Meghann M

Backlogging from last night.

This is a very flavorful green tea. I tasted the cherry, lots of ripe fresh picked cherries, but didn’t taste much of the rose petal. There was a spice note in the aftertaste that I can’t quite place. I know my drinkware and brewing stuff was clean, so I assume it was coming from the leaves, but couldn’t quite put a finger on it. It may be that I’m mistaking the rose petal flavor, as I’ve never had rose petals in tea. I could swear it was spice though, similar to the spices found in citrus spice tea.

I’m curious to see if this shows up when I brew it iced. Enjoyed the tea, just was surprised by the flavors. Looking forward to my next cup.

I did this with 4 heaping teaspoons to 2 quarts of water and the blend is much better. It comes out a bit more mellow and just a light salmon colored tea. So much better than the bitter purple infusion I had previously that I’ve got to push this up a few in ranking. Loving this iced today, no sweetner needed.

Knocking this down a few notches now that I’ve experienced a few other Earls of Grey. This is still good, and one I will enjoy, but I find it isn’t as smooth at blending the flavors together as Lupicia’s Earl Grey.

Another sample tea sent by Ricky! Thanks for the opportunity to taste this tea. This tea smells sweet and intoxicating. I think it may need to be brewed closer to 2 minutes as I got a really strong not so pleasant cup at 3 minutes. I’m not a fan of cream, and that seems to be the main taste on my tongue, I’m getting a pleasant aftertaste of caramel though. I think I’m starting to see why others find adagio’s flavored teas aren’t the best. The base really isn’t to my liking in this one. I do like that it tastes more like a black tea with light flavor undertones. I didn’t need to add anything to this tea. Probably won’t reorder, but will enjoy the rest of my sample.

I was a little shy to try this tea, as I’ve only ever thought of green teas and cherries. But alas, Ricky sent a sample of this my way, so try it I did.

The tea has a great strong aroma of freshly bitten cherries and strong tea. I think I may have steeped a little long at 3 minutes, or used a bit too much leaf, as it was one potent cherry chestnut colored brew.

The taste is very fresh, these cherries are definitely different than any I have had before. I don’t really enjoy the flavor as much as I enjoyed the scent. Very fresh almost floral/grassy notes overtook the cup.

I tried adding honey to see if it brought out any additional flavor, or toned down the floral note, but nothing improved. I’m sorry to say I threw out this cup. I may try the last few teaspoons as an iced brew, to see how that goes. Cold brewing may bring out a better taste.

Needed something minty but was looking for something a little stronger on the tea side, so I decided to try this (it won because it had the gunpowder). This smells minty and tastes a bit minty but I think I over steeped it as it is quite a dark, almost amber, liquor, dark at least for a green based tea. I don’t think I’ll try a second steep of this one. Although maybe I will…maybe it will lose some of the POW BAM strength and sweeten up a tad. I’ll stick with vanilla mint.

A sample of this came with the RoT catalog in the mail today. It’s a light cuppa green tea. I can taste the honey and smell the honey but not getting any ginseng. They sell this at work, so maybe I’ll try it sometime with two bags and see if I get a better cuppa. Not a bad tea, but not tasting much from it.

Tried this without cream and sugar and I think I oversteeped to top it off. Not a good combo. Thinking about adding milk and sugar to see if I can compensate for the over 5 minute steep time (I think it was around 10 minutes). blushes I should know better than to steep while getting ready for the day!

Not for me. Should have sniffed it at the store but tried to give it a go as I wanted to try a “plain” green tea. Ended up having to mix it with a tisane to be able to drink it. I’m just not a cultured tea drinker yet. Need mint or fruit in with my greens in order to stand them. Does that take away from the health benefits? Trying to ward off allergies with tea…not sure if the tisanes help.

This tea brews up a bright red cup smelling of fresh ripe strawberries. There are nice sized chunks of strawberries and apples in the tisane along with rosehip and hibiscus. I was surprised at how tart this tisane was, but it was very refreshing. Adding a pinch of sugar took the tartness down a bunch. Quite a pleasant herbal strawberry blend. I don’t think I taste any kiwi, but it could be there, I’ve never actually eaten a kiwi, so not sure what I’m searching for in taste. I’m hoping this would be a good mix to add to my iced peach black tea from Adagio. Maybe I’ll try them together tomorrow!

There is a lot going on in this tea. It has more ingredients to it than I thought it had, but it smells mighty good.

The aroma is sweet caramel goodness with a hint of apricot. The scent of the sweetness reminds me of the creme in the earl grey creme.

It steeps up a light peach liqour, very see through. I steeped it for 1 minute at 175 F as directed. The smell is heavenly once brewed.

I sat here sniffing it for a few minutes before sipping. Such a sweet delicious scent.

I am surprised I can taste the green tea base in this blend, sometimes with Teavana, the actual tea gets lost in the mix. This is a welcomed change. I’ve never had apricots or apricots in tea before, but I like how it pairs with the caramel. Quite a nice after dinner tea. I’m just hoping the caffeine doesn’t keep me up longer than I want it to!

Brewed up my sample cup of this tea to take with on the way to work. WHAM, it is one strong tea. Great malty flavor after a 3 minute steep. Wish I would have paid more attention to this tea as I think it was quite good, I just don’t remember what else I tasted.

This is a tea from Teaplz’s plea to take it away. I’m trying to find a decent rooibos tea or two as I’ve heard good things about rooibos helping allergies, and tis the allergy season. (Not that that matters for me, as I have them year round, but hey, if it means not having to take a pill that makes me feel drowsy and puts my sniffer out, I’m for it).

Looking at the leaves, I see the wood chip looking red rooibos and mint leaves. The dry leaves smell sweet.

Once steeped this tea smells sweet and minty with a touch of fruit. I taste a bit of sweetness, can definitely taste the mint. I’ve never had minty rooibos before, but there is definitely more going on in this tea. Looking at the description, I definitely get no chocolate. I want to like this because of the mint, I enjoy mint when I want it, but there is something tart that doesn’t go quite well with this mix.

Hrmmm…I think I like my teas less complex than this. This tea is trying to do too much in my mouth.

If anyone cares to try this, I have about an ounce in a baggie I could pass along.

Today was the day I found a white tea I enjoyed. This tea is pleasant, brews to a more full bodied cup than the handful of whites I have had guts to try. And it doesn’t have that grassy hayness to it that leaves me wondering what the heck I am sipping on. Much more tea like. Maybe I just needed the peach, as I seem to be very forgiving to teas that contain peach. But this tea had a smoothness to it, almost a silkiness to the taste, not quite buttery but still slippery and delicious. Great to unwind with this afternoon. I may have to toss a few bags with cold water into the fridge and see how it does iced.

Thanks Soccermom for sharing this wonderful tea with me. Definitely will be purchasing more of this!

I brewed up a large mug of this as soon as I got home. Either I wasn’t in the mood for black tea, or I possibly over steeped this, as it just wasn’t my thing. It was very bitter without any additives and just didn’t taste great with cream and sugar added. Will hope for better results with less steep time.

Thanks Ricky for the chance to try this tea. I got the package today.

This tea was sent to me courtesy of Soccermom in a swap. I was in the mood for a non caffeinated tea tonight as today has been crazy and I needed something relaxing. This tisane smells like a holiday tisane (spices and citrus/berry scent). I noticed raisins in the mixture and other berry colored fruits. Once steeped, the liquor is deep hibiscus red with a tart berry flavor with an aftertaste of spice and berry. I’m not sure what exact spice it is, smells a bit like cinnamon or nutmeg, but can’t decide what it is I’m tasting for the berry. Might help if I look up this tisane online to see what it is I’m tasting.

I’m sorry in advance if my tasting logs are a bit incoherent. I’ve been working extra hours this week and on some strong cold meds, so most of these teas may have to be reviewed again in the near future!

Got a sample of this with my last Adagio order.

The leaves are large, with a good percent of stems to leaves. I’ve never really seen stems in the tea unless it’s a white tea, so not sure if this is common, but the few I’ve tried loose have had stems.

These leaves smell vegetal, not really smelling the tangerine when dry. Once steeped the leaves open up to be huge, so I’m wondering if I guessed and used too many leaves, as they nearly filled my finum infuser while steeping and expanding in my 16oz cup.

Not getting much aroma at all from the wet leaves. The tea brewed to be a very pretty tangerine colored liquor.

This tea is very light in taste. Once every few sips I’ll get an aftertaste of something citrusy but nothing like the sweet nectar greatness of fresh tangerines. Maybe as it cools more…hrmm.

Nope, not much more as it cools. Maybe I need to steep longer than 7 minutes? Or maybe this is just how light white teas are? I will try this again before I give it a rating.

This is a sample from Soccermom. Thank you so much for sending these. Wow is this amazingly like cinnamon candies. Makes me really want to go find some cinnamon hearts (I couldn’t find any this valentine’s day). I really enjoy this drink, it is right on in the cinnamon flavor. I’m not tasting much tea in this, there is so much good flavored cinnamon, so I don’t mind, but not tasting much tea. I can’t wait to compare this to the Black Hot Cinnamon. Thanks again Soccermom for the chance to try this tea. Definitely tastes like it says it should, but not sure it’s one I would drink too often.

No notes yet.

This is a sample I just received today from the Jade Teapot.

This tea smells like blood oranges, and tastes like rooibos tea with a nice strong citrus background. Italian Blood Orange leaves a warm citrus aftertaste that is pleasant to me. This is a great tea for the evening.

I really am enjoying having orange herbal and orange rooibos teas at night. They are calming and relaxing.

I brewed it as directed sans additives and was a little disapointed in the sense of “what is everyone raving about, I just don’t get it”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good light flavored strawberry and cream black tea where I can actually taste the black tea flavor too.

Then I read other tasting notes about adding cream and sugar and how much of a difference that made. So I decided to do so.

Zomg! This tea is so amazingly dessert-ish with cream and sugar. It makes me so happy inside. I wish I could eat it with strawberries and cream and enjoy the two together. The strawberry flavor in this is so awesome, I really enjoy the way this tea is flavored.

Thanks to Ricky and Soccermom for both sending me samples of this. I will covet them until payday when I can pick up my own tin!!!!

Trying 1 tsp with 8oz boiling water steeped for 4 minutes. It’s amazing I have the alertness to even type this this morning. Getting up so early for work is always a struggle, seeing my shifts vary as I work in a restaurant. 3am always comes too soon!

This Earl Grey brews up a nice strong liquor of a deep brownish orange. It smells heavenly this morning, but any black tea might get that reaction! This is a sample I received from Ricky, and I am excited to compare it to other Earls I have tried. Just not this morning…need a few more cups first!

Greatly scented of bergamot, this tea made me more alert while steeping it, it has a decent flavor without any additives, but a bit of bitterness (maybe 4 minutes was a bit too long). I added a splash of cream and a pinch of sugar and this is much smoother and really quite nice. I can taste the bergamot and the black tea. I like this, but can’t describe much more than that right now. Thanks Ricky for this generous sample. I think this may be added to my list of Lupicia teas to purchase (the list is getting rather long however!).

Brewing up a hot mug of this for the morning commute. Have a feeling it may be a longer commute than usual as we just started getting thunder and pouring rain. I’d much rather have rain than snow though!

This is my go to morning tea for now. I want to try a few different Irish Breakfast and English Breakfast loose teas before I buy more of this, but have plenty left to get me through until I find my perfect morning tea. I love the creamy vanilla this earl grey has, no cream or sugar needed.

Made this iced with 4 tsps to 32 oz using the cold brew method. Either I didn’t let it “brew” long enough, or I didn’t use enough tea. Not quite the kick I needed this morning.