Tea Forte

I’m not sure what lychee tastes like, but this tea really tasted strongly of coconut with a mild, sweet flavor that reminded me more of chocolate than anything. It was really a nice tea!

2 tsp leaf (half a “perfect cup” pouch) + 500 mL cold water

The ginger in this kind of reminds me of those fancy golden/yellow apples you can find at farmer’s markets. None of that waxy flavour that some apples have (I’m looking at you, Red Delicious). It isn’t yellow apple flavour like for golden delicious, more like Reinette or Holstein. (I might be a bit of a livestock/cultivated plant geek).

Anyway, I really like the apple in this, and the ginger is fabulous. It adds a bit of spicy kick to an otherwise sweet and fruity cup. This isn’t an autumn apple cider tea, this is much more unique than that. I’m of the opinion that ginger + anything always makes a good cup, but the apple flavour here works exceptionally well. If this wasn’t a white base (ie if it was a herbal/caffeine free), I would be stocking up on it. You can’t taste the tannins from the tea at all, so I’m not really sure why they even put tea in it.

My tasting notes for this tea: “meh”

Really though, what us there to say about a generic sencha? Vegetal, slightly nutty. Notes of spinach and bok choy.Not bitter, but I actually had this as a latte and probably couldn’t tell either way.

This review is for the loose leaf version
2 tsp leaf, 500 mL cold water, 5 minutes

This is very green, but also enjoyable iced. It smells and tastes like freshly cut grass with an undertone of tropical fruit and nuts. I wouldn’t say there is seaweed there, but something vaguely marine. It is not astringent or bitter at all, and is quite flavourful despite steeping very pale yellow. I mean, it tastes like what you expect a good sencha to taste like. It tastes like how it looks – deep chlorophyll-rich green.

As it turns out, this doesn’t steep as well as a coldbrew. Half a perfect cup ouch (~2g), 400 mL cold water, 30 minutes and the water is clear. At 45 minute the water is very light amber, but smells fragrant. I think perhaps the flavour steeps out before all of the tannins.

Hot, it tastes more of cocoa shells and coconut, but cold is tastes very heavily of coconut filling in chocolate bars (very thick, sweet, overpowering coconut). It isn’t bad, but isn’t for anyone who doesn’t love coconut.

I didn’t enjoy the other coconut teas in this line, so I was surprised that I really enjoyed this one.

There is a lot of chocolate flavour (cocoa nibs) and the coconut flavour is tropical, but toasty. If you have ever had a bounty bar, it is quite similar. Some sweetness ties everything together. I steeped half a perfect steep pouch (imo there is more tea in one pouch than one should use for a single cup) in hot water for 3.5 minutes. I thought I would need to add milk, but it is great by itself.

My dad is a dentist, and like this time of year for many years past I’ve been whisked away for a Florida Dental Association convention at the beautiful fantasy world known as the Ritz Carlton Naples for a week long escape from reality! It’s a beautiful hotel, but I’m smacking myself for not bringing any tea.

Tea Forte is what’s available for hot tea here, if only the teas were as good as their adorable packaging… This is an okay Earl Grey, but not one I would actively seek out. Malty, slightly floral, and citrusy, but it doesn’t really taste like real bergamot.

I am a major Earl Grey fan, and this one didn’t disappoint. It had a nice, deep flavor, with proportionate notes. I steeped a second time and it still performed really well.

I was a little confused when I first tried this— I didn’t see the ingredients, so I could taste the blueberry a little and the merlot a little, but there was this flowery thing that was pretty strong! I finally figured it out— hibiscus. I could still taste both the blueberry and the wine flavors, but there was definitely quite a bit of hibiscus. I like hibiscus, but I find it doesn’t have much… body? It seems to need some other flavor to give it structure, and I’m not sure the blueberry/merlot tastes did that as well as I’d like. The water got really, really dark very fast (it was a really beautiful deep burgundy), so I didn’t steep for very long, in case it was too much. I’ll try a second steep and see if the flavors change at all.

This tea was super sweet! The flavor is accurate— it definitely tastes like caramel nougat, with a little bit of an alcohol taste. I’m not much for sweets, but I tried this one as a replacement for a much-desired dessert, and it hit the spot. I’d drink it again, but only if I was again in need of something very sweet!

This tea wasn’t earth-shattering, but it was nice. When opening the package, I was overwhelmed by a sort of fake pear smell, but it mellowed and smelled/tasted less fake after steeping. The vanilla wasn’t very strong, and really, the pear wasn’t, either. It was an okay drink, but not one I’d seek out.

This tea is fine. It’s a little lemony, a little grassy. None of the flavors are very strong— they’re not bad, but they’re also not that exceptional.

I’m not a huge fan of jasmine by itself, but it can be nice when paired with other flavors. I thought the orange would be a nice complement; when I opened the packaging, the orange scent came through nicely, but after steeping both the smell and flavor of the orange were almost completely gone. The jasmine was very strong (too strong, in my opinion). I tried a second, slightly longer steep to see if there was any difference, but there wasn’t any noticeable change in the ratio of orange to jasmine.

This tea smells lovely! The flavor is a little too minty— it overpowers the other flavors— but it’s still nice.

Wow, this is a really unique chai. I’m actually extremely impressed. I’d drink this over most other chais for sure. I love the spicy peppercorns and ginger. It has a nice kick. I can almost tastes French vanilla in the background. Super creamy, would take milk well (but I enjoyed it a lot plain). Traditional spice combination (anise, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, clove), but in a better ratio than I normally experience in a chai. The black base is plenty flavourful, but I really like the spices + vanilla flavouring.

Another blend that I enjoyed that a lot of people do not like on here. Then again, I had a sample and I did not taste any licorice. I enjoyed the lemongrass, ginger, spearmint combo and it was refreshing, citrusy and sweet. It actually resembled the profile that I like in some oolongs. I know I am odd, but this was decent. I might think differently if it were the full size.

Cold brewed this fruity green tea as enjoyable cold drink on a hot day (13 deg C/55 deg F-this is hot for the west coast of Canada in the spring!)

Strong flavours of coconut, orange, mango, stone fruit, lots of sweetness. It is more of an artificial fruity mango tea with creamy toasted coconut. Very heavily flavoured, but not bad at all. This is much tastier than other coconut blends from Tea Forte. It also kind of tastes like coconut and cranberry granola in vanilla yoghurt.

I can’t imagine this hot. Maybe it works, but I’m going to stick to cold brews.

Hot
1 tsp, 375 mL boiling water, 2 minutes
The base has a bitter after taste that even diluting it can’t fix. I have no milk on hand, so I guess I’ll drink it like this. Some orange zest flavour, some unnecessary bergamot, strong tannic base. Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Coldbrew on this delicious smelling flavoured black tea. It smells like grapefruit and orange.

2.5g leaf, 500 mL cold water, 1 hour
Tastes of musty spices, dried citrus zest, peppery, strong bergamot, lemon/citrus bitters, marmalade. I would have called this spiced earl grey. It’s more bergamot than anything else.

Sipdown!

Some stone fruit (not distinctly peach), very tart (rhubarb, I suppose), orange zest, cinnamon. It isn’t bad, but I don’t feel it lives up to its name.