Art of Tea

Art of Tea sample 9/24

This is a very mellow citrus tea. The liquor is a pale crimson and full of tart citrus aroma. The taste is smooth and mild with more of an aftertaste of orange and lemongrass. For those of you that find hibiscus to strong and tart, this would be a good tea to try. I like my teas with a bit more zest.

Art of Tea sample 8/24

Ahhhh, this is refreshment in its purest form. A smooth mint concoction that hit the spot quite right this morning. The spearmint and peppermint are both coming through quite strong. Enjoyable cuppa

Art of Tea sample 6/24

Wow is this tea perfect! The pumpkin is light in taste, but it smells very pumpkin. The brewed tea is pretty dark, I was surprised to find it was a honeybush and not the red rooibos in this tea. I love the spices, cloves add to the festive feeling of this tea. There is a natural sweetness to this tea. I didn’t need any additives, but I am saving the second cup for a tea latte type drink! This will definitely be a tea I purchase. Thanks Jaime for making these samples possilbe!

Used this as motivation to study for my history exam… It was a nice cup :)

Mmmm… this tea is superb with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies! It is minty and smooth, and a little bit chocolately! I really enjoyed this tea. I am however extremely confused by the inclusion of apples??? But oh well it works!

Had this tea last night as a before bed drink…

Mmmm… the dry leaves of this tea smell so delicious! They smell like caramel and pear and just overall very sweet and strong and desserty! It is so strong smelling that I could smell it before I even opened the package.

The lovely scent carries over as it steeps! This was one of those teas that I couldn’t wait to drink as it was steeping. It has a really nice flavor. I have never had a pear flavored tea before but I adore pears so this tea has been on my wish list for a while. This tea definitely lives up to its name. It tastes like pears and caramel. It is quite awesome.

I received the dessert sampler pack as a gift and this tea made me super excited to try the other 3 teas included. Can’t wait to have one after dinner tonight!!!

Art of Tea sample 5/24

I’m loving this blend. I’m also loving that Art of Tea uses lemongrass in this blend with the raspberry rather than using hibiscus to liven up the fruit flavor. The lemongrass makes it more of a blend than a fruit drink. The honeybush is noticeable in this blend, but it adds a woodsy note to the lemon berry drink. Another great herbal blend from Art of Tea. Yum Yum yum!

Art of Tea sample 3/24

This tea is a beauty to brew. It is the perfect essence of fall. A marigold mixed with changing oak leaves. The color is an amber mixed with orange.

These herbal fusions taste more “grown up” than others I have tasted by Teavana. Instead of being overly fruity and syrupy (which I love, and they have their place), this is like a wine full of apricot and pear notes, rounded out in taste by the rooibos. I really like how the apricot flavor comes out in this. I didn’t even know this tea had rooibos in it until I read the description. The leaves were hidden in a tea sac style tea bag that was closed on all sides.

I would certainly buy more of this tea. Especially for nights where I need no caffeine. Thanks again, Jaime, for making these samples possible:)

2/24 Art of Tea samples

Brewed up a big mug of this early last night to share with my husband. Wow was the liquor a deep crimson. There must be more hibiscus than I had pictured in this blend. I’ve never had a black tea blended with hibiscus, so I was very curious to try this blend. Thanks to Jaime I have the opportunity.

I can certainly taste the fruity tart hibiscus when sipping this tea, but it isn’t the foremost flavor. The black tea base shines through, and there is a fruity, almost an apples and peaches fruit flavor, the end of the sip certainly brings out the rose and floral aspects to the tea. Unfortunately, this floral rose flavor is brought out way to strongly as the tea cools. Sipped hot, this tea is a great blend, the cooler it gets the less I want to sip. The flowers overwhelm the tongue.

Try it, but try it hot and drink it fast!

Art of Tea sample 1/24

What a refreshing citrus aroma coming from the brewing tea! I chose this because of it’s fresh citrus scent and the fact that it had ginger in it. I love the mixture of the lemongrass and verbena, it is very pleasant. I almost don’t want to drink this tea, it smells so good I am enjoying just sniffing, I don’t want the nose pleasure to be over!

The taste is very smooth, lemon but not in your face mouth cringing lemon, just a smooth lemongrass taste with a faint ginger sweet tingle. This was a good morning cup after a night spent with family and flowing wine.

Thank you Jaime for the wonderful package of samples. I’m having fun sniffing each one and drinking them!

OH-MY-GOD…. I might need some good old fashioned smelling salts to get me up off the ground! I have been searching for a really good pear tea and Mighty Leaf’s Pear Caramel was divine but THIS tea (swooning…), well, as my little old Irish Catholic aunts who lived well into their 90’s would have said, “HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD!!!”

I say!

I just got an order of several tins from The Art of Tea and when I opened this one, well, it was undoubtedly the most incredible tea I have ever had the pleasure of burying my nose in. And it stayed in there awhile. And it didn’t want to come out.

Takogti has written about it so well and I’m shouting Hallelujah’s in agreement with her every word that I don’t need to go on and on here but I am going to order more immediately. I never want to be without this tea. I love Rooibos in a good flavored tea and have had many good ones but this tea is so over the top mere words (And I’m writing a book on tea so I have a lot of words to sling around and through the leaves and their various components…) simply cannot do this tea justice.

Oh, the agony of the leaves…. Oh, the piercing profundity of the empty cup. I think I’m going down in an old fashioned Victorian decline as the last of it is finished…

I’m not sure that I should even be writing this review. I’m not sure this is even LEGAL. Surely it’s an opiate of sorts and should be hidden. I for one am going to hide it in my house. I shan’t share this with a single soul!

Ssshhhhhh……

Last pot. I’m not terribly saddened by the fact…actually, it’s helping me to justify my 52teas purchase! I finished off two different teas today, I had to buy more. Right?

Bought this from Cuppa (they only sell Art of Tea teas), but couldn’t find it on the Art of Tea website. Does that mean it’s been retired?

This is very nice, but I honestly don’t get “garden” out of it. I get a sweet, vanilla, honey taste. Maybe a hint of the mango and marigold, but nothing about this tea screams “flowers” to me.

Probably only have enough for another cup or two. Will have to see if Cuppa still has any in stock, and the status of it.

Scent reminds me of a fish paste that we used in one of my undergrad food chemistry classes. I was the only one in class that actually liked the stuff.

I did a 10 second steep, dumped that water, then steeped for 5 minutes. Taste has an edge of that fish paste to it, but not in a bad way. It’s rich and thick, slighty vegetal and dirt-esque. Definitely umami. I think it’d be really good to brew some up and use it for the water to cook rice in, as a side to a real savory/spicy dish. Might have to try that sometime!

Picked up a few different teas from Cuppa to have here in the evenings (they’ve changed their hours, close at 5 now). This was one of them. While I was getting some out for JacquelineM, I decided that I had to have a pot of this for myself.

I’m not even going to try to make a latte out of it tonight…it’s delicious just as it is.

Spent my afternoon/early evening at Cuppa (yes, girls, your tea samplers are ordered; I can pick them up Monday!). They’ve got a new tea latte: Blue Moon.

Blueberry Cheesecake, milk, and white chocolate syrup.

This may be why they invented the word “nom”.

Went to Cuppa in the mood for a latte. Wanted something different, so Rob and I experimented. Brewed up this tea, sweetened with strawberry jam and white chocolate syrup, added frothed milk. Served hot.

Nom, nom, nom!! That was some GOOD stuff, let me tell you.

(This tea is really good plain, too)

Second steep: much more jasmine. I prefer the first.

And, oh, on a side note: don’t ever pour a bit of tea into a saucer and give to a curious chocolate lab. Your teapot will be stalked.

First steep (yes, second steep is already going in the Breville). Jasmine, butter, toasted rice, nuts. Extremely delicious. Seems to be more full-bodied than the World Market Jasmine Pearls, but I’d have to sip them side by side to figure out which I liked better.

It’s smoky and delicate. I know, strange to be both, but this somehow is. It’s got a toasted nut taste to it, as well as just a touch of grassiness. Very nice!

So far, this is the best Jasmine tea that I’ve had! It’s light and floral, and the white tea is perfect next to the jasmine. Yummy!