Happy Turtle Tea

W is for…Winter in Arendelle

Had this as a latte while on a WhatsApp video call with friends. It’s a classic vanilla mint profile, like Santa’s Secret from DAVIDsTEA, and so cute with the little snowflake sprinkles. It’s a little heavier on the mint than Santa’s Secret and also not as accessible for me in Canada so I will probably stick to the DAVIDsTEA version. That said, this was fun given the sprinkles and the name and I enjoyed it.

Latte Sipdown (218)

Q is for…Queen of Thorns

The day has been hectic and also long since I finished yesterday at 2 am and started today at like 8:30 am. And was in a lot of calls but when I finally got lunch I decided to make a latte. I sort of threw it back when I returned to work though. I just recall this being super crazy Rose/floral. Fitting for the name but not my favourite flavour profile.

Q is for…Queen of Thorns

Honestly I bought this for the cute glitter sprinkle crowns and they do not disappoint. Gimmicky? 100% yes. Makes drinking the tea more fun? Also yes. Not going to lie.

As for taste, I am thrown because this is a blend with cardamom, vanilla, rose and almonds and yet my first sip was a whole lot of milk chocolate. I rechecked the ingredients because that seemed wrong and it was. So I kept drinking. Ok, that was a fluke. I am not getting the rose and almond pairing together. It is really dessert-like but for some reason in my head I am thinking Turkish Delight. Maybe its the rose. Maybe its my tastebuds going nuts and my brain being all hopped up on class actions law that it isn’t processing other things well. Who knows…

Sipdown 73-2021
I ended up making another cup with the remainder of my little packet this morning. This is actually going on my repurchase list.

I’m a sucker for a glittery tea. Luckily, I also find this one really tasty! It actually tastes like the French Toast Crunch cereal (does that still exist?)

N is for… Night in The Glittering Caves!

Sipdown (1397)!

Thank you VariaTEA for this share – I remember your Steepster review of it as well as your post about it on IG, so I was excited to try this tea! It’s a pretty cool concept – I very much like how the use of glitter/luster dust was tied into this nerdy tea reference. Tickles all the right buttons for me, plus steeped the tea just looks hella pretty. I love luster dust so much and I am very glad to see so many other tea companies are beginning to start working with it!

(It can be a bit gimmicky, imo, when you over do it – but balanced, it’s fun!)

I find the taste of this blend a little generic for my tastes but I appreciate what Happy Turtle was going for – notes of caramel, sweet nuts/pecans, and marshmallow all do come across to varying degrees but it makes for a little bit of a generic “sweet” profile if you don’t actively think about all of the parts making up the whole. I like sweet teas a lot typically – this is actually similar in feeling to DT’s Sweet Potato Pie – but I think maybe I was just not REALLY in the mood for it today??

Sipdown (221)

N is for…Noble Patroness

This cup had more black tea than the last and it was a touch astringent. However, I did enjoy this one between the cranberry and vanilla notes. I would grab it again if I were ordering from Happy Turtle Teas.

N is for…Noble Patroness

I didn’t realize this tea had glitter in it but it does and its super cute!

Also, its supposed to be a black tea but its a lot of fruits. Got a nice cranberry and vanilla flavor.

Sipdown (200)

I started bar prep yesterday and I am not good at studying so this is all new to me. I have no clue what I’m doing so it’s taken over my life. Yesterday I had teas sitting next to me all day but I just was so caught up I didn’t even drink them. So basically in addition to bar prep, I’m trying to figure out life and how to have a study/life balance. Slowly but surely I’ll get there…I hope.

Today that meant drinking my tea. This tea. A Star Wars inspired blend for May 4th. I enjoy this one. It’s got a lot of tropical fruity notes that are a nice contrast to the sort of gloomy day outside. Like a ray of sun in an otherwise blah time.

L is for…Leia’s Hope

The fruit notes come through loudly in the front of the sip. A whole bunch of tropical right up front and coming in strong. That dissolves to a slightly brisk black tea which I think is coming off more brisk than it is from the floral note of jasmine at the end.

Cold Brew Sipdown (1358)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the tea! There’s a lot going on in this ingredient list so I had no idea what to expect, but cracking open the sample bag it smelled really good – very tropical and sweet with guava and dragonfruit notes and a bit of lemongras!

Steeped up, I’m definitely finding it a little lighter that the dry aroma but still very flavourful and fun! It’s a real grab bag of mixed fruit notes, but leaning more tropical with the guava still coming through quite a bit along with notes of lemongrass and sweet apple. Definitely a little herby/grassy underneath those juicy and tangy tropical fruit notes, but not unpleasantly so. The finish is sort of cooling – it doesn’t taste of mint but it feels like mint. Can’t remember right now if there was actually mint in the blend, though…

Overall, I find this really interesting and distinct! I like it a lot more than I expected to.

Latte Sipdown (260)

J is not for…Forged from the Stars

The chicory has taken over and combined with the nuttiness, this has me thinking coffee. I GET IT NOW!!! Last time I had this I had no clue why it was named for Thor but this is reading coffee and we all know how the God of Thunder feels about coffee. So A+ for being inspired by the namesake but as someone who doesn’t love coffee or chicory, I’m okay with saying goodbye to this one.

F is for…Forged from the Stars

My brother-in-law and I are separately rewatching the MCU movies in chronological order. It’s hard for us to watch them together because typically my sister is home and she has no interest in the MCU whatsoever and refuses to let us watch. However, today was an odd day where my sister had to actually go to work in person so my brother-in-law finally got caught up on the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. We then were debating what to watch so I asked where he’d gotten in the rewatch and he said he just finished Iron Man 2. Same for me so Thor was next and how convenient that it worked out that we are watching Thor on the same day the Thor-inspired blend matches the letter of the alphabet.

Anyways, I brewed a cup to drink while watching the movie. It’s a weird nutty chocolate tea though and I’m not sure how it reflect the God of Thunder. Not really sure where they are going here. And taste wise, it’s cooled a little and is becoming a touch astringent. Alright, a lot astringent which is making the nuttiness come off kind of strange. I have more of this and will need to revisit because this wasn’t the best.

Sipdown (273)

E is for…Elevenses

This was a sample in my Happy Turtle Tea order. I might have forgotten to set a timer when I steeped this though and I’m hoping it’s underleafed otherwise it’s a little bland. It’s supposed to be an oolong with berry flavours but mostly I just get a slight oolong flavor.

M is for… Milk Oolong!

Sipdown (1404)!

I see I’m not the only one who chose to drink a milk oolong for their “M Day” – I had a few to choose from but picked this one for the easy sipdown. Really delicious though – like liquid butter with a slight green floral undertone. Thank you again for sending this my way VariaTEA. I love a good milk oolong!

A definitely guilty pleasure tea.

Flavoured milk oolongs are a bit guilty pleasure tea for me, and I happened to be strongly craving the uber creamy deliciousness of one yesterday so I decided to give this blend a whirl! I ran out of time during my work day to steep it up, so I had a very long feeling commute home knowing that I had this sample in my pocket just dying to be steeped up.

It was very nice though and insanely buttery with a very coating mouthfeel. Like perfectly golden toasted slathered in loads of fresh, creamy whipped butter. Really indulgent and, while not much of the oolong peaked through, I thought the cup was a very relaxing way to end my work week going into the long weekend.

Thank you VariaTEA for sending this tea my way!! I avoided Happy Turtle’s website for so long because I knew as soon as I saw more fandom blends I would feel compelled to order, so it was a nice surprise receiving these teas from you…

Sample from VariaTEA. i’ve had this before and while i enjoyed the last of this cup, it is a really sweet cup of tea, which overpowers the green base. Enjoyable but nothing i need to have again.

Sipdown 61-2021
This was just way too sweet for me, so I only had a sip and gave the rest of the mug to my partner who loves especially sweet teas. There’s perhaps a bit of nuttiness, but mostly all I could taste was sweet.

Sipdown (1375)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the birthday present – I’ve been avoiding Happy Turtle because I just knew that as soon as I saw the site I would need to order. Nerdy teas are my kryptonite. So, this was a very welcome surprise/good way of skirting that hesitancy.

I cannot begin to tell you how delighted I am by the cleverness of an Ursula/Little Mermaid themed tea being built around a “Throat Help” concept. That is just so clever and I feel like I must bow down to the person who’s brain came up with that idea!

The taste is pretty nice – definitely one of the more palatable throat oriented blends that I’ve tried. I greatly appreciate that it’s not loaded up with licorice root – I know that’s a very functional ingredient for sore throats but I loathe the taste so much. This is warming and cozy, with a focus on cinnamon and just a bit of a fruity (orange?) undertone.

It’s not blowing my mind or anything, but it’s definitely hitting the spot in the moment.

Sipdown 48-2021
Pu’er, pistachio, papaya, and peony- quite an interesting ingredient list (also- alliteration!) The pu’er is dark and earthy and at the forefront of each sip. A buttery nuttiness follows and lingers in the aftertaste. Not getting any papaya.

Iced Tea and Plain Tea Sipdown (296)

I realized I had about 3 perfect spoons in the package so I decided to use one for a hot cup of tea and the other two for an iced tea. It’s supposed to be a honeybush but it’s mostly fruit pieces. Fruit and glitter, which sells me quickly because I love a gimmick.

Tasting the hot tea, I really like it. It’s fruity but in a sweet/syrupy/caramel-y way. I can taste apple and fig and more, though nothing is specifically distinct. The iced is similar to the hot and still very good. I don’t know if I would place an order for this but I would add this to an order if I were placing one.

Rooibos hit me first, then caramel, then the jasmine. It’s supposed to be a creme brulee tea and while I can see what they were going for, it misses the mark. I blame the jasmine.

In my opinion, this is Happy Turtle Tea’s version of Forever Nuts. Forever Nuts but sweeter.

Sipdown 46-2021
This came as a sample in my Happy Turtle order (still counting it as a sipdown!). It’s quite buttery and sweet- like a sugar cookie or perhaps a caramelized nut. Not tasting any of the oolong. It’s a nice tea, but not really a flavor profile that I love enough to repurchase.