Solstice Tea Traders

The last tin! And it’s actually really pleasant. It’s a lemon herbal tea, and not one paired with ginger, which I don’t see very often. It has a pretty clean taste, and the lemon is nicely tangy but not abrasive due to the sweet blackberry leaf and apple. I’m enjoying it coldbrewed; we are in the middle of a pretty awful heat wave here, and it’s very refreshing.

The penultimate mini tin of the “ultimate tea sampler” from Solstice Tea Traders. I figured it would taste pretty much identical to the “Red Fruit Cocktail” hibiscus fruit tea sampler, since often hibiscus fruit teas just sort of taste all the same (I mean, I love them, but they do tend to be pretty samey to me). This one actually does taste quite a bit different, though. “Red Fruit Cocktail” was a strong hibi tea, with a thick syrupy mouthfeel and a strong red berry/fruit punch flavor. This tea isn’t as strong on the hibi notes, leaving it a bit more thin in mouthfeel and not as tart (personally I prefer my hibi strong because I like that thick and syrupy feel and the tartness, but I imagine this would be more approachable to others). The apple in the blend is also a pretty strong flavor and adds a lot more sweetness. The rhubarb flavoring is pretty nice, and does leave a little tartness in the aftertaste. I personally prefer the “Red Fruit Cocktail” of the two hibi fruit blends because I like the added oomph, but this is nice too.

I’m down to the last three mini tins from the “ultimate tea sampler,” two of which are hibiscus fruit teas (which I knew I’d like) and a lemon herbal. This is one of the two hibiscus fruit teas.

There is nothing special about it, it tastes like a hibiscus fruit tea, hibi and a generic fruity berry flavor. I know most people hate these kind of teas, but I love them and gulp them down so fast. The few liters I made from the mini tin did not last me long! This is also one of the few teas from this set I didn’t have to add sweetener to in order to make it palatable.

Almost finished with all the tins from this sampler! This was a very underwhelming chai… I felt like I just didn’t see a lot of the spices in the mini tin? And the flavor is very bland… I can taste the anise, so it has a strong black licorice flavor (I’m one of the few people that actually loves black licorice so this was fine for me) but I really didn’t taste anything else. Occassionally there was sort of a musty cinnamon aftertaste? Maybe age did this one particularly dirty, or the tin just did not get a good distribution of spices in it. It definitely didn’t have a strong enough flavor that I would ever imagine drinking this as a latte. Since all I could taste was the anise, I added some sugar syrup to my iced tea to really boost the black licorice flavor which was pretty pleasant, but judging this as a masala chai, it was really lacking.

Okay, this time I definitely pulled the Earl Grey mini tin from the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler.” My first batch was brewed hot and then chilled in the fridge overnight, and… oof. The natural bergamot flavoring used in this tasted like bug spray smells, and left this really weird and coating aftertaste on my tongue. Yuck. I coldbrewed the next batch which actually helped tame down the flavor a lot… tastes more like a lemony-lime bergamot rather than having that really weird off-taste, though it does still leave a bit of an aftertaste. I don’t think this would be anywhere close to making my Top 10 Earl Greys, but it’s drinkable coldbrewed, like a somewhat fancier lemon water, and pretty thirst-quenching in this awful summer heat.

I think I’m about halfway through the mini tins of the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler.” I was certain the next tin I’d pulled out to drink through was the Earl Grey, so when I started drinking my iced brew of this (steeped hot and chilled overnight in the fridge), I was very confused. I had never had such awful bergamot… there was no citrus at all, and instead I was tasting a sort of coconuty flavor? Only more oily and artificial, like a suntan lotion. I still drank it, and then when I went to make my second batch, noticed I’d actually pulled the Peached Flavored tin, not the Earl Grey! That said, it didn’t taste like peach to me, either. So I added some sugar syrup to the second batch, which helped a lot… I could taste the peach with the added sweetener, though it was still quite artificial and still had a sort of strange aftertaste. I’ve definitely had better peach teas, but with sweetener, it was at least drinkable. Unsweetened, it just tasted like off-coconut. Blech.

My friend received the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler” but isn’t a tea person so he re-gifted it to me. This is the sixth mini tin from the set I’ve pulled out to work through, and the one that interested me the most of the unflavored teas. It’s been my favorite so far, too! It’s very bready in flavor, with a bit of an earthy/nutty note (walnut?) and a bit of a citrusy note on the finish. It was lacking any heavy malt or tannic qualities, but is very smooth and refreshing and doesn’t need additives. Cold brewed, it has a very clean and refreshing flavor, it’s a bit less nutty than prepared warm, but the citrus pops a bit more. I like it!

My friend received the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler” but isn’t a tea person so he re-gifted it to me. This is the fifth mini tin from the set I’ve pulled out to work through. I don’t mind red rooibos, but I admittedly am more of a fan of it as a base for blends rather than straight-up, and I’ve never really cared for red rooibos when cold brewed or iced… but cold brew is what the weather has been calling for lately, so I decided to give it another shot. And… that first sip gave me that medicinal taste I remembered from long ago which turned me off from red rooibos prepared cold. Something about it just really brings it out for me. But… I also found I kinda got used to it? And when adding some of the rose syrup I’m still working through, or a packet of lemon ginger, just to give the tea some other added flavor, it was actually pretty pleasant. Still glad to have this one from the set past me, though.

My friend received the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler” but isn’t a tea person so he re-gifted it to me. This is the fourth mini tin from the set I’ve pulled out to work through. I’m not exactly sure what makes it different from their “Irish Breakfast,” honestly. Standard black tea flavor, though it makes a much better coldbrew base for my rose simple syrup than their Sencha did. It holds up more to the sweetness and the malty notes blend nice with the floral rose for a refreshing iced drink.

My friend received the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler” but isn’t a tea person so he re-gifted it to me. This is the third mini tin from the set I’ve pulled out to work through. I’ve been preparing it coldbrew (my preferred method for green tea) and it’s mild, grassy, and inoffensive, but also a little bland. It’s a nice fresh grassiness and not the taste of mulchy lawn clippings, but there aren’t really any other flavor notes. I made a bunch of rose syrup and have been adding that for a little more oomph.

My friend received the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler” but isn’t a tea person so he re-gifted it to me. This is the second mini tin from the set I’ve pulled out to work through. It’s… black tea. Not really any surprises here…. malty, bready, leafy, cardboardy, without any real defining notes. A bit astringent even with a three minute steep. Meant to be taken with milk and sugar, though that is one of the few ways I haven’t prepared it. It has made a nice coldbrew with my leftover peach syrup, and this morning I’ve added some lemon juice and honey which have provided a little more flavor. A bit underwhelming on its own but an acceptable “base.”

My friend received the Solstice Tea Traders “ultimate tea sampler” but isn’t a tea person so he re-gifted it to me. This was the only tea in the set I don’t like, so I decided to finish it off first, by making my own Moroccan Mint cold brew with it… just 5g of the gunpowder and a single teabag of Twinings peppermint left in a liter of water overnight. Which was fine and didn’t have the tobacco notes I find so unappealing in gunpowder green. Not sure how this would’ve tasted straight up, but as a Moroccan Mint base, it was fine.

Unfortunately I am feeling sick today, counting on a strong cup to keep me motivated. Smoked tea it is, I’m on my second cup.

Threw in 2g of random Oolong with this steeping, it’s predominantly smoke with some light vegetal notes in the background. Mostly, I needed the caffeine hit from this one. It’s not bad, but that’s just a sentiment of having better tea in my stash.

Brewed strong for breakfast, good wake-me-up cuppa!

This was made “grandpa style” as a test. Over leafed but very tasty.

Back into this blend for an afternoon pick me up.

Leaving some notes to see how bumping quantities by a gram and lowering my steep times, gongfu, changes the profile on this one.

- Overall, smoother and bolder. This quantity starting with 20sec and working +5 sec through infusions is working well.

Caffeine good, tea ok. Holds up to 3-4 good infusions.

1st Infusion: 30 seconds
Peat smoke, mixed black teas, a delightful persisting syrup scent that makes the tea feel sweeter. Though it is not sweet, more tannic but still smooth.

2nd Infusion: 45-55 seconds
Much sweeter, still peaty and syrupy with a nice mouthfeel. It has been a while since I started drinking this tea in this session and the caffeine hit is pretty nice.

3rd Infusion: 75 seconds
Getting a bit mild, I’ll stretch one more infusion to see how the leaves hold up. Still a pleasant tea. Shared this round and my coworker commented on how smoky it smelled/tasted.

4th Infusion: 120 seconds
Stretching out the steep time brought some more flavor back in, but it’s still pretty one dimensional. The clarity of the water is enhanced, but that just means the leaves have fallen off. I wouldn’t have gone more than 4 infusions on this one.

My rating is accurate based on my scale.