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My sister gave me the rest of her bag of this blend, and I didn’t know what to expect, having never had pu-erh. I followed the recommendations on the bag to brew only 2-3 minutes, and it turned out very light. The spices are noticeable but not as strong as I’d like so next time I will definitely steep it longer. Overall, I like it quite a bit, but I’m still curious about what pu-erh actually tastes like since I don’t feel like I can tell here with the added spices.

This is another new-to-me-blend from my recent trip to Seattle, and for some reason I decided to only buy an ounce of it. I was trying to restrain myself a bit, but after tasting it I think I should’ve gone with 2 oz.

I feel like I’m fairly predictable when it comes to coconut (especially in tea)… I love it. This is a really smooth, unsweet black blend with lovely cornflowers and an obvious coconut note. It’s really nicely balanced, though, so there’s not too much coconut (ah ha ha, as if there is such a thing) overpowering the whole blend. I steeped it a minute longer than I meant to, and it didn’t even start to get bitter. Next time I will definitely steep it closer to 3 minutes (in a small teacup) because I think it would be really great when brewed a bit more delicately.

Lovely!

I bought a bunch of tea from Remedy Teas on a recent trip to Seattle (and drank a lot while I was there!), so I’ll probably be posting a lot of reviews in the next few days. Remedy Teas has a wall of little test tubes filled with each blend so you can smell them and see the leaves, which I really like. I went in there with a “wish list” and ended up not really being interested in a couple I’d thought I’d like, and buying some that weren’t even on my radar before.

Back to Black Joy, though, this blend intrigued me because of the peppery notes and clove. There is something very slightly sweet in the background but it’s just a nice black blend with a tiny bit of pepper. I didn’t use much for my first cup because I wasn’t sure how peppery it would be, so it actually brewed a bit weak for my taste. I’ll use more of a heaping teaspoon next time (I don’t really think I want to brew it too much longer than 4 minutes though).

Overall, it wasn’t quite as “special” as I was hoping for but it’s a different blend and I love black tea so I think it’ll make a nice morning/afternoon tea. I’ll have more thoughts next time I try it, but on to the other new ones first!

I’ve had this tea more than a few times now, and I just don’t really know how to rate it. I like it, but I don’t love it, but for some reason I can’t quite put a number on how much I like it! The coconut is fairly strong (which I love), but I don’t care much for mango so it’s kind of like two steps forward and one back. Nice enough on a cold morning like today, but I don’t ever crave it.

Brewed this for just over 3 minutes today and it was perfect. I actually enjoy this from time to time, even though I’m really not a big fan of mint in tea for the most part. Today I needed the caffeine but wanted the mint for my stomach, and this was the ideal afternoon tea choice.

Not much else to add from my previous review… this is one of the few green tea blends I don’t mind. I don’t think I’ll buy more when I’m through it, but it’s nice for those (rare) days when I don’t want black tea. This is as close to herbal as I get, for the most part!

Had a cup of this Saturday, and it did make a noticeable difference (at least with my upset stomach—when I’m stressed, that’s where it affects my body)… brought it today hoping for the same effect, but no luck. Moving on to Tension Tamer now!