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Here’s Hoping TTB R5 #1

The Here’s Hoping TTB arrived on my door step a couple of days ago and I must admit I am completely intimidated by it, it’s GINORMOUS!!! I’ve never seen a 9 pound travelling tea box before, I mean that’s the size of a healthy new born baby not a tea box!!! Thankfully someone, I suspect flyawaybirdie, has sorted out and bagged the tea by type which makes tacking this GARGANTUAN box a little more user friendly… Thank you!!! You have no idea how much I appreciate it!!

I decided to start with the straight blacks, because, well hello, straight blacks!! Sniffing a couple of the packets this one immediately stood out to me, it smells insanely delicious, super malty with a touch of tobacco. Brewing it up, it definitely delivers, its slightly smoky but not overwhemingly, a little malty, and has a touch of sweetness at the end of the sip that makes it very enjoyable.

I may have to have another cup of this before it goes back into this BEHEMOTH TTB for the next person to enjoy.

My final kickstarted reward arrived in the post this week, the breakfast blends add on, and therefore this review is for the new 52 Teas version of this tea.

Opening the bag I’m immediately hit with the overpowering scent of cinnamon which concerns me a little bit as I’m not a huge cinnamon fan… Huge juicy looking raisins greet me as I pull my spoon out of the bag and dump it into my cup. I probably over leafed, using closer to a teaspoon and a half of dry leaf but I do like my tea strong. Brewed for three minutes, I then added milk and took a sip… Lots of cinnamon… I let it sit for 10 minutes to cool as the packet advises and took another sip… Ok, still plenty of cinnamon but now I can taste the raisin, butter, and bread notes! Definitely a tea that tastes better once it’s cooled down than when it’s piping hot which is how I feel abt a lot of 52 teas blends.

If your a fan of cinnamon don’t let this one get away without sampling it.

Tasty but not my favorite offering from A Quarter to Tea ( hands down that title belongs to the Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong) but its still a decent offering, just not one I would be rushing out to restock (unlike the Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong which I had to have more of IMMEDIATELY!!). This tea delivers on its promise of maple and pecan and my dry leaf was seriously overflowing with pecan pieces however something about it just didn’t ‘wow’ me… don’t get me wrong, its tasty, and I’m sure some people will absolutely love it, but for some reason it was reasonably forgettable for me, maybe because maple and pecan aren’t my usual go to?

I am however SUPER excited about trying the Vanilla Cider Panna Cotta Oolong and the Frosted Carrot Cake Genmaicha that I couldn’t resist ordering this afternoon!!!! Which means I’m cheating on my tea buying hiatus again with A Quarter to Tea but how could I resist? Those teas are deff my sort of flavors!!!

This is delicious! Especially when paired with a spoon full of the huckleberry jam (I’ve never thought to put jam in tea before)!! Unfortunately tho, I’m going to run out of the jam long before I run out of the tea which is a little depressing but thankfully the tea tastes pretty darn good by itself as well… its a touch smokey, a whole bit malty and the jam just adds that perfect hit of sweetness… Actually I have a jar of olallieberry jam I picked up the last time I was in Big Sur which will probably taste pretty darn amazing in this tea… mmmm…. I might need to go brew another cup right now and give this a try!!

This definitely gets better as it starts to cool down! Initially i couldn’t taste any of the chocolate notes everyone keeps mentioning but then suddenly, around 15 minutes after brewing, BAM, there’s that delicious chocolate note! I brewed this western style as I’m feeling super lazy today (probably because its another day of sorting, cleaning and throwing in preparation for, our now pretty much guaranteed move… the only thing still unconfirmed is where??). The tea has a great creamy mouthfeel, elevated by a splash of milk, and there are some great malt, chocolate and honey notes once the tea has cooled down to just above luke warm…. yum! Glad I have a little more of this stashed away to enjoy.

Ah Sunday… The one day of the week when there is no alarm clock waking you up and you can lay in bed with a delicious cup of tea a good book and not feel guilty that you don’t emerge from your cocoon until the mid morning hours!

I was hoping this was going to be a super chocolatey delight with a slight punch of spice and chili however I found the heat of the chili overpowered the rest of the flavor and it really was all I could taste. Maybe I just need to shake the bag up a little before dipping into it for my dry leaf? I’ll try again shortly and see if I get better results.

So even though I’m on a tea buying hiatus (a BIG one) everyone on Steepster has been seriously tempting me with their tasting notes from Quarter to Tea and so I decided to bite the bullet a week ago and treated myself to a small package of seven different samples and upon opening the bag this morning I’m oh so glad that I did!

I overleafed this and maybe thats where I’m seeing the difference but this tea is FAN-FRIGGIN-AMAZING Like drink it forever and I’d be happy amazing!!! Authentic cherry and chocolate flavors with a kick of coffee – this may just have replaced Cocoa Amore for me as my go to cherry tea because (1) its seriously delicious and (2) its actually available unlike Cocoa Amore!

Buying more right now!!!

How can it be Monday again already? Anyone else notice how quickly the weekends seem to disappear? The good news I guess, is the older I get, the faster the weekdays seem to fly as well… Its an unusually cool morning here in Southern California, we’re actually expecting our first winter storm of the season to hit today and tomorrow which hopefully translates into some rain here where I am. This tea seemed perfect this morning due to the cooler change but its definitely seen better days! The flavor is starting to fade and although still tasty its not quite as good as I remember it. Another one to add to the sipdown pile to enjoy before it becomes flavorless.

I found this hiding in the back of my cupboard while I was doing some sorting and cleaning up this weekend… I’ve decided its time for me to drink through all my older teas and of course, to be able to do that I need to know what I actually have lurking way back there in the depths of my cupboards… Honestly, this isn’t quite as flavorsome as I remember it but it still tastes pretty darn good for a tea thats probably over two years old now! I guess those David’s Tea canisters really do help retain the tea flavors over time! I need to make sure I don’t throw out the tin later this week when I’ve finally sipped all of this down.

Scent and flavor wise it’s still pretty heavy on the coffee, brown sugar and butter…I’m still getting a hint of cherry but the pineapple is AWOL. Its a touch too sweet and a tad bit artificial tasting as the sip lingers in the mouth. I remember just how much I enjoyed this when I first bought it and although its aged pretty decently in my opinion, my taste buds have moved on a little from Davids Tea blends and these days I tend to prefer something a little more natural tasting although this won’t stop me from sipping down my tin this week.

I’ve been meaning to review this tea FOREVER… Well not really forever, I only got my package of it a few weeks ago, but I’ve drunk it so much since then that it feels like it’s been forever!!

52 Tea’s blended this one up especially for me as part of the ‘you choose the blend’ reward for my kickstarter bid. I must admit, initially I was a little worried when i started emailing Anne and she mentioned she had no idea what a Lamington was but in the end I decided to trust in her superior blending taste buds and a quick tutorial from Wikipedia.

So for those still in the dark about this delectable treat, lamingtons are an Australian morning or afternoon tea treat that most people consume with a strong cuppa. Basically it’s a small individual sized square serve of sponge cake, covered in chocolate syrup, coconut flakes and if you’re really lucky, in the center is a layer of strawberry jam and cream. YUM!

So, on to the tea…. The dry leaf is full of coconut slivers, large dried strawberry pieces, and cocoa nibs and it seriously smells exactly like a jam and cream filled Lamington, which is super exciting for this homesick Aussie! Upon brewing as per the directions, the flavor is not quite as strong as the scent but I still get the definite taste profile of a Lamington!! I seriously recommend this with a splash of milk or even a dollop of cream if you’re feeling a little decadent… Give it a try… If you like strawberry, coconut, chocolate, cream and sponge cake you’ll love this!! It’s a decadent treat without any of the calories!!