Violin in C Sharp

 Owl's Brew is a company that I'm familiar with because I've been using their tea mixers for years now.  Hard Ginger Beer mixed with Owl's Brew The Classic cocktail mixer has been a favorite drink of mine for quite a while now.  As such, I was quite eager to taste their take on a hard tea seltzer.  So, I bought myself a variety pack of Owl's Brew seltzers at Trader Joe's.  Before I had gotten around to trying any of them, Sean brought THIS flavour home for me to try. I was hoping for an autumnal cranberry blast of flavour with a tea aftertaste, but that's not what I got.  This is more seltzer than tea on the palate and the cranberry isn't all that strong on the top or mid notes.  Actually, I didn't taste the cranberry at all in the top note, and it was weak in the midnote.  On the finish is where the cranberry really takes center stage.  The spices from the chai, however, are present in both the top and mid notes.  The tea part of the ch...

 This is the second flavor in the Jiant three flavor variety pack that I found at Trader Joe's. The tea flavor in this one is lighter than the tea flavor in the first flavor I tried - which was made with black tea.  This flavor is based on Oolong tea, and I think that's why there's less tea flavor.  The mango and lime come through SO nice.  Honestly, it tastes like a mango cider with lime - and I'm HERE for that. This is a great alternative for an apple or pear cider for those nights when both apple and pear have too much sweetness for my palate.  Even though this isn't as sweet as either of those, there isn't any bitterness that often accompanies a cider type drink with a drop in the sweetness level.  It's just all mango and lime with the tiniest touch of oolon on the end note. Final though: I WILL be getting this one again.  It's delicious.

 This was in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's, and well, I love me a good chai.  Loving a good chai means that I am eternally on the hunt for good chai blends, which means I pretty much have to try nearly every chai that I come across because you never know when it is that you're going to find THE chai blend that is perfect for YOUR palate.  As such, I picked this up for a taste test. Now, the large print advertises this as a chai - but if you keep reading the bottle, the smaller print bills this as a protein smoothie, and honestly that's far more accurate.  "Protein smoothie with chai tea, almond, coconut cream, and an exotic spice blend" is how the entire label reads.  Texture wise, this is DEFINITLY a protein smoothie.  It's thick in that nearly melted milk shake sort of way, and it has a coarseness to the texture that utterly betrays the presence of the chopped up almonds.  There is also the not quite dissolved powder sensation that you get...

 A week or so ago, I was in the Trader Joe's beer and wine section when I saw a variety pack of what is being marketed as "hard tea".  I was, needless to say, intrigued. So I bought myself a few packs with different flavors, and this is the first of them.  Raspberry Mint.  Honestly, I was afraid when I popped this open that it was going to smell like kombucha.  I have yet to smell a kombucha that doesn't remind me of dirty socks - and I can't stand the taste of any of them either. So, it was with great delight that when I sniffed this as I poured it into a glass, that it smelled nothing of kombucha!  If anything, it smells slightly like beer or maybe cider would be a better correlation on the aroma profile.  What I didn't smell was the mint - which was a surprise. Also a surprise was the color.  I just wasn't expecting such a pinkish berry color!  Keemun is a pretty dark black tea the way that I brew it, so I was honestly expecting this to ha...

I have a few friends who swear this stuff is even better than sliced bread - and of all the powdered chai latte mixes that I've tried, this IS the best of them. The powder dissolves enough that you don't get the grainy powder feel in the tea as you're drinking though, it does need to be stirred constantly as you drink or there will be gloop in the bottom of your cup when done - and even with stirring, it can sometimes be im possible to avoid the gloop. The spicing is soooo nice on this. They put enough spice in this that you can taste it even through the creamy aspect of the latte. As far as storage goes, with other brands of powder if I don't use them up quickly enough, or if I store them someplace where it gets to hot or cold the entire package becomes one giant lump of hardened powder that isn't salvageable. Such is not the case with the TJ version. Over time or with extreme temperature changes it can seize up and turn somewhat brickish in the container, but it...