Metropolitan Tea Company

Surprise! Maple syrup taste is found in this black tea…it is best straight, I tried it with milk and I prefer it plain. Not too shabby.

Compared to The Assam Tea company’s genmaicha, Metropolitan’s is lacking in flavour and aroma and colour…no comparison.

Crunch time for Christmas! I have a scarf to finish crocheting so I decided I would go for a black tea to accompany me on this journey. Thanks to JennyFur for this tea :).

I steeped this for 3 minutes at boiling. I actually didn’t forget about my tea this time! Also, the leaves in this one expanded very nicely.

First sip:
Hm. It tastes a bit bitter to me, but not too bad. I better look up what is in this blend. uh, natural flavors. I taste some flavors in there, haha.

Finishing off the cup:
I don’t think it tastes too bitter anymore. It is more of a sharp taste. It isn’t my favorite, but it isn’t bad. It is just different. It is a tea I would drink again, however.
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Overall, not bad. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse. I don’t think I would crave this, but I will have it again.

I am not sure if I taste the vanilla or not…it definitely could be spicier…does not rate as high as other Chai teas I have had.

Not a bad tea, I can taste the vanilla and it definitely has the taste of cream in it.

Peppery and flavourful, so yummy with sweetened condensed milk in it…I use 1 teaspoonful per cup.

This is a fun tea, but it is hard to get just right. There is a lot of hibiscus in it so I find if you steep for too long it gets way too tart. With a shorter steep it is quite identical to bubble gum/gum balls. I usually add a bit of sugar. It is not too bad with milk added either. I have never steeped one of the gum balls. I usually end of eating them but I am sure it would add sweetness to the tea.

Sometimes I feel like I need a strong cup of black tea to cleanse my palate, just like any “normal” person would need a glass of water. I am much more a lover of straight black teas than I am of flavoured teas, although I do like flavoured teas. I am trying to trim down my cupboard before I order any more tea. So that has left me with a lot of flavoured teas to drink. So today, after drinking a lot of flavoured teas, I felt like I just needed something “normal”. Ha ha. The only problem was I couldn’t decide what I wanted. I found this in my cupboard a few days ago. I thought it was long gone. I am excited to still have some but I know it has been in my cupboard for a long time.

This one is smooth, there is a little bit of astringency in the aftertaste, which I do not remember being there before. It is sweet, without having added anything to it. It is malty and thick. I feel like I am getting notes of dark plums and a bit of cocoa beans. Its delicious and hitting the right spot.

This one used to be one of my favourite teas. But then I stopped drinking it for some reason. I think I just had so many other teas to drink. This one is thick and bold and malty. It is definitely distinct in its flavour. Very slightly sweet on it owns. It is suggested to drink with milk but I actually prefer it without. It very easily becomes astringent but it is not the bad stringent.

Tea #7.

This one was actually on my shopping list, because it sounded really tasty. Chai, with rose petals? Yes please.

I was disappointed to find that one of the spices is not quite to my liking. I was going to say fennel, but apparently there isn’t any in the blend. Coriander, maybe? It’s hard finding a chai with the right balance of the right spices in it. Maybe when I figure it out, I should just get some rose petals to add in, and see if I like that better…

First time to taste this rooibos. I felt it the minute I opened it, this was going to be one on my fav list. Added a bit of honey then settled in for a nice relaxing warm-up on a cool night. I am so ready to add this tea to the shelf in my shop! Love it!

This is a pretty dull tea. I put in a small amount of rock sugar and steeped it for a while (10 minutes?) because I read that it could be a bit flavorless. My first few sips tasted like bitterness and rose petals, which was not a great combination. I added some half-and-half, and now the rose petal taste is gone and it just has an earthy black tea taste… which I’m not finding pleasant.

Sipdown! Thanks, Heather!

This tea is definitely berry. The berry flavour, especially after adding a tiny bit of sugar (1/8 tsp for 1 cup), is nice and juicy. I don’t really get maple from it, but that’s OK. I’m sure I could have brought it out by adding maple syrup to the tea instead of sugar. :)

While I’m enjoying this cup, I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to get some. There are other fruity teas I prefer (Fruits D’Alsace) to this one, as the base teas are more in line with my tastes.

The flowery smell is really overpowering. It’s making me nervous about tasting this. Alrighty, here we go…okay, not as bad as I thought. The initial taste is actually much more subtle than I was expecting. Leaves a distinct aftertaste of flowers, though. A tea to have on it’s own, as I can’t think of anything it would pair with. I think next time I brew this I would steep for only 2 or 3 minutes to try and avoid the overwhelming aftertaste.

I wasn’t sure what Canadian Breakfast tea would be, so I picked this up at a local coffee shop. It’s good! Strong! Would love some (almond or soy) milk and sugar!

Tea #7 Great Canadian Traveling Tea Box

I don’t mind this, it’s a decent fruit/vanilla black tea. I wish the base tea wasn’t Ceylon (now that I’ve learned about the different styles of black, I can say that). It’s a little bit too sharp, or astringent for me. This description says pomegranate, I think it’s more cherry ish. The vanilla is really subtle, doesn’t come out much until the tea cools.
There is quite a bit of this in the TTB, I’m going to play with steep times and see if I can get it to my liking. All in all not bad, would be up to trying Monk’s Blend from other companies.
Reserving rating until I’ve played with it.

I was brewing this at my normal 3m time and I’ve found it comes out a bit bitter for my taste. Seeing someone made it at 1.5m in the review makes me wonder if that was the problem. At any rate this isn’t a terrible tea, I’ve been using my generic green tea to supplement it when I make it to make it a little less bitter. I’ll have to try making it for less time. I wasn’t realizing Sencha was a different blend of tea. facepalm

1.5tsp for 12oz water 3min steep.

I feel that the 3min steep was a bit too long. I have the slightest bit of bitterness coming through.
I think a 2 or 2.5min steep would have been enough.
I love the coconut flavour against the black the base. I’d definitely get this one again I think, but I’d wait until I have finished up a few others.
I love having milk/sugar added to it. It makes the tea a smoother, creamier tea. Again, I wish I hadn’t steeped it as long, but it is still good.

Backlog:

Had this at Selah Tea Cafe iced. Just ok. I did not pick up on the berries, although it was a little sweet. Very generic black base. It mentions there is green tea in the blend as well, but I didn’t taste it.

Backlog from vacation:

My cousins took me to Selah tea Cafe in Waterville, Maine. Went through two french presses of this as we sat and chatted for a few hours. Pretty good! Strong earthy pu’erh base and a nice, creamy caramel flavor- not overly sweet or fake.

Sipping on a TARDIS mug full of this. It comes off as naturally sweet and I’m definitely getting a pastry/pie crust taste. It’s nice but I wish I had cold brewed my sample instead of drinking it hot. I think it might have tasted better that way.