Featured & New Tasting Notes

DH isn’t feeling well – his sinuses are attempting to secede – and I wanted tea, so I thought I’d combine tea-ness with being the good wifey. Takgoti sent me some of this and it is currently the only mint I have and mint is friendly to sinuses so I thought this would be a perfect time to try this out.

The dry leaf smells a bit like a chai so I was nervous I was about to fry DH’s sinuses instead of help them, but I went ahead. While I was pouring, I got a fantastic whiff of mint. But not plain ole mint. Refreshing mint. Mint with that fantastic feeling of cold whoosh.

Now, because this is ultimately being made for DH, I did add about a quarter teaspoon of sugar in there. Because, unless it is TheraFlu, I feel that any drink taken for medicinal purposes must be sweetened at least a little bit. I blame Mary Poppins. Normally, I would add honey but I’m really to lazy to do that right now.

Oh the taste! Minty and refreshing and wonderful. But better than plain mint. The spices give it a great full flavor without making me feel like I’m drinking a chai. I can’t pick out the individuals spices – they aren’t as strong tasting as the dry tea smells like they will be – but they combine with the mint to give this wonderful fresh feeling/taste without being obnoxious.

This is by far the best mint tea I’ve ever had. I rarely drink mint (I’m anti-peppermint as a general rule) but I definitely think I’m going to have to get some of this to have on hand because it is quite awesome. DH actually finished his cup before I did which is pretty much unheard of in this house. He did request I brew it a little stronger next time. I think that will be no problem. Initially I was hesitant to brew too long because of the spices involved, but after seeing how the flavors combine, I think a longer brew time will be happy-making.

Angrboda has a tea, that she calls her celebrating tea.
I guess this is my celebrating tea. When I feel like spoiling myself, I take this out.
It’s just ubër.

Where to start? The color is beautifull.
It’s Red/Golden. A truly red tea, living up to the name “Big Red Rope”. Love the name, it gives it a very ancient feeling ;) The smell is hard to descibe. It somehow reminds me of coffee and yet not at all! I guess the closest thing to descibing the smell would be dirt/musk/salt/coffee/brown cake. Confussing? Indeed.

The taste is not less confusing.
I earlier reviewed a ceylon tea by perchs claiming it didn’t taste of anything. Well, it didn’t, it only taste like tea without any notes of anything else. Well, this tea is not flavoured (alike ceylon) but it’s a oolong. It taste like a black tea, but unlike ceylon it has a distictive note of something else. It’s sweet and sour like coffee? I don’t know if you tasted LU Bastogne, but it’s like that, only its salty/sour instead.

Never tried oversteeping this one. Love it <3

Not exactly the one I have, I have Darjeeling FTGPOPI Diwali and I love this tea.

Peppermint tea with a bit of a kick in the form of additional fragrant herbs such as tarragon. May be overwhelmed by most kinds of food, so probably best consumed on its own, but works well for late nights when caffeine is out and a little mood boost would be more than welcome.

Organic and fair trade certified. Loose leaf. Smells lovely from the tin, smells lovely after steeped. Goes down smooth with a perfect rooibos flavour, and a hint of apricot. Love this one. I believe it’s limited edition, so if you want to try it, get it now.

I really enjoy this tea, and it seems more innately sweet than most peppermint teas. It actually reminds me more of a candy cane than straight peppermint, so the art on the box is really appropriate. It’s great nonetheless, especially with milk or cream.

Parting is such sweet sorrow. I’m using the last of my stash and it’s been discontinued. BIG BUMMER. I am going to see how many steeps I can get out of it…

I didn’t have this with Thanksgiving Dinner because we were drinking wine [Cakebread, super super good stuff], but I did have it beforehand. It’s probably a good thing because I was 9 months pregnant with a food baby afterwards and there’s no way I could have drank something that had that much flavor in it.

If there’s something I can give to Harney and Sons, it’s that when they do a flavored tea, it TASTES like what it’s supposed to be. I’ve become so accustomed to the good ol’ hibiscus stand-in when it comes to any fruit-type flavor that has a tartness to it that I was really surprised when I drank this the first time and it still continues to impress. I mean, stunt doubles are fine every now and then – utilized well and they can make a scene better – but I’m not paying to see the stunt double, I’m paying to see the actor.

So, cranberries. Check. And the orange that this is supposed to contain came out more this time round, though that’s probably because the last time I was really concentrating on this tea I was sick and couldn’t taste much. It’s not light, citrusy orange, it’s more like that flavor used in heavy liqueurs. From the rind, and dark.

The black tea is definitely present, though I can’t tell what kind of black tea it is. Upon revisiting the product description, it said that it’s a mix of Indian and Chinese black tea. That makes me feel slightly better about not being able to identify it.

I do enjoy this tea, but sometimes straight cranberry is just a little too tart for me and I need at least a hint of sweetness to fully enjoy it. The next time I drink this I’ll probably try it with sugar or honey.

I hope all of you had super, fantastic, fabulous Thanksgivings, or in some cases, super, fantastic, fabulous days. Either way, hugs to everyone!

Too much food. I needed tea but felt too full to have anything with caffeine (it makes sense in my head – work with me). I had some of this thanks to takgoti and thought this sounded fun and pretty interesting for tonight. I’ve never head buckwheat tea, so this should be an experience. Whee!

Brewing, it smells like puffed wheat cereal. Sugar Puffs or something but without the sugar. After pouring, the tea keeps the smell of a puffed wheat cereal but the buckwheat bits in the pot smell a bit liked burned popcorn.

This brews up insanely light colored. Pretty much like when you get hot water out of a pipe that hasn’t been used in a while – the water from the spout seems clear but when it pools in the sink it has a bit of a brown tint. That’s what this tea looks like. But the smell is strong so I don’t think the light color of the liquor indicates faint flavor.

Oh wow. This tastes sweet which is totally surprising because I can’t smell any sweetness, just puffed wheat. The sweetness that comes across in the taste makes it actually taste like Sugar Puffs… or maybe the milk after you eat the cereal (but without the creamy milk texture).

Made hubby try some because, ultimately, he is my guinea pig. He said it reminded him a bit of popcorn and that he liked it because it was unique. He gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

I’m with him in that I don’t think this is something that I could have every day because it is very unique and different. But, I think it would be something I’d like to have on hand all the time just in case. Because this would totally fill any cereal snacking desire I had. Frankly, I find this tea fascinating. Weird but wonderful. Sadly, Maeda-en is out of stock (I just checked).

This is the tea that got me into tea. I tried this on a whim at a Barnes and Noble cafe several years ago, and I’ve loved it ever since. It is naturally somewhat sweet, has a fresh but not overpowering minty flavor, and soft, harmonious undertones of its other ingredients, notably eleuthero and licorice. This is my staple tea—the one I have taken to carrying a miniature tin of wherever I go. I gave some to a friend at work and she said it was the best tea she’d ever tasted. It’s great!

Very, very refreshing! Perfect as a digestif. The flavours mix well, and this tea is like nothing else I’ve tried. Nice for those who don’t mind flavoured tea. Thinking this might make an awesome iced tea too.

This is as basic as a tea gets. Rooibos is technically a tisane or more commonly a herbal tea. It comes from a plant called Aspalathus linearis and simply referred to as red bush. The plant starts out as green and the “red” color emerges as a result of the oxidation that occurs during the processing of the leaves.

Rooibos has no caffeine as well as other chemicals that occur in tea (sourced from Camillia sinensis); these differences result in rooibos being very forgiving in the brewing process. You could easily oversteep leaves from Camillia sinenses and the resulting liquor is bitter, harsh and undrinkable, but oversteeping leaves from Aspalathus linearis does fall into that problem.

As a experiment, this rooibos was steeped for 8 minutes, with water that was boiling at the start. The tea that resulted tasted fine, it was strong on the typical smoky flavor but there was no bitterness.

Under a standard brewing of 2 minutes 30 seconds, it resulted in a refreshing tea that had a hint of smokiness to it and generally a smooth finish. There is a very, very slight nutty flavor to it that complements the mild plant-like taste- however, these two flavors are very mild, which is good for something like this that makes an excellent everyday drinker.

Drank a nice cup of tea for the first time in a long time; always enjoy Jasmine Silver Needle by Rishi teas.. Yum

This tea has a wonderful fruity flavor without being overpowering. The flavor is also very natural and doesn’t taste artificial.

wow, these never fail for a good cuppa. The initial scent of the pearls smell of cocoa and cinnamon, but after brewing, they smell a bit more earthy. The taste is earthy yet sweet and very satisfying. this is a definite staple in my collection.

I add this blend to alot of my teas. Gives it a nice fresh bite. Works wonders when I’m feeling under the weather.

Ok it smelled icky. Which was weird. I like honeybush and I like chocolate so that was not a good sign. But you can see by my rating that the initial weird herbally aroma was misleading. It has a pleasant chocolaty taste, it’s not the rich chocolate liquor of my favorite Valentines tea but it’s a nice caffeine free way to meet my sweet tooth.

Black tea and rose petals create a refined and undeniably floral-scented tea. Be careful not to over-steep it — the rose petals don’t take well to extended immersion in water, and the tea can start to smell like a corked wine if the leaves are left in an infuser for too long. Seasonal, and therefore not always available through the RoT catalogue, but worth trying when it’s in stock.

I like this tea.
The color is light yellow, It’s smell sweet and “clean”, and then it tastes good.
Sadly enough I overstepped the steeping time. I like to just dip the tea lightly in the water and then fish it out. One of my friends calls it “Sweet water” but this is how I prefer it.
And I normally like my teas strong, so I guess it’s just this tea.

While waiting for my other cup to cool of, I can tell you about the tea I wrote about before “Pukka night time”. I left the teabag in the mug yesterday, only to discover it ripped open with it’s contents scattered all over the table this morning.
To people with cats, please keep the package of this tea out of cats way
… Or don’t. They really seem to love it and it it’s kind of fun watching them roll around the tea.

Now to the tasting notes:
It’s sweet and bitter. I can see pieces of fruits and so, but I can’t taste them.
Maybe it’s so well blended that the different ingredients become one taste. I don’t mind, I like this tea. Guess it’s fitting to drink after a sweet dessert.

A very easy to drink white tea with vegetal notes underscored by burnt sugar sweetness. A lovely way to start the day.

Yum yum yum yum.

I had been planning on having some Jasmine Silver Needle this afternoon, but then I got this DEEEEElightful package from takgoti. I had an extended brain freeze moment trying to decide which tea to try first and then I decided to make it easy on myself and pick this one – replacing my planned jasmine with this jasmine.

I love jasmine teas but prior to the Jasmine Silver Needle, my last two jasmine teas were… not great. I was ready to avoid jasmine for a while. Then I got the JSN in a swap and I was reminded how well jasmine can be when it is done right.

This is jasmine done right. The smell is gorgeous. Light but rich, not perfumy/fake. But the taste is where this one really shines. Because even badly done jasmine teas can SMELL okay. But taste? That’s harder.

This one is surprisingly deep of flavor. Samovar says it has hints of cocoa and a baked, almost cookie-like flavor. Not sure if I would go THAT far (I taste no chocolate chip) but there is a richer taste that is totally unexpected but very welcome. It makes the taste less one-dimensional jasmine and more like an overall taste of jasmine with a note of something almost bready underneath it. In a weird way, it reminds me a bit of King Hawaiian dinner rolls.

And since I feel totally insane saying THAT on a jasmine tea review, I will leave it there. Oh wait, one more thing: this? is sooooo good.

I decided to reach to the back of the cupboard and pull out the “Stash” of Christmas/Holiday teas that get neglected through the summer. The main smell of this one is mint, and the taste…mint. Spearmint. Upon a second sip I can smell cinnamon joining the party. The taste is still mainly mint, and it’s a nice moderate mint. Not too strong or weak. If you let the tea stay on your tongue for a couple seconds you can notice more of the spicey taste. Tastes best when it’s hot, not just warm. Steep this one in a winter themed mug (like I just did) for the full effect!

I had to change my rating on this tea. I lowered it to 72 from 80. The tea doesn’t seem to have a pure smooth taste as it did the first time. I’m not just brewing some old tea that has been opened for a while. I bought more of this tea so it should be fresh. It’s got a hint of a young dandelion taste.