SerendipiTea

I made this one up for watching Priest. Dylan hates the dialog in that movie. I agree it’s boring and not a bit creative. I don’t really demand a good dialog in my action movies. I need to see a good CGI team and good choreography. Priest has those two things so I’m happy. Good dialog belongs in drama and I tend to avoid that genre.

This is much like Buccaneer with out coconut. I think the black tea in Buccaneer adds some depth that the green tea in this misses. You won’t be able to miss the vanilla and chocolate notes. The yogurt bits seem to just make it very creamy. Woodsy rooibos ends the show, with the green tea getting lost some where in the mix. A good dessert tea if you are looking for some thing with less caffeine, but I really like the black tea version better.

I have bad dreams. I don’t go back to sleep those nights. Some nights are good. Those nights I dream other things. ( the hated dialog) :D

I’m bumping up the rating on this one a bit since it’s totally awesome iced. I liked it pretty well hot but iced it’s just wonderful. Creamy orange flavor meets a tangy fruit. I get a hint of the chocolate but mostly just creamy orange. Perfect for a hot day.

Another sample from SerendipiTea.

This is like orange creme sickle from market spice, except for the chocolate. Blood orange is apparently much more tart than regular orange flavoring. I really like contrast of the vanilla and chocolate against the blood orange.

You know, I was all relaxed and calm, enjoying a very mellow tea and just letting my week kind of melt away… and then I tried typing the name of this tea into the search bar. Xocolatl… no… xocalatl… no… xocatl… no… xocotlatl… no… XOCATLATL! I’m pretty sure I could have just rolled my face across the keyboard a few times and come closer. Ugh.

Anyway… so, we bought a huge list of samples from SerendipiTea, taking advantage of their $2.50 samples. Only, they seem to have sent us 1 oz samples. So it’s like we got a bunch of free tea that we weren’t expecting. Well, plus they sent us a package of a free tea that we weren’t expecting. So, double bonus. Overall, really pleased with this order… but it seems too good to be true, so I’m wondering if there’s some sort of mistake either with our order or their website.

So, there’s a lot going on with this tea. The aroma smells mostly of cinnamon and mint, and if there’s anything else hiding between those two, I don’t smell it. Overall quite pleasant.

Drinking this tea, I’m really reminded of the expression ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’. The flavors of this tea are all very, very subtle. A little cinnamon, ginger… start tasting the mint and the vanilla… and somewhere after the swallow you get a hint of chocolate, along with the lingering mint flavor and a teensy bit of the ‘woodsy’ kangaroo taste.

I don’t really taste the black tea in there at all. I might notice if it was gone, but I’m definitely not feeling like it’s there… if that makes any sense. But then, you could probably say that about any one particular flavor within this tea. The various flavors really blend together well, but they blend together in a very subtle, passive way, which Missy thinks may be because she only steeped it for 3 minutes. I just think there are so many flavors, that none of them can be strong. By your powers combined… Xocolat… xocalat.. xocl… nevermind.

Anyway, there’s some sort of weird disconnect between this tea, and the description of this tea on their website. It’s totally different, it’s like you’re talking about two different teas. The website mentions nothing about ginger, cinnamon or clove (but it is a chai, after all). And the bag doesn’t mention that there is kangaroo in it (which is so totally apparent).

I don’t know, it’s all very weird. My understanding is that SerendipiTea is a bit of a small shop though, so it might just be a matter of not keeping up with variations. I’d say it would be something to watch out for… but I like their teas too much to be that put off by it. If I didn’t already have a relationship with their tea though, I’d probably be pretty upset.

Am I objective enough to lower the rating for that… nope, not really. I’ll send them an email though :)

We got our samples from SerendipiTea today. Yay! I was surprised that the samples appeared to be bigger than what I expected. They also tossed in another sample I didn’t order. SerendipiTea also employs Santa’s reindeer to deliver tea. They were incredibly fast. I’m quite impressed with my experience.

So I put this on my shopping list a long time ago. I looked at the name while we were deciding what to get for samples this month, and though that this would be a spicy, chocolate chai. I was wrong! It happens once or twice a year. It’s a chocolate chai for sure, but no peppers. It’s still pretty good but I have other chai that are good as well. I think of it as a sweet, creamy chai really. Vanilla, mint, ginger, chocolate and yogurt all combine to make it sweet and creamy with out the addition of milk. The other chai spices seem to be a bit overwhelmed by the sweeter spices. Rooibos shows up, but the black tea is hiding.

It’s a dessert tea, but I think I like Buccaneer more.

had this cup with a vegan burrito at harrison street cafe.
pretty delicious! sweet and fruity and tart. a little too tart for me personally, but i also let it brew too long while i was eating. i bet the second brew of the bag would have been exactly right for my tastes. perfect summer tea. i will be drinking much more of it in the months to come i’m sure.
Meghann M below says that this tea “smells of tart citrus, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice” and she is exactly right.

Mmmm… Genmaicha.

Genmaicha will always hold a place in my heart. It more or less kicked off my journey into loose leaf tea. A box of Serendipitea’s Genmaicha was left in my cupboard from when a friend of mine had rented a room for a bit, and out of curiousity more than anything, our loose leaf tea journey was born.

For such a simple blend, it is truly an amazing flavor combination. The earthiness of the toasted rice, with that rich, roasted flavor that just fills up inside of you. Unlike any other tea I’ve ever drank, this tea makes me feel comforted and soothed. I think that’s part of the reason Missy chose to brew this genmaicha tonight… it was comfort tea, to wash away the horrible memories of the icewine.

The green tea in this particular blend is a little vegetal, probably more than I’d typically be okay with. But for some reason, it seems to fit in this tea. It probably has more to do with the ‘green’ coming in after the somewhat ‘brown’ taste of the rice, the green is more of a second string than a first seat. The toasty-ness is really the star of the flavor profile.

It also has a fairly charming color to it, as it develops into this translucent green that almost glows, like you’ve stumbled across the key to life… itself!

At some point in time I’d like to try someone else’s variant of genmaicha, but I really do enjoy Serendipitea’s. It doesn’t hurt that I can get it from Amazon for a ridiculously cheap amount, and it’s at my door in two days (Prime membership makes impulse buying far, far too easy). Though, we had just recently bought another 8 ounces before we had found the wonder that is Steepster, and the many other tea peddlers that are out there.

I can see why some people really don’t like rooibos. I think it’s an acquired taste. I used to drink “squaw” tea instead of koolaid as a kid. Now if I tried to offer that to people they’d probably kick me, but it is quite yummy to me.

This is one is pretty standard. It brews up really dark and strong in the rooibos fu. Woodsy earth and tobacco are what show up strongest. It ends with a sweet note like raisins. I think the sweet note pops more if I add a bit of sugar in the raw. I’ve tried it with creamer but it’s really smooth enough on it’s own. I’m going to lower the rating because there are too many flavored rooibos out there I would drink first.

I thoroughly enjoy this tea. I find it rich and inviting. The lovely, vanilla aroma is very relaxing. I pick up a bit of the chocolate but the vanilla is the dominant flavor. The tea shines through in the end. It has an interesting feel on my tongue, a smooth almost velvety texture. That seems silly because it’s just water flavored by the tea leaves. I think this one shall be a staple tea.

This tea has opened my eyes to green teas in general. I never really thought I would enjoy a green much but this is really good.

The roasted rice bits in there almost make me feel that I’m eating some thing with my tea. They don’t overwhelm the tea, which is bonus.

It does well with multiple steepings.

I feel this is a very comforting tea. Not too complex just very relaxing. Some thing to enjoy on a day that’s been less than stellar.

This is one of my favorites. None of the flavors over powers any of the others. Coconut, vanilla and chocolate are a very good mix in my opinion. It is also very creamy.
The rooibos and Nilgiri compliment each other well.
Very nice dessert tea.

I bought this tea to blend with a couple others in my quest of replacing the old Thai tea from Teavana. This tea is good enough on it’s own though.
It is definitely a coconut tea. What I really enjoy about this one is that it actually tastes of real coconuts. Perhaps the flakes are responsible.
The tea base is a bit woody but very mellow. It just pops up to let you know it’s there.
There is a creamy taste as well. Maybe those coconut flakes again.
Over all a good tea that isn’t very complicated. It tastes exactly like it should.

Since my previous experience with this tea left me overwhelmed, I added a little ceylon in the tea pot. Wow! What a change. Once the cloves simmer down, this is actually a pretty good tea. I think I shall try it with colonille next time. That should be an interesting mix.

Reading tea reviews always exhilarates me. Loose leaf tea is a uniquely subjective experience. There are differences to each person’s palette, and presumably variations in the individual blends that get packaged and shipped to each person.

Let me say that I enjoy this tea, and will probably by more. But my batch wasn’t mysterious or subtle. It didn’t hint at anything.

It was cloves. It was fill-up-the-room, make your tongue numb cloves.

I sit here today slightly amazed at how clove-y this tea truly is. The clove taste overpowered the tea flavor (not to mention the other spices). If you’ve ever found yourself smoking a clove cigarette, or chewing on a clove just for the flavor, you will absolutely fall in love with this tea.

I like cloves, I truly do. However, in order to turn this into a truly fantastic pot of tea, I cut the tea with some Colonille Vanilla tea, also from Serendipitea. The clove/vanilla mix is absolutely amazing, and I would highly recommend it.

I would, however, avoid recommending this as a standalone tea under most circumstances.

This is currently my favorite tea. Even though I rotate about 6 different teas currently, when it is this ones “turn” I am so happy and say to myself, if you love it so much why don’t you drink it more?" I guess I am nervous I will grow tired of it and I just don’t want that to happen. It reminds me of the beach with a breeze.

I like this one when I am yearning for chocolate or something desserty…I am normally a lighter tea drinker (greens specifically) so I was surprised to add this to my rotation but I really like it

Picked some of this up on Amazon because it had fairly good reviews, and it was a mere twenty dollars for eight ounces. For a dragonwell, that is a phenomenal price. Upon opening the bag, the leaves were a little bit discolored and quite varying in size and shape, which you won’t normally see in a good dragonwell. Upon tasting, it wasn’t bad but I was unimpressed. Just a very mellow and basic green tea flavor. There was nothing that caught my attention, nothing that stood out. If this were expensive, it would be receiving a bad rating. However, it is very cheap – and for everyday drinking purposes I think it is suitable. If you’re looking for an affordable everyday green, this makes a fine choice. Just don’t expect anything special.

I would like this a lot more if it wasn’t so TART. Monk’s Mead is better than this in my opinion.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS MATCHA TEA!!!

Aroma: Vegetal and somewhat fruity [let’s say a little honeydew melon and a little cucumber].

Taste: Oh what joy! Very delicious! Very fresh too! The taste is a palatable persona of the aroma. This matcha has a slight fruity undertone complementing the overtone of grass [but not earthy…let me explain, when I think of “earthy” I taste the minerals from the dirt and maybe a little mushroom…again, the dirty earth…“grass” to me is earthy but as a vegetal characteristic]. The fruit that is playing harmony on the palate is honeydew melon and cucumber [and YES, a cucumber is a FRUIT!]; it is slight but still noticeable…it actually does complement the vegetal aspect rather than overtake the whole flavor profile. You do experience umami (a mouth feel) which is a little drying…but it “fills” the mouth with the extra sensation of taste.

Aftertaste: Well, there is such an experience but not much of one. The aftertaste is a little spinachy, a little fruity and a little vegetal. The drying feel on the tongue still lingers but not for long.

To add to the experience of preparing and drinking this tea, was the color of this matcha…a chartreuse green…nice, bright, vibrant; then it dulled a little when water is added which turns it to a more of a medium-green jade.

I would highly recommend purchasing this matcha! It is offered at a good price for the amount compared to other companies whom offer less at a more elevated price.

A must buy!

Having a box full of new teas from JacquelineM was too much for me… I had to try one out despite the heat, humidity, and the fact that I don’t often drink tea at night (not for any particular reason, just because I don’t get around to it usually). Obviously I had to do one of the herbal teas, so I tried this one because it really smelled great; sweet and fruity, bright and citrusy. I also experimented with my first iced tea; I brewed it at double strength and shook some ice into it.

I probably could have/should have brewed it stronger and longer, but it was still tasty. A tiny dab of honey brought out the flavors a touch more, and it was tart and refreshing. It really does taste like an unsweetened Italian blood orange soda! I look forward to trying this one hot, as well as iced again this summer! Thanks again JacquelineM!

Uncomplicated, approachable green tea. The papaya and pineapple bits lend a bit too much sweetness for me (and I drink it bare). I am reminded of sugar embalmed pineapple chunks in a trail mix. This tastes promising for an iced selection and for entertaining friends. No off-putting bitterness. It’s just a nice, fruity green, but just not my thing.