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Drank the penultimate tea sachet of Basilur Love Story Vol II this morning. It was the right kind of subtle after a terrible night’s sleep.

The rose dominates the aroma, leaving it sweetly perfumed but not overpowering or sickly. It’s the first flavour note you get when you take a sip too, but with the light-bodied black tea and sweet nutty almonds, it really works. This is a gentle tea. A caress.

I’m not sure what amaranth should smell/taste like, but there’s definitely a new floral note hidden in there. I assume that’s what the amaranth is. It’s not strong enough to define with words.

Reading my initial blog review after my first cup of this tea is nice. When I started blogging, I didn’t imagine looking back a year and 5 months later. It’s good to reminisce. Although my photography skills weren’t all that… https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/basilur-love-story-volume-ii-tea-review/

Note: add milk. MlesnA advise on the tea wrapper that it’s best consumed with milk. Massive understatement.

This tea is a lot. It has a bold character that really smacks you in the face. Or tongue, I guess. It’s not going to be everyone’s “cup of tea” but I can stomach it.

The astringency and bitterness is extreme, but by adding milk, you turn this tea into a very crisp and palate-clearing cuppa. I cannot drink this tea without milk.

I get notes of bergamot in this tea, as it’s got that crisp astringency and briskness to it. Although, I think if you used this tea to make an Earl Grey it would be too much. There’s a hint of maltiness that pops up as well, with a generous splash of milk.

At the end of the cup, you’re left with a drying sensation in your mouth.

My blog review is shorter than usual. There’s not much to say other than “damn, that’s bitter!” So, ultimately, I’m only recommending this tea to masochists that like a very brisk cuppa with a lot of milk.

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/mlesna-uva-tea-review/

A very old tea from Martin! It has no dry leaf aroma… my bad. I should have sealed it properly.

But with a long hot brew, it springs back to life! This is yummy. Definitely my kind of fruit tea.

The aroma is sweet and tart red fruits, red currants and hibiscus. The flavour has notes of orange, cranberry, hibiscus and rose petals. I would have preferred it to be slightly more sour than sweet, but it’s still very nice.

Now I check this tea on Steepster… strawberry? Really? I’d never have got that.

Anyway, thanks Martin! This is a great tea that I should have tried back when you first sent it.

Didn’t time this cuppa, just judged by colour and aroma when it was done. This is such a simple yet tasty tea. Rich, bold, smooth, slightly malty – exactly what an English Breakfast tea should be.

Added a splash of unsweetened soya milk and cut a slice of banana peel cake (a new recipe I tested yesterday).

A no-nonsense cup of tea, but undeniably basic. It filled a hole.

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/ringtons-english-breakfast-tea-review/

It is absolutely freezing right now. Feels like -3c outside and I just can’t get the warmth back into my fingers even though I got back from my walk hours ago.

So I brewed this tea to hang on to. I think it has changed since it was first logged on Steepster, as there’s definitely no added caramel flavouring in the teabags I’m sampling. It does have a natural caramel and nutty aroma though.

The smooth sweetness of this tea just glides over your tongue – there’s no bitterness, even though I’ve brewed it deep and dark. Rich malty notes and nutty hints (a mix of almond, roasted chestnut and maybe pecan) are delicious.

It could be better though. The flavours could be brighter. The sweetness could pop more. But no. It’s missing something. Perhaps if this was loose leaf it would be different.

Nonetheless, it’s as pleasant and satisfying now as it was when I first reviewed it for the blog: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/basilur-ruhunu-tea-review/

After I was mildly impressed with the single origin Ceylon teas by BOH (sachets) and Basilur (teabags) I was looking forward to trying more single origins from Mlesna.

But…. this tea sucks.

It brews very quickly into that dark peat brown tea colour and has a generic, hearty and tannin black tea aroma. It’s bold and rich with a hint of malt, but lacks a distinctive character. There’s nothing that makes it special.

The flavour is incredibly bitter – almost unbearably bitter. You need to add a lot of milk and sugar to make this tea drinkable. And I don’t usually like sugar in my tea, which says a lot about this one.

Yet, I did finish the cup and it does work well for washing down sweet, sticky foods. Pancakes, waffles, cake, etc. So it gets a middling score for that, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it. I’ll use the rest of this tea in baking.

Pssst. Martin. I sent you this tea but I see you haven’t logged it on Steepster yet. Can I say sorry in advance?

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/mlesna-dimbula-tea-review/

Finished the last of this tea! It’s smooth and sweet with those peppermint and gunpowder green tea notes.

The spices were more distinct when this tea was fresh (Jan 2020) but now they’re more of a generic medley. But still nice.

Peppermint adds a freshness to this chai, but not too much menthol. I never got around to cold brewing this tea, as teapro recommend, but I reckon the menthol would have been stronger when iced. I don’t regret drinking it all hot, though.

Tasty. I’m considering buying more of this one.

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/teapro-subscription-box-review-chaiwala/

BB: March 2020. Ah. Maybe it will be stale.

But it’s actually okay, I stored this tea well and the flavour/aroma notes I’m getting now match up with my blog review of this tea from January 2020.

Deeply earthy, woody and musty with zesty hints of orange popping up in the aroma. It smells thick – do you know what I mean?

I love the slight tingling sensation you get from the orange peel in this tea. It’s just like that fine zesty spray you get when peel a small satsuma. The turmeric and ginger give this herbal blend body too, but the turmeric really dominates it.

You could fairly say that the turmeric is overpowering… but I like it. It gives this tea oomph. And this tea is DEFINITELY not stale!

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/pure-leaf-turmeric-citrus-tea-review/

One of the few Pukka teas that is exactly what it says on the label. I’m trying to clear down some old tea before we head into 2021 and this is the last teabag from this box.

Texture is surprisingly thick. Looking back at my review from last year, I describe as almost syrupy. It’s not unpleasant though, just unusual.

The three types of mint gives it a little more depth than a single mint tea. The peppermint brings the menthol coolness, the spearmint adds some sweetness, and the field mint adds some body.

A great tea for when you’ve eaten too many mince pies…

Pictures from a looooong time ago https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/pukka-three-mint-tea-review/

My Christmas eve eve tea! I brewed a scant teaspoon for a full 10 minutes, even though Martin suggests a 6 minute brew on the label (thanks for this tea!). I’m in the mood for some strong festive spice, and I didn’t want to use all this tea up in one go.

It has the red glow and tart aroma of a hibiscus dominated blend – which is definitely my cup of tea. Love it. But there’s also some spices (cloves, cinnamon) and other fruit notes (juicy sultanas and apple) swirling around in the steam.

Wow! Interesting flavour. It’s very light and not very hibiscus flavoured at all. Smooth and sweet. Notes of apple, apricot and sultanas develop a few seconds into the sip, with a hint of tartness coming in at the end with those berry hibiscus notes. But that’s super subtle – even if you dislike hibiscus, I reckon you wouldn’t be too upset with this tea.

Can’t say whether that’s because I only brewed a small teaspoon (perhaps I missed the large hibiscus pieces in the bag) or if that’s how the tea is designed to taste.

The spices are present, but mingled and more of a sensation than a flavour. Besides cinnamon, cloves and maybe nutmeg, I can’t decipher which specific spices are included.

Overall, this is a good festive tea. I might brew up the rest tomorrow, adding a shot of amaretto. I think the sweet almond flavour would work well with the fruits in this tea.