SAHARA TEA

I very much enjoy the warm spices here, very reminiscent of fall. Cinnamon, apple, coconut, ginger, and pepper are all team players that work well together in this blend. It’s about to be April but I’m already looking forward to the crisp autumn air. Dreaming of moving somewhere with perpetually fall-like weather.

So the other night, chatting with friends online, the subject of tea comes up (as usual). More specifically, Earl Grey. Even more specifically, London Fogs. I held out for about three minutes before caving and going to make myself one. Only problem was, I couldn’t find any Earl Grey. Yes, in our huge tea stash, I had to hunt for my favourite tea. Because I’d taken them all to work. I eventually found some Earl’s Garden, a fruity Earl blend, and fixed the London Fog (two parts tea, one part steamy and frothy soy milk, two pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup). But it left me with a craving that Peach Earl, Raspberry Earl, and Earl’s Garden just couldn’t satisfy. SO here I am at work, with my modest work stash at my fingertips, and I crack the seal on this Royal Earl from Sahara Teas. I haven’t tried it before – I think I got it from a friend of a friend who doesn’t drink looseleaf or something. My hopes were not high, given that it was an Unknown, but dayum. This good tea. The cirtusy bergamot smell didn’t fade after steeping, and the flavour is rich and equally citrusy. It’s a little dry, as I find most Earls are, but delicious.

Here’s another interesting tea originally from MissB. I can’t believe that swap meet was almost a year ago, yet I still have so much of the tea! Argh..

I taste something here that I really like. I suspect it’s the the pellet-like black tea variety used in this blend. It looks like Kenyan Tinderet from David’s Tea. The overall taste reminds me of Stacy’s Grapefruit Creme Brulee, which also utilized an identical looking Kenyan base.

The flavours are kind of tangy in a sour stone-fruit way, which sweeps into a particularly smooth and floral honey, and is then grounded by some earthy chocolate notes. The aroma is perfume-like, capturing the full range of the tea’s fruity and floral elements.

A sample from Miss B! I feel like I haven’t been on Steepster for ages, which isn’t entirely true. I’ve had a quick glance most days. I should probably say that my tea consumption hasn’t reduced, just my time to write notes. Work is manically busy at the moment, and the limited free time I did have has been completely swallowed up these last few months.

Anyway, this tea. It’s a new one to me, so I’m stealing 5 minutes to write something about it. I have the beginnings of a cold, so I figured a chai latte would be a good thing to drink. Warming, comforting, all that. I’ve managed to create one pretty successfully given that I’m at work, so that’s pleasing even though nothing else is right now. Tea makes everything better. I used 2 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it about 6 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up pretty strong, which is fine because I compensated by adding lots of hot milk. One thing I noticed about the dry leaf – this tea contains LOTS of cardamon pods. A good thing, because I like cardamon!

To taste, this has to be one of the best chai blends I’ve tried in a while. There’s a lot of milk, but the flavours are still really clear and strong, and not drowned in the slightest. The main flavour is cardamon (which makes sense, given that there’s tons of whole pods in this blend!), followed by warming ginger, the sweetness of cinnamon, and the slight dankness of cloves. It comes across almost medicinal in the aftertaste, but I don’t mind that so much. I think it’s the cardamon/clove combination that’s making me think of herbal throat sweets, but as they’re flavours I quite like it’s no big problem.

I’m glad I had this one on hand today – it was just the thing! I might add a little sugar to my next cup, just to sweeten things up a bit, but I had to give it a chance plain for my first cup. A delicious winter treat.

I chose this especially because the snow is piled halfway up my dining room window…. I’m going to pretend that it’s April in Paris right now (or, at least in my tea cup).
This came from MissB, and I can’t thank her enough for her generosity… She’s really one of the loveliest people, and I’m thinking of her while I sip away….pretending that it’s not winter anymore.
This one is fruity and floral…reminds me a bit of Harney’s Paris, but not as fruity… I really do like how the floral notes are balanced with the fruit; to me, it all works out really well.
My second steep had the addition of a bit of cream, and it was really fantastic… I sat by a window, under 3 blankets, and enjoyed that cup til the last drop.
I haven’t been drinking too many flavoured teas lately, so this was a fun change of pace. Thanks, MissB, for my perfect tea time! :)

Another one from MissB. Yes, there are LOADS more now. :)

It’s not bad. Not a favourite, but not bad. IDK, it strikes me as peachy or apricoty, with some floral. The base isn’t the best, but it’s decent. I’d like it a bit better with a tiny touch of sugar instead of just milk, I think. Just to take the edge off. It was good hot in the morning, and I finished the rest cold in an afternoon meeting.

Not bad, but not something I’d hunt out to buy.

Thanks for sharing!

haha this was another tea i had with dinner earlier this evening sent to me via missb her review sort of sums up the way i felt about this tea. A little too floral for my tastes as that’s all that i really got from the cup. Oh well, at least i had the chance to try it! go go new teas! thanks missb!

Yesterday, my hubby and I decided to get away for the day and headed down to Carmel. Great idea when it’s not a holiday weekend….took us an extra hour to get down there with all the traffic, but still worth it!

Of course, we had to go to all our favorite places, and one is this shop full of sauces and dips and jams. They put some out with crackers so you can taste things. Way too much fun! We love their fruit curds, so we picked up orchard peach and mango. Mmmm!

So, they were ringing us up, and I saw a couple of tea tins on the counter and started to check them out, and then the cashier said, “oh, you can have one of those for free if you like…we’re not selling them anymore.” Free tea! Score!! Makes me wonder a bit why they aren’t selling them anymore, but who can pass up free tea?

I couldn’t wait to try this one out iced. The ingredients just sound like they’d be so refreshing that way. I have to say that it’s not bad, and I think it’s growing on me. It’s definitely got that “herbal” taste to it, if you know what I mean….could be the lemongrass, or the green rooibos. If I try to ignore that, though, it almost tastes like an orange creamsicle. Not too shabby for a free tea. Woo!!

Bah! Why did I get this? I normally stay away from floral teas, and this one had the “flavors” of Paris, which is usually strawberry. So.. of course, it’s a floral strawberry blend, or something along those lines. All I know is? My lips are burning, it’s a bit astringent for me, and I really wish I’d grabbed something else. I have a feeling those with more… refined?… tastes, would really like this.

Well, I steeped this too long. It says on the package 7-10 minutes (what?) so that’s what I did, however it’s just plain too long for this tea. It’s a bit bitter and strong (for me), which is pretty unusual for me to say. This is a bold, strong chai, full of flavors and spices. I’ll steep it less next time to see if I enjoy it more.

Thank you yyz for sending this sample my way. I was just reading my tasting note about 100 Mysteries – that note was written 2 months ago and I was talking about cupboard explosion at 188 – it’s actually pretty funny to look back and read that.
This is a lot like 100 Mysteries in that it has a lot of things going on, it’s really strange, and yet somehow I like it. It just sort of grows on you and before you know it, the cup is gone and you are looking for more.
I have no idea what this should taste like. It’s just strange, fruity – dried fruity, a little nutty/woody from the rooibos, a little sweet from the cinnamon. Yep strange, strange in a good way. Happy to have had the experience.

I’m finally trying this tea! This was a gift from a co-worker who is also an avid tea drinker, she was the one who got the variable temp kettle for the office I think :) so thanks to her!! I have been wanting to try this tea but I always get a bit worried about trying new teas with nuts, especially since this company has a tea with peanuts in it, luckily not this one! Haha

The dry smell is so familiar..Alpine Punch!! That wonderful almondy marizpan smell! Yum. I brewed about 1 tsp (maybe a bit more) for 5 minutes with boiling water as per the directions. It smells like Alpine punch..looking good!

The taste is where this differs from Alpine Punch, in a good way! This one is much more natural, no flavorings in this I don’t think, so you get more rooibos, a natural almond, and the spices are very present too! I got a few mouthfuls of pepper earlier lol, now it is mellowing as it cools. A very tasty little blend, and a very nice gift! I’ll have to get her some tea on her birthday :)

Oh, and not many notes lately as I have been crazy busy..work, gym, started a new course for work, and more exciting things that I will talk about later! Too tired tonight haha!

In keeping with the theme of trying new teas, I pulled this out from the first package MissB sent me and decided to give it a try. This is a very strange cup. It smells strongly of almond. Tastewise, I am trying rooibos, almond, and pepper. I really don’t know if I am a fan or not. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) Miss B was very generous with the sample she sent and I have a few more cups to work out my feelings on the matter. Thank you MissB!!

I picked This up on sale at Winner’s today after Dexter’s review of 100 Mysteries last night. I figured it was worth a chance.

It makes a pretty nice tea for the holiday’s. It smells of cinnamon and raisins when dry and once brewed it is a pretty red colour and smells like a Christmas pudding.

It smells strongly of cinnamon, raisins and dried fruit. The taste is pleasant and is less sweet and spicy than it smells. The rooibos is smooth and
disappears in a vanilla like note. The cinnamon and fruit combine with a pastry like notes that remind me of a spicy french toast made with brioche. The rooibos is well hidden, with cinnamon being the dominant flavour and with the fruit underneath. A nice, cinnamon fruit tea for the holidays.

So I’m sitting here with the teas from MissB’s generous swap package spread all around me. I’m entering them into my cupboard (188 with more on the way), moving them from one pile to another and I smell mint…. hmmmm wonder which one has mint in it? (I don’t always do well with mint) I’m opening packages and sniffing. I still smell mint but can’t identify which sample it’s coming from. Oh well, I really don’t think there is anything more enjoyable than playing with new teas – especially surprise teas that I wouldn’t normally have bought for myself. Thanks MissB for a fun evening.

This was one that I had requested, never heard of the company and the ingredients sounded really strange to me. Yep, this is weird, but weird in a growing on me sort of way. Hard to describe. It’s rooibos, but not in your face, subtle roasty/nutty in the background. It’s almond in a sweet almost marzipan kind of way. It’s a little spicy, but I can’t pick out the individual ginger and cardamom. This is like spicy dessert. It’s not chai at all. I don’t know how else to say it….strange, but I like it and I think I’m going to like the second steep even more….

Okay, it’s grown on me a little bit. Like kristinajoie mentioned below, it’s very much like marzipan. The coconut comes through a bit later, however faintly, and the ginger is almost imperceptible – although it does linger longer than the other flavors. Will try with some coconut milk and more sweetener next time. Really torn on this one.

Smells strongly of almonds right as you open the tin, and just as much as it steeps. Ginger is very faint, which surprised me considering how high it is listed in the ingredients. Spiciness apparent on inhalation; it actually made my nose and lips tingle a bit.

Weird. All I taste is almonds. That’s it. It’s nice, however something completely different than what I was expecting – brisk, spicy, earthy, and “Kapha” fighting (so basically to increase energy). I’ll keep on sipping and see if it changes.

One of the most unique tea flavours out there. The taste is as intruiging as the name. Must try!

it has a very strong almond scent and flavour. so if you like almond you’ll like it, if not stay away. it is reminiscent of marzipan, but you can also catch the coconut flavour too. it’s good for a dessert tea probably, and for a pick-me-up in mid afternoon.

I love this tea. $69 for one pound. very good quality, the colour brews to a golden yellow, and the flavour… different from any other tea i’ve had before. i like the coconut and fruits, it adds depth and richness but isn’t fruity really, just very very nice. intoxicating even. :-)