Erin Williams

New tasting is still unimpressive. For some reason this tea reminds me of twigs. It’s very earthy tasting, but I don’t sense spice or orange. It’s a weak black tea I wouldn’t recommend.

I’m still not a huge fan among the second cup but it’s better. I found the trick was to steep a lot of it for a short time rather than how it normally goes (5 minutes with 1 tsp). This tea is so strong it’s better kept to under two minutes. This alone makes the tea very dark. It also still needs to be drank hot and not cooling at all. The clove again mildly numbs the tongue after awhile but not as badly as the first time. A tempermental tea. I sense cloves but I’m more of a heavy on the cinnamon type gal

I don’t like peppermint tea but this is the best one I’ve had. It’s mild and not in your face peppermint and works to blend with the other flavors. Pleasant to drink and calming. Also smells delicious. I wasn’t able to taste any nutty flavors though.

After first sample this tea is divine, my friend and I both agree. We’re not fruit tea fans either! The subtleness just brings out the amazing blends of flavours of the black tea. Divine and will definitely order again. Hard to describe but it induces a feeling of well being

Surprisingly this wasn’t bad. I had a craving to try a strawberry tea and this was certainly it. Mild black tea with soothing strawberry, nothing else added. I steeped for 8 minutes. Quite mild but pleasant and smooth. I expected a cheap perfume taste or something, but it didn’t have that.

First, the smell of this is incredibly divine. It’s like Red Hot candies or fireballs. My friend and I took it to have others smell it and they all said the same thing. I don’t think you could – no matter what you put in it – make anything smell more cinnamony than this.

This is the first full cinnamon tea I’ve had and I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s like hot flavored water/cinnamon. I dig adding the cloves in there to enhance but I keep tasting them too, cloves are pretty potent things and I’m not sure if they ended up taking away from the experience a little or not. I do wish I could taste more “tea” though with it, I think it would have enhanced it. Also, I couldn’t detect orange undertones. Could smell them, but not taste.

It’s not something you could drink much of in one sitting I don’t think, one cup is enough, it’s pretty strong. I think I prefer Cinnamon heavy chai mixes over straight cinnamon, but this is a winner if cinnamon is your thing, and it is mine. I’m totally obsessed with cinnamon this year – tea foods, breads, cakes, lattes, and of course TEAS!

I’ve come to the conclusion that I just must not like Ginger Black tea. To me, it has an almost Licorice taste. If it’s not twizzlers from a bag, I don’t like licorice, eck. Perhaps this is how it’s supposed to taste as Ginger and black, I don’t know. It wasn’t horrible and I could drink it, but it’s certainly not “my cup of tea.” I did love my Ginger lemon green tea from Coffee shop of horrors but with green tea perhaps it’s different. This is the second time I’ve gotten this taste, with two different teas, so can only assume it’s from when a decent amount of Ginger is used.

A soft, light, but tasteful black tea. The background flavours blend well and subtly to create a soothing, smooth, almost creamy black tea. Have had it twice now. The first time I think the flavours came through better, may have not steeped enough the second time. Not bitter at all and mild, soothing, calm black tea.

Very, very strong robust Irish Breakfast tea. Unusual looking and I echo the mysterious sentiments below. Definitely gives you a kick start for the day. Care not to oversteep and I add a little sugar to mine. Plenty of flavour and a rich aroma. Doesn’t have much scent before brewing. If you want like your breakfast teas hearty and strong, this is one for you. Thanks to Zen Life Tea for the sample!

Honestly pretty bland and not much on the orange “spice” part. A staple black tea but there’s better out there. I wouldn’t buy again. Wasn’t horrible but lackluster.

For some reason I didn’t really care for this tea the second time around. I now dislike it, call me strange. The lemon grass comes across too strong and cleaner like in my mind. Coconut can hardly be tasted and there’s little spice really.

This surprised me with its rich flavour. It was actually quite yummy and would be perfect sitting down to breakfast with french toast or something else sweet with syrup. Maple and then the syrup touch ring through very clear. The color is deep and red. The timing shows as 3 minutes. I typically steep for five and did with this one. It can be oversteeped! It’s pretty strong so can do bitter notes if go to five and that’s not needed. It’s also pretty yicky as it cools. Hot and fresh and steeped right, it’s an unusual and fun tea that’s warming, rich, fragrant, and highly flavored. I add a little sugar to mine as it enhances the other notes well. It’s sweet enough on its own if you don’t like sugar.

The first green tea I’ve really liked :) I’m more a black tea kind of girl, what can I say? I love this coffee shop’s fun flair with coffee beans. At a convention I was able to go to their booth and we bought three divine, delicious coffees – Judge Mint Day, Zombie Dirt (my latte blend!), and Caramel Scream. Imagine my delight when I found they had added tea to their collection!! They were out of black and the chai I would have loved, so we picked up the Green Tea because it smelled so fresh, invigorating, and sweet. They take care to tell us of the strength of their coffees and teas and the pride they took with them. Well, having a cup of Bog Goblin tonight, it’s yummy! The ginger crushes through the palette perfectly in an ideal harmony and marriage with the lemon. The green is there without being earthy and stemy (which I dislike about green teas). Very refreshing for a hot summer night or when one needs to relax any time. And, of course, the packaging and name rock!

This was the grossest tea I have tried. To me it’s extremely artificial, smells absolutely terrible, and the taste is amazingly cloying and cheap feeling to me. I actually threw the box away after trying it, and for hours afterwards every time I thought about my experience with this tea I felt a twinge of nausea! I took sips of it as it was cooling and it kept growing worse.

I’m a big fan of chai teas, almost all sorts. I was surprised at this one. My friend brought it over and I was hesitant because of the “vanilla.” I liked it much more than I figured I would. It’s pretty calming, you can certainly find the chai in there. The aroma is a little off-putting.

It’s okay but not something I reach for much. A fruity flavor for sure but you can really sense/taste the “just hot water” underneath too if this makes sense. Also a bit lemony. I think most of the issues may be from the flavorings they use, perhaps they cheap out on it.

For a bagged tea this one’s pretty good – no bitterness, nice and smooth, quite flavorful. It’s especially delicious when drinking while eating something “cinnamony.” I really need to try more loose leaf breakfast teas.

I’m not the biggest fan of fruit teas and I don’t like the cream ones I’ve tried, but I loved this one. It doesn’t seem like a cream tea at all to me, so not sure if the blend is now different from the title or not. Mine just says Pirate’s Blend Black Tea. It does have the same ingredient list.

My son and I drank a cup and loved it, I steeped one Tbsp five minutes, and that was more than strong enough. I would think two tablespoons may be overpowering. Very dark and flavorful, reminded me of a tropical island with a nice breeze while lounging on the sand, sucking on the remains of some hard candy. Has coconut but I didn’t taste it, which may be a good thing.

I’m a Southerner so I’m used to ultra sweet tea. Most of the time this stuff is even too sweet for me though! Can be sickly so. Good prices for so much tea but has to be made just right and it’s yucky when its warm. A bit too much on the sugar.

Been curious about this one since my sample arrived – the reviews have been enticing and it’s not like anything I’m used to. The smell was divine. It was odd and I tested this with my best friend – you take one whiff, smell chocolate, close the bag. Then open the bag again, whiff again, and then you smell strawberries. Awesome.

I don’t think I’m a big flavored tea fan, and also I’m am not a fruit flavored fan. So, this one will likely not be a re-order for me.

The flavoring is brilliantly close to what it should be – tastes like dark cooking chocolate and strawberry underneath, similar to a chocolate-covered strawberry. The tea is oh-so-pretty, and really fluffs up when soaked. The smell is divinely rich and yummy, such a cute tempting thing for Valentines. <3

Munched on while playing a game of League of Legend with fiance, and heated up a plate of mini cheesecake bites and an assortment of small cookies. Figured they all went hand and hand. True enough, one bite of the chocolate cookie helped enhanced the tea flavor.

Figured I’d knock out my sampler of white tea, something I’m new to and not as crazy about in general. Tea and toast for the evening.

I’m very naive when it comes to white teas and prefer stronger blends myself. Even I can clearly tell this is a quality tea, very smooth and light ‘clean’ taste with a tad touch of grassiness. Sugar would likely kill it as it’s naturally sweet on its own. Uplifting and refreshing, just not something I’d drink normally as I enjoy more flavor. Going to retry soon by steeping longer and adding even more tea than just 2 tbs.

Basically seems like a high-quality white tea, white tea in general is just not for me. Rated this higher because it deserves it and shouldn’t only be rated by personal preference.

I made a mistake of tasting it an hour later after it had completely cooled in my teacup – had gotten quite astringent letting it sit. So, don’t do that!

Wanted to relax tonight before bed, so I thought the perfect way to do this was to take a nice, hot bubble bath, sip some Assam Melody from Adagio teas, and finish the novel I’ve been reading.

I wanted to try a sample that wasn’t too risky since I didn’t want to accidentally grab a sampler I didn’t like and be stuck with it once submerged in the tub. Chose a basic black as this seemed easy not to hate, and thankfully I was right. The smell is fragrant but not overly so, just a dependable yummy smell that all good black teas have when you inhale deeply with your nose hovering in the cup. The color was a dark red that looked rich and deep. Taste wise it was sweet and pleasant. At the very end of each sip there was a something…almost a bitterness but not quite, and I see what some mean almost about a dryness (this was hardly noticable to me, however.)

While everyone touts it’s lack of bitterness, I must say I accidentally steeped this one a little over three minutes and hit the five mark. I can see where it would be overwhelming if you oversteeped it much too long. It’s a basic clean black, pleasant and enjoyable, warmth and relaxing. There is no amazing pizazz that shouts from the cup and sings to the senses, but it’s definitely enjoyable.

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, it’s Christmas day!

Here I sit at the computer, playing the Blue Velvet Jazz score, tasting my first sip of my best friend’s Christmas gift to me, Twining’s bagged Christmas Tea. I’m using my new little Gingerbread Christmas For-One Tea pot set I nabbed at Goodwill this month. It’s adorable and looked especially so with the little Twining’s tag hanging out of it while steeping.

Pleasantly surprised? Yep. The smell was barely existent but the taste is strong and filled with delightful Cinnamon. Christmas tea is really just a Chai Tea, but I love Chai so this is perfect. It’s ironic but recently, after trying some Chais, almost all dissappoint. I first found Chai years ago in teabag form and swooned. I have since tried Thai Chai by Adagio – yummy different sort of tropical Chai. I nabbed some Oriental Spice to hopefully serve as a Chai and Orange Spice but sadly disliked it. I also nabbed another Masali Loose Tea Chai from the local tea shop and sadly it was lackluster as well. Must I only find blissful Chai solitude within a teabag? Surely not!

This one is very rich on Cinnamon, which I enjoy, followed by a pleasant orange taste resting on the tongue. Skimming through reviews, it looks as if others sometimes note a lack of cinnamon. Odd. Perhaps the cinnamon is brought fuller out with sugar, I think. It is not heavy on other spices like traditional Chais, so it not a perfect replacement for other Chais, just a nice Christmas hot Cinnamon sweet taste, delicious.

A yummy tea that I will guarantee shall dissappear quickly from the cupboard. The box is a pleasing red design as well. It is not the stand-up shown here but mine is horizontical.

Adorable packaging but bland flavor. It’s a very basic black tea similar to any bagged tea from the grocery store. Almost impossible to find much flavoring otherwise, especially in the berry and sage department. Too weak for me to rate it higher or suggesting to purchase it. It does, however, have a cozy smell. For a memory recall, I first found this over 12 years ago now when working as an eighteen year old at Books A Million. I love their iced Blackberry Sage Italian Sodas with whipped cream and from working there began to get drawn to hot tea.