The Toni Glass Collection

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This weird little Earl Grey came from VariaTEA as a pyramid bag in a little single serve box; definitely a little weird and I’m curious where the box itself comes from? Is it part of a bigger box of multiple Earl Greys/teas? Was it given out at a restaurant or hotel? I don’t know, but damn do I want to…

Anyway; I was going to just make this as an easy going tea to sip on during my binge of Violet Evergarden on Netflix (really interesting anime; gave me all kinds of feels! Plus the score is SO WELL DONE!!!) but I lost track of the steeping time during a particularly moving/emotional episode and BADLY oversteeped this tea. I mean, it was just so bitter and astringent and simply unrecognizable as an Earl Grey. I tried to smooth it over with some lemon honey, but this was beyond the point of redemption.

Oops.

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I was going to write a Sororitea Sister review of this tea but honestly I don’t have much to say other than this is floral and dry. Maybe a little malty but mostly I think I steeped potpourri. One orchid might be too much in a tea for my tastes so I really took a risk by drinking a tea that boasts 6.

Vanilla is just one of those ingredients that catches my eye every time. It can be done so many different ways and yet it is almost always good. However, it seems Toni Glass decided to pair their fresh-baked-cookie-vanilla with an astringent black base. Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/08/08/vanilla-black-from-the-toni-glass-collection/

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My house is pretty cool so I think I was seeking warmth since this round of teas, I grabbed two ginger teas. This has a little bit of a warmth to it but most of the flavor is that of the oolong base. It is mild and smooth and just a touch floral. I just want more ginger.

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This is a pretty mild peppermint tea. Standard and run of the mill. Still, when you want mint, all mint hits the spot.

This is one of those teas that are alright when you don’t focus too much but if you look too hard, it starts to get bad. Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/03/30/lemon-green-from-the-toni-glass-collection/

So I am finding lemongrass and ginger teas maybe aren’t for me. I had a Lemongrass and Ginger Infusion that I made earlier from Wissotzky tea that was just a disaster and now this is not much better. More than anything it is just bitter. Blech

The packaging is pretty but this tea just missed the mark :( http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/02/22/creme-brulee-from-the-toni-glass-collection/

Apparently I am not a fan of the smell of guava. Don’t mind the taste too much but it is hard to get to that point past the scent. When I do, the tea is smooth and sweet with a distinctively guava flavor…just one that is not as in-your-face as you would expect (thank goodness). I think that transitions nicely into the strawberry which is what comes at the end of the sip. It is a pretty nice tea but since I am maybe not the biggest guava fan, this is not one I personally need again.

I don’t love cinnamon in teas and this was no exception. I just wasn’t a huge fan.

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So this is a smooth, honey sorta tea with a slight bit of medicinal wood. It’s not terrible but it’s also just plain Rooibos which isn’t something I would need stocked.

Well today has definitely been much improved from the shit show that was yesterday. For one thing, it is the start of a long weekend which means I got to leave work early today since the office closes at 3. Then, getting home I got to park the car for the weekend which means no more mini panic attacks for a little bit due to having to drive. Then, my sister and her husband got back from their honeymoon and brought gifts…for me that meant tea.

They were in Africa so they grabbed a few teas for me to try and then they had a stopover in Paris where they grabbed a few more goodies to bring home. In addition to tea, they hit up Laduree in Paris and bought me one of each macaron flavor. I told them they were insane given when I bought 5 macarons, it cost me like 20 euro. They bought like 20 macarons. She said is wasnt that much but I have a sneaking suspicion she is lying. Nonetheless, it was a very nice gesture and I look forward to trying all my new treats.

This is one of the teas she grabbed while in Africa. I have never heard of this company but she came back with a sampler box of 16 of their teas. I am not sure why I reached for this one first but it is a nice introduction to the company.

First thing I noticed was all the mint in the teabag when I pulled it out of its little box. It was like a 1:1 ratio of mint and black tea leaf. I wasn’t sure if this meant the mint would be overpowering or not but as I sip the brewed tea, I can say it definitely is not. I am not a huge fan of chocolate in teas but the chocolate here comes off more as a creaminess and the slightest hint of cocoa to mix with the fresh peppermint flavor. The base tea is smooth and very timid but provides a solid foundation for the other flavors to stand on. It’s a decent chocolate mint tea.

With that said, this reminds me more of the dark chocolate mint chocolates (the brown ones) from Laura Secord as opposed to the Ice Mint chocolates (the light green ones), which is my preferred of the two (hopefully people know what I am talking about and know the difference or this reference will sound like complete gibberish). It’s good but not something that is leaving such a strong impression that I would need to source more of this from Africa. Pleasant way to end an evening though.