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This is another old sample from Angel, that I am finishing up. I’m REALLY, REALLY sad to have this one gone. It is one of those moments where you keep checking the empty bag, hoping that more tea will magically appear.

I didn’t read over my last tasting note for this, so don’t know if what I tasted this time is the same as last time, but, I’ll look back over it and see. I think, though, that I wasn’t as used to tea when I first started drinking Teavivire’s teas, so while I enjoyed some, my notes were not always as accurate as they are now. And that’s ok, because maturating happens in every aspect of life!

Anyway, on to the tea—

Malt is the first taste I can easily identify, and it’s a pleasant, thick taste, with this sweet, almost chocolate like taste mixed in. It’s not overpowering, and it has a nice fullness to it—a full mouth-feel, for sure. If you sip it slowly, to me it is almost as if you want to chew it, it’s that good and feels so rich in your mouth. It’s also sweet, without being too sweet, and this is another tea that I kept having cup after cup. I am still in denial that it is gone.

Aside from the malt, I can’t describe any of the other tastes by name, except that there was, as I said, a sweetness to it, and this chocolate taste. I really do love it, and I wish I could provide more details as to why I love it, but I can’t quite put it into words. It’s just a really great tasting tea!

I’m going to be getting more at some point, for sure. And not sharing it next time…

So apparently my last note and drinking of this was a long time ago, and the note was rather short and not descriptive. I’m very glad I’ve gotten better at reviewing more complex teas.

Anywho, Angel from Teavivre is sending me more samples soon (YAY!) and I realised that I still had a few of the old samples left, simply from trying to conserve it, and/or not having time to drink it. That being said, I was looking through what I had and decided to go for this again. I made it in a tea pot, and shared some with my mum, and she put a name to the floral taste and smell I remember not having a name for: honey suckle. BINGO.

It has a lovely floral smell, and a honey smell, so honey suckle is a great description. This is the scent STEEPING, I should note. The scent of it dry is, to me, not heavy, though I can smell a milky/floral combination.

The taste is a rich, honey taste, with light floral notes, and it leaves a soft, fuzzy aftertaste on the back of your tongue. It’s very soothing, and almost addictive. I made a half of a teapot, enough to have probably two and half full mugs, and my mum had one teacup….and then when she left I just kept re-filling my cup so I drank it all. No shame, none whatsoever. I only put a small amount of sugar in it, and there was a creamy, “milky” taste to it, but it did not over power the floral taste, or taste strange with it.

Mostly the taste, as I said, is just this rich, but lightly so (even if that doesn’t seem possible?) sweetness to it. Putting a drop of honey in it was also really great, and I did make one cup with milk, and that definitely brought out the creaminess, but also seemed to cover up the floral taste I loved so I have decided I do not like to drink it with milk, though it can take it.

I steeped it for 2 minutes and a few extra seconds, and as I drank it, it got colder as I went along, since the teapot can’t keep tea warm forever (though my pot does keep it warm for a decent amount.) It was just as good chilled as it was hot or warm. I’m really pleased with this tea, and my mum loved it, which worries me because if I get anymore we’ll probably end up fighting over it, haha.

Seriously though, this is a tea that is great to celebrate the sunny, Spring weather with. Go make a cuppa if you have some!

This tea was given to me in a storage tin, and so while it had the name of the tea and the tea company on it, it did not have the ingredients, etc. So, I added the tea but had neither a picture or an ingredient list. Sorry the tea information is bare.

The first time I had this, I had no tea and no milk or cream of any kind. That being said, the tea was horrible. Just…let’s not go there.

But, with sugar, and a bit of milk, this tea is a very delicious, yummy cuppa. It has a light pumpkin taste, and then has a similar taste to the crust of a pumpkin pie…it’s not a hugely noticeable flavor, and I can’t quite give it a real name, but this tea definitely has a warm, spicy taste very close to pumpkin pie. It has a creamy, warm mouthfeel, and takes to cream or milk very well.

I’m very pleased with this tea, and when I find an ingredient list (the tea is seasonal, so is no longer listed on the company page) I will give a more thorough tea review. It’s a lovely cuppa, though.

P.S: I used a teapot, and I am not sure on how much water I put in…

Steepster has changed! What is this? I mean, it looks really clean and new, but at the same time it’s just a bit strange. Ah well, on to the tea.

I’m drinking the decaf version of this. There wasn’t a decaf version listed and I didn’t feel like making one. Blah, I’m lazy, i know.

Anyways, I wanted tea, wanted something with no caffeine, as I have been drinking a lot of coffee lately since I have a very lovely purple Keurig now, and I wanted to use my pretty white tea pot. :) So, I’m waiting for it to steep now…

I uh…hmm…. takes another sip.

I don’t know about this one. :/ I should note that I am drinking it in a tea cup (yay!) and so many have over-sweetened it, but it’s got like a overly-sweet, honey aftertaste that I don’t like right now. I’ve drank this before and liked it, so it may be my mood and again, the possibility of too much sugar.

I’m really starting to not like bagged teas, though, really. Unless they are TOP quality, without fail, always good brands, then usually bagged teas fall short.

Continues sipping, adds more tea to dilute the sweetness…

It’s a bit better when not so sweet, but really it’s just dull and not very flavorful. :( I’d switch to Earl Grey but that has caffeine.

sigh Ah well. I’m going to have to get my mom to bring my good loose leaf over next time she visits. I have a great loose leaf white tea.

On a side note, I actually am excited for the added details of this new tea page! <3 Yay!

It’s snowing and I wanted tea, something caffeinated so I could stay up and one, enjoy the snow falling, and two, write my novel. Crossing my fingers for classes to be cancelled tomorrow.

Anyways, I have so much tea now that I really wasn’t sure what I even wanted. I wanted white tea, actually, but I only had a decaf version, so, alas, I could not drink that. I mean, I could be I really do want caffeine this time around. Opting for one of my fairly old bags, but probably not, like, expired old, at least I’m hoping not.

I rated this tea low last time, or at least low for what I usually rate. I’m actually thinking much of my older reviews, from my first days as a tea drinker, were inaccurate because I did not really know how to make tea well.

Sipping it, I don’t taste a huge amount of orange or cinnamon, but I do taste more than I did the first time. It’s a light flavor, and I taste it mostly in the aftertaste. Truly, I actually like it. I don’t like, love it, but for a quick cuppa, this will do fine.

I’m watching men in thick winter gear lay salt down on the sidewalks. I really wish they would just stop and let all classes be cancelled. It seems pointless.

This is the first beverage I have made with my GORGEOUS new VIOLET coloured personal Keurig. I have to say, I’m actually lowering the rating on this, which surprises me, sine I LOVE Chai. But this is the truth—bagged Chai, even a fairly good brand like Twinings, cannot compare to loose leaf Chai. And so, that being said, I am lowering the rating on this because of that. And also, because it doesn’t taste very good without milk and/or cream, of which I have none at the moment.

However, I should note that this tea isn’t BAD, it’s just not as flavorful as some Chai teas I have had in the past, and again, I don’t have everything to make it to my taste. It is still very good though—a very warm, pleasant mouth feel, and the spices are all there. It’s a good cup, in one of my favorite mugs: “Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” And it’s a warm cup, which is nice in the chill. So, I’m happy! :-) I hope all of you had a lovely holiday, and I hope you are all enjoying your favorite cuppas, as well as new ones! Adventure never hurt anybody, and life is more fun with a little bit of adventure.

I’m not putting a steeping time because it was a K-cup, so…it had no steeping time!

I don’t own this, but I’m putting out a begging note of PLEASE IF YOU HAVE IT AND WANT TO GIVE IT AWAY, PLEASE, PITY A BROKE COLLEGE STUDENT WHO LOVES BBC SHERLOCK AND WOULD ADORE TRYING SUCH A FUN SOUNDING TEA. I know, I’m cheating, putting this as a tasting note…but I REALLY want to try it!!

In other news, WHO HAS FINISHED SERIES 3 OF SHERLOCK? I want to talk to people about it!

You can always tell I enjoy a tea when I review it over and over. I’ll review bad teas, but since I won’t ever drink that tea again (usually) I don’t put out many reviews on it. (Which, all that makes sense, really, but some people will drink things more than once or re-visit things even if they didn’t like it before, and I usually don’t do that.)

Anyways, this tea, as some of you may know if you read my past reviews, started out REALLY bad for me, but once I found the perfect steeping method for it, it was truly phenomenal. If it were possible to bottle Heaven, I think this tea would be one of the ways you could do it. It has a taste that just makes me feel really good, almost like a high, but just a really pleasant, soft feeling, not anything rough or over the top. It’s a really great tea, people.

I will warn though, you HAVE to get the steeping right. Only use a medium amount of leaf, if you are using a regular mug, and 3 or 4 minutes is ENOUGH. No boiling water—it can be screaming hot, but not a direct boil. I let my kettle sit for at least two minutes before I pour it, maybe even more. Lots of sugar, and it can go with or without cream, but I drank it without this time and I prefer it with, personally.

I hope that if you try this tea, it works out for you, because it’s a really great tea!

Thank God for tea, because it’s one of the best things to drink for a sore throat.

Anyways, onto the tea…

This was actually one of the first teas I ever tried, so you could say this tea is the tea, aside from Earl Grey, that got me into tea. I don’t even remember where I was when I first tried it, but I know I loved it then and still love it now.

Orange teas are my favorite teas, and this tea has a wonderful, smooth taste of orange with a kick of spice—ginger, I think—and I really enjoy that mix. It’s a very warm tea, in the sense that it makes you feel warm, almost immediately, and more so from the flavor than from the actual temperature of the tea itself. It also takes sugar well, and keeps a very good balance of sweetness and flavor.

Now to finish it and hope my throat feels better…

I love Earl Grey very much. I’ll try any Earl Grey, and for the most part, I enjoy whatever I try. Tazo is no exception, and I’ve always loved Tazo teas. Me personally, I think they are pretty good quality for a bagged tea, and now they do sell loose leaf, too, so you can have either.

Quality/brand aside, this tea is darn near perfect. It has the lovely flavor Earl Grey is known for, and it is not bitter at all, which is the one problem I encounter with Earl Grey sometimes. This tea, however, doesn’t have any of that. It’s just got a wonderful, smooth taste, a slightly astringent aftertaste (the good kind) and it takes vanilla soy milk well, which is a lovely surprise.

I’m so excited to have this in my stash now! I should add, by the way, that this is the loose leaf sachet kind you can get from Starbucks, not a regular bag or plain loose leaf. IT’S SO GOOD. Careful on the steep time though.