Josie Jade

Another Adagio tea. I’m really trying to get through rating the rest of my teas before purchasing any new ones. There’s a lot of Adagio teas left in my drawer. I loved Adagio when I first started drinking a lot of loose tea, but now I find their teas just ‘eh’. I kind of had to force myself to choose this one today, hopefully it will pleasantly surprise me.

The dry leaves smell sweet and fruity. I noticed a nice fragrant and fruity aroma while the tea was steeping. The tea has a malty and mango scent. The flavor is malty and fruity with a fresh mango finish. There is a slightly bitter aftertaste, but adding milk and sweetener gets rid of that. I don’t know why I always forget how much I enjoy Adagio Teas. Sure, they’re not comparable to Della Terra, but for that first sleepy cup of the morning they do very nicely. The mango flavor is a tad bit on the fake side, but not horribly so. And it is definitely a mango flavored tea, the taste is overwhelmingly of sweet mango. I think this would make an excellent iced tea during the summer, I may have to try it with the little I have left in this sample pack!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves with yellow petals and large pieces of dried mango.
-Dry leaves smell sweet and fruity. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a strong mango scent.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Malty and fruity flavor with a fresh mango finish. Slightly bitter aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Heavy and sweet mango flavor.

First cup of the morning. I need something strong to wake me up today! Yesterday we had a costume contest in our running group, so I spent a good part of the day gluing feathers, etc. to get ready. My running friend and I ended up winning, so it was worth it. :) We’re keeping one of my mom’s dogs this weekend, so with 3 dogs, our 2 cats, and 5 foster kitties, it was a little busy in the house last night and I didn’t get much sleep. Today is another busy day, but I’m thankful that it’s Friday!

I’ve had this tea for awhile, and I can’t remember anything super special about it, but I haven’t rated it yet. The dry leaves are very pretty, with a mixture of black and green leaves and small pretty blue blossoms. The aroma from the dry leaves is heavily of bergamot. The tea itself smells malty with a hint of sweet citrus. The flavor is floral and malty with an unfortunate slightly bitter bergamot finish. I added a little bit of milk and sugar and that eliminated the bitterness. Overall, this is a very lightly flavored Earl Grey with just a little floral note. It’s nice, but I wouldn’t consider it an exceptional Earl Grey. It did the job nicely this morning, though!

-Dry blend has medium black and green tea leaves and twigs with small blue petals.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of bergamot. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a hint of sweet citrus.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium golden brown color.
-Floral and malty flavor with a slightly bitter bergamot finish. Light citrusy aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Light Earl Grey with a small floral note.

This is another sample that I’ve negelcted for far too long. I’ve liked the other Kusmi teas that I’ve tried. I also really like the flavor of violet, like those little violet flavored chalky candies. Those are my favorite!

The dry leaves smell lightly sweet and floral. As soon as I poured the water over the tea leaves I could smell a wonderful violet perfume aroma wafting up from the teapot. This tea has a nice malty flavor and finish. I’m so happy, because the aftertaste is just like the little violet mint candies that I love oh so much! I like that it has the maltiness and that you can still taste the sweetness of the violet also. I wish the violet was just a little stronger, but that may be because this sample has been sitting in my tea drawer for at least a few months. I added sweetener and it enhanced the violet flavor. I added milk, and while it was nice, it didn’t really do anything for the flavor. Thank you for the sample, whatshesaid! This one is definitely going on the list to order!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly sweet and floral. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a hint of violet.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Light malty flavor and finish. Sweet violet candy aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Very good tea. Malty flavor with an aftertaste reminiscent of violet mints candy.

I found this wonderful little sample hiding at the bottom of my tea drawer. I can’t believe I missed this one for so long! This is my first tea from New Mexico Tea Company, and I think I’ve read a few reviews about this one that made me even more excited to try it. It smells very floral and lightly sweet. The tea is very thick and heavy. There is a strong jasmine flavor and finish. The aftertaste is sweet and fruity and it lingers for awhile in your mouth. It reminds me of fruit sherbet, or even of fruity pebbles cereal, yum! This tea was surprising, and not what I was expecting, but in a good way. Thank you, Nicole, for this sample that I’ve neglected for so long!

-Dry blend has medium black and green tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell floral and lightly sweet. Tea liquor aroma is heavily of jasmine.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium brown color.
-Heavy jasmine flavor and finish. Lingering sweet and fruity aftertaste. Thick mouthfeel.
-Milk and sweetener optional.
-Good tea. Strong floral flavor. Aftertaste is reminiscent of fruit sherbet.

OhMyGoodness, this one smells so good. The aroma from just opening the bag smells just like a rich key lime pie. The tea itself smells very softly of fresh limes. Without adding sweetener, the flavor is mostly rooibos with just a hint of lime. Adding sweetener brings out more of the sweet lime flavor with a note of the creamy chiffon. Adding milk adds a little creaminess, but not much. This really is a wonderful cup, especially right before bed. I love lime flavored things, and am so happy that this one lived up to my high hopes. It may be a little lighter in the lime flavor and less tart than I wanted, but it’s a nice, mellow cup. I’m just happy that the rooibos isn’t too strong!

-Dry blend has small pieces of red rooibos and long pieces of lemongrass with pieces of lime peel.
-Dry leaves smell like sweet key lime pie. Tea liquor aroma is lightly of fresh lime.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish orange color.
-Rooibos flavor and finish with a hint of lime and creamy chiffon. Light rooibos aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Good tea. Mellow and light creamy lime flavor. Little rooibos noticeable.

I had Della Terra’s The Perfect Pear this morning, and am trying this tea tonight, so it’s just been a pear day. I actually really like pears. My grandmother had a little scraggly pear tree in her yard, and it would grow the smallest, knobbiest pears on it every year, but they were good.

I’m not sure if I’ve had green rooibos before. I feel like I have in some tea, but I can’t remember which one. I’m not a huge fan of red rooibos, so many I will like it’s greener twin a little more. The dry leaves smell like rooibos with a hint of pear. As soon as I poured the boiling water into my little teapot I could smell the sweet aroma of pear. The tea is a clear, dark yellow orange color. The flavor is initially of rooibos, with a fresh pear finish. The little pear flavor that is present is very fresh, like eating an actual pear. There is a slight green rooibos aftertaste, which is less medicinal than a red rooibos but is still noticeable. Adding sweetener brings out more of the sweet pear flavor and covers up some of the rooibos notes. I added a little milk after the sweetener and it smoothed all of the flavors over, leaving just a lot of the juicy pear taste. It also brought out a litlte creaminess, which I couldn’t find at all before adding the milk.

Overall, this is a nice tea, but one I probably wouldn’t purchase. The pear flavor is perfect, but there is a little too much rooibos taste for me, and almost no creaminess. I think that pear is a difficult flavor to bring out in tea, but this one comes very close if you don’t mind rooibos. Thanks to Mercuryhime for sending me a sample of this one!

-Dry blend has small pieces of green rooibos and large pieces of sunflower petals.
-Dry leaves smell like rooibos with a hint of pear. Tea liquor aroma is strongly of sweet pear.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark yellow orange color.
-Rooibos flavor with a fresh pear finish. Green rooibos aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Fair tea. True pear flavor, but rooibos taste is strong. LIttle creaminess.

First cup of the day. I enjoy pear-flavored things, so I’m pretty excited to try this tea. The dry leaves smell like fresh, juicy pear. The tea has a sweet pear aroma. There are pretty gold sparkles all throughout my tea cup – I LOVE sparkles! The flavor is lightly malty with a sweet finish. The pear comes out in the aftertaste, but it’s very light, and more of a candy pear flavor. It’s not a bad tea, it seems like it’s just missing a little something else. I added some sweetener, which didn’t do whole lot other than bring out more of the fakish candy flavor. Then I added some milk and It actually is a whole lot better! The pear note is still very light, but the milk smoothed everything nicely into a somewhat creamy cup with a nice hint of pear. I am actually enjoying this cup now, a lot! I can’t taste much of the black tea, but it’s just all around a pleasant cup. It would be perfect for a summer afternoon, since it’s so light. I don’t know if I will purchase more of this one, but I am definitely looking forward to finishing off my sample pack.

I feel like today will be a very lazy day. All of our foster kittens are now out of their quarantine in the bathroom, and are running crazy all over the house. They kept climbing up on my bed all hours of the night, wanting to play. They are so cute, though, how can you resist a little play session at 3 am?! We took in all four of them thinking that we would find another foster for 2 of them, but now we are in love with all four. I can’t imagine how hard it will be to see them go. Luckily they will probably be with us for awhile longer, while our house is destroyed in the meantime! :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves with white petals, pieces of dried pear and small gold sprinkles.
-Dry leaves smell like fresh juicy pear. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet pear.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium golden brown color with shimmery gold sparkles.
-Light malty flavor with a sweet finish. Light candy pear aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A lightly flavored and smooth cup with a hint of pear.

I usually choose a strong black tea for my morning cup, but we were out of town all weekend and don’t have any milk in the fridge, so I’m happily settling with this green tea instead. It gives me a chance to get to some of my green tea samples, like this one is from Mercuryhime. The dry leaves smell slightly sweet and grassy. The tea itself has a vegetal aroma. I usually tend to choose flavored green teas, so this one was bit of a surprise to me. It has a fresh seaweed flavor with a sweet finish. There is a a strong vegetal aftertaste that reminds me of one of my favorite snacks, SnapPea Crisps. I have no idea if you’re suppose to add sweetener to this tea, but I tried it with a little sugar. You can still taste the vegetal notes, and it just brought out more of the sweetness in the flavor. I don’t know that this is a tea that I would drink every day, since I mostly prefer strong black teas, but it was fun to try it! And I’m amazed at all of the flavors that come out of steeping this one for just 1.5 minutes! Thanks, Mercuryhime, for the sample!

-Dry blend has long, small, flat green tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell slightly sweet and grassy. Tea liquor aroma is vegetal.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium greenish yellow color.
-Fresh seaweed flavor with a sweet finish. Strong vegetal aftertaste.
-Best with the smallest amount of sweetener.
-Good tea. Flavor is reminiscent of SnapPea Crisps.

This is a pretty little tea, with long, flat green tea leaves and large, sparkly sugar crystals. There are little blue petals and pink rose petals. The dry leaves smell lightly of juicy peach, and the aroma of the tea itself is very floral, with a note of sweet peach. The flavor is lightly grassy with a sweet finish. There is a fresh peach aftertaste that reminds me of eating peach icecream. In the little town that my mom lives in there is a small country icecream parlor that has the best peach icecream, with big chunks of peaches in the icecream, and this tea reminds me of that. It’s actually a pretty sweet cup on it’s own, but I added a little sugar to bring out more of the peachy flavor. I’m not really getting any vanilla from this, just a light grassy taste with a hint of fresh peaches. Very calming for an afternoon cup. Thank you, Mercuryhime, for this sample!!

-Dry blend has long flat green tea leaves with large sugar crystals, small blue petals and small pink rose petals.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of fresh peaches. Tea liquor aroma is floral with a note of sweet peaches.
-Tea liquor is a clear bright medium yellow color.
-Light grassy flavor with a sweet finish. Lingering fresh peach aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Good tea. A lightly flavored cup of fresh peaches.

I think that I ordered this tea thinking it was only rooibos and would be good to have a cup of at night. Last night I went to make a cup and realized that it had black tea and rooibos in it, so I decided to wait until this morning to have a cup. The dry leaves smell strongly of sweet blueberries and rooibos. I’m not loving the mediciney smell from the rooibos, but hopefully it won’t be too strong in the flavor. The tea smells like warm blueberry jam. The flavor is slightly malty with a juicy blueberry finish. There is a nice sweet cream aftertaste. I added a little sugar, which brought out more of the fresh blueberry flavor. Then I added some cream and it made the cup very dessert-like, like a rich, creamy dessert. I think I prefer the Blueberry Crumble to this one, but this still isn’t bad. And luckily not a whole lot of the rooibos flavor comes through.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and small pieces of red rooibos with large dried blueberries and small blue petals.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of blueberries and rooibos. Tea liquor aroma is of warm blueberry jam.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Slightly malty flavor with a juicy blueberry finish. Sweet cream aftertaste.
-Milk and sweetener optional.
-Good tea. Fresh blueberry flavor with a hint of cream. Not a lot of rooibos flavor noticeable.

This is an old favorite of mine. I think it’s an Earl Grey that I will never tire of, because of the touch of sweet and creamy vanilla. There is a robust black tea flavor with a citrusy finish. There is a little hint of bitter lemon noticeable initially. The aftertaste is completely sweet and creamy bergamot and vanilla. The tea’s flavor is a little on the weak side but adding milk and sweetener helps. I like that this is a lighter EG, it’s not too heavy on the bergamot. Now that I’ve made this cup and started sipping, it is actually less wonderful than I remembered. Still good, but just not as perfect as I’ve thought in the past. Hmmm, maybe my tastes are changing.

It’s a beautiful day here – the sun is shining and there’s a slight breeze so it’s the perfect temperature outside. Hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with blue and yellow petals and pieces of orange peel.
-Dry leaves smell like soft bergamot and creamy vanilla. Tea liquor aroma is of malty black tea and sweet citrus.
-Tea liquor is a clear very dark brown color.
-Robust and lemony black tea flavor with a citrusy finish. Sweet and creamy bergamot vanilla aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Light malty and citrusy flavor with a hint of sweet vanilla.

I’m going to try to start getting through some of this drawer full of samples that I have! This is the first one that I saw today when I opened my tea drawer. It’s a pretty tea, with little rolls of green tea and small chunks of pineapple. The dry leaves smell lightly tropical, with sweet pineapple and coconut. The tea itself smells like fresh pineapple and coconut. The flavor is very mellow. I can detect a smooth buttery coconut flavor with just a little hint of slightly sweet pineapple at the end. I added a little sweetener thinking it would bring out more of the sweet pineapple, but it kind of just smoothed out both the pineapple and coconut flavors so that they flow together. The tropical flavor becomes a little sweeter as the tea cools. I’m glad that this one has the coconut in it as well, as I think that it would be a little too plain with just the pineapple flavor. I think this tea would be a good cup in the afternoon, as it is very light and calming. Thank you, Mercuryhime, for this sample!

-Dry blend has rolled green tea leaves with small chunks of dried pineapple.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of sweet pineapple and coconut. Tea liquor aroma is of fresh pineapple and coconut.
-Tea liquor is a clear very pale yellow color.
-Buttery smooth coconut flavor with a slightly sweet pineapple finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. A smooth and tropical cup with hints of pineapple and coconut. Best as an afternoon tea.

I’m reading a book right now called “The Dressmaker” that is about the Titanic sinking and what happened afterwards. The book is pretty interesting and since I had a sample of this in my cupboard I figured this would be a perfect tea to start the day with. The tea smells deliciously matly with just a hint of sweetness, like a citrusy sweetness. The flavor is robust, but not overly done. There is an almost bitter finish, but it’s actually a nice little kick at the end. I added some milk and sweetener and it became a smooth, sweet cup of tea. This isn’t the strongest black tea blend, but it’s nice and light. I think it’s also a little more sweet than your average black tea blend. This apparently has some oolong in it too, so maybe that’s what is balancing everything out. I kind of like it as a breakfast tea during the summer, it’s not too heavy when the weather is super hot. It’s kind of fun to see what type of tea they were drinking back in the days of the Titanic. I’m glad that reading the book made me remember about this little sample sitting in the back of my cupboard!

-Dry blend has medium black and brown tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell malty and slightly sweet. Tea liquor aroma is of malty black tea with a hint of sweet citrus.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Robust flavor with an almost bitter finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A lightly robust black tea. Perfect for the summer.

Ahh, it feels good to be back on Steepster after a little break. The last part of the semester was absolutely crazy. I am so ready for summer break – bring on the sun!

This tea smells like rich chocolate and mint, very nice. The tea liquor has a black tea and chocolate aroma with just a hint of mintiness. The flavor is of silky and smooth chocolate with a refreshing minty finish and aftertaste. The flavor reminds me of a peppermint patty, like liquid candy. I added a little milk and sweetener and this became the perfect cup for this somewhat chilly spring day.

We are fostering four kittens for the local Humane Society and they are in the bathroom right off of the kitchen. They are in one of their playful moods and romping all over. If you didn’t know there were kittens in there you’d wonder what was going on, considering all of the noise they are making. I am in love with every single one of them, especially the little runt who has a few health issues, but is doing much better. :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with small chocolate chips and small pieces of peppermint leaves.
-Dry leaves smell like rich chocolate and fresh peppermint. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and chocolate with a hint of mint.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium golden brown color.
-Silky strong chocolate flavor with a refreshing soft minty finish and aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Silky smooth chocolate and mint flavor. Reminiscent of a peppermint patty.

First cup of the day. I’ve lost a little of my love for Earl Greys, I think because there are just so very many out there. I’ve yet to explore the world of cream EG’s, and this may be the beginning of a beautiful thing! This tea leaves smell like a creamy and sweet lemon dessert. The tea itself has a black tea and vanilla aroma, with just a hint of bergamot. The flavor is more robust than I was expecting, with a really strong lemon note. The light, creamy vanilla citrus flavor comes in the aftertaste. Adding a little milk seems to soften all of the flavors nicely. This tea reminds me of a light, airy dessert. Thank you, Mercuryhime, for this sample!

Birds have built a nest in a vent outlet just above our back porch. From inside, it sounds like the birds are right in the wall between the kitchen and bathroom. All of the chirping can be a bit annoying, but it is funny how every time we make a loud noise inside, it sets all of the babies off chirping like crazy. I hope that they are ready to leave the nest soon (and it sounds like they are!) so we can close up that vent! :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell like creamy and sweet lemon. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and vanilla with a hint of bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark orange brown color.
-Strong malty and lemon flavor and finish. Light creamy vanilla citrus aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A soft and creamy cup. Reminiscent of a light lemony dessert.

I think that I’ve been waiting to try this tea since forever, so thank you to Mercuryhime for this sample! The teabag version of this tea is in a cute little muslin sachet. It smells simply of sweet fruit, probably mostly of strawberry. The flavor is malty and fruity, with a fresh berry aftertaste. I completely agree that this tea tastes just like strawberries and cream, and it even has a creamy mouthfeel. It is really well blended, nice and strong black tea but with the perfect amount of flavor. I will definitely be picking some of this one up the next time I go to Chapel Hill!

-Muslin tea sachet with string.
-Teabag smells like sweet fruit. Tea liquor aroma is of strawberries and cream.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Malty and fruity flavor and finish. Fresh berry aftertaste. Creamy mouthfeel.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Fresh strawberries and cream flavor.

This one called out to me this morning when I was trying to decide what tea to have. The dry leaves smell lightly fruity, like a fruity currant aroma. There is also a hint of sweet bergamot and caramel. The tea in the cup has a black tea and bergamot aroma. There is a malty flavor with a slightly sweet fruity finish. There is a strong citrus aftertaste that is just a little too lemony for me. I like this tea, but I don’t think it will become a favorite of mine. It’s a nice version of a light Earl Grey, but fruitier and sweeter. Thank you, whatshesaid, for this sample!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly fruity and of sweet bergamot and caramel. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Malty flavor with a slightly sweet and fruity finish. Strong lemony citrus aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Malty flavor with a hint of fruity and citrusy sweetness. Main flavor is sweet lemon.

I only have a few more of my new Della Terra teas to try, and I decided to go with this one this morning. It smells richly of sweet blueberry cake. Very sugary. It filled the whole kitchen with a wonderful warm blueberry muffin aroma. This tea is pretty sweet on its own, but I added a little milk and it’s just perfect. This one seriously rates up there with Pineapple Upside Down Cake for me. It’s a lighter, refreshing tea. There is a lingering blueberry cakey flavor that lingers – YUM! I got the Blueberry Creme also and can only hope that the blueberry flavor in that one is just as good. This was a great cup to start the day. :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and long green tea leaves with small blue flowers and small pink petals with small sugar crystals.
-Dry blend smells like sweet cake and blueberry with a hint of cinnamon and sugar. Tea liquor aroma is of warm cinnamon crumble cake with a hint of blueberry.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow color.
-Rich, buttery cinnamon crumble cake flavor with a fresh blueberry finish. Lingering sweet blueberry and cinnamon sugar aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Very good tea. Reminiscent of a warm blueberry muffin with cinnamon sugar topping.

This will be my first cup of tea in almost a week! I had a virus and felt horrible for the past week, so I really didn’t drink tea, or much of anything for that matter. My mom kept urging me to drink some ginger tea for my stomach but with a fever I was so hot already that nothing sounded worse than a cup of hot tea (never had that happen before!) And I think I really just avoided tea because I didn’t want to ruin my love for it. You know when you’re sick and you have your favorite food, and then afterwards you don’t love it as much?! Yeah, I never want that to happen with tea.

But, today is my birthday and you can’t celebrate without tea, so I’m having a cup of this thanks to Mercuryhime! This blend caught my eye when it first came out, so I’m excited to try it. I’ve not really loved any butterscotch teas that I’ve tried lately, so I am hoping that this one is good. Anddddd . . . it actually is really good! I can clearly taste the butterscotch flavor, and it’s nice and creamy! No bitterness, but I did add milk and a little sweetener to the cup before tasting it. There is just a little maltiness, and a nice buttery-sweet flavor. I really loving this cup right now! I could probably drink liquid dirt, though, and be pretty happy at this point – I just needed tea! Oh, glorious tea, how I’ve missed you!

I’ve been watching the news, and my heart breaks over the Boston Marathon events. I know there are a lot of runners on Steepster, I hope that everyone and their families are ok. We had a lot of runners from our area at the race, but thankfully everyone is ok.

-Dry blend has large black tea leaves and twigs with large yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell sugary sweet. Tea liquor aroma is of rich butterscotch with a hint of black tea.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Strong malty flavor with a sweet finish. Creamy butterscotch aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Buttery sweet flavor with a hint of maltiness.

This is my very first Kusmi tea! I have just about ordered from this company a couple of times, only to decide I would wait. So big thank you to whatshesaid for a sample of this! The dry leaves smell lightly of black tea and sweet caramel, and the tea aroma is of warm caramel. I’m probably still half asleep right now and the first sip took me by surprise, it’s pretty sweet on it’s own with a authentic caramel flavor and there’s a nice maltiness from the black tea. There’s a rich caramel aftertaste that is just like biting into a piece of caramel candy. I added a little milk and sweetener and it became a smooth cup, but this is one of those rare teas that I could actually drink without either one and be perfectly content. It doesn’t seem to oversteep, either. When I poured the rest from my teapot (where the leaves were still steeping) into my cup, the rich caramel flavor had only intensified, with no bitterness. This may be my first tea that it just caramel flavored, so I probably don’t have much to compare it to, but I am pretty happy with this tea!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of black tea and sweet caramel. Tea liquor aroma is of warm caramel.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Malty and sweet caramel flavor and finish. Rich caramel aftertaste.
-Milk and sweetener optional.
-Very good tea. Lightly flavored. A smooth and sweet cup. Reminiscent of caramel candies.

I’m surprised that there are only six tasting notes for this tea. I love rose teas, so I knew I wanted to try this when I placed my first Della Terra order. The dry leaves smell like rich chocolate with a hint of rose, but the tea liquor smells a little less strong. The biggest surprise for me was that this cup has a shimmer/sparkly appearance! I suppose it’s from the candy hearts, but its really pretty, kind of like David’s Glitter and Gold! The flavor is very lightly malty and chocolatey with a somewhat sudden, sugary finish. There is a soft floral and hot chocolate aftertaste. This tastes like a very soft, thin hot chocolate with just a little floral note. The rose isn’t completely there, but you can detect a little wisp of it here and there. I’m not really getting any cherry at all, and it’s probably just contributing to the general sweetness, which is fine. I think this would be the perfect afternoon tea for after lunch when you just want a little taste of something sweet, but not too much.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with pink and yellow rose petals, pieces of dried cherries, pink candy hearts, red and white sprinkles and small sugar crystals.
-Dry leaves smell like rich chocolate with a hint of rose. Tea liquor is floral and a little chocolatey.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium yellow brown color with an oily sheen on top. Shimmery and sparkly appearance.
-Light malty and chocolate flavor with a sugary finish. Soft floral and hot chocolate aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A light and softly flavored cup of chocolate and rose.

Ending what has been a very long day with this tea. No matter what I do I can’t seem to get caught up with my school work. Since there’s only 3 1/2 weeks left of classes, I’m just going to assume that it’s not slowing down and I just need to speed up and somehow get more studying done. Blah. With the sunny weather outside I just want to sit in the sunshine and sip tea.

The dry leaves for this Lemon Lime Cream Tart smell of creamy lemon and lime. I was surprised a the creaminess just from the aroma, it’s almost a little sour/tart too, probably from the citrus notes. The tea itself has a sweet and tart lemon lime aroma. There’s a sweet, citrusy flavor with a tart lemony finish. I am definitely tasting more of the lemon than lime in the flavor, but I think the tartness is from the lime. There is a pretty strong rooibos and honeybush aftertaste with a hint of tart citrus that I’m not crazy about. Adding milk and sweetener does tone down the rooibos aftertaste, but it is still there. I wish this had just a tiny bit more cream added into the flavor. I am excited to compare this to the Lime Chiffon that just came in my order. Thank you, whatshesaid for this sample!!

-Dry blend has fine rooibos and honeybush with long pieces of lemongrass, pieces of dried fruit peel and small blue petals.
-Dry leaves smell like creamy lemon and lime. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet and tart lemon and lime.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish orange color.
-Sweet citrusy flavor with a tart lemony finish. Strong rooibos and honeybush aftertaste with a hint of tart citrus.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A creamy, tart and citrusy cup. Becomes smooth and mellow with milk and sweetener. Small rooibos and honeybush aftertaste.

I’m super excited to try this tea. This is one of the ones that I was most excited about ordering from Della Terra. The dry leaves smell so much like a rich, buttery cake with just a little hint of pineapple that comes and goes. Wow, the aroma from the tea is seriously filling up my whole kitchen. It’s making me really crave some pineapple upside down cake! The aroma is a rich, butter brown sugar smell. The flavor is initially a little malty, with a buttery and cakey taste. There is a sweet pineapple finish, and the aftertaste is of heavy brown sugar and pineapple upside down cake. It honestly tastes like I just took a big bite of this cake! I love how there is a little black tea maltiness at the beginning. All of the flavors just mesh together so well, it’s hard to focus on one flavor – it’s so perfectly flavored like the actual cake. I added some milk and sweetener and it became a creamy and smooth cup. This tea completely lived up to my expectations, probably even surpassed them a little. I still have six of my new Della Terra teas to try, but this company is quickly becoming a favorite! Someone please stop me from ordering every single tea that they make!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with small pieces of dried pineapple and pieces of dried cherry.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of buttery cake with a hint of pineapple. Tea liquor aroma is of rich brown sugar.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow brown color.
-Malty, buttery and cakey flavor with a sweet pineapple finish. Heavy brown sugar and pineapple upside down cake aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. Heavy and rich brown sugar flavor. Tastes exactly like pineapple upside down cake.

I was a bit hesitant to purchase this one. I love chocolate covered cherries (especially dark chocolate ones) but a few reviews compared the flavor to cherry cough syrup and that made me nervous. I like real cherries, but do not like cherry flavored things. Still, the lure of a chocolate-covered cherry tea was too much, so I gave in. The dry leaves smell perfectly of rich dark chocolate with a tangy sweet cherry note. The tea’s aroma is of medicinal cherry (but not too mediciney) with a hint of sweet chocolate. There is a pretty sweet cherry and chocolate flavor and finish, with a strong cherry aftertaste that lingers. Without milk and sweetener, that strong cherry aftertaste reminded me a little too much of cherry cough syrup. However, with milk and sweetener it becomes a cup of liquid chocolate covered cherry. Over the holidays, my mom and I always purchase a few boxes of the cheap Queen Anne’s chocolate covered cherries and the flavor of this tea reminds me of those. It’s not the most authentic cherry flavor, which is ok because it’s more of a candy-sugary flavor. I am glad this tea is better than what I was expecting, and that it’s really quite good. Maybe not a tea that I will jump to repurchase, but I will gladly finish the rest of this try me pack!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with small chocolate chips and pieces of dried cherries.
-Dry leaves smell like rich dark chocolate with a tangy sweet cherry note. Tea liquor aroma is of medicinal cherry with a hint of sweet chocolate.
-Tea liquor is a clear light golden brown color.
-Sweet cherry and chocolate flavor and finish. Strong lingering cherry aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A decadent cup of dark chocolate and candy cherry flavor. Reminiscent of Queen Anne’s chocolate covered cherries.