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Lemongrass (2/3) + Tulsi (1/3), both by San Francisco Herb & Spice = 7/8 tulsi flavor + 1/8 lemongrass flavor.

Nice herbal wind-down, but tulsi is a very demanding leaf that pretty much overpowers whatever I put it with. The only thing I’ve tried that’s actually strong enough to compete is lavender.

Quoting a tasting note from JacquelineM directly:

“This is another one that I think people with “bergamot problems” would like. :)”

Bingo. I am often bergamot-avoidant (bergamotley challenged?), though I stand by my statement that all good tea drinkers need to have an Earl Grey variety in their repertoire. Had this pyramid sample from ashmanra handy at work, had my little liquid creamer pack at the ready to tone down the flavor, and surprise! I didn’t need it. This is good black tea foremost; bergamot hindmost. I’d drink more, and that’s saying something for an EG.

This tin of “office” teabags has had a hard life, more than 2 years old and a storm survivor to boot. And even with that said, it’s a pretty fair bagged green when you’re light on the temp and time.

I’ve seen the adjectives brothy and satiny used to describe green teas before, but hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing either adjective. Now I have. Lovely with the lightness of Chex cereal, not the deep green vegetable taste you’d expect from the dark, dark leaves.

Tulsi + dried pineapple = Pulsi? Tulsi-apple?

Wonderful in theory; needs a little work on execution. Two large pieces of the pineapple I used in a tea-for-one pot weren’t quite strong enough to counteract the clovey taste of the tulsi. I could tell it was there, but just barely. (The pineapple wasn’t the typical corn-starch-coated variety that come in commercial trail mixes, which is probably healthier, but didn’t sweeten things up as expected.)

Side note—as a tension-reliever, tulsi is one of the few herbs that I can say actually have a noticeable effect on my perpetually clenched neck muscles.

H & S Vanilla Comoro (decaf) + dried banana chips = Banilla? Bananilla? Why didn’t I try this before??

I am one of those slightly skewed (almost typed skewered) people who has a weird thing with food texture—thus I can’t bring myself to eat a raw banana. (Neither can I force down mashed potatoes.) But I’m OK with banana flavors. This fixes the problem and makes a sweet, smooth tropical add-in that I am going to have to play with some more, both warm and chilled. Next try—I’ve got some chocolate/vanilla rooibos that might work well.

My apologies for forgetting which of you recently mentioned trying tulsi with banana, but my greatest appreciation for the inspiration. I’ve got a whole quart jar of chips…this ought to be fun!

Overdid on leaf, time, and temp (all three, I’m afraid) and even so, it’s a good and juicy Darjeeling. Just had a touch of bitterness at the end. With a little more attentiveness, this will be grapey and excellent.

Looks like I liked this when I had my first sample about a year ago; I’m liking it even better this morning. It has some dark and just-barely sweet cocoa personality that’s kin to super-fine estate teas from outside the U.S.

All the Charleston Plantation teas I’ve tried have rated a pretty good or better, but at least for this morning, this is nearing superlative.

In a moment of weakness, I agreed to teach both hours of fifth grade Sunday school this morning due to lack of volunteers on a holiday weekend. (Individually, this group is full of a bunch of unique and lovable kids. Collectively, they’re a toxic mess of bad mojo. Too many large personalities in a small room.)

So, after a less-than-stellar night o’ sleep, I grabbed something I thought would boot me awake. This wasn’t it.

I’ve never known any Scots personally, so I am open to correction, but subtlety does not strike me as being a national personality characteristic. So the lightness of this tea surprises me. Not a bit of astringency. Makes me think of wheat toast crust. Plenty of flavor, just not the kind that conks you on the head with a caber.

I won’t delete my first tasting note on this one, but I’m going to retract it; I alluded to some heft that wasn’t there. May try doubling up on the bags next time.

My tasting notes on this one are all starting to sound alike. (This is great! This is cheap! This is cheaply great! This is greatly cheap!)

And I stand by all of them. This is a wonderful, forgiving, cold-brew friendly summer bagged tea and I can tell there’s another box in my future. They also had a raspberry version at the local emporium. I smell another trip to Fox Farm.