Teaja

Sipdown (531)!

I decided that this year, for Easter, I wanted to do something for my coworkers at DAVIDsTEA so I bought a ton of plastic Eggs and filled them all with single cup amounts of tea from my personal stash. A mix of all different types, flavours, and companies.

I had honestly completely forgotten about this tea until I was looking for Pu’erh options to add to the mix and I pulled it from the very, very back of the pu’erh tin section in my shelves. There was actually only about two cups of tea left in the tin so I put one into the egg, and finished the other one off on the spot for an easy sipdown.

It wasn’t bad; tasted just a little bit flat so I added a touch of coconut agave just to spruce it up and give some more punch to the already coconut heavy profile. It made it quite sweet and smooth, with a lovely toasted coconut flavour and complimenting buttery quality. It was a nice enough cup; I wonder why I had completely forgotten about this tea?

Working on sipping this one down now;

It’s not a tea I dislike by any means but it’s not a favourite either and since I plan on picking up some of the interesting sounding Pu’erh teas from Cornelia Bean in less than a week, when I go on vacation, I’m going to need the tin space that this is currently taking up.

This was yet another mug worth of this tea that tasted like coconut sticky rice; though since I just had actual coconut sticky rice less than a week ago this tea was especially rice heavy since than imagery was fresh in my mind. I wish it was just a little bit sweeter…

Iced, with some added milk. Not quite a latte, though.

I feel like now that I’ve mentally made the connection between the flavour of this tea and sticky rice it’s one that I’m NEVER going to be able to separate from the experience of drinking this one. I mean, earthy? Yes. Coconut? Yes. Sticky Rice? FUCK YES.

I just can’t undo what has been done…

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04H7_fFC90

Yeah, these two don’t really pair AT ALL. However, I’ve found myself in a nostalgia hole where all I seem to be listening to is classic Jonathan Coulton. Including this wonderful track…

Tried this one again,

The coconut was very buttery and pastry-like, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it slightly contrasted against a lighter, earthy base. However, something about it also VIVIDLY reminded me of sticky rice. It just had the same sort of glutinous, starchy sort of flavour. Kind of odd, admittedly, but also weirdly comforting.

Midday tea!

This was really good – I’m happy I nabbed some from MissB! It’s creamy with lots of rich, bold coconut notes and a bit of earthiness from the pu’erh. Very fresh tasting, and natural with that good kind of confectionery coconut taste and sort of this medium-ish sweetness. Like coconut nectar, or even the coconut agave from work that I like a lot.

Noms.

Still amazing more than a year later, and another 50g.

Yes, this is one of the teas I MUST carry around the world with me.

Gosh I love this tea. I’ve yet to find another coconut puer anywhere else in the world. (I’ve looked. I’ll keep on looking).

The last of it tasted a bit more perfume-y than I like, and a re-steep didn’t do well. Still, it was delicious. I might even venture back into Teaja just to grab more when I’m in Vancouver again.

Now, I love this tea. Truly. But I had such a distasteful experience with (I think) one of the owners last time I was in Teaja, even this amazing tea can’t make up for it. We’ll see.

Drinking this again today; it’s really got me captivated.

I’m more fond of it unsweetened. It’s still thick and toasty, rich and earthy, creamy and yet biting. Like raw coconut.

The smell. O. M. G. Just on the smell alone, I bought 50g. It’s like a creamy milk chocolate infused coconut. I don’t know how, or why, but that’s what it smells like to me. I just want to dance in it and cover my body with its deliciousness.

Um. So, yea.

Drinking it, I’m a bit perplexed. It’s really, really sweet for a supposedly unsweetened tea. It’s a toasty, warm, creamy, almost biting coconut. There’s an earthiness I love as well, it’s very… Unusual. I swear there are cacao nibs from the flavor… But it’s just tea and big chunks of coconut.

A win, for sure. Must drink more. Just, no sweetener next time.

I find it a bit odd that most of Teaja’s teas aren’t on their website. I was told they have a separate blending facility in Olympic Village, and they’re sold through a distribution company (whose name I forget). This is also the name used for the tea festival competition, of which they won two awards this year.

Anyway. This tea… I knew I wouldn’t love it, but the reviews on Yelp and the smell were too good not to try. The staffer knew my reluctance, so she sold me 10g of it… A surprising amount!

It actually smells creamy – is that possible – and floral, blergamot-y. (not a typo). It tastes almost identical to the smell… Cream first, then floral citrus. I could see this being a huge favorite for those EG lovers… I’m just not one of them. Can I send someone here the rest? :)

I know it’s just spices. I know I can add this to pretty much any tea and make it my own. I know I can. But I don’t. I just drink it before bed because there’s zero caffeine, it’s a bit unique in the chai department, and I love the spice combo. I also know it’s too pricey for just, well, spices, to replenish, so I’ll enjoy it as-is until I’m out.

Found Teaja yesterday in Yaletown, and after smelling this, I immediately grabbed 50g of it. It smelled STRONG, like, blow out your nostrils strong, in a yummy way. Yes, this is my kind of chai.

Brewed up a cup last night. Didn’t taste quite as expected, but, very potent. Dare I say, almost, too spicy? ;)

HGTTB

This tea left me wanting more. Tangy Lime Sherbet sounds amazing but there is no tang, little lime, and nothing that would come off as sherbet. It’s like drinking plain rooibos tea with a slice of lime tossed in because there really isn’t much in terms of flavor. Oh well. At least now I know this isn’t for me because it certainly sounded promising.

This sample is from Sil. It was a surprise bonus sample in our swap! This tea has generic dark black leaves mixed with some cacao shells and a few chocolate chips. Dry scent is sweet but not necessarily chocolatey.

Hmm. I don’t actually taste chocolate in this at all… The base tea is somewhat woody but otherwise not at all memorable. I get perhaps a tiny bit of milk chocolate in the aftertaste, but otherwise this just tastes like a mediocre black tea. Sad day.

I didn’t read up on this tea before brewing it up and trying it (I actually hadn’t even heard of the company before, to be honest), so I have no idea what to expect. It looks like a blend of black tea, cacao shells, and a few little chocolate chips, presumably to create an incredibly chocolatey blend. The result is certainly malty, and somewhat chocolatey, but it’s not all that rich – the base tea doesn’t seem to be overly strong here, and possibly isn’t even all that chocolatey itself, resulting in more of a light milky chocolate flavour instead of a rich, dark chocolate. Oddly enough, despite my preference for milk chocolate, I’d prefer dark in a tea, so this tea, though reasonably tasty, can’t top the natural chocolatey notes in Chinese blacks I’ve had. Thanks Sil!

ETA: Got two good infusions out of this tea, but then the flavour was gone. Probably a good thing for someone with such ridiculous amounts of tea.

the more i have this tea, the more disappointed i am. Today it was a rather tasteless sort of cup. For something this expensive it should be a much more rich and velvety sort of cup of tea.

tried this one as a latte tonight. This is more like dark chocolate than milk chocolate, but it’s still just not what i was hoping for when i picked it up. I’m not a HUGE fan of the base but the chocolate is decent for what it’s worth. Maybe a little sugar would have improved things but i didn’t get around to that as i drink most of my teas without sweetner

I tried this one out tonight…yes, i’m still awake! lol this one isn’t bad it’s not as dark chocolatey wonderful as MF’s mousse au chocolat or as chocolatey as i want it to be, but it’ll do. The base is nice, and for those looking for “organic” teas, this IS that. I kind of want to try this as a latte and see if the chocolate and the base come through the milk..more to come as i play with it! :)

this tea makes me saaaaad. It was so promising and now, it’s mostly just a cup of rooibos (not super woodsy) with a hint of lime. Out of my cupboard and in to the swap box it goes since i have resolved not to keep teas in the house that i don’t enjoy more than not :)

I hit 100 teas (god i remember being up at 350+ so it’s been a ride…) and now i’m staring at teapots. I blame teafairy for buying one of the ones from Mandala that i’ve been looking at….and Dexter for informing me that it was ok…i only need three. sigh sooo now i’ve basically picked out one from teavivre and one from mandala that i want to save for so that i can get my first pot(S). Except that i need to save if i’m going to do that since our move was a little more expensive than we planned and with all the travelling and wedding planning and crap…i shouldn’t be splurging. but i waaaaaaanttttt…. sigh

Anyway….i opened this tea up since now that i’ve hit 100 i feel like i have a bit more room in my direct cupboard for some of my more recent purchases so a few more teas can be opened. I started with a few of the non black teas that i’d picked up and this was one of them.

I had higher hopes for this tea. It smells wonderful! tangy and lime-y and once again, falls short. I’m hoping that i can figure out the right steeping parameters to coax out a little more flavour and a little less rooibos. Oh well, always nice to try new companies!

Very astringent & flat tasting. There isn’t any real depth of flavor.