The Republic of Tea

I’ve had a lot of mediocre herbal teas from RoT, but this one isn’t bad! I totally see the gingerbread vibe. The spices mix together pleasantly with the rooibos base. I really get this one!

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The theme on this day was “tea mail” so I picked out this sachet sample that I received in a tea swap with thereaderscup – it’s the last of the Bridgerton themed teas she had sent me and I’ve truthfully been putting off trying it since I’m not a big fan of plain Earl Grey. This was a very good excuse to finally just drink it, though.

I was quite pleasantly surprised. It’s still not super my cup of tea, but it was a lot more enjoyable than I’d expected it to be. Quite sweet, for an Earl Grey, and with almost more of a bright orange note than actual bergamot. I feel like for someone who LOVES bergamot/traditional Earl Grey this would likely actually be a disappointing experience but for someone like me who doesn’t it was a refreshingly different take and I really liked the sweet orange vibes.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aact41NKHuA

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Made a mug of this to start off my day!

I’d definitely argue that this is much more of a peaches and cream blend than a peach ginger which is, from what I can remember, what the blend is mostly advertised as. However, the juicy ripe peach notes and veeeerrryyyy silky taste of vanilla/creme anglais was absolutely and incredibly delicious and well balanced. Plus, there was a sort of nostalgic and sense of comfort about that duo that felt very appropriate for Pen and Colin – channeling that romanticised girl next door/best friends to lovers kind of vibe.

The ginger is still present in the finish, but it’s subtle. I do feel like it adds a little more nuance and depth to the tea though, and I guess there’s something to be said about having a “spicy” component with a Bridgerton Blend… Can’t decide if I wish it was bolder or if I’d rather it had been left out.

Anyway, I’ve been pretty impressed by all the Bridgerton teas I’ve tried so far – but especially this one and Eloise’s. Both are teas I’d maybe consider buying in larger amounts. The profiles aren’t anything unique, but they’re very well executed.

This tea was very sweet, which was totally up my alley. Perhaps it’s just me but this tea doesn’t have that chocolate taste that red velvet usually has but it’s still pretty tasty. I also adore the fact that it is an herbal tea! I am usually not a big fan of rooibos but this is a really good blend!

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Finished the second half of Bridgerton Season 3 a few nights ago, and I of course had to drink one of my Bridgerton tea samples with the episodes. I honestly thought, based on ROT’s description of this tea, that I was not going to like this tea. However, it’s really unexpectedly fruity and sweet – much less chamomile than you’d think there’s be and even the rose was kind of light. I need to check the ingredients to see if they actually indicate what the fruit flavour should be, but to me it was like a mix of very fresh, ripe apple and peach or apricot.

It was tasty, and I thought nice for the character it’s inspired by too!

This is a very sweet tea. I have been drinking only minimally processed high-grade black, oolong, pu’erh, or green teas, and decided to do a sip down on this one (and get the can out of my tea supplies). It tastes processed; yet it is a childhood type of flavor, of candy canes and the winter holidays. It is also green rooibos, which I have grown to loathe. But in this tea, it tatses and smells of candy canes, which is simultaneously pleasant and annoying as I have given up added sugar for health reasons. Bye bye Peppermint Bark, won’t be buying again.

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I recently did a tea swap with gabbydrinkstea and she was kind enough to include a sample of each of Republic of Tea’s new Bridgerton blends for me to try. Outside of the standalone Queen Charlotte mini series, I’ve never actually watched Bridgerton before so I didn’t really know the characters at all. However, it’s a long weekend here in Canada (for Victoria Day) and I’ve been stuck in quarantine so I had a little more time on my hands – so I actually started the series this past weekend.

When I saw this was a lemon and mint black tea I was ever so slightly intrigued. Lemon and mint is not exactly the most exciting pairing, but it’s one that I typically see much more in herbal blends or green tea so I was a little excited by the tea base switch up. It ended up being really, really quite lovely. I sipped on it while actually watching the show, and maybe that did elevate the experience slightly but I really think it was the uniquely decadent yet fresh and zesty tasting notes that really won me over. The black tea base was smooth and medium bodied and though there was a bright, zesty freshness to the lemon notes it also had a bit of a more sweet and creamy element too – it reminded me in some ways of a lemon curd you might get in a really nice tart. The mint was gentle and crisp, and rounded out the finish quite nicely. However, I also unexpectedly got notes of vanilla and almost like a caramel or burnt sugar. That was super unexpected, but it gave this really subtle dessert-like quality to the profile that I really latched onto.

I could very easily see this served as the selection for a really nice high tea, with loads of light and dainty sweets and finger foods. A nice buttermilk scone with clotted cream, perhaps, would go BEAUTIFULLY with this blend!

I just finished the first season, and so far Eloise is actually one of my favourite characters – so it was nice that I ended up enjoying the tea blend associated with her so much. I really don’t foresee a RoT order in my future any time soon, but this is something I would consider buying for myself. Unfortunately, I’m sure it’ll be long sold out before I even get close to considering ordering anything…

This one is super fake and candylike, but pleasant enough with some milk. You really need to double up on the teabags to taste the flavor though. I like my tea sweet, but I could see it being a bit sickly sweet for others. I’m also getting tired of it about halfway through the tin.

A friend gifted this to me when she was cleaning out her tea cupboard. Today is the last of the container and I am just realizing it’s from Republic of Tea. I only noticed the Stonewall Kitchen packaging. I’ve been drinking this one regularly through the winter in my work mug. Usually I steep it in my travel mug while getting my breakfast together and then wait until it cools some to drink. Today I followed the suggested directions and steeped for about 6 minutes in boiled water.
I’ve enjoyed this throughout winter since it looks like winter has returned today with snow/sleet/rain the tea will have one last sip. Today I’m actually focusing on the flavors. It’s a sweet creamy mint blend. Other reviewers mentioned stevia but I don’t see that in the ingredient listing. I believe the blend was changed to monk fruit to add sweetness. I would definitely purchase again. This appears to be a limited edition so I’ll have to keep my eyes open in the winter for it to come around again.

Earl grey tea bags. I taste bergamot mostly and a little woodiness from the tea. No tartness, bitterness, or astringency detected, very middle of the road. I would recommend this to friends at a supermarket.

sold for $12.00/50 tea bags

https://www.republicoftea.com/earl-greyer-black-tea/p/v00583/

Daughter says the smell is good. It does smell like carrot cake but without the frosting. I find most people put too much frosting on the cake. The flavor is quite nice as well. Bits of lightly frosted and nicely spiced carrot cake flows gently on the palate. The mouthfeel is soft. A cakey aftertaste. My daughter quite enjoys this one.

I tasted absolutely nothing wit this tea. I don’t have a sense of smell, so I don’t actually taste much anyway, but I had this at the height of the worst cold I’ve had in a long time, so that probably didn’t help. It was literally warm water. At least it wasn’t sour, bitter or astringent. I got plenty of flavor from the Cold 911, so it couldn’t have been only the cold that kept me from tasting anything from this one.

I keep trying to find another caffeine free tea to add to my evening rotation. This one was drinkable, but nothing I need to order a tin of. I have another teabag of it and I will try it again.

I got this as a gift a few years ago so I might try and finish it off. It was a nice gift assortment, except for the Earl grey and the hicaf teas with stevia. I appreciate the cinnamon and am reminded of Celestial’s Cinnamon Express, but this stevia aftertaste ruins the cup. Don’t need to drink this again, but I am much more awake :)

Another of the chocolate dessert teas from my self selected sampler from Republic of tea. I liked it. It was pleasant and inoffensive. I have a second tea bag I will be able to drink, but I won’t look for more of this.

The dessert teas have been nice, but none of them has wowed me. I’m glad to have tried them but I have no urge to place an order for any of them.

Just brewed this one now. This is a good day for hot tea. It is -7 F with a wind chill of -39, and a blizzard warning until 6pm. There was a funeral scheduled this afternoon at my church and I am helping to coordinate the coffee/desserts for the visitation time, but it was postponed. Part of me is sorry it was postponed, but I suspect the crowd would have been quite small. And in my heart I am glad to not have to go anywhere in this mess!

I learned from my last RoT cup and used a 6 oz cup this time. The flavor was good. I could kinda taste the chocolate and the peppermint was present too. A nice little dessert cup. Not one I will buy a tin of but a nice treat on a cold windy day in North Dakota.

This is the second RoT sampler tea I grabbed. I like it. I’m not getting a lot of flavor out of it, but I suspect I should have used less water. My cup was a 12 oz one, and I think the small amount of tea in the bag did not go far enough. Next time I shall use one of my smaller cups. As I said, the flavor was pretty mild but inoffensive. Not weirdly sweet or astringent or bitter. I don’t think I shall order a tin of this, but I have one more bag and I will enjoy it.

About a year ago I ordered a self-selected sampler from Republic of Tea. When I recently went through my tea drawer I found the plain brown box these teas came in. I decided I better start drinking these up.

This tea sure sounds good, doesn’t it? Orange and ginger and mint. Actually, it sounds a bit odd. Ginger and orange? Yum. Orange and mint? Okay, that could be tasty. Ginger and mint? Hmmm. This tea was Hmmmm. I really wanted to like it. I didn’t hate it. I drank the cup. There was something artificially sweet about it. There is no stevia or other sweetener in the ingredient list. Maybe it was the orange bergamot. It just tasted a little off to me.

I taste ginger and other spices, but not really carrot cake. There’s also not much supporting those spices since this is an herbal tea, so it feels a little empty. It tastes like a pretty basic grocery store herbal chai. But it tastes too much like raw root vegetables for me, and there’s far too much licorice. It’s the second ingredient, which really isn’t right for this flavor profile. I’ve had so many great carrot cake teas that this one ends up super disappointing.

This is an “old reliable” for me. The peachiness is a nice touch, softening the black tea. I agree with other reviews that I wish it brewed a bit stronger in its bag form – I often double up – and that the ginger could be a bit more pronounced – but that’s nitpicking what I enjoy on many occasions overall.

I got this as a sampler at the SF International Tea Festival. My stomach is feeling a little off this morning, and this sounded good.

The leaf gives off a strong peachy flavor. The tea is sweet, with strong peach notes and a little fruit punch at the end of the sip. I’m reminded of a fruit salad that’s heavy on the peach. I’ll bet this would be good iced too!

My stomach has calmed down a little too. Hopefully I’ll be hungry later.

I bought this tea a couple of years ago and just didn’t drink it. One or two cups, maybe. I just made up a cup and after the first sip I had an allergic reaction. Tongue burning and swelling, nasty taste on my tongue and a feeling my tongue was coated with something. Why do tea manufacturers insist on cheating on the ingredients and putting in chemicals? It also has licorice root, another “cheater ingredient.” Into the trash it goes (I will recycle the metal can). I will taste my other teas from Republic of Tea but i don’t expect much. Thank goodness I moved on to better quality tea.

Had this for awhile now since I only drink it occasionally. I have been mad for Jasmine flavored anything- Jasmine Mint toothpaste, Jasmine candles, Jasmine shower gel. So of course I needed some Jasmine tea. This is pricey but lovely! Its a very natural tasting Jasmine that perfectly
Compliments the tea. Love it, but didn’t love the price. Nice cold or freshly brewed around 170.

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The last tea from my fall sampler tin. It’s fine, very similar to all of the other mulled hibiscus tisanes I’ve had in the past. Quite tart with subtle spicing from clove and cinnamon.

I tend to prefer hibiscus-forward blends cold steeped, but I find spiced blends weird that way so I would never order this type of tea.