Tea Forte

I did not like this tea. I didn’t even finish the cup. Both the orange and the jasmine taste really artificial – it was like drinking cleaning fluid.

I have a couple of single serve bags of this from…somewhere. They came free with something but I don’t remember what. After the Honey Yuzu debacle of this morning, I had higher hopes for this one.

It smells really fruity for something named ‘cucumber mint’. I can definitely taste the spearmint and sorta blueberry and a sort of flatness of the cucumber. It’s an interesting combination but not one I’m interested in drinking again. But it is drinkable at least. There is that.

I’m not sure what yuzu is or what is in this tea to make it so yuck but it is definitely yuck. I couldn’t even finish it. Took about 2 swallows and had to pour it down the drain. Medicinal and something but it is not good.

I really enjoyed this tea! It would not be something I would pick up, it was part of a sampler with my kati cup (love it!). I always am using only half a bag of the single steeps, because that seems to be the best strength for me. This had a really lovely fragrance, floral and sweet. I am not familiar with Darjeeling, but I kept smelling it and wanting more sips. Not bitter at all. I still would reach for a more exciting tea, but will enjoy what I have of this.

Eh. I am only trying this as it came in a sampler of the pyramid s. You can definitely smell the rosemary, and it is the main flavor to me. Not too strong or overwhelming, but any tangerine is just weak, dry. I have added s but of honey as usual. I can get through the cup, but don’t ever need to have that again

Love the smell of this tea!!! This is from a single steeps sampler Warming Joy I picked up at Home Goods—needless to say I went back for more, even though the others are drinkable but not favorites. I only need to use half of a “single steep”—the whole sachet is too strong for me (then I get double for my $, right?) The smell of this chocolate raspberry is fantastic—like a high quality truffle. I pass it around work to smell and everyone goes “ooooh, ahhhh, that smells great!”. I use my tea forte kati cup, and the “hot” setting on the water dispenser, and seems to make the perfect tea, not even needing my usual honey. I am really good at determining fake smells, but this reeks of true chocolate, and juicy raspberry to me. Had it not been in the sampler, it is not a flavor profile I would normally be drawn to.

Ok, this was a weird one. First time I tried it at home, and thought “omg, this is gross, gross”. I have the single steeps from a sampler, so I just took a couple to work to perhaps try again. At work, I have a tea forte kati cup (that I really love!!) I only need to use half of these “single steeps” for my liking—-ironically, they are made for single use, but I find a whole one way too strong in all I have tried. Also, at work, I use the “hot” water button from the water dispenser, so I have no idea the temp—hot enough to burn your tongue if not careful. This seems to be the perfect temp for these teas because they taste so much better at work in my kati cup—-so experimenting is good. I don’t even add sweetener like I do at home. It does have a strong alcohol and smell overall albeit a pretty good smell., but comes out to a cup of tea I don’t mind to make again, just maybe wouldn’t get again.

Color: faint neon green
Initial aroma strength: delicate/underwhelming
Body: light but not too light. low bitterness, generally smooth finish.
Aroma: grassy (not necessarily fresh cut but fresher than hay; similar to the smell that you get when you cut your lawn in the morning and come back in the afternoon on a fairly dry day), a faint hint of pine needle and earth.
A lot of tiny sediments.
Overall well balanced.

I found this fascinating sounding tea at our Home Goods store. I was familiar with Tea Forte but not this selection. The price was so low that I was unable to resist.

When I opened the metal tin and snipped open the clear plastic bag, I found black leaves peppered with yellow marigold flower petals.

The aroma was very strong. I could sift out the powerful caramel and butter attributes. All ingredients and flavors are listed as organic and natural. If so, they were somehow supercharged to produce some of the strongest smells that I’ve experienced in an unbrewed black tea.

I strictly followed the company’s brewing instructions and steeped the leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The finished product was a dark golden orange. The aroma was pure caramel.

The taste was quite potent. The flavors screamed caramel and butter with a flowery whisper in the background. My palate was so bombarded with these attributes that I wasn’t sure where the taste ended and the aftertaste began. I did notice that the aftertaste lingered…and lingered…and lingered.

It is unusual to find a black tea with flavors that are too robust for me but this one is definitely on the cusp. The overall taste isn’t unpleasant and I can’t say that astringency is a problem. However, at least in the morning, this selection is too much for my drowsy taste buds to process. Maybe it would be better received in the early afternoon when I’m already dueling with the issues of my day.

Very light and fruity (pear, apple), some delicious white tea as the base, and a profound sweetness. It is actually one of the better teas from tea forte, however I’m not interested in pear flavour (got sick once after I had eaten a pear and now pear makes me feel nauseated). It is a tasty fruityblend if you like white and green blends. It would make a fabulous iced tea.

(this review is for the teabag version)

So I took this from a room in a hotel I was staying at to try at a later date. I enjoyed it coldbrewed, despite the weather being very cold and rainy today.

Obviously there is some bergamot here. I found my cup was more floral than last time I tried it (in a looseleaf tea forte sampler). Lightly fruity (citrus) notes, lots of rich tannins that one would expect from an Earl Grey.

Forgot to write about this one yesterday! This is Day 2 in my advent calendar week from Nicole it was actually just what i wanted yesterday after work, though admittedly it’s not one i need around all the time – there are deeper, richer teas of a similar vein that i’d pick up first…but it was a good cup!

I was kind of neutral about this. It was not unpleasant, but it did remind me a bit of earl grey tea (which I am not typically fond of).
I did like it a little bit more once I added some cream.
The peachy scent set me up with high expectations that the bergamont/orange sort of flavour did not deliver.

This tea tasted absolutely terrible! As others have commented despite the sweet smell, there were terrible notes of chemically alcohol, with an odd smokey note… it was reminiscent to getting a spritz of Pledge wood cleaner to the mouth.

I tried adding cream, I tried it cold- all in all it is just an absolutely terrible tea.

A fruity and sweet herbal blend with a deep amber liquor. Berries, too much vanilla, rooibos, a little spicy, slightly dry finish.

The smell and the taste are both far too sweet for me! I’ll keep this one for dessert ..

I’ve been testing out some Tea Forte today. :P My friends mom gave me a box with 5 different flavours. Cause she hasn’t been using them and she knows I’m crazy about tea.
Anyway, this one is actually pretty good. When I opened it, I smelled grape right away, but I guess that’s the plum too.. It’s sweet and fruity with a little tinge of spice and ginger. It’s overall a nice tea.

Earl Grey is Earl Grey. The citrus-wood notes are a little on the perfumey side, and my tea leaves were not as depicted in the picture here (they’re CTC, but that’s alright). I shouldn’t have a problem drinking up the pot though! It’s turning out to be a good “start the day and cut through the cardamom rice” tea.

Thanks for the sample, Arby! It’s been a while since I had an Earl Grey that wasn’t a Cream.

Smells like grapefruit and honey. There’s a flavour in here that is like neither of those notes, and is quite medicinal- like sweet mint (freshening) and powdery bee pollen, as opposed to liquid honey. It’s an interesting effect, on top of that very dry/vegetal green base. The outcome is like one of those Halls Honey drops, or some other cough candy! I’d place this tea in the category of ‘when I’m sick and want something hot, medicinal, a little sweet, and not fancy.’

Thank you, Arby, for sending me this! I was curious about this one and now I know.

Lovely aroma of peach! I do get a peach flavor as well, although it isn’t as strong as the scent would promise. This is a nice, smooth tea and I really enjoy it.

Wow, my tea has none of these lovely flavors everyone is describing! It does have a lovely sort of broiled peach fragrance, but the flavor is really mostly just a faintly fruity, strong black tea. It definitely doesn’t taste like peach. I wonder if I got a top of the barrel (bottom of the barrel?) bag that just didn’t have all the good stuff in it. There definitely doesn’t appear to be much in there that isn’t tea leaves. I don’t DISlike it, but I don’t find anything special about my bag. I’ll reserve numerical judgment in case I just got a funky cup.

I think this was limited edition, which is good. This is terrible! There is a faint hint of raspberry (though it honestly tastes almost more like apple to me), and no chocolate flavor whatsoever. I’ve tried it plain, with some sugar, with sugar and milk…nada. I mean, OK, it is drinkable but not enjoyable. I’ve held onto this one for a while, because every time I try it, I refuse to think that a tea that supposedly is two of the flavors I most love in the world can be so awful, but it is now time to send it on its way. Blech.