Orange & Cream

it’s January 31. My goal at the end of December was to get to 150 by the end of this month. I was also trying to stick to a budget of 50$. I am currently sitting at 172 teas, having spent basically 175$.

I think for February, i’m going to aim for 150 again, and though i’ve budgeted 50$, i suspect my spending will be closer to 100$.

I’m off to the Toronto Tea Festival tomorrow, so there will be more added to my stash, but it’ll hopefully just be smaller sizes. Tonight, I’ve emptied my entire cupboard, puerh and all on to the dining room table so that i can reorganise my cupboard when i get home tomorrow. it’s much smaller looking than it was a year ago, so i can live with that. :)

My swap from Kittena came in! Thanks!

And this was worth the wait – it’s like an orange version of lime chiffon, i.e. amazing.

Terri’s swap came in too, so now I’m up to 158. OMG. That’s a complete record for me. Yikes. Well, at least I only have 2-3 more swaps coming in? /0\

Based on the success of my Lime Chiffon cold-brew, I had high hopes for this one. Very, very high hopes. And, I hadn’t even tried it warm yet.

This tea, if anything, exceeded those high hopes. Daayyyyummm this is delicious! This pretty much tastes exactly like Lime Chiffon, with orange replacing the lime flavour. It tasted a bit like orange creamsicle to me on a few sips as well. This is by far the best orange/cream rooibos I’ve tried. And this cold-brew is to die for.

Anyhow, I’ve been attempting to sleep for the last few hours without success (what’s going on, body?!) so perhaps I’ll go transplant my tomato plants instead. Or at least go buy a few more pots for them…

Holy Crap!

I’m attacking the traveling tea box (the Here’s Hoping Teabox on Steepster). This is tea number 5 for me today, but actually tea number 9 as my roommate has been attacking the box too and I’m trying what he’s trying. So, I had 3 oolongs and a black, with a handful of blacks and mate in me. I’ll probably blog about the whole experience sometime soon.

More impressively it’s only 2pm and I’ve decided to switch to decaf cuz I’m feeling hella wired!

Orange & Cream – Hmmm, it’s a decent red rooibos and I’m not a red rooibos type. It peaks out more than other Della Terra rooibos. The candy sweet orange flavoring is just like the Orange Brulee, but with creamyness from say Lemon Chiffon. Not bad, though I prefer the lemon or lime flavoring more as personal taste. Tea blend wise, pretty good – candy orange with a peak of red woodsy shavings with a delightful creamyness end of sip.

Now if you excuse me, Owly and I are going to hike up my office wall.
http://oolongowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Traveling-Tea-box-with-Oolong-Owl-14.jpg

Yesterday was a heavy drinking session with my brother in laws which has left me misty headed today. Luckily they have all gone to London for the night to watch the Championship play-off finals (football/soccer) so it means I can recover in my own time and just relax in peace and quiet for the day. It’s 1:34pm and I have only just got myself a pot of tea, until now I just couldn’t stomach any. In desperation for something vanilla or cream I found this tea from my Black Friday hoard and grabbed the pouch as if it was made of gold. Orange & cream may not be the nicest tea ever but when you want something light, sweet and creamy it tastes pretty darn good.

Another success for Della Terra – a rooibos tea that doesn’t taste like medicine!

I like that the flavor of this one is a bit softer than the Lemon or Lime Chiffon teas. The cream is very nice, and the orange flavor is sweet and tart and very good. I am looking forward to a second infusion, because I generally prefer the second steep of rooibos teas. So far, this one is a winner.

EDIT: This is delicious as it cools. Gah.

EDIT AGAIN: And the second infusion is delightful. So glad I tried this one. Thank you, Della Terra, for making such great caffeine-free options.

From the HHTTB
My son Drew made a pot of this & I drank a small cup. I think I sampled this before from the first swap I had with Sil. It’s not bad, though not something I’d keep around.

Just got a new Della Terra order in! Yay! I just couldn’t resist their Earth Day sale – who doesn’t love a free sample, and a generous one at that?

So this is the sample that Della Terra thoughtfully picked out to send with my order. The decision might have been influenced by the fact that I ordered a sampler including lemon chiffon, lime chiffon, lemon lime cream tart, and strawberries & cream :) I hereby officially declare my love for Della Terra’s cream flavoring (anyone know for sure whether it’s vegetarian/vegan?).

The dry leaves of this tea smell exactly like the lemon chiffon, only orange-y. Absolutely lovely. Brewed, the tea smells like a creamsicle. At first, it tasted very creamy and the orange was barely coming through. As the tea cools, the orange really pops out and it tastes like orange ice cream! I don’t have much analysis – this really is just a lovely evening tea if you’re in the mood for something creamy, sweet, and less tart than the lemon or lime chiffons. Yum.

Previously my evening dessert teas of choice were anything cake or cookie-flavored (ok, I still love those) and the thought of citrus tea didn’t exactly get my taste buds excited. But Della Terra has changed the game! First with their awesome Lemon Chiffon and now with this one, which is basically its orange equivalent. If it wasn’t for the surprise sample from Kaylee, I may never have tried this.

It’s sweet, creamy and delicious, with the rooibos taking a backseat. I think I prefer the lemon slightly, but I would buy a smaller amount of this for a change. And now that lemon and orange have been conquered, it’s time to try their lime blends!

After several good Della Terra samples in a row, I was about due for one that didn’t impress. This one was kind of blah to me. The orange flavor was there, but it didn’t shout creamsicle. Besides that, I think that orange with rooibos isn’t a good pairing for me.

Long long ago, when I was a little girl and found no milk for my cereal, I used orange juice. I have a vague memory that the idea was not all my own, but prompted by my father who had interesting ideas about being tough and building character (incidentally, he’s softened up a lot since then. . lucky for my youngest siblings, lol). Well anyway, this tea gave me a slight flavor flashback to that experience.

I finished my cup without complaint, but that’ll about do it for me and this tea.