Pom Tango

Another one of the Spring Teas from DavidsTea. This time, it's Pom Tango.

If I'm going by the website description, I'm either going to jump for joy, or be thinking about my favorite breakfast tea mixed with fruit juice. If I go by the name...I'll be wanting to tango like the suave donkey's ass I am.

First things first, this smells amazing. Like I'm swimming in candied mango. 

Using my David's Perfect Spoon I used one scoop of tea and plopped it into my handy stainless steel filter thing.  Boiled my water to a balmy 100 F, and let it steep for about 5 minutes while I did the dishes.

Oh my GODS. DavidsTea...your description is...is...SPOT ON. This is actually a REALLY good tea, but it also tastes A LOT like Three Wishes. A little different, in that it's missing the green tea hints, but still very, VERY good.

But, it being good AND so similar to Three Wishes is what means I probably won't buy any more. Since I still have three wishes, and it's not limited edition.

Try this tea, you won't regret it!

-L

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot

In the spirit of the Calgary Comic Expo starting this Thursday...
I'm NERDING IT UP with a classic.

CLICK TO PAUSE
or it won't. stop.

I also suck at vine

Earl Grey from Davids Tea!

Ingredients: Black tea, cornflower petals, Bergamot oil

 (Duh! It's Earl grey. What did you expect?!)

I steeped for 4 minutes because when you take a sniff of the leaves, WOW - Bergamot!

And after you steep it, it's still WOW - Bergamot!

This is your classic Earl Grey... with a punch! The bergamot is incredibly powerful. But it's kind of rekindling my old love of earl grey tea. It could do with some lemon, perhaps... Or a little cream. It's not common for me to drink this without something in it, and the bergamot is just so strong in this one that a little bit of cream would do it some good. But ALWAYS TRY FIRST!

I bought some super powerful vanilla flavoured rooibos to see if I can make my own cream of earl grey with the plain one I have. We shall have to see how that goes.

But for now...

Live long and prosper,

~K

Bergamot - warp TWELVE!

Redberry Tonic

Onto Redberry Tonic by, you guessed it, DavidsTea!

I started with one regular scoop using David's Perfect Spoon. Set my kettle to the "herbal tea" setting (200F). Then steeped it for about 4ish minutes. Let it rest for...uhhh...a few minutes? I think?

Generally this tea doesn't have much of a scent when dry. Once brewed, it smells light and fruity. Kinda yummy. It's a pretty pinkish-purple color, which is always nice to see. Some days more pink, some days more purple. This batch was much more purple than another time.


It's generally yummy; a little like miscellaneous berries, a little sweet, a little tart...but pretty bland, honestly. It's the blandness to it that really makes it not worth me owning. I have enough other fruity teas I like more and that, to me, taste better and more complex, that I don't need to take up space! (Remember the January Challenge with Deconstruct the Yuck? Still working on it! Out with the ones I don't need!)

It is good for you, though. That's always a bonus. The sea buckthorn berries, and goji berries, are the two biggest hitters (although sea buckthorn would probably have more benefits when eaten, as opposed brewed as a tea).

So, in the end it is good, and good for you, but too bland for me.

You may like it, you may not.

Drink on my friends!

-Laura

Big Apple

Big Apple from DT

Ingredients: White tea (Mao Feng), green tea (Wu Lu and Guangxi), apple, artificial flavouring


Continuing with the purging of my massive collection of samples I let pile up from orders... Big Apple from DavidsTea.

This tea smells super sweet and apple-y when you open the pack. Yoshi went completely nuts and got a little nasty and loud until I gave him a piece of tea leaf to munch on (yes, he loves tea in all it's forms).
 It smells just as amazing once you steep it, too. I did it for 4 minutes of the 3-4 suggested.
You may expect something like a cider, but no. It isn't cider, but it isn't apple juice either. I can't put my finger on what style of apple it reminds me of, but I really don't care. The smell!

Apple juice and green tea. That is honestly what it tastes like. Simple and sweet - but not too sweet, like I expected it to be.

I'm not a huge apple person. But this is pretty nice, refreshing and light.  Would be better on a day that it isn't snowing like crazy. (Isn't it almost MAY?!) 

Oh yeah. And DavidsTEa IS still selling it! 

Happy Steeping,
~K

Around the World: Main Squeeze

Ah, a Mate tea. The stimulant of the tea world.

This morning, I absolutely need it. It's a 'why do I have to get out of bed" day. Which, on a workday? Yeah, not a good thing. It's gross and cold out no I didn't write this in March. Don't judge me

This is my first time trying this tea, so yay for surprises!
This tea smells lovely. Uplifting and citrus-y. Which, it definitely a good way to start! I'm also singing Defying Gravity under my breath. Don't judge me.

It doesn't TASTE super fruity. But a citrus scent lingers after you swallow, and there is a light citrus flavor that is DEFINITELY there.

But really, what we all really want to know is if you'll get the 'stimulant' part of this tea. Because let's be honest with ourselves, to wake up we'll drink some gross shit.

I definitely feel more awake. And not a "I just injected myself with an espresso" buzz. But a legit awake. Which is a bonus to feel the 'awake' without the caffeine jitters.

It was a good call to drink an entire pot of this this morning.

Although I don't think that I'll buy more, because it's just not the flavors I'm really gunning for. Unless I just got a shitty sample, so this may change when I finish the last part of my sample.

Tata for now!

-Laura

Mountain Organic Indonesian Green

Indonesian Green
from Tea at Sea

Ingredients: Organic green tea from the Halimum mountains in Indonesia.

I am finally. FINALLY. Starting to go through my samples that I have let build up for a little too long.
Starting off with one of the two I got from my order from the fantastic -and adorable- company, Tea at Sea.

As soon as I poured the steeped tea (I did a little longer than recommended by accident; 8 minutes) in to my cup, it had a very distinct seaweed arouma. So fresh. I am so excited, considering how much I loved their oolong, that I am near risking burning my face off so I can finally taste it.

I will take a moment as I wait to not burn my mouth all to hell to tell you about what Tea at Sea is offering that I think is BLOODY BRILLIANT!!!
You can get a 5g sample of ALL TEN of their teas for only $8 before shipping!!
THAT'S AMAZING!!! 

This is a fantastic organic green. The seaweed is light and refreshing, not at all over powering. Their description mentions a slight fruity flavour, and I can definitely get a hint of it. This tea is FRESH. Even though I over did the steeping, my tongue is not being assaulted with horrible bitterness, as many greens tend to do for me.

Tea at Sea, you nailed it. 
Picture yourself up on a mountain ridge looking over the ocean with a nice cup of tea nestled in the palms of your hands.
Nailed it.

A green-lover's delight.



Happy Steeping,
~K

Jasmine Pearls

Picture from here

In honor of Game of Thrones starting up on Sunday, and the amazing Khaleesi and her dragons; Viserion, Drogon, and Rhaegal, I'm reviewing Jasmine Black Pearls, by DavidsTea.
Kayla gave me some of her Jasmine Pearls (because she's awesome), so I'm very excited!

Don't worry, I'll keep it spoilers free!

Also, our kitchen reno's started yesterday, so this is basically the last review until the reno's are done that won't be prescheduled. Considering I am typing this up after Game of Thrones, so it's like past 10pm, give me a break if it sucks. SILLY MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME. And the fact that I was up early today may have an effect on my writing quality



I just plopped 3 of the pearls directly into my pot and boiled my water to the green setting on my kettle. So, it steeped until the pot was done

It tastes like green tea and jasmine. It is really, really yummy. I just found that 3 pearls was a little too strong for me (since it was just sitting in the pot). I think next time I'll try it with one pearl, see how it goes. It didn't turn bitter with the very long steep time, which was fantastic! I WAS AMAZINGLY SURPRISED.




It smells like jasmine. Really nice jasmine perfume.


On the Game of Thrones note, IT WAS SO GOOD THE HOUR WENT BY REALLY QUICKLY. ARYA. ARYA YOU ARE A BAMF.

Remember, all men must die - but we are not men.

-L

Countess of Seville

Countess of Seville from DT

 Ingredients: Organic: green tea (Zhejiang Province, China), orange peel, cornflowers. With orange and bergamot oil.


This is going to be short and sweet because I'm doing this way later than I wanted to and I am extremely tired. (I reeeaaally need to start banking some blogs so I'm not always doing them last minute)

I steeped for three minutes.
This tea punches you in the nostrils with bergamot and orange oil scent. It's awesome. Very invigorating.

And WOW!! It tastes soooo much like the way it smells. Almost exact. The bergamot is extremely powerful. Very citrus-peel-y flavour. I would say almost too much because I really wish that I could taste more green tea.

Yoshi loves it. He is drinking it as I type with one hand and won't share. He has claimed it.

If you love bergamot, you will go crazy for this tea. Or if you have a bird that enjoys tea. It's pretty awesome, just needs more tea because the oils are super powerful.

Bed time for me.


Pleasant dreams, tea peeps.


~K

Peaches and Cream

Peaches and Cream! By DavidsTea The last of my the Spring Collection tea

Pre boiling water, the tea smells like there is alcohol in it. No jokes, I did a triple take with my sniffer. After boiling water, it just smells fruity and creamy. So, we're off to an interesting start.

I started with one scoop of tea, using my David's Perfect Spoon and steeped it for about 5 minutes.

You know what, it doesn't taste bad. I really, really, expected this to taste like shit. It's nice and light and sweet. An overall nice cup of tea.

But it's also so boring tasting. Like, in my head I had pictured it tasting a lot more like a Creamsicle, but it really just tastes kinda fruity. Not even distinctly peachy or distinctly vanilla-y. Just a flat, fruity, note.

Would I say to buy it? No. If you want a peachy tea, try a different tea. Long Life Oolong is a good example. Maybe add some Pure Vanilla if you're feeling frisky. You'll probably get closer to the result you're looking for.

A big meh from me.

-Laura