Snowflake

I’M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Did you guys miss me? I missed you!!! I’m super sorry that I’ve had such a long absence but I’ve come back to everyone still being here and to a lovely message from Bonnie, thank you for that!

This summer was pretty hot therefore tea free and I went out to explore more interests that I’ve had, and that is what usually happens-summers are tea free because of laziness and then when things actually start and I don’t have time to make a bunch of different teas I want to start again! Anyways, this is (in all honesty) the first tea I’ve had since probably June-ish.

This is still as tasty as I remember! It’s a very full (please don’t laugh at my tea-describing vocabulary, I haven’t done this in a while and I’m afraid I lost a little bit of my touch!) tea and it’s really really nice and comforting.

I’m sorry that my return is somewhat short as I have some other things I need to get to tonight so I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave it at that but I will be back ASAP and I hope that you are all doing well and didn’t miss me too much :P

I finally made my last groupon-style tea order. I tend to sit on my groupons (or in this case, kgb deal) until they’re just about to expire, and then I use them. I bought a lot of these types of deals when I first started really getting into tea, almost a year ago, and finally I’ve used them all up. I don’t have any more partly because there haven’t been any offered in a very long time, and partly because even if there were some offered, I’m way more picky about my tea these days so I probably wouldn’t buy them as readily. In any case this was a pretty good one because I could buy a bunch of 1oz samples. This tea I actually bought two ounces of, just because it got such good reviews on Steepster and I thought I would like the flavors (coconut, almond, vanilla). I’m not a big fan of Georgia Tea Company’s packaging, which are the kind of pouches that just fold over to close, not with an airtight zip seal. Now I have a ton of teas in non-airtight packaging and nothing to put them in. Oh well.

This tea smells really sweet and creamy and amazing dry. I wasn’t sure what temp to steep it at because the range on Steepster is amazing… from 165°F to boiling. Most people seemed to err on the side of not boiling, so I went with just under to see how it turned out. Steeped, it retains much of those sweet, creamy aromas, with the strong coconut and almond flavors vying for the main note. I don’t get much of a distinct vanilla from this, but I have a feeling it’s providing that creamy backing to the whole thing. The almond is a sweet, marzipanny, extracty-type almond, not as much the nutty fresh almond aroma.

Wow, there is no mistaking that this is a Flavored Tea with a capital F. Sweet, coconutty, and with an almond flavor that coats your mouth. Is there black tea in there? Well, yes, but it doesn’t really make itself known. Actually as it cools there is a faint bitterness coming out from the black tea; not the kind of black tea flavor I’m looking for. Otherwise it’s smooth, creamy and pretty tasty overall.

I really don’t know what I think about this one. On the one hand, the flavors are really delicious and lord knows I’m always looking for a really almondy tea (and am usually disappointed). On the other, my tastes have changed and I find myself wanting more from the base. Honestly a year ago I probably would have rated this one into the 90s because I didn’t care if I couldn’t taste the black tea, but now I want more from my flavored teas. Nevertheless I do still really like the flavors in this one mostly because it’s so intensely almondy and I never find teas that almondy. I guess I can say that I’m not sorry I bought 2 ounces of it.

Thank you Amanda for sharing this tea with me!
Its lovely!
I visited the site and was shocked at the low prices there but I shall refrain (for now) in placing an order.
This has the PERFECT balance of nutty, vanilla, and coconut!
It is also perfectly sweet without adding a thing.
Really a very nice tea.
Thank you again Amanda – this goes into the wish list!

I ordered more of this last night after the wonderful Daniel Mann from the Georgia Tea Company gave me a discount because of my car troubles. I waffled on this one a tiny bit because I’m still not sure how much my car repairs will cost, but then I went back and sniffed the sample bag and it’s still like my mom’s homemade angel food cake. SOLD!

Since I’m currently out of my Earl Grey Cream I decided to see how this one handled the JOEmo thermos treatment. So far this morning it’s awesome. Angel food cake inna cup! TG

There’s just something special about nearly all of the Georgia Tea Company Teas I have tried so far…intensely scented and I LOVE THAT!!!!

Coconut, almond and vanilla…and in that order is what’s going on with the aroma of this tea! WOW! I know there HAS to be a Christmas Cookie that is popular that smells JUST LIKE this – but I am unsure of the name.

This is a medium strength flavored black that is very much tasting like a cookie with those same ingredients in it…coconut, almond, and vanilla…it’s great! You have to really like coconut but if you do AND I DO please check it out!!! It’s a nice treat and the customer service over at Georgia Tea Company is wonderful.

I will be posting more on my blog this week about Georgia Tea Company so check out http://teaequalsbliss.blogspot.com and “follow me”.

Bleh, this one smelled/tastes a little bit soapy. I think we can blame coconut age here, as is irritatingly typical. The soapiness did go away a bit as the tea cooled, but I think this tea may be a bit of a write-off. Sigh. I shall try it again another day though!

Thanks momo for sending me some of this :D And sorry for the short tasting note… gotta run!

Have been drinking this for most of the evening, and I’m still undecided on how I feel about it.
I don’t think it’s coconut enough – or maybe there is too much almond, vanilla covering the coconut. I can’t decide.
I’m also getting a bit of an oil slick (ok it’s not that bad – more of an oil film) on top of the tea. That is always a bit of a turn off for me.
I guess this is just ok for me, not really special – but nothing really bad.
Thanks ifjuly for letting me try this one.

I upped the rating for this gem from TeaEqualsBliss – Thank you! :) I need caffeine today, so I reached for this black tea. I left the tea bag in longer than I thought I should have, but I love the extra flavor. It’s extra vanilla & minty – and it tastes sparkly! That’s the only way I can describe it…

I find that I like this a lot less than I initially did 6 months ago so I’m lowering the rating. I still really enjoy the combination of vanilla, coconut and almond, but it seems to be lacking something. I doubt I’ll reorder this next year as one of my holiday teas and I’ll be finishing off what little I have left over the next few days.