TeaFrog

This one was a lot more woodsy than caramel for me. As I read these other reviews though, it looks like I have to give it a longer steep. I will have to try that next time.

As others have mentioned, I didn’t really get any mango taste but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t good. It was still creamy and fruity.
It maybe had too much hibiscus flavour for me though, however the strong pink colour is pretty.

Toasty rice infused with a bit of green tea. I mostly taste the brown rice in this. The actual “tea” taste is very “quiet”. Soft.

Luckily, I love toasted rice and “roasty” flavors, so I think this tea delicious. Genmaicha and matcha were what had me started on this tea tasting journey, so I think I will always have a “soft spot” for them, whatever version I find them in.

This genmaicha is particularly mild and smooth, yet tasty. I detect the flavor of browned rice in abundance. It’s almost like I’m drinking a pure hojicha, with its toasty flavors!

No astringency or bitterness whatsoever. Very drinkable any time of day.

This was better than Hawaiian Cocktail, but I doubt it is something I would buy again. It has a nice, fruity smell (both dry and brewed) and the yogurt gives a bit of extra richness. Having said that, it doesn’t really remind me of mango much at all. Instead, it is a seemingly random fruity taste that is very close to being overpowered by the hibiscus.

While it isn’t terrible, I was really hoping for something more…mango-ey.

This is a new tea from TeaFrog (according to their site, and I couldn’t find it on here). I was a little leery of it at first, because I seem to be frequently disappointed at teas that promise me coconut! When I recieved the sample, I couldn’t really notice any coconut pieces in the tea, but happily, the flavour does come out! It is a very light tasting and refreshing ( I bet it would be nice iced too) and the coconut isn’t overpowering or chemical tasting (as I find many coconut things are).

I think I would buy a full size bag of this tea.

Still tasting all of my new samples! I took this to school today in my travel press, and it was just what I needed, sitting in a cold classroom. The smell is very nice, and the taste is lovely. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It definitely smells and tastes like a dessert, but there wasn’t much of a coffee-like hint to it (which I normally associate with tiramisu). That’s really not a big deal, it still tastes great!

I resteeped this during my break, but it tasted very…hot watery, more than I normal find when I resteep. I mostly just needed something to keep me warm anyway!

Mmm…this did not disappoint! This was my third sample (out of ten), and so far the only one I would buy a full size of. Oddly enough, I didn’t think this one had a very chocolately smell dry, but once it steeped it smelled lovely. I used a little bit each of milk and sugar, and it turned out great. It falls below chocolate chili chai and read my lips from davids tea, but it is definitely up there with my favourite teas to satisfy my sweet tooth.
This is a great alternative to hot chocolate, and it has a nice, plain (in a good way) chocolate taste. Very comforting.

This was a really nice cup of tea. When I smelled the dry leaves, the tea seemed sweet and fruity. Once brewed, the cup was not overly sweet, but definitely didn’t need anything added to it. The word that comes to my mind to describe this is “clean”. I think this is one I’ll come back to whenever I feel like a nice cup of green tea without too much going on in it.

I thought the description sounded really good, so I ordered this as a sample. I find it a little strange that there’s no ginger in it!

It smells alright before it is steeped, but I don’t get any smell that reminds me of gingerbread. I definitely get the orange, but it isn’t overpowering. Overall, the taste was disappointing. I had high hopes for a comforting tea for cool weather, and while this is drinkable, it will probably be a last resort to try out. I’ll also add that I do like rooibos, so I don’t think that was a factor (as it seems to be with some people).

My samples from TeaFrog were just delivered this morning! They all smell amazing….but this is the one I was looking forward to the most! I am a huge coconut fan, and vanilla is a bonus!

The dry tea looks beautiful, I love the little rosebuds. It has a delicate smell but both the coconut and vanilla are definitely there. Once steeped, it was pale in colour with a light smell. When I drink it the tea itself is the first thing I taste, and it is very nice, but the coconut and vanilla really come out after taking a sip. Mmm.

I haven’t tried it iced yet, but I feel that it will taste even better that way!

Edit: When I went to resteep my leaves a little while later, they smelled terrible, like seaweed. What am I doing wrong? It was only about an hour and a half later, and I’ve never had this happen before when trying to resteep!

Ok, last entry about this tea! I can’t help it, this is FABULOUS cold-steeped. I left it in the fridge for about 11 hours and it’s not at all bitter or astringent! So light, so tasty…this is part of my arsenal to get me through this night shift on no sleep (peppermint amour and vanilla oolong are my backups). Om nom nom. Upping the rating due to iced excellence!

Finally finished this sample, and it’s been a good yet brief run. I have the last 2 tsp cold steeping in my fancy new double-walled glass mug (when I found a tea shop in Bellis Fair mall I inexplicably gravitated towards it). I wish the blueberry were more sweet, but I need to tone down my obsession for sweet teas. Goodbye Blueberry white, hello White Tiger?

This is a generous sample! And it has such a nice aroma in the bag and in the cup. Very mild flavour, but that seems to be the case with the flavoured whites I have tried. The water temp at work is also probably too hot, so that could have an effect on what I’m tasting now. Brewed at home, 2 mins brings out just enough flavour, whereas anything less seems too weak. I haven’t tried re-steeping yet, but I am doubtful it will be as nice as the first infusion. Overall I quite like it!

Cargo and James had a bamboo shoots green tea that hooked me entirely. But since I no longer live in Edmonton or anywhere near C&J, I found this version from Teafrog online and it’s quite acceptable, if not almost identical to C&J’s blend. It also looks exactly the same! Jackpot :D This tea has a sentimental place in my heart. The delicate perfume aroma brings me back in time to when I had my first cup, and I can likely credit this as “the tea” that got me into tea in general.

The first time I brewed this, it had a musty aroma that put me off and I never went back to it. I decided to cold brew it since sometimes cold brewing makes weird teas better. So it was with this tea: my cold brew is all coconut and vanilla, slightly sweet, and nice and refreshing. I would consider having this one around just as a cold steep, actually, since it’s so tasty. I’m not getting any florals from the rose buds, but that’s ok. I’m rating this one strictly on it’s cold brew, but I suppose I might try the hot again to see if I can get a better cup. Definitely has the potential to be very tasty!

Another one of my recently aquired samples. When I first brewed this one the aroma wasn’t pleasant to me at all. Sort of musty, weird and hard to describe, but it didn’t smell good. The taste, however, is nice and light, sweet with coconut and creamy vanilla notes. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a disconnect between smell and taste! I enjoy the tea for the most part, but it’s hard to get past that smell. Maybe I “overcooked” the white tea?(When I smell the brewed leaves in the infusion basket, it smells disconcertingly exactly like cooked spinach). Mostly I’m left completely unsure about how I feel about this tea, so I’m not going to rate it yet. Good thing I have enough to play around with my parameters and try again.

Yum…I can really detect the creamy notes. Citrusy bergamot and cream. I forgot how much I love Earl Grey! And this is a mellowed-out version. I can detect a bit of burnt sugar and vanilla, cream and some fantastic bergamot. A very tasty mix!

I’m easily confused. Especially when two conflicting rules butt up against each other. So blends of black and green tea definitely confuse me. Do I brew at high temps or low? Risk scalding the green to get the black to brew up fully? Or should you brew at the low temperature and risk a weak cuppa?

This meant playing with the parameters and seeing what worked best. The lower temperature brew resulted in a more fruity/floral brew while the higher temperature brought out the tea more. Both were flavorful cups that had some lovely fruity overtones. My favorite was the lower temperature brew. It had more floral and fruit notes and was definitely NOT a weak cup. Either way, it was a lovely, light brown cup that was enjoyable to drink.

Nice, flavorful, and fruity. Yum.

From http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2216/tea-review-teafrog-1001-nights-2/

I have a few sample pouches of rooibos from TeaFrog that I still haven’t tried yet, mostly because I don’t get around to making a pot of tea at home as much as I’d like. I chose this one because of the orange and rose and other florals in the mix. When I first got them, all the pouches kind of smelled like all the other ones, and separation hasn’t helped them much, but I haven’t experienced much cross contamination in the other teas from the box. I say this because this one doesn’t taste much like I expected.

Brewed up, I do of course taste the nutty rooibose base, and a creamy, vanilla flavor. Maybe a hint of orange? I also get a somewhat, minty, musty aroma that sometimes gets into the flavor. No florals at all. It’s not a great match up. Maybe I got a not-great batch, but I don’t see myself going for this one very often.

Mmm, good digestif.

Mmm, rooibos, orange peels, almonds, cardamom, and coriander…this sounds like a delicious tea in the making! When I first opened the package, it was definitely the almond scents that struck my nose first. Then came sweet, slightly juicy undertones. In preparing this tea, I utilised a two-cup teapot, 1 tablespoon of TeaFrog Gingerbread Orange Rooibos (two times the recommended 1.5 teaspoon per cup), and freshly boiled water.

Pouring the water over the mixture, the dominant smell wafting up in the steam was actually orange. I felt this was a good sign, since the name of the tea is Gingerbread Orange. The recommended five minutes past, I removed the infuser, taking a moment to eyeball the tea. I could easily pick out the cardamom, coriander, and orange bits in amongst the rooibos. I was not too sure about where the almond was, but I knew I had smelled it earlier…oh, there are a couple of pieces. Whew. My nose has not deceived me.

I take my first sip. Hmmm, I can definitely taste the cardamom. It is coming through quite dominantly. I take another sip, and another, and finish off the first cup. My thoughts so far run somewhere along the line of it tastes spicy, as gingerbread does, but yet…this tea has not so far reminded me of gingerbread. The spiciness of the flavour is quickly followed by tasty orange, and then some almond-esque undertones. Not having fully felt that I understand this tea and all that it has to offer, I pour myself a second cup.

The deep orange-red, nearly rust, colour of this tea is quite pretty. As I sip this second cup, it seems that it follows much like the first. However, I am now beginning to follow the connection of the flavour of this tea to the flavour of gingerbread. This connection is especially prominent in the aftertaste, which is quite pleasant. I finish off the pot with a new outlook on this tea.

I think this tea would be a great treat any time of the day. I drank it in the morning and really enjoyed the experience, but I can see it being a lovely evening tea as well. If you are interested in this tea, I would definitely recommend trying some. I would rate it an 85/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

Probably the closest to perfect I’ve ever seen an Assam come. Not sure if I agree with the “soft citrus notes”, but it did have a fruit/floral lean that was uncharacteristic of Assams of yesterbrew. There was a tad bit of malt to the middle but not much, and the astringency was thankfully understated. It’s a shame that this stuff is such a rarity now, though.

Full Review: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2139/tea-review-teafrog-assam-rani-sftgfop-2/