Special Tea Company

Another blend of tea that I got as a gift a few months back. I’ve sipped this one down pretty fast. I have one cup worth remaining in my work stash, so I might finish it off tomorrow morning.

I noted “heavy pineapple, floral” while drinking and working today. I will note that I brewed this with 200F water and let it sit for a little too long, but the flavor wasn’t bitter; perhaps just a touch more tartness, if anything. Not too shabby.

A few months back, my wife discovered a discount shop that carries a lot of random items. She found a large stash of loose leaf teas, so she bought the lot, and gifted them to me. I took this one to work. I typically brew my tea Western style at work. It’s much easier with the flow of everything, even with a sitting job.

Anyway, I’ve quite a bit of it, so I try to get a cup in about every week. One of my coworkers will drink a cup, too, on the account that they love everything anise. I like that the anise isn’t too strong, but it definitely helps balance out the tea. I also thought that it was interesting to see that it had a black/ripe puerh base. Helps bring the blend together.

I don’t get much orange from the cup, though. I can’t really place it, but it’s easily drinkable. I left the tea in the infuser a bit too long this morning, but it wasn’t bitter, so I suppose it has that going for it, too.

I got this as a birthday gift in August. My wife went to a shop that sells leftovers from Amazon warehouses and found a few loose leaf teas on the shelf and purchased them. I almost never drink flavored teas at home, but I took this, with the others, to work to be had there.

The chocolate/coconut bits take the edge off of the black tea (Assam?). It’s very rich, even without sugar, so I’ve had it a couple of times. My coworkers drink it when I make a pot, so at least there are others that enjoy it.

Thanks to AliceG for a sample of this one! I don’t love fruity black teas, but I’m always interested in trying something decaf! The black base here is pretty weak, and the apricot doesn’t really show up very much. Unfortunately, it’s not that great, but I finished my sample. The flavors taste stronger when you drink it cold, but then the black tea ends up a bit astringent, and the apricot is still quite invisible.

Less leaf and a shorter steep time does bring out more of the lavender. The first time I used around 1 1/2 teaspoons and steeped it for five minutes, this time I used just 1 teaspoon and steeped for three. This way there’s a definite lavender note and the fig flavor’s somewhat more muted.

I actually like it better the first way, with more fig and less lavender.

I decided to try something different, and just went “Let’s look for a fig tea!”, because why not. This was the first one I came across, so fig and lavender it was. Both the dry mix and brewed tea smell like Fig Newtons. I didn’t think the scent was that strong at first (some teas I have on hand have a far stronger scent; for example any S&V teas I have), but after leaving the tea to steep and coming back a few minutes later, my entire kitchen smelled of it. Not like that’s a bad thing.

At five minutes it not only smelled but tasted like a Fig Newton, the lavender having been all but overpowered. I got a slight hint of lavender at the end of the sip, but that was all. I’ll have to see if it’s any more present with a three-minute steep, since the packaging says it can steep anywhere from 3-6 minutes. The black base is very forgiving; no astringency at all that I could taste.

It might be a little light on the lavender, but if you’re in the market for a fig-flavored black tea this seems like a decent bet.

Sipdown!

I’m glad to be finishing this off because I’m pretty bored with it. This chai is nothing special. Not very much chocolate, generic spice mixture, it tastes like a cheap bagged tea. I do, however, appreciate that it is decaffeinated. It makes a nice cup straight or with milk, but I wouldn’t buy it again when there are so many wonderful chai blends out there with more clove and cardamom in them.

I find the black base too bitter for my liking. The spices do indeed hide some of it to make a tolerable and spicy cup, but I think every chai is best with a flavourful, malty, and smooth base. It is decaf, which earns it a lot of bonus points in my books, but they started with a pretty generic and lower quality black, so obviously the decaf version will be just as low quality.

I don’t get much chocolate, maybe a bit of cocoa powder. I think it could be that the blend lacks sweetness that makes it really taste like chocolate. The spices are generic chai spices (similar to Twinings bagged chai) and I can pick out a little bit of pepper and clove, but nothing too spectacular.It definitely isn’t my favourite chai. I like lots of ginger and cardamom.

Bought for $2.50 on amazon.ca as an add-on item that is prime eligible.

It’s ok…basic grocery story quality chai. Black base is meh, clove, ginger, pepper, fennel?, typical chai spices. It isn’t bad at all, but it tastes really boring as far as chai goes. No chocolate, but it is spicy and decaffeinated.

Sipdown (133)!

The pool finally opened for the evening today, so Cathryn and I went down and swam for a few hours. Now I’m tired again, so I’ve resigned myself to the couch for the evening and will probably just write tasting notes and maybe watch a movie with Kyle at some point.

Once again, I’m enjoying this one as a cold brew. The profile is much like the first time I had it so I wont go into greater detail. Suffice to say it’s a good balance of base and flavour with natural, fruity sweetness and some floral traits too. There’s still some leaf left but I think I’m gonna add it to the Great Canadian Travelling Tea Box; so this is only kind of a sipdown.

Kind of in a bad mood right now though, if I’m being honest. My swim was great but then as I was checking out and grabbing my keys the receptionist said something to me that I definitely interpreted in a rude way.

“Do you own a bathing suit?”

“Umm, pardon?” Not sure I heard her right – I’m standing in front of her in a bathing suit.

“You’re not allowed to swim with shorts on. You’ll need a bathing suit next time.”

“I’m wearing swim trunks and a bikini top? Shouldn’t that be fine?”

“Oh, those are swim trunks? Well I suppose…”

Basically, fuck you counter lady: It definitely felt like she was either commenting on the fact I was not following some kind of idiotic, self created ‘code’ of what was acceptable for a woman to wear OR she was being snide about my weight. Either way; totally uncalled for. I see absolutely no reason why my swim trunks do not count as a bathing suit! Kind of ruined my swim, if I’m being honest…

This sample comes via Liquid Proust!

I don’t know why, but I’m greatly drawn to wine flavoured/infused things (not just tea) despite actually really, really disliking wine. This is no exception because I looked at the sample from LP and definitely went “Ooh, it’s wine flavoured! That’ll be really good!” before remembering that I hate wine…

Cold brewed, though, this is really good! There’s a floral, fruity sweetness that does remind me of white wine: I can’t say Cabernet in particular because I’m definitely not experienced enough in the wine department to know the ins and outs (ie. nuances) of each particular type of wine. Maybe red comparred with white, sure, but not each particular type. I find the cold brew refreshing, and flavourful without feeling overwhelming though. As well, I think the lightness of the base and natural honey and hay notes compliment the fruityness well.

So yeah, I guess wine is better when it’s in tea form.

Used my whole sample for a gong fu session with my fat horse pet!
Quick rinse- no flavor.
First steep, 20 seconds: Sweet-ish on the aftertaste, with a decent magnolia-like thick but light floral note. Not light in the Spring-y sense, but light as in not a very strong flavor. It’s quite good. If I hadn’t had amazing green oolongs, I would think this was pretty tops.
Second steep. 30 seconds: More sugary sweet, with a mineral note creeping in. Stronger flavor overall than the first steep, but the floral note is now gone.
Third steep, 45 seconds: Lost some flavor, and much greener now. Tastes really thin if I’ve recently taken a sip.
I did a fourth steep of about a minute, nothing significantly different from the third except weaker. This one is done.
It moved over the hill pretty quickly. Lingers like a decent oolong should, but I would call it more of an everyday, don’t-think-about-it-too-hard oolong.
Thanks for the sample, LiquidProust!

This might be one of the most interesting oolong sessions I have ever had. Many teas have woodsy taste to them, but this has something new I have never experienced: stoney. I was very perplexed when I first took a sip, it was like I just walked through a construction zone but without all the negative aspects… however it was semi dry. There really is a stoneness to this tea when it is brewed for the first time. The second steeping is a bit different, a little sweeter but that stone is still there. If I knew that this tea would have that taste I would not buy it, but thankfully I did not know because this was an interesting experience for me and it was enjoyable. While it is a rolled green oolong, it is not floral. Good for multiple infusions for sure.