Tea Forte

At home, I always enjoy my teas straight. This is because in this way I can know how the teas REALLY taste like, and of course, I admit that I am just too lazy to buy sugar or milk. :P I am usually quite happy with my plain teas, but from time to time I do encounter teas – mainly full-bodied black teas and chocolate teas – that makes me blame myself for not having any milk at home! This festive tea is clearly one of those guilt-provoking teas. It has the most enticing aroma of cacao and hazelnut. The liquor is flavourful; I really enjoy the nutty flavour (coconut + hazelnut) and dark chocolate note. If it could be just a little sweeter and creamier… it would be 100% like chocolate truffle, albeit in liquid form! Maybe I should really stock up with milk and sugar…

As a herbal tea this was not bad, though I always like “real teas” more than tisanes. The alarming ruby red colour of the liquor would probably activate the hibiscus alert in everybody’s head, but trust me, this tea was not tart at all. In fact, it was quite sweet, thanks to the blackberry leaves and other sweet flavourings! The dominant flavour in the cup was berry/plum, and there was a sweet warming note (reminded me of bakery) which could be attributed to cinnamon. Ginger was barely detectable other than a hint of spiciness on my tongue. A very Christmassy tea and that’s why I was drinking it on Boxing Day morning. ;)

Not my very favorite, but fun to try!

I received a sample of this in my December Birchbox, so naturally, the next day, I brewed myself a cup. This tea was my first experience with Tea Forte, although I’d heard of them before.

My reaction upon tearing open the packaging and smelling the teabag probably looked something like this – !!!!!. YUM. A previous reviewer described the scent as a sweet chocolate covered cherry and I find it spot on. In fact, I still have the pouch at my desk a few hours later, and am still sniffing it. It smells THAT good.

Brewed to a nice warm honey color after 4 minutes, and the taste is much milder than I had anticipated, much to my delight. Smooth and gently sweet, but not so much that you can’t taste the hint of green tea underneath, which the almond compliments really nicely IMO. The cherry is definitely noted when I smell the cup, but isn’t an overpowering taste. It’s sweetly subtle, letting you know it’s there without drowning your taste buds.

The aftertaste of this tea is wonderful – light cherry with just a smidge of almond nuttiness.

This is a fantastic tea. I could easily see myself drinking multiple cups of this during my day – my sign of something wonderful. If I can’t find this locally I’ll happily order online.

Another random tidbit to carry on my theme of things I only have one cup of!

This smelled delicious as soon as I opened the little packet. It’s fruity, sweet, and herbal all at the same time. The tisane itself is gorgeous to look at. Colorful dried berries, pink rosehips and hibiscus, purple-blue cornflower petals, and pale green sage all mixed together. But of course, I’m a little wary about the hibiscus. That stuff tends to shout over everything else.

It brews up to a pretty, dark magenta. Tart fruit is most present in the aroma, as well as something kinda lime-ish, but you can really smell the sage, too. I love the scent of sage. The flavor is mostly blueberry, and milder than what I had expected from the smell. Then, of course, along comes the hibiscus to smother the other ingredients. The sage is present, thankfully, but not as strong as I had hoped. There’s also this odd flavor that I can’t place. It’s sort of like citrus. I know it’s not the rosehips. Anyway, I’m not liking this too much, though it seemed promising in the beginning.

I don’t drink enough vanilla teas, as the strong and delicious cookie scent had caught me by surprise. You can practically smell your bites into soft and decadent sweet cookies, with an extremely well balance of vanilla and coconut.

Unfortunately, as you steep the leaves, the sweet decadent cookie aroma fades into a just as sweet and slightly more nutty, but clearly pale scent. This now worries me. Thankfully, and with knowledge of experience with most flavored black teas, I had added equal amounts of rock sugar to the leaves; this should help the vanilla and coconut maintain their cookie flavor.

And, indeed, it has. The tea can be sweet, with the vanilla and coconut helping to keep the pale black tea under control. The pale flavor is there, but not as prominent as the other flavors.

I am a bit relieved that I would not be entirely disappointed with this tea, but maybe a half teaspoon of rock sugar would suffice next time. I cannot see myself steeping the leaves a second time, as the paleness tells me this black tea will only maintain its full flavor on the initial steep.

But, a still sweet and slightly decadent tea before lunch, and during these stressful holidays, is great nonetheless.

I could not recall at the top of my head the last time I’ve had Darjeeling tea. Looking through my tea log, it appears it has been 6 months since my last steep of Darjeeling tea, which is quite surprising considering how much I love Darjeeling tea.

There is a very musty, toasted aroma to the dark brown and black leaves, with a very light woody scent. Steeping gives a similar scent, more woody than toasted, but still musty, and floral.

The flavor brings out a more floral taste, giving it a more delicate body. Any astringency compliments the light toasted notes, almost giving it a buttery flavor.

It is a little too delicate to be a morning tea, but as an early or late afternoon tea, this would be perfect.

I got this one from Azzrian!

I was a bit worried about this one. I don’t typically like cucumber or melon flavored teas, they just never seem right, somehow sour, like overripe fruit. I opened the bag and didn’t get much of a scent. Brewed up I can smell the cucumber and the mint, the mint is light.

The taste is a little odd, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. I can taste the cucumber, but it’s more of the cooling sensation that you crave in hot summer months than actual taste. It’s not gross or sour or anything bad, it’s just not what I was expecting. The mint is there, but it is, like the smell, light. I think the mint is spearmint, it doesn’t have that bite or herb-y taste to it that peppermint does. This is much sweeter, it might be part of the hint of blueberry sweetness I get in the tail end of the sip.

I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it. It’s good, but it’s different. It’s very true to cucumber flavor too, this is what surprises me most. It re-steeps well, I’m on number three. I think I may have to cold-brew a small mug of what’s left of the sample.

Thank you Azzrian for sharing this with me!

First tasting note! Wee! I liked this tea. It was sweet enough that I didn’t have to add sugar and it really packed a kick. The first steeping was just a little too tart for my taste but the second steeping was just right. I have a love/hate relationship with hibiscus but I found it worked well in this. Probably wouldn’t buy it again (I have wayyy too many rooibos teas already) but I enjoyed it!

I am not really a chai person but like the black pepper in this. Otherwise it is pretty unremarkable. If you do not like peppery teas this would not be for you. I can’t really taste any other individual notes.

I don’t like this tea at all. I thought I would really love this honey based tea, but I don’t taste any honey. It has some odd I can’t even explain taste to it. I’ll finish my cup so I don’t waste it, but I will never buy this again.

This tea has a really nice taste. I was afraid the cherry would be too overpowering, but it’s not. I like that you can still taste the almond in the tea. I tried this tea both hot and cold and it was very good both ways. The nutty taste comes through a little more when it’s cold, but it’s still good. I do think it tastes better hot though.

This is my first tea from this company, and I have to say I did enjoy it. It has a very nice taste to it. I like the apple taste and the spice mixed together and that neither taste overpowers the other.

I guess I haven’t had enough cucumber mints to compare so I don’t see why this tea has a low rating. I thought the mint was superb and the tea was amazingly refreshing.

There is a strong potpourri scent when opening the bag of leaves, followed by a sweet hint of coconut. The potpourri is a little annoying, as it can give me headaches, so I can briefly take this scent.

The leaves are a nice mixture of bright and dark greens with deep red petals. There is a very detailed texture, with full leaves, curled and uncurled, and stems.

Steeping gives a deep and clean golden color, with a better sweeter coconut aroma.

The flavor is all white tea. The coconut is a subtle touch, the safflower very difficult to detect. But, it all blends extremely well with the white tea, which is beautifully dark and clean, with a slight astringency.

The aroma of the dry leaves left me worried this would be wholly floral, but upon brewing, the coconut scent had assured me that this is a quality white tea blend.

Enjoyed with milk and sugar

Got this in a swap from darby. :) So glad I did! My husband made this for us when it was rather late, and we wanted something to sip while watching a movie. I think what I love best about this tea is how powerful each flavor is! The brew smells mostly of ginger, but as you sip, you really do get the flavors in the order they’re in in the title—first the kiwi, very juicy, then the lime, and then the ginger, making a tangy finish. I love it, even if I’m not sure I’ll be in the mood for it all the time. Again, I’m very grateful for a chance to try it! I’ll be logging this one again. :3

Had this at work yesterday, I’ve transported a small collection of bagged tea there to both get rid of it and enjoy tea at work. This is probably end up with me buying more bagged tea but eh.

Anywho, if you like cinnamon tea this is loaded with it. I love cinnamon in tea but this was almost a bit much (I may have also over-brewed a tad). I could feel the cinnamon swish around in my mouth. It was good but man it had a kick. :)

This is very much a proper coffee alternative. I am reminded of the hazelnut coffee sweetener, with a nice sweet nutty aroma.

Steeping lessens the sweetness, but gives a more full coffee-like scent with hazelnut highlights.

The flavor is a very rounded nutty chocolate, with subtle hints of the hazelnut and coconut. I like that it works unsweetened, with a very mellow characteristic.

Not bad, it would probably be better as an early afternoon pick-me-up, with a bit of rock sugar.

This will be the first tea to try in my new Kati tea brewing system from Tea Forte.

The leaves remind me of Tea Forte’s Sweet Orange Spice, which is also very cinnamon-y and festive.

Because the tumbler is smaller than my Starbucks/Bodum double-walled glass, I used only 1 teaspoon of leaves instead of my typical 1.5 – 2 teaspoons.

Steeping gives off a slightly concerning pale cinnamon scent, akin to the pale character of typical teabags, which makes for a more slight disappointment.

The flavor is interesting; there is a very barky spice that tries to follow through, but you also have that underlying pale taste. There is also a dull sweetness, which somewhat improves the pale flavor, but not significantly.

This is not bad, better than your typical teabag, but not on par with how delicious the Sweet Orange Spice surprised me.

I’m drinking this tea as I type. It’s about 9:45 p.m. and I have a strict no caffeine rule after 6 p.m.

Anyway, this is a good tea. It’s the perfect blend of orange and mint. Tea Forte did well striking the balance without this tasting artificial. Here’s the thing: mojitos are my favorite mixed drink. I would LOVE to try this tea with lime rather than orange. Although I enjoy oranges and mint on their own, I don’t adore the combination. It’s not bad. It’s just not fabulous. I’m glad I tried the combination, though.

The fact that this is a reasonably priced fair trade and organic tea is a huge bonus. It’s also a nice change to the chamomile and peppermint teas I normally drink at night. This is worth a try if you’re considering buying it.