Vanilla Orchid

My cousin hosted a tea party yesterday, and I was in charge of bringing the teas! It’s always exciting when you get an opportunity to share the tea love and hey, if sipdowns happen, then that’s just a bonus, right?

It was the first sunny day in weeks, so at the last minute we decided to pack up the food and head to the park for a picnic, with some Pimm’s and lemonade instead. It was a great idea, but I suggested we leave the scones at home and come back afterwards for a cup. After all, my cousin had set such a lovely table and I couldn’t let a tea-less tea party happen if I could help it! It was a tough crowd (die-hard coffee drinkers, “I only drink tea when I’m sick” types), but luckily the teas were a hit and everyone enjoyed them!

This was one of the teas I brought, as I thought it would be a fun intro to oolong for those that had never tried it. It was one of my first ever purchases that got neglected as my stash grew, so I hadn’t had it in a while and wasn’t sure if I would still enjoy it. But I was reminded of its sweet and creamy vanilla flavor balanced with a light bodied oolong. It was the perfect refreshing treat after a day of indulging in yummy food and sunshine; a delicious end to an amazing day!

So I was going to wish my friend I haven’t talked to in a while a happy birthday but it turned out she was dead.

I didn’t die when I was 28.

Neither did you.

(I guess we got lucky.)

So happy belated birthday, and happy Valentine’s Day.

The tea? Oh, it tastes the same as ever – it tastes of you, (fear, shame, the inability to play the long game) of me, (no fear, no shame, the inability to not play the long game) of us, (the thick, oily, long, slow burn of forever)

…and, ironically, generously of vanilla.

So, I was feeling bummed out about work stuff, and decided to make myself feel better by going on a tea shopping therapy trip to DavidsTea during my lunch break! I had a few things on a list already, so I would have bought them eventually, but I upped it to TODAY!

I started with my list, but had to kind of urge the salesperson forward. They always seem to assume you’ve never been there before and try to provide recommendations, but I just wanted what was on my list! She was nice though, and measured what I bought to the exact amount requested. I asked about the April tea of the month, Bollywood chai, and the other salesperson got interested and brought out the canister. She let me smell it, but said she couldn’t sell any yet. Poo! It smelled really spicy hot though. Not sure if I’ll like that.

So, I picked up some new teas to try: vanilla orchid oolong, quangzhou milk oolong, mulberry magic, and a little matcha. My husband requested the matcha because he likes the Jamba Juice matcha green tea blast smoothie and wants to see if he could create it at home.

On to vanilla orchid: the dry leaf smells like a delicious vanilla cake! Yum! Steeped, it tastes more floral, but the vanilla was still there. Not really a buttery oolong. I guess this is a floral one. Anyway, I enjoyed two steeps of it this afternoon. I will be enjoying the rest of the little bag, but I’ll have to see if I’ll want more at the end of it.

I like this a lot!!! I got a sneak peak/sniff of this on Halloween by one of the lovely ladies at Uptown which is closest to my friend’s place, and I was on my way to her party, but needed a cuppa to get me through the night. Anyways, it smelled amazing! The saddest part was that there was no time from the first until now for me to get some. Finally got in tonight after work, in that last half hour before they closed downtown. I got this to go, though I almost got Alpine Punch. Mmmm, Alpine Punch….

The dry leaf smell is like vanilla ice cream, and it is creamy tasting and smelling too. I can pick up the oolong base, but I have to say, at least with this steep, it isn’t overly floral. Under the vanilla, you can taste the base, and it is good. This tea, to me, is like a milk oolong if the milk was vanilla milk.

I will see if I can re-steep my bag tomorrow, if it is still good. I worry that it oversteeped on the way home though, as it did get a bit bitter when I was home and too the bag out, but I added some sugar and hot water and it was fine. I did pick up 10g of this and a few others, so I can play around with steeping on my own time next.

But this one is a winner to me so far.

I made up a pot (on the stove kind of pot) of this as a latte when my friend came over to make me mark papers with her (I love marking papers. Some are SO BAD, but then some are really good!).

Neither of us liked it, even as a latte. It was too artificial and bitter tasting. I think the rest of the leaves are going to have an “accident”.

Sipdown (195/197)!

I’m so pissed at myself! I splurged today and bought a thing of Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough icecream for break, when I really couldn’t afford it. However, it was my last day at my temporary Dollarama store (I start at my permanent spot tomorrow morning). I only ate maybe a fifth of it, so I stuck it in the staffroom freezer…

AND THEN FORGOT TO TAKE IT HOME. Urgghhhhh!

But anyway, work tea sipdown – which I mentioned was going to happen last night. This was delicious! Light, creamy, and refreshing. I think, actually, that when I do finally finish my DT tin of Long Life Oolong I might refill it with this blend instead; I do have a fair number of fruity oolongs other than Long Life, and I think this would add some needed variety to my oolong selections; plus it’s equally as good.

Full Review on SororiTea Sisters on the 27th but here are my snippits:

Vanilla Orchid from Davids Tea is in one word – delicious.

Anyone who loves vanilla and oolong – plus flavored teas should try it.

The oolong base does do its part. It seems to be a good oolong with a nice base flavor, buttery and nutty which of course work wonderfully with vanilla! Its a light oolong however, and normally I am prone to favor a darker roasted oolong but I still can’t help coming back to this tea, making more.

The aroma of quality vanilla is nearly overwhelming in the steeped cup but the flavor is a bit more subtle – but then again – it sneaks out, peeks out, and says a big “hello” long after the sip. I appreciate that about this tea. I like a tea that lingers as I go about my day, reminding me “sip some more!”

The vanilla flavor is that of a really good vanilla bean ice cream or even french vanilla, its really quite creamy and rich. Its a dessert you can have anytime.

I ordered a cup of this before work, and the employee suggested adding some milk, so soy milk it was. Not sure if he slipped in some agave? But this is much better than the vanilla oolong! It kind of reminds me of Harney & Sons Vanilla Comoro in that I’m getting cubes of vanilla caramel from this.

Very creamy and sweet. I’m being ultra bad and going by memory, but I didn’t note any prevalent oolong base notes. Mostly creamy vanilla.

It’s ALLIIIIIIVVEEEE!!! By “it” I mean “me” and by “alive” I mean “still existing in this realm”.
I’m still completely turned off by most of my flavoured teas, but this one is so lovely and delicately flavoured, that’s why it’s one of my faves. I had some for breakfast here at work.

That would be right after I dropped a raw egg on the carpet in front of my cubicle…. I’ve gotta be the only person in history to have done that, seriously!! Smashed an egg not only at work, but on the carpet. Good thing it was Berber, haha.

Tea was totally good. Would you believe I went all weekend without any tea?? I find all I want now is Earl Grey (or cream of earl grey) – must be the Captain Picard in me.

I’m going to try and have another cup tonight, of tea in general I mean.

I still have so many new ones I haven’t even tried!! Sadness.

Because my grandmother is a real sweetheart, she took me to Davids today and bought me this as a cup to go as well as 3 teas that I found at this particular location that I thought were discontinued.

I thought, maybe since this was made for me in the store, it might be better tasting this time around?

The final verdict? I actually liked it better when I had made it at home. Despite the amount of leaf they used, it had barely any flavour. Or heck, even creaminess. Like hot water with a faint vanilla afterthought. At least the first time I had this, it was creamy!

Couldn’t even bother to resteep this. I ended up ditching it for a Tim Hortons coffee. So disappointing. :( Rating lowered.