American Tea Room

This one’s from Sil.

It’s a nice almond-vanilla tea, but… it’s just not really for me. I like it, but I don’t love it. Right now I think I’d rather have something spicy or earthy, not a liquid dessert. :)

Anoither sample from ATR. I got this because it’s hard to find a fruity herbal without hibiscus, I thought I’d give it a go.

Smells very aromatic in the cup after brewing and is a nice dark reddish color. I don’t get much licorice in here at all and the aftertaste is incredibly tart. I don’t mind licorice root as much as other people and I think it could use some more, lol. Definitely tastes like cinnamon and stone fruit but I wish there was something more that could have been added to cut down on the tartness. Sadly I’m not sure if I will finish the cup I’m drinking, it smells amazing though.

Herbal chai of the afternoon here. Regular readers of my tea log may “get” the fact that I enjoy a spicy tea.

I have tried way too many blends that are like this, but even so. I think this is an amazing rooibos chai. I am a big fan of ginger and cardamom and this has plenty of both. I also detect fennel and cinnamon and maybe a touch of pepper. I like chai blends that are not ALL about the cinnamon. I wish I could try it side by side with Rishi’s rooibos chai which I also really like (but have been out of for a while). Spices seem really well balanced to me. Perfect with a touch of soymilk and stevia.

On an aside note, ATR claims their sample packs make 4 servings but I am finding that I am getting 2-3 servings out of them. Not sure if I consistently overleaf my teas but I would pick up the larger size of this if I order through them again.

After lunch tea. I think this is good when you treat it like a dessert tea, I added sugar and stevia to mine and it’s like a vanilla latte. See previous notes for more details. :)

It’s very odd the different range of reviews this tea seems to have gotten, seems like some people really hated it!

It’s definitely VERY strong on the vanilla. In my opinion, the vanilla seems very natural tasting. Nice combination with the green tea, I am reminded of caramel or perhaps a creme brulee. I can see why they chose bancha here, but an oolong would also have been a good choice. It’s slightly astringent in the finish due to the bancha, which I don’t really love. With soymilk added this became a really good dessert tea. I happen to really like vanilla and this is a difficult flavor to get right in tea. I’m not sure I will get more, but I’ve really enjoyed trying this.

Personally I wasn’t too impressed with this. I like green tea/mint blends (especially Moroccan Mint). This seems to be a darker roasted green tea, maybe a houijcha mixed with the mint. Whatever chocolate notes are present just seem really light. I don’t have too much more to say about it! I was a bit disappointed, might try cold brewing this next.

I received a sample of this tea from Courtney, a fellow Steepster. She was generous enough to send me some samples of teas so that I can expand my taste buds further than DAVIDs.

I couldn’t have been more pleased with the tea I chose to sample first. This one is now one of my current favorites! After drinking my first cup, I had to research all about Brioche (the pastry) and being an avid baker, will likely have to try to make myself some in the near future.

I find this tea is comparable to DAVIDs Sugar & Spice or Glitter & Gold; however, it dominates both of these in the ways of smell, taste, and smoothness. Brioche, to me, tastes like a more high quality tea. I found Sugar & Spice to have a harsh spice taste where Brioche’s flavors blend together perfectly, and I found that Glitter & Gold lacked the amount of flavor that Brioche has.

I will definitely be checking out American Tea Room and adding this tea to my wish list. Yum!

I’m finishing off this sample that arrived a while ago. You really get a lot of fig flavor in this blend, much more than sesame or even tea flavor! It’s quite a bit on the sweet side and very interesting to try, I just don’t think it’s something I would bother to keep on hand for myself. It definitely makes a nice afternoon tea, or perhaps after dinner with a few cookies for dunking.

Tea of the morning here, all I have is a sample size but wanted to try this since it sounded so intriguing to me, Dates and sesame? yes please!
The dry leaf has what looks like dried figs in the package.

I may have overleafed this, but it’s still really good. Whatever the base tea is for brioche, they’re using it here also. Smells very aromatic and tastes fruity and nutty as well! This is very good plain, but also accomodated soymilk fairly well. In itself, it isn’t terribly sweet but would be great with an afternoon cookie or some other kind of treat. As far as flavored teas go, it’s a very unique blend that lived up to my expectations. I wish I had more than just a sample size, might need to reorder this someday!

I got a sample size of this with my ATR order. Upon opening the package I was very skeptical because this just smells like some nasty old liquor. I was assuming I’d end up hating it!

The flavor isn’t bad actually. Yes, it is rooibos with a mild cocoa and coconut flavor. I wouldn’t exactly say it reminds me of a macaroon but at least I don’t want to spit it out. Not bad on its own but better with a bit of soymilk. I’m really glad this ended up tasting a lot better than it smells. I love coconut anything but this isn’t cutting it for me somehow.

Not destined to be a favorite of mine but it is drinkable…

Another sipdown for today… it’s good to be cleaning out my cupboard to make way for some new stuff. ;)

This blend is fairly tasty but I don’t seem to adore it as much as some other people do. Won’t be a restock, but I am enjoying it today.

I’m making an exception to my no caffeine rule this afternoon. I am sooo sleepy but that’s what I get for eating a bowl of potatoes for lunch. Perhaps I should try this more often. ;-)

I was in the mood for something sweet and dessert like. This tea has an amazing almond pastry type aroma. I’m a little less enamored with the flavor but it’s better with soymilk and sugar added. This has been good but probably not a repurchase for me. Happy Monday everyone!

This isn’t as good as I remember it but I’m not sure why… I’m not getting as much almond or pastry as I am getting a slight fruitiness, but it could be my tastebuds are off. I’ve been drinking a lot of old favorites which I haven’t been logging. Typing with my left hand only is a bit of a chore but I am getting a little faster at it lately.

This is tasty! Almond teas are one of my favorites so I knew I really wanted to try it.

The blend reminds me a lot of almond sugar cookie from Simpson and Vail, I wish I had the two so I could compare them side by side. I think the main difference is this blend tastes slightly more pastry like and the almond Sugar cookie seems a bit on the sweet side? It’s an enjoyable blend, almondy and dessert like. I tried adding a touch of stevia but I think I liked it better before the stevia, with just soymilk. I’m not really getting anything that reminds me of a cinnamon bun (per the description)

Don’t think I will have any problems finishing this one off, it’s good. :)

tried this one again today – not a fan. Sipdown since i’ll pawn the rest of this off to other tea friends who like to try new things haha :) It’s just not the right berry flavour that i’m looking for.

I had a cup of this one today. I’m still trying to get around to tasting all my smaller samples so that I can be ready for orders at the end of the month. I had hopes for this one, as i love a good berry tea but this one falls short. I’m hoping that i can play with the steeping parameters a little and find it’s happy spot but it’s just lacking. I don’t know how to explain it any better than it’s just not as intensely flavourful as i want it to be.

This is a small size sample I received today in my American Tea Room order, my first order ever with ATR!

I’m having a darjeeling kind of craving so I thought I would try this first. Normally I’m a first flush kind of gal, but second flushes can be really nice too and I’m still awash in 2012 FF’s!

This brews up to be a nice dark red/copper color in the cup with fruity aromas. This is definitely stronger than some other darjeelings I’ve had. This is a great one to sip on plain and doesn’t need any additions. I’m finding it to have a stone fruit character with a lot of pungency and don’t really get the grape note ATR mentions here.

As far as darjeelings go, it’s not bad but not the best second flush I’ve ever had. For me it’s fairly assertive and doesn’t have the delicateness I like with darjeelings. I might try my next cup at a slightly lower temperature to see what happens.

This comes across as a pretty unusual combination. The vanilla combined with the green tea evokes being outdoors in a field smelling nature somehow, where the vanilla brings out the grassiness in the tea and the tea makes the vanilla feel more intense and sharp than when normally paired with a black base (I tend to think of vanilla as a soft, warm element), almost minty and cooling, medicinally numbing. It’s not unpleasant, but it is odd enough it takes some getting used to. There’s a toastiness at the end of the sip too. Not entirely sure what to make of it.

I think i’m a fan of this one. it’s malty but smokey…most of the yunnan’s that i’ve tried have only been malty. I like that this one isn’t a smokey keemun, but it’s similar…so of course in went the maple syrup. It’s not an out of this world sort of tea but i’d drink it again :)

I was impressed with how this wasn’t hit you over the head cloying in smell or taste—maple flavored things often are, forgetting how distinct but also often gentle real maple can be—and how it creates a texture on one’s tongue and teeth and throat similar to maple syrup and walnuts, that tingly slight raspiness. Not very green tea-y, just slightly—tastes sort of in between one and a flavored oolong or even black. Would drink again on a cool evening to feel like I’m a little closer north/home.

Dry this has a sweet and tangy fruity smell similar to watermelon candy. It tastes less candy sweet thankfully, and warm it turned out to be an excellent pairing with the Sindhi curry we had for dinner (which was very straightforward/simple flavor-profile-wise, buttery and fresh tasting but HOT!), the sweet-tart-fresh flavor really cut through the richness and heat.

(recipe for pressure cooker Sindhi curry here: http://www.hawkinscookers.com/8.1.receipe.aspx?rcp_cd=77
didn’t use yogurt ’cause it curdles in such heat, subbed sour cream)

By the way, my notes today are all out of order. Been distracted, now trying to remember and logging teas I had today in any order I remember.