T2

Aroma: Aromatic and delicious. Summer fruits: passionfruit, lychee and apricots. Fragrant hopps and mandarine peel. Vegetal kelp/iodin notes with a slight strawiness. Second steeping is slightly muted and not much on the third steeping.

Palate: Sugar cane, passionfruit and tropical fruits. Mandarin and citrus peel. Really flavourful but beautifully balanced. Little to no tannins. Distinct similarities to Ya Bao white tea. Still delicious on second steeping, with peach notes coming through. Third steeping is a bit bland.

Colour: Very light golden.

Overall: Delicious. This tea really blew me a way and left me wanting more – a new favorite! Light, refreshing, complex and well rounded. The only thing that lets it down is the rapidly declining quality of brew after the second steeping.

Aroma: Full-on! Pine-lime and boilled sweets to the max. Too sickly and artificial for me.

Palate: Lemongrass, pine-lime and tropical fruit flavours. Fresh grassy green tea in the background. All round not a completely unpleasant taste but this really is over the top and tastes artificial (likley because it is!).

Overall: This is a tea that is severly lacking in restraint! But then maybe I am hard to convince as any ‘flavoured’ green tea has a hard time winning me over. I am also really put off by the addition of ‘nature identical flavours’ in T2 flavoured green teas like this – in my opinion the falvours are usuall overdone and teas this expensive should be able to achieve great flavour and balance from the actusal ingredients rather than the addition of flavouring – other great companies achieve this so why cant T2?

One of my favourites, this one could get passed by because the name doesn’t really fit the tea in my opinion. A better name would be Vanilla Earl Grey, because that is what it actually is. It’s a perfect blend of bergamot and vanilla with neither being too overpowering. This makes a great variation from the standard Earl Grey.

Aroma: Subtle but complex. Reminiscent of buttered croissants, subdued grassy notes, hints of sweetcorn. Similar to a Gyokuro.

Pallate: Delicious! Mellow butteryness, lots of savory ‘umami’, slight grassiness but with litte to no astringency. Light apricot/stone fruit and dried flowers. Full, creamy mouth feel. All in all similar to a Gyokuro but with a bit more butteryness and a little less astringency. Flavour is still there on the second steeping but lacks some complexity.

Colour: Golden with a green tinge.

Overall: Both fresh and comforting. A very worthy (cheaper) alternative to T2’s Gyokuro and definitely my preference of the two when price is considered. And the ‘organic’ status is a big plus for me.

Price: AUD$28/100g

I find the other reviews confusing on this product. My experience has always been that it is so creamy and sweet that I can only tolerate 1/4 of a cup. It’s somewhat of a ‘novelty’ tea for me, and I bring it out when I want to share something different with friends. A conversation starter if you will, because of its such unusual creamy taste.

Perfect addition to T2’s Pumping Pomegranate in an iced tea blend. Adds an even fruitier taste.

This was the first ever iced tea that I actually liked! It’s opened up a whole new world for me with iced teas. I adore the fruity flavours and always have it made in the fridge, even in winter. Once cooled, I like to add slices of kiwi fruit and strawberries. Gives it that little extra sweetness that some sugar addicts in my family think it lacks. Personally I find it just sweet enough, if left to steep for at least 10 minutes.

I’m the type who drinks their Chai ‘straight’, no milk, honey or sugar. I love the spice of Chai and think it can stand on its own. This is a very nice addition to my Chai collection, a little bit harsher than some other’s I’ve sampled. However, I’ve still given it to someone who’d never tried Chai before and they seemed to enjoy it.

Nice as an addition for my berry based iced teas. I can’t stand the very very sweet taste on its own, but certainly is essential in summer for me.

I found this while I was in Australia and I have not been able to find anything close at home in New Zealand. I love the equal balance between black tea and the fruity/flowery infusion.

i have had this tea for the first time and i have fallen in love with it but it is true its an acquired taste. Every time i order a new tea i give it to my dad to try and he has liked all my teas so far but he did not like this one , so i guess it depends what kind of tea’s your into

I’ll say one thing off the bat – this tea smells mouthwatering. It has a grassy sencha flavour, and the distinct creaminess makes it a good introduction for those uninitiated into the world of green tea. That said, the strawberry serves to make the tea taste rather tart, which I’m not sure I’m a fan of – going from a sweet, soft fragrance to the surprisingly strong flavour was a bit of a shock! I’ll also need to put slightly less tea in next time to minimise bitterness. Even without the bitterness, the flavour is nothing to write home about, which is a shame.

Edit: This tastes much better cold. Still not amazing but much much better.

This, like most T2 brews, smelt scrumptious but tasted pretty lacklustre. The soft minty aftertaste was this tea’s saving grace, and I enjoyed it the most when it was lukewarm, rather than piping hot or cold. When steeped for longer than three minutes the light fruity flavours were completely overpowered by the standard black tea taste, so I’d stick to a brief steep time for this one.

It’s not a particularly well balanced tea, unfortunately – the delicious fruity smells translated disappointingly and I couldn’t find any real trace of spice.

All in all, not terrible, but not brilliant either – the aftertaste is quite unique and lovely, but otherwise it’s just a good smelling, average tasting black tea.

I have tried to experience a wider range of teas and Chamomile was my first try at herbal teas. I really didn’t enjoy the taste, it just seemed like I was drinking pollen.

I love Monk Pear, and I drink it with no added sweeteners or milk. The T2 blend is a little disappointing. It smells great but it has a strong perfume flavour.

I really love this tea iced. I used the slow steep method whereby you just put it in the fridge for 8 hours and it turned out great. It’s a really sweet tea,I like to add chopped up strawberries. Perfect for summer!

I bought this on a whim and did not regret it – this stuff is delicious and perfect for a late night. I’ve found that the longer I steep it, the better the flavour becomes. It’s not too flowery or minty, and very soothing. It is great to clear your head when you’re on the edge of a headache – very much recommended.

Right, there goes the last of the 2013/original blend CS I’ve been hoarding. I’m going to miss it SO much because evidently the 2014 blend is seriously wrong. But the 2013 blend is perfect. Damnit. Seriously, my ratings are like a 95 for the 2013 and a 25 for the 2014. What do you do? (More importantly, wtf did T2 do!?)

Ok. It breaks my heart to do this, but I have to adjust my rating for (and my obsession with) Cinnamon Somersault based on the rejigged formula for 2014.

It’s just… not what it used to be.

It’s not worse (well—I guess based on my ratings I think it is, but still, it’s not BAD) but it’s different. The orange is gone from the mention, and replaced by nondescript “flavours” and what I’d even call a bit of a spicy kick to the palate.

It’s still interesting but it’s not the tisane I fell in love with. But that’s good, because it means I’m able to continue weaning off T2.

One blend at a time.

I had another cup of the 2014 blend last night. Maybe it’s all in my head but it’s definitely lacking… what? Probably the orange. Side by side needs to be done ASAP.

I tried out the 2014 version of this delicious blend last night and there seems to be something missing. I’ll do a side by side comparison soon. Anxious :(