Ellyn

I wanted something “zingy” for my evening cup of tea. With 41% Hibiscus this tea certainly has ZING! I’ve made this as iced before and I recommend it that way. If you do not like tart this is not for you.

Sorry for the delay in posting my longer review of the October offering from handmade tea. Life has been crazy, been traveling, etc.

The joy of handmade tea begins the moment you receive the package. I have the full monthly subscription which means every month I receive both the tea and the palate building ingredient samples. (If you want to try handmade tea for less $$ you can get a smaller subscription without the ingredient samples.) Handmade tea is a great fall-blend. The ingredient samples that are included are African Black Tea, cinnamon and ginger root, and allspice. The spices that were included are whole (as opposed to gound powder) and are the exact ingredients that are in the tea. I’m not entirely sure that I knew what allspice smelled like exactly until I got this tea.

After smelling the ingredient samples I smelled the dry tea. I really like the ingredient samples because I’m not sure I would be able to pick out the different ingredients. Not only can I SMELL the ingredients in the blend after smelling them on their own I can also SEE them in the dry tea. As an aside, now that I have familiarized myself with these samples I can now much more easily pick out the flavors in other teas.

As the tea brews I can smell the cinnamon and the ginger. At the first sip I get a slight pepper essence from the black tea base. The cinnamon, ginger, and allspice flavors are all PERFECTlY balanced. I have had some cinnamon blends that were like drinking red-hot candies – the opposite of this. I LOVE THIS TEA. I really think this is a perfect fall tea. I am already more then ½ way thought my 3oz and I DO NOT want this sample to run out.

No notes yet.

Not changing the rating on this one for today because I cant determine if it was my steeping or tastebuds or the tea. But it did not come out well and I drank less then 1/2 of my travel tumbler. Bla.

Am drinking this right now. I survived my major dental work but oweeee my mouth and tongue certainly are hurting.

I love jasmine teas. This one the flavor is very subtle and soft.This is a staple tea in my cupboard and I cant believe I never logged it prior. I never think to log this one as it is simply always an option and always present. Nothing earth shattering but a good cup of tea to have by your side.

This tea is so pleasant and understated. It is a great blend. I choose it today for the way to work as today I am getting a root canal. I am nervous, and really aggravated as I only learned of the need for this root canal YESTERDAY and my general M.O. is that these things need days and days notice so I can get myself ready. ARG. Back to the tea: it is simply a great blend. Maybe not toooooo brisk or jolt-y so generally I drink it mid-day not morning. BUT! today needed happy, calm, relaxing…etc.

Drank this on the way to work. I LOVE fall flavors…can’t say enough good things about this season…see earlier tea notes.

Drank this last night prior to falling asleep. As before, I used two teabags in my mug. It did not taste EXACTLY like apple cider, but it was close enough, sweet, apple-y and full of fall goodness. If you like apple cider and fall flavors and want a caffeine free herbal I really recommend this tea!

I really want to like this tea. I LOVE ginger! I love lemongrass! I should like this.

I got this in the single steeps packs. Generally, its okay, kinda zippy flavored. But it has a strange aftertaste. I don’t know…this is just not for me. Anyone know some GREAT lemongrass teas???

Like many of the other tasters I received this sample as part of the $3.00 intro to green tea kit. Dry the leaves reminded me of the smell of a non-tea tisane called ersatz http://steepster.com/teas/coffee-trade-company/20563-ersatz-coffee. The smell was rice-ey and hickory-y.

I did not get any grassy notes. It tasted “crispy”. My husband thought it tasted like asian fish sauce, and after he said that I gave it a thoughtful sip and I must agree.

I really tasted the savory, woodsy, rice + grain notes. It felt soft in my mouth. I have not tried any other houijcha but this was an interesting tea that I would love to try again.

I LOVE THIS TEA! This was my first package from Handmade Tea. I will be drafting a more complete review as I drink a few more cups. However, I enjoyed this cup SO MUCh that I could not wait to post a short note.

I love the flavor profile and can clearly get the malty base with the harvest-fall flavors added. Probably one of my all time favorite teas because it is the combination of malty black tea + fall flavors + cinnamon + subtle flavoring. OH, YUM!

I got this tea sample free as part of the Virtual Tea Tasting. Thank you sTeap Shoppe. I missed posting this by the date of the actual tasting as I was out helping elderly family/neighbors get ready for the frankstorm Sandy.

I got more of the chocolate notes then the caramel. However, this is a great dessert tea, especially for someone trying to eat healthy and drop some lbs!

At the end of my last cup I added a little bit of milk, which I NEVER add, to see if I could coax any milk chocolate – hot chocolate- flavor out of the tea. It worked!! The milk added a creamy note that was not present prior and made it seem a hot chocolatey.

I enjoyed this tea and will be seeking out other offerings from Steap Shoppe!

THANK YOU Teavivre for sending me this sample MANY MONTHS AGO. I apologize for not opening it – I was on a tea hiatus of sorts and am now back.

This tea smelled like chocolate when I opened up the package.

The result has very little astringency and a light malty flavor that is slightly sweet. As the tea cools the sweet notes emerge. I really enjoyed this sample and recommend this tea!

Received this tea as a sample from fellow steepsterite Aimee Popovacki via the Facebook tea traders group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/416983045023545/)

This tea tasted very mellow and fruity when it was hot. I could taste the apple and vanilla. HOWEVER, as the tea cooled I got the MAJOR TART note that other tasters found. ALSO, when it was cooled and in the cup after a an hour or son it was almost vinegar-yy tasting. It was a strange smell sensation.

I really liked this tea when it was warm and will enjoy it again — but be careful not to let it get too cool.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Received this tea as a sample from fellow steepsterite Aimee Popovacki via the Facebook tea traders group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/416983045023545/)

This was a great mellow tea to start the day. I could taste the burst of pear flavor and the slight sencha base. I did not get any of the other notes (the apple or marigold) but this tea felt very balanced. It had a nice mouthfeel. I am not the biggest fan of eating pears (something about the texture) but this tea was really nice.

Aimee thank you for the sample!!!!

Had this on the way to work. I so love the orange notes. Pushing the score higher. The orange notes seem to fit with my mood when the trees are EXPLODING with color!

I steeped the leaves a little longer this time and got some of the smokey notes I missed before. However, with the smokey flavors also came the higher astringency of longer steeping…still, I very much enjoyed this tea.

Drank this yesterday while sitting at my desk at work…I really like the smell it is sweetly pomegranate…the taste is fruity and delicate….once the liquid cooled I did taste some of the vanilla. I am not going to rate it as I was drinking mostly on autopilot while typing on my computer…

Made a travel mug of this to drink on the way to work. Am still enjoying it. See my previous tasting note for more info…although this time I am getting more of a Pumpkin Vanilla flavor…mmm so good! Pushing the rating higher…

I got this tea when I was in London a few months back. I’m not sure why I have not logged it yet. I LOVE this tea. As the description states it is very sweet and mellow. IT is a great tea to sip all day as the flavors are not overpowering or tiring.

This tea has great associations for me – my amazing trip to London with my husband, the beauty of the Fortnum & Mason store, the freeing feeling of being on vacation, the wonder of exploring new places.

This is one of my favorite teas. Now I just need to get to London to buy some more!!!

Thank you Darby for sending me this tea in a trade. I do not taste sweet potato pie because I am not finding the marshmallow sweetness. However, I DO Like this tea. I can taste the starchy sweet potato notes in the background. This tea does not come out and scream “flavored” rather the flavor notes are softer and more subtle.

This is my first 52teas! I was very excited to receive the package. When it came yesterday I knew it had to be first on the list of teas for today.

I love the marshmallow minty flavor that just kinda melds into the green tea base.

The green tea flavors are really delicate and do not overpower the minty mellow goodness!!! By mouthfeel I can tell this is not a herbal.

I LOVE THIS TEA! I can’t wait to try other 52 teas!

This was my morning cup on my way to work. I really enjoyed lingering with this tea during my (hour ugh,) commute. Many of the previous tasters have already gone over this in great detail. The leaves of this tea are fluffy and beautiful! The mouth feel is soft. The flavors are all muted but slightly sweet. A REAL WINNER! I gave this tea 100!!!

On to the tea. I received this generous sample from SoccerMom. The leaves are quite stunning and fuzzy. The liquor is silky and finishes on a sweet note. I distinctly taste the spicy/peppery note but the malty flavor is absent. There is a slight earthy quality to the tea that I am enjoying immensely. My first cup was finished rather quickly, but the second steep cooled to room temperature. Both steeps were unique and pleasurable. I’m sure I could squeeze out a third steep, but it’s almost time to head home from the office. Yay! I might have to pick up where I left off today. This is a great tea to have on constant standby.