Capital Teas

My palate is probably not refined enough to pick out the white tea here. But everything seems to go well together.

Bergamot, a bit of cream and floral. I notice a sharp something in here, maybe it’s the rose. Something that makes my tongue kind of numb and the rose lingers.

Nothing I will keep on hand, but I think it will be enjoyed until it’s gone.

EDIT: This doesn’t resteep well.

Everything stands from my previous note. Just adding that this is Freakin’ Awesome as an iced tea. :)

Smells floral when dry like most EGs do to me.

Nice and strong tea, good creaminess. Strongly bergamot. All around a strong tea. I approve. Glad I have this one in the cupboard. Now I have to test it against the other favorite EG creams to see which one stays. 400 teas enter, 1 tea leaves… Leaves… get it? :)

Lovely, lovely dry leaves. In low light, looking through it, there is almost a pinkish cast to the liquor.

Even sick, this seems like an exceptional tea. Smooth, warm, lightly brisk. It is indeed reminiscent of Darjeelings. There is a light astringency at the end of the sip.

I suspected this might happen. It’s a tea that I’d never spend the money on if it hadn’t been on sale for essentially half price with a certificate. Sigh. I’ll just have to enjoy this one while it lasts.

EDIT: As it cooled off, I was surprised when bringing the cup to my lips to smell vanilla. I don’t necessarily taste it, but I do smell it.

Wow. If you like almond extract, this is the tea for you. About knocks your socks off when dry.

I don’t know how much flavoring they put in this but it is one of the only almond teas I’ve had that tastes like sweet almond/amaretto. Just putting almond nuts in a tea doesn’t flavor it very strongly. The ingredients say black tea, almond pieces and vanilla cream (whatever that entails). That’s it. I’m not sure believe that.

If so, they went really super heavy on the vanilla and it brought out the almonds in full force. Seriously, this was like drinking almond extract. Not that I’ve done that but I can imagine. :) There was no noticeable tea flavor. Coworker and I ended up liking it after a cup or two – like having a dessert, really. That said, I’m pretty sure it isn’t something either one of us will seek out again.

We were discussing using it in baking or custard type desserts. It would be absolutely yummy. However, since there isn’t really a tea flavor present why not just use almond extract in cooking instead of a tea…

I would rather call this Amaretto Cream than Almond Cream. There is nothing of a natural nut about this tea. Doesn’t make it bad, just misnamed, perhaps. :)

Now I’m always up for some new mate in my cupboard for those times when you get home after a long day with a pounding headache and you just NEED a strong dose of caffeine…hence buying this.

It brews up nicely, but I would recommend timing it at maybe 5-6 minutes because the sweet fruitiness did get overwhelming and bitter by letting it sit untimed. I could definitely taste the chili, and of course the longer it brews the spicier it is. I don’t handle spicy as well as most people though so my version of spicy may be more mild than yours.

The mango isn’t obvious, it’s definitely a fruit, it’s kind of more citrusy than anything else. I think this would probably rock as an iced tea, and the sweetness of it would be more appealing cold. Overall I’m glad I have this and it’s not just a sample size. I would recommend it to fruity tea lovers, mate drinkers, and those looking for an iced tea mate.

Such a pretty tea when dry. At least 3 different colors of leaves, maybe 4.

Lightly astringent, slightly malty. Definitely dry but not puckery. Much gentler than the other Kenyan blacks I have tried. A good, basic black to keep around. If I didn’t already have good, basic blacks, I’d make sure to keep this on hand.

On a sad note, this is my only cup of tea today. The last week or so I’ve noticed a fluttery, phone-on-vibrate sensation off to center left of my chest. Pulse is fine, bp is fine. No other sensations. But I have been going kind of nuts with the tippy teas lately and those have more caffeine than others. Nuts like having 2 pots of yunnan type tea a day kind of nuts. I have never been caffeine sensitive but as my husband is fond of saying lately – we are both getting older.

So… my first step is cutting way back on anything with caffeine and replacing it with water. My promise to myself was to cut caffeine completely for a week. I just can’t do it. It’s cool and wet out and I want tea!!!!

Needs more smoke.

Tastes like cinnamon mixed into green tea. The cinnamon flavor is not as strong as in many cinnamon teas, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this might be your tea. I do not taste the orange at all. It’s not a bad tea, it’s just not what I was hoping for.

For the budget minded, this tea is good for multiple steepings. I’ve done 3 or 4 with reasonable results.

Just a plain old Earl Grey tea. The base tea is robust and flavorful and there is just the right amount of Bergamot flavor for me. (I am quite fond of the taste, it may be a little much for others.) This tea works best when only steeped for 3 minutes on the first steeping. A fantastic Earl Grey that is one of my go to teas. I enjoy it often, both hot and iced.

I generally love anything pumpkin and this is no exception. This tea is exactly as advertised. It tastes just like black tea blended with pumpkin pie. The black tea is very malty and bold and the spices are strong and I find I generally enjoy later steepings much more than the first one. I generally will use the same teaspoon of leaves all day to make 4 or 5 10 oz cups of tea. It’s just like pumpkin pie in a cup and is great for late-fall and winter.

I am not brave enough to try this iced, but some people do insist it is a good idea.

Apparently a lemon drop is a type of candy. I’ve never had one, and I generally don’t add sweeteners to tea, so I may be missing the point of this tea. I bought this tea looking for a nice citrus flavored tea I could enjoyed iced. While there is a strong citrus flavor, I would not identify it as lemon, but it is pleasant. It was just OK iced. It’s not that it’s a bad tea, just not what I had in mind and maybe that colors my view of it a little.

A well balanced breakfast blend with a full bodied flavor and a crisp finish. It is my favorite breakfast blend tea. It also works well iced.

I like this tea, even though I am an adult :)
It tastes just like a gum ball. The only bad thing is the gum balls that come in the tea are often hard as a rock. This tea can get bitter if it is steeped for too long.
It tastes great with milk or cream (kind of like bubble gum ice cream – yum!).
I found it is a great way to introduce kids to tea.

I picked this up for two reasons, well three really:

1. I love vanilla
2. I am really getting into rooibos as an alternative to black in the evenings
3. I very much enjoy Teavana’s Vanilla Honeybush and I am looking for others similar to it.

This tea smells like mellow vanilla, nice and warm, not so strong that it overpowers everything. It brews into a dark color. A full bodied liquor that smells nice and tastes sweet but not at all overpowering. It is enjoyable as a dessert treat or a late night yummy.

It is less sweet/strong smelling than Teavana’s but then again no surprise there.

This is a really lovely Genmaicha – thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for sending it my way.

Sweet, toasty, and delicious. I love the roasted rice flavor of Genmaicha, it reminds me of my favorite part of rice when I cook it, the part that gets slightly caramelized at the bottom of the pan in my rice steamer… sweet, a little crispy … just YUM! Combine that with the flavor of the sweet, vegetative taste of green tea. Just lovely.

Thanks for this tea, my sister!

I bought this for a friend. Had a cup before giving it to her. I think it’s a very nice subtle tea. The fragrance is wonderful. The tea itself has a more floral taste with a bit of fruit and end on a chocolate note. The chocolate is not overwhelming it really warms the flavor of the tea. I like it and might buy it to add to my chocolate tea collection.

The smell of the dry leaves is worth the price of admission – the apricots and buttered popcorn scent is strong. The tea is bolder than other oolongs. I’ll have to try a shorter steeping time.

I got this tea as a end of finals present to myself. I can legitimately say I looked more forward to trying this tea than I did seeing my family over the holidays.

It really met all my expectations. Creamy with notes of white chocolate and peppermint – and not too dense, considering the ingredients. My only wish for this tea is that they made an herbal version next year – it’s such a good dessert tea but I don’t like having too much caffeine before bed.

Haha, wouldn’t think I’d find this tea here considering I got it from a local little tearoom in Canterbury! Actually discovered this during our Tea Society’s Christmas social where we had a “mystery tea tasting” competition: usually we are all served a little of a tea without knowing what kind it is or what’s in it and have to guess, but this time round, we were given a scorecard… And my team won ;) all because I guessed “peony” for this one, prominent as it is in Coquelicot Gourmand, I’ve come to recognise it in other places too.

And wow, did the flavours surprise me at first! Plenty of people said the aroma was like cherries, maybe cherry bakewell tart (with wild cherries it almost smells like… cough syrup? still delicious!); I found it tasted very much like frangipane, or almonds, or maybe amaretto, as well as rose and peony, but I couldn’t guess chilli at all.

This time round, brewing it at home, I was so fascinated by the miniscule chillies and rosebuds in the loose-leaf tea that I decided to use one of the tiny chillies in my brew. Big mistake. I’m terrible with spiciness. This absolutely burns on the way down, but only while I’m actually drinking it. All the other beautiful flavours are still there though! Cherry, still some marzipan there, peony, with a very smooth, fruity sip as though the chilli had never been there in the first place.

I definitely, definitely recommend giving this try if you can, it’s a really unique experience. I might just toss out all the chillies in my bag of this so I don’t burn my mouth off though!

This has quickly become one of my favorite teas! It is smooth and has soft vanilla flavors. I currently steep this at 195 F, and leave the leaves in the teapot until I’m finished drinking the tea.

Initially, the fruity hints of citrus are pleasing. After a moment though, there is an overwhelming bitterness that seems somewhat out of place and unexpected. With a hint of sugar, it takes on a more “tropical” note as the fruity flavors are given a longer lasting impression on the palette.

I did not like hot. It is excellent as Iced only way to drink it.