St. James Tearoom

This was fruity and a little tart. I’m sure I’d appreciate the complexities of it cold, but it was served hot. It was still enjoyable sweetened. I’ve just never loved fruity teas hot, and I didn’t love this one enough to purchase a bag to experiment with.

This is tart, but in a nice way, like sour candy. They serve it warm, but I bet this is really refreshing cold. It needs some sugar to smooth it out. I don’t think I’d seek this out specifically among a sea of red fruity teas, but this isn’t bad.

Wow, I really like this even though fruity black teas don’t usually woo me. The floral fruity flavor goes really well with milk and sugar. The black tea is the perfect backdrop. The balance is just right. This was our favorite tea from our last visit to St. James.

This isn’t as strong as some ginseng teas, so I added sugar and milk and liked it better that way. Usually ginseng doesn’t need sugar, but this one did. It was still a little bright, but not as nice or high quality seeming as some.

This is quite strong and malty, almost brisk. It’s really pleasant with milk and sugar! It has just the right amount of strength. Simple, but nice.

Now this is a pretty good mint chocolate rooibos! It’s definitely heavier on the mint, but the chocolate quietly makes an appearance as well. Sweetened with milk, the flavors really shine, especially when it cools down. I just ordered a different mint chocolate rooibos for my stash, but I might order myself some of this seasonal tea the next time it’s back!

The caramel came through really well here. The black tea was hearty, and with milk and sugar, it was all so tasty.

This tastes so authentically plummy! As it sits, I taste more black tea. The sparkles are really pretty as well. I don’t know that I’d want a ton of it, but this was a nice pot.

I couldn’t taste the pineapple, but I really enjoyed the spice blend here. The rooibos isn’t my very favorite, but it’s really pleasant warm with milk. I get the gingerbread vibe for sure! It’s desserty and not spicy, just genuinely cookie-ish.

We had the loveliest Sherlock themed afternoon tea at St James this month! The floral flavor in this one was much too strong. It was a bit tannin-y. I wouldn’t normally add milk, but I did here to try to dilute it a little. Jasmine will never be my favorite though!

The fruit here mixes so well with the black base. The black tea tasted high quality, and it was just all so good together, especially considering I don’t usually love fruity black teas. They gave me a little sample of this one to take home, which was so nice! In that sample, I noticed a lot more lime, and the black tea seemed a little thinner too. Ha St James always brews their teas better than I do!

AJRimmer Advent Day 13

Realized I missed reviewing this one. Oops! Perhaps it was because this wasn’t a terribly memorable tea…from what I can recall, it was a pretty basic black tea base with a very light strawberry flavor. Certainly not unpleasant, but quite forgettable.

We really enjoyed this one during afternoon tea. It’s such a great balance of black tea and fruit. They sent us home with some extra, and this time it tastes quite floral and like dried strawberries. It’s a little lighter than I’d prefer, but interesting!

Hmm I’m not a big darjeeling person, though this one didn’t seem to have the usual qualities I would expect. Actually, it was a little bitter/harsh for me. With milk and sugar, it was okay, but I wouldn’t choose it. My friends at afternoon tea really liked this one, so I left most of the pot for them.

The spices here are so warming and nice. It’s perfect on the rooibos base with sugar and milk. It’s like a cake or cookie or something.

I know St James gets some of its teas from Adagio, and I don’t like Adagio’s chocolate or cherry flavoring, so I’ll admit I was nervous when this one was served. I’m pleased to say this was great! Upon further research, it looks like this one is from somewhere else. The chocolate and black tea were well-balanced and tasty. There was a hint of cherry beneath that. Nothing was too fake, just smooth and delicious with milk and sugar.

This tea came with our first course during our Pooh themed afternoon tea, probably my favorite theme yet. This was quite a pleasant, well-balanced tea. I enjoyed it with sugar and milk. It had a good amount of body. I’d drink it again!

This was my favorite tea of the afternoon. The carrots and fruits were super tasty, and they said not to put milk in it, but I did anyway, and I felt like that only made things tastier. They gave me a sample to take home, which I had cold so I could try it in a different way than they served it. The flavor is really layered and interesting. It’s a mixture of herbaceous and fruity flavors, but it all works. Not one of my favorites herbals, but one I certainly don’t mind drinking. The berries come through really well with sugar.

This is pretty peachy and nice with some sugar! It was served hot, but I bet it would be great cold. The fruit is a little tart, but not overly so.

St James sent us home with this free sample for their Willy Wonka themed month. It smells like fake low quality chocolate, but I tried to be optimistic. Yeah, the flavor is mostly fake alcohol-tasting chocolate, unfortunately. I get a bit of black tea too, but sadly I think this is my least favorite tea I’ve had from St James. I didn’t have this one while I was there, and they’re brewing magicians, so maybe they can make it taste good if you try it in-house.

I liked this a lot more than I expected. The base tea was plantlike, but somehow in just the right way. The berries were really authentic and light. It was served hot, which was tasty, but I bet it would be even better cold. I would totally drink this again!

This mostly tastes like hearty EG with a teeny bit of something else in there…maybe I can taste the jasmine! It’s not something I necessarily need again, but it was enjoyable warm with sugar and milk.

I don’t love fruity red rooibos. Here, I tasted berries and the medicinal rooibos, and at first I didn’t really like it. It’s supposed to have white chocolate and persimmon, but I don’t taste that. Milk makes this taste more desserty and pleasant and a little bit fruity. I guess most teas can be tasty if dressed up enough.