Lala

I’ve been having trouble with this one as I just don’t seem to like the taste. So today I cold brewed this mixed equally with Teavana’s Peach Tranquility for about 12 hours. It is actually pretty decent. There is still a strong rooibos taste, with a fermented grape taste, but the peach really dampens the flavour of the Razzmatazz, which I like.

Made this one as a cold brew. Brewed for about 10 hours. I didn’t much like this one hot. It is slightly more drinkable cold. The best way I can describe it, is it tastes like fermented grape rooibos. There is a strong rooibos flavour and a slightly alcohol/fermented scent and flavour. I think I am going to try blending this one with some other teas and see what happens.

My favorite summer drink is iced tea lemonade. I usually make my own using orange pekoe and lemonade mix. But I thought I would try a bit of a different recipe. I used black dragon pearls from teavivre and king tut lemonade. I didn’t really measure but there was more black dragon pearls than king tut lemonade. I cold brewed for about 10 hours. Lemon is the prominent flavour. There is a slight black tea flavour but it does not really speak to how good the black dragon pearls are on their own. I think this one would have been better made iced, and much less of the king tut lemonade. I did add a few tsp of white sugar to give it a more lemonade flabour vs just lemon. Just not the right balance of flavours. I am going to have to work on this one.

I have had the most horrible, terrible weekend. My bad weekend had nothing to do with no tea, but everything to do with inconsiderate people.

So happy to be home. I can’t even have a nice cuppa because it is too close to bedtime and I am on fluid restrictions, and yes, I am 3 years old.

So I will review the only cup of tea I got to have all weekend but couldn’t get onto steepster to post about. This was so delicious, mostly because I needed tea so bad. It was a strong black base, and very strong but sweet bergamot. The black tea was still smooth and blended well with the bergamot. The slight sweetness to the tea made it very easy to drink. It also resteeped very well – gasp – I resteeped, must have been a bad weekend.

This is a bagged tea I could buy a box of and keep around for those “just in case” moments.

Made this one hot, iced and cold brewed. The dry mix smells strongly of passionfruit.

Hot: Brewed 1tsp for 4 minutes in boiling water. Primary flavour is passionfruit, followed by sweet apple, and bitter hibiscus. The liquor is dark red and thick. It is sweet enough on its own. Moreso tart than sweet.

Iced: Brewed 2 tsp for 10 minutes, added ice cube then put in fridge. Primary flavour is passionfruit, followed by strong tart hibiscus, then unripe apple. Mostly tart with minimal sweetness. The liquor is the darkest out of the three, it is quite thick.

Cold brewed: Brewed for 13 hours. The primary flabour is passionfruit, followed by strong apple. There is a slight rose flavour. Some tartness but is mostly sweet. The liquor is think and light pink.

Over all I prefer this one cold brewed, then hot, and do not like it much iced. I might have made it too strong iced and that is why it is so bitter/hibiscus.

I received this one as a gift. It is not something I would have normally purchased for myself, but am happy to have any tea as a gift.

When I first opened the package, I immediately thought, this is a chai. Then I read the ingredients and it is very similar to chai. I had just assumed that this one was going to be more similar to a Moroccan mint tea.

The brewed tea smells and tastes just like a green chai tea. There is very strong clove and cardamom taste and aftertaste. There is also a sweet mint taste.

Overall it is a good blend but I prefer a chai with a black base.

Made this one as a cold brew mixed equally with Teavana’s Strawberry Lemonade. Brewed for about 13 hours. This one tastes very similar to when it is brewed hot.

I find the rooibos tropica really dulls the candy taste of the strawberry lemonade. The brew is still sweet, but quite blunted and no longer candy sweet. There is a taste of strawberry and a light lemonade taste, but it is not sour or bitter. When I added white sugar it really changed the flavour profile. I thought it would make it sweeter, but really what it did was brought out the green rooibos flavour. There is still a fruity flavour to the tea but there is also a sweet grass type flavour as well. I think I liked it better without the extra sugar added. I find it strange that when you mix these two together it gets less sweet. It is just one of those tea mysteries. I think I prefer both of these separately than when together.

I have been drinking this one at work and wanted to do a quick note to report I accidentally steeped this one for 25 minutes instead of 2 (darn work got in the way). It actually is still drinkable. There is less earl grey taste and the black tea is stronger but it is not bitter or astringent.

Made this one brewed hot mixed equally with Teavana’s Strawberry Lemonade. I found that the rooibos tropica and strawberry lemonade taste very similar to each other than when tasted individually. So naturally, when mixed together, there is not a huge difference in the taste. It has the strawberry lemonade taste, it is sweet, but not so much candy sweet like the strawberry lemonade. The rooibos does dampen the sweetness and strawberry lemonade a bit. There is a red rooibos aftertaste. Overall it is ok. In my opinion, no huge difference when these two are blended together.

Made this as an iced tea. Not quite an iced tea though. Because I found the cold brew to be very watery, I brewed this one double strength hot, for 10 min. Then just put in the fridge, instead of pouring it over ice. This one looked better, the colour was darker and more opaque than when cold brewed. The liquor felt much thicker in my mouth. But unfortunately the taste was the same. Mostly tasted like coconut water. There was a light pineapple taste and was slightly sweeter than the cold brew.
For this tea, in my opinion, it was best hot, then iced, and in last place was the cold brew.

Received this one as part of the blissful moments tea of the month club.

This is a mix of dried/candied fruit pieces with red and green rooibos. The dry tea smells very much like sweet candy, slightly lemony.

The brewed tea smells and tastes exactly like Teavana’s Strawberry Lemonade, which coincidentally is the other tea that came with this one. The brewed tea is a bit thicker and you can slightly taste the red rooibos underneath the candied strawberry lemonade taste. Very sweet on its own.

A bit disappointed that this one is so similar to the strawberry lemonade, and very disappointed that those two teas came together (considering they are meant to be blended together).

Holy coconut Batman!

Made this one as a cold brew, brewed for about 12 hours. It is very strongly coconut with a slight pineapple undertone. Almost similar to coconut water. Sort of watery, but the flavour is still good. It is creamy tasting, and there is the same coffee whitener/thickening agent taste I got with the hot brew (darn heart shaped sprinkles). The flavour is not as distinct as it was when brewed hot.

So far not the best cold brew I have ever had, but it is not the worst. Still have to try iced.

Made this as a cold brew. Brewed for about 12 hours. Cold brewed there is definitely more of a fruit punch taste, similar to the Hawaiian Tropics fruit punch drink. There is definitely a mango and pineapple flavour. It is moderately sweet without having to add any sweetener. It is definitely thick and juice-like.

My opinion is this tea is best as a cold brew. It is also good hot brewed, as iced it is not too bad but I found it was a bit watered down.

I received this as a free sample with my last Harney and Sons order. I am very picky with my chai so I did not try this tea for a long time, not sure if I would like it. I am also not a huge fan of rooibos, but it depends on the blend.

The dry tea smells of chai spices- clove, cardamom, and cinnamon. There is also a medicinal rooibos smell overtop of the chai spices.

The tea tastes like a strong rooibos tea. The chai spices are light in the background. I taste cardamom, cloves, cinnamon. There is also a slight sweetness. At the end of the sip, there is a metallic rooibos taste.

This is not a horrible tea, but not something I would chose for myself.

Made this one as an iced tea. Steeped for 10 min, then added ice.

I was a bit disappointed with this one as an iced tea, but I had assumed that before I even made it as an iced tea. I tend to prefer herbal blends cold brewed, instead of as an iced tea.

This one still has the mango and pineapple juice flavour, but it wasn’t thick like juice or like it was hot. There is a taste like flat carbonation. It tasted fairly sweet, without having to add any sweeteners.

Still good as an iced tea, but would not be my preference. Cold brew review coming soon.

I have been searching for a really good, and authentic watermelon tea. Although, I would not describe this tea as authentic watermelon flavour, I would certainly say it is a really good tea.

Of the dry and brewed tea leaves, some are dark green and some are lighter green, similar to the colouring on the outer shell of a watermelon. The dry tea leaves smell like sweet, smooth vegetal green tea, with a faint candy/gum watermelon scent. There is also some kind of spicey scent to it which makes me think of a BBQ spice or rub, maybe similar to Mrs. Dash seasoning…not sure.

The brewed tea smells similar to the dry tea but without that spice scent, and a more creamy scent. The tea tastes like a sweet, smooth, vegetal green tea. There is a slight salty flavour to it. There is a watermelon taste. I would say it does not taste like the pink watermelon flesh, but like the white flesh that is close to the rind. It is not bitter though. I added a few small pieces of rock sugar and this brought out more of the watermelon taste. The watermelon taste is more to the candy side, but not overly sweet or artificial. It tastes creamy as well. The tea definitely gets better as it cools; it gets a stronger creamy taste and more watermelon flavour. Other than the slightly salty taste, there is no other spicey taste (not sure what I smelled in the dry tea). I may have brewed this a bit too long because there is an astringent aftertaste. I think this is a great green tea, and the little bit of flavouring adds something different to the tea without ruining the fine green tea base.

Another tea from the David’s summer collection. I bought the collection gift box and am a bit disappointed with this tea, because each of the 5 summer teas were in 25g bags. But this tea is a bunch of dried fruit so there is not a lot in the bag. I was hoping to try each tea as hot, cold brewed, and iced to compare. I am sure I will have enough to do all of this but not have much left over.

This time, I brewed this one hot.

This dry tea smells exactly like a tropical pink starburst tastes. The brewed tea tastes like pineapple juice with a bit of mango mixed in. I could be imagining it, but I might be tasting a bit of strawberry at the end of the sip.

I bought this as part of the summer collection to make iced tea, but I made it hot to try tonight.

The dry tea smells like pineapple alcohol, maybe rum or vodka. So my first thought was: I’m in!

The brewed tea smells like light, not overly sweet pineapple. There is also a smell of powdered milk or coffee whitener, which I think is the thickener (sugar hearts) that is in the mix.

The taste is not as sweet as I would have anticipated and I like it that way. There is a light pineapple taste, with an even lighter coconut flavour. I feel like I am tasting powdered milk. There is a very faint unripe red Spartan apple taste underneath all the other flavours. It is leaving an aftertaste that I would associate with what I get after eating soft ice cream. Because it has pineapple and coconut, it initially makes me think pina colada, but I don’t think it tastes like that at all.

I definitely can see how this one would be great iced or cold brewed! Looking forward to trying it that way.

So happy that Frank restocked this. I love iced tea and cold brews, and of course all tea in general. And I love how easy it is to use pre-bagged iced tea blends!

I brewed for 3 minutes in 2 cups water, then added cold water, as per the directions on the package. But I think next time I will brew for a bit longer.

This dry tea smells almost like those sour raspberry hard candies – the ones that are shaped like raspberries. Mmmmm! The brewed iced tea flavour still tastes like raspberry candy, with a slight hint of tartness (pleasant tartness, not too sour tartness). But you can also taste the black tea. I love it when iced tea tastes like this. You get the black tea flavour, but there is also a fruity/candy flavour overtop of it, and it is not just juice-like. However, I do like the teas that taste like juice, I just reserve those for cold brewing. (I find there is a difference between cold brewing and iced tea, and some teas are better one way than the other). I added a bit of white sugar and it just enhanced the raspberry candy flavour.

Anyway, super happy with this iced tea. I even went and ordered more before it goes out of stock, and ordered some of the other flavours as well!

I kept the tea bag and am going to try a re-steep and see what happens.

Edit: This made an excellent resteep. I steeped for 5 minutes. Tastes exactly like the first steep. I already got rid of the tea bag before I tried the second steep, but I wish I didn’t because I think it may have made a third steep…

The dry tea smells like seaweed paper (think: sushi) to me. Once the water hit the tea, I immediately smelled toasted rice. The hot tea prominently tastes like toasted rice. But as the tea cooled, it began to get more of a green tea taste. The green tea does have a slight seaweed flavour to it. I find the tea to taste slightly salty. This is different then other genmaicha’s I have tried, but I think it is a different kind of green tea (and also the matcha). I like any food or tea made from a grain, and this genmaicha is no exception.

Thanks Sil for this sample!

I have been waiting forever to try this tea. I have wanted to try A and D for a long time but their tins are so large, I didn’t want to make a purchase before trying. Thank you Sil for helping me out on this one!

Assam is my all time favorite straight black tea. It doesn’t matter how it has been processed and whether it is loose leaf or bagged, it is always the best.

This tea is delicious. It is bold but still smooth. There is only a very mild malt-like taste to it, also a slight roasty flavour. It is medium thickness. I am only getting a very, very mild aftertaste and is not astringent at all. There is a slight natural sweetness to the tea.

Definitely worth the wait to try this tea. Now I am going to try to wait for another sale to pick some of this up, and most likely get some of their other teas too!

So I made this one as a cold brew. Not remembering that I made it as a cold brew back in February. And re-reading my old tasting notes, I didn’t like it then. And guess what, I don’t like it now. Ha ha.

I brewed it for about 10 hours. I did not notice until I stopped brewing it that the first ingredient in the tea is hibiscus. I do not favour hibiscus, but it really depends on the blend. I do not like hibiscus hot, but I really do not like it cold brewed at all.

This one turned out a beautiful red hibiscus colour. At first it was extremely tart, I couldn’t taste anything other than fruity tartness. I added a whole bunch of sugar. I didn’t measure, just dumped it in from the sugar bowl. That definitely helped. Still tart, but quite toned down with the sugar. The sugar did not make it too sweet because there was so much tartness. There is a strawberry taste to it, but not a sweet strawberry, like a tart, not quite ripe strawberry. It is not as creamy cold as it is hot. Like I said in my previous tasting note, which I forgot about, I prefer this one hot.

Made this one as a cold brew mixed with Teavana’s Peach Tranquility. Brewed for about 12 hours. I thought I would mix this one because I am not the hugest fan of it on its own, and the opus rouge seemed to mix well with others. It was not so great with the peach tranquility, it wasn’t terrible either. It is basically grape mixed with peach, which just isn’t working for me. It is very juice like, and on the verge of being bitter, like when you get an unripe, bitter, grape. I will finish this one, but most likely not do this blend again.

Ok so I had this one hot a few days ago and commented on how the black base tasted strange. Then I made it as a cold brew yesterday and I did not get that strange black base taste. So I thought my cup or infuser may have been contaminated, therefore changing the taste of the tea. But I made it again today and got the same strange black tea base taste. Not strange in a bad way. Just strange as in something I have never tasted before. It kind of reminds me of a darjeeling but not quite. The Pure Aroma website says the base is China black tea. I have emailed them to see if they can be more specific on exactly what kind of Chinese tea/blend it is. I will update with results as soon as they reply.

UPDATE: here is the reply from pure aroma. I guess I was half right on the Darjeeling – happy to know that my tastes buds do work.

“Our Earl Grey blue flowers tea is blended with black Keemun from China’s Anhui province and Darjeeling from India.”