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Backlog:

This chai took me by surprise because the name of it suggests to me that maybe it’s a bit on the tame side when it comes to chai, but it’s got a spicy kick! The sweet, creamy notes of the coconut do soften the flavors a tad, and they give the overall experience a sort of “latte” type flavor without adding dairy which I appreciate.

Lively spice notes of ginger and pepper. I like how the heat of the ginger and pepper seem to bring out the spicier notes of the cinnamon, giving it more of a hot cinnamon flavor rather than a sweet cinnamon note.

I like the strong spices in this. I like that rooibos – which isn’t a favorite taste of mine – isn’t a focus of this blend and the spices really shape the direction of the tisane. The coconut adds just the right sweet, creamy flavor. Nice.

According to the label on the tin, this tea contains: organic rooibos, cacao nibs, peppermint leaf, apple, orange peel and chocolate flavor.

I like the idea of a caffeine-free chocolate mint tea, so I decided to give it a try. Also, I discovered I like rooibos. Opening the tin, what is immediately perceptible is the mint, lots and lots of it! The peppermint unquestionably dominates the brewed tea, to the point that other flavors are difficult to detect. It is nice mint, pleasantly tingling the tongue, and the tea is organic, so I am willing to overlook the missing chocolate flavor, at least for now.

A nice green from the Traveling Teabox B. It’s very mild and vegetal. There is a nice floral hint but it’s still pretty light.

From Considering a new Travelling Tea Box

Lots of spice and pepper in the nose. Smells a bit like fireball candy. The taste carries the same flavors, but milder, with good backing of tea. Over time, the cinnamon dissipated, but the black pepper remained. Good finish. None of the damp forest flavor I associate with Yunnan, but the fireball taste is a bit distracting.

This is a solid tea, but I couldn’t fall in love with the flavor combination. It might work for someone else.

Another from Momo’s TeaboxB! I love to be able to try so many… but it seems like I didn’t even make a dent in the box yet! (Though I will be taking out more than just random teaspoons.) This is a nice green. It is reminding me of mustard again like the green tea I had recently. Maybe it is my infuser? But otherwise it has lovely flavor — a bit nutty, a bit tangy. It’s mild though, after a two minute steep.

I guess I won’t rate this yet. I should try a fresh brew and see if I like it better. It just does not seem like anything special to me yet I see others rating it so high I feel I am missing something. I am not saying I can’t find the flavor notes they mention as much as it just is not that impressive to me.

Thanks for this one, Liberteas
Dry – this really didn’t smell like anything to me.

During the infusion process – I thought it smelled a little like mixed herbs…subtly speaking, that is.

After infusing the aroma is more of a dried bay leaf.

The flavor surprised me! It’s flavor combo of boxed-dried-raisins, herbally-spices, and a hint of vanilla.

The more I drink this the more I like it. It’s an interesting white tea. It looks ‘simple’ but it’s really more complex than meets the eye.

I like it!

Backlog:

Another tea enjoyed during the W-O-D. This is a really pretty tea with lots of golden tips. A deliciously complex Yunnan, starts out with a strong caramel presence that eventually tapers to more of a light, honey-esque tone. It has a gentle peppery note that melds with a hint of flower, and this produces a really interesting sweet and spicy tone.

Overall, a very enjoyable Yunnan. Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for sending it my way.

Thanks Kallieboo for this sample! This smelled so good and sounded so intriguing, I had to try this sample first. I really like it. It’s definitely a very dry, smokey tea with a subtle plum after taste. I wish there was a little more plum flavor but it’s still enjoyable and very different from anything I’ve ever tried. I still have enough for one more cup so I will play with the temp/time and see what happens.

So I just picked up this nifty little electric kettle and it’s amazing! It heated the water perfectly to 175°. For some reason I feel like I’m getting a little bit of a sweeter flavor from this. It’s delicious.

This fit very well for the grey skies today.

Wow! First review for this tea! Well I think I steeped this a little too long. It’s a tad bitter. But it is my fault. I tried to race the timer and clean out my teapot.. I lost.. anyways, the leaves of this tea are beautiful. The flavor is nice too. It has a smoke taste to it followed by a sweetness. It’s kind of a dry taste. I can see why this shouldn’t be steeped too long. The smokiness hides the gentle green tea and plum. It’s definitely different but I’m happy I ordered it.

Annddddd sipdown!
When steeped at a lower temperature the flavors pop a bit more. I think this will go on my reorder list when I have a few extra bucks.

I’m enjoying a nice mug of this. It still has a subtle chocolate\vanilla twisty cone taste to it. It’s enjoyable and I only have a few cups left.. I can’t decide if I should reorder it or not.

It occurred to me that I haven’t had this tea in a REALLY long time. I still love the dark chocolate and vanilla in this. Perfect balance of flavors.

Goodness gracious I LOVE this tea

Thank you to TeaEaqualsBliss for this delicious tea! It’s creamy and full of chocolatey goodness. It reminds me of a twisty ice cream cone. I can still taste the yerba mate under the chocolate and vanilla. Mm this tea made my morning :]

Thanks Liberteas!

I can taste the roasted aspects thru-out that is for sure. The Yerba Mate is strong. I can taste a darker type chocolate – certainly NOT milk-chocolate. I can’t really taste the vanilla.

This is ok…

I’m getting a LOT of roasted flavor but little of the rest.

This is an amazing Shou Mei, delivering a lot more flavor than I expected. I taste the vanilla-y tones, and the spice notes as described, and I also taste a sweet dried fruit note that is almost like golden raisin… and just when I think I’ve got it pin-pointed to raisin, it tastes almost like apricot. It’s really quite amazing, how much flavor I’m getting from this white tea.

I thought I already reviewed this one on here but I didn’t…so…here goes!
Thanks LiberTeas!

The aroma isn’t very strong but that might good in this case. Sometimes Apple and/or pear teas are sometimes too heavily scented.

The green tea base is slightly grassy…not really a sweeter-green-tea base but that’s ok! The Apple is a bit stronger than the Pear but neither are overly loud. This flavoring is – in one word – nice!

This trio of flavors is at the perfect strength!

I came down with a nasty bout of the flu and was out of it for a few days which is why you didn’t see me on here much. I didn’t really even have the strength to make myself a pot of tea, much less sit in front of the computer. And one thing I learned is that I know I’m REALLY sick if I don’t even have the strength to make a pot of tea! Last night, I brewed a pot and it tasted perfect, so I suspect that my taste buds are working fine now though. I’ll have to backlog a few different tea experiences in a bit, but for now, I thought I’d enjoy a cup of Garden Bancha and write about it as I sip it.

This is really quite nice. It starts out really mellow. Almost too mellow, because it got me to question my taste buds ability again. But after a few sips, the tea became more focused, although it is still quite mild.

It has a strong vegetal quality to it in both its flavor and its scent. Earthy. It is light to medium bodied, with a bit of dry astringency toward the tail of the sip. It is a little sweet and a little savory. Very enjoyable.

See TeaEqualsBliss’ review. Spot on ;)

There is a pleasant vegital aroma after steeping the tea. There is a slight sweetness in the taste that I can’t quite place, but it isn’t overbearing making for a nice balance with the grassy flavor. It is also light on the drying astringency which some teas have.

This is my first time drinking a plain Bancha, all others I’ve had are flavored, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I open the bag and smell a sweet vegetal tea with a floral hint. I apologize for being vague, but I can’t say exactly what the vegetal or floral notes were. The leaves were a darker green and flat and there were stems mixed in the bag as well. Wet the leaves smelled of cooked spinach with some of the floral notes and a sweetness.

The taste is surprising to me, this is probably because I’ve never had Bancha before. But I’m tasting sencha notes, the sweet, savory, smooth notes of sencha, just not as prominent. There’s a lightly roasted note, a hint of woodiness, and that floral notes that I can’t pinpoint what it is.

As the tea cools the roasted, woody notes become stronger and the sweet, savory notes mellow out more. The aftertaste contains more of the floral notes with some sweetness and a slight astringency. Overall I’m enjoying this tea, not something I would drink everyday, I still prefer sencha over this, but not bad at all. Perhaps I’ll develop more of a taste for this as I drink more.