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I’ve been drinking this for a couple of days after making a large iced batch. The reason for the delay in reviewing is that I can’t make my mind up about it. On the one hand it tastes so pepperminty that it reminds me of toothpaste, especially since it’s cold. It leaves my mouth tasting as though I just brushed my teeth. On the other hand it’s a handy drink to have if you’ve eaten something smelly like onion or garlic. And after all the taste is actually pleasant and refreshing,

Let me break it down. First sip is citrus(y) with a light infusion of lemongrass and lime (nothing sour, actually rather creamy) but this only lasts for a second. After that the peppermint kicks in and spreads itself around my mouth to leave a creamy and refreshing (almost tingling) sensation. This lingers well into the after taste until before you know it, poof, it’s gone.

The only conclusion I can come to is that it’s nice but because of it’s unusual nature (in iced form anyway) I would have to be in the right mood to drink it. That means it’s not perfect, but the fact that I can drink it at all also means something.

For that reason I will give a fair and rather medium score. ie – Could be better, could be worse.

My head hurts. I thought some tea and water would get rid of it this morning but it’s stayed with me through lunch. It’s a fairly mild headache but it’s starting to grate on me a little now.

This tea (one steeped) has a sweet and buttery scent, something fruity and berry like with fudge.

Flavour: Toasted grass and flowers, slightly astringent, sweet berries with a creamy after taste of cocoa nib and nuts. Somewhat perfumed and a little dry. The more I sip the more defined the strawberry flavour becomes.

I’m not usually a fan of these sorts of blends and I approached this one cautiously, however I found to be rather pleasant and though far from perfect it was a nice afternoon tea all the same.

Good morning everyone!

My day begins with this Strawberry Zabaglione Chun Mee which was from my 52Teas Christmas box. I didn’t have it around Christmas as I found nothing Christmas-sy about it, in fact most of the teas from the box were not Christmas-sy or wintery I found. A disappointment compared to previous years.

The raw leaf smells strongly of sweet strawberry, reminds me of strawberry gummy sweets. I can also note some large-ish pieces of strawberry amongst the leaves, of which the Chun Mee is rather finely chopped.

Once steeped the tea is golden brown and bares a super sweet strawberry scent with an after scent of perfume and grass. Slightly astringent.

Flavour: Fairly light and creamy strawberry tones with moderate dryness and perfume present. Slightly astringent and sour. The sweetness is rather strong, I didn’t read the ingredients but it wouldn’t surprise me to see stevia amongst them, it certainly tastes sweet enough. Further cups reveal a toasted quality which tones down the sweetness a little, though the after taste is still heavily strawberry.

I did dry the original Strawberry Zabaglione with a black base and remembered liking it. This is nice but I found the base far too dry for my liking and in comparison I don’t remember the original being nearly as dry. The flavour is delightful and I would certainly drink it again but my mouth feels almost furry and after this pot of tea I will have to grab a glass of water. So nice try Frank but it’s still not perfect in my opinion.

Hey, Ho, Pip and Dandy.
My lunch time tea is this White Paradise chai chosen to aid me with a kick of spice and flavour after lunch. This low calorie diet is no fun, my 300 calorie pasta lunch was virtually tasteless and I long for something to express flavour in my mouth. Something that is no calories that is.

The blend as a whole smells thickly of cardamom and cinnamon with a refreshing boost of anise. Not overly strong but stronger than expected considering the white tea base.

Once steeped the tea tastes similar to it’s smell. The cinnamon and anise are dominant flavours in front of a dry and spicy pepper and lemongrass herbiness. I can’t taste the white tea but am happy it’s there non the less. The lemongrass is a little odd in this, I seem to be having an issue with lemongrass blends today. Then again I don’t think lemongrass goes with chai and spices so it can’t just be my taste buds today.

On terms of chai this is average, not digging the miss-match of flavours and I’m also not a fan of strong anise in general. It just doesn’t feel like a full chai though with that lemongrass, I just can’t get past it.

Today is going to be a tea day. With clothes washing to do and a cross stitch that will take an hour or so to finish my day is pretty much free and open. Makes a change.

So Retro Ted will be kick starting my tea day. The blend is made mostly of large pieces and looks heavily herbal and floral. It smells fruity, tropically so, I’m thinking pineapple and coconut. It’s an interesting smell, fruity yes but heavy on the lemongrass too.

The taste is mildly tart and sour to begin with, also strong lemongrass tones with some generic fruit tones amongst it. After taste is creamy and coconut-ty in a mild way. I’m finding the blend of fruit and lemongrass and hibiscus rather strange. It doesn’t blend perfectly but neither is it terrible. Also dry and rather herbal.

Not a fan of this one, may try the rest cold steeped. I wasn’t a fan of the lemongrass and hibiscus blended together, it was too miss-matched for my taste buds and the only redemption was the coconut after taste. I wouldn’t buy this one again but am happy I can at least drink it.

Firstly, I cannot believe that I haven’t reviewed this one yet. It’s my ‘go to’ matcha and I have it most days. It’s only $2.49 for 50g for an organic matcha and that was what drew me in from the start, I didn’t expect it to be as good a matcha as it is. For a basic quality organic matcha I have found none better in terms of taste or price. I know it sounds like I’m selling it myself but it’s true, I highly recommend it.

The foam is wonderful though it’s initial colour is khaki which shows it’s not top quality. It smells of seaweed and sweet grass. Taste is fairly creamy and light, slightly astringent but in a pleasing way. Also is sweet and umami with some dryness. The initial flavours match the scent though, so seaweed and sweet grass tones that linger nicely.

As I said it’s not top quality but for an every day matcha that is organic and cheap it’s fantastic. A big hit too with my husband and a few guests that have never tried matcha before but have gone out and bought some afterwards due to this introduction.

Next time I will try the step up and have the Premium quality for comparison though that is $6.49 for 50g. Not expensive but at least over double the price of standard grade.

Good morning all. Just quick notes on this one, I reviewed it before and still love it but it crossed my mind yesterday that I hadn’t tried it iced. So last night I cold steeped some for this morning, green tea is good for concentration (so I read) and I have a driving lesson in two hours so I could do with all the help I can. I’m one of those that doesn’t go over 10 mph for fear of crashing and hurting someone. Plus having it iced is quick and efficient for my morning.

As I pulled the cold steep out this morning it was a cloudy green colour and appears to have cold steeped rather well. I did try yesterday but the water didn’t seem to penetrate the leaves properly, I think to cold steep this Sencha I was supposed to rinse it first. Well that was done yesterday so thankfully this mornings tea looks more productive.

The smell perfect, it has a wonderfully thick sweet grass scent.
In flavour it’s refreshing, sweet, grassy, floral and creamy with a pure umami after taste. The taste lingers on the tongue for a few minutes after each sip and it makes me feel pure and beautiful. Like a flower that’s being spritzed with spring rain.

It’s just as nice iced as it is hot and I will keep that in mind. I always have cold steeps in the fridge but tend to have flavoured teas as it usually gets rid of the sample, but now I feel I overlook unflavoured teas in that way. Iced teas shouldn’t just be a way for me to clear my stash, perhaps as this tea has shown it is also a treat that makes the most out of your tea from time to time.

Duly noted.

Let me start by saying that before I tried this hot I decided to make it iced, and the outcome tasted purely Rooibos and virtually unflavoured. Not particularly pleasant iced, though it did make handy as a base for a Nutri Ninja vegetable juice. Amongst the spinach, banana and carrot the Rooibos added some sweetness and flavour. So it had a happy ending.

Today is the last of my sample so I’m trying it hot. With low expectations from the iced tea make I’m trying to enter this with a more open mind. I love Butiki’s blends most of the time and if nothing else I can say I tried it.

So after a busy morning (which involved house cleaning, a builder finishing some brick work and some furniture being delivered) I finally sat down with lunch (blanched vegetables with home made hummus in tortilla), put on a horror film I had taped a few days ago on Tivo and prepared myself for some tea.

Scent is fruity though light, mango is definable but also reminds me of peach.

Flavour is sweet and fairly light with a heavy Rooibos base and a light after taste of fruit. It doesn’t taste as definable as it smells. Other than ‘something tropical’ I would be at a loss without knowing. Some creaminess is present though the Rooibos cuts through it rather strongly.

I don’t think this blend is for me, it appears I have found my Kryptonite in terms of Butiki-ness. The base is too heavy, the fruit too subtle and unfortunately I cannot see (or rather taste) it’s greatness. A shame really, though not a surprise compared to it’s iced form. Not one I would care to try again.

Lapacho huh? That’s a new one on me. According to Wikipedia it’s a herb that comes from the inner bark of a Pau D’Arco tree which are indigenous to South and Central America. Sounds very interesting!

It looks dry and rather…well like bark actually. This blend smells strongly of cinnamon and baked apple, like a pie. Heavy on the cinnamon too which is the way I like it, though also a bit dry.

Once steeped it smells strongly and sweetly of cinnamon bark, I used to eat it as a child and have fond memories of it. This is the closest thing I have smelled to that, though considering it’s a type of bark and has been flavoured with cinnamon it’s of no real surprise. Oh also, the drinks liquid is burnt yellow in colour.

With no idea of what to expect in flavour I have no means of comparison. Wow! First sip was heavenly! It tastes of pure cinnamon sticks with toasted apple, it’s pure tasting and so light but sweet and with a lingering after taste that is refreshing. It is a little dry but not necessarily in a bad way.

It’s simple yet very tasty, the bark has minimum flavour but has absorbed some of the cinnamon so all I can taste is cinnamon bark/stick and some sort of baked/toasted apple. There is nothing else to it but it’s simplicity is what makes this blend for me, it’s what I want in terms of a cinnamon or apple tea, and I adore both.

On my list with a real possibility of ordering more of this. For a herbal tea I am very impressed.

Taken from the EU TTB – Round 3 return.

Since my Japanese Spirit blend went down a treat this morning I thought I would carry on with the Japanese theme for the time being, that is when I remembered seeing this sample.

I like the idea of flavoured genmaicha, I recently tried 52Teas Peanut Butter Genmaicha blend and adored it without really expecting to. With this being a cheesecake tea I’m not sure what to expect, usually I cannot taste cheesecake in the range that I have tried from 52Teas. Perhaps all I can hope for is the cherry part mixed with genmaicha, that sounds delightful.

In raw form this smells very sweet and fruity, while it does smell like cherry I’m also getting some kind of berry too, like loganberry or strawberry, it’s sweet but also sour. Also seems perfumed, not fresh as much as dry and perfumed. No genmaicha as such, ie no toast or green tea coming through.

Once steeped the tea liquid is burnt yellow in colour and bares a toasted rice scent with a some subtle fruit behind it. Couldn’t declare it as cherry without knowing, hard to do so even knowing what it is. I’m sticking to berry like fruit.

Flavour is interesting, for a second it tastes toasty like a normal genmaicha but then suddenly a sweet cherry (yes, truly definable at last as cherry) essence grabs a hold and grows in my mouth. Like a light cherry mist that spreads itself as far as it can to spritz it’s flavour. In the after taste the cherry is still present but it becomes creamy and less sweet, slightly perfumed though nothing like it’s raw scent.

I’m sorry to say that again I can’t taste cheesecake, there is something creamy/buttery but not enough to say it reminds me of cheesecake. Though I do like that it still keeps enough of it’s qualities to taste like a genmaicha.

So put simply:
Cherry? Yes
Cheesecake? No
Genmaicha? Yes

As the song says “Two out of three aint bad”. I still prefer the Peanut Butter blend over this one but this was pleasant enough.