Black and White Tea

Yay, we have a winner. I really like this one. It reminds be a bit of Checkmate from Davids – but this is a better version of that.
This is a very nice chocolate vanilla tea.
I don’t have a lot to say about it. It’s not complex, it doesn’t try to be a lot of things. This is just a really nice chocolate dessert tea. I like it.
Thank you VariaTEA for this sample.

Sipdown! Thanks, Cavocorax, for sharing with me. :)

I’ve had a few cups, and I don’t think it’s something I’d buy. It smells so good, and tastes pretty good, but something about it just doesn’t make me reach for it.

So now I have a tin for my S&V GINGERBREAD tea. :)

Sipdown! 851. Thanks to Cavocorax for letting me nab a sample of her pouch while it was still sitting around with Sil :D

Hmm. Something about this tea seems kind of familiar, and I’m sad to say that it’s not in a good way. I’m starting to think that me and sTEAp Shoppe’s teas don’t agree… or perhaps, something about their chocolate flavouring/cocoa nibs. It’s not bad, or undrinkable, or anything of the sort, but there’s something that I’m not completely enjoying.

Anyhow, my first impression of this was that it’s creamy and a bit chocolatey. I’m blanking on more details right now though, so will have to go have a bit more and update later.

Roswell Strange, I really must say this competition has done wonders for my stash. With each cup I feel a little more accomplished because not only am I advancing just a little more ahead in the competition but I am simultaneously decreasing my stash.

Anyways, this tea came to my by was of the wonderful OMGsrsly. I have read mixed reviews but it sounded tasty so I am glad I finally get to try it for myself. When I took my first sip, I was like “whoa, that is milk chocolate!” but then I started picking up more and more on the white tea. I don’t know why but with each consequent sip I am getting less and less milk chocolate and the white tea is becoming more and more noticeable. That isn’t particularly a bad thing, and there is still a nice creaminess to the mix but I miss that first sip that tasted of a melted chocolate bar in my cup. Maybe this is a tea best enjoyed absent-mindedly as opposed to being concentrated on and analyzed…hmmmm…

Nonetheless, thank you OMGsrsly for sharing this with me. It has definitely be a unique flavor experience.

Ah, Black and White. I’ve avoided you for a bit, because I enjoyed you so much the first time, and knew that I had to wait to make any more orders for a bit now. I have WAY too much tea still, even though I’m (finally) under 400 in my cupboard.

Definitely is a different experience than last time. First few sips were milky, vanilla chocolate, however now I’m getting more bitter white tea than anything. So, so very sad. :(

Thank you again OMGsrsly for sharing this with me! :) You rock.

1.5 tsp in 12 oz.

So i’m not sure if i’ll get to a sipdown today but i figure the next two tasting notes ought to count as sipdowns because they aren’t being added to my cupboard lol. This is another that Cavocorax let me steal a bit of before sending it off to her.
So this smells delicious…chocolatey and malty? Not sure what the undertone smell is but it’s very familiar. Sipping it, it’s a taste i’ve had before but just can’t place. I’m not sure if it’s “milkshake” that i’m tasting but the entire cup is a familiar cup or something. I just wish i could place the taste. It’s pretty much driving me crazy right now. I may have to order a bit more of this another time just to drink it until i figure out what the taste is. Overall though? this is a pretty decent chocolatey, creamy tea. Thanks Cavo! :)

without intending to my eyes flashed to the vendor’s description as i hit the ‘tasting note’ button…. ‘it would be impossible not to love this tea.’ well then i am an impossible boy.

dry it swells like sweet pipe tobacco, not quite what i was expecting, but as long as it’s not too heavy on the smoke i’m game to try it. as it steeped the smell evolved: tobacco and vanilla. however, once i moved to sipping my adjectives and taste palate vocabulary devolved to just one word ‘NOPE!’.

i must seem exceptionally uncharitable creating an adjective out of such a word, but candor saves time and ‘nope’ is shorter than ‘absolutely not!’.

in order to steep the black tea the higher temperature burns the white. i tasted no cocoa nibs or vanilla, although i did spy little black specks. i taste no malt as was described. what i do get is an on again off again flash of sea weed with tobacco ash.

i understand wanting the best of both worlds from the black and white teas, but i think that when you’re looking at such different steeping temperatures that the calamity that befell my teacup was very predictable.

not sure i will finish this cup. i am certain i won’t finish this sample…. what i will do is go and gargle with sTEAp Shoppe’s cinnamon swirl bread because that one is outstandingly executed.

for the second time this week my score is coming in far lower than the steepsters above me and i do feel the need to reassure those that are reading: i do not have a cold, i do not smoke, i am not terribly picky about foods and i have a freakishly good olfactory sense (nose). i even followed the directions! (not the way i usually roll).

Thanks cavocorax… i didn’t like the tea, but i greatly appreciated the experience. AND if you are someone looking to try a tea that all but one raved about send me a note and we can swap!

Sample sipdown! I really like this one. I think if I ever order some cinnamon swirl bread tea I’ll pick up some of this too. I’m digging the vanilla!

Wow! I am so beyond happy that Stephanie suggested this to me in our sTEAp Shoppe order. Dry this smelled just like a swirl milkshake or swirl icecream cone dipped in chocolate from fosters freeze or the local Toro café back home in Salinas. I was sooooooo excited to drink this after dinner last night that I didn’t even want to wait for It to cool a little. But I did. Impatiently. Wow. This does not dissappoint! Can anyone say, milkshake tea!! And I didn’t even add milk! I so wanted to do a second steepinhg of this as a latte but I fell asleep! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I will have to do that tomorrow on my break from work! Yay! Ecstatic! wooo hoooo

Thanks to OMGsrsly/Sil for this tea! I smelled and tasted the tea before looking up the ingredients, and my first impression of the tea is that it was creamy white chocolate. Straight up.

Regarding the taste, I also got white chocolate, but there’s a smokiness in here too. It’s not too heavy but it stands out. I normally don’t like smoky teas but this one is subtle enough that it doesn’t make me cry in my sauerkraut.

As a side note, I’m surprised there aren’t that many Boxing Day sales. But maybe that’s a a good thing because I need to work on what I already have. And budget and stuff.