Emilie

Had this blend for a late breakfast before heading out. I really like strong smokey teas, so I was excited for this one. The oriental spice in this one seems to tone down the lapsang, without really showing itself. At first, I was disappointed with the lack of smoke, but I like how smooth the other elements make this tea. It’s not bitter at all and honestly better than I was expecting.

On a mostly unrelated note, I found out that Zhi Tea is near me and I plan on going soon! I just have to find someone I can convince to go with me..

I’ve been away for a while, due to finals and moving into a new apartment. I’ve finally unpacked everything I need for tea making, and decided to try out this tea as my first cup in the new place. While it was steeping, the smell really reminded me of this candy I used to have as a kid. It was fruit flavored gum in little spheres. There was grape, strawberry, melon, and many others. They came in little individual boxes held together by plastic wrap.

The taste reminds me of the same. I almost feel like I’m getting honeydew more than cantaloupe, though it’s still delicious! It’s sweet, probably from the cream and the tea itself.

After letting it cool down to a warm, not hot, temperature, I’m noticing that it seems more juicy, like I just bit down into a piece of melon. I’m not sure what else to say about this lovely tea that hasn’t already been said, but I really enjoy it!

I drank this as a way to power through my three hour exam yesterday morning. I don’t remember much of the flavor, but I kept drinking it, so it must have been good! I do remember that I quite enjoyed the smell. One more exam to go for the semester!

On a side note, I’m going to be in Huston next week. Anyone know of any good tea places?

Drank this earlier, I only have enough for one cup left! :(
This one smelled a little funny in the bag. It didn’t particularly smell like pineapple, cilantro, or white tea. It smells a lot better after steeping at least! This is very interestingly flavored. I definitely get the creaminess. The pineapple and the white base blend together well. I don’t know what exactly say about the cilantro. I can tell it is giving a flavor to the tea, but I definitely wouldn’t consider it cilantro. It’s not really good or bad, just different. I would be interested in trying this iced.

Finished this off with another cold brew that I drank along with some delicious Greek food. This is a very good tropical tea, and I definitely want more.

I’ve finally over my cold and I can try all the Butiki tea samples I received! Thanks for those! This is the one I’ve been most anxious to try, as I keep seeing wonderful reviews.

I steeped this one up, I accidentally forgot to set the timer. I think only about a minute passed before I realized but there may have been some oversteeping. I took a sip and…didn’t really taste much. I tried again, and got some vague black tea flavor. What did I do wrong?? Maybe my tongue is broken. I’m really sad that I couldn’t get all these amazing flavors.

After running to the store with one of the roommates, I came back and had some tea still left in the mug that had gone cold. I decided to try it and actually got some of the flavor I was expecting! There’s definitely orange and dark chocolate. So what’s going on with me and this tea?

Tried this as a cold brew. It’s very sweet and mapley, and I think the roobios actually tones it down a bit here to keep it from being overpoweringly sweet. It’s good, but I prefer it warm

My cold brew of the day before I dash off to lab where we’re going to race apple snails. This one smells very rooibos-y in the bag, and the flavor is still there in the tea. It’s not as mediciney as some that I’ve had. It actually doesn’t taste too bad, and I wouldn’t mind it much except that it feels like it’s covering up the other flavors. I get blueberry, especially in the aftertaste. And I feel like there’s a bit of creamy sweetness going on here, but nothing that I would call cheesecake. I have enough to try this hot, so I’ll have to do that soon and compare.

I’ve been having a lot of cold brew teas lately since the weather suddenly got really warm, in the 80s and humid. I thought this might be an interesting cold brew for today, but when I woke up this morning it was in the 50s! I made myself drink it anyway, because I needed some kind of caffeine for class.

This is definitely an interesting cold brew. I sweetened it to get a bit more of the ( what I imagine to be) butterbeer flavor. I think this would be really good with some addition to make it creamier, though I didn’t have anything. At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked it. But as I sat in class, I found myself sipping it more and more, and enjoying it. I think I might prefer this warm, but it’s definitely not bad cold.

Finished off the last of this that I got a while back from TeaEqualsBliss. I still enjoy it and plan on trying other Milky Oolongs.

My stomach was feeling a little unwell earlier, so I figured that I should skip the black tea I was craving and go for something a little lighter. So, I found this in my “drink these first” box. It smells a lot like the Tropical Getaway from Compass Teas I had earlier today. I don’t have a thermometer, unfortunately, so I have to guess at the water temperatures for anything less than boiling. I should probably pick one up soon. This tea keeps the delicious fruity smell during and after steeping. However, I’m guessing I didn’t get the temperature right, since I’m getting no fruitiness and instead a somewhat bitter green tea. There almost seems to be a soapy flavor. Definitely need to pick up a thermometer before I kill any more helpless teas.

A sample in my order that just got in today! I have to read through a bunch of Greek tragedies to prepare for my test, so I wanted something to keep me awake, and to be comforting while I read plays where everyone dies.

Hmm, so I felt like I mostly only got chocolate with this. There may have been a bit of rose in there, but definitely no cherry. I did enjoy the chocolate, especially with some milk and a bit of sugar, but it didn’t taste like I expected.

I got this in a swap a looong time ago from someone, and just never got to it. I was looking for a cold brew candidate last night, and this sounded good. In the bag, it smells very delicious and fruity and tropical.

After cold brewing, I took a sip and didn’t taste much. Disappointing. I decided to add a bit of sugar and WOW did it make the flavors pop. I haven’t had much green rooibos, so I’m not sure what it tastes like, but I’m not getting any of the medicinal smells or flavors that I can get with red rooibos. The papaya is the main flavor, while all the other flavors kinda mix together behind that to give a general fruitiness. This is reminding me of something I’ve had but I can’t quite think of what. I absolutely love tropical flavors, so I’m really enjoying this. Too bad I only have about enough left for one more cup!

I know I’ve had actual mango before, but I can’t remember what it tastes like. I think I might have to see about getting one soon, I wonder if anywhere around here has some?
This is a very generous sample from Teajo Teas, thanks! I’ve been craving fruity teas lately, maybe because the weather here is warming up and I have dreams of fruity iced teas dancing around in my head. As soon as you open the bag, a delicious, sweet, fruity mango flavor comes out. I felt like this would be a good idea for a cold brew, so last night I popped it in the fridge and let it sit overnight so I could take it to classes this morning. Is caffeine affected by cold brewing, I wonder? Either way, this tastes great! I’ll have to try it hot, but I can see myself definitely reordering this in the summer months for iced tea all the time. The tea and the mango are both present. At the front is the mango, with the base tea backing it up. It’s sweet enough on its own that it doesn’t need any sweeteners, but I can see this being really good with some sugar added, probably like some kind of mango juice.

Cold brewed this up, but left it a little too long. A little bitter but still good, though I used all that I had for this. I wish I wouldn’t have forgotten about it!

I’ve had this sample from Design A Tea for a while, and finally got to it. I don’t know exactly what zabaglione is, but I have had strawberry zabaglione from 52teas. This smells a lot like a marzipan tea, and that’s basically the flavor. The roobios medicine taste is hidden pretty well under the marzipany flavor. I’m not sure if it actually tastes like zabaglione, but I do like the flavor! I accidentally let this steep for probably something like seven minutes and it’s still very good.

Creamy, minty, vanilla goodness. Still not getting as much chocolate flavor as I would like, but still a good tea.

I know a lot of people are upset with this one because it’s smokey, but honestly, I have to say that I enjoy it. I wasn’t sure at first, but now that I’m revisiting it, I’m definitely liking it. I’m a little disappointed that it isn’t what I expected, but I do enjoy it for what it is.

I decided to try it with milk this time, to see if it brought the chocolate out any more. The red sprinkles make the milk look really odd. There’s a faint bergamot, with the smokey flavor upfront. There’s definitely more of a creamy milk chocolate flavor that I couldn’t taste much without the milk. I still don’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like smokey teas, but I’m really enjoying this one now.

The recommended steeping parameters for this are 212 degrees for three minutes. This has both black and green tea, so I was a bit skeptical but went with it anyway. I think it did affect the green tea, because this didn’t taste very good at all. It also has earl grey green in it, and haven’t been a fan of Adagio’s earl greys. I think this just isn’t the tea for me

Cold brewed this, and added some sugar and I really like it! It was ok without the sugar, but very enjoyable with.

No notes yet.

I coldbrewed this one and enjoyed it. The lemon grass and coconut definitely makes me think of Thai food. For iced teas, I do prefer more fruity teas, so I doubt I’d go buy this. But I’d definitely drink it if offered!

I’m sure I’ll regret this caffeine later, but for now, oh well! I was craving a tea with milk, so I decided to try this. Unfortunately, I let it go for about six minutes! It was bitter, so I had to sugar it up to make it drinkable

My last bag of this, finishing it off at work. For some reason, I decided that, while alone in a creaky, creepy old building at night, it would be a good idea to watch videos of people playing scary games. Soooo, this tea is comforting me after creeping myself out haha. Unfortunately, it seems like it got contaminated from some other tea, as it smelled smokey before steeping, and doesn’t taste very fruity or bergamoty. I also may need to clean my travel mug out a bit better. It’s not horrible, but it doesn’t taste as good as I remember. I wish I had more of this one to try.