Ninavampi

I have had this once before, but somehow never got around to reviewing this. I received this in a swap, with Lisbet I believe. Thanks!

It was an interesting experience. I am not very fond of smokey teas, and the scent of is tea is in your face smokey. That worried me, but as I brewed it the scent transformed from outright smokey to spicey.

First try plain was an explosion of smokey. Sweetened the smokey played down a bit, but was still a bit strong for me. Finally I added milk and… Success! I got sweet spicey roasted marshmellow goodness. I never really found the cocolate note, but I enjoyed it anyway.

All in all, it is too smokey to be something that I can see myself wanting very often. I am super happy I got to try it though. It was a fun experience.

It has been a long day at the office. No particular reason, just very very long and I am ready to go home. To accompany me on this long slow Monday there has been this Oolong in my cup. Also, throughout the day I have been greeted by chocolate chip cookies, edamame, sushi , and graham crackers. I am sure they are all having a great party in my stomach right now… Wish I could join them.

This tea is very good, but it isn’t quite great. Please do note that this is only my opinion. I tend to judge my oolongs by the sweet aftertaste that lingers after each sip. That tends to be my favorite part of drinking an Oolong.

The dry leaves of the tea are marvelous. They are large and emerald green. The scent is mouth watering, bit of mineral and a bit of sweet, the perfect mix for an oolong in my opinion. For some reason (and don’t get me wrong, I love Oolongs!) the smell of Oolongs has started to remind me vaguely of the smell of balloons and surgical gloves. Strangely, this isn´t a bad thing… Odd…

The first steep of was golden and delicious looking, also delicious tasting. The flavor consisted of a strong mineral component and a bit of pear and edamame. The aftertaste was a bit more sour than I would have liked and the sweet was a little more subtle than I usually want in an oolong. Still, delicious.

The second steep was a bit milder. The mineral played down and the pear stood out. The sweet aftertaste I enjoy so much was much more evident. It rolled across my tongue with every sip. By far my favorite of the three steeps.

The third steep was a bit too vegetable like for my mood in the late afternoon. Sadly, the sweet aftertaste was more of a faint memory than actually there in this cup. It was not bad at all, but it wasn´t quite what I wanted at that particular point of time. I feel like it could have benefited from a slightly longer steeping time (I only steeped it for 2 minutes).

Overall, I enjoyed it. I like having it handy at the office to accompany on “one of those Mondays”. Yum… Definitely worth a try.

It took me forever to get around to trying this sample. It was kindly sent to me by generous Angrboda. Thanks so much! 

Today I had a long and exhausting day of work. We are opening a new retail store For our company, and dealing with all of the publicity and making sure everything is in order is wearing me out. I am both very nervous and excited about it. It is the first store that is opened by mostly my efforts and responsibilities so I want it to go really well. To calm my nerves and be able to enjoy what is left of the night before I go to bed, I made myself a nice big cup of this!  

The scent is very orange charged. I didn’t find any strawberry or scone in the dry tea scent, still it was very pleasant. The scent reminded me a lot of some fruity orange Tic-Tacs that we have in Ecuador. 

Once brewed, the liquor was a dark burgundy color and gave of a sweet orange scent that smelled like orange cake fresh out of the oven. Unsweetened it was smooth and orangey with just a bite of astringency. Sweetened it tasted like orange cake, with enough orange flavor, but non of the tartness. I never really got the strawberry, but the baked good part of it was somewhere in the background.

Overall it was very enjoyable. It reminded me a lot of 52teas rainbow sherbet tea, which I love, so this is a good thing! Too bad I only have a sample (though it is quite generous) of this! I will miss it when it is gone!

Once upon a time, Ninavampi didn’t know much about tea. She wondered around trying things that sounded tasty, mostly super sweetened to help her get through studying. This tea in particular was a tasty favorite. NInavampi prepared it dark and sweetened and sipped away at it through the night in a dorm room with her roommate and today, best friend. Time has passed and Ninavampi got a job and refined her tastes in tea. Sadly, for a long while she forgot about this tea. Now, on a tea-intense weekend, Valentines has been revisited by NInavampi. Ninavampi still thinks that it is delicious.

Ok… Enough with the third person narration… hahaha… Sorry!

Seriously, sweetened, this tea is delicious. It may taste a wee bit artificial, and in my opinion not entirely like chocolate covered strawberries, but it is really tasty. Dry, it smells sweet and a lot like a strawberry Tootsie Roll pop.

Once it is brewed, a bit of the chocolate smell peaks out. I don’t get much strawberry. Sweetened there is a vague strawberry-chocolate flavor that is much like trying to remember a dream. The more you think about it, the less you can place it. Even though I don’t feel like Adagio’s description of it is 100% accurate, there is something overall pleasant in this tea. It has the ability to smoothly coat your mouth and leave you wanting more. I had to brew two cups of this today before I had satisfied my sweet tooth.

This is really worth a try. I don’t think it is a tea for everyone, but for those of us who like to indulge in something sweetened once in a while, this is a scrumptious treat.

Valentines tea, Ninavampi, and her dog Sencha had a wonderfully relaxing Sunday afternoon. : )

First, and most importantly, I apologize for my brief absence. I have had to deal with doggy issues, solving problems at work, dealing with family issues, but now, finally, everything has worked out for the best and I am able to sit down and have my first cup of tea while I finally relax. It is amazing how tension builds up and once everything over, you just suddenly feel like you are a balloon full of stale air that desperately needed to be popped. I am so happy to be back!

I love Ooolongs, and Milk Oolongs have always had a soft spot in my taste-buds. Just thinking about them my mouth waters… So, after all the hype that Teavivre has had on Steepster, I had to try their Milk Oolong. I placed and order, that took forever to get to me (all customs fault, Teavivre service was wonderful. Sometimes shipping to Ecuador is a hassle…). It finally arrived, and being in the middle of all the problems I was having, I didn’t really feel up to trying new teas. So, finally, the storm has passed and I will indulge.

The leaves are nicely rolled and a very enticing green. The scent was fresh, creamy and a tad bit mineral. Not quite as sweet scented as other milk oolongs I have tried, but very creamy and inviting.

I steeped it for 2mins and ended up with a delicate golden liquor. The scent was intensified and the creaminess started prancing about tempting me o gulp the entire glass down. Yuuuummm…

First sip, unsweetened, delicious. All of the creamy smoothness that a milk oolong promises. The first sensation in the sip is creaminess with a tad of creamy sweet flavor, followed by brief mineral savoriness and an ending of sweet aftertaste, all oolong goodness.

The second brew was just as good, but different. The creamy sensation/flavor became stronger and the mineral flavor was played down a bit. The sweet aftertaste was still there and making me smile.

Third brew I lost a bit of the creamy and found a bit of the mineral, but, still delicious.

I never sweetened it, but somehow, Oolongs never seem to need sweetening. The delicate sweet aftertaste gets lost under sugar, honey, Splenda, or any sweetener I have ever tried. So, I don’t think I will be writing about this one sweetened any time soon… It is sooo good plain.

Once again, it feels great to be back in the tea world with fellow Steepters! : ) Also, this tea is really worth a try! : )

I gave this a second try this morning. (Thanks again Auggy for the generous sample!) Relaxing next to Sencha (my dog) while she is recovering from her surgery has turned out to be incredibly enjoyable! I just hope that she gets better soon. I hate seeing her in pain. I am sure she is enjoying the extra attention, and I hope that will add to an extra speedy recovery!

Once again, this tea smells amazing. Creamy and delightful. It makes you almost expect to get a creamy cup of coconut cream resulting from the infusion. Sadly, the liqour doesn’t live up to the promise of the scent of the dry leaves.

Today, I was mindlessly sipping the tea while reading and all of the sudden I felt like I was drinking coconut water! Then I realized, that while it isn’t a creamy smooth delight, it manages to taste exactly like coconut water! Coconut water is more watery than creamy and has a hint of vegetable to it. This tastes exactly like that!

So while I didn’t get the creamy goodness I was expecting, today I am delighted to be drinking a tea that makes me keep thinking I am actually drinking hot coconut water.

I actually like it a bit better now that I have come to this nifty realization! : ) Uping the rating a tiny bit.

What a tough week. It crept up to me out of nowhere and pounced. I found a puddle of blood on the floor on Tuesday morning. I was really worried and figured that my dogs had somehow gotten hurt. After thorough inspection I determined that my dogs were fine, I cleaned up and went to work. The next morning I saw my oldest dog peeing blood. I freaked out and took her to the vet. After a quick ultrasound, bladder stones were confirmed. Scheduled for surgery on Thursday. Thankfully surgery went well and my Sencha is now home recovering.

After taking the puppy (my other dog) out for a walk this morning, I am determined to lounge around all day with Sencha drinking tea and making sure she is feeling OK. It has been a terrifying experience, and I am glad it is almost over.

I bought this tea on my last trip to the US. I love rose flavored things, so I figured that this I would love. It smelled pretty good, so I figured I would have to give in to buying the minimum 2oz (!!!) to taste it.

The leaves are decently sized and are decorated with almond slivers and bright orange-red safflowers. I didn’t see any of the candied violets it claims to have, but they were probably hidden in there somewhere. The scent of the dry leaves was a light almondy dough. I got a sweetness note and a hint of cinnamon but sadly no rose.

The brewed tea was a nice orange brown that smelled a lot like plain flavored macaroons (the french kind). The taste was smooth and doughy, almost like eating almond cookie dough raw (yes… I am guilty of cookie dough eating…). Sweetened a tiny bit of something floral popped up, but nothing that seemed like rose to me. The aftertaste was pleasantly sweet and not overwhelming. Unexciting but overall yummy.

I did like this cup of tea, but I didn’t find the rose I was hoping for in it. I will drink my 2oz happily, but I don’t think I will be back for more.

Now… to go figure out which tea to drink next while lying down beside my beautiful Sencha as she recovers… She is such a sweet little dog that I think something sweet will be had in her honor!

Thanks to Auggy for this sample! I still haven’t gotten through all of them, but I am getting there! 

I love oolongs, but I have generally had bad luck with flavored oolongs. This one smelled so good and the leaves looked so beautiful that it made me rethink my disdain for most flavor oolongs. I put a smile on my face while I scooped out my leafy green leaves for my cup. The coconut scent was mouthwatering but it completely covered up the oolong scent. 

While it brewed it gave off delicious coconut smell. It was a very creamy scent. The resulting brew was a light yellow color, that held on to the coconut scent. The flavor was the problem. While tasty, it wasn’t quite what the scent promised. The coconut was there, but not quite as creamy as one would expect. It felt incredibly light and somewhat planty. I found the oolong flavor, but rather than collaborating with the coconut, I felt that the flavors were competing for protagonism. I sweetened the tea with a bit of rock sugar and I found a tiny bit of the creamy goodness that the scent promised, but it still was  more watery than creamy. It reminded me of a honey and milk flavored candy that I would get in Ecuador as a kid. Tasty, but not quite what I was expecting. 

I will happily go through the generous sample that Auggy sent me, but I don’t think I will purchase any on my own. I will try it with a dash of milk next time, maybe that is what is missing for me to achieve the creamy sensation to complete the deliciously creamy scent! 

I have cooked with matcha, I have had matcha lattes prepared for me and I have even had loose leaf tea that was mixed with matcha, but today, for the first time, I made actual wisked matcha!!!
I bought this 50% off a while ago, but only just got it since it was delivered in the US and had to find its way to me. Finally, today, I decided to open my little kit and give it a first try.

I happily measured out my matcha and near boiling water and put them in the glass bowl that was included. I loved how green the matcha becomes in the water. It turns emrald green and after long attempts to properly froth it, I ended up with a tiny bit of pastel green bubbles on the surface of an emerald green liqour. I loved the smell. It reminded me of sencha with a bouncy personality to it. It was increadibly relaxing to prepare and at the same time exciting and fun.

The taste was amazing. Sweet, smooth and creamy with a hint of vegetable and vitamine bitterness that played in just right. My Dad and brother ended up stealing my first cup of it while my boyfriend stared at the liquid as if it were going to jump up out of the bowl and bite him. No luck convincing him to try it… Oh well… That means more for me! I made a second cup (both had about 1 tsp to 8oz of water) for me to enjoy. I loved it. I decided to sweeten the last few sips to see what happened, but I definitely liked it better plain. The natural sweetness of the tea was more than enough to make it delicious. 

Sadly (or maybe thankfully?) I don’t get any effects from caffeine, and I was sorta hoping that I would feel the caffeine in the matcha. I didn’t… Just a happy glow from having great tea and a smile from a quick afternoon nap after a bit of a good book next to my boyfriend and bulldogs. 

Tea makes happy afternoons even shinier! : )  

Instant favorite that has caused me to start trying to figure out how I can get an order from Lupicia to Ecuador (sadly no international shipping)… Thanks to MadelineAlyce for sending me some of this!

The scent of the tea is all Muscat. I love Muscat. I sniffed and drooled as my mind took me to the few times I have been able to enjoy Muscat grapes or Muscat flavored candies or goodies. The tea leaves looked black and plain, but the smell promised an exciting tea!

While brewing, the Muscato scent was all over. I couldn’t stop smiling as the scent filled every corner of our kitchen and seemed to brighten the night with memories of tasty things and good times. The three minutes could not pass fast enough. I wanted to try it!

Unsweetened it was a bit on the sour side. I got Muscato flavor, but it was only half there hiding behind the black tea. Sweetened it was like magic in my tea cup. The sweet Muscato was there fully in every sip. First up I tasted grape, followed by black tea and the aftertaste was pure sweet delicous Muscato! This is an instant favorite!

I can’t wait to get a chance to order this!

One of my favorite desserts in the whole world is creme brûlée. It is so creamy and scrumptious… I felt I needed something delicious to make up for a long, busy, pretty productive yet very hectic and stressful Monday. This tea (received in a swap from Indigobloom!) seemed like just the thing I needed to relax.

The smell of the dry leaves was vanilla with a strong caramel component. The rooibos was a prominent note in the scent as well. This worried me. Not a huge fan of rooibos flavor. The rooibos was decorated with tiny yellow flowers, but overall did not strike me as a particularly picturesque blend.

While I brewed this tea (I brewed it for a long while) a caramel sweet smell was comming from the cup. I was busy enjoying the scent when my dogs decided it was a good time to brawl. I thankfully broke them up before anyone got hurt, but I was psychologically exhausted and not willing to deal with jealousy fits at the moment. So, once everything calmed down, I was ready to sip this.

First sip, increadibly unremarkable rooibos vanilla. Second sip, liked it even less. Time for sweetener. Sweetened it tasted sweet, ROOIBOS (note the HUGE caps) and chemical caramel. The aftertaste was the sadest part for me. Instead of having a smooth creamy after taste that I was looking forward to, I just gor a mouthful of chemical wierdness that somehow reminded me of Davids Tea Carrot Cake which I detested. I drank the cup down quickly hiding my disapointment from my dogs who were now staring at me curiously as a stared aimlessly at the empty tea cup.

This could have been delicous, sadly, it barely made the “meh” points in my opinion. I might drink this if shared with me, but I would never go out of my way to buy it. There are much better caramel vanilla teas out there…

Wow… I was in the mood for something creamy tonight and couldn’t decide what exactly I wanted. So I began to look through samples and I found this that seemed to meet my current criteria of “something creamy”. Special thanks to Indigobloom for sending me this to try!

It smelled deliciously sweet. In fact when I sniffed it I got a noseful of sweet followed by a hint of chocolatey goodness! By all means this was a good thing! My mouth was watering while I scooped out my teaspoons to steep it.

While it steeped, the steam smelled like a miny chocolate factory in my tea cup. The smell got stronger and stronger until it was finally time to sip it. Wow…. Creamy, chocolatey sweet, malty, slightly astringent, happiness in a teacup. With sugar added the chocolate flavor became more prominent and the maltiness was covered up a tad. Delicious. The only tiny flaw that it had was a strange chemical taste that lingered in the aftertaste. Other than that, it was great!

I believe that this is the best straight chocolate tea that I have tasted so far. They captured the essence of hot chocolate and made it blend in so well with the tea that I am sure that if milk where added it would be shockingly similar to the real thing!

I only wish I had more of it….. Oh well… ^{You can’t always get what you want, but if try sometimes, you get what you need!} ; )

Finally, after reading how much everyone seems to love Kusmi, I am getting a chance to try this thanks to Angrboda! I found this is the sample package from our swap! I was super excited to try it! First, I love vanilla, and second, my first Kusmi tea! Yay!

The scent of the dark brown leaves was more of a creamy scent than vanilla. I was smooth and thick smelling. It reminded me of a vanilla milk shake scent with the vanilla played down a bit.

While steeping I felt that the vanilla scent became more prominent. I also began to get smokey notes that scared me a little (I’m not a huge fan of smokey teas…). There was an over all pleasant maltiness to the brew. I approved. The liquor was a burgundy brown color that was a little redder than I am generally used to my black tea being. Very pretty in my glass Bodum Mug!

My first sip (unsweetened) was very smooth and malty. There was sweet creaminess peaking through but over all not what I would imagine as straight forward vanilla. There was also a slight smokiness to the aftertaste that surprisingly didn’t really bother me. Once sweetened the vanilla showed up a bit more. It was a decent vanilla flavor, but I found it to be more creamy than sweet. My perfect vanilla tea must have the right amount of sweet flavor to it. Once it cooled down a bit, the vanilla got stronger and I liked it better. yumm….

Over all a delightful tea to end my day with. Sadly it is very hard to get my hands on and not my favorite vanilla so far. If I ever am able to purchase it without a hassle, I might go for it. If I don’t get that opportunity, my tea cupboard will not suffer without it. : )

I got this as a nice extra surprise in a swap with Indigobloom! I was really happy with this extra tidbit since I have been wanting to try it! Somehow, I believe Indigobloom read my mid because I hadn’t included it in my shopping list… Yay! Thanks soo much!

My first impression when I sniffed it was white chocolate tea. Interesting considering I believe that this has no white chocolate in it… But, luckily I love white. Hoc plate, so I hoped that they the smell would hold up in the flavor.

Once steeped, I smelled Bai Mu Dan, some chocolate sweetness and an afterthought of black tea. I was surprised that the black tea didn’t take over. Unsweetened the tea was light but had something artificial going on… There was something chemical that didn’t let me enjoy this tea fully. Sweetened, it was smoother and it tasted something like what I imagine white chocolate Bai Mu Dan would taste like. There was an astringent note that I assume was contribution mainly of the black tea. I couldn’t quite find the chamomile, but this was ok with me considering I don’t love it.

Over all, it was unimpressive but not bad. It was just not one of those teas that blows you away and immediately has you wondering how you can get your hands on more. I am very very happy I got to try it. Now I know that I don’t like it enough to but it. Oh well….

I made it home! No last minute airline surprises or cancellations! The downside of that was that I had to go to work today, but hey, I like my job… But argh… Responsible me is forced back!

To celebrate my being home once again with my doggies and boyfriend I made myself a nice cup of this! While I was in the US (only 3 days) I placed an Adagio order and crossed my fingers. They have always been amazing with shipping, and I was hopping that things hadn’t changed since I came back to Ecuador. Thankfully, shipping was great and my order made it. Now I have a full pouch of this and I am planning on enjoying it all!!!

I tasted the cake much more today. I steeped it 30 seconds less than last time and it worked wonders. 2.5 minutes is the ideal for this tea for me! I both tasted and felt the creamy vanilla butter icing. Delicious.

Oh Birthday Cake Tea… You are so tasty… Please be this tasty and nommy to me always!

Back to my travel adventures… So, finally got on the plane to get from Quito to Miami. I felt safe finally in my assigned seat, but… American Airlines had more surprises in store for me! Two young girls kindly asked me to get up because I was sitting in their seats. Hmmm…. But my ticket said it was my seat… Wow… We had been double booked!!! Thankfully there were enough empty seats that we were able to figure things out. But, double booking on an international airline flight??? Really?!? We start taking off, and had to stop due to technical difficulties. Finally we take off at 8:30pm (we were supposed to take off at 11:00am!!!!

When I finally got to Miami I had a stomach ache and was incredibly frustrated. Time to get some tea… Thankfully the first overpriced coffee shop I found in the airport had this tea. I didn’t get to sniff the bag before it got dunked in the water, but the ingredients made me think it would be tasty and my tummy agreed.

The smell of the super burning hot (how do you get water to even be that hot!?) was pleasantly cinnamony relaxing. I felt as a texture more than tasted rooibos and thankfully the anise note was barely there. Minty aftertaste completed what I believe is the best tummy tissane I have had so far. The honey I added made it sweet and satisfying. Believe it or not, it really did help ease my stomach ache! 

I finished my cup and finally was in the USA! Sadly only for a couple of days! Today I am on my way back to Ecuador, hopefully American Airlines treats me better on the way home!!! 

What a day for disappointments!!! Today, I am traveling for a few days to visit my brother in the US. I woke up early and when I got to the airport I found out that my flight had been delayed until 5:50pm!!! My connection got ruined, my short trip just got shorter, and worst of all, I am going to have to stay in a hotel in Miami and get up at 3am to catch a plane…. I am not a happy camper… And I am very annoyed at American Airlines for doing nothing to let me know about an entire days worth of delay… Oh well…

So, I spent the day at work and made some of this tea. I was very excited to try this one. I was hoping that I would love it. I did not. It was a sad experience. A days worth of disappointments…

The dry tea leaves smelled like paint thinner. I was very very confused. The more I sniffed, the more I was sure that it smelled very chemical. I was weary to brew it, but I went ahead and prepared it.

The brewed tea was a nice orange color. The scent, sadly, still strongly resembled paint thinner. My office smelled like it had just been painted. Was this tea really drinkable!?! Would I live through ingesting something resembling paint thinner? Time to find out.

Unsweetened it tasted very chemically with an aftertaste of freshly painted office. Sweetened with Splenda it tasted initially of dough and nuts, but quickly transitioned into paint… I gulped it down hanging on to the doughy flavor, but in the end my mouth was invaded by a chemical paint thinner ghost of a flavor. The scent of paint thinner that persisted in the empty cup was so strong that I had to get up and rinse it out. I simply could not sit and work to that smell… I can’t believe I actually drank the entire cup of this…

I think that this negative review is highly influenced by my terrible mood, but I am sure I will never try this again. If anyone is interested in this tea, I will gladly send it out to you!!!

Honestly, i don’t know if I have a soft spot for Adagio or if my taste-buds are just off tune, but there are quite a few Adagio teas that I really enjoy. I believe that a lot may have to do with Adagio’s flavored teas being my first loose leaf flavored… But either way, I happily really enjoyed this blend. Thanks to Auggy for the opportunity to try it (and quite a few more)!

The smell of the leaves was nothing spectacular. Just vaguely creamy vanillaish. Of course the harsh Assam base scent was there. If this could be fixed, I would love Adagio a whole bunch more. But, all in all, a rather uneventful pre-sipping sniffing session with this blend. The few sprinkles saved the leaves from being boring, and colors always make me smile, so extra credit points there!

The brewed tea smelled buttery and had a strong vanilla note to it. It actually reminded me of the icing that my mom would make for my birthday cakes as a kid (and as a grown up as well… You can’t outgrow birthday cake made by mom can you???). Unsweetened it tasted rather dull, and the astringency was a bit too much to deal with. Sweetened, it was scrumptious. It was smooth and creamy with enough vanilla in it to top it off as a flavor and not only a sensation or texture. I was impressed. As it cooled down the vanilla became even more present and the vanilla birthday cake illusion was complete.

Needless to say, my cup of tea did not last me very long… Sipping slowly was futile… Too tasty for patience.

I am really happy I got to try this, and will have to order it! : ) Yum… Great way to end a busy productive day!

I feel that my opinion of this particular tea is highly influenced by my experience purchasing it. I was on a trip to Boston, dropping my brother off at his university. Since I was in the US, I HAD to stock up on tea, and that included my visit to Teavana. When I got there, I was surprised to find that they were just about to start discontinuing tea. The vendor told me that she couldn’t tell me which ones were going to be discontinued yet, but she could hint at it if I was buying one of the teas that would be discontinued so I could stock up (confusing… I know…).

I picked out my tea and when I decided to try this one, the vendor told me this one would be discontinued for sure, so I bought 4 oz just in case I really liked it and would never be able to get it again. I was so proud of myself for being smart and buying it and liking it and having it in my stash once it was “going to be discontinued”.

Once Teavana announced which teas were being discontinued, this one was not on the list. I liked it, not loved it, and was stuck with 4oz of it… Needless to say, I put it away and didn’t drink it for a while. I somehow had a thought of this tea while walking my dogs, and when we got back, I brewed some up.

The dry tea is a bright mix of fruits and tea leaves. The lemon grass is far more abundant than the green tea leaves. There are candied fruits and petals that make it a pretty blend to look at. The scent is very fruity and fresh. I smell apple and peach. Maybe a bit of papaya. Mostly just fruity.

Brewed it is a yellow-green golden color. The scent is just as fruity. Unsweetened it is tasty, but a bit bitter for my liking. Sweetened with brown sugar it is much tastier. The fruitiness covers up the green tea almost entirely, but it is still an enjoyable brew. I get apple and generic tropical flavor. It does remind me of a peachy papaya flavor. It is fruity and refreshing.

The first few times I had it, I really didn’t like it. But, in retrospect, I feel it was my experience purchasing it that was influencing my taste-buds. Now that more time has passed, I am able to enjoy it much more. Funny how emotions play a huge part in taste perception…

First, thanks to MadelineAlyce for this swap! Second, thanks to Guanabana tea for reviving my faith in Adagio. Adagio was the instigator of my tea love/obsession. Somehow this of love affair has been forgotten and replaced by a variety of tea companies, but I welcome Adagio back with open arms!!!

Guanabana is a very common flavor here in Ecuador. We have it daily in juice, ice cream, and even as plain fruit. The taste of the fruit is similar to leechy, which I also really enjoy. That being said, this tea had me really curios. It could be delicious or disaster, I had my fingers crossed for delicious.

The smell of the tea was surprisingly delicate for a black tea. There was a light fruitiness to it accompanied by a timid black tea base, which is odd considering how harsh Adagio’s flavored blacks can be. The best part is that the smell actually did remind me of Guanabana!

I brewed the tea, and the brown liquor smelled joyously like Guanabana. It was exactly what I was hoping for. Wow… This tea is really accomplishing all of my expectations! Now for the final and most important challenge… taste!

First sip, unsweetened, and… Yum! Wait, this is a black fruity flavored tea from Adagio… and I like it unsweetened!?!? The second sip proved it. This tea is, so far, as perfect as a fruity flavored black tea has been for me. Delicious, smooth with a sweet aftertaste. The flavor stands out and doesn’t get in the way of the tea experience as a whole. It doesn’t need any sweetener to make itself be noticed or fully appreciated. I imagine it is just as tasty sweetened, perhaps even more. Either way, this was delicious. The aftertaste was so smooth and sweet that I could have easily compared it to an oolong. Which, mind you, are a favorite of mine.

I should have imagined this was a good idea, considering guanabana tastes so much like leechy, and leechy is a natural great flavor for tea. Way to go Guanabana! More people should consider mixing you with tea! Can’t wait until I am able to place an order from Adagio again! (Arg… living in Ecuador makes it REALLY hard to order stuff!)

Thanks to Auggy for this tea! : )

I am not sure what wedding cake in the US tastes like. My Mom tried to explain it to me, but I honestly didn’t quite get it. Either way, I really enjoyed this tea! I have had a few cups so far (Auggy was really generous with her samples!) and every single cup was delightful.

The dry leaves smelled sweet with hints of strawberry and something nutty, which I am guessing must have been the almond peaking through. I also got the strong scent of the black tea base. All in all it smelled tasty!

I brewed two heaping teaspoons and got dark burgundy brew that smelled sweet and inviting. It was both strong and relaxing. I got mostly black tea with a sweet flavor followed by strawberry and almond. It is a sweet and relaxing combination of flavors! I would love to have my wedding cake taste like this! It is good not sweetened and unsweetened. As with most flavored teas, the sweetness really makes the flavors stand out. So, in conclusion, best enjoyed sweetened.

Yum… I am going to miss this once my sample is out! I may have to buy some at some point!

I received this in a swap from Auggy. Thanks so much!!! I am so excited to try everything! : ) Now, the review!

I took this with me to work today because I have been having busy weeks and didn’t want to miss out on trying it! I am on a coconut roll lately, so this, in theory, fit right in to what I was craving.

The smell of the tea bag reminded me sun block. I guess that mango and coconut are the scents that are generally used to make you want to slop on the greasy, thick white cream and protect your skin from the sun. I didn’t think this was a bad thing, just a strong correlation that came to mind every time I sniffed it. No hint of oolong though…

I steeped it for the shorter time recommended on the envelope. The smell was as tropical as a day lying in the sand sipping a cold drink in the sun with a good book could be. Now is when I catch a whiff of something oolongy in the scent. Ah, so it is tea and not just flavoring after all! The licqour was a light greenish orange that hinted towards brown.

Unsweetened, it tasted like sunblock with a bit of Oolong, with none of the sweet aftertaste which is what I love about Oolong… Sweetened it tasted tropical and enjoyable, a hint of Oolong, and an aftertaste of sour instead of the smooth, sweet finish that I have grown to expect from Oolongs. It is the sour in the aftertaste that made this tea not a winner for me.

The second steep (1 min longer) tasted exactly like a watered down version of the first steep. Drinkable, but not a tea I would re-steep if I have it again.

All in all, I am happy that I got to try it! I really am! I did enjoy drinking it, but there are sooo many other good coconut teas that I could be drinking instead… I do not think I will be purchasing this, though I will have another cup of it tomorrow (maybe iced…)

Thanks to American Tea Room for this sample! I am getting to it a little late, but I am happy I got to it now! This is my first tea from American Tea Room.

I loved the little sample packet! Only flaw was that it wasn’t resealable. This is one of the reasons that it has taken me so long to get around to opening it, I didn’t have anywhere to store the leftovers! I was weary of how Christmasy this tea could be, since I relate Christmas directly to sugar and spice!

Once I opened the pack, the scent that greeted me was entirely Christmasy! In fact, it reminded me of the red scented candles that are generic Christmas scent. I asked everyone around me at that moment and everyone agreed that it smelled like Christmas. Wow! I would have never guessed Christmas tea could be managed without thick spiciness! It looked very pretty with large pieces of cranberry and pomegranate. The red and green in the dry tea made me wish it was Christmas time again.

I brewed it according to the suggested parameters. The resulting brew was baby pink, as far as I can remember, the pinkest tea I have seen so far! The smell continued to be very christmasy, with a hint of cranberry.

The taste unsweetened, was nothing spectacular. Sweetened, the cranberry stood out followed by a faint cinnamon aftertaste. I really enjoyed this cup of tea! I stand corrected! Christmas tea does not depend only on the mix of spices!

After this, I am going to have to get around to placing an order from American Tea Room!

I have had a hectic week. Hectic means very little time to read and/or write about tea. On the positive side I’m back! On the less positive side, I am really tired… Either way, a hot cup of pancake tea in my hand and a computer being used for things other than work is now a happy little quite moment as my dogs sit quietly by my side!

This is a happy tea. A warm, sweet, delightful, waking, tasty enjoyable tea. As many have said, the longer it sits, the better the flavors seem to behave. I agree. The pancake, syrup and butter are in harmony and stronger than I remember them.

Of course, I added brown sugar (who has ever heard of maple syrup that isn’t sweet… Seriously!) to give it the final touch to make it as similar to real pancakes as possible. I feel like the only thing that could make it better at this particular moment would be real pancakes to accompany it! Yummmm….

Uped the rating a bit, due to the sheer joy the flavor is causing me right now!

Frank, I believe this is the 50th or so plea for you to add this on to the permanent collection! : )