Steven Smith Teamaker

I have a headache. Sister says peppermint will help with headaches. So here I am drinking spearmint tea hahha totally the same thing, right?
Well it’s in a sachet and it’s full leaf so it’s good.
Out of the package it definitely smells like spearmint, without the whole toothpaste-y smell.
Drinking it wow. It’s really good. And the aroma that comes out isn’t strictly spearmint. Can definitely tell that it’s a blend with a floral-y flavour. And lemony. Must be that lemon Myrtle! Well yeah. It’s good and it works. Probably going to add some honey just because I can :)

I feel like because I was so happy to rid this tea from my shelf, this tasted much better than I remembered it.
Decent tea. Seems like any regular red rooibos soooo yeah.

Legit going to have a sipdown party sometime soon because I only have one sachet of this left and I have like another 15 teas in my sipdown pile and I’l right at 100 teas and I’m expecting packages soon! I would absolutely LOVE it if I’m able to get down to like the low 90’s before all my packages come in the mail.

But this tea. My sister bought me a box for my “Congrats on getting into the DCP!” present, and I’ve finished that off. But then, when I came home, she forgot that she bought me this tea and bought me another box as a birthday present!
I’m not the biggest fan of this tea, but I just drink it because it’s tea and there’s no caffeine. Seriously. Every time I drink it I like add lemon or honey or have it plain or any variation but.. dude it just never works out.
Definitely not my favourite tea, but it was a present so I feel like I should drink it all. It’s a good “I don’t know what tea to drink so I’ll just drink this tea so it’s one sachet closer to a sipdown” tea hahah.

Dang. This tea is just so weird okay.

I never learn from my mistakes.
I have had this tea SO MANY TIMES and it just.. doesn’t taste good. I really want to like it, I do I do! But it’s just… ehh. This is the tea I drink when I am not picky with the rooibos that I drink. I go for this tea because I know every time I drink it, it’s one sachet closer to a sipdown.

Today was a very productive day so I’m allowed to be lazy and have ramen for dinner. Come on, that’s the epitome of a college life right there okay. Ramen plus coffee equals COLLEGE.
But of course, I don’t drink coffee, only tea :) Ramen like… once or twice a month at most because I enjoy quality foods. But today was very productive, I’ve done over half the things I needed to finish so just leave me with my ramen and my tea and my netflix hehe :)

This tea though. I’ve had it plenty of times before and I can just never get it right? It either has too much or too little flavour. Ahh well. It’s in a sachet so easy clean up for me! Once again: THE LAZINESS IS TAKING OVER.

You have no idea how many times I’ve drank this tea and I don’t know if I like it or not.
Red tea is.. interesting. It may be a bit too fruity for my tastebuds? Ack idk. I’ll try another cuppa in a few days. Don’t think I’ll completely fall in love with it, but it’s still a pretty good tea to have at night :)

I had a craving for a mint tea after all heavy and spicy food. Very refreshing. I like Moroccan tea in general but I think this extra lemony flavor adds something special, sweet citrusy flavor. I think it’s balanced and pleasant. Probably will be excellent as iced tea

This came as a sample sachet with my recent order. It is indeed most excellent. Very strong peppermint even though I don’t notice any “distinct chocolate.” It makes the air cold when I breathe in after a sip.

I could see myself ordering the loose version of this, or even the bags to toss in a purse to take for after dinner when eating out.

Tisane of the mid-morning here; I am attempting to take it easy on the caffeine today, or at least trying to pace myself. This reminds me a lot of Bonbon by Steven Smith. which is in a tin I can’t open right now (with my bum arm). I like cinnamon and ginger but there could be a little less licorice in this and I’d probably be happy.

Herbal tea of the afternoon – by coincidence the peppermint, ginger and licorice in this blend are a nice tonic for tummy problems… I upped the rating a wee bit today. See previous note if interested.

This is the 2nd half of the holiday sampler from Steven Smith. I woke up this morning and had a pot of Golden monkey and I think that’s all the caffeine I will have today. I thought I was getting over this illness I had but last night I started developing a fever which is not good because I am supposed to get on an airplane tomorrow night.

Anyway this is a nice tisane from Steven Smith, it reminds me a lot of Bonbon from the same company but isn’t as sweet. Mostly what I am getting is mint and licorice, hard to detect any of the other ingredients in here. Pretty nice for an herbal but not something I would bother to stock on a regular basis.

Finishing this one up at work the last couple of weeks. My previous reviews still apply and I still like this one enough to want to keep it on hand. But I have discovered that if I forget about it and oversteep it I get smoke out of it. Blech. :) But if you like a bit of smoke, oversteep this at around 5 minutes or so and you may get it!

Ah yisssss!!!! This is what I have been chasing ever since more than a year ago when I had my introduction to Yunnans by chance in a random coffee shop. Dense and chewy, mildly sweet, leathery, thick and wonderful. I do get what my tastebuds identify as “smoke” but it lingers politely in the background, coming out more in the second steep but still as an aftertaste more than anything else. The first steep is best but the second is okay if you are trying to stretch your supply.

I’m starting to think what I taste as smoke is something else since so many others don’t notice smoke in teas that I do notice it in. Still makes my brain say “smoke” but maybe it isn’t what other people would think is “smoke” – and that probably makes very little sense. :)

Whoa, this tastes just like a candy cane, only yeah, slightly more spiced/grown up…I can definitely understand the complaints and reservations because it’s so, so sweet, truly like sugar candy, but I’m weird and when the majority of a tea’s sweetness is thanks to licorice root for some reason I really like it (Stash Licorice Spice was a staple guilty pleasure of mine back in the day) despite knowing abstractly that it’s not that removed from the gross chemical-plastic pin-pointy saccharine cloying flavor of something like, I dunno, those ‘80s packets of Sweet n’ Low. It reminds me of those individually wrapped peppermint candies that come in squarish pillowy chunks (like fat candy canes that have been chopped into segments) and have a slight marshmallow-y give to them, you know the ones I mean? There’s SWEET, and mint, and then licorice rootiness and a tinge of gingery spice. I gotta admit, as someone who hasn’t eaten holiday peppermint candy in over 10 years this is totally doing it for me right now.

Ugh, been outta commission due to work and then the last couple days when I’ve had free time to finally backlog Steepster’s been wonky. I’ve tried a ton of good teas the past month but logging has passed me by. :/ Will try to make note here and there the ones I remember being restockable.

The pine in here is lighter than I was expecting (I’m a fiend for those evergreen and rosemary-ish notes) but gives a little mysterious oomph that makes this good as a first-thing tea on a winter morning. The tea itself is nicely morning-y TEA flavor sturdy but not bitter or drying; I found the smoothness rather remarkable given the bases. Along with Bon Bon which I got obsessed with over Christmas, this is a definite “would restock” from SST (which is nice—I’ve been underwhelmed by the more notorious Steepster faves I’ve tried like Lord Bergamot and the Assam). Alas, it’s seasonal only. But bonus, like some of my favorite low fuss (read: no finicky temps needed) Harneys it’s bag-only and good for the holiday season when I’m mostly likely to be out of town and in need of decent bagged tea.

As someone obsessed with all things pine this time of year, when people started logging this for the holidays I was all over it (it helped I’d had a couple SSTs floating in the corners of my wishlist for a long time too). Steven Smith’s available in town but only 2 or 3 of the most obvious choices (think assam, mint). Decided to close out today’s festive outing with a cup before going to bed. Crazy I know but tomorrow’s an easy half day of work before 2 week break begins (yessss), and the scrumptious coffee stout I tried at the new local brewpub’s likely going to keep me awake a while longer anyhow…

This is lovely. The pine needle scent is most apparent in the dry leaf and freshly steeped, never heavy or obvious but there if you know to look for it, giving the whole thing a je ne sais quoi oomph I really dig. The tea itself is smooth and rich, perfect for this time of year—it’s hard to believe it’s darjeeling as it’s smoky and “dark” tasting, more like a lapsang souchong or assam but with a light, haunting body. [EDIT: I see now there is assam, so that solves that mystery!] There’s a slight roasted nut element in the taste more than smell that’s great and goes really well with the pine and smoke too. Really pretty stuff, and just what I was hoping for. A bit like holiday whiskey, ideal for this time of year if you like stronger flavors. Unlike for their Lord Bergamot the recommended steeping parameters do not result in an overly intense, bitter brew (a friend of mine in med school described it as “wake up and get your pith helmet” and boy she’s not foolin’); it’s just right. Tea has not been letting me down this week!

R.I.P. Steven Smith…

I just noticed this in my cupboard again and thought I should try it. I’ve had it for a couple of years and it’s a tea I rarely crave due to the strong licorice and mint combo. Somehow it seemed appropriate today because the weather we are having is gray and dreary here in San Francisco. Maybe I will get around to finishing this off sometime in the current decade, lol. Reminds me of Candy Cane Lane but really on the STRONG side. Only recommended if you like the combination of licorice and minty…

This is a tea that I drink rarely, mostly because between the licorice and the stevia it is so sweet and really strong. I seem to remember that licorice is very helpful for sore throats and coughs, so I thought I would drink this one today and see if it helps. I have another licorice tea from Yogi tea, maybe I will break that one out as well. Can’t really taste much so this isn’t offending me at the moment…lol

Purchased this with my last order from Steven Smith. They aren’t lying about this tea being sweet. Licorice is plenty sweet enough for me, but there is also stevia. The sweet element really jumps out at me, followed by the mint and then the ginger. There’s also sarsaparilla in here which I had a difficult time detecting (never got the chocolate flavor they mentioned either). When I first tried this I thought it was way too sweet, but it’s kind of nice when you’re feeling under the weather. This is the second licorice blend I’ve had today (after Yogi Tea’s version) and it’s supposed to be good for sore throats, we shall see! This is okay for an herbal but not sure I will be buying it again. I tried it when I first got it so impressions of flavor are recorded from a healthier time… ;-)

Gah, I can’t believe some of the negative reviews of this tea but I guess we all have our preferences. I think this is lovely, vegetal but also sweet with a silky like quality, I was thinking vanilla. Sweet and fresh are definitely adjectives that top my list. Oh, how I wish I had picked up some of this with my last S. Smith order (this is only a free sample), I think I need more. I don’t have time to write more but this is so lovely…

Backlogging

Yesterday, I made a trip out to Smith HQ with my mother. Usually, I end up with a pot of Darjeeling, and she goes for the Lord Bergamot. This time we did TWO pots of Morning Light – a Douglas Fir tips-‘n-rosemary-laden black tea blend out for the holidays. I’ve had fir tipped teas before, and had an earlier variation of this a year prior.

This years was better by a longshot. The rosemary adds a spicy tickle to the woodsy mintiness already in play. Very relaxing and tasty.

We went through two pots of the stuff in about an hour.

It’s bitter and I don’t want to drown it in milk and sugar. Tried diff parameters. At Steven Smith the lady suggested to make it 12 oz water 1tsp 5min steep. Bitterness decreased but it was kinda diluted not enough flavor. I prefer H&S Nahorhabi Full leaf Assam

very nice Assam i had this morning after irish oatmeal with dried fruits. very solid and flavorful cup. I ended up adding splash of whole milk and 1tsp maple syrup. it reminds me Harney’s Nahorhabi Assam Full Leaf a lot. Maybe im wrong. will have to test it side by side

The dry leaf smells of raisin and vanilla and is mostly dark leafed with a scattering of golden tips among the slightly broken leaf. It brews up to a nice dark rosewood coloured brew.

After 3.5 minutes, the tea smells of malt, sweetened cooked barley, a cross between sweet potato and roasted marshmallows, citrus, and caramel.

It tastes of malt with nice deep bitter tones, a hint of floral, cocoa and caramel, finishing with citrus and spice notes.

It has a smooth, rich, dense flavour. Thanks TastyBrew for a thoroughly enjoyable first cup for the day!