Distinctly Tea

Added 1t of sugar. The blend of spices, chocolate, and tea make a very nice flavor profile, somewhat similar to the idea of chai.

This is my first time trying a Korean tea, and as far as I know, this is the first one Distinctly Tea has had in stock. It is a bit different from what I’ve tasted in Chinese and Japanese green teas, which is what I was hoping for. It tastes like a sencha but without much astringency and a strong nori seaweed flavour. I imagine that might turn some people off, but it really is quite drinkable.

I loved this tea – I can’t get enough of chocolate, and of course chocolate flavoured tea is right up my alley! However, it can be hard to get it right… This gets it pretty right. I find it to be rich and smooth – with delightful chocolate undertones, making a great dessert tea!

This one came in the Hapa-tite swap I signed up for via Nicole.

First off, look what a pretty colour it is! The camera didn’t quote do it justice.
http://s770.photobucket.com/user/courtneyns/media/Steepster/33EC3561-975D-40EB-98D2-FE3B8DCA8FEC_zpsr2vinemz.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

This one smells just like Forever Nuts, Brioche Free, etc. I have a pretty good feeling it will taste similar. I do enjoy the taste of all these teas, but I can’t drink them all the time. This was nice surprise though, since I haven’t had Forever Nuts in ages.

Grassy and vegetal, with a more savoury acidic, almost salty flavour I can’t put my finger on. Not quite my thing, but tastes good. Yellow liquor.

The sweet, roasted flavour of the puffed rice dominates the taste of this tea. Not bad, but some more tea leaves or less rice would have made for a more even flavour. Pale yellow liquor.

Dark, malty, and sweet, although not as malty or flavourful as higher grades of Keemun. Still, very pleasant for an everyday Chinese black tea.

I don’t taste the darjeeling flavours myself, but there’s definitely some maltiness. Other than that, it has the body of an Indian or Ceylon black, with a bit more sweetness. Tasty, for what it is, but I was expecting more flavour given the tea’s grade.

Poor grade of pu erh. Some earthy flavours, but they’re overshadowed by a strong fishy stench. Distinctly Tea doesn’t seem to have a good selection of pu erh teas, and after trying this one, I think I’ll try a store that has a wider range for pu erh.

Edit: Over the past year or so, Distinctly Tea’s selection of pu erhs has been expanding. No sheng pu erhs yet, unfortunately, but I think there are some better shou pu erhs there now.

Honey, roasted grain, and roasted nut flavours. Yellow to orange liquor, depending on steep time. This tea can take relatively long steep times for an oolong, developing more body with a bit of bitterness. Doesn’t have the flavour complexity one would get from a higher grade of ti kuan yin, but still quite pleasant.

A tasty, flavourful lightly oxidized oolong. Sweet, with a strong floral aroma and some honey and nut flavours. Pale yellow liquor.

Full review’s posted here: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2685/tea-review-distinctly-tea-hers-womans-herbal/

There’s been a recent thread on discussion board about herbs/tisanes for all things female; I think this one could be added to the “pretty effective” list.

Trying to attack my little sample packet scientifically for a complete review for medicinal effectiveness at www.itsallabouttheleaf.com later on, but first impression is that it tastes a lot less nasty than I had braced myself for. Black pepper in a tea—that’s a new one, and on this raw day, it feels good.

Review’s up … another one I miss from days gone by:

http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2321/tea-review-distinctly-tea-pear-cream-supreme-2/

In today’s pairing of fine tea with a junk food breakfast, we’ll select Pear Cream Supreme (which, if anything, just keeps getting better and better in my estimation) to go with Pillsbury lemon cinnamon rolls out of a tube. Not too bad! The cream flavor is such a mellowing agent to the fruit … mmm!

This one’s in the queue at www.itsallabouttheleaf.com, but it’s good—really good! The word ambrosia was used in the review. And rightfully so. :)

great concept ………………ladies it is all about me ………..correct

Hmmm. I never know how to brew multi-leaf blends! So strange. White and black! No shades of grey here hahahaa
So. The tea. At near boiling, this was interesting. Not quite up to speed for my tastes, being a little mild, so I added milk and honey. Much better! I can taste the white part, coming in as a high note astringency.
Next, I brought the temp way down to see if that changed anything, letting the cup cool for about a minute. Ewww. Do not like at all.
Would I get this again? I think so, one day. One of those comforting teas I could drink all afternoon, out of my pot. Not because I am in love with it, but because it’s naturally unassuming and not in your face. Though if I did that, I’d probably add milk and sugar for the first cup and then have the rest bare.
(backlog from last week)

sipdown!

So this tea had me expecting more. It’s basically a vanilla rooibos that isn’t TOO rooibos-y that has hints of garlic in the after taste. I was really hoping for a more garlic dominated tea just for something interesting to drink. Overall not bad, but obviously nothing relaly workth writing home about either.

Sipdown! Thanks to Raritea for a sample of this interesting tea!

The dry leaf didn’t have a great deal of aroma, but once infused, it was kind of a sweet, stinky foot sort of smell, haha. Kind of strange.

The flavour is… very interesting. I’m picking up on the tomato-y note that Raritea mentioned, and definitely can taste the garlic, which is coming off as weirdly savoury. I suspect that’s in part because of the rooibos base. I can’t really taste the vanilla, but I honestly think it would taste really funky here, alongside the garlicky tomato-y rooibos-ness.

Caaaaan’t say I’d want to be having this again :) It’s a bit on the weird side for me, and I’m not a big fan of rooibos blends to begin with. Perhaps a garlic-flavoured white tea would suit me a little better. Or a vegetal garlic green.

Thanks again for the sample though, Raritea!

ETA: Apparently I should be thanking Sil for this as well?? Anyhow, let this cool overnight, and just took a sip… holy garlic! Much stronger than last night, and actually a little stomach churning first thing in the morning. There are 2-3 sips left, but I think I might toss the rest. The thought of more garlic doesn’t appeal to me right now.

So tonight, I decided to try out a tea that I purchased to try out from the tea festival. This one was from my earl grey fun pack that I got for 9$, such a great deal:) . This earl grey- inspired tea is a blend of white and green tea.

Dry Leaf: mixed colours of green, purple-blue, and yellow. I like the smell, nice and flowery.

Steeped: More of a citrusy smell when boiled water interacts with the leaves. The water is light in colour, a nice green-yellow tinge. I enjoyed the taste of this, it was like having a light earl grey. I was thoroughly impressed with this, I could see myself buying more of this in the future.