Jaime

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There is just something about this tea. The smell reminds me of something from my childhood, but for the life of me I can’t remember what. One sip, and I’m transported back to summer days when I would spend all day riding my bike in my neighborhood with no helmet and no worries.

Okay, for the actual review: extremely fruity, with a very strong tangerine taste. Out of the hibiscus teas I’ve had from Republic of Tea (and that’s all except for the Vanilla one and the plain one), this is by far my favorite. I brew for 10 minutes (I like my teas strong).

Tangerine Hibiscus is a World Market exclusive. I’ll happily drive the hour and a little bit to get another tin. In fact, this is my second tin (and that’s not counting the one that’s at my parents’ house). This is also fantastic iced, and is also really good mixed with Country Time lemonade.

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Where has this tea been my whole life? I shall never be without it again.

The plantain flavor is perfect: just like a fully ripe, baked plantain. The coconut adds a tropical note. There’s a slight, sweet grassy note at the end of a sip. I plan on getting the plain Raw Green Bush since I’ve never had raw rooibos to compare this to.

I brew for 10 minutes.

Every time I drink this tea, I’m reminded of my friend Mindy, who bought it for me. It’s a very light and floral version of Earl Grey, which I find both refreshing and soothing. It’s a great after-work, sip-away-your-cares cup.

This is another sample from Angel Teas, Lucy’s daughter’s shop. According to the website, there’s no tea in this one, but it does contain caffeine. Still pondering exactly how that works…

There’s a distinct taste of rosehips, and a malty flavor. I brewed for 5 minutes, perhaps a shorter or longer brew would bring out more of the hibiscus or lemon myrtle notes?

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The daughter of one of my dear friends has started a tea business. Lucy (my friend) and Mama France were talking one day (we’re all in the same quilt guild), and the topic came up. Next thing I know, a package of samples arrived in the mail. Oh, yes, that was a Good Mail Day.

I’m not sure which company is her actual tea source, but this tea by Arbor Teas is identical in look and ingredients, so rather than add another tea and company, I’m noting it as this.

The dry blend smells so very strongly, that I was a bit let down when I sniffed my cup. There’s not really any similarity between the two. The scent of the brew is very weak.

But the taste!! If you love fruit teas, and strong, thick fruit teas, this is one for you. The strongest flavors are hibiscus and black currant, with tart cranberries to follow. Kids and juice drinkers would appreciate this tea. And I’m thinking that it wouldn’t be bad iced with a splash of rum.

From the smell of the bag, I expected to taste a lot more of the bergamot than I am…it’s very light, almost a footnote compared to the rooibos. I think that non-fans of Earl Gray blends would enjoy this version. Very nicely done.

Another tea that I’m almost out of, and one that I’ll be buying again. I’m not usually a Lipton’s fan, but they’ve been coming out with some good teas here lately. This one is great.

There’s peach, a good peach flavor, and another tropical-esque fruit flavor which I’m assuming is the mangosteen. Having never eaten mangosteen before, I’ve no idea how authentic it is. There’s not a strong green tea taste (it’s there, just not prominent), but that’s okay with me.

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This has berries in it? Are you sure? Smells like vanilla cookies to me…tastes like cookies. Perhaps there’s a hint of apple…no, not really. Just vanilla cookie goodness.

I won’t pretend that I’m a knowledgeable tea drinker. I couldn’t tell you the differences in the flavor profile of an Assam versus a Ceylon versus a Darjeeling. Someday I hope to be able to tell you that, and also be able to tell you the differences in how different varietals of tea taste. But for now, you’ll just have to deal with my ignorance of such things.

And, in all my ignorance, I think this is perhaps the best, plain, straight-up black tea I’ve had to date. It’s rich, thick, and slightly sweet. It has the perfect astringency.
And, if you like good ol’ Southern-style sweet tea, there’s nothing I’ve found yet that makes a better pitcher.

World Market has several exclusive teas with Zhena’s and with Republic of Tea. Luckily, I’m only an hour away from one. And, yes, Cotton, I do drive there and back just to get tea.

I was hoping for more of a dreamsicle taste, but I think I like this light flavor better than I would if it were stronger tasting. The vanilla is a bit more powerful than the orange, but both are light and enhance the Indian tea rather than mask it.

Whenever I go to Louisville, I stay with my hetero-life partner’s parents. Mom and Diddy Murphy are great…but Mom Murphy always waits to do her major grocery shopping until we come (third floor condo = wait for the packmules to visit before buying more than 3 bags full).

It’s okay, though, because they thoughtfully leave me in the tea aisle every time. I’ve found all kinds of new brands/varieties that I can’t find here; this is one of them.

The strongest taste is honey. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I’d put honey in to sweeten it. There’s some ginseng, yup, and a bit of mandarin oranges, but it’s mostly honey that I taste. I don’t like my tea sweetened at all, so it’s not one of my favorites. And if it oversteeps any at all, blech.

A gift from my work-husband this past May! Well, he’s no longer my work-husband since he moved to northern Ky for another job. But he was a good one. At 5am, he walked into the cafeteria where I was making brownies for 600 people, took one look at my face, and immediately walked back out. He came back in 20 minutes with three different boxes of Lipton tea. I’ll never be able to train someone that well again.

When I first tried it, I didn’t like it at all (which is why this is the only one I have left out of the three). I was expecting sweeter, creamier, a dessert tea. The caramel taste is very dark, almost as though the caramel was cooked for too long. This makes the tea very earthy, and to me, it tastes more like the mushroom truffle than a dessert truffle. It’s still good, so long as you like savory and are expecting it. Avoid using boiling water and overbrewing: this one gets bitter fast.

Scent is lovely; light cucumber with a hint of carrot. This brews up darker than all the other white teas I’ve had. It’s more similar to a dark oolong than to a white tea.

I was expecting it to taste more savory than sweet, ans was surprised at how crisp and sweet it actually is. There’s more of a carrot taste than cucumber. Has a lot more depth than many flavored white teas I’ve had.

Business trips and conferences are rarely kind to the tea lover. Hotels always have a coffeemaker and plenty of coffee. Rarely do they have a means of getting hot water that isn’t coffee-tainted. I’ve started bringing my Hot Shot with me.

This summer, though, at our state conference, the hotel had tea. Harney & Sons, even. Yes, in bags, but I don’t mind bags at all. They had a little supply in the rooms (with a hot water dispenser, in fact), and at breakfast, they brought you a carafe of hot water and about a dozen bags of different flavors. My coworkers, bless them, tucked away the tea in their rooms each day so the staff would replace it, and presented me with a fairly large baggie full on our way home.

This tea is one of those “gifts”. A good, strong cup to convince me that I really do have to go to work today. If, for nothing else, to see my coffee-obsessed coworkers.

This is perhaps my most favorite tea. The scent is pure peaches. Ripe, southern-grown, juicy peaches. The peach flavor isn’t as strong as the scent, but rather it pulls out the sweet notes of the tea and enhances the tea’s natural flavor. It’s one of the most comforting cups I’ve ever had; no matter what has happened, I know I can drink a cup of this and instantly be soothed. Happy Wednesday!

I hate ginger. Yes, I do. Hate it. Had I known this tea had ginger in it, I wouldn’t have bought it.

Why’d I buy it? The salesgirl took the lid off the tin, fanned the smell towards me, and told me it tasted like a snickerdoodle. Yes, thank you, I’ll have 2 oz.

And it does taste like a snickerdoodle. I don’t notice the ginger at all. It’s creamy and coconutty and lovely. A very nice tea after a long day of work. I brew it for 10 minutes.

I’m not a fan of Yogi Teas in general. Yes, I know tea is healthy, but I drink it for the taste and not the health benefits. Most of the samples I’ve tried of their teas have been, to put it nicely, unpalatable. It’s like you can taste the fact that it’s marketed to be a supplement.

I saw this tea at a holistic foods store in South Carolina. It sounded so good that I had to get and try it, despite my past history with Yogi.

To my surprise, it’s really good. Yes, it still has a slight “supplement” taste, but there’s definitely apple in there, and spices that remind me of Aztec hot chocolate. This is my last bag, sadly. If I see it again, I’ll probably buy more.

I’m almost finished with this box, and am rather sad to see it go. It’s a warm, winter brew that is well-balanced. The orange and spices give this tea a Christmas-y taste. Which is really great when Tuesday’s acting like a Monday.

I found this “tea” at a health foods store in Louisville, Ky. I was looking for something different, and can you get much different than drinking a tea made from fir trees?

There are no brewing suggestions on the box, nor on the company’s website. So I tried it out for 5 minutes with boiling water.

Have you ever had a real, live Christmas tree in your home? This tea smells just like a Christmas tree, but with a little lemony edge.

The taste is very earthy, deeper and thicker than a nutty green tea; you can definitely taste the tree. There’s also a taste similar to lemon verbena.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how good this tea is. I don’t know if it will become one of my staples, but it won’t be sitting in the cabinet forever, either.

I purchased this at Jungle Jim’s about a month ago on a whim. Finally dug it out of the tea cabinet to try it.

The “tea” itself is rather woody looking, like very pale pine or poplar. There’s a distinct vegetative smell that reminds me of something, though for the life of me I can’t place it. According to package, it’s to brew 1 tsp in 100 ml of cold water. For 30 minutes. So I’ve let it sit for 30 minutes in cold water and am now ready to try it.

It’s very pale. The color is reminiscent of a chardonnay, but even paler. Scent is similar to the unbrewed state…I know I’ve smelled something like this before.

Tastes…like water. Wait, there it is. The after-taste is identical to the smell. Woodsy, almost metallic. Barely there at all, but it does linger on the back of the tongue. Undecided if that’s a good thing.

Will definitely have to experiment with this one. Brewing it hot next time to see if improves.