Starfevre select Send Message

I’m a little bit disappointed in this tea. Maybe my expectations were too high, given what I thought of the other teas in my order, but I thought this one would be better than it is.

Let me start off with the fact that this is a very pretty tea with a lot going on in the dry leaf with the big what look like freeze dried raspberries and the peppermint pieces. The taste is mostly black tea and mint with the barest taste of chocolate in the sip and I didn’t pick up much raspberry at all save a bit of sweetness in the aftertaste. I really wish those flavours were stronger. Perhaps after the bag has time to sit a little. I’ve heard that Ovation teas need to meld a little to get the best flavour. I’m rating this tea based on today’s pot but I’m open to changing it later, maybe in a few months.

First to log this one I guess. Well I got a pound of this in Ovation’s going out of business sale so this is likely the first of many tasting notes.

The dry tea is very interesting to look at, with large chunks of dried pear in it. The pear flavour is actually more subtle than I expected, given that. I wish it were a bit stronger but it is nice all the same. It is definitely pear though. Not my perfect pear tea yet but perhaps as the tea sits and melds for a while it will be better. I did just get it after all and I have heard that this is the case with many Ovation teas. Maybe a longer steep time next time too.

I got my pound on order of this from Ovation last week and trying it out for the first time now. On my last cup of this pot that I made and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Which is good because I have a pound of tea to get through and I like to switch it up a lot.

This is a very pretty tea to look at and also to smell. Lots of big raspberry pieces as well as raspberry flavouring to this, according to the ingredients. There is a nice bright flavour to it, citrusy from the bergamot and orange peel and also the tanginess of the raspberries. This is a nicely done earl grey and I don’t like a lot of earl greys so I’m glad that I like this one.

Got this in a trade from Alphakitty. Perfect amount for a pot at work to end the day.

The aftertaste on this tea, after I take a sip and put the mug down again, is lovely. Tangy strawberries and rich chocolate lingering on my palate. Unfortunately I don’t like the upfront sip all that much. Even with sweetener and milk it tastes slightly bitter to me. I guess this is one to drink fast for me and then enjoy the aftermath. Perhaps I steeped it badly, this is the first tea I’ve had from this company so I was just making a guess based on where I normally steep black teas. Perhaps 2 minutes would have been better. Or possibly 195F?

Got a pot’s worth of a sample of this from Alphakitty, thanks!

I brewed up a pot earlier this morning and poured myself a mug. Then I got distracted and it went cold. So I warmed it up again. Then I got distracted again and it got cold. At that point I decided to just drink it. So that’s why I’m reviewing this as a room-temperature tea rather than a nice hot one. And I can’t stand ice in my tea so it’s not even iced, just room temperature. Which is about 70F in the office today.

Anyway, adding a bit of milk and sugar to the blend and this tastes pretty great. I get the chocolate, quite a lot of the caramel, and a hint of nuttiness. I’m proud of myself about the nuttiness though because I really really wanted to just eat the hazelnuts out of the dry tea leaves because I love hazelnuts. I may eat them anyway now that this has finished steeping a while ago and with the caramel melted, I won’t go for another steep. I generally don’t for flavoured teas.

I’m glad I got to try this and this is another reason why I’m sad that Ovation has gone out of business. I have 4 lbs of tea from their going out of business sale, but this is not one of them. Oh well, onward and upward!

Got a cup’s worth of this as a sample from Alphakitty when I told her to surprise me for our trade. So far it’s worked out pretty well!

The taste of this is interesting. I’ve never made matcha before so making it at work with a mug and a fork and some hot water is not the ideal circumstances, but I tried to make do. It was green, certainly, and not clumpy so there’s that.

This does taste like peanut butter, though I’m not sure about the ‘pie’ part. I also picked up a sort of…almost salty flavour, from the green tea itself maybe? Tasted almost like seaweed, though that must be wrong. It made the whole experience vaguely unpleasant. I have some black matcha at home that I will try soon so I hope that next try will be better.

Thank you alphakitty for this sample.

Though green teas are not my favourite, this is a pretty tolerable green tea. The green is especially forceful at the beginning of the sip with the caramel coming in toward the end and strong in the aftertaste, which lingers briefly. The flavour is stronger and brighter when cooled, sort of smothered when hot. I don’t want to drink this again, but I’m glad I tried it. It’s been a green tea day.

Got a cup’s worth of these in a trade from T.C., thanks!

So far, this is one of the only green teas I’ve liked so far in my entire life. I keep trying them and they keep being not good for me, but this one is pretty nice. Not something I’d normally seek out, there is still that essential green tea flavour that is not my favourite, but as a specimen of the green tea genre, this is the best I’ve ever had.

Thanks to T.C. for this in our swap.

This is an amazingly average Earl Grey. Not too strong. Not too weak. Nothing offensive. Just very average. Maybe slightly better than my go-to Earl Grey, which is the Stash double bergamot. Blah.

smooth smooth smooth! This is an absolutely creamy dreamy vanilla black tea. Despite the almonds, I didn’t pick up much nuttiness, maybe because my little sample didn’t have many. This isn’t an in-your-face vanilla, but rather blends thoughtfully with the medium strength black tea base. I brewed up some to drink before going to work and some to drink on my way to work and I’ve been enjoying my mugfull right now but we’ll see how well it stands up to a travel mug. I added milk and sugar and it made the tea even better! Brought out more vanilla notes and creaminess, as one would expect.