American Tea Room

A solidly wonderful green hitting the sweet, vegetal, and toasty notes the two teas bring to the table for a full and rounded taste. This one has earned a spot in the collection so long as nothing beats it at its game. And the pistachio-green color just makes me happy.

I agree with Dinosara and didn’t love the base tea. The combination of flavorings has the potential to be great but just didn’t make it. A cleaner base and somewhat bolder flavors would have won me over. It’s a pleasant enough tea, and I’ll certainly finish my 4-cup sample, but I won’t reorder.

There are iced teas that taste pretty good but as I drink them (and maybe as they warm slightly) they become overwhelming. Not bitter or astringent or anything, just too much, and I have to stop drinking them before I reach the end. This was one of those teas. It turned out pretty well, but it was a little too much. Probably would go for half the leaf for a cold steep and have it be lighter.

It’s a cold, snowy day, and there’s nothing to do but sit around and drink tea. Oh well ;)

I brought this one home to cold brew but there was another serving left in the package, so I had a pot this afternoon. It always astounds me when I sniff the dry leaf on these teas, how mouthwatering they really are. Mmmmm baked goods. This was a lovely sweet and coconutty tea for the afternoon, and I certainly enjoyed it!

I had this tea yesterday after Golden Moon’s Coconut Pouchong but I didn’t get around to writing it up then. I primarily ordered this tea because I wanted to try their coconut pouchong/bao zhong and try to convince myself that not all coconut pouchongs are identical.

The leaf looks very similar, and it smells similar, but would say it smells a tiny bit sweeter and creamier, and less toasted. That carries over to the taste as well. These two teas are very similar, don’t get me wrong. This was delicious, but slightly distinct as well. They are both sweet, creamy, and coconutty. This one has more vanilla and that slight orchidy note from vanilla/pouchong. Golden Moon’s is butterier, toastier, and more like a baked good. I just prefer, personally, that coconut cookie-ness of Golden Moon’s.

This is not really a tasting note because I opened this up, took one whiff, and realized this is American Tea Room’s version of Forever Nuts. Does anyone want this because I won’t be drinking it. At least it was a free sample that came with my order.

Had for afternoon tea with the husband today. This one was actually quite good! I was a little skeptical/meh about trying it because I was so bowled over by Butiki Lychee Oolong and because these days I almost always prefer fruit flavored teas to have a green or oolong base…but this was delicious, burst-juicy lychee much like the oolong one. Huh. Wonder if lychee’s just one of those magical flavors that goes like gangbusters with tea. Threw it on the list of “if you reorder from ATR, what are some options you’d be happy about stocking up on” teas. Yum.

I did have this cold brewed yesterday, and it was pretty tasty. But I don’t know that it was super passion fruit-y… for most of it, I had somehow convinced myself it was an Earl Grey blend that I had cold steeped. Um, nope. I guess it was just a kind of generically fruity cold brew, albeit quite a tasty one.

I’m always on the lookout for a good passion fruit black. Passion fruit is one of my favorite flavors, and sometimes you just want an unadultered version of a flavor you love, you know? thepuriTea used to carry a quite good passion fruit black, but they are out of business now, so if I want one I will have to find another good one.

This one smelled promising. The steeped tea has a good amount of sweet and tart passion fruit scent, with a nice hearty black tea underneath it. However, I have to say this is a no for me. There is something about the black tea base that is too strong and almost savory. The beginning of the sip is good, with nice passion fruit flavor (though not quite fresh passion fruit), but then the black tea takes over, masks the passion fruit, and gives it a weird salty-savory and slightly bitter note. Will definitely be cold brewing the rest of this.

I had this tea yesterday but never logged it. I ordered a sample of this tea because I wanted to compare it (bergamot, vanilla, rose) to the new Lady Grey (bergamot, vanilla).

The weird thing about this one was the fact that the steeped tea had a somewhat earthy note. It may have more Keemun in the base, I think. It’s not something I look for in my blends, to be honest, but I’m not really a fan of earthy teas. The flavors were somewhat muted… I wanted more of everything: more rose, more bergamot, more vanilla. But otherwise it was a fairly tasty tea and I had no problem drinking the entire cup. I do think I prefer the Lady Grey between the two of them, just because I like the base a bit better (but not as much as the base on Lemon Drop).

The cold brew of this one was not successful, really. Maybe I just don’t like EGC’s cold brewed anymore? I used to love them. But the past two I have done have turned out sickly sweet. The first one, I thought it was the licorice root. But I don’t think this one has that, so who knows.

This is the second free sample that I received from ATR with my last order. I was curious to try their take on an Earl Grey Cream, even though I have plenty of a different EGC already in my cupboard (the Tea Spot’s). I have to say that I rarely reach for EGCs, even though I enjoy them. I guess if I want bergamot I usually want a straight up Earl.

Anyway, the scent on this one is nice and creamy, with bright citrusy bergamot. I have to say that, although pretty tasty, the flavor is not quite as good as the Lemon Drop that I had a few days ago from this company. Possibly it has something to do with the base tea… this one seemed a bit thinner, or something. It had a light creaminess but I think if you are going to go EGC you gotta go really creamy, and it just wasn’t quite there. But I did happily drink the entire cup down, and I did enjoy the cup.

It was ages since I have wrote a note about a new tea. Let’s rectify this !
This is a tea kindly sent by justjames in our swap.

I don’t really know what to say about this tea it’s just mild : mild flavouring and mild tea – I would even say weak tea…but weak with a hint of acridity.
Just as if I am not drinking tea but hot syrup.
I’m so sorry not loving it James, did you liked it ? Cannot see a review from you about this one.
I am particularly sorry because I love blueberries, blackberries but to my opinion these flavours are among the most difficult ones to success in a tea (along with cherry probably).
Thanks so much for sharing James.

This is the first tea I’ve had today. It’s sad when you are too busy to drink tea. Oh well, will have to get caught up tomorrow.
Thanks ifjuly for sending me this sample. I was quite excited to see coconut oolong in the package you sent. I had just written in a thread that coconut bongo was my favorite flavored oolong, when I took my fist sip of this. First thought, hmmm that might have been a lie, this is really good. BUT it was scorching hot, all I got was creamy coconut goodness. When it cooled to a more drinkable temp, I got hit over the head with foral oolong. ewwwwww – not grassy but clover floral – good bye coconut. Once it had cooled to lukewarm, the coconut reemerged but there was still some lingering floral. :((
I think this is probably a decent coconut oolong for most people, but sorry it’s too floral for my tastes.

Oh, I forgot to log this yesterday. I made the rest of my sample cold brewed, and it was quite tasty, but I think I prefer it hot brewed. It was creamier and the base had more body (this also could be due to the fact that I’m not sure there was quite enough tea for my cold steep, but the other flavors were pretty good). Overall I would purchase this tea again if I wanted a really lemony tea.

I had been wanting to make an ATR order for a while to get more Milk Oolong, and eventually one of their 20% off sales coincided with some extra money for me, also happened to be when they were offering free samples of two new teas for Steepsterites. I was more interested in Lady Grey than this one, but I chose this one today because the package was already slightly opened (heat sealer didn’t quite seal) and while I didn’t lose any tea, I figured I would go ahead and drink it up.

Let me just say, I’m very impressed. If you want a very lemony black tea, this is the tea for you. But that’s not to say that it is all tart lemon… this tea is amazingly smooth and almost creamy-sweet. It reminds me a bit of a really awesome lemon bar. Mainly I am impressed with how smooth and rich it is; this tea has some heft to it, a thickness to the texture that adds to the sense of creaminess. The black tea doesn’t really stick out, but it provides a nice, substantial base to the blend. Thanks again to ATR for the sample!

ya right, the scent of this tea is pungent! but it tastes much mellower thank goodness. my sis immediately said it smelled like cough syrup (granted she also has a cold at the moment hah). but the taste of the tea is very much currants and very little cinnamon. which both work for me pretty well.

it’s not one i need to get in my cupboard again soon, but i could see myself buying a sample from time to time for some variety in my cupboard.

a lot has happened for my head space in the past 24 hrs.
unrelated, issue #1 of the new Black Widow comic series is released today. i’m not a collector or anything. but i was an art major. so i think i’ll go pick it up. i’m super curious. and all the covers and most of the art is gonna be by Phil Noto (philnoto.tumblr.com/) …who has been supplying me with phone & computer wallpaper for a few years now. (please please i hope she is written smart please please please) (don’t fuck it up Marvel!)

i drank this the other morning,
and was gonna make a note about it tonight.
but then i watched the new sherlock episode (3×02)
and now i’m so bittersweet-sad that i can’t bring myself to do anything further.

(… it’s next morning)
i made this cup of tea by steeping the “leaves” on the stove in unsweetened vanilla almond milk with agave added. since i never ever make lattes it felt EXTREMELY decadent. and when i added the herbal tea to the milk the kitchen filled completely with a rich chocolate smell. i sister smelled it immediately from far across the room. the flavor was a little strange to me at first? but i think i could get used to it in a very good way.
the true bonus was just making a latte and being reminded that i really should encourage myself to enjoy them more :) so much yum.

I received this sample from the wonderful, generous ifjuly. Thank you!!!
I should love this, this is the style of tea that I really enjoy.
It’s just ok. I thought it was a bit watery, the flavors weren’t as bold as I would have liked. Nothing offensive, but not special either.

This is my tea of choice for work today. Thanks Sil for sending this my way.
I’ve decided that Taiwan blacks aren’t normally my favorite. I usually find them too mild and slightly astringent. Not this one. This works for me. As always I’m not really sure what it is that I like about it, but it doesn’t have much/anything that I don’t like. It’s just a nice smooth, flavorful, black tea. I’ve enjoyed my time with it at work today

moraiwe generously sent me some of this as part of the Secret Turkey swap. I have been wanting to try this one for awhile as I’ve heard nothing but good things and I figured now was a good time since ATR is having a sale.

This is really tasty and the most surprisingly part of this tea is the buttery taste that you get at the end of the sip. I sweetened my mug, but I probably could have gone without (I took a small sip unsweetened and it was drinkable but not quite dessert enough for me).

The only thing I’m not a fan of, is I’m getting a bit of dryness around my mouth. I steeped at 200 which is recommended. Maybe I should try a touch lower?

While it’s great, I’m not sure I need 2oz of it around… hmmm – knowing me I’ll change my mind.

not a tea for me. and not really a great winter tea either. but a good option if you want something light and warm but with less caffeine.
also though, ATR has a black rose tea that is really good and i do recommend.

so yes, my first day back to work after having basically 2 weeks off. i know i know, call out the violins and whaaambulance.
i have my new tea pot and tea cup here to keep me company and help brighten this overcast & cold day in the office.
and a kindle full of new sherlock fanfic to read. starting with the christmas themed stories of course.
and how, you might ask, does a person cope with returning to work after such a wonderful escape? well the answer is by placing a ridiculous order for a couple hundred dollars worth of make-up that you’ve wanted for a very long time. :) i have become a MAC convert over the years. and my new short haircut seems to make lipstick more agreeable on my face than it used to be. i guess it’s a visual balance kind of thing?

oh, yup, i got my hair cut. it’s been a long time since i had it this short. i’m still in the phase where i spend a lot of time thinking about it. but that should pass soon i hope.

So lovely! This tea still deserves the 100%. Shmiracles bought me a bag of this because she knows it’s my two favorite things – roses & Chinese black tea – and a very high quality of both. I love Shmiracles!