Fiddling

Iced and lightly sweetened, this is tasty. For some reason it reminds me of Tazo’s Passion tea, though this is a bit more citrusy. The hibiscus and tangerine make a nice pair, but it’s not particularly special. I’m glad I got to sample this, but I don’t think it’s something that I will buy for myself.

Thanks for sharing, Sil.

Thanks to Sil, I now have more of this in stock. I don’t think it’ll be around for much longer since it’s so damn delicious when iced. Combine the first two steeps, add honey, refrigerate, and you’re good to go. The results taste like a juicy mango with slight citrusy tartness. The white base is quite light, and honestly doesn’t add much flavor, but I still love this tea.

Sipdown 13. Oh, yum! I forgotten what was in this blend (aside from the cactus flower), so at first I was thinking I’d imagined the peach flavor after drinking so many peachy teas today. Turns out it is an ingredient. This blend has a great natural sweetness from the peach and mango. There’s a taste and smell to this blend that I just can’t identify, but I suspect must be the cactus flower. It’s quite delicious. I think I’m starting to really enjoy green rooibos.

Thanks for sharing, JennyFur!

Going through my tasting notes, I noticed that I had wanted to try this as an iced tea by combining the first two steeps and popping it in the fridge. Being on an iced tea kick, I decided to give it a go. I steeped this twice at 180 for 4 minutes, combined them in my stainless steel water bottle and added a dab of honey before cooling.

This is an absolutely fabulous iced tea! The oolong base did not get bitter at all. In fact, it’s very flavorful while being light and refreshing. The sweetness from the honey helped the peach flavor pop just a little.

Dear iced, juicy peach oolong, I will have to make you more often!

Sipdown 12. This is pretty good, but not as good as I had hoped. The dry leaf smelled of peaches, but there wasn’t much of mango scent. I tried this both hot and iced.

HOT
I’ve learned that I enjoy Della Terra’s black teas the most when using lots of leaf and a short steeping time. The results were pleasantly fruity. Much like the smell, I mostly tasted peaches. There was a hint of mango in the background, but frankly it was far too weak.

ICED
I steeped 2 tbsp. of tea in 16oz. of boiling water for 3 minutes, added in a squeeze of honey, and then transferred it to my 27 oz. water bottle filled to the brim with (good, fresh) ice. The results were not too bad, but nothing special. I was hoping that the mango might come out a bit more, but I still just tasted peaches. If anything, the fruit flavors were stronger as a hot tea, which is not what I would have expected.

Sipdown 11. I finished off the last of my sample from Marcel Duchamp today. I’ve written a tasting note for this tea previously, but this time around I noticed the carrot cake-like quality comes almost entirely from the smell. The flavor itself is a bit mild. I can taste hints of creamy vanilla and cinnamon on top of the (very slightly) vegetal green rooibos base, but all the carroty goodness comes from the smell alone.

If I ever order from Simpson & Vail, I will probably pick up more of this. For now I’m trying to drink the tea I already have without buying more, so it may be a long time before that happens.

Sipdown 10. Surprisingly tasty, though a bit strange. The dry leaf smelled minty with some raspberry notes. Once steeped, I could taste crisp, slightly tart apple with a not-too-overwhelming dash of mint. The juniper berries created a flavor that is really hard to describe as anything other than gin-like. As it cooled, the apple came out a bit more. I would like to try this iced, but I gave the rest of my sample away to my bf (who went absolutely nuts for the juniper berries). Maybe I’ll convince him to try it iced. :)

For an herbal, it resteeped remarkably well (10 min, boiling). The apple was mostly gone, but the mint and juniper berry still had plenty of flavor to give.

Thanks for sharing, GiggleGoddess!

Mmmmm, coconutty guava deliciousness! There are several coconut shreds in the tin which combine with the guava to create a wonderful scent. I could smell this tea all day, though my officemates might give me some strange looks.

This is a green/black mix, but to me it just tastes like an awesomely flavored black tea. I usually prepare it as a green tea. I’ve noticed that the flavors aren’t as prominent if steeped at boiling, though it’s still drinkable. Once steeped, I can mostly taste the guava and coconut, but the strawberry finally makes an appearance too. It has a natural sweetness to it that I just adore. It really doesn’t need any added sweeteners, though a touch of honey really brings out the guava.

Caribe is fantastic as an iced tea. The fruity flavors really pop when it gets cold. I generally steep it hot at double strength, add a squeeze of honey, and either pour it over ice or just add water and let it cool in the fridge. The results are quite refreshing. This will definitely become a staple for me this summer.

ETA: Just noticed that this was my 50th tasting note. Hooray!

Sipdown 9. For awhile my sample box has been thinning out, so I’ve been feeling pretty accomplished. The number of teas in my cupboard has’t changed much, but I usually won’t include samples that are too small to share. This morning I went ahead and added every single tea I own into my cupboard. To my horror, it jumped from a relatively manageable 85 to 116!!! Looks like I have a lot of sipdowns to do. Anyway, back to the review…

The pumpkin is the most prominent flavor in this blend. For some reason I taste a lot of maple (which is not a listed ingredient), and I’m missing the almond. The spice is a bit understated, but still present. The maple notes complements the pumpkin flavor rather nicely, so I’m really enjoying this cup.

Thanks for sharing, JennyFur!

Sipdown the 8th. At first glance I thought this was a herbal. There were several large chunks of pear and dried cranberries, but not a whole lot of black tea. After a four minute steep, the tea leaves opened up enough to convince me that there was indeed a decent amount of black tea that had been hiding away. However, the liquor was a very pale yellow which is not what I was expecting for 1 tbs. of tea in 12 oz. of water.

Nonetheless, the tea was rather pleasant. The pear added a juicy tartness, and I could taste a hint of cranberry. I sensed a very faint spiciness akin to cinnamon, but I don’t see it listed in the ingredients. The experience reminded me of drinking a nicely flavored herbal, but was not what I had in mind for a black tea.

On a strange note, I steeped a bag of particularly strong masala chai in my cup without first rinsing it out. Now I am enjoying a really great pear-flavored chai. I wish all of my tea accidents turned out this yummy. :)

Thanks for sharing, Sil!

Sipdown 7. I’m glad I didn’t buy more than a sample of this tea. I wish it tasted as good as it smells, because it smells amazing— warm cinnamon and gooey apple. Once steeped, the cinnamon hides away, but the apple flavor is still present. For some reason, I just don’t love the combination of the apple with the black base. It’s good, but nothing remarkable.

The weather is finally starting to warm up a little around here, so I’ve been experimenting more with iced teas. Last night I combined the first two steeps (3:30 at 180F) in a stainless steel water bottle, let it cool down for about an hour, and then popped it into the fridge overnight.

I enjoyed this iced quite a bit, very smooth and refreshing. The juicy cantaloupe flavor I love so much in the hot version was a bit muted. Next time I will add a squeeze of honey before cooling it down. I think some sweetness will coax the cantaloupe flavor out from hiding.

Despite not being someone who cares for chocolate teas all that much, I keep trying them out thinking I’ll find one that I love. Finally, I think I’ve found the one!

I love the aroma of this one — lots of coconut and white chocolate with undertones of licorice-y (in the best of ways) star anise. The liquor is a bit cloudy and smells like spicy, creamy coconut. The most prominent flavor is coconut with star anise adding a spicy kick. While not the strongest of flavors, I can definitely tell that white chocolate is an ingredient. Together with the coconut, it makes a decadently creamy experience. I bet this would make a great latte.

Thanks for sharing, CrowKettle!

Sipdown the sixth! This blend sounded intriguing to me, but I ended up finding it a bit weird. There was sweetness from the vanilla and tartness from the pomegranate, but the two seemed at odds with one another. The black base was a bit more astringent than I would have liked, but still drinkable.

Thanks for sharing, GiggleGoddess!

Sipdown! Finally finished off the rest of my sample from tattooed_tea earlier today. It might be May, but I love pumpkin enough to enjoy it year-round. Besides, it was freezing cold today (but 90 just two days ago, seriously Kansas?!), so delicious pumpkin spice tea was just what I needed.

This smells absolutely wonderful. The pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices all come together to create the aroma of pumpkin pie. As with other Della Terra black teas, the trick is to make it extra strong. Once steeped, the pumpkin really stood out in both the scent and the flavor. I woud have preferred just a tad more spice, but this would be a good option for people who don’t want to be slapped in the face by cinnamon.

I can safely say that this is by far my favorite black tea that Della Terra offers (though I have yet to try Pineapple Upside Down Cake). This reminds me a lot of David’s Pumpkin Chai. Now that I think about it, I should have done a side by side taste comparison with my last cup. Too late for that now!

Sipdown 4!

After my experience with Banana Dream Pie this afternoon, I was craving a banana tea. I don’t actually have any other banana teas in my cupboard, so I decided to go with something that always reminds me of bananas. For some reason, all I can think of is banana nut bread when smelling this tea. I wish I knew why.

The liquor is a beautiful pink color from the beetroot. I’m not sure that it does anything to the flavor, but it sure makes for a fun cup. The apple is a bit tart and is rounded out by the almond and the cinnamon has a baked good-like quality to it. Soooo tasty!

I wish I wasn’t too cheap to restock this. Using 5g/16 oz. (no resteeps) will add up pretty fast. I would rather splurge on other teas.

Sipdown 3!

After drinking this, I really want to try more banana teas. I’m not a huge chocolate tea fan, but the combination of banana and chocolate definitely works for me. The scent of the dry leaves reminded me of dessert. It smelled like the overripe bananas I use for banana bread with a hint of chocolate.

The banana flavor did not disappoint and the chocolate was subtle enough for me to still enjoy it. I wasn’t so crazy about the base, and I thought it lacked the creaminess of banana cream pie. I think dairy would pair really well with this blend,. I’d love to try it as a latte, especially with a touch of cinnamon.

Thanks to Marcel Duchamp for sharing!

Sipdown 2!

This is such a pretty tea! When I opened the bag, I caught a whiff of mint, but I didn’t smell much else. I appreciated that the mint was subtle enough for me to be able to taste non-mint ingredients in the blend. The first steep had lovely floral notes from the roses, but sadly I couldn’t detect them in the second steep. The white base was very mild, but present, in both steeps.

Thanks to GiggleGoddess for sharing!

I have lots of 1-2 cup samples taking up space in my tea drawer, so I think it’s about time that I start doing some sipdowns.

Sipdown 1!

When I opened the package, I immediately smelled delicious peaches. I was slightly disappointed that the peach flavor was somewhat muted after steeping, but it’s still pretty good. In a lot of the flavored rooibos I’ve sampled, the base doesn’t have much flavor, which is not the case here. It’s quite nice to be able to taste the rooibos!

This was a pretty tasty cup, but not anything I think I need to drink again.

Good news, everybody! I finally escaped O’Hare and made it home.

Before leaving the Argo in the terminal, I picked up another tea to sample. Iced black tea with honey and lemon sounded great, so I went with a Carolina Honey Tea. This stuff was CRAZY sweet. Growing up in the South, I can drink my fair share of the sugar water they like to call tea. This tasted like it was Southern sugar water/tea to which they had added heavy amount of honey and a dash of something that was supposed to be lemon-flavored. Not good at all. The only redeeming quality was that the honey they use was really tasty. If they would have just sweetened the tea with only the honey, it would have been a much better experience.

I got to enjoy my birthday dinner at Frontera, so being stuck in O’Hare wasn’t a complete disaster, even if the teas were a bit of a bust.

Well, I didn’t expect that I’d be celebrating my 25th birthday alone and stuck in O’Hare, but I’m trying to make the most of it. I’m already planning to treat myself to Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless for dinner. The fresh lime margaritas at the bar looked awesome when I passed by, so I may just have to indulge.

In the meantime, I’m hanging out at Argo Tea enjoying the first of what I expect will turn into 2 or 3 cups of tea. The first I picked up to try was Ginger Peach. They serve it both iced and hot. I went with hot and almost immediately regretted the decision. The ginger is a bit spicy, but not overdone. It tastes like there was probably dried ginger chunks in the tea rather than a ginger flavoring. The peach, however, was just okay. I’ve had much better tasting peach teas. As it cooled, the ginger really started to shine through. I’m kicking myself for not getting the iced version of this!

Thanks to Marcel Duchamp for sharing!

This blend did not disappoint! The apple adds a little bit of tartness, but it is smoothed out by the creamy coconut. I adore coconut, so wish it was a bit stronger. I taste more mint than coconut, but the two blend beautifully together to make an enjoyable tisane.

I’m always on the lookout for good bagged teas for when I’m in a rush. This tea is definitely a keeper! There’s a nice sweetness from the mango flavoring. I read the ingredients listed on the box, and was surprised to see hibiscus. I couldn’t taste any hibiscus, but the liquor is slightly more reddish than a normal black tea. I really enjoyed this tea. So much so that I might need to stock up next time I make it to a TJ’s (which isn’t very often!).

I’m a big fan of both cardamom and lemon, so I was very excited to try this blend out. The dry leaves smell mostly of lemon with a hint of cardamom. The smell is wonderful! I caught myself sniffing the bag more than was probably appropriate.

I got three good steeps out of this tea (adding 30s each time). The chun mee base is smooth and blends with the lemon and cardamom beautifully. The citrus components of the flavor were the strongest. I really wish I could taste more cardamom. It’s very subtle, but still nice. I might try throwing in some extra cardamom the next time I make this tea.