moraiwe Send Message

Tea #4 from Another Traveling Tea Box

What this is: A solid Mint Black Tea with a very subtle, but good, chocolate flavor.

What this isn’t: Balanced.

The mint is very, very potent in this blend. Which is fine for me, because I really enjoy a good mint tea! The chocolate flavor is also quite good. It’s cocoa-y and doesn’t have that chemical flavor that so many chocolate flavored teas do.

I was a little disappointed that the raspberry disappeared completely after the second or third sip — it’s like it slipped out the back door while the mint kept me entertained.There is a bit of berry aftertaste after the tea cools some, though, which was welcome and rounds it out better.

This is a pretty tasty blend, I wish the mint was a little more tamed and gave some of the other components a chance, but I still really enjoyed it.

Tea #3 from Another Traveling Tea Box

What was left here was enough for about a 6 ounce cup and not enough for a gaiwan, but I love Ti Guan Yin, so I pretty much had to try it.

1st Steep (90 seconds)

This is one of those where the taste builds on your tongue as you work through the cup. It started out very light, delicately green tasting and by the bottom of the cup, I had something lightly roasty, with a lovely buttered asparagus flavor.

2nd Steep (2 min)

The second steep is less roasty and more green, with a lingering aftertaste. Definitely has a smoother, butterier feel and finish than the first.

I expected more from the 3rd and 4th steeps, and it was pretty much exhausted at 5.

I’m glad I got a chance to taste this, and it was a lovely ti quan yin, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the asking price point.

Tea #2 from Another Traveling Tea Box

It’s late and I have a headache and a tummyache, but that’s okay because tea pretty much fixes everything.

This tea is one of those that’s quite good, as long as you don’t know what it was supposed to be. It’s like a full-bodied amaretto (or maybe even a little marzipan-y) dessert rooibos. The coconut seems to give it a lovely creaminess and the black pepper a nice zip at the end of the sip if I’m looking for it, but otherwise I can’t really pick out the individual components.

The only thing I don’t particularly care for is the bubblemint gum rooibos aftertaste. I can’t be the only one that gets that with certain rooibos blends, right?

Tea #1 from Another Traveling Tea Box

There’s supposed to be apple in here?

I really actually get a lot of roasted, tobacco-y flavor from the saffron flavor, which was entirely unexpected and not altogether pleasant. It wasn’t quite enough to turn me off the cup completely, though.

I think this might have been an okay tea if it were balanced better and, well, tasted like apples.

I’m pretty sure my mother thinks I’m mad. Every time I dogsit for her, I pack up my utiliTEA and bring samples with me.

This one came from momo (Thanks!)

This tea is insanely weird, but in an pretty awesome way. The citrus flavor is incredibly spot on, and very orangey! It almost has a fizzy smell, if fizzy had a smell anyway. There’s also a really nice peachiness that hits at the sip end and lingers as the aftertaste. It’s juicy and adds an almost like a peach nectar type sweetness.

It’s hard to pick out the green tea underneath all this, but it’s definitely there.

I’m really excited to make the rest of this as a cold brew!

( Also the Don Omar I’m listening to with this feels amazingly fitting http://bit.ly/d2oHWu )

This was a sample I received thanks to BrewTEAlly Sweet

This isn’t an outstanding tea, but there’s nothing specifically negative about it. It’s lightly scented, so it was no suprise when the flavoring was light as well. The base doesn’t have a whole lot of oomph either, so I do get pomegranate (or raspberry?) flavor from it, which is good.

It’s not a bad tea, but I don’t really bave anything to rave about either here.

This might have been the best tea latte combination ever. The milk/sugar combination popped the raisins and dulled the cinnamon (so it wasn’t a dominating flavor) and it was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to drinking a cookie.

Unfortunately it was also the last of the bag.

Many, many thanks to Angel and Teavivre. I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve sampled so far, and this is no exception.

The dry leaf smells very sweet and nutty. Like honey, fresh hay, and a little walnut.

Once steeped the aroma from the leaves, well, I feel like if green had a smell this would be that smell. The liquor itself is light jade and smells spinach vegetal with hints of fresh hay.

The mouthfeel is buttery and smooth, and there is no bitterness or astringency in my cup. It’s a buttered spinach/asparagus green taste that isn’t overly veggie tasting with very subtle hints of floral. There’s a definite nuttiness here as well, and that lingers in my mouth long after the sip has ended.

Even brewing Western style, I was able to get three decent steepings out of this, with both being more floral in flavor and reminding me a lot of a (not too floral) Ti Guan Yin with a thinner body.

This is a really lovely green tea and headed straight to my shopping list.

I really like how pretty this tea is dry. It’s a chocolate brown color with flecks of gold and orange. The leaf is large and extremely wiry.

Again, a really nice musk flavor with beautiful plummy fruit notes and a rich, warming earthiness.

It also has a pretty decent second steep. It’s nuttier and richer with strong malt and earth notes. The gentle floral and fruit notes aren’t present at all, but it still has more character than a lot of black teas.

Perfect for this rainy weather!

I’m trying insanely hard to catch up on all the samples I have floating around! This is another from KallieBoo! (Thank you!)

When I first say the dry leaves here, I thought it was an herbal blend. There’s a large amount of pine needles here and it’s easy to lost the tea. The smell is faint, but fresh and reminds me of fall and camping.

The taste is pretty much what is promised by the smell. A light, fresh tea with subtle sweet floral and a lovely buttery mouthfeel. The pine adds a flavor that I can’t describe as anything but, well, itself. But it makes you think of dewy morning grass, a chill morning air and a crackling bonfire in the distance.

This is a really well-balanced and delicious tea. It’s relaxing and refreshing at once and really hits the spot today.