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One look tells me that there’s hibiscus in this tea – nothing else would turn the water such a vivid red colour. The tisane seems to be a mix of hibiscus, rosehips, apple(?) bits and lavander with a few pieces of orange peel thrown in so I’m not sure how this is supposed to be a ‘Citrus’ anything!

And it basically tastes like hibiscus and lavander – I might drink this if I had a cold (and my tastebuds were dulled) but it’s not to my tastes at all, being very tart and pungent. Maybe I’ll give this another shot with a reduced steeping time, but so far I’m not impressed.

I’m trying out my new matcha chawan that I got in vancouver during Boxing Week. It was on sale for only $10 at a nice Japanese ceramics place in Kitsilano – I was pretty proud of that find. I noticed that it seems to keep the matcha warmer for longer than the old bowl I was using before did – I’m happy I don’t have to chug my tea so quickly any more. ;)

I went with 1 tsp in 3/4 cup (6 oz) of water this time and I noticed that the strawberry flavour was noticably stronger although it’s still sort of a slightly bitter/un-ripe strawberry flavour rather than the sweet, ripe flavour the smell suggests. I’ve also noticed that using this much matcha gives the tea a distinct powdery taste that I don’t particularly care for.

First of all, thank you to Dinosara for giving me this tea and others to sample.

The tea came in little ‘single-serving’pouches which I found to my annoyance aren’t really ‘single’ servings at all – there’e easily enough for two cups of tea in each little pouch and using the whole thing would have made the tea far too strong. It’s certainly not a whole leaf tea – most of it is in the form of ‘tea dust’ the type you’d find in a regular teabag. So far I’m not too impressed.

Taste-wise it’s a pretty generic English breakfast-type tea. It’s too bitter and astringent to take without milk, but with milk it’s decent enough. It’s nothing special to be honest, and there’s not really anything that would make me choose this tea over something cheaper like Red Rose.

I should have read the other comments about steeping this tea because the recommended 3-4 min at boiling temp give this tea a nasty astringent taste. Maybe the fact it was likened to a green tea should also have clued me in. Bleh.

I re-steeped at 80C for 2 min and that turned out better – apparently the leaves weren’t totally ruined. This cup was surprisingly sweet and a bit floral with an earthy undertone. It’s not a tea I’d immediately be able to identify as a pu’erh if I were to, say, drink it blindfolded, but then my experience with this type of tea isn’t really that great (working on it though!). I would’ve liked to try this tea again from the start with the reduced steeping temp, but unfortunately I only bought one nest, so that’s it I’m afraid. *sad face *

I think I got this one from TeaEqualsBliss – it’s another one of those teas that I dug out of the depths of my Cupboard while I was reorganizing that I hadn’t realized I had. It certainly smells intriguing to me – very citrusy and I can also smell the guava surprisingly enough – and it is guava not ‘genericsmell’.

I expected the tea to be much hotter and peppery than it really was – there’s a bit of a bite, but not much heat. It tastes more fruity than anything else, which actually works quite reall with the red rooibos base. Oddly the flavour mutates into something rich and creamy-tasting at the end of each sip. I’ve not quite sure what could be causing it. *shrugs *

When I looked into the canister I could immediately see two distinct types of tea leaves in there. One type was a mix of black and gold and made into thin, rather curly twists, while the other leaves were much larger and more loosely twisted and a uniform black colour. I assumed that these were the Yunnan and Wuyi black tea leaves repsectively; I’ve tried various Yunnans before but I’ve never tried a Wuyi black, just their oolongs.

The tea’s scent in an interesting mixture of smokey and delicate, slightly floral notes. It’s flavour is surprisingly mild as well – I was expecting some more robust and Yunnan-like in character and while the tea does have some of those smokey-tannic notes is much milder and smoother. There’s also an interesting fruity aftertaste that reminds me a bit of a particular Wuyi Yancha oolong that I’ve tried (from H&S, not Adagio). This is a really unique black tea, I’ve got to say.

Thanks for sending me some of your stash, Batrachoid, I’m glad I got to try this one.

It’s an interesting-looking green, loosely rolled a bit like a gun-powder-style tea although the similarlity to those types of teas ends there, really. The leaves almost resemble an oolong’s as they unfold in the water – green mottled with bits of reddish-brown. It’s a rather full-bodied tea (for a green) with a nutty, slightly savory, slightly sweet flavour that dosen’t overpower the palate and leaves a hint of smoke and tannin in the aftertaste.

I got this as an extra from David’s Tea when they mixed up something in my order. I probably wouldn’t have chosen this particular tea as I’m not hugely fond of walnuts – they irritate my mouth. But it turns out I didn’t have anything to worry about with this tea.

First of all the smell – oh the smell! – like sugar cookies that were straight out of the oven. Adding the water made the tea smell distinctly more nutty, more like a even combination of sugar cookies and toasted nuts.

The walnut flavour wasn’t nearly as strong as it could have been, which I’m perfect fine with, BTW. To be honest it’s more of a general nutty flavour that doesn’t really fit any particular type of nut. I can taste notes of coconut and almond in there as well as the walnut and there’s also a bit of sweet fruitness that comes from the pineapple.

Teaopia is a franchise that’s become increasingly popular in Canada over the past year or two. They still haven’t opened a store in my city unfortunately, but there’s several stores in places I often visit on vacation, so I’m not entirely bereft. ;)

This tea smell absolutely delectable – when I smelled it at the store I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist it – it’s sweet and creamy like a creme brulee with a touch of almonds added to it. Interestingly when I added the water it found I could really smell the apple pieces as well.

It’s also quite a delicious-tasting tea – sweet, though not too sweet and caramel-y the nuttiness is surprisingly strong and there’s just a hint of fruitiness. I think I’d steep it a touch longer than 1 min next time, but other than that this tea is a really enjoyable treat.