Asheville Tea Company

Bought this only because it has spicebush in it, which is a scent that permeates the memories of Ohio forests.

This tea isn’t particularly pumpkin in taste. After all, how much pumpkin flavor can you pull from a few dried chunks? In the steam, though, it is much like a slice of pumpkin pie without the sickly sweet condensed milk note that makes me recoil when it’s time for Thanksgiving dessert.

This is a fine basic chai that completely washes out with a drop of milk. At least the spices are fresh.

A tea received from derk and luckily it isn’t fiery as the other one. Thank you! Actually, it’s hardly spicy at all. A very mellow chai.

Black tea base is nice and good one, though a bit more robust one wouldn’t hurt; but from spices I noticed only allspice and some cinnamon. Sadly, there wasn’t much of pumpkin either (compared for instance to B&B Spiced Pumpkin Pie), so that’s actually quite a dismal.

All together it was fine enough for drinking, not bad per se, but lacking what I would enjoy and expect.

Finally! June is gloomy according to the local sun worshipers. I am not one of them. Bring on the fog! Blanket me in cool mist! Hide me away from the world below. Cast away the allergies and asthma. Christmas in June! Chai that nearly made Martin cry! I’m so sorry this tea burned you :( It’s funny how perceptions of spice differ. I’m like, “Where’s the fire?” Same with my boyfriend. We can both feel it, but it’s merely a tickly tingle.

This is a sultry and sensuous cup that warms and invigorates just enough to get me moving on these foggy mornings. It’s like a less abrasive version of August Uncommon’s Painted Desert but with a little ginger to give it more of a traditional chai feeling rather than Mexican hot chocolate. Lighter, not as heavy feeling as Painted Desert but still plenty of flavor with none of the added flavorings. The sachet can be left in the cup indefinitely with no ill effect. This box is moving fast! I would order again if it weren’t so expensive.

Side note: I want to try Ketlee’s Bhut Jolokia Masala Chai.

I have received two tea bags of this tea from derk — thank you!

I generally avoid spicy food, and what is “mildly” spiced is sometimes way too much for me and I can’t imagine what “hot” really means.

I was feeling nothing but cold today early evening, so I decided to brew something that should warm me up. I am sure I would fin many other chais, lovely full bodied teas, or something in between, but I took this one. Afterall, I need to drink it anyway so…

Dry bag was spicy, but somehow okay-level. I have a spicy tea, so naturally it’s spicy; but also a bit sweet and some spices tried to peek out too.

I brewed it and steeped rather short. Afterall, it’s evening already and I would like to sleep; and this blend contains black tea. Aroma left me “just drink me” impression, so I thought it won’t be bad.

I HAVE BEEN SO WRONG! After first sip, still quite hot (by temperature) I had my mouth completely in fire (by habanero) that I almost spit it out. I did not, it left my eyes wide open, habanero fire was slowly going through all the veins and I feel not cold anymore. Not a surprise IMO!
It was cooling down and I was still trying to drink it. And actually, it is getting better. Hard to find any chocolate in this, rather some general sweetness, and some ginger and allspice spices is there beneath heavy blanket of habanero.

Oh dear. No, I am not able to rate this tea and won’t be. But looking forward to sip it down — the second bag.

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This one is just a bit blah for me. Which is a shame, because the name sounds so yummy.

But I don’t really get any apple, and only a hint of orange. Mostly this is just a clove rooibos. And I guess the spicing does, in a way, remind me of apple butter, which I guess means apple butter has cloves in it.

But it’s not apple butter, it’s just the “spiced” part ha ha. Bye-bye, tea!

I felt like something herbaceous this morning, and the ingredients in this seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite measure up to what I was hoping for. It’s mostly pretty intense citrus- the lime peel and lemon being most prominent. I was hoping the juniper berries and rosemary would shine, but I can’t taste either.

Received in my SipsBy box last month. An EG sounded nice on this cold and rainy afternoon, so here we are. It’s a very nice earl grey. Quite a smooth black base, with no bitterness or astringency. A perfect amount of bergamot that isn’t sharp or artificial tasting. I added some sweetened condensed milk and it was quite a tasty cup.

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I really enjoyed this one, it has such a nice blend of refreshing yet soothing flavors. The wintergreen adds just the right amount of sweetness, while the woodsy fir makes it a bit more interesting than just a mint tea.

Even though I love this one, I’m not sure I’ll reorder it. It looks like Asheville Tea Co. doesn’t even offer loose leaf at the moment unless you buy in bulk. And their teabags are something like $15 for a box of 20. No thanks… I know Camellia Sinensis offers a wintergreen tisane, I might have to try to get my hands on some of that.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge – “A tea from a US company”

One of three teas I impulse bought from Asheville Tea Co. a couple of years ago, and the only one left in my cupboard. For some reason I thought this was a tisane, but it’s actually a white tea. Good thing I’m not sensitive to caffeine, heh.

This tea is right up my alley. I always love evergreen flavors in tea, and this adds mint and wintergreen to the mix as well. The resulting flavor is soft and refreshing, and really transports me to a winter forest. I mostly taste mint, wintergreen, and the white tea up front, and then the fir sidles its way in at the end of the sip for a lingering fresh aftertaste.

I will say I wish everything were a bit stronger, and I’m not sure how much the white tea is adding here. I feel like this could have easily been an herbal tisane, and focused on all those minty fresh ingredients. But it’s still a lovely, evocative tea as-is, and I’ll have to think about whether I want to reorder it this winter. These Asheville Tea Co. teas tend to be pricey, but this is also a very lightweight tea, which means more volume for the same weight…

I felt a bit ugh after that oily Butter Toffee Cream tea earlier, so I figured it was the perfect time to try this tea, which is clean and light with refreshing-sounding ingredients. This was one of three seasonal teas that I ordered on a whim from Asheville Tea Company after seeing them on Sips by.

This is definitely a very light tea, in fact I wish the flavors here were just a tad bit stronger. The beginning of the sip is very mint and wintergreen-forward with perhaps a hint of haylike white tea flavor. There’s also a nice sweetness. Then near the end of the sip, the evergreen notes of the fir begin to come out, and they linger into the aftertaste. There’s a lovely cooling sensation as well. Not knowing what birch bark or yarrow flower taste like, I can’t comment on them, but there is a soft herbal note behind the lighter flavors.

I love evergreen in teas, so I really like this one. The wintergreen is a fun addition too, minty but different than the usual choices. The white tea is very light in flavor but I think it goes well with these equally light and airy ingredients.

A lovely wintery tea, perfect for December! ❤

I am loving this blend. The white tea is indistinguishable, but there are so many interesting flavors going on. The peppermint and wintergreen are at the forefront, but I get a whisper of fir, as well as a melange of herbal/woody notes that I don’t quite recognize (not familiar with the flavor of birch bark or yarrow flowers). Such a unique blend, very glad I picked it up!

Sipdown 153-2021

Such a tasty mint tea, but time to say goodbye.

This is one of my favorite mint teas. While I generally reserve them for winter time, this just sounded so nice today. Such a nice balance of fresh mint, and dark cocoa.

Working on sipping through this one. It’s nice and and creamy, with a good balance of mint. Added honey to this cup, and I think I prefer it without.

This cup was a bit more chocolatey, which made it even more delicious. Minty, creamy, wonderful.

I go through phases with mint teas, but I find myself craving them a bit more the closer we get to the holidays. Picked up a few blends from this new-to-me brand, including this one. The peppermint is nice and mellow. There’s a bit of chocolate in the aftertaste, that becomes more apparent the cooler the cup gets. The marshmallow root/leaf gives a creaminess to the cup that is really enjoyable. Overall, very pleasantly surprised.

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Ooh, getting a really lovely rich cacao flavor in this last cuppa!

I never really got much marshmallow from this, despite there apparently being both leaf and root. But it is a nice mix of peppermint and dark chocolaty notes. Often I can’t really taste cacao much in teas, so I appreciate that it has a strong presence here. So much better than chocolate flavoring!

It’s tasty, but not something I would reorder due to the price ($9 for 1 ounce). I might have to try creating my own version with mint and cacao nibs one of these days.

I thought I would let myself crack open a new tea this evening since I sipped down the sample from Deb that I had opened a few days ago. This is a company that I found through Sips By. I haven’t actually had one of their teas in my box, but I saw them on the page where all of the partner companies are listed. And on their site, I was drawn to the three holiday blends they offer, so I ended up ordering a 1-ounce pouch of each.

So this is the first to be tried. It’s a blend of cacao nibs, peppermint, and marshmallow root and leaf. The combination sounded lovely to me, especially with the cacao listed first in the list. The leaf is also nicely ground, which I appreciate since it makes it easier to measure and get a good mix of all ingredients.

I’m quite happy with this so far. The peppermint is the strongest flavor, which is to be expected. It has a nice bright flavor and doesn’t taste like a wet rag, which can be an issue for me with peppermint. I do taste the cacao nibs as well, or maybe the combination of cacao and marshmallow, and it comes across as more of a milk chocolaty flavor for me. It has a light and creamy chocolate flavor and there’s also a little note of roasted nuts that rounds it out. There’s an overall mellow sweetness.

A very pleasant mint chocolate herbal for the evening. I would like perhaps a little more of the marshmallow flavor to come out, but I am quite happy with the flavor of the cacao. This is a bit expensive at about $9 per ounce, but it’s also a very lightweight mix, so there’s more volume in that ounce than I would get with a heavier tea. I’ll have to see how I feel about it after a few more cups!