Tea Forte

Artificiality, you need to stop messing with good tea flavors. Well, I love the combo. The coconut is really nice, the mango is a great follow up, and the tea base is good. Oddly enough, this is a flavored tea that should be Gong Fu’d. But the chemical used to flavor the tea overwhelms the natural taste of the green tea making it kinda soapy. Only was able to finish one cup, unfortunately.

I received a sampler of this from a friend and I actually rather enjoyed it but I can see it getting bitter if steeped for too long. Nice chunks of citrus fruit that shone through in the flavor. Sweetness with just a slight hint of bitter to remind you of the citrus.

Not terribly complicated but pleasant.

A better one of the sampler. Tastes just like a coconut rum. Chocolate I only kinda get. Not too strong, but pleasant. Still a little bit too artificial.

I drink this tea pretty much every morning! It’s got a beautiful green color and isn’t too strong. I brew it loose leaf in a pot and it goes nicely with breakfast or on its own. Very happy I bought it! I tend to just leave the leaves in the teapot and let it steep for ages, and even then it’s not overpowering, which is great. But maybe that’s not a proper way to do things. :)

Not a bad tea, and I really couldn’t add anything further other than what has been said. Too much on the artificial side for me personally, but still enjoyable. Think of a spicy apple cider followed by a chocolate powdery kick. I would not mind trying this again and I think it deserves a decent rating. I’m just a little bit harder to please with rooibos. For newbies for sure or a guiltless apple cider. Would recommend very lightly because I’ve had better apple like blends before.

The theme of pretty much all Tea Forte Teas: not bad, not good, clever combo, and too artificial. I tasted the honey, fig, peppermint, and berry leaves the most with everything else in the background.

This started out right on the nose: peach brulee. Peaches, burnt sugar, creamy, vanilla…delicious! Then I realized it reminded of Starbucks’ Blossoming Peach Tea Latte (which I think was out about a year ago), with that kind of artificial peach nerds on whipped cream vibe that’s a little odd but delicious in its own way. Overall, rather tasty. I’ll be sad to see the last bag go.

Okay. Again, a bit too artificial for me and Cherry is iffy with Sencha. The marzipan almond flavoring actually goes nicely with the green tea and rooibos since those teas tend to have that kind of nutty taste anyway. Cherry kinda clashes with the almond, but it might be nicer for other people. It is pretty green and probably would be better with fresher leaves.

Planning a trip, and trying to pick the most portable leaves for my tumbler, and had to try. It does taste like a nougat, and it does taste like caramel with a buttery hazelnut finish. Not a bad flavor combo, but like all Tea Forte Teas, the flavoring is replicated. It’s almost alcoholic. Cream and sugar does well and it is pretty nice, it’s just weird to drink on it’s own. It is sweet, smooth, and nutty, but it is so, so, so boozy. The color is gorgeous brewed, almost like a syrup, but so is the tea. It’s like someone took a piece of caramel out of a Bailey’s Irish Cream.

A little bit too much for me personally.

Brought this one to work today.

It’s not bad, but it’s not really great, either. And I will note that I’m having it hot and unsweetened. It’s maybe blueberry, it’s thick because of the hibiscus. But the tea itself is almost insipid.

Oh well.

Edit: There’s sage in this?! I honestly couldn’t tell.

Sipdown! Which brings me below 40 for the first time in who knows how long.

This batch tasted more like blood orange than previous cups, which tasted more like a lady grey. This is bad news for me as I’m not really a fan of oranges, and I have a particular dislike of blood orange. It’s also quite dry, which again is not really a good thing for me. Having a very hard time understanding my previous rating of 80; lowering my rating.

This one worried me, because I actually hate blood orange (or at least I have in the past; it’s been a few years). I need not have worried though because this is more like a Lady Grey with that distinct light Froot Loop flavour. If you’re turned off by the Froot Loop description, I guess you could say it’s citrus-y with bergamot. I wouldn’t say it’s distinctly blood orange (or even orange for that matter) but it’s good, smooth, and a dead ringer for Twinings’ Lady Grey.

Picked up Tea Forte’s Noir collection today on a whim—mostly because Peach Brule sounded delicious. Haven’t actually heard of this company before so I just kind of had to hope for the best.

First up to try is Black Cherry. I liked this a lot better than DAVIDs’ Black Cherry, that’s for sure! The cherry flavour is subtle in this but noticeable. The base is basic and unimpressive, but not unpleasant (though the very last sip had an astringency I didn’t get through the rest of the cup). Considering all that’s packed into this tea I expected something a bit more complex, but this is pretty much as advertised—black cherry. Not a rebuy, but I can get through the second bag.

Not a fan of this tea. The cinnamon is too strong.

good tea, light notes

Not too bad. Not too great. Apricot and almond are the obvious tastes, and I really like those tastes. The artificiality is just as obvious. I felt like I was drinking an old fashioned hot soda, which is another reason why it did not necessarily offend me.

For me: pleasant. For a lot of other people, not so much. Not something I’d drink again, but something I’m glad I tried. Organic and au naturale are à la mode anyway.

thanks omgsrsly! this is probably? my favourite of the bunch if only because i can see this one being delicious cold brewed in the summer – similar enough to the cherry snowcone concept :) hibby for sure, but i don’t mind hibby :)

i think i’ve finally come to the conclusion that i really only seem to like mojitos in alcohol form, while on vacation. lol any other time of year or form, they just aren’t my thing. Maybe it’s because the mint to “whatever other flavour” just never seems as balanced as in a real drink. at least now i know. no more mojito teas.

another from omgsrsly. this one’s not bad but it’s not knock your socks off, which is i think where i landed the last time i tried a few of these tea forte things. It’s amaretto and there’s a slight apricot note in here which makes it more enjoyable for me, but not enough to want to have this around all the time. A nice tea to try and then move on:)

this one smells like ass. Honestly. Dry it was sort of ginger, lime…not so much kiwi….steeped, i was getting this weird tangy smell with an underlying ginger taste..sort of. Not a fan of this one. I tried to drink it but ended up having to not finish the cup because it was just wrong. :) sorry omgsrsly! haha

sample from omgsrsly this one isn’t too bad, but it’s not great either as far as blueberry teas go. it’s buleberry, but i wouldn’t call it merlot. And it’s not blueberry enough. still though, it’s not super sour which is typically rare in a tisane like this.

This had a real lightness and brightness to it – not what I was expecting from a tea labeled Noir. It almost tasted like a mandarin green tea. It was very good, but not what I was hoping for.

Christmas sampler! I hesitated with Tea Forte at first, but then low and behold, a loose leaf individual set with a little bit of each flavor. Each serving is the perfect size for my tumbler. Lucky for me.

I liked this tea quite a bit for the following reasons.

1. Incredibly easy to steep, and does not over steep at all-it actually gets better as it soaks.
2. I like the blend picked. I’ve had pear flavored white teas before and they typically work really well for me. The ginger is an added spicy bonus. I also really like these individual flavors, so totally narrow appeal.
3. Though it took long steeps, I got five out of it-each amount of water was different. 12 ounces at first, then 8 towards the end.

I’m a little surprised that Tea Forte offered a combo like this, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. At the same time, I’m rating this tea by the standards of: can I drink it and not worry about over-steeping across campus? Yes, I can, so this tea is narrowly tailored for my purposes. I otherwise have different standards for other teas, which is subjective. But this is a gift. All tea are meant to be enjoyed, and each tea is to be enjoyed at its moment of calling.

The leaves were actually quite pretty, though by no means the highest quality tea at all. I think the allure lies in preference for this type of flavor; tea purists might think this is artificial. It wasn’t too artificial for me. I the Bai Mu Tan actually blended naturally and creamy with the sweet pear. I’d introduce a newer drinker to it, though my mom and my grandmother loved it and they are fairly experienced. Again, down to preference and someone searching for a unique, spicy, but calming tea.