Ovation Teas

Thanks to DHart1214 for this sample tea!

It appears that the clocks have reversed and I’ll have to nose about for my Summer clothes this week. The temperature will hike up around 78-80 Degrees which is perfect for speeding around the hills in my jalopy with a packed lunch, tea thermos and camera, knowing I’ll find lots of Fall color to shoot.

This Black Lemon Tea was my first tea today.
With the first tasting, I was so glad it wasn’t bitter. (I was expecting it to be bitter actually because the amount of lemon peel
was large and I steeped it 5 minutes ( Ovation suggested 5-6)).

Contrary to my prediction, the flavor was lighty lemon flavored and almost completely overshadowed by the Assam which was full bodied and strong.
I was afraid to add any milk because of possible curdling but I did go back on a second infusion and no harm done.
Adding sweetening brought the lemony taste forward. That is the way I would drink the tea, sweetened at the very least.

As the tea cooled it became astringent and for me undrinkable.

As long as this is kept hot enough, it’s tasty and a ‘lemony twist’ on a strong Assam.

Off to write a bit more then to see the red and golden trees of Fall!

Thank you Dhart 1214 for this sample tea

Earlier today I drank a delicate tea, the kind that reminds me of Spring and the first flowers in the garden, a soft warm breeze and iced tea. It was jasmine and peach.

This evening, I chose a blueberry black tea to drink while listening to the rain outside. Blueberry and black tea sounded good.
It was interesting to see big snowflakes falling higher up in the mountains so early while watching the News on TV. SNOW!
Then I remembered last year and the freaky snow storm in October that hit early before the trees had lost their leaves. We live in an age of unpredictability. Pretty soon…!

I enjoy making a pot of tea and fixing a tray in the evening.
I set the tray on my coffee table (which is really an extra long Pottery Barn bench the length of my sofa) and keep pouring cups of tea. My April Cornell tea cozy’s keep the tea hot. (You can get them online for $14 reversible and $7 on sale)

Wow this tea was strong. I’d almost swear this was a Scottish Breakfast tea with some blueberries. It was strong and a little smoky too. Not for the faint of heart to be sure.
Straight away milk was added and some sweetening which set things right. The blueberry flavor enhanced the black tea with a dark, ripe fruitiness without adding sweetness.

The briskness of my initial tasting was so strong that the additions were necessary in my opinion. They created a decent European style tea. (Going forward, I would choose this for my morning tea and not for the evening.)

I’m totally awake now and not likely to sleep for hours, so I’ll have to find a good English mystery on Netflix to finish the last cup with.

Good evening all!

Lovely sample from TeaEqualsBliss.
Weirdly, I am getting more of a fresh cut cedar scent and taste.
Which, obviously is quite odd since there in no Cedar in this tea.
But, it really is making me think of a walk through the woods.
When I was a child, the only source of heat we had was a wood stove to keep us warm through the winter.
So, about this time of year we would be out in the woods cutting wood for all those long cold winter days.
This tea smells like those days to me.
Anyway, this tea is not anything like I was expecting but I really like it and the memories that stirred up with it:)

What a tasty tea! Thank you Missy so much for the wonderful sample!! I knew I was going to like this the second I stuck my nose in the bag. How could you not with all of those wonderful flavors melding together. It was a bit bitter, but I think that’s because I was not sure of the steeping parameters. Next steep I’m going to go up to 1 1/2 teaspoons and bring the temperature down a bit. I know then it will be perfect. So vanilla and yummy. This is going on my shopping list for sure!

So lately, I’ve been making 2 or 3 cold steeps at a time. I lose track of what’s in what cup. I’ve started making a list on my computer to remind myself when I forget. which is all the time. Today, I had two cups to choose from when I got home from work. Since I didn’t remember what I was steeping, my choices were fruity smell green or creamy smelling white. I’m proud of myself for being able to distinguish that much from scent alone. :)

I went with the fruity one. Still having no idea what the heck I was drinking, I started to try and figure out the flavors. I got whats likely a bancha or sencha. Pineapple. Something like orange peel. A floral bitterness and sweetness from the fruit chunk, probably. A hint of strawberry.

Looking at my record, I see that I’m drinking Green Tea Fruit Smoothie from TeaEqualsBliss! And I’m not too far off! I guess the bitterness made me think of orange peel instead of mango. It’s not really terribly bitter, but it does detract from the experience. I should probably cold brew for less time with this one. It’s been about 20 hours since I put this in the fridge.

Anyways, refreshing and much appreciated chilled fruity tea after work. Especially since the water cooler ran out of water at work. So thirsty!

and for those of you who are curious, the creamy white turns out to be Coconut Creme. I’m so awesome. :)

AMAZING. This tea is PERFECTLY blended – the chocolate and cherry both come through strongly, and the base gives it enough structure that I don’t feel like I’m drinking cocoa and cherry flavored hot water, but otherwise stays neatly in the background, which is what I usually want from a dessert tea. Also, it’s easily the best chocolate tea I’ve ever had.

This is actually my second try at this one; the first time I steeped it for 3 minutes and it turned out VERY bitter. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about the flavors – I think fig and brown sugar sound better in theory than in practice.

At 2 and a half minutes, the base wasn’t too strong, but it wasn’t anything else either – completely flavorless. Bleh.

The scent of the dry leaf isn’t very strong, so it’s not too surprising that the flavor’s pretty weak when brewed – the tea base isn’t bad, but I couldn’t taste any spice, caramel, OR pear.

The dry leaf smells really interesting! It’s not what I expected, but it’s surprising in a good way. At first sniff, the pomegranate, juniper, and lemongrass combine to create something that does smell very much like a granny smith apple, oddly enough. I wouldn’t think that’d be the case, but it is.

The rose and marigold add a nice floral element. This tea just has so much going on! I don’t think I thoroughly read the ingredients before I bought it. Or if I did, I just don’t remember there being so many ingredients.

Again, the brewed tea aroma smells surprisingly like apple! I know, I shouldn’t be surprised. But so far, I’m just really impressed by how accurate the aroma is. Apple is hard to pull off in tea form. It’s one of those flavors that usually gets suppressed or concealed entirely. I’m hopeful that won’t be the case here.

Now the taste! Oh, wow, the taste!! This is fantastic! It’s a little flaky hot. I think it’d be better iced. But it’s still very enjoyable and a pleasant way to spend the evening. The flavors are fairly muted compared to the dry leaf aroma. But I’ve come to expect that in Ovation Teas after the Green Tea Fruit Smoothie experience. The subtler fruit flavors do allow the green tea base to shine, which it truly does here.

Well, this ends my new Ovation tea notes. I’ve tried everything from my last order. The Cherry Joy Black Tea was my favorite by faaaar. I highly recommend Ovation to people new to or hesitant with green teas. They’re not vegetal or grassy at all. It’s just pleasantness in a cup! :)

I revisited this earlier today to see if a shorter steep time might be beneficial to minimize the slight bitterness I noticed, and yes, it does help. The flavors, though, are a bit softer too. I think what is most beneficial is to let this tea cool slightly after steeping for a slightly longer time (2 1/2 minutes in the Breville). I find that the bitterness tends to dissipate at that point, but the flavors are strong and delicious.

YUM! I’m really liking this. The black tea base is very solid; a good strong black tea. There is a hint of bitterness that I taste but it is not a lot of bitterness and I don’t find it off-putting. Somehow it works well with the chocolate notes, accenting the bitter-sweet taste of the cacao nibs. The hazelnut flavor develops as I sip, starting out rather weak, but, now that I’m to the mid-cup point, I find the hazelnut flavor emerging and it’s delightful. The caramel tones are probably the strongest of the three flavorings.

Overall, a very tasty cup of tea. I think the next time I brew this, though, I shall shorten the brew time just a bit (2 minutes instead of 2 1/2 in my breville) to see if that helps eliminate any of the bitterness. Until then, I’ll not rate this.

Ugh, I haven’t been able to login in days! Every time I’ve tried, Steepster has failed to load. When I checked Down For Everyone Or Just Me, it always said it wasn’t just me. So, I’ve been logging my teas in a Word document, and now I have tons to post!

I didn’t rate this the first time I tried it because it was a bit of a disappointment. I had high expectations and then didn’t prepare it correctly. That always sucks. But the dry leaf aroma is even more intoxicatingly fruity than I remember! The tea has sat for a while, so hopefully the flavors will be more developed. I added a bit more leaf than last time too.

The brewed tea aroma is still strong, though not quite as strong as the dry leaf. And the moment of truth…yes! The flavor is definitely better. Much more fruity, but the green tea is still holding its own too.

Oh, sweet relief! I was so worried about this tea, but it’s turned out quite all right. First to hit my taste buds is definitely pineapple, followed by mango, strawberry, and then a sweet green tea aftertaste. This is a lovely tea! If you decide to buy it, definitely wait a few weeks for the flavors to develop and be generous with the leaf.

The only negative I have to say about it is the more I drink it, the thirstier I get! My mouth feels parched, and I really want to drink a giant glass of ice water. Second steep for 6 minutes was still good, but now I’m really parched! Maybe it would be better as an iced tea…hmm, I’ll have to experiment.

The dry leaves smell AMAZING!!! Fruity and delicious! The first scent I can discern is pineapple, quickly followed by mango and then strawberry. Even Mr. Frodo (my kitty) jumped up next to me to stick his nose near the bag and sniff.

The steeping instructions recommended 4-5 minutes, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So, I brewed the first cup at 182 degrees for 2 minutes. The aroma of the brewed tea is much more subdued than the dry leaves. It smells like green tea first followed by subtle hints of mango. I’m really excited to try this!

Ah, the first sip is light and sweet. I think it probably could have been steeped for 4 minutes and still not turn bitter. The fruit flavor is a subtle, sweet essence of what it could be. I’ll definitely steep the second cup longer. Still, this fruit combination blends together nicely. Pineapple is definitely the most prominent flavor. The green tea is not very green, nor is it grassy. Indeed, it doesn’t have much flavor of its own at all. Once the cup cools completely, I can detect the flavor of the marigold petals. Not sure about globe amaranth but, then again, I don’t know what globe amaranth tastes like.

I steeped the second cup for a full 6 minutes at 185 degrees. Unfortunately, it’s more or less the same as the first cup. The dry leaves smell way too amazing to yield such a lackluster brew. I’ll hold off rating it for now and plan to double the leaf amount next time.

It has just come to my attention that I have failed to review teas in my cupboard, many of which I actually drink regularly. Today I’ll be rectifying that. Why don’t you care? Don’t, don’t you dare! Rectifier, how’s the world supposed to be? Rectifier, take my hand and rescue me. Rectifier, how’s the world supposed to be? Rectifier, take my hand and set me free! There’s some RA for you. So on to the tea.

This is a really smooth tea. For all the flavors in it, it really finesses the palate. So comfortable and familiar. Since I have a huge crush on cardamom, I really like that it’s the first thing I notice about this tea. As far as spices go, I get a bit of cinnamon and anise with a finish of coriander. I think the fruit in here serves to make it sweeter, as I can’t really pick out the pineapple. This is almost creamy. The rooibos seems to be more prominent than the mate. I’m okay with that since I really like rooibos.

A very nice tea but it won’t be able to usurp Samurai Mate. It needs a bit more pow in the cinnamon department for that.

Backlog:

Nice. I finished off my last of this tea yesterday, and I really love this tea. It is bright and flavorful, with delectable fruit notes and sweet, beautiful floral notes. A fantastic, well rounded tea that is deliciously mellow.

This is really good. The mango and peach are pretty evenly balanced, providing a sweet, delicious fruit flavor to the cup, while a hint of lavender and rose linger in the background. The black tea is rich and smooth. A very well-executed blend by Ovation Teas.

LiberTeas sent this one my way so I could have a nice refreshing iced tea. mm and it is!
I definitely agree with her note:
The flavours in this tea are very muted when hot. I had a hard time picking any flavours out, except for the sensation that it was sweet.

Cold however, was a whole other experience! Sweet and tart from the pineapple (tastes fresh!) and juuuicy from the blueberry. I find the flavours are pretty much equal in taste, which is sometimes unique to a flavoured tea! The green base was nice and sweet, not too astringent, which added to the experience.

Ah yum, definitely destined to be an iced tea to remember

Has anyone said it yet? Okay I will

May the Fourth be with you.

This ROCKS as an iced tea. Sweet and pineapple-y … like real pineapple juice. The blueberry is strong at first but softens toward the end. Sweet and fruity and refreshing, but not a sugar sweet kind of taste … a delicious fruit sweet taste.

I purchased this tea because it sounded like it would be AWESOME iced, and with the warm weather on its way (I think its on its way, although based on the weather of the last couple of days, you’d think it’s still autumn), I wanted to have a few teas in my stash for iced tea brewing.

And this seems made for iced tea. The flavors are a bit less distinct when its hot, but as it cools they really come to life. The pineapple and blueberry are pretty evenly paired here. The pineapple stays throughout the entire sip, and lingers into the aftertaste, but it is lighter than the burst of blueberry flavor that I taste just after the start but slowly subsides toward the end of the sip. It is sweet and tart, but, not too tart.

A very nice tea. Good hot, even better cold.

Simple and delicious. The blueberry is not subtle, but it does not overpower the green tea. The two just blend together beautifully. I loved it hot, and I’m looking forward to trying it iced. Now if I could find a peach tea that tasted as good…..

This one was interesting to me. First, I love brown sugar! I have tried figs before, and I know I like them. They have a certain starchy taste to it. This tea definitely has that taste. The flavor wasn’t very strong. The black tea was a little astringent, but it wasn’t terrible. I added brown sugar to this blend. I’m sure it would taste better with milk, but I’m not sure. I will try it next time. There is a definite fig taste to this tea. Good tea overall. This isn’t a very strong tea, but the flavors linger in my mouth.

How funny that LiberTEAS and I both ordered this tea at the same time, hahaha! This wasn’t planned, I swear. I guess there was just something alluring about it we couldn’t resist. :)

The dry leaves smell exactly like the description. I can discern all three ingredients individually: cherries, coconut, and almond. The steeping instructions recommend 5 to 6 minutes, which is a little longer than I usually steep my black teas (with the exception of Chai). But I figured since this is my first experience with this tea, I’ll follow the instructions and then play around with it later.

Boy, am I glad I did too! At first, the brewed tea didn’t smell anything like the dry blend. All I could get out of the aroma was black tea…how strange. But then as I let the tea cool to a drinkable temperature, the aroma shifted back and all three flavorings made themselves known. This smells scrumptious!

First sip, it is largely coconut, as LiberTEAS mentioned. But I am getting almond next. It’s a subtle, slightly sweet almond flavor. It actually reminds me of Almond Joys!! Maybe that’s where the name came from? Cherry Joy, hmmm, that didn’t occur to me before I bought it. Anyway, the cherry is the lightest flavor of the three. You have to let the flavors sift in your mouth and then wend your way through them to get to the cherry. I do wish the cherry were a bit stronger, but this tea is still remarkably delicious! Much more dessert-like than I was anticipating.

The tail end of the sip has an inclination to go slightly bitter. Mind you, I’m very sensitive to bitterness, so this probably wouldn’t be noticeable to other people. I overcorrected by adding too much milk, and now it’s kind of squashed the other flavors. But with a pinch of Truvia, the flavors came back out. Definitely don’t be heavy handed with the cream in this tea! It really overwhelms the flavorings. By the second infusion, the coconut is worn out and the cherry becomes the most prominent flavor. The coconut is still there, but it’s more in the background and allows the cherry its turn to shine in the spotlight.

Overall, I’m really quite pleased with this tea. The more I drink it, the more I love it! It’s also going to be a great treat when I’m craving candy or sweets. Who knew this was a dessert tea? I’ll probably keep drinking it as a breakfast tea in the morning anyway. ;)

I wasn’t expecting to fall head over heels for this tea, but I am in love with this flavor combination!! Next time I’m going to go for the 4 ounces instead of 2. I might even have to keep this around all the time.

Having another cup of this tea today so that I can finish my full-length review of it (the review will publish tomorrow evening on the SororiTea Sisters blog). I like that the tea flavor is the most prominent taste, followed by the cherry, then the coconut and almond. The result is a flavor that is robust and malty and flavorful first, and after the first couple of sips, the cherry emerges and it tastes sweet and juicy. By mid-cup, the coconut comes alive, tasting creamy and smooth, and a hint of nutty almond flavor sits in the background. A nice dimension of flavor.

I really like this one more with every sip!