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Picked this up instore during a trip to Nashville. I’m feeling uncertain about this tea. It smells lovely and has puerh in it, which is fun for a blend. I smell a mixture of almond, honey and vanilla. The flavor is a little lighter than I’d like and isn’t as exciting as I had hoped. I’ll have to play around with steeping parameters to try to get a more satisfying cup out of it.

Sipdown! I ordered from this company for the first time this summer and this has been my favorite blend from that order. It’s well balanced, yet dark, broody and comforting. The chocolate flavors go well with the puerh base and the cherry makes it more complex. It reminds me of Lupicia’s Chocolate Strawberry Puer, but not as bright. I think it’s too close of a match to that other one to win a permanent spot in my cupboard, but I’d never turn down another cup of it.

First time ordering from this company. They had a cinnamon almond tea that I was hoping to be a match to an old favorite and I picked up a couple other blends because why not! The website is White Pines Estate, but the tea is labeled as Ellen’s Tea House. I think the Estate is a bed and breakfast and Ellen’s is the tea service and retailer attached to the B&B.

The flavors in this aren’t as rich and pronounced as I prefer, but the balance of the flavors is great. The pu base is nice and earthy which compliments the chocolate notes and the brighter flavored peppermint fills in the top notes. It works really well to where no flavor is overpowering the other. They all kind of merge into one. As it cools I enjoy the cup a little more. So far I’m pretty happy with this pick!

I hadn’t read the description of this tea in a while, was trying to pick out sakura under the smokiness and wasn’t quite getting it. Rereading it and seeing that it’s smoked with Japanese cherry wood makes more sense. The smoke is VERY present, but doesn’t seem as overwhelming as smoke in a Lapsang. It has an almost sweet quality to it with a hint of maltiness in there as it cools. I don’t know that I quite get the evoking of liquorice, but I can see how the finish might be described as incense like. The instructions said to steep it for 4 minutes, but I’m glad I started with 2 because this turned out to be a very nice cup.

Aaaaaand it’s gone! I drank my last cup of this today. It was nice while it lasted. Never really got the whole salted part, but it was a tasty caramel with some milk. I enjoyed it, but don’t feel the need to reorder.

Really wanted to like this one and was really looking forward to having it. I tried it hot several times and now I’m trying it iced. Still not that great. It tastes really artificial, the end of the sip has a flat cardboard taste and the finish keeps me wavering between thinking I like it for a second and sure that I don’t. I’m pretty sure that I don’t.

I’m a HUGE fan of artificial banana flavor. The crunchy Now and Laters in high school are what got me hooked. Or maybe it was the banana Runts in grade school. The origin is debatable, but my love is in full force. This tastes like bananas for sure, but not artificial banana flavor which is based off one variety of banana, so maybe this is some other variety of banana. Either way, this tastes good. I made it with oat milk, honey and some ice and it has more of a nutty banana bread flavor. I ordered it in 3 Leaf’s hojicha variety pack that also came with chocolate and cinnamon. Chocolate cinnamon banana sounds like a winning combo as well and something I am likely to try next. The flavor possibilities are endless!

I’m not sure what is up with this cup, but it’s hugely disappointing. I just washed my travel mug that I’m drinking out of, so maybe I didn’t wash all the soap out? It’s just really bland and there is very little flavor to it. Did I let the tea get too old… casualty of tea hoarding? I need a cup of something else and I’m going to rinse the hell out of my cup white I let the next tea steep.

Getting close to the bottom of this bag. I’ve noticed it doesn’t steep as well a second time, which has helped me go through this bag a little more quickly. It has grown on me, but not quite enough to reorder. I’ve enjoyed it and prefer it with a little creamer, but I don’t think I’ll miss it terrible when it is gone. I still don’t quite get the salt part unless it’s just that it isn’t a sweet caramel flavor. Maybe the salt will all be in the last serving. shrug

Had two steepings of this sample that came with my order. It was good. There was a slight medicinal quality to it, but the berg and lavender were solid with a descent amount of flavor. I’d drink another cup, but I wouldn’t order it. Zhi Tea’s Violet Femme holds the space in my heart and cupboard for lavender EGs.