Erin Send Message

I was really excited to try this week’s blend. I bought it to make it iced, but it’s a bit dreary here today so this was prepared hot. I feel the need to mention how impressed I was with 52tea’s speedy (and free) shipping. I ordered this late Monday evening and got it today (Thursday).

I was also impressed with the huge pineapple chunks that were present through out my bag. It looks like I’m going to have enough chunks to have 1-2 in every cup! This was the sight upon opening up the bag: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4544378422/

The dry leaves smell a lot like pineapple and cake. Once steeped, I can smell cherries as well. I threw in a bit of sweetener and prepared myself to be delighted.

This one’s a winner, folks! The taste is consistent with the smell: Right away, you get pineapple. You can even taste cake somehow, although I’m not exactly sure how Frank managed that one (way to go, Frank!). It’s a certain smooth, slightly sweet and buttery taste that is hard to describe adequately. The cherries are in the aftertaste and they linger in your mouth for quite some time. In case you were concerned (because I know I was), the cherry taste here is not the medicinal, children’s Tylenol cherry taste I was expecting. It really tastes like true maraschino cherries.

This is very good. It tastes like true pineapple upside-down cake. I half expected to lick my lips and find cake crumbs clinging there. It is delicious hot, but I can’t wait to try it iced!

I’m afraid that I may have prepared this horribly wrong. My sample was the tiniest sample I’ve ever seen. I don’t have a scale, so try to picture the length and width of 4 toothpicks laying together. That is how much tea my sample contained. I’m really disappointed; this only made half a mug of tea, but I’m still afraid that this is going to be really diluted.

Ooh, I taste the orange blossoms. Most people here had a little difficulty tasting them, but for me, that’s the first thing that hits me right away. This is a nice, light woody and nutty oolong. The orange blossoms give it dimension and the perfect hint of sweetness. I’m still afraid that I’m not getting the full experience because of how tiny my sample was, but this doesn’t taste bad. I’m assuming that a more concentrated cup would only be better.

I never even thought of trying this iced until I was looking around GM’s website. This is one of the teas that they say makes a really nice iced tea! It is good iced, but it seems to take away the creaminess that I love and have grown to expect from this tea. It certainly doesn’t taste bad, it just lacks my favorite quality. I’ll stick with making this hot.

On a side note: I am ashamed to admit that I broke my vow of not buying any tea the month of April. I caved and purchased a few GM samples and some 52teas blends. I’m sorry! At the beginning of April, I didn’t have a job, nor did I have any prospect of finding a job. But now that I have some regular income again (not to mention a sizable employee discount and the ability to use the bookstore as my own personal library), I can actually afford to indulge in my tea obsession. I have to feed the lion, so to speak.

However, my twenty day long tea-buying hiatus served its purpose. My tea cupboard is sufficiently cleaned out and I now have room for some new teas. The hiatus also allowed me ample time to really organize my tea priorities. The two purchases I made last night were things that I am certain I want, rather than being just spur-of-the-moment impulse buys.

What does this mean for you? It’s simple: Erin’s back!

I made this iced with a little lemon. The combination of lemon and cranberry is extremely tart; I’m not sure how much I like this. It kind of tastes like foot.

Yet another sampling from Doulton! I’m trying to drink up all my samples to make room for some new tea once my month-long ban on buying tea is up. A new job = regular income = new tea! How nifty!

Anyway, this tea really did smell like root beer! Root beer is my favorite kind of soda, even more so than Mountain Dew Live Wire, so I was really psyched when Doulton sent me this. After that smell, I wasn’t surprised when it tasted like warm root beer. You know that feeling that your tongue gets when you drink root beer? Not the carbonation feeling, but the prickly root beer feeling, like little pockets of goodness are popping on your tongue? It’s a different feeling from all the other kinds of soda. Yeah, this tea gives you that.

First off, I need to say thank you to Doulton! I was one of the winners of the Dragon Ball Giveaway (see thread here: http://steepster.com/discuss/501-dragon-ball-giveaway ). I had never heard of Silk Road Teas, but after tasting these balls, I will be sure to place an order from them. [Also, I need to give a preemptive “that’s what she said,” because this tasting note is going to be nuts – no pun intended]

I also need to say that these balls were alarmingly huge. Everyone – my self included – who has ever had Adagio’s Black Dragon Pearls remarked about how large those are. These are easily 2 to 3 times as large! Like I said, it was startling. As you can see here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4531751436/ – they are about the size of an iPod Classic scroll wheel.

Doulton enclosed a note with the package (written using what appears to be a lovely fountain pen – I do love fountain pens) saying that the balls would need a bit of prodding to get them to open up completely. This is true; I plunked them in the water and they just sank to the bottom and sat there until I took out a spoon and knocked them around a bit. When they were done steeping, the water had turned a lovely orange color – http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4531755036/ . No, that isn’t an ice cube in my mug. It’s the reflection of the beaded lampshade I was using for light (my photography skills leave much to be desired).

This is a black oolong, my favorite kind. It’s extremely smooth and slightly buttery. It is sweet on its own, no sugar needed. The aftertaste is slightly woody. The tea as a whole is more than slightly delicious. As I said in the beginning, I will be ordering these for myself.

Doulton, I know I have said this many times before, but thank you! Your tea giveaway was a lovely idea!

Another tea from the amazing Doulton. I’m not nuts about rooibos, but I’ve always been hunting for a tea that really nails the apple flavor. I love apples. But I’ve never found a tea that really tastes like apples. So if this delivers, I’m willing to put my rooibos prejudice aside.

The color of the steeped tea actually looks a lot like apple cider. It smells like cinnamon and apples (which is a good sign). Upon sipping, I get cinnamon and spices right away. I also taste the tobacco-esque rooibos right away – not cool. I’m not punched in the face with apple, which is what I was really looking for. The apple is there, but just barely. I’m kind of disappointed. I’d say that this tastes like plain cider, not apple cider. The aftertaste is also lacking any trace of apple.

I do so love apples.

P.S: After 10 months of pounding the pavement, I finally got a job! And as an added bonus, I get to be around books all day!

When I won Doulton’s Dragon Ball giveaway, she also sent me some other samples! How generous! From the selection that she sent, it looks as though Doulton purposely sent me teas that she thought I would like. Either that or she’s psychic! Thank you, Doulton!

This was my first experience with Dammann Freres. It sounds like a really wonderful tea; I love apples, lemons, and caramel. The strongest smell I got while steeping was the cinnamon. I’m not nuts about cinnamon, but smells can be deceiving. I should probably mention that I took this without milk or sugar.

This is quite different than anything I’ve had before. First I taste the lemon, then the apple. I’m not getting much caramel. Thankfully, the cinnamon is just on the back end, and very lightly so. I didn’t think I liked cinnamon teas, but the cinnamon that is present in this works very well. If it wasn’t there, there would be this big void at the end of the sip.

Thanks again, Doulton! I love trying new teas, and especially new companies!

Thanks to Tea Bird for sending me some of my favorite tea! I love this, but I ran out, and I’ve made a promise to myself (and my bank account) to not order any tea during the month of April. It’s been a while since I’ve had this, and it was just as good as I remember. It’s funny how tastes can remind you of things. Like today, when I took my first sip of this, I remembered how I used to drink this during my English class in the mornings. I could hear the sound of my professor’s voice and the buzzing of the kid’s phone who sits behind me and constantly texts during class.

I love how the white tea is still detectable behind the blueberry taste. The two are such light tastes that they compliment each other perfectly. This is definitely a great summer tea.

I love the smell of this one. I opened my cupboard this morning and was hit in the face with chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. I couldn’t help but make a cup to bring to class with me. It’s like healthy hot chocolate, especially if you add milk and sugar like I do. Too bad it’s so hot out because I don’t think this will be good iced. Oh well, I guess I’ll just wait until next year to enjoy this again! It certainly was a winter favorite.