The NecessiTeas

The scents of bergamot and vanilla are strong in the packet and seem to be duking it out between themselves. Steeped, the aroma is more of the creme than the bergamot. The flavor of the underlying tea seems to me similar to the Tazo Earl Grey. It’s a fairly stark, strong, bergamot, though it is mediated to some extent by the vanilla and therefore generally more pleasant.

This is my first Necessiteas black blend sample and I think it is a real step up from their green flavored teas, though it still seems to feel much more an assembly of individual flavors than a true blend.

There are nice big pieces of orange peel and smaller, pretty reddish petals in among the tea. In the packet, it does have an orange smell (in a baby aspirin orange/creamsicle sort of way), and although I do get the note that is called cheesecake, I am smelling, more than cheesecake, a fairly strong coconut scent.

The orange/coconut also comes out in the aroma of the steeped tea, while the creaminess associated with cheesecake comes out more in the flavor along with a small amount of orange. I did not find the tea discernible except for a slight bitterness in the finish. The liquor is yellow-green with suspended particles in it.

The orange flavor in this doesn’t have the strength and sweetness I recall tasting in the Orange Creamsicle, but I do find that these teas differ from cup to cup depending on how the flavoring agents have been distributed.

That said, this is one of the more flavorful of the NecessiTeas flavored green teas I have sampled, probably behind Raspberry Jasmine and Orange Creamsicle, and maybe Strawberry Lemonade. But my standards have become somewhat pickier since I sampled those.

Biggest Loser Bob sold me on Extra Sugar Free Gum, so I have tried just about every flavor they have including their Strawberry Banana, and boy howdy if that wasn’t exactly the smell that I smelled when I opened up the sample packet. There were big hunks of crispy dried banana chips and smaller dried strawberries (with green tea leaves stuck to them) among more green leaves that looked like sencha.

After steeping, the tea was a very pale greenish yellow color with an aroma of sweet strawberry and banana. I got all excited because I thought I might actually be about to experience a flavored green tea success story. But the taste was not nearly as sweet (or indeed, as intense) as the smell, and there was an almost bitter downward turn at the finish. There was something else that was interesting; a marine taste that reminded me of a very mild fish oil, like in omega 3 capsules. It must have been from the tea rather than the fruit. I’m open to such tastes in tea, particularly green tea, as many of them are said to taste like kelp or other seaweeds. But it wasn’t the best pairing with strawberry and banana.

I thought this tea had more flavor than the Strawberry Daiquiri of last night, but it still didn’t have the depth of flavor I was hoping for. I noticed in the description there’s a suggestion of serving this iced. Honestly, I don’t think it would stand up to icing.

Tonight, steeped at 1 minute instead of 1.5 to see what difference that might make.

Either it’s the steeping or it’s the luck of the draw of the flavoring agents out of the sample packet, but this time around I’m getting less sweet and more suggestion of rum. It’s a darker note, but it’s present in a faded sort of way so it gives the overall impression of less flavor.

Some people bang themselves over their heads with 2×4s. I keep trying flavored green teas. When will I learn?

I placed this order for samples from The NecessiTeas mostly to try some of their flavored blacks since my success rate with their greens had been so low, but while I was at it, I went ahead and ordered samples of the greens I hadn’t yet tasted. There were only three, so it didn’t seem overly masochistic.

Having experienced more and different kinds of green tea between my original set of samples and this one, I can now make some observations about the tea I wasn’t prepared to make then. I now recognize the green base (at least for this tea) as sencha. It has the leaf shape, and yields the green/yellow liquor color with little particles suspended in it I recognize from my Den’s sampler experience.

This tea, however, doesn’t have anything like the flavor that the Den’s had. There is no juicy, vegetal goodness — it’s just a green whisper in the background. The main flavor is strawberry, but it isn’t a robust strawberry, certainly not the strawberry I would expect in a daiquiri. It, too, is a mere whisper. To be more precise, it’s not even really strawberry so much as a vague strawberry-flavored sweetness, like a Jolly Rancher that’s been dissolved in at least a bathtub’s worth of water. This is unfortunate, because in the packet, the dry mixture smelled promising — a strong strawberry flavor and an identifiable undercurrent of rum.

There was no appreciable difference in flavor after steeping 1.5 minutes as opposed to 1 minute.

This was only so-so. I am still sampling some decaffs and rooibos for evening potations, and this seemed to lack flavour. I’ve had decent chocolate mint black teas, so maybe it was the rooibos standing in the way of a tasty experience.
Worst than meh but not so bad that I wanted to toss it.

Yet another sampling from Doulton! I’m trying to drink up all my samples to make room for some new tea once my month-long ban on buying tea is up. A new job = regular income = new tea! How nifty!

Anyway, this tea really did smell like root beer! Root beer is my favorite kind of soda, even more so than Mountain Dew Live Wire, so I was really psyched when Doulton sent me this. After that smell, I wasn’t surprised when it tasted like warm root beer. You know that feeling that your tongue gets when you drink root beer? Not the carbonation feeling, but the prickly root beer feeling, like little pockets of goodness are popping on your tongue? It’s a different feeling from all the other kinds of soda. Yeah, this tea gives you that.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 2 zarafina cups filtered water
Tool: Zarafina herbal-loose-strong
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: exactly like “Terry’s Milk Chocolate Orange Ball”
Steeped Tea Smell: exactly like “Terry’s Milk Chocolate Orange Ball”
Flavor: orange, hints of rooibos and chocolate
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: hints of sweet chocolate
Liquor: translucent dark orange-brown

Oh my did the tiny rooibos chips make a mess inside the zarafina! They escaped the mesh basket and got everywhere.

On the other hand this is a delicious caffeine free dessert tea.

Resteep: zarafina herbal-loose-strong
Orange colored water, this is not resteepable – at least at whatever time the zarafina uses for strong.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/thenecessiteas-loose-leaf-rooibos-tea.html

Finishing up the last of the sample I received a while back of this tea. As the mug sits here in front of me, the aroma is tantalizing. It smells and tastes so much like root beer.

Sad that this is the last of this sampling, as I have enjoyed it … but, I don’t know that I like it well enough to place another order for it.

This is really tasty.

The flavor of the rooibos is a perfect union for the root beer flavor… and the flavor seems to nicely off-set that funky, saccharine-ish flavor from the rooibos that I generally find so off-putting when it comes to rooibos.

I am very pleasantly surprised by this blend. I didn’t try it with milk this time around, but, I think when I brew up the last of my sample, I will froth up some milk and serve this latte style to see how/if that enhances the “float” part of the flavoring.

Bumping the rating up a bit after having this again with breakfast. I had cinnamon sugar and syrup soaked French toast this morning and this did a great job of cutting through the sugar overload in my mouth, cleansing my palate, and keeping my breakfast from overwhelming my sweet tooth. I really should cut back on my sugar intake since there’s a history of diabetes in my family but damn it’s so goooooood.

Since I didn’t have this yesterday (due to the insistence of my son) I decided to have it today.

The liquor was a pale yellow-green and smelled like raspberry syrup. The taste was like like a raspberry candy. It reminded me very much of a cherry rose sencha…except with raspberry and jasmine and the green tea base wasn’t sencha.

This was in the AmazonV box Yea! I’ve been wanting to order this one myself but was trying to wait for the shop owner to settle in from her her baby (I heard others say there was long wait times) so I am grateful to AmazonV for letting me try some of her stash.

The dried rooibos smells like root beer a little more minty than root beer however you won’t mistake rootbeer in the smell. Once steeped (I did 5 min.) my whole kitchen began to smell of root beer and I started getting even more anxious to sip it. I tried it while it was still a little on the hot side and I didn’t get much in the way of flavor.

I let it cool down and WOW it was soo much better. I really enjoyed this cuppa I could see this finding a place in my tea cupboard right beside Coconut Custard Rooibos, while C.C.R. is still my favorite as far as rooibos’ go (and I like quite a few rooibos’) this one is a very close second. I could however see some root beer lovers out there liking this more than coconut custard rooibos. Great rooibos!

I was going to try the other green tea sample I’d gotten from this company but my son insisted that I try this one. He didn’t want any, he just wanted me to have it. Listening to him try to say “Orange Glow” around his missing front tooth and speech difficulty was so cute.

So, I opened up the sample baggie and scooped out a heaping teaspoon for my 17oz tetsubin. The green base looked like a low quality sencha, flat leaves and lots of twig pieces. The liquor steeped to a pale celery green with a taste like an orange flavored cookie. I wasn’t getting the cheesecake, I was getting cookie…or perhaps cheesecake crust. But there was definitely orange though at times I could have sworn there was bergamot as well. And there was a bit of a peppery taste also.

It wasn’t quite what I was expecting but I think I could like this once I get over the “What the heck IS this?” reaction. Might be good for a cool summer evening.

The dry leaf smells like tart strawberries, but the honey colored liquor smells mostly of cheesecake. The taste is a bit thinner than the smell but I think that could be fixed with another minute of steeping or a bit more leaf. Though the taste did get stronger as it cooled.

This is a very pleasant tea that bring to mind Victorian parlors, fine china, and afternoon tea parties in English rose gardens.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 tsp (recommended 1.5 tsp per 8 ounces)
Additives: none
Water: 8 oz / 1 zarafina cup
Tool: Zarafina black-loose-medium
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet, fruity, floral, vanilla, delicious
Steeped Tea Smell: earl grey
Flavor: earl grey
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: none
Liquor: translucent medium brown

I should have added a bit more leaf, but I was too excited and didn’t read the directions before I began.

It came out as a very decent earl grey, nothing too different from the normal (creamy or otherwise) I could detect. It was a bit on the mild side and I wonder if using strong instead of medium would have served the tea better?

It was only a sample, and I split my samples with my mom, so no fiddling with this one for me. There are plenty more earl greys that are more unique and I would prefer for me to worry about revising the preparation of this one.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Resteep: Zarafina black-loose-medium
Weak but serviceable cup of tea

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/thenecessiteas-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

I received a bit of this in a package from Doulton today! Thank you Doulton!

This tea reminds me quite a bit of Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea from Harney & Sons, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea from Harney & Sons that’s being resold by this company.

So… you know those red hot candies? The little tiny red candies that are super cinnamon-y hot? Now, imagine them all liquefied (but not sticky!) and in a teacup! What you would have is this tea. YUM!

This is very good and the smell is delicious. The rum raisin aroma is the pervasive one. I was hoping, a bit, that this tea would be very similar to my beloved “Brioche” from the American Tea House, but it is more like rum raisin and Brioche is much more cake-y.

The NecessiTeas and I have a troubled relationship: we are in a repetition compulsion that goes like so: I make an order of $90 or $45 dollars and pay them promptly via Pay Pal. Three weeks later I call them and nobody answers. I then send a plaintive email and get a response that my package is in the mail. Package arrives shortly thereafter, always post-marked one day after my bewildered email. I honestly do not have a dysfunctional relationship with any other tea company.

So…anticipating that this would be a problem, I placed a reorder for this tea a week before my first order arrived. It’s nice that they offer sample packs for $2.00 but I really feel as if ordering from them is a huge imposition for them. I feel like some sort of tea mendicant who is as annoying to them as a panhandler. It’s too bad that their tea is so good.

My order from NecessiTeas finally came! This is the first tea I’m trying from NecessiTeas, and I’m glad it’s a good one.

As a fan of bread pudding, I find the aroma of this tea to be irresistible. So yummy.

I can taste the rum – Nice! The rum really accentuates the raisin flavor of this blend, which is a good thing as I find that very often with raisin flavored blends, the raisin flavor can be somewhat indistinguishable. The custard and cream flavor adds a sweet smoothness to the tea. YUM!

A very pleasant tasting tea. I like that the flavors are strong. This yum factor almost makes up for the long wait I had for the order… if the other teas I’ve ordered are as good, I’ll be willing to place another order in the future.

Another tea sample polished off – I’m on a roll here! If The NecessiTeas ships to Canada I’d seriously consider ordering this tea from them.

The leaves are surprisingly small and crushed up – I’m glad I have a fine mesh strainer now, otherwise I’d have a ton of detritus in the bottom of my mug. It doesn’t seem to affect the taste negatively when it’s brewed properly, though it might be part of the reason it was so aweful when I oversteeped it. I’m not sure if the tea actually looks like this or if Lena was at the bottom of her tin/bag when she gave me some. :D

It resteeps well, although the second cup (@5:45) is distinctly more strawberry than shortcake.

Soooo much better at a lower steeping temperature! I thought that this tea would be a bit creamier and sweeter-tasting from the way it smelled dry, but it isn’t particularly – because of the white tea, I think. That said, I can clearly taste the strawberries – and they’re real strawberries, not some vague strawberry flavouring. There’s a bit of a cakey note too about midway through each sip.

…Damn, I think I ‘overcooked’ this tea. I though, based on how it looked in the container Lena sent me, that it was a black tea so I set the water temperature accordingly. Only when I bother to look at the tea’s Steepster entry did I realize that it was actually a white tea. Ooops.

It definitely has that bitter tang you get from oversteeping unfortunately. I’m still getting some tantalizing notes of strawberries and cake (yes, cake!) which makes me all the more annoyed that I pretty much wrecked this cup. Oh well, at least I have more so I can make it again properly.

My iced attempt was, unfortunately, not successful, but it wasn’t this blend’s fault. I only had enough for three cups instead of four, so my concentrate wasn’t strong enough. There was a root beer smell, and a weak rooibos taste but not much else. And it wasn’t a great day for iced tea on top of all that — cloudy, cold, dreary. Oh well, I hope someone else is able to get it to work nicely.