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This is truly an enjoyable summer tea! It smells sweet when dry, with that crisp sencha scent.

Once brewed, it doesn’t taste as sweet, but maintains the delicious aroma, which is great because it’s simply outstanding. I’m not overly fond of sweet tasting teas, so it works for that. My one issue with this tea, however, is the name. Honeydew. I detest honeydew. If I hadn’t tried this one without knowing the name first, I may never have given it a chance. It does not taste like honeydew to me, but rather watermelon. Honeydew has a thicker sweetness to it, and this is more the bright, clean taste of watermelon… in a tea.

Frank had me at Butterbeer. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and have been curious about what it might taste like. There are a multitude of different recipes for Butterbeer, but add in the tea and I’m there. I didn’t even flinch when I saw licorice (well, maybe just a nanosecond), and the ingredients quite possibly could have included dirt and I think I still would have tried it. In the end, it’s here, it’s ready and I’m drinking it.

The dry scent is interesting. It has a sharp feel to it that is rounded out by the sweetness of the root beer scent. It reminds me of a spicy rootbeer, with something… foresty.

I went a bit light on the steep time and I can taste it. Next time, I’ll make it stronger. It has an interesting flavor. Hearty, but something else, too. It’s almost slightly acidic, but not tart. I definitely taste the chicory, which I love and think is perfect for this hearty cup. Licorice is there, too, but it’s not offensive. More like anise-laced and very light. It’s not sweet at all, which I thought it would be with all of the root beer scent in the packet.

A bit of the way through my cup, I added German rock sugar to it. Now, it’s sweet. And buttery. I can smell the butter just before I sip it. It’s also cooling and I can taste the chicory a bit less. This tea is quite complex and, dare I say, magical? Yes, magical. It’s hard to pinpoint the different flavors as they blend so well together. All in all, it’s a very different cup of tea.

Pucker up because A. C. Perch’s Black Currant black is a tart tea! (Perfect for February with Valentine’s Day up and coming.) :)

Thank you, Angrboda, for this lovely sample!

The scent of the dry tea promises bountiful berry flavor and it has a bit of the sharp tartness of the cup as well. Almost like Kool Aid in the packet before the sugar has been added.

Once steeped, the black currant flavor is evident, even before it touches the lips. It’s very heavily scented. The berry is quite tart, almost raspberry-like in flavor, but with a bit more depth to it. It resonates on the tongue after the sip is gone. There is a sense of creaminess in the flavor, but it’s not enough to offset the tartness. So, as conflicted as I was about my choice, I added some German rock sugar. It toned down the berry, most certainly, but it also changed my sense of the tea actually being a berry tea, and created more of a kids’ drink feel. I think I preferred it plain, tart and all. It’s a fun tea, but more of an afternoon drink than morning. My mouth just wasn’t quite ready!

Thanks again, Angrboda!

Thank you, Angrboda, for this lovely tea from our swap so many months ago… I finally had the chance to sit and enjoy it this afternoon.

This tea smells gently of strawberry hard candy, with a slight scent of leaves, presumably from the green tea. I didn’t want to risk bitterness as I only had a small sample, so I steeped it lightly, and it turns out that it was the right approach for me.

Together with the orange, the strawberry actually presents more as a gentle, non-acidic pineapple flavor. It’s sweet, yet not overly so. The green is a great choice for countering the sweetness. Other than that, the green tea is unremarkable, but it doesn’t need to be anything more than a crisp base for delivering a pleasantly sweet afternoon tea.

Thank you again, Angrboda! :)

The tea is packaged as shown in the photo. Very cute little packets that are shaped into the form of a small nest. The dry tea smells like straw. It isn’t, however, offensive and barn-like as some other pu erhs tend to be.

I rinsed for a few seconds prior to steeping and was surprised by the amount of small pieces of tea that were washed away. After a relatively short steep, this tea does indeed smell like buttered popcorn. The taste is somewhat different. It’s somewhat earthy, yet with a little kick to it. I don’t think I would consider it a spearmint flavor as the description mentions, but there’s something wildly unmatched to the scent coming out. It’s as if the tea peaks mid sip then lingers a bit on the tongue.

I resteeped this twice. The second steep was too strong. I let it stay in the water for 45 seconds and the liquor was dark brown and a bit straw like in flavor. I didn’t care too much for it. The third steep produced a much more muted flavor. With the overwhelming scent diminished, the flavor is easier to detect. It is earthy, but not in a musty, dirty way as with other pu erhs. Instead, it was pretty good, all things considered.

I love everything about this tea. So much so, that before I came here to write this review, I went online at Harney & Sons and purchased some more as I only had a sample.

The scent of this tea when dry reminds me so much of autumn leaves when first dropped from the trees. It’s almost a toasted scent, but not quite.

I have been having temperature issues with the Breville and discovered that it’s best to choose a lower temperature. My water boils in it at 195. Really boils.

At any rate, I steeped this one for three minutes. It’s still a lightish color. The scent is really something special. It’s like a fruity, floral aroma all wrapped up into one delicate punch. The taste is stellar. I can taste a fruitiness as in apricots, without the syrupy sweetness. Just a light, fruity addition. The floral notes are also lighter in flavor, more like lily or gardenia or cherry blossom, without being cherry. It’s difficult to pinpoint, but it is a delicate flavor, not heavier like rose that demands your senses’ attention. This is more like flirting and teasing. Each sip leaves me wanting more. The toastiness in the scent, it’s like a whisper in the taste. This is an oolong for me. Smooth, sweet, floral, divine.

It has been a while since I’ve had time to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Thank goodness for a busy Saturday agenda. We’re participating in a charity walk for juvenile diabetes today. I decided enough was enough and I put an end to my tea hiatus.

Thankfully.

This tea is such a lovely reminder of how much I need it. The tea in the package smells fresh and almost grasslike, which surprised me for a black. I decided to go with a lower temperature for steeping and treated it more like an oolong. The result is a delicious cup of tea. The black is malty, most certainly, and almost tastes of roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s slightly vegetal, but surprisingly full of flavor. The tea is smooth, without any astringency or bitterness. This is the perfect cup of tea for those who dislike the bite that many black teas bring with them. I daresay that this will find a way into my permanent stash.

I saw Frank offer this one and immediately jumped to buy it. Everything about it screamed my name. One of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever made was a pumpkin cheesecake and the memories came flooding back. I couldn’t wait. Finally, it arrived and I made it the following morning, but I’m left a bit puzzled on several different levels.

First, the scent is slightly spicy. I’m thinking warm pumpkin pie. It’s definitely that nutmeg, slightly cinnamon promise of autumn’s enduring flavors. The addition of the marigold petals is perfect. It adds that touch of color that embodies the season. Aesthetically, it’s a pleasing tea, too.

After steeping, I’m still mentally tasting the spices and my mind is still anticipating pumpkin… until I take a sip and I’m not tasting pumpkin. Or cheesecake. Yet, as disappointing as this is, the actual flavor of the tea is not. It is warm and spicy in a perfect autumnal fashion. The tea is not bitter, but is instead a nice, mellow black that carries the flavor without casting its influence over it. I think the issue I have is the name. Maybe Autumn Spice would have been a better choice for what it actually is. Even though the pumpkin is missing, I’ve been drinking this each day since it arrived in my mailbox. It’s really a nice tea for the morning.

This morning’s tea is a very random choice from the sample basket. I wasn’t certain quite what I was searching for, and fortune brought me to this one.

The scent in the package is fresh, clean and vibrant. It seems to promise a crisp cup and so I’m aiming to find out.

I steeped slightly lighter, first at one minute, then sampled. It’s vegetal, but light. Still it’s a solid cup at two minutes less than the recommended time. The promise of the scent delivers and I’m enjoying every sip.

Still, I decided to try it at a longer steep time, so I put the remaining tea back in for another minute.

The flavor is still very developed. It is full and vegetal, very like artichokes. The scent has a sweetness to it that doesn’t really translate to the taste, but no matter, it’s still very enjoyable. I think I prefer this at the shorter steeping time. There’s a touch of bitterness at the end that lingers, but it’s not overwhelming.