The Tea Haus

My go-to caffeine-free tea for just before bed. Brewed exactly according to The Tea Haus’ instructions, and served with milk and just a bit of honey, this tea is light and milky, with a sweet, almost chocolate edge. I drink an oversized cup of this almost every evening! I also like the nutrients I get from it, and feel it helps with digestion.

The Tea Haus’ East Friesen is another tea that I tried in my quest for a good, everyday black tea – that comforting first cup you have each morning, for example. This tea came in a close second. It is not as complex or bold in flavour as the Keemun, and even when allowed to steep for up to 5 minutes tastes a bit too weak for my tea tastebuds. It’s a good alternative to the Keemun, though, and I like that it’s sometimes traditionally served with a bit of rum!

Since switching to loose leaf tea a few years ago, I have been searching for a better black tea (one that will satisfy my taste for bagged Tetley, which I grew up with, but still remind me why I switched). The Tea Haus’ Keemun is it! It has a warm, rounded flavour, is bold, yet is not overly acidic and still has a delicate, complex taste. I prepare it with milk and honey but I think it would drink well as a straight black tea.

Growing up in Germany and having grandparents in East Friesland, I learned to savor this tea. Every trip back to good ol Germany, I stock up on buenting tea and Kluntjes. But you can now order it at Buenting online as well. I have not tried it and the website is in German only.

Five months later, I finally tried this one again. I don’t like it. It’s just not for me. I don’t find the apple taste to be there really, and I think I just don’t care for red rooibos teas that much anymore. I like the green ones much much better.

This one smelt like bubblegum dry. My husband was the first to notice that.
Steeped, it smells more like apples. It’s subtle, but it’s there.

I think I might have needed to add more leaves to this. It seems a bit weak. I did one tsp per cup for 5 mins. I think I might try more like 1.5tsp. The apple flavour that I expected wasn’t there. I’m kind of disappointed a bit with this one. I know it might just be that I didn’t steep it enough, but I dunno. I’m going to have to try this one again before I rate it.
To me, it tastes like a plain rooibos with a hint of cinnamon.

This one confuses me…the lapacho herb reminds me of Amaretto from DAVIDs and the Orange reminds me of Orange Blossom from DAVIDs as well…it smells soooooo good!

It’s too hot to take a sip just yet, but for now, I will breathe in deeply to the scent wafting up from my mug. This is only from the 5 minute steeper method too. I wonder how much more intense it would be with the stove-top method of preparation.

If this is truly medicinal, I may need to beef up my intake because I have been feeling so sluggish lately.

More later once it cools and I can take a sip….

Ok, so it is not too hot anymore in the burning tongue capacity, but still nice and hot to start drinking. I think I may have under-brewed this, either by not using enough leaf, or not letting it steep long enough, but it is a very nice herbal blend with juicy orange. It’s quite tasty actually, but just a little thin and weak.

Thanks to Indigobloom for this one, as I know I will enjoy this cuppa, and the one to follow.

Of course I finally figure out the best brewing on this one when its my last cup of it. When brewed at 85 for 1.5 minutes, its this amazingly lovely vanilla black. I sweetened it with Irish Creme agave and BAM, it was my favourite cup of the night. I may have to get more afterall!

I love this combination of spices for a chai. I always keep some of this on hand to blend with anything and everything. Its got a great flavour with spice and a dash of sweet. Definitely something I’m going to try tea cooking with now that I’m dabbling in that.

I tried this one a few weeks ago and really liked it, so I was eager to brew it up again this morning and sip away. Today’s cups weren’t as lovely, but still were a good solid cuppa. This is a darker oolong, but not so dark as to make it undrinkable to my green-oolong loving soul. There are some really strong roasted notes in the first steep which require me to use sugar to balance them. Second steep though is an amazingly mellow delicious cup to sip on a dark and dreary afternoon like today.

Completely off topic, has anyone here heard of or tried the Canadian company Steeped Tea (http://www.steepedtea.com/)? I’ve been offered a consultant job with them and I’m looking for info from actual tea people before going any further.

This is a really weak tea, but it’s not bad. There was no bitterness in my steep which was nice. Overall it was a subtle malty, creamy kinda of tea.

Had just enough left for another cup of this so I tossed this in to do a short cold brew for an after workout drink. I’m really living being able to come home from the gym and have a glass of col brewed tea. I don’t need any more than the one cup but it’s a nice way to have a bit of flavour without having to drink juice or anything.

This is a really nice fruity tea for this afternoon. Another sample from Indigobloom – i’m trying to use the long weekend to get through another slew of my samples but that’s hard to do with the new tea that came in on friday! Anyway this is a really delightful berry tea. I prepared this hot, but i could totally see doing this as a cold brew tea, adding some lemonade and having it rock!

Sipdown! On my last bit of this one, I felt I should probably just go ahead and drink it on its own as I haven’t done that yet. I always drink it when the hazelnut like I mentioned in my last tasting note.

So, I’m having this one on its own. I’m finding that I definitely put more sugar in than what I meant to. It was kinda an accident. But, meh.

Anyway, I prefer this one mixed with the hazelnut. Something about the combo is delicious. On it’s own it feels like it’s missing something. But I will say this, it definitely tastes like a mellow hot chocolate, with milk and sugar added.

So, technically speaking, I shouldn’t be reviewing this tea yet… but I’m going to. haha
I made this tea this morning, but I made it half this and half hazelnut cream (from the Tea Haus).

Many, many moons ago, (okay, only about 5yrs ago) I worked for a Canadian chocolate company. I loved it (until right at the end. By that time I was ready to start a career elsewhere. Sadly, five years later, I still don’t have that career. That fell apart about a year and a half ago. But I must say, it definitely was for the better looking back. That job was slowly killing me. Okay, that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Mentally it was too much.)
ANYWAYS, so when I was working for this chocolate place, I heard about chocolate covered hazelnuts. I had never been willing to try them before ‘cause I’m not the biggest nut fan and I figured that I wouldn’t like them. But once I started at this company and I was encouraged to try all of the chocolates we sold, I thought I’d give it a try.
That moment forward, I fell in love with hazelnuts. And when they were covered in chocolate, they were even better!

So, when a few of us went together and placed our Tea Haus order, I knew I wanted to try this one and the Hazelnut Cream. I put in one teaspoon of each one into my steeper and did the three minute steep like it recommends. It is delicious! I’m so happy to have finally tried it.

If you like chocolate, and you like hazelnuts, or if you just like chocolate covered hazelnuts, mix the two together. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
I want to try this one on its own too ’cause I have a feeling it might taste just like a hot chocolate with milk and sugar added of course. It already sort of has that taste. :)

Thank you Indigobloom for sending me some of this. Honestly – I didn’t care for it. I can’t figure out why either. There are similar teas I like quite much but this one had a funky flavor to it and I also kind of got that lump in throat feeling.
I had to dump it.
I still VERY MUCH appreciate the trade and a chance to try it.
:)

How have I never rated this tea? My mind boggles. This was my absolute first looseleaf tea and I still love it. I just finished up my stash tonight and am very sad to see it go. The flavour is creamy and tart and this is possibly the only pear tea I truly enjoy with every cup. Plus its affordable, so its even better!

This is…okay. The raspberry tasted really artificial to me. I cold steeped it overnight and added a touch of agave and it just wasn’t doing it for me. Luckily, the very kind man who is tearing down our garage for us loved it, so I’m using up the last of this to make another pot for him.

Ok, here we go.. the last four reviews…!

This sample is courtesy of Indigobloom, and smelled absolutely delicious in the bag! After steeping, I can tell it’s a rooibos by the aroma, but it’s not offputting. Can’t smell the almond a great deal, but hopefully I can taste it.

Well… maybe I made it a touch weak (aka too much water), but it doesn’t have a great deal of flavour. One thing I’m not getting is a gross medicinal taste, but also, I’m not getting any nuttiness. Boo. It’s certainly pleasantly enough flavoured, but if I was looking for an almond rooibos to purchase, I wouldn’t be satisfied with this one!! I’ll see if the second infusion (which I will try in considerably less water) is any better. Here’s hoping!

ETA: Ooh, I just checked out the other reviews, and I seem to be in the minority. I wonder if it’s just that this sample sat around in a baggie for about two months before I got to it? It certainly isn’t “contaminated” or anything, just not terribly flavourful. Oh well!

This tea smells absolutely amazing. Sadly the hibiscus steals the show after brewing. There is a mango flavour to the tea but there is just too much tartness for me to enjoy the cup. I’ve cold brewed up the rest and am hoping that this takes the tartness out a bit. We’ll see!

Thanks to Indigobloom for the sample, I just read her tasting note and I’m already a bit nervous because bitterness is not something I enjoy in tea at all, but here goes. :)

I used the whole sample I got, which was around 2 teaspoons, in my 18 oz glass teapot. Brewed western style ’cause I am still sleepy!

This cup got dark fairly quickly and is a dark reddish brown. I decided to only steep for 2.5 minutes. The tea smells very malty so far and at first sips seems kind of smooth and sweet. I will need to let it cool off to drink more of it.

As the cup cools off I am not getting bitterness here so far – yay! I have a malty, sort of molasses-y flavor which seems more on the sweet side and almost creamy. To me this tea has a slight “yammy” quality. I am sipping on it plain and finding it to be fairly mild. When I added some soymilk to it, it got transformed into something more sweet and creamy.

It’s funny how different people’s tastes are because I rather liked this one. I’m still not finding much bitterness but if anything it has a tobacco-y note in the finish for me.

What a pleasant surprise! I received this in the mail from a friend as a birthday gift, actually an alternative to a $5 birthday card. I have a lot of rooibos in my cupboard and am often disappointed that the rooibos overpowers the other flavour. Not here. I thought the almond complimented and brought out the rooibos for a nice refreshing tea. The almond wasn’t overpowering or artificial tasting either. I can’t wait to try another tea from Tea Haus!

More of Sample Saturday … This comes from IndigoBloom and a big thank you to her for this pick me up! I am dragging today – daughter had to be at work at 8am to record her first on air segment after only being on the job for a week. Its going crazy fast for her. Now if I can only get her confident with her driving so mom here can rest! LOL
This tea is very nice. I did not smell any mango in the dry state but as soon as the water it the leaf the smell of fresh juicy mango hit me in the face like a truck!
This is not a sappy sweet tea at all – a VERY natural mango flavor indeed and I LOVE it!
It does have a slight sweetness to it though – is that the mate maybe?
It has a light, bright, cheery taste to it and a light cleansing mouthfeel.
Oh my how good this would be iced!!!
As a matter of fact I have enough to make one good cup of iced a large cup if I combine what I have left of the dry leaf and use the wet leaf in a re-steep. Oh yeah! :)
Thanks again IndigoBloom!

This is a crazy tea! I can’t believe how much fizz is going on here. It’s citrusy with a punch of tart lime and spice. It really tastes (and feels!) like some sort of limey carbonated beverage. I will probably save the rest to make iced, because this one is begging to be chilled.