SoccerMom

So I’ve read so much on here about this tea and couldn’t wait to try it. I haven’t really been craving black teas since it’s starting to warm up here in TX but this morning is dreary and yucky after last nights rain. So I decided to pull the trigger and go for Sinharaja this morning.

The smell in the dry leaf was just tea smelling to me. Steeped it and took a taste while it was still hot and you probably are going to think I’m crazy but when I went to take my first sip I smelled tomatoes and tasted tomatoes and now I can’t stop thinking tomatoes as I sip this cuppa. I also get slight maltiness which I love and I find no astringency which is also a good thing.

It’s a smooth tasting ceylon I do enjoy this cup and if I find some other GM’s that I like as much as this one in my sampler I will order this one along with the others. Oh and BTW I’m not picking up on any of the berry flavors that is mentioned on the package but I am also not using milk or sugar just drinking it plain as I always do!

I needed to make a pitcher of iced tea today to keep my son and hubby from drinking soda’s all day and so I remember AmazonV telling me and Cofftea that we haven’t lived until we have had raspberry zinger iced tea.

So hoping my son and hubby would share AmazonV’s enthusiasm for this tea I decided to make it and here’s how I did it 4 bags of lipton (the large bags) black tea and 4 bags of Raspberry zinger steeped 15 mins in 2 cups of boiling hot water for 15 minutes then added one cup of sugar and 6 cups of filtered water and VOILA.

So I did a taste test on my son first as he is the most picky of us all and he took a sip and said “You might just be onto something here” with a big smile on his face we all liked it and I will definitely make it again. AmazonV recommends making this with raspberry lipton + Raspberry Zinger but I didn’t have any raspberry lipton. Thanks for the recommendation AmazonV!!! You rock! :)

If you like raspberry flavored iced teas try it!

This one is courtesy of Doulton. I woke up ran some errands today and was just so tired (I’m not sure why) anyway I thought hmmm maybe I’ll go ahead and have lunch and see if this helps. So I had my lunch which consisted of last nights leftovers homemade fettucini alfredo and a delicious salad and decided I needed a strong black dessert tea normally Florence would have fit the bill for this situation but I decided to live it up a little and go with this one instead after all it is Friday.

Once steeped the liquor is very dark and mysterious. The first sip was very strong black tea flavored and so I read the description which said add sugar well as you all probably know by now I don’t normally add sugar to my tea. Sugar added I think made this tea so much better and much more palatable (for someone with my tastebuds). Well with the addition of a teaspoon of brown rock sugar it is much sweeter I taste almonds but not the butter part. I can’t say that I’ve ever actually had almond butter so maybe I’m off on this but its a pretty good cup. I really appreciate the opportunity to taste it and it’s from California Tea House and I have never tried any of their teas before so double Thanks, Doulton!

I know this is a poor excuse for a tasting note but I completely ditto/agree with Ricky’s note on this particular tea. It just tastes like tea to me I wanted to taste the sweet potatoey goodness, bakey taste others describe about this tea but I’m not getting that I mean maybe vaguely I’m getting that but not as much as I do with Golden Monkey. I also do not care for darjeelings and this maybe why I’m not crazy about it.

I’m trying to like jasmine tea. This one is okay it’s not that it’s bad it’s just boring. Maybe jasmine is just not my thing. Sorry LiberTEAS I am trying. :)

Another tea I’m getting to try courtesy of…yep you guessed it AmazonV!

This one I’ve been curious about for quite sometime. I shop Teavana quite a bit in person while my son is making me wait for him while he shops the mall so I see this one alot and wondered if I’d like it the Teavana girl recommends it with there Black Dragon Pearls and well ya’ll know how I like my black Dragon pearls!

I need a real caffeine kick today as the weather here is just blah! It’s all overcast and just not a beautiful day. So I went for this and blended 3 dragon pearls and one and a half teaspoons of the Azteca Fire set the timer for 5 minutes and came back to what appears to be a cup of coffee. LOL this is not good considering that I hate coffee well I actually probably like coffee but the longer I keep myself from experimenting with coffee the better. I do not need another drinking habit so I refrain from coffees.

Anyway I’m rambling on to the tasting note these two mixed are dark like coffee and in the smell I get like a nutty smell mixed with chocolate. This cup is thick like much thicker than just plain tea. The two together taste like chocolate coffee with a hint of nut. I would have loved to have tasted the strawberry in this one I know it’s in there because I saw it in the dry leaf but sadly I could not taste it. This is a good cup I think I like it better than Mayan Chocolate Chai but it does not have the chili pepper kick that Mayan chocolate chai has.

This cup might actually wake me up and get me out of my sleepy stupor.

After reading tasting notes on this one I decided I have to place an order for it. Then I thought hmmm maybe just maybe AmazonV sent this to me in her (very generous selections) that she sent to me.

I opened up the box and squealed “Thank you, Thank youuuu AmazonV!!” Grateful I didn’t have to place a order and wait for it to find out if I like it. I steeped it up according to the directions and had a bit of a tea failure in that I spilt some of the leaves into my actual cup by over pouring water into the strainer. So I am having my tea leaves and all!

Okay so dry leaf smells the same as steeped tea (keep in mind there is actual leaf in my tea cup) the smell reminds me of Bath and Body Works. I love the smell in Bath and Body works so this is a good thing and it’s not a strong smell a very faint scent of B&B.

The tea tastes very good! It is white tea mixed with berry flavored I can only think berry as I ‘ve not knowingly ever eaten a black currant and therefore am unsure what they taste like. I enjoyed this cup I think I will make a cup iced today since I read in Jacqueline’s review that it is yummy iced I will try it and revisit my notes then.

Thanks AmazonV you rock!

P.S. Anybody looking to trade some Black Currant Bai Mu Dan for a almost whole bag of Buttered Raisin Cinnamon Toast let me know. :)

This was in the AmazonV box Yea! I’ve been wanting to order this one myself but was trying to wait for the shop owner to settle in from her her baby (I heard others say there was long wait times) so I am grateful to AmazonV for letting me try some of her stash.

The dried rooibos smells like root beer a little more minty than root beer however you won’t mistake rootbeer in the smell. Once steeped (I did 5 min.) my whole kitchen began to smell of root beer and I started getting even more anxious to sip it. I tried it while it was still a little on the hot side and I didn’t get much in the way of flavor.

I let it cool down and WOW it was soo much better. I really enjoyed this cuppa I could see this finding a place in my tea cupboard right beside Coconut Custard Rooibos, while C.C.R. is still my favorite as far as rooibos’ go (and I like quite a few rooibos’) this one is a very close second. I could however see some root beer lovers out there liking this more than coconut custard rooibos. Great rooibos!

I got a nice package from AmazonV in the mail today. In it came this along with many others and this one I picked based on smell. The dry leaf is lovely and smells like it would be a wonderful potpourri. Steeped up following directions and this is a little tart. I don’t mind it too much but it’s not something I could see myself ordering or drinking daily. It’s just sorta Meh.

I got to try this tea courtesy of Erin (she rocks!). First off I’m having a stuffy nose this morning so I cannot tell much about the smell other than it probably smells sweet.

The taste I’m getting (like others have said) is not really banana in peel the fruit banana. What I am getting is Banana Nut Bread and that’s not a bad thing it’s actually quite nice. I like this tea the black tea base has a tad bit of astringency but hey I just recently finished a cup of Florence so whatdya expect.

If you think you might like Banana nut bread flavored black tea give this one a try sometime. Thanks Erin!

Made this as directions stated and it made a really nice peach iced tea. My son hasn’t been to happy with my iced tea concoctions lately (but he does love iced tea) and so I splurged and ordered this one I should have done a taste test before adding the two cups of sugar because it tastes super sweet to me ( I normally don’t use sugar in tea) but the peach tea stands up to it and is very, very good.

My Harney and Sons order came in today!! I couldn’t wait to try this tea so I ripped open the box hit green tea on the Breville and here I sit with my cherry blossom tea.

First I must say the pink and white tin this comes in is beautiful. While I sip it I am very surprised that I am not tasting any hints of cherry or cherry blossoms. I do taste the green tea and it’s a good green tea the same green tea base H&S uses in their Coconut Ginger Green Tea/Bangkok the green tea base has a slight hint of peppery and it’s a little buttery and at the end you catch the slightest hint of fruit but mostly I get floral notes.

It’s not a bad tea I might try steeping longer to see if I can get more cherry blossom flavor.

I’m trying to figure out whether I like Jasmine teas. So when I saw the SS I was totally confused because I know I do not like EG’s I think I would like Caravan and the verdict is still out on whether I like Jasmine I’ve tried Adagio’s Jasmine #12 and thought it was meh.

So today I thought I’d try jasmine from my GM sampler and see if we could get a verdict. The open packet (I think of Ricky and his comment about little silver suits) everytime I open one of these packets (random thought). Anyway once steeped this tea is more to my liking than the Jasmine #12 I think that this is much lighter and I like that. Which is strange because usually I like in your face flavors!?!

The taste is very light, another reference to Ricky here in that I agree with his notes on this tea the base doesn’t taste to me like a green tea but a white tea base. Well no verdict today I still don’t know if I like jasmine teas or not. Hmmm maybe I just think there okay I can take them or leave them or maybe I haven’t found the right one yet? Now I’ll be wondering all day if A&D’s Jasmine Green is the right jasmine tea for me! Drats I hate that!!!

No notes yet.

Thanks to Erin I am getting to try this tea. I would have never thought to purchase this as cranberry usually isn’t my thing unless it’s Thanksgiving and then I MUST have cranberry to serve with my turkey and dressing (yes it’s dressing here made from a cornbread base not stuffing).

Anyway I am sooooo grateful to Erin for sending this one it is quite YUMMY. I didn’t really get much smell out of the dry leaf but once brewed up it smells like a hard candy I can’t quite put my finger on the exact candy but it reminds me of some hard candy I had as a kid. The taste is a sweet cranberry I’m getting no tartness whatsoever and that’s a good thing I don’t like tarts or tartiness or tardiness :) hee hee any way the cranberry taste does not override the ceylon base but blends with it to make a beautiful blend. I really like this tea and did I mention the liquor is a clear reddish amber and it’s very pretty. I am ordering more of this and will try serving it iced.

Muchos Gracias Erin!!

I really like the raspberry taste in this tea but as others have mentioned I would have liked to have had more of the cream cheese part. It’s perfect for this time of the evening when you need something sweet and don’t want the caffeine.

Thanks Erin! For all the wonderful teas you sent me.

Okay I’ll admit it I’m a virgin. A matcha virgin that is :) that is until today. I was so excited to get in my 52Teas order so that I could try this and I researched how it was to be prepared and all I can say is that I think I am on Team Chrine on this one.

I prepared it according to Wiki (One flat teaspoon to 2.5 ounces of water) all I can say is that I don’t think I am going to end up finishing this bowl. I seriously think this is an acquired taste. I can appreciate foods/drinks that are acquired tastes I mean I love raw oysters, boiled crawfish but I don’t see myself acquiring a taste for this ANYTIME soon.

It is strong like BLECH what was that, strong!!!!!!! I do pick up on the strawberry and that was the part that I think I liked. I am going to hold out on rating this tea in order to try it latte style and to try much less matcha to water ratio.

In the words of my son’s teacher DO NOT DO RESEARCH VIA WIKI. :)

Go TEAM CHRINE!

PART TWO: (My Second attempt at Matcha)
I would have posted the picture from flicker here __________________ but my 14 year old still has not taught me how to do this. LOL I can post pictures, send pictures I don’t know why I cannot paste a link here?! (aggravated) BTW I also have my after picture up on flicker of my before/after tea cupboard cleanout.

Anyway it’s round 2 Me (Soccermom VS 52Teas Strawberry Matcha) yesterday depending on how you look at it Matcha might have won it kicked me in the mouth and I threw it down the drain! Today determined to tangle with this wild drink and win I made another bowl of it and followed Shanti’s advice I started out with way less than a teaspoon and about 8 ounces of water. Did I mention I love the strawberry smell from the pouch? Well I do. I do not have exact measurements of anything used today I eyeballed it I didn’t have time to put on my fighting gloves in other words measure. I had to look this tea straight in the eye and try to intimidate it. I definitely did better this round as I didn’t get punched in the mouth like yesterday but instead we are fighting a fair fight Shanti’s advice was like having Freddy Roach in my corner I’m forever grateful for it. It tastes nice and mild actually I don’t know if I’ll be craving this but I wouldn’t mind stepping back in the ring for another round or two with this fruity but strong competitor.

This is one I couldn’t wait to try. It’s dry leaf smells so yummy. I steeped it up and the smell does change well loses some of it’s chocolaty notes. Steeped up the liquor is reddish brown and the taste is spicy I would have liked to have gotten more chocolate along with my spice and I do love hot spices (I mean I cook with habanero peppers often) while I didn’t find the tea to be too spicy it could be for some people and so people who do not normally eat spicy be warned.

I like this chai would have liked to have seen more chocolate notes to round out the spice but would definently drink again.

This just came in the mail today from Erin (Thanks, Erin loved the note too). While I have had this tea I’ve only had it mixed with other teas so I’ve never had it on it’s on like this.

The smell is spearminty and nice. The dry leaf mix is chocked full of strawberries and various other goodies. It brews into a lovely pinkish, red liquor and the taste is……. Long pause while I take another sip. YUMMY its is minty with a flavor of berries I don’t taste the tea but that’s okay (on this particular tea) as long as it’s in there and I know it’s in there because I saw the dry leaves.

It’s quite enjoyable and I can’t wait to try it iced. Thanks Erin!!!

Trying to find some flavored iced teas that my family will like (and agree upon) this is not going to be an easy task!

So I decided to start with a rooibos seems like a good start especially with it being allergy season. Made this according to the Teavana iced tea instructions and poured it over ice. It smells like lime mixed with apples and I want LIME not apples :(! I don’t mind apples but I don’t want apple mixed with my lime.

Next stop AmazonV’s suggestion Raspberry Zinger (good excuse to buy more tea).

Picked this up today at Williams Sonoma it was on sale because the expiration is for the end of this month (or so says the bottom of the tin) and so I thought $6 what the heck I’ll either drink it fast or make iced tea out of it and then it will definently be used quick!

Opened the tin to the joy of peachy, tangerine scent what a fabulous smell for a tea! Steeped it up and the more it cools the more flavors I get I think the peach makes the tangerine stand out and it is a most delicious cup!

Update: bumping this one up a little because it is so delicious.

I just had a serious craving for something sweet and this looked to fit the bill (I think it’s from reading all of ya’lls amazing caramel tea reviews). The dry leaf smell was amazing like as another poster said maple cotton candy smelling (if there is such a thing as maple cotton candy).

Once steeped I get more of a mapley sweet smell Yum! The liquor is bright yellow and the taste is as JaquelineM described sweet yet earthy in a very good way. This is definently filling the sweet tooth craving I was having. It’s a nice sweet treat that I might be able to find a little room in my cupboard for.

I have had this tea quite awhile and yet I never logged it. I’m not quite sure why that is but here goes.

The dry leaf is dry medium green flat leaf. Once steeped it is a slightly nutty, vegetal flavor I can’t say I would reorder this tea but it’s not a bad green tea it’s just Meh.

Not Unlike Ricky (in his review of this tea) I was feeling a little experimental today. First I must say I was born and raised here in Texas. Home of the best BBQ in the whole WORLD (okay I know that’s debatable) but this is my review so WE DO HAVE THE BEST BBQ IN THE WHOLE WORLD!

Anyway more important than BBQ on to the tea, I opened the package and was hit in the nose by smoke STRONG smoke (again I know smoke) and I thought Wow Angie, this is either going to go really good or really bad and I hoping for really good.

I finally take a sip and before My mouth hits the cup I smell strong smoke again. I was surprised the taste isn’t bad. I would compare it to liquid smoke but not in a bad way because if someone told me this tea is good it tastes like liquid smoke I’d go okay I’ll think I’ll have some oolong instead please. :) It is more liquid smokeseque not true hard core, intense liquid smoke but just a hint.

It’s a nice tea I wish I would have tried this in the winter when I probably would have enjoyed it more but hey I can always place an order in winter. It’s not a bad tea not an everyday thing but it’s actually kinda good.