Epi Tea

Thank you Michelle for sending some of these for your sale a while back! I’m not sure what a “serene” chai is. No such thing! SO I used two tea bags to make it less serene. It isn’t overpowering with two bags.. just right! The flavor does seem different than a typical chai. I’m surprised the black tea isn’t stronger… so I guess that is what makes it serene, even after a few minutes steeping. The ingredients aren’t particularly flavorful… and there is a flavor here that reminds me of cantaloupe. Different! I’m not tasting vanilla or much cinnamon… mainly ginger. Why are half of the same ingredients organic? hmm. Not a terrible chai but there are others I love more.

First off, thank you Epi Tea for the sample!

It was serene, but I didn’t taste any chai. The flavor was a bit on the weak side and reminded me of average bagged black tea. I got a hint of creaminess out of it and keep wondering where all the spice flavor is.

I’m not sure about this one, its ok nothing wrong with it at all but seemed like something is missing from it, unfortunately I got only one pyramid bag of each of my Epi Tea samples which just wasn’t quite enough to really get a good impression of this one it was just gone too soon and the resteep just wasn’t happening. from what I could tell from one decent cup is that it’s not that bad but I really couldn’t say it was good either, it was different.

I didn’t care much for this one myself so I gave it to Lance he enjoyed it, he said it was a bit strong but that it was quite good.

I am of the opinion that good chai needs peppercorns but few seem to agree. Epi Tea’s blend included both peppercorns and red pepper in addition to vanilla, with no intrusion of cloves. I picked this first from the samples, obviously. It certainly sounded like a great chai, vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom present, peppercorns hiding in the back but when I tasted it, it was all vanilla flavoring. I got some cinnamon and an astringent Assam taste, but no peppercorns, pepper, or ginger. Re-examining the tea bag, I couldn’t find a cardamom pod and I could barely smell the peppercorns. I re-steeped in two ounces of warm water for an hour for a mild cinnamon and vanilla sip. Over all the advertised spices weren’t there, although the bag I received seemed full. Maybe a longer steep? I only had one bag to experiment.
Full Review:
http://sabiisphere.teatra.de/?p=60

First Tea of the day before work…. blah.

The smell of this is kinda like Liptons, but with a hint of coco. It also makes a nice reddish brown liquor. The taste is what I expected. Your basic malty black tea, but with a little ity bit of coco after taste. It is not very astringent, which is nice.

I am not going to rate it cause personally I don’t care for Irish or English breakfast teas. They are good for mixing in flavors(I put a cina disk in mine), but they are just to boring for me. It is not bad though.

Overall I would recommend this to someone who likes malty, or breakfast teas.

Epi Tea wishes only to share great tasting teas with communities across the globe. Our Quality Control Team, after considering reviews from tea drinkers, has decided to discontinue our Blood Orange Rooibos Blend.

Thank you Steepsterites for pointing this blend out prior to our launch!

Find out more here!

http://epiteablog.com/quality-control-with-you-in-mind/

Another day, another Epi Tea sachet to try out!

I wasn’t impressed at first sip while it was still decently hot. It does seem light on everything, but as it cools, it gets very lavender. Thankfully it does not get into the territory of soapy lavender. It’s very light on the bergamot, although I do get a bit of citrus. This is a pretty good EG if you want to like them but can’t handle too much bergamot. The black tea just fits in like a good little puzzle piece.

Even though it’s not my favorite thing in the world, I have to applaud Epi Tea for the perfect use of lavender. Usually I avoid it because it so easily tastes like soap but this is really good! I just wish it was a bit more Earl Grey tasting.

Thanks Epi Tea for the samples of sachets!

I smelled this bag before putting it in the mug. Definitely did not like the smell. I absolutely adore blood oranges and it doesn’t smell like them at all. Side note: I saw “red orange” juice at the grocery store the other day. Red orange. It’s a blood orange, vampires are in, I bet it’d sell more juice.

I got a new mug yesterday! How adorable is this, and it was only $5 http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethrillstheyyield/7722304886/ He’s got some ridiculous heat retention going on making it take forever for me to be able to take a sip.

I didn’t let the sachet steep too long in hopes of avoiding the cough syrupy taste and it seems to work. It’s pretty strong on the red rooibos flavor, so I can see how it can easily turn into that flavor. Sadly, that’s not the problem. I’m getting it and it all lies in the aftertaste. It tastes pretty fantastic beforehand, a really nice mix of rooibos and citrus, but if I take too long to finish my sip, there starts to be a syrupy sweetness that lingers in my throat. It’s not too pleasant but it wouldn’t cause me to stop drinking the cup.

Beyond that, this is enjoyable. Maybe not particularly blood orange, but pretty close. Definitely reminds me of Torani’s blood orange syrup more than cough syrup in the aftertaste.

Thank you Epi Tea for this sample

One of the things I do like about the design of the pyramid sachets is the large amount of room given for leaf expansion. When I placed the sachet in my cup and poured boiling water over it, I could watch the tea slowly grow and fill the bag along with the pink peppercorns, pieces of cardamom and ginger. For 5 minutes while the tea steeped, I played with a small spoon swirling the bag around in the water…watching the ingredients and smelling the aroma of spices curl up in the air around me.

I took a big sip and made an ick face, squishing up my nose.
The dark brew tasted odd. Somewhere the vanilla, spicey black tea tasted like an old pear was thrown in. Chai is better though when sweet, so I added sweetening but that didn’t help either.
I added milk. Chai with sweetening and milk is traditional I told myself, and if anything would make this taste good…this should do the trick.
In went the milk.

Errr…
It still tasted wierd.
It reminded me of benedryl.

For the first time ever, I’m not going to rate a tea. I know other people like this tea and I can’t tell you why, but the flavor hit me like the taste of medicine. It could be a personal thing.

After drinking the tea I could feel a little heat from the pepper and it was just the right amount. Very well placed.

I am so the wrong person to review chai. In my mind, it always falls into one of two categories: too spicy to drink, or not too spicy to drink without ample amounts of sugar and milk. If you are as chai-sensitive as I am, this will most likely fall into the latter category for you. And if you’re sitting here going “what is wrong with her, there’s no such thing as too spicy” then you’ll probably be into this, since it’s rather strong for such a small quantity of bagged (sort of) tea.

got a sample of this – quick impression

i wont give a rating for this tea… as im just so biased against the taste it might not be fair- didnt even finish the cup

very florally taste/smell – sweet smell/taste … i find it offensive, its like drinking poupouri… has a very thin/lemony quality to it… as another review said ‘tart’

… that being said its not overly artificial/fake tasting? maybe some people like floral teas, but its just so far from my preference i couldn’t even say if its good/bad.

Irish breakfast tea and porridge on Australia Day. Yep, I’m waiting for the hordes to kick down the door, burn my birth certificate and kick me out. (Btw, if is happens I’ll pack my tea supplies and move to Ontario. Maybe NS, apparently Halifax is my home town Hobart’s doppelgänger.)

Anywho, this is a lovely breakfast tea! Or brunch, as its 10am. Flavorful without being too strong, soft and not even a little bitter. I went with the soft side of Michelle’s recommendation (around 3mins), so I’m looking forward to playing with steep times.

And just because its been one of those weeks, I’ve added a little of the vanilla sugar I got from*Azzrian* in my swap with her. Swap melding is cool. Just another lovely aspect of this cup! Adds a little sweetness, which soothes my soul if not my taste buds (though it does taste delightful!).

This was one of the many many samples in the swap from Michelle that arrived for me today. Thankyou Michelle!

I brewed up 3 pyramid bags of this to make 2 iced teas for myself and the other half to drink while we did an at-home barre class. Now I have to admit these we’re drunk very quickly due to the need for rehydration during our class. I quite enjoyed it, the other half said he loved his. I think ideally I would’ve left it an extra few minutes but it was quite tasty. The rooibos was very rehydrating, the berries added a nice touch of sweetness. But yes, a few extra minutes would’ve made the flavour a bit stronger. Yummo.

YES! This makes more sense when iced/cold. It’s still not my fave but it’s much better cold. See previous notes!

I LOVE Blood Oranges but this tisane has me really nervous based on the other reviews – usually – I don’t really let that affect me – but – time will tell, eh!?

I chose to under infuse this hoping I would have better luck. I will say it smells like Blood Orange.

The color is lovely once infused…a nice orange/tan color…like sunshine!

Because I under infused this sachet it sure helped it NOT be cough syrupy on the tongue but it does have an intense rooibos flavor with a little bit of Blood Orange Flavor.

I’m drinking this hot and think it misses the mark but I think it would be pretty good cold. I’m going to ice it and add notes to that attempt shortly.

This is a VERY mellow Irish Breakfast. It doesn’t taste bad but it’s not the KICK I was hoping for. I’ve always loved the strong, bold, dark, Irish Breakfast Teas…this was mellow and weak. I was hoping for stronger in the hot version but this is pretty good iced having said that. So this rating is for the ICED version instead.

Wow, way better than expected. I say this because when it comes to earl grey of any kind I tend to be a bit picky. However, in this case I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. No flavors were overwhelming and the lavender and bergamot played very well together. If I ever reach for an earl grey in the future. Chances are good it will be this one.

Thank you EPI for this sample. :)

mmmmmm. berry berry. this is REAL Berry. like, straight up from the woods, which reminds me, i enjoyed this tea 2 Go in a travel mug as i walked the trails on a late summer evening. Wow, talk about one with nature…the tea i mean…cranberries, blackcurrants, almost like trying to describe a dark wine [which i don’t drink but i’m sure would taste similar] mysterious. intruiging. and delightful company in the bush [minus the bugs, lol]. i didn’t add anyting to this tea, but it is the kinda to sit and simmer sip on a long summer walk for sure.

ok… so me and chai, yeah a few years ago we hit it off really well in a local coffehouse…oh that sweet rustic aroma, cupping my hands in that yellow mug…infused with memories….
now years later, and many teas later… i don’t know if it’s me, or the tea, but i think chai’s have been saying to me , “Chow babe”.

don’t get me wrong, there is always room in a mug for chai…i think perhaps maybe it was the milk ratio, not quite balanced…because it only brought back memories of a long lost chai…and never connected since….

oh yes, the review – to any chai lover, this will do the thing. but to one who has had only former memories of chai, my suggestion, if you let it go, and the chai comes back…it’s true chai ;).

LOVE EARL GREY. LOVE LAVENDER…. . i think this was an interesting combo…i could see this being used to have a “spa” day, you know the kind where you need to feel like you are the king or queen of the day of lucious nothingness to do but just relax and BE. i could defintely taste the notes of lavender in the earl grey, but my milk/sugar combo only delightfully enhanced the experience. i used mine in a tea-4-1 set as it generously gave two whole cups worth, the flavour is rich. Very worthy of a book read, a bath, or just a silent moment with one’s self :)

I got this in the free promotion awhile back… and it must’ve gotten buried in my samples pile. This is actually a really good tea. It’s mild and I can’t taste the lavender (a plus in my books) This is the best of the samples I’ve recieved from Epi Tea and a true pleasure to try :D