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After work today I realized that since I was going to DAVIDsTEA in the mall downtown by bus but had forgotten my bus pass (I was rushed and forgot my keys too, luckily I was also so rushed I forgot to lock the door as well) I was going to have to break one of the twenties in my wallet since I had no other change. I had forgotten about the second thermos of tea in my backpack (the first I had drank was Raspberry Oolong from Tea Desire, the second was a 2nd steep of David’s Choconut Oolong), so I decided to break it by buying a Tea to Go at Tea Desire.

Since last time I bought a tea to go there I wound up finding another one to add to my stash (Buddha Bamboo – which I purchased 50g of yesterday), I decided to play it safe this time (on my wallet) and get something I was familiar with… So, this one (a favourite of mine)!

It was really nice sipping away at something hot while I waited in the cold for the bus, and it was good (this one hardly ever disappoints) – but I found that it was actually really weak and that was a little disappointing. Although (while I love everyone who works at Tea Desire), it was made by the young lady who works there who seems to be the newest employee (and also my least favourite, but not because she’s new) so maybe she underleafed it.

I also had another realization today… Since I’m moving malls because of my promotion I’m going to be in a mall that doesn’t have ANY tea store. That’s really disappointing since 3/4 of the major malls in the city have loose leaf tea shops (two have a DAVIDsTEA, and the one I’m currently in has Tea Desire). So, no daily Tea to Go during my shift at a discounted price anymore… That’s really sad. Although, I’ll still be over there enough because my bank is in this mall too.

As part of my initiative to, primarily, spend the week drinking down teas I either have excess of but don’t plan to restock or teas I’m not sure if I’m going to restock, I made this in the morning to take to work with me (it was my training shift as a manager today – eeps!).

Preparation:

- 1 1/2 tsp. used for approx. 8 oz. of water
- Steeped at roughly 80 degrees celcius (I didn’t actually use the thermometer to check the temperature – I was running late) for 2 1/2 min.

The first cup I had of this was odd: there was a nasty kind of after taste to it and it tasted very artificial. The second was better – still semi artificial and funny tasting, but more creamyness and raspberry confectionary goodness. This third time trying it? OH MY GOD. It was so freaking good. I have no idea what the variable was that made this come out better, but there was no funky aftertaste or artificial taste, it was smooth and creamy and very intensely flavoured like a raspberry shortcake or raspberries with cool cream or something of that nature. Yummy, confectionary raspberry deliciousness.

After starting to drink this one, I don’t think it lasted even 5 minutes? I basically chugged it. It was SO good.

Maybe it has something to do with my drinking it at room temperature as opposed to hot? Someone wrote a review about this one saying they left it in their fridge for two weeks and it came out tasting delicious and uber creamy and natural tasting. So maybe the temperature of this is a big factor that quite significantly plays around with the flavour?

Anyway, point is that if I can recreate how tasty this was today it’ll move out of my “maybe restock” list to my “restock list”, for sure.

Getting closer to a sipdown for this one. Two, maybe three cups left? Although, even though I’d like it out of my cupboard, I’m not especially in a rush to drink it all up.

Today, I really butchered the the steeping for this one. Firsty, I definitely overleafed (in a small attempt to use up more leaf). For my 8 oz. cup, I used about 2 1/2 tsp. of leaf. And then, I set the teaball with the leaf in it on the counter next to the mug while I waited for the water to cool down enough, but then I got distracted by an email and I let it cool a bit too much. At this point, I just thought “fuck it” and plunked the teaball in the water. I have no clue how long it actually ended up steeping…

Taste wise, this is weird. It’s very, very vegetal and leaves an especially dry and astringent feeling in my mouth after the sip – but it’s NOT really bitter tasting at all. I’m really disliking it, but what else can I expect from preparing this in the stupidest way possible? It’s a combination of not loving green tea and doing a horrible job preparing it – not any criticism against the tea itself.

Perfect Nutella tea is perfect…

Robyn came over for the late afternoon/evening and helped me try to figure out the schedule problems I was having, and in exchange I made her a large mug of this yummy Nutella tea. I was a tad bit worried she would not like it because of the licorice root (which seems to be an issue for lots of people) – but she said she really enjoyed it. I also made myself a Timolino full of it (in the Timolino because I was still sipping at the last of my Buttered Rum, and this way it’d stay hot). I didn’t end up drinking mine until long after she had finished her tea (too hot for consumption)…

We had a really fun time fooling around on Tumblr (anyone on Steepster have a tumblr account and want to share their url?), and messing around with Tre’s Minecraft account in the meantime.

Tea wise, this was super yummy. I know people keep thinking licorice root was an odd ingredient choice, but honestly I think it’s really perfect and complementary flavour wise (of course, if you have licorice root in the first place, obviously it’s going to be a bit of an obstacle taste wise). I’ve figured out that, to me, this tastes like one of those fancy flavored hot chocolates, but a little watered down/weaker. In some ways, it also reminded me of the Buttered Rum I had earlier today. I’m DEFINITELY buying a tin of this.

I know I said that I was going to drink down things I have excess of that wont be restocked, and I will – I swear! However, I just received my manager package, and I started working on the scheduling for the next two weeks. And holy motherfucking shit is this difficult. Seriously, I take back any time I ever complained about my scheduling when I worked at the theatre: they had to balance the availability of 80+ employees, still make sure they got good hours, and not break labor laws…

I only have to do that with 3 to 4 employees… And CHRIST I’m so frustrated my it. I can’t give myself more than 40 hours because that’s overtime pay, and my two other employees don’t want more than 20 hours each. One can work everyday of the week, but only in the mornings. The other can work any week day after 4:30PM, and the weekends (but would preferably only like to work Saturdays)… And, I MIGHT have one more person who would only be able to work Thursdays and Sundays. I HATE THESE KIND OF PROBLEM SOLVING THINGS.

So, I’m drinking a nice, reliable black tea that tastes delicious and is making my head feel a little better. I steeped this perfectly, if I do say so myself. Sweet, butterscotchy with nummy coconut notes and a smooth black base. Yes: this is making my day much better.

Urgh, my throat is suddenly killing me and I’m really wishing for something that’d go down smooth and gently. This is not it.

Part of my initiative to drink down teas that I don’t want to restock, I steeped a tsp. of this in my timolino (a little oversteeped, I was making Genmaicha too, and talking to Tre). Although it’s not helping my throat at all, it does taste a bit better than I remember it being. I’m ACTUALLY getting vanilla from this without having to add cream or sugar at all. Still, it’s good but not great and I have too many black teas.

Not changing my mind about restocking this.

Maybe when it’s done, I’ll chase it back with something minty.

I enjoyed my cup of this so much that I decided to make another cup today, made exactly the same way. Although, to be fair I think this one might have ended up steeped about half a minute longs (I was poorly attempting to multi task by also making a timolino of tea for later tonight, and talking to Tre).

It’s not as good as last night (maybe it’s the over steeping or the fact I’m in a slightly different mood) – but still quite nice and roasty/toasty. Despite being all alone at home tonight (Tre is out with friends again), this cup is making me feel warm and comforted. I think I MIGHT have to rethink not restocking this – it’s, perhaps, growing on me.

Also, for people who read my tasting note on Japanese Cherry earlier today, I DID get a call back a couple hours ago, and I guess I’m now a manager. It’s a weird feeling, especially since I accepted and then was given this huge load of things to do/take in and process. Sometime tonight I’m supposed to receive an email with a whole ton of information to go through, as well as the resumes and availability of my two employees. By Friday, I have to have my schedule made up and sent in to the district manager for approval (it’s so odd that I’m determining my OWN hours), and I have to make the decision to hire someone I’ve never even met or not based purely on his/her availability. I have my training on Friday, and then on Saturday I train my new employees.

And, our store set up is Wednesday, and then my store opens on Thursday. Yeesh: steep learning curve.

I got an interesting phone call today…

It was the district/general manager for the calendar chain I work at. He was asking me if I would be interested in being the manager for a new branch they’re opening up at a mall here in the city. It was totally unexpected, and not something I had applied for or anything (I’ve only been working there just over a month now) – but I said yes because A) More hours means more money, B) I’d get a pay raise (which is awesome because I’m currently a minimum wage monkey), and C) It’s at a location even closer to my house! Only negative is it looks like I’d have to push back my trip up to Regina for Christmas by maybe a week or so (And I was already leaving to go after Christmas by more than a few days, so it’ll be a very late Christmas for me…). However, I am now in the running for this position and will likely hear back by Friday evening. Wish me luck?

Anyway – I made this for my morning tea as part of my initiative to drink up some of the blends I have excess of which I don’t plan on restocking or am unsure about restocking. This one falls into the unsure category. For preparation, I steeped a slightly heaping tsp. for 2 minutes in about 6 -8 oz. of water (the mug holds 8 oz. but I didn’t fill it completely – so maybe it’s closer to 6 oz.). The water was roughly 90 degrees celsius, so I’m hoping it wasn’t too hot but not really anticipating the best. I was being really impatient as I made this.

On a whim, I also poured about 1 1/2 tsp. of the peach syrup type stuff from the can of halved peaches I’m also eating.

Smell, is green tea with sort of a bubble-gum(y) bordeaux cherry aroma – which is like how it was last time. I think it’d smell good if not for the very vegetal scent of the green tea. It’s also a little medicinal cherry smelling – and that too is a turn off. The taste is very green tea, with the bubble gum bordeaux cherry mildly flavouring it. The aftertaste is a medicinal and leaves a funny taste in my mouth. I can’t taste how the peach syrup is tying into the flavour.

I guess I’d describe this tea as adequate. Maybe it’d be more to the taste of someone who actually likes green tea.

EDIT: After I’d finished my peaches, I poured off another tsp. or two of the peach juice into the tea, and this time I was able to pick up the peach alongside the cherry and it was actually much better. It really helped drown out the vegetal green tea, but I guess didn’t do a whole lot to fix the aftertaste. Now I want peach/cherry Bubblegum tea (which I STRONG Hubba Bubba type bubble gum flavour – or like, those little pink Double Bubble gums), maybe with a nice, light white tea base. Ooh! Or Double Bubble Mate tea would be good.

Now that I’ve had all the Winter/Holiday samples I picked up from David’s at least once, the rest of this week is primarily going to be about drinking down some of the large quantities and sample sizes I have of teas I either am unsure about whether I want to restock or flat out know I wont be restocking. Yuck. I started earlier today with Ice Wine, also from McQuarries. And now I’m having this one…

Steeped 1 1/2 tsp (kinda over leafed deliberately to use up more leaf) for about 8 oz. in just under 80 degree celsius water for approx. 1 1/2 min. Actually, tonight this is tasting roasty and toasty, and not seaweedy (my biggest qualm with this one) at all. I DID have this marked as something I wouldn’t be restocking, but my experience tonight is a really good one – so maybe I’ll drink a few more cups this week and decide if this is moving back to the “unsure” category. I do have TONS (about 40g) of it left – and it seems like I’m never going to get through it all.

Sometimes it saddens me that so few of Tea Desire’s blends are listed here on Steepster, and that I have to add them myself (like this blend) because they often have some REALLY good blends, and it’s a shame more people haven’t tried their tea.

I had this as a Tea To Go today, for work (I was really thirsty, and two thermoses of tea just didn’t seem like enough). Like usual, they asked if I wanted a favourite (I love being a regular) or if I wanted something new – and I decided to get something new. My stipulations were not a black blend (I’ve really not been impressed with the ones at Tea Desire, despite being impressed by most of their other teas), and not something spicy (since I had DAVIDsTEA’s Gingerbread to drink with me as well).

This is the one I was suggested, and after smelling it I decided to go with it. Usually, Shelby (one of the ladies who works there) is very good at recommending teas for me. All I was told, is that this was a herbal blend with lots of bamboo in it and red currants (they know I like currants, since I adore Champagne Cassis). I’ve never had a bamboo based tea, so along with the very appetizing and sweet smell that had me really interested.

Steeped, the liquor was a pale peachy yellow colour and the aroma was shockingly strong and a dead on ringer for the smell of Fruit Loops. Holy did it smell good. Very, VERY sweet and fruity: NOT the light, vegetal taste with subtle fruit notes I was expecting to get from a bamboo tea. But like I said, I’ve never had a bamboo tea before so I guess I was making assumptions on what it would taste like.

The taste was very much the same: pure Fruit Loops without the starchiness of the actual cereal. It was interesting only having a limited idea of the ingredients in the blend (I’ve since looked up what they were) – typically I research the hell out of a tea before I buy it. If I hadn’t been told there were red currants in the blend I can’t say for sure I would have guessed that. I might have guessed peach or a very sweet raspberry, but neither of those are in the ingredients either. I guess what I was tasting must have been strawberry, pineapple (odd I couldn’t identify pineapple – it’s a favourite flavour of mine), and the lemongrass primarily.

Damn. Curse Tea Desire for getting me interested in buying another tea!