Special Teas

I guess, following my cold brew of DT’s oolong this past week, I wasn’t done with Strawberry Banana flavoured teas since I found myself digging this out of my stash just a few days later. I think it’s tough for this tea having it so soon off the back of the DAVIDsTEA blend because that one is such a richly flavoured tea with so much of that smoothie creaminess alongside potent fruit notes. This blend, however, is quite subtle. And subtle isn’t bad or negative by default, but in this case it was hard not to find myself directly comparing the two experiences and that made this tea come off as more thin or poorly defined in its fruitiness…

This is one of the teas i got in my Vancouver/Victoria vacation haul! I had it last night, and unfortunately I just found it pretty underwhelming. To be at least kind of fair, I feel I have particularly high expectations for strawberry banana as a combination. However, it was less that it doesn’t have the right balance between the two or that either of those key flavours tasted bad. They just, well, weren’t present…

Mostly this tasted like slightly sweet rooibos. Not particularly great quality rooibos either. In general I find I’m pretty blessed by never finding the woodier or mineral notes of red rooibos offensive, but I did feel they were really strong here and if I found them strong then I would be very worried for someone who doesn’t like rooibos.

Boo.

This was another one my mom picked up. From my memory, it’s a green and black blend with jasmine and either peach or mango? I think peach. I found it a little underwhelming. Fruitier than floral but still managed to be kind of perfumey and off putting in its finishing notes, which made me think of licking a Lush Bath Bomb. Not the worst cosmetic you could lick, but I still wouldn’t recommend doing it.

Overall I think it’ll probably just be a forgettable tea among the thousands I’ve tried.

Another sample from Ms. Heather. Thank you muchly!

This dry leaf smells faintly sweet. For me, it’s hard to make out what it’s supposed to be. I kind of did things backwards. I added a touch of clover honey to the first cup I had earlier, which to me, played very well with the base but drowned out the subtle flavours in this.

I’m enjoying the second cup without any additives, and the plum is now more noticeable, but still very subtle. I’m getting a subtle woody note in here too. Like birch or something? This is also quite astringent; slightly drying to the roof of the mouth.

With (cow’s) milk and sugar, this is a pretty darn decent sweet cup. Although possibly it would be better overleafed. Hmm.

It smells fruity and like spiced candy a bit.

Thanks for sharing, Heather! :)

PS. This is a sip down, so I need to remember to remove it from my cupboard.

Thanks for the sample, Heather!

This tea smells really sweet. Which really shouldn’t be surprising, considering it’s called “Sugar Plum”.

I’m sitting here sipping tea, thinking it’s time for a nap. So. Tea pretty good. Nothing fancy. Need to time the steep next time so I don’t oversteep it. Nap now.

Thanks for the sample, Heather! Almonds have always been my favourite nut, so I could always go for an almond tea. The dry leaf smells like almond extract.

Tast-wise, without any additives, the Ceylon base is quite smooth. Actually, I think I appreciate that the most about this tea. The almond reminds me of almond biscotti, but then again, probably due to the almond extract vibe.

I added a little bit of brown sugar and took another sip. It’s ok, but doesn’t really bring anything to the table. Then I added some 1% milk and this weird undertone protruded from out of nowhere. It’s probably the milk’s fault. I think 2% works better with tea.

Overall, I wish the almond popped more, and that there would be most of a roasted almond quality to this.

This tasted strange last night. Woody and the bergamot was kind of muted. I’m not sure why; I steeped it 5 minutes in boiling water which seems pretty standard. But, the boyfriend liked it for some reason.

I added this tea but can’t find a photo/description on the site as it’s sold out.

This is another from my Special Teas super-sale shipment.

I was worried that the rooibos and earl grey combination would really not work for me. It’s not bad, though. The flavours co-operate somewhat with the bergamot front and centre and the rooibos woodiness lingering underneath. It’s not blowing me away, though, and it’s not the same without a strong black tea base. Pretty much exactly what I expected.

It’s been a while since I had a nice, straightforward black tea. I was a bit worried I’d find it dull.

I picked up a black tea sampler at Special Teas during a summer trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. I tried a couple and then largely forgot about it. Now I think I’ll revisit them, use them up, and perhaps order more (or grab lots when I go back this year). Looking through their site, there looks to be a great (huge!) variety of nice quality teas and interesting blends at awesome prices. I remember the store being nice, too.

This is nice, rich, and bold. I’m enjoying it while trying (and obviously failing) to write an essay.

A really lovely light, orange-scented rooibos; tasted lightly of oranges, with sweet citrus undertones. Really enjoyable!