Tea Forte

Cold brew using 2.5g leaf, 350 mL water, 2 hours steeping

Quite tart, but it also has a natural sweetness. There is some rose hip-like tartness (rhubarb), blackberry flavour, something floral (honey? orange blossoms? peach tree flowers?), and stone fruit. It is quite complex, really. I think this is best suited to those who enjoy hibiscus/rose hip based teas because the sour flavour steeps out as fast as the other flavours. If you want a flavourful fruity tea, you will have to enjoy the pleasant tartness that comes with it. I think this would be ideal sweetened slightly, but I can’t afford the calories these days. Now that Ben & Jerry’s almond-based icecreams are being stocked in my city, I’ve been on an ice cream diet!

Coldbrew sipdown. 1/2 tsp leaf, 35 minutes, 250 mL water.

Sweet mint, subtle cucumber and subtle green tea in the background. This easily could have been a mint-based herbal, but I do like that no flavour overpowers another. The cucumber scared me because I thought it might be really vegetal, but it wasn’t unpleasant at all.

Coldbrew sipdown! Just under a tsp of leaf with 250 mL

Tastes like cherry and sweet almonds. I happen to dislike almonds/marzipan because it tastes like cyanide and chemicals. If you actually like almonds like everyone else in the universe, then you will probably like this tea. The green base is subtle, but present. It isn’t overly vegetal, it blends sweetness and nuttiness. Overall, this blend is refreshing, sweet, fruity, nutty.

Bitter green base, vegetal (florer petals, zucchini), nutty (soy bean, pumpkin seed), slight sweetness.

Floral jasmine was of decent strength, however the bitterness is a deal breaker for me. I’ve had many better green teas and many better jasmines.

Old tasting note from my phone

Steeped 1 minute, 450 mL water, 80 deg C

A very interesting black tea blend. Flavourful at first, slight sweetness in the aftertaste that reminds me of licorice root and honey. The tea is medium bodied, flavour of ground oats (but not toasted grain/buck wheat). Quite interesting!

Cold brew of a flavoured white tea called “Lychee coconut”. 2.5g leaf, 300 mL water, 10 minutes.

The coconut is there, but it is soapy and tastes like bark. There is a fake honey sweetness (their attempt at lychee, I assume?), the unusual notes of bark, fruity melon, and honey seem out of place and don’t work with the fake coconut. I wouldn’t say there is any lychee here. The white base can’t be tasted because the coconut is overpowering when you first sip (followed by a very sweet aftertaste).

Oh well, at least this is another sipdown. Still a dozen more tea forte samples to try. Tea Forte is an odd company. They charge crazy high prices for their teas, but some of them are truly fantastic. Some are mediocre or even bad. It’s hit and miss just like any other company. Their good ones are VERY good though.

Lots of coconut and honey, no lychee or fruit?

The coconut is a bit soapy and the base tastes like an overbrewed black: astringent afterbase, flavourful, but quite bitter. I thought this was white, but it tastes nothing like any white I’ve ever had. It tastes like cheap black tea to me.

I could have sworn I already wrote a tasting note on this.

Anyway, I really did not enjoy it. My sample “simple steep” pouch made two cups. I was going to give away the second half, but whatever it’s caffeine free.

I think it tastes mostly of the worst type of apple: Red Delicious. To me, that apple variety tastes like artificial red apple flavoured skittles and waxy red apple skins. The cinnamon and clove are ok, but the apple flavouring is not impressing me at all. It kind of has an apple cider/mulling spice vibe going on too. I think this is a lovely tea for some, but isn’t something I need in my cupboard again/

So I was hoping for a ginger root and lemongrass flavour here, instead I got a bit of spearmint with lots of metallic, sickly sweet licorice root. The licorice root was so strong, it tasted like someone added a bunch of artificial sweetener to the tea. Lemongrass is pretty subtle, slightly citrusy and grassy, but in the background. The ginger was fresh and spicey, but I still wish the licorice hadn’t ruined everything. It could have been a great tea if there was even a quarter of the licorice root (or none? It IS called ginger lemongrass, after all).

Honey taste is great, but there’s a floral-perfumey-ness to it that I’m definitely not digging

I wondered what the odd flavour was in this, but read the ingredients/other reviews and found out it is basil. I’ve never had a basil/holy basil (tulsi) tea before, because the whole savoury tea thing isn’t for me. I was hoping for honey and fig with a nice white base, but I fin the basil/peppermint/fennel/licorice makes it very medicinal. I can taste all the ingredients in this, but wish the honey and fig were more prominent. It does have a sweetness to it, but more of a bay leaf or dried basil sweetness.

I do recommend this tea solely because it is very unique and IMO worth trying once. I don’t enjoy savoury/medicinal teas, but some people would really enjoy this.

Coldbrew sipdown! I’m on a roll today.

This tea lives up to its name. Flavours of nougat, almond, caramel, buttersctoch, brown sugar. I find this too sweet, but it might be better with milk. As far as coldbrewing goes, I wouldn’t say cold or hot produces different flavours.

I’ve wanted to try the Noir line for a while, so I’m stoked this came in my sampler box. I split the looseleaf “single steep” packet into two servings because there was way more than I needed for one pot of tea. If I had been making smaller cups, it could have been three portions.

It smells very nougaty, almond, nuts, vanilla, butterscotch,, creamy, smells very sweet. I actually don’t enjoy nougat or butterscotch, but have high hopes for this tea.

However now than I’ve sipped 600mL of it, I can declare this isn’t for me. However, the name is extremely accurate. I just find it too caramelly and too sweet.

The black base is really smooth while still being flavourful. Malt, tannins, a bit drying though. That could be because it steeped about 7 minutes. A bit of fruit/honey/sweetness in the base too.

This is soooo good iced. I might need to put in an order before the hot weather gets here in a few months.

I’m extremely impressed with just how accurate Tea Forte is with the name vs taste of their blends. This hits all the expected notes: burnt sugar, stewed peach, sweet/fruity, and custard. I would have liked a bit more vanilla and cream, but overall this blend is very well done. It looks like I’ll be buying some tins of tea from tea forte in the future, as so far most of the samples I’ve tried are teas I NEED more of.

Strong flavours of custard and cream, sweet rooibos, berries, and vanilla. The rooibos is very pleasant, actually. It is a bit less rooibos-y than I’m used to, and it lacks the mineral quality that rooibos often has (although I don’t dislike mineral flavour). It also isn’t isn’t woody.

A nice creamy and fruity rooibos that is good served hot and cold.

This is such a relaxing flavour combination: orange, spearmint, citrus, sweet rooibos. It tastes like a spa! Normally mint + orange is awful (toothpaste + orange juice), but it works really well here. I can taste all the distinct flavours in the name (lime, mint, orange zest) but it also comes together well.

I’ll be buying more of this if I ever purchase from Tea Forte.

Vesty lemon, chamomile flowers, flavours of hay and mild citrus fruits.