Inkling Send Message

Another sample from The Cookie Lady! I’ve tried quite a lot from Tazo, but I don’t remember ever seeing this one before. (Maybe it’s discontinued?) Anyway, it’s lovely! I don’t notice the base tea at all, but the apricot flavor is spot-on. The vanilla is more subtle, but it definitely imparts a nice creamy mouth-feel to the blend. This is one of those teas that tastes like you added milk to it even though you didn’t. I would definitely drink this one again!

I haven’t had many flavored puerhs, but I’ve really enjoyed the other ones I’ve tried (RoT’s Coconut Puerh and Lupicia’s Chocolate Strawberry Puerh.) This one was okay, but I think it would have been better with a different base. I didn’t taste the cheesecake element at all, but the strawberry flavor definitely came through along with a hint of tartness that did remind me of rhubarb. However, the earthiness of the base seemed to throw the whole thing off-balance a bit. It was still a good tea, but definitely not the best that I’ve tried from Butiki. Thank you to The Cookie Lady for the sample!

I was so excited to try this Butiki classic, thanks to The Cookie Lady! This is another winner: light and sweet with a lovely buttery vanilla flavor. As an added bonus, the dry leaf is GORGEOUS with lots of fluffy green leaves and colorful flower petals. One more reason to miss Butiki…

I wasn’t too enchanted with this one, since I didn’t discern any chocolate or caramel flavor in my cup…just lots of cinnamon and clove over a mediocre black base. Drinkable, but doesn’t live up to the name.

Another sample from The Cookie Lady! This one reminded me a lot of Piccolo, except with a black tea base instead of rooibos. It has the same jammy fruit flavor mixed with honey. Quite nice (and probably even better with sweetener!) but not something I’ll be running out to buy, as I prefer more of a fresh fruit flavor in my fruity teas.

What a delicious evening treat! I’ve been wanting to try this one for ages and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s rich and buttery and slightly sweet, even with nothing added. The flavor really does remind me of a cookie…hazelnut biscotti maybe? I’m also getting a bit of malt from the base tea and just a hint of astringency, which I’m sure would smooth out if I added some milk. This is definitely one I’ll be ordering at some point in the future. A big THANK YOU to The Cookie Lady for the sample!

The Cookie Lady included a generous sample of this tea in her HUGE swap package last week. I’ve loved the other things I’ve tried from Whispering Pines and I’m a huge Tolkien fan, so I was really excited to sample this one. However, I didn’t love it as much as I was expecting to. It’s certainly a high quality black tea blend with beautiful large twisted leaves and it’s good for multiple re-steeps, but it isn’t my favorite flavor profile for a black tea. I found it to be quite light and fruity with a touch of floral in the aftertaste. I’d certainly drink it again, but I don’t feel like I need this one in my cupboard.

I’ve been on a bit of an earl grey kick this week, so I decided to give this one a try at work. It was pretty much your generic grocery store earl grey: mild black base and weak bergamot flavor. On the plus side, I’m not noticing any bitterness or astringency. This is drinkable, but not something I’d reach for again. I definitely prefer Twinings’ Lady Grey.

I tried this as a tea latte at Starbucks today. It seemed like a pleasant, well-balanced earl grey with a strong (but not overpowering) bergamot flavor and a nice robust black base. Nothing too special, but a good breakfast basic.

I received a sample of this tea with my most recent Republic of Tea catalog and chose it as my caffeine-free bedtime tea last night. Drinking this tea was an odd experience. It brewed up VERY dark…almost like coffee!…and had an extremely potent vanilla scent. However, the actual flavor was like a mild, grassy green tea with a wave of vanilla in the aftertaste. In the end, I found this a pleasant bedtime tea. I would drink it again if it was offered to me, but I won’t be seeking it out to purchase.