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I almost didn’t try this one because I thought it was a straight green. I’m glad I did because it was a tasty apple flavour. I don’t like apple candy but I enjoyed this.

The base is very astringent (drying, makes my tongue tingle, a bit bitter). This is ok when you steep tea properly, but I forgot about my cup and let it steep for 15 minutes (it was fairly cool water, though). Lupicia always has excellent flavouring. If only they had a smoother base for some of their greens I would be tempted to buy some of this next time I’m in the USA,

STTB Tea

I would never buy this (since it contains dairy) but since it was in the TTB and the yoghurt pieces were fairly easy to pick out (with double washed hands and a spoon! I’m not a gross person I promise!) I decided to have an evening cup of herbal brew. I guess I expected this to be less acidic because I planned to add soy milk. Based on the colour and initial sip, I decided against it. I think milk would curdle.

There is a mice baked bread/buttery flavour, vanilla, and dried fruit flavour. It does taste quite a bit like blueberry and raisins. There is a nice sweetness to it. I don’t care for the acidity or the Earthy beetroot (carrot?) flavour, but neither are too bad. It would have been fine with less hibiscus though.

Wait just a minute now…what happened to my review of this? I know I wrote it. Maybe it refused to post and I intended to come back and review it again.

~1.5 tsp matcha in 100 mL hot water + a dash of unsweetened soy milk → the perfect amount of sweetness

This isn’t as “spearminty” as I would have liked. I originally thought maybe they used English mint or spearmint + peppermint oil but I’m not sure. The mint and lime are both there. The only thing that I think would improve this is either some rum essence or whatever 52Teas uses to make their cranberry soda herbal. That citrus flavour that makes it taste like 7UP would be perfect here.

STTB Tea

Reading the reviews, this reminds me a lot of cherry (the real fruit, not the candy flavour). Oddly, I wouldn’t call the taste of the brew fruity. I found it dark, too tannic for my tastes, but complex. I found it bitter, not really my taste for black teas. There were mineral notes but not like roasted oolong mineral flavour. The dry leaf smells like cherry juice, which is neat. Not bad, but not really something I’d reach for if I had this in my cupboard.

STTB Tea

A tasty hot morning cup with a balanced black base and some vague fruity flavours. I’d probably guess passion fruit if I didn’t know what flavour this was, but it was a bit weak for my tastes. Still, a good boost of caffeine for early morning work.

STTB Tea

This is from last week, but I forgot to write a tasting note.

I enjoy houjicha a lot, but I’m not always in the mood for it. The other day was a cloudy and rainy autumn day [stupid changing seasons >:( ] and I wanted something toasty (And roasty!). This blend has some subtle vanilla, however I found the fruity flavours were overshadowed by the base. I still enjoyed it, I just didn’t taste any pear. The base is very roasty (like whole grain bread or over baked pizza dough)…or like a houjicha. Minerals (like how burnt marshmallow charcoal is a touch bitter and minerally) come out the longer you savour the mouthfull of it.

STTB Tea

This is a vegetal (bai mu dan?) white based tea with a subtle but not unpleasant base. It is lightly floral (rose) but that is quite subtle. I made this cold (450 mL water, ~25 minutes) and enjoyed it. The vegetal quality reminds me of cucumber and lettuce.

Oh gosh this blend is SOOOO good. Creamy coconut, fruity, smooth but malty tannins and a strong tea flavour, vanilla…what more could you want? It is my new favourite blend. I hope it comes back some day.

STTB

I finished this off because there wasn’t enough left (~0.5 tsp) after I removed my 1 tsp so I just used it all.

The oolong here is lightly roasty, but not strong by any means. There is some vague stone fruit flavours, however I didn’t get any distinctly mango flavours. It was quite subtle but still enjoyable. I didn’t find this very exciting – nothing remarkable – but still nice to try.