “almond extract” sweet. Again, apologies for the wording but I really am having issues figuring out how to say what I’m thinking of/looking for.

I think I probably can get away with not adding this into my Black Friday order without being heartbroken. Really, this isn’t a bad tea by a long shot – it’s just not something I’m in love with. I think that’s probably because I was expecting different and had built up my expectation to a point where anything else would be next to impossible to live up to it. Because of that, I am grateful I just got this as a sample and didn’t go for 1 oz. size…

Anyway, because of all that I’m not gonna rate this because I feel like it wouldn’t be fair to the tea or to Stacy.

It’s high energy Thursday! Maybe that should be a thing…

Anyway, I just got tipped – which was really nice. Although, I think the reason I got tipped was maybe sorta stupid? I was walking around my kiosk greeting people, and I stopped and smiled to a lady who then told me she was looking for a mini calendar to send over seas. After helping her measure some calendars to find the best ones and then ringing them in for her I offered her a pocket calendar (such is company policy) and she responded with “Thank you for your generosity – here’s some money for a coffee”, and then placed a couple bucks in my hand. Literally I was just doing my job – and I wasn’t really being all too enthusiastic about it either.

Oh well – I certainly wont be spending the money on coffee – more than likely it’ll pay for a shiny new purple tin for either this blend or my Brasiliano from Tea Desire.

Anyway, I made this in the morning so I guess that’s true to the name? Although, it’s afternoon now that I’m getting around to drinking it.

Dry, the leaf smells EXACTLY like lemon pie filling. It’s very strong and zesty with a creaminess to it. Basically there’s a strong “oomph!” about it. More specifically it reminds me of Denny’s Lemon Pie filling minus the meringue. Denny’s makes THE BEST pies, other than homemade which just can’t be topped. I highly recommend the Pecan or the Lemon, but their Cherry is really good too.

For preparation, I steeped 2 tsp. of tea in my 12 oz. timolino for six minutes. The smell was intense lemon pie – although a little less creamy than I got from the dry leaf. There’s something else too, and I’m sure it much be the guayusa. This is not my first guayusa, although it is only my second and my first was so long ago that my pallet was quite underdeveloped and I’m sure I would not have been able to appreciate the nuances or just overall taste. So I guess, in a manner of speaking, this is my first Guayusa.

I’m a huge fan of mate teas though, and my understanding is that there are some similarities taste wise just like they have similar affects as high energy “teas”.

Taking small baby sips now – both because this is still pretty piping hot and because I’m somewhat wary of what the guayusa will taste like. Mmm! So good. Even though the smell is coming off as a bit sharper of a lemon (more zest) the taste is a very natural and realistic creamy lemon pie. I think what I’m getting in the after taste is a combo of light “lemon rind” sorta taste (like when you put a lemon or orange wedge in your mouth and do that smiling thing were it looks like the inside of your mouth is yellow/orange, and you happen to bite the rind a little) and guayusa. There are earthy notes in the same way that I get earthy notes from DAVIDsTEA’s Main Squeeze which uses green yerba mate. I don’t know if it completely makes sense – but this tea has a very "green and yellow’ taste, similar to how main squeeze tastes “green and orange”.

I’m loving it though! Somehow, and maybe I’m crazy, I get the impression this would make a really good and creamy latte. Things to keep in mind…

Definitely a keeper, though!

Everyone seemed to be in a fruity oolong mood today – including myself! However, I’m at work now and I figured a long work shift would be a good time to ‘field test’, if you will, the two high energy teas I recently purchased (this one and Good Morning Sunshine).

This one I got from Tea Desire, and I’d been holding off on buying it because somewhere I’d got it into my head that this blend and Chocolate Rocket were too similar, and it wasn’t worth my time to have both. However, after being reassured by the Tea Desire sales ladies (whom I know pretty well, now, and who I trust a pretty fair bit in recommencing teas) that they were different I caved at last and got some.

Tea Desire does not have steeping directions for their mate blends – much to my annoyance, so despite being told that they were different blends I steeped this the same way I’d steep Chocolate Rocket: 1 1/2 tsp. in boiling water for four minutes.

The smell was divine: very much like rich, dark toffee. Not the dollar store crap, but the good stuff you have to pay an arm and a leg for which has depth and character and is so chewy that your mouth nearly gets clamped shut trying to gnaw your way through it. Much to my surprise, I could also smell the sunflower quite astutely. It was interesting because that’s a scent and flavour I would not normally associate with hazelnut brittle or toffee, but it was working quite well for me. Really, I just wanted to try this tea right then and there – but it was too hot to drink and I was running late for work.

After pouring this into my water bottle and then getting to work I was so distracted with stock shipments, catching up on my paper work, and an unexpected rush of customers that it’s been about two hours now before I’ve been able to get around to trying either tea (and I’m still hesitant about sneaking onto the till’s internet seeing how many customers I just had).

I have the water bottle of mate sitting next to me right now open – and the sweet toffee and gentle sunflower and hazelnut notes are managing to stand out over all the other weird “mall smells” that are usually super strong. Seriously – you have the food court (which always smells like Sweet and Sour chicken and Subway) right next to me, and the weird smell of pee and, as awful as it sounds, older people (if you’ve ever been in an old folks home you know the smell) that never dissipates – and yet the tea blend is what’s standing out to me.

Tasting it now – First taste is a mixture of chocolate, hazelnut, and toffee (but heavier on the toffee) that reminds me of when you eat one of those Toffifee candies whole. Very sweet and decadent and, I’ll admit it, quite different than Chocolate Rocket which is like a dark roasted coffee (heavy on chicory) with raspberry and chocolate. This is lighter, and less roasted tasting. I think maybe part of what makes the roasted taste lighter IS that absence of chicory and then the addition of sunflower. Again, it’s not something I’d expect to go with the other flavours but it is still present and it is working for me.

Lastly, after you go from Toffifee to toffee/sunflower, you get a lighter roasted mate taste with some creaminess that holds over into the aftertaste. That’s where I’m finding the mate itself most noticeable: the end of the sip and the aftertaste. Delicious!

I’m glad I did pick this up after all. It’s a really good blend that I’m sure I’ll enjoy over and over. I think sometimes my stubbornness prevents me from trying good blends: I’ll have to keep that in mind, especially in regard to green tea blends which I’m often too stubborn to give a chance.

Well – onto work tea #2 now! Good Morning (though rather afternoon, now) Sunshine from Butiki! Yes – it’s a very ‘high energy’ afternoon :P

(PS. Happy Turkey Day, Americans!)

Butiki Sample Sip Down! This was one of the two samples I requested with my Butiki order – mostly because I wanted to try it but was really hesitant because I’ve never had a strictly grape tea before (I’ve had wine teas, though) and therefore didn’t want a lot of it. Grapes are a fruit that I sometimes enjoy but am really really fickle about. Fresh, I only like green grapes but I also love that sickly sweet artificial grape flavour often associated with bright purples. And, the worst thing you can possibly do with grape flavours is recreate that horrible ‘makes you gag’ kind of cough syrup flavour. Stacy is a genius so I doubted this would taste like that – but I was a fear in the back of my head that I couldn’t shake.

Dry, there is a distinct kind of grape smell to the leaf. Not overwhelmingly so, but still present. It smells juicy. However, despite a clear grape scent it wasn’t something that left me drooling or writhing in anticipation for drinking it either. It was good – but not great.

I steeped this as per the instructions on the package. The sample was pre measured for 8 oz. so I obligingly used 8 ounces of water and I was careful to make sure the water was just the right temperature and I didn’t over steep past the suggested four minutes.

I was going to start watching right away – but I got distracted by a VERY awesome Youtube video. I don’t know if anyone remembers the Chatroulette ‘Call Me Maybe’ that went around the internet a while ago, but this one is one by the same guy and it’s JUST as good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6DmHGYy_xk

Drinking it now though, and I’m definitely getting the oolong base coming through pretty strongly. It’s a very floral oolong base and there are a lot of floral type notes coming through – specifically the taste of lavender. All this is subsiding into a sweet and juicy kind of grape flavour. The grape notes in particular are sort of reminding me of a toned down Welch’s grape juice – which is ok because I always found Welch’s to have too much sweetness and too much grape.

Ultimately, nothing here tastes BAD and I’m quite happily drinking the cup of it – but this is one Butiki blend that just isn’t doing it for me or making me fall in love with it. There’s nothing about it that makes me feel I can’t live without it. I certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to have another cup if it presented itself, but I’m not going to go out of my way to make that happen.

That’s ok though – because I have nine other Butiki blends from my order that I haven’t tried yet and I’m sure more than one of them will make me fall in love with them and say to myself, “Self – you can never run out of this ever because this is perfection!”.

I feel like I’ve really made the most of my first day off in fourteen days! I managed to pack a whole lot of tea tasting into my day, accomplish some domestic tasks like taking out rent money, doing laundry, and unloading and reloading the dishwasher, and I’ve relaxed (slept in late today), and nearly finished season eight of Supernatural.

So, as I get close to finishing up the season I thought this would be the perfect tea to end my tea tasting day with! As I’m sipping right now, I’m also munching on my favourite brand of veggie/soy burger with some ooey gooey cheese on top and I just feel super content right now! Bring on the next stretch of work! It’s been a good last few days!

This seems to be a really popular Della Terra blend – although admittedly it did not catch my eye at all during my first order. But, when I saw it in Janelle’s cupboard I figured I’d take the opportunity to try some and see what the hype is about.

Dry, I didn’t get the fuss. As I was smelling my sample portion all I was getting was this very faint scent of rooibos. I brewed some anyway though – certain there was something I had to be missing. For brewing, I used 1 level tsp. for 8 oz. of water steeped in boiling water for four minutes. Side note: Every time I see a darkly coloured lemon tea part of me just gets thrown off. I just expect something like lemon to be light and pale yellow in liquid form even though this is really unreasonable and not really all that logical.

The smell was delicious though! So incredible, and such a change from what I was (or rather wasn’t) getting from the dry leaf. The lemon smell somehow manages to be intense and tart while still smooth and creamy. And this translates over into the flavour as well! So good, and I love that it’s caffeine free. I take back my scepticism: this is something I need to have in my cupboard, so if I can get some Friday I sure as hell am going to!

Damn – now I can’t wait to try Lime Chiffon. Usually I love lime flavoured stuff more than lemon so I bet that’ll be awesome too! It’s definitely been a good tea day today :)

So I just finished trying Della Terra’s take on a Root Beer Float and figured I might as well dig into my Butiki version! I’d really like to try and figure out which is the “better” one so I can determine whether or not it’ll be worthwhile to order more of Della Terra’s version for Black Friday or maybe order more of Butiki’s as part of THEIR Black Friday deal. It’s funny, because I ALSO have an order on the way from 52Teas and one of the teas I added in that order is Butterbeer which I’ve been told is sorta like root beer.

Dry, this one definitely smells creamier to me. I get more of the vanilla and “float” aspects and less of a medicinal old fashioned root beer smell, which was my impression of the Della Terra version. Sniffing away at it, I’m somewhat reminded of A&W root beer – which just has its own signature kind of root beer taste that’s different from all other root beers. Extra creamy and just the right amount of sweet.

I steeped this according to Stacy’s directions listed on the packet. Colour is a darker brown that does remind me of root beer – albeit an “old fashioned” root beer kind of colour, just like I was reminded of trying Della Terra’s take. In regard to the smell, I’m getting root beer accompanied with pretty strong vanilla notes. This is much creamier and, thus far, ‘true’ to a root beer float than Della Terra’s blend was.

Now time to taste it! Mmmmm! This is really good. Just taking small sips, there’s SO much flavour. The root beer comes across very well and very smoothly. I also get insanely rich and creamy notes of vanilla that really make this more than root beer: a true root beer float flavour. It takes exactly like that kind of “root beer froth” in an A&W root beer float – where the ice cream has felted halfway into the soda and you get this not totally liquid and not totally solid kind of uber creamy root beer compound. Yum!

It’s almost too easy and simultaneously too hard to compare this to Della Terra’s version. Both are going for a float type of flavour and use similar bases – but Della Terra’s is more of a medicinal (in the best way) old fashioned root beer flavour and this is more true to a root beer float kind of flavour (in fact I best this would be near orgasmical cold brewed with a dollop of Breyer’s double churned vanilla ice cream on it). Both are really good, but they’re very different kinds of root beer tastes.

I think however this is the one I prefer and can see myself craving more often. I like creamy things – and ultimately I had floats in mind when I was eyeing up both of them. When Friday hits, if I order some of Della Terra’s version, it’ll be the 1 oz. size and nothing more. Just so I have the kind of different root beer taste if I am ever feeling the Dad’s Old Fashioned Root Beer kind of vibe.

Next up on my evening of trying out new teas! This one was purchased from Janelle in a sample size to give me a taste before deciding whether or not to include it in my Black Friday order. I also recieved Butiki’s Root Beer Float tea today as well, so I’m thinking I might have to drink that one directly after this so I can get a comparison of the tastes and determine which I like better. I don’t think there’s any reason for me to keep two Root Beer teas stocked which seem to be so similar in base and ingredients.

Dry, this one smells slightly “medicinal root beer” like – kind of like when you get those old fashioned root beers that are in the glass bottle with the kind of bottle cap that doesn’t just twist off. That makes sense considering this utilises a rooibos base and that often tastes a little medicinal to people. I love those old fashioned type of root beers: I think a lightly medicinal sort of tasting root beer seems more natural and “real” rootbeer tasting. I also get some creaminess and vanilla notes in the dry leaf that do work with the “float” aspect of the tea as well.

For steeping, I used 1 tsp. level in 8 oz. boiling water steeped for about 3 min. 30 seconds. The liquor is a really rich brown colour: actually sort of the colour of an old fashioned root beer. I say old fashioned, because I find non old fashioned root beers, like Barq’s is a much darker (almost black) colour. Even though I used a fine mesh strainer I did still wind up with a bunch of floaty bits in my mug, though.

The smell is distinctly rooibos, with a light rootbeer smell that follow the rooibos in a less noticeable way. I feel like in the smell I lose the creaminess associated with the “float”.

For taste, the rooibos is definitely strong and very present. I often get the woodiness associated with rooibos and NOT the medicinal taste, but in this blend I am very much getting medical notes and finding an absence of woodiness. Like previously stated, though, I think that medicinal taste works in this blend because it’s strengthening the comparison of an old fashioned root beer drink. I do wish the root beer taste was just a bit more present. I’ve lost a lot of the creaminess, but what is still here manages to linger in the aftertaste for a pretty long time.

I don’t think I’d call this Root Beer Float, but instead Old Fashioned Root Beer (the “Dad’s Rootbeer” brand comes to mind). It’s still a really good tea though, and I’m very much enjoying the cup. I’m excited to try Butiki’s version immediately following and do a comparison.

I’m so pissed at Tre right now!

He just got in from Siast, and his first question was “what kind of iced tea do we have in the house?”, to which I answered that there was some prickly pear brewing and about a cup worth of Tropicalia left. I told him he could have the Tropicala if he wanted and he then proceeded to head over to the fridge, grab the Tropicalia and dump it down the sink! WHAT THE HELL!?

I basically screamed my head off at him and he sorta just innocently went “I didn’t want it”. THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU DUMP IT DOWN THE SINK!!! I would have drank it, I was just trying to be nice and offer him some because that’s what a nice roommate who is in a good mood from getting 35 teas in one day does! Ahhrrgg! It’s limited edition, and one of my favourite teas ever. I might not ever get a chance to buy it again because it was seasonal! Such a freaking waste.

Anyway, this is one of the samples I purchased today from Janelle. It’s a blend I’ve been curious about since learning of Della Terra but I was hesitant to place an order for it because what people seem to love about it is the sweet, cakeyness where as I would want it to be very cakey but also very much full of pineapple (and most people seem to think it’s lovely, but comment on a lack of pineapple). So, the idea here is to sample it and then determine that way if it’s something I’d want to order as part of the Black Friday sale.

So, steeped a level tsp. for 8 oz. of boiling water for 3
min. 30 seconds…

The colour is actually really light for a lot of the black teas I’ve been drinking lately (and any of the Della Terra black teas I’ve ever had). Maybe that’s because typically Della Terra uses their measurements for 6 oz. cups (smallest cup size I have is 8 oz., though). And the smell…

It’s just SO good and heavenly and indulgent and delicious. However, all of that is coming from the CAKE aspects, and I’m getting no fruit which is what I really want. Boo. Sipping at it now, and I think this is honestly the best cake tea I’ve ever had. There’s clear notes of brown sugar and a very creamy taste to it. It’s like eating the brown sorta layer of an Angel Food cake: the sweet and soft ‘crust part’ that I used to pick off the outside and top of the cake as a child.

Still, I can’t help but be a little dissappointed because while this is delicious I feel like I was promised pineapple sweetness and now I feel like this is sorta lacking without that. MAYBE part of the missing flavour is because the small sample portion I bought didn’t actually contain any pineapple bits (although it did contain cherry bits). I do get some fruitier notes in the very back of my mouth in the tail of the sip but nothing so distinct I’d call it pineapple or cherry. Sigh…

Maybe I’ll throw in a 1 oz. sample pouch into my Della Terra order and see if I can pull more pineapple flavour out of the tea by actually using leaf with pineapple bits. At the very least I’ll have a delicious cake tea to occasionally sip away at.

Errghh. So conflicted. It’s good – but not what I wanted or was hoping for.

EDIT: I let the last quarter or so cool for a while, and I definitely get a more clear pineapple taste this way.