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As someone who rarely drinks green tea when it’s not mixed with black, I was a little obsessive today that all the parameters were perfect. So as a not-really-green-tea-drinker, I’d get the best out of it.

I got this as a sample from the Great Wall (they shower me in samples). Smells like slightly overcooked rice. Sadly, their giant tin didn’t have any rice that had managed to actually pop (I like calling it popcorn tea).

First sip… Is actually very pleasant. I can definitely get the toasted rice, and the green tea managed to turn out enjoyable and mellow. I remember trying some from Murchie’s very-cold-sample-pot. Tasted cold and slimy.

This is nice, though. Toasty. I could see me carrying this around in my tea libre.

Green’s coming out a bit more as it cools, but I’m still liking it.

I decided to take a break from all the new-found teacompanies I’ve been visiting lately, and return to an old favourite.

Nancy has a system there, where if you buy a certain amount of teas, you get one free. It’s a card-system—Tealicious’ business cards have boxes on the back, and she punches a hole for each tea you buy, and keeps them all organized in her desk.

Anyways, I didn’t start a card until maybe my third visit, but I’m already only one or two boxes away from a free tea. Hahah.

The leaves are as dark as midnight. That kind of black you obtain by mixing a bit of red, which gives the illusion that it’s even darker.

The tea and vanilla smell together is beautifully delicious. Brewed, the ratio of vanilla-smell to tea-smell is the same. The vanilla doesn’t overpower the tea.

I still love her tea base. It’s very slightly astringent at five minutes, but the vanilla smooths it out wonderfully. This is mellow, not STRONG but not weak. I think this is a very good balance. I’m not disappointed, even as a person who normally enjoys very strong vanilla.

Her tea base choice has its own somewhat creamy element… It doesn’t SEEM to come from the vanilla, although it goes very well with it. The base is also sliiightly malty… It’s listed as a “China” tea. As it cools I can smell the tea more. It baffles me, but it’s very nice.

I have no idea what’s in this, but she gave me the very last of the tin as a sample. There was just enough left for a cup.

I just know it’s black and green tea… And I can taste that. But there were also some huge purple-yellow flowers mixed in this (I had to pick them out to get a proper scoop, they were bigger than my teaspoon; I put them in the infuser with the tea, though—I just needed them out of the way to scoop better).

There’ll probably be information once they get their site up. There’s a sweetness, though. Maybe from the flowers. Reminds me of grenadine or whatever from Monk’s Blend.

There’s a touch of bitterness, but I didn’t very strongly take into consideration how much green tea might be in this, so it’s probably from that and the hotter temperature/longer steep time. Still, the bitterness and the stronger black tea does impart a “breakfast blend” feel. The sweet flavouring is just a nice touch.

Mmmm. This is my ideal dessert tea. Plain, although I keep meaning to try it with milk.

Sipping and reading Watchmen. Checked it out of my college’s library. This is one thick graphic novel.

Enjoying this in my tea Libre. Yes, definitely DON’T steep it for more than three minutes, because the jasmine just takes over. Hints of jasmine I like. It can mix well. It’s pleasant. Lots of jasmine makes me squick.

The jasmine’s still fairly strong with three minutes. Vanilla is a definite second. If it could just overpower the jasmine life would be grand, because I like lots of vanilla. The bergamot… I taste hints of it from here to there, and it mixes somewhat oddly with the jasmine. Very nicely with the vanilla! Overall though, it’s more evident in the smell.

I’m actually at school, and this is now my second steep. So my timing probably isn’t perfect… Most likely a bit over three minutes. I’ve got the school’s hot water system temperature down, though. Will have to try two minutes next time, I think… But I’m sipping the second steep while working on my co-op application (which I will follow with some needed calculus homework).

When I sipped this in the store (they had it out as a sample) it was a good, strong vanilla with just a hint of jasmine. I should ask them what their perfect brewing temperature and time was… Hmm. There is a bit of bitterness from the green tea, so I’m definitely going to consider lowering the temperature next time.

Had about a teaspoon and a half of this left, so I just threw it all into a mug and steeped it for five minutes.

There’s a nice, good Yunnan Tea smell to it. The taste is very mild, but drying on the tongue. It’s sort of a smooth bitter. I could use buttery to describe it, almost. Perhaps.

But anyways, that’s the last of that sample. Not a fan enough of Yunnan to order it. Besides, I’ve got lots of OTHER teas I would already like to buy from Life in Teacup. And many more I’d just like to grab a sample of.

Soon.

That’s the last of that. I won’t be getting it again from Tea Desire, although I would like to try other company’s Monk’s Blend.

Mmm you can smell the sweet caramel. The bergamot is very mild, but there. And when I pulled my filter out, I think I might have gotten a whiff of apple.

The bergamot’s stronger in the taste, the caramel shadowing it in the background. I still get whiffs of something that could be apple in the smell, but none of it carries over to the taste. Maybe just a touch as it cools, but I could just be mistaking the taste. It’s very mellow and pleasant, though. There’s a touch of bitterness as well, but that’s it.

Mmmm blueberries. The smell’s strong in the leaves and in the cup. There were a few freeze-dried ones in the tin as well, although I don’t know if any of them actually made it to my sample packet.

I also think I’m smelling a bit of… liquorish? How odd. Although, blueberry and liquorish doesn’t seem like too bad a combination.

First sip… Still quite hot… Oooh, blueberry. Yup, I don’t think this is going to be one of those sissy barely-there flavoured teas. Still, probably shouldn’t be eating spicy pizza at the same time. Totally going to/may already be ruining my tastebuds for the experience.

Aah, but I’m getting a sweetness and the blueberries are in your nose. There’s a bit of a tang in it, from the berries I suppose.

The tea itself is very mild, which does good with the blueberries. I will have to type out a more detailed ramble when I’m not eating pizza with this.