Alana237

Had some of this today and I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed. I used to love this but now I have tried so many more great teas, this one falls far short of fabulous. The jasmine in this is really kind of perfumy and a little fake. sigh. I remember this as so much better….

First of all, thank you QueenOfTarts for sending this!

I love this! The plantain is the most prominent flavour and it adds a lovely starchiness to the cup. The coconut is more in the background and compliments the plantain beautifully. The green rooibos (my first!) is lovely and sweet and I think I might prefer it over red rooibos. This is so smooth and had so much flavour!

Now I’m craving banana bread.

You know, before this tea, I didn’t even like coconut. I’d tried a couple of coconut teas and we just hadn’t got along. So, upon receiving this from Marcus I was naturally a little intimidated, but…

It is SO GOOD. Creamy and sweet and not overly coconutty. Now I’m hooked on coconut teas!

No notes yet.

Finished this one up today (I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed it before!) and I know I’m going to miss this one. The banana and peach work perfectly together and they don’t taste at all artificial. And then the smooth green tea base just brings it all together!

A nice suprise from QueenOfTarts! Thanks!

This smells very spicy and I pick up a hint of coffee (coffee frightens me, unfortunately) so I had my apprehensions when taking my first sip but…

It’s suprisingly good! Sweet and spicy, I can pick out all the spices and although it probably isn’t as good as my homemade chai, it’s stronger than I expected.

Thanks QueenOfTarts for this one!

This blend is so cute with the little candy hearts! I’m not quite sure what is in it, but I can see bits of nuts (perhaps pecans?) and other things. I quite like this – it’s sweet and nutty, and the flavourings are supported well by the rooibos base.

But…as I get further down the cup, and it starts to cool, the nutty flavour becomes overbearing and I start to get funny feeling in the back of my throat. As it cools down even more, it becomes very, very sickly sweet.

Hmm. I liked this tea at the beginning of the cup, but it turned out too sickly for me.

Thanks QueenOfTarts for this one!

Backlog: I had this last night as I was going to bed. I don’t have many rooibos blends, so this was a welcome addition to my collection! Dry, it had a lovely, creamy scent and steeped, more of the vanilla came through. The vanilla tastes natural and it definitely is quite creamy. Also, the rooibos base doesn’t overpower the flavour, but supports it instead. A very sweet tea. Finally, I have found a rooibos that satisfies my sweet tooth!

I was out shopping today and found this tiny little tea bar tucked away in a tiny little market in Manchester. They had 60+ teas, so it took me a while to decide, and I eventually settled on this one, since I’ve been dying to try it for ages.

This had a nice black tea base that supports the spices well. The chilli is very, very strong, which is good, and it adds a nice little kick to the back of the sip. I liked this, but I think the ‘chai’ bit could have been a little stronger.

I love chocolate, so naturally I had to buy this.

It smells sooo good, like high-quality, rich, bittersweet chocolate and the nilgiri base comes through nicely. The black tea base smells lovely and warm under the chocolate notes after steeping, though think I might have oversteeped becuase there is an unpleasantly bitter note that lingers after swallowing. Still, a nice tea that I wouln’t mind drinking upon occasion.

I’ve just placed an order with TeaPigs and don’t you know.. My Grandma brought this for me when she visited yesterday! Now I have 2 packs of most of the stuff she brought with her.

Anyway, this is a pretty good tea, in my opinion. The darjeeling is a nice base and it has some of those typical bright notes which linger in the mouth. The bergamot isn’t overpowering. Overall a refreshing tea.

Thanks to MoonTea for this one!

This is really, really good. I was a little nervous seeing hibiscus in the ingredients list, but this is definitely a blend where it is used responsibly. Anyway, it was a hot day yesterday, so I decided to make this iced, though I did sneak a sip hot (good hot – the apple and goji berries came through on top and added a lovely juiciness to the tea) but iced is when this tea really shines. The flavours really pop, especially the pink peppercorns, which made the blend a real winner (apart from chais, I have never been able to taste the peppercorns in a tea before). I’m so glad MoonTea sent me a whole ounce of this!

I received this as a free sample a while ago and I don’t quite know why I haven’t tried it before now.

The scent of the dry leaves is very soapy and the orange overwhelms the chrysanthemum. Hmm. Not a good sign.

The liqour is a very glossy dark brown but it still smells very soapy (I can smell the chrysanthemum a bit more now though).

I wanted so much to like this, but I just don’t. I love pu-erh and although I can taste a lovely pu-erh base, the flavouring tastes a bit like parma violets (which I really can’t stand). Pretty much everyone else seems to like it though – did I just get a bad batch? Hmm.

I’m not really sure about this tea. I’ve had three pots over the last few days and I keep forgetting to log it. I don’t know why – but if it was really bad or really good, I’d have remembered.

Anyway, going off my notes, this had sort of a generic fruity taste and I couldn’t pick any of the individual flavours out, but a nice tea to sip absentmindedly.

I wonder how this would be iced…

I love vanilla teas, so when I saw this on the Chi of Tea website, I knew I had to order some (hooray for flat rate international shipping!).

As soon as I open the package, I can smell a lovely creamy vanilla-y scent. I’m in heaven! The tea leaves themselves are very attractive – small, sort of rolled and dark.

I can’t wait for this one to steep! The scent as it steeps is sooo good – I can smell the black tea base as well as the flavourings.

I love this. It is so tasty. Even more creamy than I expected, with lovely vanilla notes and a good tea base. I am kicking myself now – why didn’t I order more?! Definitely one to purchase again, I think.

I got this as a free sample with a recent Chi of Tea order, and I was curious about this one because I have not really ever had a great EG.

The scent of the dry leaves is very strong and I definitely get notes of vanilla, though the bergamot scent is very harsh.

The tea itself smells very sweet and the taste is odd. The bergamot is very overpowering, and I don’t get any of the vanilla I smelled in the leaves. I don’t really like this, overall. I don’t seem to have very good luck with flavoured oolongs, but I will try this one again to see if it is any better with different steeping parameters.

No notes yet.

Just finished up the last of my sample. It was more coconutty today but I didn’t get much rum this time, which is a tad disappointing. I think I am going to miss this one, even though it has only been with me for a short time.

Made a huge pot of this last night as I am camping with friends in the freezing cold. It was nice and warming and we were still drinking it when it got quite kate, so I think we were all glad it has no caffeine.

I had this earlier with orange juice. It was so good, but it looked so nasty!

I got this as one of the three free samples from Chi of Tea. Dry, the leaves smell very strongly of peach flavouring – it’s quite overpowering.

I used just over one teaspoon for about 200ml water and the colour of the liquor has come out looking good – a gold colour. The taste, unfortunately, is disappointing. The peach is very strong and overwhelms the oolong base. Also, the oolong base seems to lack body and overall is too light.

I’m glad I got to try this but it just isn’t my cup of tea.

Second steep now!

This has all the lovely characteristics of the first steep, and the flavour is not lightening up at all. I’m getting a slightly malty flavour as well. I’m going to put the rating up. This tea seriously deserves it :D

These little hearts are too cute!

This is my first pu-erh and I’m a little frightened to try it, I admit, becuase people sometimes say it tastes fishy and smells like wet dog, but you hear others raving about its greatness. So, understandably a little apprehensive.

Anyway, It is a deep gold-red colour and I am definitely picking up the ‘earthy’ scent everyone talks about. I’m suprised by the size of the steeped leaves though – they are fairly large, I would have expected them to be rather small, but even after a 30-second rinse I still have quite a bit of dust in the bottom of my teacup.

First sip. The taste semms to be very earthy and deep and it’s a very savoury tea. I’m not really loving it at this point.

A few sips later. This is growing on me , I think. Yes, definitely. It’s very good and has very little aftertaste which is pleasant.

Alas, I am now at the bottom of my cup. Off I go for another steep…

As my last tasting note was so brief (it was a long, long day), I am trying this again with more leaf and although the last go round was delicious, this is just that bit better.

At the moment, the tea is very hot and I can taste a lot of pineapple, but not much else. I do get the honeybush taste though – it’s nice and sweet, perfect for this blend.

Now it’s cooling down a little and the taste is now more balanced – pineapple on the front end of the sip which calms down a little so that the coconut comes through near the end – and it’s really good coconut, not fake or overpowering. The rum is coming through and its quite a strong taste now that the tea is mostly cooled down.

Although this is lovely, I can’t see myself drinking it a lot because it is very sweet. I’ll probably use the last of this sample to make iced tea – I can see it being perfect for that.