Ok, so when i read VariaTea’s back log about mint to be, I was like hell no am I missing out on this shiz. So after a delightful supper of a grilled cheese sandwich and alphageti (mmm so under-rated) and a rousing game of Jeopardy, off to DT i went. I did sample mint to be, but that’s obviously not for this note.
I’ve always loved the way the dry leaf of this tea smells. It’s how I imagine an amaretto tea to taste, and it also smelled slightly nutty, but a sweet nut—actually, smelling this wasn’t entirely unlike smelling pistachio and cream from their fall collection. But knowing that this was on a rooibos base got all sorts of red flags waving around frantically in my head. Thankfully, one of the dt employees said he also hated rooibos but pretty much promised that it wasn’t prominently featured in the taste of this tea. Taking his word for it, I asked for a soy latte version. And by george he was right! Either you can’t outright detect the rooibos because of the multitude of ingredients (that all meld together to taste like amaretto), or they ingeniously chose this as the base because its woodiness would only accent the fresh piney almondy taste of the tea. Either way, brilliant, I say. I’m definitely going to scoop up a sample package next time i’m at DT, and may even consider adding it to my collection depending on how much I drink it. But I am in desperate need of more caffeine-free options, and this one seems promising. I do have to say, however, that something about this tea makes me thirsty. I don’t know if it’s a lingering drying effect, or if that’s just what the taste of amaretto does to my mouth, but it’s a very minor criticism nonetheless.
And omg! Look what I got while I was at David’s! There was no point in even attempting to resist. I just couldn’t! and omg, the steeping basket is huuuuuge!!
http://www.davidstea.com/david-s-mason-jar?&TF=D36B1B50DFA0&DEID=
Fresh to death.
…so what you’re saying is..you really became an addict in july
Define: addict
Phresh.
Addict – someone who uncontrollably buys tea and considers themselves a heffalump. A-D-D-I-C-T Addict.
Haha. My earliest teas are August, Cavo. Now I just need to drink them up soon (or send them away, that also has helped) to ensure my stash remains at maximum freshness.
I’m not addicted! I can stop ANY TIME!!!
I just don’t want to! And you can’t make meeeeeeee!
What if you’re a woozle?
That’s what they all say. :P
VariaTEA – that’s pretty awesome too! I try to rotate between my newest exciting tea, and my oldest nearly forgotten stuff.
The spreadhseet makes it so easy to track though. I love sort. (excelnerd)
I think I will have to add a column to my spreadsheet to mark when I got things. Typically I drink swaps first though and then go back to my own tea. Though I do make exceptions for cravings and for sipdowns.
I do he the same variatea….try to get to sample swaps first, then on to my teas. My oldest tea is from march at the moment but there’s only 1 and then it jumps to May….not too shabby, and of course I don’t count puerhs
Hi I really love the Winnie-the-Pooh reference undercurrent to these comments. Okay. Izzy out.
I should probably try to drink my sample sizes down. Usually I rush through as many as I can when I first get them, but if I get a lot of new teas at once it’s hard to do it, and then some end up getting pushed to the back. I don’t like to let them sit more than a month. Maybe two?
Sil – You not counting puerhs makes more sense than me not counting my ‘guest’ Tetley Orange Pekoe box that just won’t go away (for ppl who don’t want loose tea), and my eucalyptus/mint/ginger blend for colds that I only drink 2-3 times a year if I’m lucky! At least puerh ages nicely.
You changed your picture!!!
shhhhhh don’t tell the woozles!
“Addict – someone who uncontrollably buys tea and considers themselves a heffalump”
I’m not a heffalump……does that mean I can buy tea….?
uh oh… i think i found a woozle!
Heee. slightly tempted to change my pic to a woozle, but…
I’m a sucker for this cat. And this is my fav pic of her.
You guys…sheesh! Lol!
A heffalump or woozle
Is very
Confuzle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnADKgurvc
Geez. Between that, Fantasia, and some of the super weird cartoons on TV when I was a kid, it’s amazing I didn’t turn out weirder.
Isaila! yay!
I have a lot of this tea, and the last time I had it, my throat prickled. I had a different rooibos and no prickly issues from it, so maybe it is from a spice in this that I got too much of in that steep? I hope it was a fluke, cuz this one is sooo good, and one of the few rooibos I like.
Hmmm. Did you buy any this year? From what I hear this blend is slightly different than the one from last year, so that might be part of it.
That sucks though. I get that once in awhile with rooibos, and I don’t know what it is, aside from the rooibos that triggers it because it’s not consistent.
I’m not sure. Miss B sent me a packet, I think, and I had some from before. It may be that it happened with the tea from her packet.
OMGsrsly: Kids shows are weird. I remember being super freaked out by many Winnie the Pooh movies. And I cried when I saw Finding Nemo in theaters…
I freaked out with ET and Snow White… just to show my age. :D
I love that we can date people by movies now… I guess I showed my hand there a bit too.