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I briefly stopped in at DT since it was right beside a store I was going to. I picked up a slew of different teas to brew iced, including their new ones. I really liked this one.

I brewed 2 tsp in 1000 mL (1 litre) jug of hot water ~10 minutes and then poured over ice. Then, I left the teabag in the jug in the fridge over with more water. Both steeps have been excellent. It tastes as good as it smells. I get lots of mango, but also orange (and not the medicinal orange like in some other citrus blends, this is fresh orange juice), stone fruit/peach, pineapple, and possibly passion fruit or some type of tropical fruit. Super refreshing, I highly recommend serving this over ice. It doesn’t get acidic or sour/bitter so overnight steeps are also great.

This is a really old sipdown with a sample I got from JK7Ray over on reddit.

I rinsed this 15 seconds in cold water just because its been at the bottom of my bag for a while and I didn’t know what scents it might have absorbed.

Brewed ~2-3 minutes in 600 mL of hottish water (half boiling water, half cold tap water). Once again I end up with a deep orange/amber brew that smells medicinal and fruity.

This is one of those teas where you describe what you taste and wonder why anyone would drink that (puerh drinkers get it). It does have a medicinal chrysanthemum flavour (might be osmanthus) and the white tea is light and slightly vegetal. I get an overwhelming flavour of dill and dry grass. It certainly seemed medicinal, like what you expect dry osmanthus and dill to taste like. There is only one flower and no dill, but that sums up the major flavours.

This is quite a unique tea and I do recommend people try it, but it isn’t something I’d buy/trade for again.

Black tea with mint flavouring caught me off guard. I thought it was a herbal tea because the front label just says “mint” and the ingredients can only be found online. Weird…

Anyway, I picked this up in Greece over the summer in a hotel breakfast room or something and was quite surprised when I finally brewed it a few months later. I don’t enjoy mint + tea leaves. I prefer just the tea leaves (so you can actually taste them) or a caffeine-free mint tisane. The malty (and a bit citrusy?) black base didn’t go with the mint. Just overall a super odd flavour choice on the part of the company.

This is a tea I took out of the TTB to try. I had 3 cups total (and shared a bit of the looseleaf with a friend), but I can’t say I loved it. I’m on a bit of a caffeine kick because I have a difficult exam today (last one of my undergrad! woot woot). This is another sipdown. Gotta make room for those new summer iced teas!

The base is a bit bitter/astringent, but flavourful. There are lots of vegetal spinach notes and some citrus (orange and lemon?) but there isn’t much depth to the flavour. Also it tastes a bit like orange rind but not like fresh juicy orange. I think some mango or other tropical fruit could have added a bit of flair.

I swear I’ve reviewed this tea several times.

It does have a fairly strong tea base and I can taste the fruity lemon/citrus, there is a touch of raspberry also. Every cup I’ve had (5 or 6 now) I’ve been looking for the cheesecake and can’t find it anywhere. nothing vanilla, no creaminess, no cake/dessert flavour, no cream cheese flavour. I would have really like some graham cracker and some creamy rich cheesecake flavour, since that is what drew me to the blend. I think I would recommend a fruity milk oolong (dairy free, obviously) to bring out that sweet creamy flavour a bit. Even with milk it just isn’t quite there. The base is vegetal and lends some fruity flavour but not enough for a blend with this name. I’m not loving the base anyway, I don’t enjoy vegetal teas most of the time except jade oolongs and long jing.

I have a weird love/hate relationship with this tea. The flavour is great (juicy raspberry and apple) but the rose hips and hibiscus devastate what could be a phenomenal iced tea. I mean this blend is REALLY sour. When coldbrewed and then put over ice it is still too sour to drink. Thus, I have to significantly sweeten this just to make it drinkable. But once it is sweetened, boy is it ever refreshing. At that point, though, I might as well drink juice.

Anyway, this is a sipdown, which makes room for some new iced tea purchases in the coming months.