353 Tasting Notes
I brewed up the sample I got with my last order tonight for my nightly cuppa. This is delicious. Absolutely delicious. I love pineapple and that is the flavor that jumps right to the front. It was lovely unsweetened but I added a bit of sugar just to see how the flavor reacted – the pineapple was not only front and center, but wearing day glo yellow. PERFECT.
The only thing I don’t like is something is making my mouth taste a bit bitter after I drink the tea. Guess I’ll have to brew up another tea after I’m done with this one.
Preparation
I think I liked this a bit more than the other ESPs I’ve tried so far. The strawberry was very distinct but not overwhelming. It was still on the weak side, but unlike other flavors I actually prefer this (for those who don’t know, I really hate the taste of fresh strawberries), and it doesn’t totally taste like strawberries – instead, it tastes like strawberry flavoring.
Hey, I’m the weirdo that does not like real strawberries but what companies make us associate as strawberry tasting.
I think Tazo’s sultry strawberry was better. I may have to compare.
Preparation
Based on other blended teas I saw the shop had and their ingredients, I suspect they get at least part of their stock from ESP Emporium.
This smells so much like a creamsicle. I opened the tin the car and my friends in the backseat could smell it – very very strong. The flavor of the tea is less strong, which I’m okay with because it would have been pretty artificial tasting, I’d imagine.
Steeped for 5 minutes with a spoonful of sugar.
It’s not my favorite. I probably will not be ordering more. It’s still creamsicle-tasting, but it’s off in some way. I wish there was a stronger vanilla flavor.
(I did buy 50g of this from ESP Emporium so I could compare and verify this actually is the same. I wish I hadn’t now…)
Preparation
Hmm. Odd. And bland. No pumpkin in the ingredients list, no pumpkin taste, and yet it’s called “Pumpkin Cream”… odd.
So the first few sips, I tasted the honeydew, which is weird because PUMPKIN. But after that, even that faded away and I can’t taste much of anything. Meh.
Preparation
This is another tea from Voila! in Frederick. This was marketed as “Frosty Pumpkin” but I’m pretty certain it started life as Pumpkin Cream from ESP Emporium, and had additional ingredients blended in.
Odd that this is called “pumpkin” anything considering there is no pumpkin anything in the ingredients list. Instead, there’s honeydew melon of all things.
I can’t decide if I like this tea or not. I can definitely taste the melon, and it’s more like spiced melon than spiced pumpkin. My brain gets confused trying to find pumpkin in this at all.
Preparation
A box of this magically appeared in my office tea cupboard. (Maybe we have office elves, like house elves but for offices. Maybe a coworker’s belief in such beings is why he never does his assigned week of kitchen duty which simply involves running the dishwasher and unloading it every so often.)
It really tastes similar to pink lemonade, if pink lemonade was made from herbs. It’s not perfect but it’s tart and lemony, and it is pink. I probably should have added sugar but that would have involved another walk to the kitchen. (We’ll refrain from mentioning that my office is about 20 feet away from the kitchen.)
Not quite to my taste but others may enjoy this better.
Preparation
I don’t know what I was thinking when I ordered this. I love oolongs, but flavored oolongs?
Well, I gave it a try. It’s not bad. The flavor is a bit weird, though. I can’t taste any lemon at all, or marigold – though I don’t know what marigold tastes like so for all I know I am tasting it, and it tastes exactly like the vanilla flavoring. I even added some sugar to try and bring out the other flavors but no go.
I won’t be buying this again.
Preparation
I received a very generous sample of this from Nicole. Thank you!
I am in oolong heaven. I brewed this to drink with lunch and lunch is now shoved aside so I can focus on this tea. This is handsdown the best oolong I’ve ever tasted. It hits all the points I love in oolongs, and surpasses all other oolongs I’ve had so far.
It is smooth, buttery, and rich. Lightly floral, and almost syrupy in taste at the same time. I cannot wait to see how this tastes in further steeps. This is so so delicious.
Preparation
That’s good to know. I think I may have to save up so I can drop a huge chunk of money on an order from them of a little bit of everything. Oolongs are my favorite teas but the quality of this one blew the rest I’ve drunk out of the water.
A free sample from Design a Tea. I love blueberry. I love pineapple and coconut. Why not combine them? I love the concept of this company! And the sample is so so good! I’ll definitely have to remember them when I have some more tea money to blow, and more space in my tea cupboard.