Herbal Infusions Tea Co.

Thank you TraceyC for sending this my way as I am really quite excited to have this back in my cupboard. Today, the black base is 100% tamed leaving just the strawberry milkshake deliciousness behind. Yum!

Thank you Dexter3657 for sending me a sample of this in a generous surprise package! This is my strawberry milkshake tea and I have missed it but am refusing to order from HI until I am back in Toronto so this was a very welcome addition.

Today, the base is a bit more prominent than in past cups and there is less creaminess but it still has a nice strawberry flavor so I am happy. Once again, thank you so much for sharing and brightening my day with your unexpected surprise. With that in mind…

I AM MOVING IN LESS THAN A MONTH! The reason I mention this is because I know how generous everyone is on steepster. I never expect them but you guys have surprised me with packages time and time again. However, since MY ADDRESS WILL BE CHANGING, I would hate for someone to generously send tea that would just get lost in the world :(. Thus it is probably best that you DON’T SEND ME TEA to my Montreal address (except for the swaps I already arranged) as I don’t think I will receive it.

Sad sipdown :(

Talking about this with Courtney made me want a cup. Unfortunately, there was not as much left as I thought and so my cup used up all the leaf. Now it is gone and I already miss it delicious strawberry milkshake flavor. At least I still have my strawberries and cream matcha to hold me over until I can get more.

I actually quite enjoy this tea. For me, HI’s strawberry smells just like a strawberry milkshake or the fake strawberry syrup they use to make strawberry milkshakes (which I quite enjoy). I just wished I liked either the Cacao or their black base more so I was not hesitant about stocking up. For the most part, the strawberry flavor is what is prominent but the base creeps in from time to time and really ruins the cup.

Opening up this package, I immediately noticed the same tasty strawberry smell that the Strawberry Cream Cacao has. I LOVE the smell as it reminds me of a sweet strawberry milkshake but I have been off the cacao for a while so I was happy to find it on a black base. Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of HI’s black base but in this cup the strawberry is really the star of the show. I am actually pleasantly surprised by how much I am enjoying this one. I will have to see how subsequent cups compare but I would actually consider about getting this again (though not until I am back in Toronto as their online customer service leaves something to be desired).

This tea is amazing. Not too strong with a nice creme brulee flavor! I got it from the Toronto Tea Festival, which by far was one of my favorite tea booths. I would definitely buy again!

Smooth, delicious, incredibly tasty.

Haha oops, another tea I am reviewing as I sip it down lol :P I ordered this sample in my last HI order as I need to find more herbals, my cupboard is seriously dwindling in that department. And I love blends with eucalyptus, so I thought I’d give this a go.

Dry, it smells very citrusy with a fresh hint of eucalyptus. I got 3 cups out of my sample and would have loved to try this iced, but I was craving this this morning so I didn’t feel like saving it haha. Today I steeped for 5 minutes, and the liquor is its characteristic bright pink, probably from the hibiscus and beetroot. It has a rather tart scent when steeped, and a hint of that metallic hibiscus smell lol.

As for the flavor, this one is very herby and tart, definitely hibiscus in this. Today I can actually taste some carrot I think, interesting. The eucalyptus is not overly present, maybe it provides a slight freshness to the blend, but it’s mostly a sour citrusy tea. A lot of fruits and veggies in this one and it makes for quite a fruity cup.

Overall, this one is not bad for a change in routine every once in a while, and I do crave it at times as it is super bright, but I imagine this would really be SPLENDID iced or cold brewed. Closer to summer I might pick up some more of this to try iced tea, it’s much too cold out to have that at this time of year haha. Happy to have tried this, but be a bit wary if you aren’t a fan of tart teas. Sweetener would probably tone that down, or a shorter steep time, but I am enjoying it as is this morning, and have also enjoyed the previous cups prepared the same way :)

I just finished off my sample bag of this and this one really grew on me. It was pretty good the first time I had it, but after this last cup I really wanted more and my sample was gone, so I guess that means I’ll have to reorder it some day! For now I’m using a variety of teas I have a ton of and making something similar, but it’s not as good. But not bad… (fyi.. I’m mixing upton’s creme caramel and american tea room’s masala chai – both of which I bought in an absurd quantity before I knew any better)

When I opened the pack I was a little disappointed to smell more of a butterscotch smell vs. creme brûlée as I am not a butterscotch fan at all. Once brewed, it still tastes like a butterscotch chai, but I was very surprised to find that I really enjoyed it! I’ve tried several herbal infusions teas and haven’t been totally blown away by any, but if I do decide to order something, I’d throw this onto the order.

Hmm. Well, I prefer the DavidsTea version of “Serenity Now”, for sure (it has lavender). This tea isn’t too bad; the mint isn’t overpowering but I’d prefer it wasn’t there at all. This is basically just a standard herbal tea, though reasonably well-balanced.

As I put in the description… this was a freebie generously given out by Herbal Infusions Tea Co. at the Toronto Tea Festival! There was also a black option, which Raritea and Sil picked up; I got the herbal.

Unfortunately, I should have given more thought to what would likely be in the herbal… naturally, my favourite ingredient, mint, features quite prominently (that’s sarcasm, btw). So, it’s not going to be a favourite, and I feel bad about that! However, it seems to be a pretty decent tea, as minty ones go. I feel like it’s not peppermint, but plain mint – which lends a crispness to the tea that I’m not finding offputting. I can’t really pick out any of the other flavours, but again, this had the same epic oversteep that the Creme Brulee Chai had, so it’s possible that that allowed the mint to completely take over. I’m sure this will be popular with those who like minty, herbally teas.

ETA: I have no idea how my note got cut off previously… .anyhow, second infusion actually was better. Less mint, more background flavours, which I found more enjoyable. I’ll probably have some of this again to see if I can coax those flavours out in the first infusion.

Sipdown! 38/365

Yeah, this one was still good. A creamy chai with some kick, but mild enough to enjoy without additions, and the “right” blend of spices for me (aka heavy on cardamom and a balance of ginger/cinnamon/clove). I believe I had this multiple times in travel mugs, and it was always good. Farewell, delicious tea.

Almost gone! This isn’t as good as it was, but still a tasty enough chai. Just not so much creme brulee anymore.

Sadly, putting this in a travel mug takes away some of the creme brûlée flavour… but it was still good. Just not amazing. Live and learn.

Still a fan. I don’t think it’s necessarily “creme brûlée”, but there’s a carmelly flavour mixed in with the perfect chai spicing (my version of perfect, which is light on cinnamon, heavier on cardamom, with a touch of ginger), and the base seems fairly resilient. I always appreciate when I don’t feel the need to add milk/sweetener to my chais (not that I shy away from those that are better with additions!), but it means I will let myself drink it more often because I don’t have all those extra calories to add it, it’s just delicious by itself!

One of the teas I picked up at the Toronto Tea Festival! :D It smelled divine, so I had to have it. And I do not regret my decision. Even with an epic oversteep of 7 minutes and 45 seconds (I get distracted too easily), it’s pretty darn tasty. The spicing is perfect – not too chai-like to overpower the creamy deliciousness of the creme brulee. It’s a bit astringent, but 100% I’d chalk that up to my oversteep. I expect with a 3-4 minutes infusion, it would be amazing. I’d like to try it with milk, but I have a feeling that the creaminess would be masked, and the spicing may not be strong enough to handle it…. and really, it’s delicious without, so I probably won’t. I’ll save the super strong spice blends for milk.

ETA: Second steep was quite delicious. Third steep, not particularly flavourful, but certainly better than plain water! I’m quite pleased, overall.

Another one from MissB! thanks again! Another one I was dying to try! If I try ALL the teas, then I know what I like, right? I accidently added the whole sample to my infuser.. it looked like around one teaspoon to me, but ended up being closer to two teaspoons. Whoops! (Just boiled // 3 min) Isn’t bad anyway… though I have no idea what makes this more than a typical chai… it tastes like the usual – nice black tea and nice spices. It actually seems HOT spicy somehow, maybe the black pepper? It has that chai raisiny flavor that some of them have. The second cup was just as nice. This is a really nice chai as a plain chai, but as ‘crème brulee’ it fails.

Using almost teaspoons only made it a tiny bit astringent, but I needed that this morning anyway. I will actually have access to SEVEN of the Tournament of Books books this year (themorningnews.org)! Usually I’m only able to read one-two books in time for the ToB so I have some speed reading to do!

Sipdown!! (209)

So at some point this weekend I had over 230 teas but after many sipdowns (yay for Sipdown Saturday!) and packaging up some stuff to send away I am down to 209. Perhaps I can get down to 200 by the end of the weekend,

As for this tea, it is certainly flavorful and very unique. It was fun to try but I find there is a sweetness that I am finding off-putting the more I drink this. However, it does actually capture the flavors of the melons. Thank you Dexter3657 for sharing.

Thank you Dexter3657 for sharing this with me. You shared so much that I was able to try this both cold and hot brewed. Personally I prefer this hot. It loses the overly sweet bubblegum quality while still maintaining the melon flavor that I really enjoyed when it was cold.

Prior to trying this, it was a plus in my mind because it is a fruity tisane that actually DOESN’T have hibiscus in it. That is surprisingly rare so when I find one, I am immediately interested.

I got a generous portion from Dexter3657 and immediately prepped a bottle to cold steep. I am very happy that the melon flavors are strong and deliciously refreshing. However, there is a bit of a sweet bubblegum quality to this that I am not loving. Nonetheless, this is a very juicy drink and would probably be nice to have around in the summertime. Thank you Dexter3657 for sharing this with me. It is definitely something I would consider restocking.