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There’s not actually tea in this one. It’s all fruit. And for someone who’s not a huge fan of sweet, fruity teas… I really don’t like it.
It’s way too sweet for me hot. Despite its name, I don’t taste almonds at all. There are some slivers there, but it’s not enough over the potency of apples. So I figured it would be okay iced, but it’s the same deal. It steeps to a bright pink color that reminds me of kool-aid. Maybe the taste is similar, too. I honestly don’t recall the flavor of kool-aid.
I’ll stick to teas with actual tea in them. At least this one was just a sample.

This may be my current favorite tea. I love pearls—I may be easily amused—and I love jasmine. Oh, and I love white tea. What’s not to love?
I was drawn to it the moment I opened the little package from Steepster Select. It has a delicious jasmine-y scent. When I took the leaves off I thought for a moment that I hadn’t steeped it long enough, because it’s really light. I may have kept it on a little longer. But it didn’t make it bitter or anything. It’s a great tea for my morning ritual. Not too dark, with a subtle fragrance (even after oversteeping), and a smooth texture.
As a bonus, it still tastes good when I accidentally leave it out for too long. I haven’t tried this one iced, but I suspect it would be just as good. There aren’t too many teas that can get away with keeping their flavor at room temperature.

I waited to review this one. I’ve been rationing my sample to get the most out of it, because I had to try it three times to make a decision. Because sometimes, when you absolutely love something in the first cup, you grow bored of it after a few weeks.
This is most definitely not the case here.
What can I say that hasn’t already been mentioned? I have quite a fondness for coconut, and a little bit of a love for oolong. This tea is nice and light with just the right amount of coconutty goodness. I love just sticking my nose in the mug to inhale its scent. I took a travel mug with me on my commute, and it kicked my senses into overdrive through the early-morning grogginess.
It’s just fantastic. I’ve succumbed to rambling about its awesomeness rather than writing an actual review.

The more I drink this, the more the sweet peachy flavor is getting to me. It’s honestly too sweet for a hot tea, and I can’t decide what time of day to drink it.
But I just made a whole pitcher of it iced, and it’s decidedly better cold. Because the tea is so sweet, it works really well iced. The peach isn’t as strong, and it blends really well with the white tea. In fact, it’s more like tea when it’s cold rather than just peach.
Glad I found something to do with all this tea!

Why hello, steepster! Long time no.. oh whatever.
I have no excuse for visiting, aside from the simple fact I haven’t tried any new teas lately. But I assure you I’m drinking the good stuff that’s already in my cupboard.
Tangent aside…
I’ve reviewed this one in the past, but I just made myself an iced version of it for the summer (I anticipate doing this a lot with the stuff I have). Like most of you, I’m sure, I received the GM newsletter about making iced tea, and I was all excited to try it out with my White Persian Melon when I realized I don’t own White Persian Melon (shameful). So I went with this one instead.

Excellent choice! The tea is naturally sweet and sugary, so there’s no need to add anything to it (That that I would of course, but you know how iced tea can get…). I still like the hot version better, but this makes an excellent iced tea. Luckily, no one in my house wants my real tea so I get the entire pitcher to myself :)

You may see more of me now over the summer as I try out some more teas!

Its name is no lie. This stuff smells like marzipan. The greatest almond, sugary dessert known to mankind. When I open the bag, it’s a whiff of almond that doesn’t go away when the cup is steeped. The leaves have little bits of almond in it, which provides the delicious scent.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t translate too well to the tea. The black is a bit too strong to carry the subtle almond flavor, and it eventually tastes like simple black tea. I gave it a few tries, with varying steep times and water temperatures, but the result remains the same. So disappointed that the marzipan scent doesn’t come out in its taste. This probably would have been my favorite tea ever.

Guess I’ll have to eat real marzipan instead (such a sacrifice).

Oh, coconut tea, how have I lived so long without you?

Once I smelled these leaves in the store, I knew I had to own it. I nearly had a moment of euphoria with its coconut-y goodness. It smells just as good when steeped up. And, let’s be honest, you can’t put both green tea and coconut in the same cup and not expect me to be joyous over it.

The coconut really stands out, blending rather nicely with the taste of the green. Even simply holding the cup to my nose is reminiscent of shredded coconut. This stuff is simply awesome.

Since learning that ginger is good for the days you feel a little icky, I saved this sample for such an occasion. Which means I’ve only tested it when I’m sick. Which means any hot beverage tastes good.

Ordinarily, I hate ginger. I think it tastes like soap. But it’s so subtle in this tea that I liked it regardless. Maybe it’s a psychological thing that it makes me feel better, I don’t know, or maybe there’s more ginger in there than I taste. But it’s slightly sweet, and gives a good kick to its white tea base.

Next time I go on a tea-shopping binge I’ll pick this one up. Who needs cold medication when you can drink tea?

Continuing my journey through the GM sampler, I audibly sighed when pulling out another black tea. It seems all my random selections are black. But I was bold and steeped it up, because it has the word “vanilla” in the title.

For a black tea, this is surprisingly light! The vanilla is more than an undertone; it’s pretty much the entire flavor. There’s little vanilla bits in the leaves, and inhaling the tea’s fragrance almost reminds me of vanilla bean ice cream. And that follows through with the taste as well. There’s a hint of jasmine, which is really all it needs. It’s sweet without being overly so.

Way to go, guys. Looks like I found a black tea that I actually (shock!) enjoy.

I was excited when I grabbed this little sampler, and rather enjoyed it for the first couple sips. But after two days… I’m realizing it doesn’t taste like much of anything. I tried increasing the steep time, and messing with water temperature, but results remain the same.

Disappointing, really. The leaves had that familiar vegetal scent that I’ve come to appreciate, so I had high hopes that this would land on my “favorites” list. But alas. There’s really not much to it, and (as another reviewer stated) it kind of just tastes like hot water.

I’ll have to try a different sencha somewhere down the line.