Victoria's Teas and Coffees

Last tea of the night!

Made a pot of this which I’m just finishing up while watching an anime on Netflix called Norigami. Has anyone else watched it? I’m having a bit of a hard time really getting into it, though I want to like it. I just started the third episode…

This pot wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst either. Almost immediately the cups seemed have a bitter edge; it was pleasant in the first few cups because it worked with the grape/wine flavourings and made the tea seem, I don’t know, ‘edgier’? But it’s a bit too much with these last few cups. Not the most palatable tea in the world…

I almost made this as tea soda ‘cause it’s kinda the bomb that way but in the end it seemed like too much effort for this late at night. And, considering how late it is, if I was smart I would have picked something caffeine free. Oops.

EDIT: Tre just got home from birthday drinks with a few coworkers and he is DRUNNNNKK! Tonight’s either gonna be hilarious or annoying as all hell.

Ow, I just poked myself in the eye. Like, really hard…

Had this earlier in the week in a travel thermos on the way to work. It had a very strong grape flavour overtop a really brisk black base with a slight, pleasantly astringent edge to it. A little bit different than the way it usually comes out, but pleasant regardless!

And having actually had an Ice Wine now I can say that I do see the similarities.

So this is tasting note 2222, which is kind of a fun number!

I’ve had this idea in my head since VariaTEA sent me her big bag of this that I just needed to make an Ontaria Ice Wine Soda – because how much closer to the tea version of Grape Crush are you going to get? And I finally did it!

Guys, it was such a good idea! Made this into tea infused simple syrup first, and then floated that in club soda and it was the perfect balance of sweet, fruity grapes and black tea base, and it did actually remind me of Grape Crush, but much less artificial. I know I’ve said this a few times about the tea sodas I’ve made – but guys, this is the best one yet. Really, truly it is.

Cold Brew!

The lovely VariaTEA sent me a WHOLE BUNCH of this one since it’s not a blend she was big into, and I really enjoyed the sample she originally had sent to me. And, since I’ve got well over 50g of it now, I thought I’d play around and try something new but seemingly appropriate for the blend; a cold/iced version!

I was pretty generous with the leaf and so that could play into the flavour a bit, but this was pretty strong/boldly flavoured – and not just the robust grape flavour. The black base came off as very brisk and weighty next to the “Icewine”. Overall, that detracted a bit from the natural sweetness of the grapes (no grape candy this time), but it did contribute a fuller flavour palate at the same time. It was a little conflicting.

I absolutely enjoyed this but I think that if I go the cold brew route again I’ll either leaf less or will have to consider a sweetener of some kind; I’d like the juicyness of the fruit to “pop” a little more. In fact, the next route I take with this might be literal pop? I think this would make a KILLER grape tea soda!

Sipdown (167/173)!

Oh man, after the last Ice Wine tea I was confidant I could never love an Ice Wine blend but this one just totally debunks that theory. I decided to finish it off by making it in my timolino and putting it to the “travel tea test”. I was hoping it’d be close to how good it was before; that would be good enough to, for me, confirm I should get more.

Well, honestly I think it was better? It somehow seemed… More Purple.

And of course again by that I mean that it was sweet candy grape flavoured! Mmm! “Mmm!!” again, but with two fucking exclamation points! This is so on my wishlist, and I’m looking into how affordable it’ll be to put in an order with this company online. I have to order a minimum of $20 in stuff, and shipping is $13 but I’m thinking I can maybe make this work?

First review? No pressure right? Ok, so when I saw this one in the package from VariaTEA this morning I had a WHOLE BUNCH of feels and thoughts.

Firstly, I internally screamed because of the prospect of raisins. God how I hate raisins. Secondly, I winced because early into my “tea drinking career” (that’s how I’m gonna start phrasing it to non tea drinkers) I had 50g of an Ontario Ice Wine white blend that I disliked so very much and which was such a painful struggle to get rid of. Thirdly, I reminded myself how long ago that one and how my pallet has drastically changed in that time so it might not be “so bad”. But then most importantly, fourthly I actually took the time to smell the tea and…

Wow.

This smelled like purple! And by that I mean the darker vibrant purple that is so commonly associated with rich, almost overly sweet fakey grapes. It smelled damn good. Which is why I’m trying it now! I didn’t realize that there’s white tea in the blend in addition to the black tea so I just steeped it like a black – but it’s very good! No bitterness, no astringency just really solid and juicy fake grape taste! I think what scares me so much about grapes is the fine line between fake, sugar grape which I like (grape candy!) and realistic, raisin grape which makes me want to gag.

So I adore this. I have one more cup, but I think I already know I want more? Mostly though I’m wondering why I necessarily love it. Is it the switch up in base; because the black base was really nice and smooth, and I thought was the perfect level to match the strong grape taste without overwhelming it. Or is it just that my pallet has changed so much? I don’t know. Maybe I don’t even care all that much?

We’ll see how cup #2 goes whenever I make time to have it – but I think this could be good in my cupboard. It’s certainly different from my other black tea! Would it be good cold brewed? Hmm…

240! Thanks VariaTEA for this one. To be honest, it wasn’t really for me. Maybe I didn’t steep it right, but I’m not discouraged. I’m sure I’ll like some of the others from this company. I might just have been in a ‘meh’ mood.

Thanks VariaTEA! (244)
I’ve never heard of this company but I was interested in NEW TEAS! Thanks for sending so many of them.

Huh. I’m not sure if its the base, or if it’s just the flavours, but there is something odd with this one. I’m not sure I’m big on it but… and don’t hate me, I’m not the biggest bestest fan of maple teas. So maybe that’s it. :P

This is a weird one. I am getting honey and nutty notes and even elements that lend themselves to the flavor of biscotti and yet as a whole, I am just not loving it. Perhaps Sil or Roswell Strange will be able to figure this out because to me something is off and I am just not sure what.

Made as a latte with unsweetened cashew milk and I don’t know if the milk or the tea is to blame, but this tasted like cardboard. I think it’s the milk because I haven’t had much luck with the unsweetened version thus far :(

Prepped this as a latte and though the rooibos is slightly more pronounced prepped this way, the aftertaste is all pear. It’s a nice little after dinner treat.

Cold brewed or hot, this tastes the same: liquefied pear jelly bellies. Yum :)

Alright so I think my initial excitement about a new tea stopped me from picking up on the rooibos in the first cup. Now that the excitement has passed, I am detecting rooibos but it is subtle and the pear flavor is still the most dominant taste in the cup. It is like a hot cup of pear jelly bellies. Delicious :)

No rooibos to be found in this cup. Just delicious pear goodness. Yum!

So on the bag for this blend, it says that it is a mix of passionfruit and vanilla while on the website, it says it is the more traditional blend of grenadine and vanilla. Sipping on it now, I am getting the slight tang of fresh passionfruit blended with a smooth vanilla. Not a typical Monk’s Blend but still very nice.

Well, my sister went on a weekend getaway with her boyfriend and they returned with gifts for all. My gift? A large bag of teas :).

This one smelled amazingly like a cookie. Yum! Tastewise, I am getting the notes of sweet potato and pumpkin combined with cardamom and cinnamon. It is quite nice though I definitely think this will be much better in the fall.

SIPDOWN! (208) yeah…figured i’d better get one more in tonight to make up for my lack of tea drinking on monday. I cannot believe that it’s only tuesday. It for sure feels like friday! Speaking of friday – Tall Ships are here! well they will be on thrs so that’s always exciting. Here’s hoping for some warm weather to go down to the harbourfront and check them out friday evening before we need to get packing and get organised with our house sitter. heh

I still enjoy this tea as far as greens go but i still prefer a good solid black or an herbal tisane! Thank you again lala i do love your random teas :)

made this once we got home from costco today so that i could cool it down and drink it cold after hot brewing. I think this is my favourite way to drink it so far, with just a little sweetner. Best part about actually leaving the house today even though i’m falling asleep? Totally picked up a few books for vacation reading AND splurged on nutella lol which i have never purchased before in my life..but those + the waffle wafer cookie things we have = best time ever…especially with a cup of black tea. Hello dessert tonight!

Made this cold brewed last night and apparently this is a tea that suits me better as a hot brew. Cold it just didn’t seem to be as flavourful as a hot brew and i was missing out on the deliciousness of the strawberry from the hot brew. I’m thinking hot brew + cool this off might be the way to go. Not a bad run as a cold brew but just not as wonderful as i thought it might be!

thank you lala! I need to try this as a cold brew…as a warm brew it’s really nice. The strawberry blends nicely with the green tea without turning artificial….aaaand work just interrupted this a whole lot. will rate this and provide a better tasting note next brew. Stupid work.

Thank you Lala for this sample.

In raw form this tea had a delicious sweet strawberry scent, juicy but somewhat artificial. I decided to cold steep this one and have left it in the fridge for roughly 16 hours. My previous cold steep worked nicely so hopefully my second one will be just as nice…

The tea is a fairly dark yellow/green colour and it has the same yummy strawberry scent. Ooohh that’s lovely! It’s light and refreshing with sweet fruity tones and a gentle grassy green after taste. I was worried that the green tea would be steeped too long but it’s just right, not bitter or harsh in anyway but thick enough to be noticeable.

This would make a delicious cocktail if mixed with fresh strawberry pieces, a bit of mint and a splash of vodka over ice. :)