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Another Heavenly Sale purchase.

My 2oz bag is full of roses. Not a hint, it’s a bag of roses with a few almonds and some tea thrown in. The scent of roses knocks you off of your feet when you open the bag.

I ordered this because a lot of the reviews hinted at a baked goods taste. I didn’t get that without sugar and milk. I’ll be honest, I have a little trouble with heavily floral teas. Without the milk, this was like drinking potpourri. With the milk, I was able to pull out the cookie flavor that everyone else seemed to get, but rose was still at the forefront. (This may be due to the extra petals, or it may just be me…not sure.)

All in all, I liked it, but I don’t see myself reaching for it often. This bag will probably wind up being blended into a Valentine’s Day tea or two.

I would love to try this one at another time, when it’s blended properly.

Edited to add: Just tried to re-steep this. It went from a very strong, almost overwhelming tea to nothing at all. Weird.

The scent in the packet is wonderful, sweet and grassy. That scent is also present in the cup.

I am terrible at describing greens, honestly. I’ll do my best at writing down some thoughts, but you might want to read reviews from someone else, someone who can pick out distinct flavors, maybe?

I feel this is a bold tea, slightly sweet, but not as sweet as some of the spring senchas that I’ve purchased from Den’s. Grassy and fresh. Vegetal.

That’s about the best I can do. I loved this sample. I want to mention how generous Den’s is with their samples. I have more than enough for several cups of tea in this little packet, which I am thrilled about.

I have yet to have a tea from Den’s that didn’t make me stop and think about it. Pause a bit. I’ve enjoyed every tea from them in a different way. I have a fondness for them, as they were the ones who taught me to love green tea. :)

A little artificial, but honestly, I haven’t had banana flavoured anything that didn’t taste that way.

That said, this is my second favorite RoT “Cuppa Chocolate” tea. Very tasty, and really hits the spot when I want something sweet. I add milk and sugar…YUM.

I use two teabags with this, because it can be a little weak. (Although, I add two teabags to just about everything, so YMMV.) I also let this steep for an unusually long time, that is, if I don’t just leave the bag in there out of laziness. ;)

Oh, and I also love that I can have this tea at night, which is when I usually want to curl up with a dessert tea. I usually have to avoid my other teas because I’d be wide awake at bedtime.

Received this as a sample with my Heavenly Sale order. The little card said to dump the entire 1oz sample into a PerfectTea Maker. I don’t have one of those.

The last sample I got from them was so strong that I was able to use just a teaspoon for an 8oz cup. Figuring this would be a similar case, I used two teaspoons for my large penguin mug. No milk, no sugar. This resulted in a weak tea that was full of cinnamon flavor, with a bite of spice at the end.

I realized just now it says 1oz tea to 16oz of water. That’s a LOT of tea. While I like this, I don’t see myself shelling out that kind of money for a cup of tea. I couldn’t even do that for my favorite teas, and this wouldn’t be one of them. I realize that half of this sample pouch is full of sugar, but still.

Btw, Teavana, can I get a sample that is not sugared someday? I mean, I REALLY appreciate the free tea, but coming from a family of diabetics, I try to watch how much sugar I take in. Your samples do not allow me to try your teas unsweetened, or with honey, ect. Marketing something as “Healthy!!! OMG!!!” and then dumping a whole bunch of rock sugar into it is silly. This one was REALLY sweet. I honestly think I would have liked it better if I could have added my own sugar, or had it plain.

Peppermint is the strongest flavor here. The ginger is in the background. I think I feel it more than I taste it, it adds a nice warmth to the tea. I really enjoyed this one.

I didn’t add sugar, tempted to try it with a little, but I think it is just fine without.

Tried this last night. As in, I tried to get this to work. It never opened up, and the tea itself was lacking. It wasn’t fragrant OR sweet. It wasn’t bitter, though…it just wasn’t anything. So odd.

I wound up leaving the little bulb in water for the entirety of my Law and Order: SVU marathon, and had something else. STILL didn’t open up, so I smashed it open with a spoon. Would have been pretty, if it had worked, lol. Gave the tea to my plant. At least something got to drink it.

I adore this tea.

Do yourself a favor, though, and buy the loose version of this if given a choice. The bagged version is flat. When I first bought this, I found it in a tiny tin, loose. The flavor was WONDERFUL. Vanilla, nutty, just the right start to an early morning. (I am NOT a morning person.)

When I couldn’t find that version, I purchased the bagged version from the same store. It just doesn’t have the same dimension. I feel like I am drinking it just to finish up the tin now, and I don’t like to do that. :(

Try their Vanilla Almond if you want something vanilla, nutty, and bagged.

MUCH better with a spoonful of honey! Two teabags in my giant penguin mug, which I THINK is a 16oz mug. Steeped for about eight minutes. Still spicy, but much less so. A nice cup after eating way too many snacks on New Year’s Eve. ;)

As far as holiday bagged teas featuring ginger, I prefer Gingersnappish by Bigelow. Next year, I’ll stick to that.

I like Celestial Seasonings holiday teas a lot, but not this one. Well, not as much as the others. I don’t tend to like spice in my tea, though.

I read other reviews before steeping this one, and left the bag in for a good ten minutes. Next time, I’ll steep it less, and see if I can tone down that “OMG! SPICY!” thing that is going on here.It was okaaaayyy without additions, but I thought I’d “fix” it by adding milk and sugar. Um, no. I think I made it worse. (Although, I’d be interested to see what would have happened if I had just added milk, and no sugar.) Oh, and I agree with the other review that says this one smells better than it tastes. I was sooooo excited when I opened the box.

All in all, I wish I had spent my money on hoarding away another box or two of Candy Cane Lane instead of taking a chance on this one when I found them on clearance last night.

This is a beautiful tea.

The first time I tried this, I brewed this by itself. I did not care for it one bit. However, it stayed in my tea cabinet, and I was really drawn to it tonight.

Since I didn’t like the heavy floral notes last time, I decided to blend it with a green (Mother’s Tea by Life in a Teacup, which I also think is quite good.)

I put about four pearls in with a small amount of green, and the result is a vegetal/grassy flavor with a floral finish. I love it.

I wound up having to spend the day breaking up frozen snow, because I didn’t get it shoveled in time due to illness. Although I liked the work, I am now sore all over. This was a wonderful pick after a hot bath, cheered me right back up. I think I’ll finish out the sample packet this way, blending it rather than using it alone.