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I’m sipping on this right now. It’s been a while since I tried it. In fact, I may have only had this the once, and that was probably on the day it landed through my letterbox. I seem to have accumulated a whole bunch of liquorice based teas since I purchased this one and I think maybe it’s accidentally become overlooked.

But this is really nice. In the packet I get mostly chamomile, with the hint that both liquorice and peppermint are lurking around, just waiting to pounce. Once brewed, the competition is on! There’s a strong aroma of chamomile to begin with… but no, wait, now I can mostly smell liquorice… no, hang on, it’s all peppermint. Seriously, all three ingredients battle for top spot, and it’s no different when I taste it.

I get a hay-like, honey taste from the chamomile, swiftly followed by a sweet tang from the liquorice, and then I’m left with a tingly, mintyness on my tongue. I should definitely drink this more often. Especially in the evenings – the chamomile is certainly relaxing me.

I purchased several Ronnefeldt blends a few months ago from Cup of Tea (who I believe are the only UK based supplier), and quite a few of them have become firm favourites of mine to drink in an evening. This is one of them.

I love the rooibos base Ronnefeldt use. This works perfectly with the vanilla and orange peel. It has a creamy, citrusy taste, with all the ingredients mixing perfectly together. I find this, as with their other rooibos teas, an extremely relaxing cuppa.

Varieteas Box (October) – 7/30

So, I went up to bed before my partner yesterday and forgot to prepare him a cup of tea to bring up when he was ready. I’m really trying to encourage him to drink more tea instead of beer in the evening and I’m forever buzzing around the kitchen telling him he can pick whichever tea he wants!

Well, last night he did! The look of horror on my face when I realised he’d chosen something from my Varieteas box must have been a picture! Cue lots of grumbling about how I only have one each of those samples and want to drink them myself and review them on Steepster. “But you said I could pick any!!” – “Yes… but not THOSE!” Oh dear! Needless to say, I made the poor boy share his mug of Choco with me.

And thank goodness I did! While my partner wasn’t all that impressed with it, I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure I was going to, because as soon as I lifted the mug to my lips, I was hit by a seriously weird savoury aroma. It was almost like Bovril! Though I love Bovril, especially in winter, so it didn’t put me off… just intrigued me. Taste wise, there was nothing savoury like about this tea. It was pure, rich chocolate. In fact, if my partner had not left the teabag in the mug when he brought it up, I would have been certain he’d made a mug of hot chocolate. There was a nice warmth from the spices and a creaminess from the vanilla. This was yummy!

I’m glad I made him share it with me. I’d definitely drink this again! And I think that was probably the last time my dear other half will ever help himself to a cup of tea from my cupboard, haha!

Varieteas Box (October) – 6/30

I’m surprised at how strong this tea tastes, especially from a bag. There’s a really nice lemon curd aroma wafting from the cup, which I wasn’t expecting, with a little ginger-ness that follows.

First sip, and this is really nice. The ginger is more pronounced and it melds with the lemon curd to give it a sweet, cake-like flavour. It reminds me of those slices from Mr. Kipling! If they brought out a gingerbread and lemon curd one, this is how I imagine it would taste.

This is far nicer than I was expecting. To me, lemon and ginger blends are usually somewhere closer to a cold remedy drink, but this doesn’t fall that way at all. It’s far more dessert like, than medicinal.

I’d happily drink this again!

I’ve had a box of these teabags in my cupboard for some time now and I used to drink it on a daily basis. Today I popped a few in my handbag to take with me to the plot, purely for my partner to drink as he can drink this without milk.

He actually left half a mug of it in the shed though, when he got distracted chatting to a fellow plot holder, so I finished it off! This is probably a tea I need to start drinking more of again, because it’s absolutely delicious. Getting away from the fact my OH had poured what tasted like twenty spoonsful of sugar into it, it was still that creamy, vanilla-ness I remembered, with just the right hint of spice and a perfect black base.

For a bagged tea, this is wonderful!

Backlogging a bit, but it’s been such a hectic couple of days. I didn’t even get around to turning my notebook on yesterday! I’ve been keeping notes of the teas I’ve drank on my phone though, so I hope to get them all logged eventually.

So, I was over at my allotment plot this afternoon. Now the nights are drawing in and it’s dark when I leave work, I’m only going to be able to work up there at weekends. I’ve had my allotment plot for two years now, and it’s completely changed my life. Who knew gardening could be so therapeutic? Seriously, the whole procedure of growing something from a tiny seed, nurturing it as a plant and then harvesting it onto your plate… mind blowing! I’ve actually taken on a second plot this week, which will be double the hard work, but also double the space to grow produce. I’d really like to grow plants on the second plot that I can use in tea blends; mostly herbals like chamomile, lavender and mint.

I digress! The tea! So, I brewed this up in my T2 flask to take with me to the plot today. I figured it would be absolutely freezing up there and the name of this tea appealed to me. In the packet, it smells quite peppery, with a blast of cinnamon and ginger.

After an hour of digging, I ventured into my shed and poured myself a mug of this. OH BOY! This for sure did an excellent job of warming me up. Seriously! First sip, I got mostly rooibos and ginger, with a smattering of cinnamon. But the aftertaste. No… the after glow! This is where the tea excels. The bite from the chilli and peppercorns leave a warm, spicy tingle in your mouth and on your lips. It’s amazing! I sat there hugging my mug with a huge smile on my face.

This is definitely something I will repurchase. I already plan to make up several tea sacs of this, which I will leave in my shed. I have a kettle and stove in there and this blend will be perfect to warm me up on the cold, exhausting weekends to come.

So, with all the fireworks going off in the neighbourhood this evening, this tea felt like an apt choice. It was part of my October Tea Club subscription from Bird & Blend and I’ve been saving it until closer to Bonfire Night.

As a rule I don’t usually drink anything caffeinated after seven PM, but… it’s the weekend! Plus, I’ve been over at my allotment plot most of the afternoon, digging and weeding away until it grew dark, and now I’m home, I’m absolutely exhausted! A caffeine boost is definitely needed if I want to refrain from falling asleep on the sofa already!

This smells of apple and cinnamon in the packet. Slightly smoky, but nowhere near as smoky as I was expecting. Taste wise, this does actually manage to nail the toffee part. It has a distinct toffee apple flavour to it, with a hint of smoke. I feel like this could be a lot smokier, but on the other hand perhaps that would overpower the toffee-apple-cinnamon thing going off? This is OK, but to me it’s just a slightly smokier version of a toffee apple tea already in my cupboard… and I much prefer that one!

Can you believe it’s November already? Where has this year gone?! I’m pleased as punch today because I ordered two Christmas presents last night. I am so much a last-minute Christmas shopper, that the fact I’ve ticked two off my list already is filling me with joy! I really want to get all my shopping done this month and enjoy the run up to Christmas for a change. It was all such a rush last year (not helped by moving house at the end of October) and it took a lot of the excitement away. This year, though, I am determined!

Anyway, more tea! I picked Carrot Cake because I haven’t drank this is in a while, and I’m slowly trying to work through my Bird & Blend packets (so I can order more, obviously!) right now. I really, really like this one. It smells absolutely divine! All the comforting, cake-y, delicious aromas I love. I get a gorgeous taste of cake and vanilla, with a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg. I do have to admit that it smells a lot stronger than it tastes. I’ve steeped this for a good ten minutes in the past and still found it tastes weaker than the smell suggests. It’s completely yummy though and a great imitation of carrot cake.

Varieteas Box (October) – 5/30

This was surprisingly good! I don’t know why I always feel that a bagged tea will be disappointing, because I own so many decent (and quite a few fantastic) bagged teas. This, I’d quite possibly put in the almost-fantastic category.

The gunpowder base was perfectly balanced with the spearmint, so that just as I worried I’d over-steeped it, there came a refreshing burst of mint that tingled on my tongue. Every sip was the same. I was sad when I’d finished this, to be honest. It was a light, refreshingly minty and rejuvinating tea and a pleasure to drink.

I much prefer this tea to Chai Black, also from Yumchaa. The black base in this blend is a lot lighter than CB and there’s no pepper in this one, either. Straightaway I taste a lovely mix of orange and cloves. The spiciness is just right. I don’t get any almonds, but the orange peel gives this a lovely fruitiness. I like this one a lot.