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After yesterday’s election, I find myself selecting something that will hopefully be comforting this morning.

Got this from Sips by. It’s funny, I complained in the comments on my last box that I had been hoping for something pumpkin spice, and in my next box, there it was. Not sure if it’s a coincidence or if they actually do read those. Either way, yay.

The first thing I notice is that the bags are really powdery. I found myself wiping my hands off on my sweater. Cinnamon is the main scent I notice, and the tea brews up to a lighter shade of tan than I expected, leaving me worried this will be weak.

Hmm. And it kind of is. Cinnamon leads this tea, followed by nutmeg. Clove also makes an appearance, along with something unexpectedly leathery. Ginger and allspice are sort of hiding in the background, providing a little warmth, but not standing out. There is also a baked note. Sort of like pie crust, but without the vanilla. Something also reminds me of the original flavor of Chapstick. I’m not detecting anything pumpkiny, unfortunately. This isn’t bad. Just kind of lame…

My first thought about this tea was “…This is going to go straight through my infuser.” It’s ground so fine! Sure, that ensures a lot of flavor, but it’s also messy. Maybe I’ll use a filter next time.

As it steeps, the water turns deep magenta. Oh. Hibiscus. Though luckily, I mostly smell sweet fruit. Like black cherries and plums with a hint of cinnamon. Hmm. Reminds me of something Tazo used to make, only it was blackberry.

I’ll spare you the rest of the review. The tart hibiscus dominates this tea. Those tempting plum and cherry notes are hardly present at all. It’s just bright, sour, loud hibiscus. With cinnamon.

Sipdown! Finished this off to make my stash look a little less out of control. I have SO MUCH to review between samples people have sent me, Sips by, and my latest Harney & Sons order. Gotta get on it!

Made it a second time over ice. Delicious. I’ll remember this in the spring…

I got this from Cameron B.! Thank you so much! I believe this is my first from Lupicia.

I’m excited about another melon tea after that Stash one. However, this one is an oolong. Lovely little knots, glossy and green with… what are these, pieces of melon candy? There are little green sugary things that the website makes no mention of. Neat!

Anyway, the leaves unroll long and whole, many with stems and a second leaf attached. They smell wonderful, like a faintly toasted oolong and delicious, ripe cantaloupe. Or honeydew. Maybe something in between. The flavor comes through with the aroma’s promise of melony goodness. The melon pairs beautifully with the warmer, woodier notes from the oolong. This is truly a treat. I will be ordering it some time in the future, without a doubt.

I got this from Lexie Aleah as a surprise! I love pear teas, so yay! Though this was packaged as Asian Pear Harmony. I hope they’re the same thing. If not, please correct me and I will make Harmony a page.

Anyway, this is another one that I fell in love with as soon as I smelled the bag. Lovely and realistic pear aroma and flavor. Sort of like the flavor when a pear is soft, about to be overripe. It’s fruity and juicy and brews up to a cat’s eye green. The dragonwell base they used is very mild, mostly hidden under the added flavor. I could see it being wonderful both hot or iced. It’s definitely something to consider when I start thinking about spring teas…

EDIT: I tweeted at Stash to see if Harmony is the same as Dragonwell. We’ll see what they say.

EDIT 2: Stash tweeted back saying “They are similar flavors and both are green teas, but Asian Pear Harmony is bagged tea and Asian Pear Dragonwell is loose leaf.” So… yes? They are the same, it just depends on the packaging?

EDIT 3: I asked Stash if it was just the packaging, and a different rep wrote back that no, they use different green teas as a base. They use Premium Green for the bagged and Dragonwell for the loose leaf one.

This was a freebie in my last Harney & Sons order. Love those little bonus sachets.

Now, mint teas are always a little weird for me. Sometimes if the mint leaves they use aren’t very high quality, I taste pickle notes. I know that’s weird, but I don’t like pickles. While I can sort of smell it before I take a sip, I luckily don’t taste it.

This tea surprises me with the lingering minty tingle. That’s new. Or maybe I’ve just been drinking really cheap mint. It’s very refreshing! But it also smothers the lemon verbena. I can’t really taste it at all, even on the exhale. I was sort of looking forward to that. But I still like this.

This is the most powerfully minty tea I’ve ever had. It’s wonderful on a cool day after drinking too much coffee.

Alright, my first yaupon ever, from Sips by.

It’s green and mostly powdered in the packets they sent. Very small, flat pieces. I know a lot of this is gonna go right through my infuser. The aroma reminds me of matcha or sencha. Very strong “green tea” scent.

As it steeped, I looked up the company to see what they were about. Something about it put me off a bit… It feels weird seeing a couple of white hipster brothers profiting off of a part of Native American culture. Something just felt wrong about it to me. Appropriated, maybe.

Anyway, the resulting tea is very dark. Sort of like the color of black coffee, but with a green tint. It smells strongly of green beans. And yerba mate. That’s almost exactly what it smells like, only sweeter. I am very, very hesitant. I do not like yerba mate. And I do not drink tea to sip on what smells like stewed vegetables.

The flavor isn’t quite as offensive as I expected. But it is really bitter. I wonder if 8 ounces was not enough water per packet. The instructions did not say. But yeah, this tastes like tea made by gathering up a wad of grass your lawnmower spat out a couple days ago. I do not see any appeal other than the caffeine boost.

Another from Sips by. I dunno why I was hesitant to try this one. I always do that with oolong and I don’t know why. I can’t remember having a bad experience with one or anything.

This oolong falls on the roasted side instead of floral. It’s very smooth and mild. Pleasant as a breakfast tea, for sure. It almost tastes like a black tea. In fact, if I was sipping this blind, I wouldn’t guess this was oolong. It even comes out to a black tea color. While it’s tasty and savory, it just feels kind of boring. No notes stand out in particular to me. It’s not bland, exactly. Just unremarkable.

I got this from Lexie Aleah! Thanks again!

I have a thing for honeydew melon. Real melon, melon candy, melon boba, you name it. But I haven’t really explored it in tea form until now. (Which is definitely something I’m going to have to correct.) So, I when I opened the packet, I was delighted. It smelled like straight up Bath & Body Works in there.

The tea came out to a bright yellow with the slightest green tint. It smells a bit more like guava than melon, but the melon flavor is very prominent. It’s what I had hoped it would be. Fruity and a little exotic, with a mild green tea base. Not a fall tea in any way, but after all those spiced and heavy black teas, this is very refreshing. The taste really does remind me of Bath & Body Works’s Cucumber Melon, though. I’m having flashbacks to my very early teens at the taste of this. Going to have to get more…