1500 Tasting Notes
Forgot I drank this already. It’s still good! Felt like there’s a cold coming, and it’s helping move things around. Definitely spicy, but not too much so – like a spicy chai minus the black tea. I think this is something I need to look into cooking with – as a broth perhaps, or maybe in a curry?
Preparation
Any chance I get, I will try a turmeric tea. I love turmeric in my food and in my teas, and I’m still a bit upset that DAVID’s no longer sells their version of a turmeric tea. Sigh. So when I saw this in T&T Market (a local warehouse-style Asian grocery store), I immediately snapped it up.
As I opened the packaging, I noticed there are a few interesting ingredients, including pissenlit (dandelion, in French) which is a word that always makes me giggle. What I smell most though as I unwrap the plastic packaging from the outside of the box is licorice. Oh my. I’m cool with licorice, but I wanted a turmeric tea.
After a surprisingly short steep time, I taste. It’s too hot, and yet, tasty… and mostly licorice. Yes, there’s a bit of ginger bite at the end that I can feel on my lips, and there’s definitely an element of turmeric mid-way through the sip, if faint. Truvia mellows things out a bit, and makes it a bit more like a turmeric tea, but only barely.
The search continues.
Preparation
Sounds like something you might want in the medicine chest come cold and phlegm season! ;) We have a local health grocer that carries a number of Vietnamese boxed teas…I’ll have to investigate a little more closely to see if this is on the shelves.
Recommended steeping time: 4-6 minutes. Actual steeping time: 25 minutes.
Smells like a field of juicy, dripping blueberries (you know, after the kids have run rampant and eaten/squashed them by the handful). I thought it was a bit tart though drinking it… of course, my ridiculous oversteep is likely the cause of that.
I liked this, and really liked it after adding Truvia – the blueberries and apple really turn mouth-watering then, almost like a sweet blueberry pie, minus the crust. There’s zero to pick out that was ‘bad’, I just… wanted to like it more. Blueberry fans should definitely try this.
Preparation
First, a caveat: I oversteeped this. I forgot I as I was putting my youngest to bed that I had boiled the water and gotten a small cup ready to drink. Recommended steep time is 2-4 minutes; I steeped for close to six. Argh!
And so, I’m going to give it a bit of leeway here, because I think I did the tea wrong, in a way. It does smell very key lime-ish out of the bag, and more so after steeping. My first sips were a bit astringent, so I added Truvia. Holy moly! A sweet, tart, key lime tea here, with a hint of the base peeking through. I can definitely tell there’s pineapple in here as well, although I think it was supposed to take a bit less of a front seat in this blend, it’s likely due to my oversteeping. And then the creaminess, which is more in flavor than feel… usually I like teas with the yogurt stuff in them (bits?) and this is no exception.
I’ll have to brew more another day to really try this out, because I am getting something floral and off-putting at the end of the sip, underneath the lime/pineapple sweet and sour.
Preparation
For the life of me, I’m blanking out why I bought so much of this. Somewhere, someone must have told me this was the end-all, be-all of chocolate teas.
Smells carob-like and fresh out of the bag, but more cocoa-like as it steeps. Sweetened, this is an excellent fix for my love of hot cocoa, even though it’s got zero of the creaminess that cocoa with milk does. It’s more.. thick. A teensy bit of cinnamon in the aftertaste. Mostly lightly flavored, dark cocoa nibs. It’s a strong like, but not a love. I think this would really sparkle with some orange in it, or as Sil said in another tealog, mixed with something else.
Preparation
this is backlogged for me…… i did not get any cocoa. i got lots of spices…… not right for me i don’t think, but i want to give it a final go.
I have a huge amount. Did I send some to you? The cocoa I get is only when sweetened, and only at the end of the sip – almost like a bitter cocoa, and that’s it. I want there to be more, and I have a feeling it’ll rock when mixed with Cacao Tea… which still hasn’t shipped after ordering on the 26th of November.
My teenage daughter says, “I’m not an expert like you Mom, but this tea tastes really good.” That’s a few minutes after steeping with the water having cooled, and zero sweetener. Yep, it’s a tasty tea.
Out of the bag it smells very tropical and mango-y, with a slight hint of floral in there too. I’m okay with the floral in this case, as it’s faint and seems to only enhance instead of taking over.
Steeped, the mango is prominent, with whatever floral note falling way behind, and the black base solid in the middle. I prefer this lightly sweetened with Truvia, but that’s just because it’s more fruity.
Will I buy this again? It’s tasty. I have a credit with Teajo because of the exploding tea incident during shipping — and thank you for the credit, and for dealing with the issue so quickly! If I needed something else to round out my order? Yes, I’d order this again. I doubt I’d go out of my way though if this was the only thing I wanted.
Preparation
Hm. I don’t think there’s coconut in here… unless I missed it completely. More juicy mango than anything. I’ll put some aside for you to send off in another bag, CelebriTEA.
Mixed up with coconut/almond milk blend, and added 1 tsp Truvia. The milk wasn’t cold, so perhaps that’s my issue – because something tastes off here. Granular? Not as caramel-y as I’d expected? It’s weird.
Holding off on reviewing any more than this until I know I can do it justice.
Preparation
More thank you’s to JustJames for sending this along for me to try out.
A small cup brewed in *CelebriTEA*’s turkey cup, and this is heavenly. Raspberry and caramel mingle together to form something dessert-y and decadent, and I enjoy this more sweetened; the raspberry seems to really shine this way. This tea is unctuous, which is an odd term for tea, and yet, it really feels right to me.
I steeped it a bit longer than I likely should have, only because I’m using this in a one-cup allocation instead of my normal 1L of tea in the Breville. Walked away, and, oops! Luckily, this tea can and did handle my mangling well.
Preparation
Ahh…JustJames…
Would you be up for a swap with this after the first of the year?
This sounds divine!
If not, I may have to check Amazon :-)
Thank you dear JustJames for sending this along to me.
A lovely rooibos, and exactly what I wanted tonight to wind down with. Lovely vanilla tea, and one that I can barely taste as being rooibos-y. Creamy, a touch tart, and thick. Delicious!
Preparation
Having to skip a few days of Dammann’s Advent Calendar due to allergies, this finds me at day six.
This tastes like an expensive Earl Grey to me, heavier on the orange than bergamot – but let’s face it, I’ve confused the two many times before. Had to add a fair amount of Truvia for me to enjoy it.
Nothing to see here. I think I may move on to day seven next.