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I decided to make a pitcher of this one iced. I used the directions on the box. 3 tea bags in 4 cups boiling water, steep for 15 minutes, add ice. I used about 1 tray of ice cubes.

I love Earl Grey but have never actually made on iced. I often drink it cold though, as in it was in my cup for so long that is got cold. Which I don’t mind.

This iced tea is ok. There is a slight saffron taste, and very little bergamot taste as compared to when brewed hot. It is mostly a slightly sweet black tea taste. I did not add any sweetener to this one, but I could have. I think I may have put too much ice in it.

I love beragmot, so I am not in love with this one iced, but it is still good enough to drink.

I decided to try cold dripped tea. Cold dripped tea is when ice melts and drips over tea, making a brew. There are a few different set ups you can use, and I wanted to try it before buying an expensive cold dripping apparatus.

Ok so I started my experiment this morning. I had two experiments going. I used Long Island Strawberry green tea by Victoria’s Teas and Coffees because I have cold brewed before and it was good. So I wanted to have something to compare this to.

I did two different experiments:
1. Tea leaves in a pot, and put ice cubes directly on top of the tea.
2. A set up involving ice in a metal strainer, dripping onto tea in a metal strainer, dripping into a mug. The ice does not touch the tea.

1 hour in:
For experiment 1 with the ice directly on the tea, there was a very small amount of tea liquor produced. Not quite enough for a sip. I tried it anyway. I cringed. It was super strong and thick. Very strong, vegetal green tea. I felt like I was chewing the tea leaves.

Experiment 2, there was some ice melting but no tea liquor produced, almost like the tea leaves were just absorbing the water.

2 hours in:
There was more tea liquor produced in experiment 1. This time it smelled like delicious strawberries. Similar to the cold brewed version. There was just more than 1 sip of liquor. I stated it and still cringed. Not quite as strong but still thick. Very strongly green tea. The vegetal component is quite exaggerated. No strawberry or fruity flavour.

Experiment 2, there was just enough for a sip. Tasted exactly like experiment 1.

Still letting the ice melt at this point.

Lessons learned: It takes a long time; very little tea liquor is produced; experiment 1 and 2 produce the exact same tasting tea; I don’t like it.

This dry tea smells very fruity and delicate, slightly flowery. There is no distinct fruit standing out, but just a generic sweet fruity smell. There is black tea leaves with yellow and purple flowers mixed throughout.

After the tea was done steeping, I took a long sniff and it smelled exactly like blood orange. Mmmmm. I love blood orange, so I am happy that this one lived up to its description. There is also a flowery scent.

The base of the tea is soft and delicate and works well with the blend. It is not overly bold which I like. There is a slight blood orange flavour, but is not tart at all. I can also taste the peach and cherry notes. I get a slight taste of the sunflower petals.

The recommendation was for a 3 minute brew, but I only did 2 minutes, as I have found that works the best for Nina’s Paris teas.

I have not been disappointed by Nina’s Paris tea yet!

This is one of my sick teas. The past two days I have been feeling pretty crappy. So tonight I decided to snuggle in and drink a cup of this tea. I always put a cinnamon stick and one whole star anise in the cup and just leave them in the there. I only brew it for a short period of time because if it brews too long the hibiscus gets very strong. The star anise gives the tea a bit of spice and the cinnamon adds a bit of sweetness.

I made this one as a cold brew. I was a bit skeptical as to what it would produce as I normally cold brew very fruity teas/tisanes. I brewed it for about 12 hours.

It actually turned out really well. I find it to be really refreshing. I wasn’t quite sure about the taste but I figured it must be good as I drank three large cups with dinner. It felt very similar to the feeling I get in my mouth after chewing parsley at the end of a meal.

It tastes similar to the hot brewed tea. It is only very slightly sweet. There is a bit of spice from the ginger, there is a very light sage taste. I am getting notes of chicory root. There is slight notes similar to loashan black tea, even though there is not black tea in this blend. There are hints of cocoa and burnt dark chocolate, it is very light. I am not getting the same salty taste I got with the hot brewed tea. There is maybe a bit of a lemony taste at the end of the sip, must be the gogi and/or elderberry. Very complex tasting tea, but not overpowering.

I think this would be a good refreshing and replenishing drink for a very hot day after sweating up a storm in the garden.

I tried this one cold brewed. Brewed for about 12 hours overnight. It was so delicious and juicy strawberry hot that I figured it would make a good cold brew.

Its just OK. I found that the green tea was very strong and has an astringent aftertaste. There was very minimal strawberry or fruity flavour. Once I added some sweetener, white sugar, it brought some of the strawberry taste out. Moreso tastes like slight strawberry candy, on a green tea base, with an astringent aftertaste.

It is drinkable but I think I prefer hot. May have to try cold brewing for less time or brewing hot then icing.

I remember this tea smelling different in the store. When I first smelled the dry tea I thought it was dead on blood orange. Now that I smell it one day later at home, it smells more like candied orange peel.

The brewed tea smells like creamy tart citrus with a healthy does of hibiscus. The tea tastes very tart (the hibiscus). There is an spicey orange flavour. Slightly creamy. The aftertaste it a dead ringer for blood orange. But it only lasts for a split second. The hibiscus doesn’t ruin the blend, which is nice for a change.

Overall this fruit blend is ok. I have had better and have had worse.

This is one of the rooibos blends that I actually quite like. I am not sure what it is. It must be the black currents, gives it a kind of spicey flavour. I cold brewed this one overnight. I like this one equally hot or cold. When it is cold it reminds me of coca cola. I am not sure why, it does not taste like coke at all, but there is something in the taste that makes me crave a coke. Haha.

I think that this tea is called tart grapefruit but I am not quite sure because when I got home the packaging said banana split…

The dry tea smells deliciously like a freshly sliced ruby red grapefruit.

The tea tastes like grapefruit but is not tart at all. Slightly sweet. However, there is a strong peppery spicey aftertaste. The same you get with eating a real grapefruit. As the tea cools, it gets a little more tart.

The owner of Cuppa T recommended a long steep time for this tea but I failed to inquire what “long” actually meant. I steeped for 4 minutes, so I will try for longer next time to see if it makes a more tart tea.

I went to my local tea shop to stock up on one tea. And of course I started browsing and smelling everything (there were new teas out). I found a blood orange fruit/herbal tea that smelled amazing so of course I caved and bought some. I was discussing my love of blood oranges with the owner and she suggested her blood orange rooibos. I was hesitant because rooibos is hit and miss for me, mostly miss. So she generously gave me a sample just to try the tea (3 TABLEspoons!!).

On first smell the dry tea does smells like rooibos and blood orange. When the hot water first hit the tea, it smelled exactly like an orange creamsicle. After steeping, there was a very strong metallic rooibos smell, the kind that I would prefer to miss. But there was also a slight creamy orange smell.

At the beginning of the sip, the brewed tea tastes like straight rooibos. Mid sip there is a kind of creamy orange creamiscle taste. There is a slight tartness in the aftertaste. I would not describe this one as blood orange but there is certainly an orange flavor to it, but it’s mostly rooibos.

Very appreciative of the free sample but I don’t think I will be purchasing this in the future.