Say Tea

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways . . . once I’m done drinking all your deliciousness.

I think this is rapidly becoming one of my favourite teas. Made a thermos and a half of it to take to work today. The green is a nice caffeine boost and smooth smoky green flavour, and the lemon soothes everything else. Helped my headache and my sore throat, made my day a little more bearable. Heart.

This tea smells amazing. Every time I open the package it just hits me in the face, the smoky gunpowder and the bright, fresh lemon. It’s incredible.

Brewed up, the lemon taste is very strong, but still clean and fresh, not like lemon-scented cleaner or something. The green tea is a little bit of a lighter note under the strong lemon scent. I think next time I might try brewing it even shorter, maybe 45 seconds or less, see if I can get more green and less lemon.

I think I still have to play with the steep times and temperatures for the Say Tea blacks, because like the Monks Blend, this one brewed up dark really fast. The bergamot was a nice deep note in the tea, but I hope that I can figure out to how to brew it without it getting bitter in a matter of seconds.

Once again, an enjoyable but forgettable berry tea. Don’t think I’ll be replacing it, but I do enjoy it when I have it. Added half a spoonful of sugar, made the berry a little sweeter.

Bah, the internet ate my review.

Very sweet black tea with just a bare hint of bergamot, but a nice clean flavour. Need a few more brews before I make a stocking decision, but for the price is a great little mid-afternoon tea. Next time, smaller infuser so I don’t get bitter dregs.

Bleh. Brewed it again with the proper specs, and the sencha taste was even stronger. Very grassy, fishy sencha with a slight citrus fuss from the bergamot. Won’t rebuy.

Accidentally oversteeped. Was aiming for a minute thirty, and didn’t realise my timer didn’t work until a few minutes later. I also brewed it too hot, so this cup should have been a total failure – but it wasn’t! Okay, the sencha was a little burnt so it definitely tasted grassy, but there was a nice strong smoky bergamot note. I think I prefer gunpowder over sencha in general, so will have to have another cup (properly brewed) before I make a stash-enhancement decision.

Thermos for the day. I really enjoy this Earl, I think it’s one of the top five Earls I’ve ever had. The darjeeling base is sweet and kept from getting bitter in the seven or eight hours before I managed to finish it off, and it compliments the light citrusy flavour of the Earl well.

Was wary of doing a black in my Giant Thermos O’ Work Tea, but this one worked out well. Not quite the enervating zing of some of my other choices, but was a calming mellow note through the whole day. I love this tea. Didn’t get bitter, the bergamot was never overwhelming, just an all-round pleasant tea, all eight hours of it.

Mmmm. The bergamot perfectly rounds out this smooth, smoky darjeeling. It had a light sweetness to it and then a darker aftertaste. Definitely glad I have a whole package of this.

Mmmmmmm. Learn from my (and my wife’s) mistakes, I only let this one steep for a minute and a half in not-quite-boiling water. It turned out so good! It’s a juicy berry tea where the black tea base is there, but not overwhelmingly so. This is definitely one I plan to try the looseleaf version of. It got a little bitter towards the end, but that can be blamed on the tea bag. No matter what you do with them, a bit of tea dust is going to escape and continue steeping. It’s a fact of (tea) life.

After my very dark Monk’s Blend, I decided to try a much shorter steep for this one. I think I would go even shorter. This is a good cup of Earl, but I let it sit too long and it lost some of the bergamot taste as it cooled. When it was hot, it was amazing. My wife aisling of tea suggested I line up all my various Earls and taste test to find the Ultimate Earl. I think I do not have that kind of time, but it is a tasty idea.

So sad. I had such high hopes for this, despite it being in a tea bag. Hot, it was pretty good, nice and juicy, needed a touch more sugar, but overall pretty good.

Cold, this just tastes like achingly bitter water with a bit of peach aftertaste. Boo. Maybe a lower temperature? Who knows. I have four more bags from this sample pack, so if the next four are just as bad, I won’t be rebuying.

Actually drank this a couple nights ago. The Monk’s Blend was delicious and flavourful, but I oversteeped it and it got bitter quick. This tea turned almost black in like thirty seconds, it was bizarre and kind of awesome. I would recommend less than two minutes for a steep, maybe even a minute.

Hmmm. I’ve had jasmine greens before and enjoyed them, but the floral taste is overwhelmingly clashy in this tea. Makes me look forward to trying the rest of the Earls from Say Tea, but I don’t think I’ll be making this one again.

This is my first time trying this tea. My brain hurts a little seeing little puffy clouds of puffed rice and what appears to be hamster poo all mixed in with some very vegetal smelling green tea. There were no instructions about brewing so I used a tsp in 98 deg [probably too hot in hindsight] for 4mins. The cup smelled much nuttier than before and very vegetal, which was the predominate taste. I added agave nectar to sweeten before I had tasted it and I wish I hadn’t – next time I will drink it unsweetened. I almost feel like eating something with marmite on it with this tea – strange.

I will drink the rest of my sampler, but I’m not sure if I will buy more.