Amy Berkebile

Peppermintplant shared this one with me. Out of the package it smelled something like a root beer float. Only better. Brewed, I found the scent to be heavenly, intriguing. I was so excited to taste this one I almost couldn’t sleep the night I got it. Why didn’t I try it the night before you say? I was afraid the caffeine would keep me up. That was an awesome plan.

Oh, the tea! It tastes like childhood memories of rootbeer floats on a hot summer night. It is a tricky tea, first fooling you into thinking it is a mere black tea. Until the magic starts. The sharp rootbeer flavor took me by surprise until the subtle vanilla notes made the entire experience worth the sleepless night. All of that was from the first sip! This tea is going to be fun to try iced and sweetened.

Thanks to Peppermintplant for giving me some of this! I found the scent very pleasant out of the tin and after it was steeped. It probably could use a bit of honey but it really was a nice tea. The pomegranate was really strong, but in a good way.

The smell of this tea reminds me of almond cookies: sweet and inviting. What makes it even more interesting is that it tastes like it smells. It has a very smooth feel, no bitterness at all.

I left this one unopened for a very long time because I thought I wouldn’t like it. I made a cup while cooking dinner. As I stirred the pasta, I reached for the tea. It literally caught me by surprise. A pleasant surprise. This tea would be amazing with a pastry! Huh, maybe that is what I will make for dessert.

I had the opportunity to taste this one thanks to PeppermintPlant My first sip reminded me of pineapple. I was intrigued. I really enjoyed the lightness of this tea. I too am not usually a fan of green teas but this one was really unique. It smelled very much like hay and grass before brewing but became much more citrus like in the cup. This one is going on the Christmas list….

There is something about this tea that keeps me coming back. It is by far my favorite “plain” black tea so far. As long as I have some of this in my cupboard, I will be happy.

No notes yet.

I have tried this one a few times and figured out that I really do like it. I drank a cup today at work in the morning. I thought, “Chocolate for breakfast? Why not?” The chocolate scent is just enough, more like cocoa than chocolate. I enjoy that the chocolate is a secondary note to the clean taste of the black tea.

I still love this tea! As it cools, it gets more spicy in flavor. It will be a sad day when I run out of it.

No notes yet.

The aroma of this tea really didn’t strike me as unique. It just smelled like black tea. In the cup, it had a amber orange color, reminding me of a cinnamon color. I don’t know why, it just does. The first sip tasted a little bit sweet to me, and malty. As it cooled, the flavor was very mild. There is one very impressive factor; It is incredibly smooth. It doesn’t at all taste like any other black tea I have had but I felt it was still not enough to set it apart from the other teas I have tried in the past. I will definitely try this one again, it is a good tea, just not my favorite.

This tea is gorgeous! I watched it steep and as the leaves unfurled, they took over a large amount of the teapot and looked like a crazy overgrown forest.

The second thing I noticed about this tea is the smell. The first thing that struck me was the smoky scent that reminded me of a campfire. I can understand the name of the tea now. I made enough of this tea to make two cups. One for the hubby and one for me.

It has a really light flavor, as one reviewer said, like spinach. I kind of like it. I think that I will try another cup before I decide whether to like it or not.

From the package, this tea invites me in with its grassy undertones and sweet smell. Very exotic in its scent.

The scent in my cup smells very floral, from the hibiscus I imagine. The first sip is a very full flavor, almost sweet. There is no astringency here, just a very nice smooth flavor.

Upon further drinking, I can find the passionfruit, which lends to the initial sweetness. It is a pleasant surprise since it isn’t as prevalent as the pomegranate green. I really am enjoying this one since its flavor profile is more complex than I anticipated. The hibiscus isn’t overly floral it just blends the earthy green flavor with the passionfruit.

Overall, I would definately drink this one over and over. But then, thats because this is a custom blend that I created for me! Thanks to PeppermintPlant, I have a large bag of it and I am looking forward to trying it again to see what story it tells next time!

I have tried this one twice and both times, I just was not very thrilled. Opening the package, it smelled very citrusy so I was hoping I was in for a treat.

I took time to watch it steep in my IngenuiTEA infuser and noticed the color was very light, something like a tangerine color. Very pretty.

My first sip was tart, almost sour flavor. It didn’t taste at all like tangerine. More like lemon. I thought the addition of honey would help this one along a bit and it made it more palatable but not exactly tangerine flavor. I will probably put this one away for a while before I try it again. Not my favorite.

I took this jar to work so I could start using up my collection to make room for more. I got comments all day about how good it smelled. I drank two cups today of this one. As it cooled, it seemed to get more spicy and less of the orange flavor. By the bottom of the cup, it tasted strongly of spices like cinnamon and maybe allspice? It was a nice finish that made me want another cup!

This tea is a great way to unwind. I don’t have too many decaf teas right now. The smell of this tea reminds me of summer. The peach smell is very prominent. After brewing, it still smells like peaches, but takes on more floral notes. The same is with the flavor. It is just a nice treat. I don’t need to add honey to this one.

No notes yet.

A chilly day makes me a very sad person. I would much rather have sunshine and blue skies. After a lunch with the family, I came home with the search for the perfect tea to chase my cold weather blues away. Pride of the Port just seemed to be so fitting.

The color of this tea is beautiful. It is somewhere between a cranberry and brown color. Its smell lead me to believe it was going to be a very astringent tea. It has the scent of a very strong black tea from a bag. However, it tastes so much better!

It tastes smooth and rich. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not at all bitter. I enjoy a good cup of unflavored black tea and I think this might be my favorite so far. Would go so well with a shortbread cookie.

Another tea sample from PeppermintPlant. I tried this one twice before writing the review. The first time, I had trouble noticing the caramel. It tasted like black tea with a slight bitter flavor. So, I had to read the reviews and see if i could learn why others liked it.

For those of you who want to know how I think about tea…here’s my internal dialogue:
Cup two went like this: “Well, it does smell like caramel….I wonder if I added some milk it would taste like a milk caramel candy…” In went the milk and I tasted it again. “Hmmm, tastes like caramel but something is missing….maybe it needs to be sweet.” In went a bit of honey. “Ooooh, now it tastes like candy!”

So yeah, it is good. Better with milk and sugar if you want to bring out that dark caramel flavor.

No notes yet.

This tea sounded like dessert so I had to try it. From the package, it smells like an Andes mint candy. I happily brewed my tea expecting a cup of chocolate mint truffle.

What I ended up with was a cup of so-so mint tea that smelled really good. The chocolate was not present. So, a spoonful of honey went in to see if the flavors would improve. They did, amazingly. It now officially is a chocolate mint tea. It is quite tasty, smooth, and carries a fairly rich flavor. On those nights when a little chocolate would make life better, I can reach for this tea!

I was not really thrilled with the idea of chocolate in my tea. I thought it would be weird. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. It does not really have a chocolate flavor as much as it lead me to believe by the scent. Instead, it is a smooth black tea flavor that has a dark roasted coffee taste. I will have to see if my idea changes the next time I have it.

I cannot help but smile every time I use this. Its unique design brews a perfect cup of tea and it is dishwasher safe. I bought one as a gift as well. I almost wish I had more just for fun.

A gift from my tea loving friend, this is the tea that started it all. It brought back memories of an orange pekoe tea my mom used to buy for me when I was younger. It was so strong when I opened it, I was unsure I would like such a thing. Brewing my first cup of this, I was amazed that it actually tasted like it smelled. It is reminiscent of Christmas in a cup.

I bought this tea while at the mall on an errand for a friend. I thought that I needed a nice herbal tea for unwinding. Little did I know that a peach orchard lay waiting in a tin in a store that was a few doors down…

The tea is sweet, and smooth. It smells strongly of peaches and lemon but the taste is just unique. It is warming, welcoming, and I really wish I could afford to have several cups of this a day.