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I’m assuming I got this as a sample from American Tea Room, because I have yet to order a tea with lavender in it. To me, lavender is something I inhale to enjoy. In a tea? Well… okay, I’ll try it. Had an surprising amount of lavender in it, and it smells strongly of potpourri out of the bag. Also, one sample bag = one liter of tea, or four cups.

Steeped, this smells of lavender mint – again, a bit concerning for me. Lots of tiny floaties as well. First sips tasted like little to me, so maybe they’re too hot still. The taste left in my mouth is… fuzzy. Burning. Flowery. Odd. It tastes like potpourri to me. I’m… going to dump this and try something else. Wanted to like it, be adventurous. I think I’ll just go with something I know I’ll love.

I decided I wanted a day of tasting yummy chocolate spicy teas today, and so I started with this one. Unfortunately, I think I missed somehow that this isn’t a spicy tea, but rather a quite mellow one. Nice, just mellow. Think coconutty creamy with a hint of spice at the end, and then some sweetness via a form of vanilla or maybe an added sweetener. It’s nice. It’s gentle. It’s loving.

I however, was looking for more of a wham, bam, thank you Ma’am kind of tea today.

The smell of his tea, both prior to and after steeping, is just like that other stuff I tried the other day… someone remind me… brain turn on… it smelled like pancake syrup, even though many people here mistakenly called it maple syrup. Yep, this is almost identical.

This tastes very similarly. To be frank, I swear it’s the same tea. It’s not, because this is a whole different bag that actually says, “Gingerbread.” So unless the gal at DAVID’s made a boo-boo… I can’t tell these apart.

EDIT: It was Birthday Cake. This must be the same tea, just mis-labelled. It’s just pancake syrup -turned tea. That’s all I taste.

This smells interestingly out of the bag, more like cinnamon pastry dough than anything to me, strong on the cinnamon/vanilla combo. Steeped, this smelled like nothing, or maybe vaguely of roobos.

The taste was interesting. Initially nothing at all again, until – WHAM. I’m complaining in my head, “Hey, why is this rated so high and I taste nothing?” and then it oozed through my mouth like a gooey cinnamon roll. Yep, exactly like one. It took a bit to build any sort of flavor, yet when it did… wowza. Shazam. Boo-yah. It’s a melted, hot, gooey cinnamon roll in my mouth, minus any pastry-like feeling or chewing.

How can that flavor still be there? Two minutes after a sip, it’s still ooey gooey in my mouth. Love!

Almost every single tea with the word ‘love’ in it has strawberries, so when I saw that this one was free of them, I had to grab a small bag to see what I was missing. Or, I’m hoping there’s zero strawberry in here… Tealish’s ingredient lists are usually AWOL other than the describe flavorings.

Out of the bag, this smells like a juicy melange of fruit and green tea. Steeped it smells more like currants and spice. My first sips are tentative – are we sure there aren’t any strawberries in here? – and I’m having a hard time telling. There’s something making my lips and tongue tingle, however it could well be the red peppercorns I saw in the mix. It takes like currants with a bit of spice for the most part, with hints of roasty green tea in the background and the finish.

It’s nice and pleasant, and while I do enjoy it, I’m still focused on the possibility of strawberries in here. I’m off to go email Tealish and ask them.

This smells like dark chocolate bar in the bag, and like delicious, creamy hot chocolate all steeped up. Overleafed a bit based on prior notes from some of you other awesome Steepster-ers. 1.5 tsp/cup.

Oh, this is a tea that BEGS for cream, milk, something to fill it out a bit. It’s okay unsweetened, a bit bland, and thin… again back to that cream-needing thing. Some Truvia makes it taste like a sweet chocolate bar, minus any cream or cocoa butter. So, like a dark chocolate bar, yet sweeter. I’ll try it with milk some other time, I’m too lazy to get up right now. Plus, this is good just as-is.

Thanks to Dexter3657 for this sample!

I’m confused by this tea. It smells very much like maple candies in the bag, and steeped it smells mostly like rooibos. What confuses me is the taste. I mean, I LOVE the taste. It reminds me of my childhood, and an odd Dutch treat my Mom would give me that she loved, called zout. Basically, there were plain chewy licorice kitties (I forget their name – that’s what this tea tastes like to me), zout (hard, coin-shaped salted licorice), and double zout (I’m sure you can figure that one out).

All I’m getting from this is the chewy kitty licorice candies. Last time I had them, my Mom had long passed, and I was in the MOST amazing European deli in Courtenay, BC, on Vancouver Island. (For a small island town, Courtenay has some amazing businesses including one of my all-time favorite yarn shops, The Tea Centre, and this European Deli. I miss them all dearly). Anyway, I digress.

This is a maple-spiced tea, yet all I get is chewy kitty licorice – and I have yet to sweeten it. Take from that what you will, however just from the memory alone that it evokes, I’ll definitely buy more of this.

The majority of this has already gone out (or is about to) in tea swaps, so I decided it was about time that I tried some for myself.

Out of the bag, this smells very decadent. Caramel chocolate is what I get, with something else that’s adding depth. Steeped, it smells just like a black tea with a touch of nut and maybe some cheesecake if I’m really reaching. Boo. I was hoping for something that made my house smell divine!

I overleafed this slightly (well, I guess I did, there are zero steeping suggestions anywhere). So, 1.25 tsp/cup, just under boiling (because I find Frank’s blends better at that temperature) and 4 minutes of steeping.

My first sips were a bit disappointing, and then reminded myself I need to wait a bit until after the sip. That’s when I usually taste the full embodiment of a black tea flavor, instead of as I’m sipping it. I also remembered that every tea I’ve had of Frank’s tasted better sweetened, so I add some Truvia.

Okay, NOW we’re talking. Hint of dark chocolate first, then nuts, then a lovely, full, buttery caramel that just explodes in my mouth. (Hey now). The initial few seconds of the sip are… just black tea. If I let it sit though, it consistently goes through this flavor palate over and over: caocao (bitter chocolate), hint of nut, caramel explosion.

It’s a touch astringent, so I think next time I’ll overleaf to 1.5 tsp, reduce the water temperature to 200, and steep time slightly as well. A decent cup, however I’m tasting zero cheesecake unfortunately. Still yummy!

EDIT: The flavors come out even more when this tea cools, however it also gets really dry as well.

Thanks to Brenden at Whispering Pines for this free sample with my order that came in the other day.

Dry and steeped, this smells like something my Dad used to call, “Hot Lemon Drink,” which is what we made each other when sick in my childhood: lemon juice muddled with honey, add some hot water, and voila! Hot Lemon Drink. As I’ve gotten older, I add ginger tea to this mix and whiskey, to make my own Hot Toddy. Usually whips my cold into shape in no time.

This smells so much like that drink, it’s blowing my mind a bit. Syrupy gingerness. I’m so excited to try this!

Again however, I’m worried my proportions are off. My bag says 1 tsp/cup, however on Steepster it says 1/2 tbsp/cup. I went with 1 tsp only because the bag is what I was looking at when I popped it all into the Breville. Well, it tastes lovely, if a tiny bit weak.. and I’m okay with that.

It’s subtly orange sweet with a hint of ginger kick (more ginger flavor than bite), with some tartness thrown in for good measure. I keep on smelling it, amazed at how great it is. Yes, I will definitely be ordering more of this; I will it will now replace my other (generic) ginger tea that I’ve used for years in my Hot Toddy mix. The only thing that’s throwing me a bit is the tartness of the blend, however it’s smoothed out nicely with a touch of sweetener.

This is Miss Cranky Pants sharing her tea review today, normally known as MissB. You’ve been warned! :)

A good chunk of my day was spent dealing with shipping issues with two separate tea orders. The first is with Butiki; the package was shipped late last month, and USPS shows it was delivered November 1st. What? So I look, and the address is wrong (thanks to PayPal, and my own too fast re-ordering because I’d chosen to take the funds out of my bank account – delay in processing – versus my credit card). It’s my old address, from a landlord who was great while I lived there, however still has yet to return my significant damage deposit. USPS shows that someone actually SIGNED for it at my old house, which concerns me even more.

So I text my old landlord, who replies back within the hour, “Will check with tenant and get back to you! He is an honest guy!” Sigh. If he was honest, he would have told someone fifteen days ago – when they received the package and signed for it – that it was either there, or returned to sender.

The second package frustration came from Assam Tea Company, which sits only a 10 minute walk from my house. I ordered a schwack of their (really inexpensive yet decently sized) sample-sized tea last week, and as per their website, emailed them to say I’d prefer picking up my order, and to arrange a time to do so. Two days later (?) I get a reply, telling me they’re ever so sorry, however it’s already been labelled to ship. Huh? Is it really that big of a warehouse that they couldn’t walk on over to the packer/shipper and say, “Hey, that order over there? The customer wants to pick it up.” Of course it’s small enough, because it’s in a residential area. However, they chose not to, and so I wanted another several days before it was shipped, and then one day for it to go across town to the shipping warehouse, and then delivered to my door today. Thankfully, they have flat-rate shipping of $3.95… but still.

Finally, the packaging of the Assam teas, while cute and professional, only list the amount of tea in ounces. So… is 2 grams a teaspoon or a tablespoon? Do I really need to get a scale to measure this out? I’m frustrated, and just want to make some tea at this point, so I arbitrairly decide it’s a rounded teaspoon. Also, I’ve made up enough for a liter, and there’s still a good portion left. However – you guessed it – their (again, surprisingly large sample size) bags aren’t resealable. Oh yea, and for all of their specificity for steep times and amount of tea, they failed to include water temperature suggestions. Okay sure, I can figure it out.

Miss Cranky Pants Deactivated mostly because she’s getting a bit nasty. :(

Dry, this smells like super sweet apricots still on the tree (read: there’s a slight vegetal smell). Brewed, it smells pineapple-y and apricot-ish, however only faintly. Hot, this tastes like a black tea with ever so slight apricot notes (yes, you read that right – this is a green that tastes like a black to me), and they develop after the sip slightly over time. I really have to search for the apricot, yet it’s there. A 1/2 tsp per cup of Truvia brings the apricot front and centre, with a bit of tanginess to boot, however now the green tea also becomes more prominent and I can taste a very slight astringency mid-way through the sip, almost as if it were a black. Now though, I definitely can tell this is a green tea. Odd.

It’s a nice tea if you like apricot, and one to try if you’re doing a taste-off. There’s little here that’s knock-your-socks off though, just a solid good.