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I got a free sample of this with my last Harney & Sons order. It smells much sweeter dry than it is brewed, and it’s much mellower than I was expecting from the description, but it’s pleasant.

I mostly taste coconut and green tea, and the lemongrass gives it a slightly grassy, almost savory aftertaste. I don’t get any ginger from it at all. It’s an interesting one to try, but I’m not sure I would buy it. I’d like the flavors to be a little bolder, or for something else to be added to it to round it out better.

WOW, is this minty. Not that I should really be surprised by that.

I’m not a mint person usually, but this isn’t bad. It’s a very clear taste, with a slightly sweet lingering aftertaste. I can imagine this would be good iced. I might mix it with something else next time, because it is too minty for me, but I’m sure a mint lover would be very happy!

Not very exciting at all. Pretty disappointing, actually. It’s not all that creamy and not all that vanilla-y.

It smells a little like chocolate in the bag and sort of like a cookie brewed, but it mostly just tastes like black tea with a generic sweetness. I’ll try it with milk next, but I doubt I’ll miss this sample when it’s gone.

Last cup! This one has to be absolutely boiling to taste best. I’ve realized this the last few cups I had, and I thought I had it hot enough before! When the water is as hot as I can possibly get it the cinnamon comes out much more and it’s a much better cup.

As of right now I’ve had this tea an entire year, so finishing it off feels like a big accomplishment. Bye, Hot Apple Cider.

This is another tea that smells incredible in the tin and tastes mediocre brewed. The smell is reminiscent of vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spices. The taste is unfortunately too plain for me.

I don’t get any pumpkin flavor, just rooibos and spice. I think I’ll try this with a little milk next time and see if that does anything, but I was really looking forward to a strong pumpkin flavor.

This is the first oolong I’ve tried and I think I’m in love. Pretty gold color, honey-peach taste, and it resteeps! Something about the taste of this one just makes me smile. It’s complex but very pleasant.

I managed to get a grand total of three cups of this out of one teaspoon, although the third cup was a little weaker than the first two. All three were delicious, though. This tea seems difficult to oversteep. The taste is good both hot and cold—I forgot about my mug while doing some homework, and when I went back to it it was just as delicious cold. The strong herbal smell of the dry tea is my only complaint, but the taste is definitely worth it.

Finishing up the tin and decided to make a full pot to get rid of it. This one is growing on me, but I’m not sure I would buy it again.

The rooibos flavor is more obvious when the tea is hot, and then as it cools the vanilla comes out more. It would be interesting to taste this iced.

Ordered this one completely on a whim. In the box (I love the clever and compact way they package their loose-leaf, by the way) the tea smells strong and fruity. It was so fruity it almost smelled alcoholic; like some kind of cherry liqueur and a hint of almonds.

This tea is stunning brewed, with a deep wine color and a strong cinnamon-fruit smell. The taste is…I’m not sure. The cinnamon is definitely there but it’s not enough for my taste. The plum is there, too (more like the tarter skin of the plum than the flesh, but still recognizably plum). The hibiscus and the fruit combine to form such a tart taste that it makes my lips pucker! I was expecting a much mellower flavor.

I’m sure this would be good iced (in my opinion all teas with a red fruit note are great iced), and I might try this mulled like the company suggests, but I am completely unsure what to make of it plain.

This seems like a type of tea that shouldn’t be bagged, and yet bagged is all I have. It’s not bad, but not especially exciting.

At first sip it’s plain. A breakfast tea type. Then it gets bitter, which is usually what makes me dislike a tea; I can’t stand bitter tastes, no matter how old I get! It’s not a strong bitter flavor, though, and I could deal with it for the sake of trying this tea after I was sure I brewed it correctly. The aftertaste was beautiful! Sweet like pure, fresh honey. Unfortunately the rest was so mediocre to me that I’m not sure where I stand with it.

Bad allergy day, so I decided to make a cup of something I hoped would be calming. This was what I ended up grabbing for, because nothing calms me down like teas billed as “relax before bed” teas. I found this one at the health food store of all places, along with a couple of other Tazo blends I’d never seen elsewhere. Hmm.

I love roses in my relaxing teas, so this one was right up my alley. Light and floral, but the aftertaste is sweet. A little like sugared rose petals, but not enough to be overwhelming. Despite the overall feeling of rose it was nicely balanced; not too much of any one thing. After I finished my cup I left it next to me and it continued to smell nice until I cleaned up the dishes. Very calming!