74 Tasting Notes

85
drank Cloud Catcher by ESP Emporium
74 tasting notes

I had incredibly high hopes for this tea the second I opened the bag. The “tea” mix has a very strong, sweet fruity smell, like a sugared wine. It left me truly excited at the prospect of tasting this tea! The strong scent left me surprised at how light the brew was, and hoping that it tasted more like it smelled, less like it looked.

Hot, this tea just didn’t meet my expectations – it tastes weak, even after a long steep at the recommended temperature, time, and “tea” amount. It has the flavor of an extremely watered down, warm juice (which, I suppose, is what it is).

I was disappointed, thinking I’d just down this because I paid for it and thinking of people to pawn it off on, but by then the tea had started to cool, and it was like a whole new drink. The tart/sweet flavor really shone through, getting stronger the longer I let it chill.

Sadly, while I enjoyed the flavor after a while, I don’t drink much iced tea, so this one probably won’t be re-ordered.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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93
drank Boo-Berry Cotton Candy by 52teas
74 tasting notes

This tea truly is pretty incredible. The second I opened the bag, I could tell exactly what the flavor was meant to be… blueberry candy. I’m not used to drinking green tea, so the tan-peach brewed color made me nervous, but there was no need to be… this tea was delicious! The level of sweet flavor was a bit low for a cotton candy dupe, but a pinch of stevia picked it right up and brought out the candy floss notes in the flavor. The blueberry doesn’t exactly taste like a real blueberry – it tastes more like eating a really good (but artificial) blueberry gummy bear – the perfect blueberry taste for cotton candy!

You can still taste the green tea base beneath the flavors, but it doesn’t overpower or clash with the cotton candy flavors at all. And I love the way 52teas blends seem thicker than regular water or tea – just slightly, but enough to add some character to the mouthfeel.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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79
drank Maple Bacon by Man Teas
74 tasting notes

I’m not entirely sure how to feel about this tea. At first smell, I thought I’d opened up the wrong bag, because the dry tea smelled quite heavily of chocolate. After re-checking that it was, in fact, maple bacon, I set out to brew. This brewed up relatively dark, for tea, and smelled heavily of coffee at first – not bacon or maple at all, at least for me.

At first pure sip, this just tasted like a run-of-the-mill strong black tea, but the suggestions made to add sweetener and salt really helped. Not sure if I’m getting maple or just plain sweetness, but the salt helped the bacon out a lot – maybe a salt-rimmed glass would be even better? Though I do have a salty palate, so maybe that’s going overboard.

The texture of the brew is wonderful, though… Its got that slight thickness usually reserved for coconut teas, and is an easy drink.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 45 sec

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95

Sad that this is already gone! I did get about 80 oz of tea out of a sample that they said would only make 16 oz. The trick, to me, of making this tea taste good was re-steeping. I used two Perfect Tea spoons worth of mix for the first steep (using an IngenuiTea). Then, I simply added 1-2 Perfect Tea spoons worth of new mix to the old, then re-steeped for the same time and temperature. The tea tasted better with every brew – possibly the fact that the tea was coming closer to the correct balance of spices to sugar – the last steep had my IngenuiTea over 1/4 full of spices and tea leaves, and only a few pieces of sugar were in that steep. Speaking of which, rock sugar is the first ingredient in the tea, and there is also candied fruit – those watching their sugar intake should be aware.

I think I’d order this tea again if I could get a rock sugar optional blend of it – the sugar seems unnecessary, and its hard to justify Teavana’s high price tag per 2oz just to be given a tiny bit of tea and a big container of rock candy – especially for those of us with blood sugar issues.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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95

This tea blend was a sample sent from Teavana with my order, and the first Teavana tea I’ve tried. I was shocked to see that they expected you to use the entire 1oz sample for 16oz tea – I’m used to 1oz sizes being good for at least 5 cups, if not more! I suppose the rock sugar is why, but I decided to split this tea the same I do with my others – 1.5-2 Perfect Tea Spoons for 16oz tea. The tea brewed somewhat dark that way, but not too strong – like a nice, sweet chai. The spices are present, but not overwhelming, and brewed this way, the sugar isn’t either! The tea tastes somewhat like a mixture of Big Red gum and plain pink Bubblegum… Surprisingly good!

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95

Very tropical… Not fond of the flavor hot, but one of the best iced teas I’ve ever tasted! The strawberry and coconut are strong, but the kiwi flavor is pretty understated – if you’re not specifically looking for it, you may only notice a vague fruity flavor, not necessarily kiwi. The brew smells strongly of coconut, but doesn’t have the thick mouthfeel that coconut usually brings a tea – probably since there’s no real coconut in the tea. For someone like me, who hates that oily texture, this tea is a winner!

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67
drank moroccan madness by Culinary Teas
74 tasting notes

I’m not quite sure I enjoy this one, honestly… The black tea base has an interesting flavor, slightly bitter. And the mint isn’t what I expected – I was hoping for a sweet candy mint, or a very icy-cold mint (like their Brandy and Wintermint). It tastes vaguely minty, and very green, which just isn’t something I look for when wanting to drink a mint tea.

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90
drank Spicy Chocolate by Kusmi Tea
74 tasting notes

This tea is good, but in ways could be better. I feel like the chocolate doesn’t blend as well with the spices as it could… Its still good, but if the spice blend were a little smoother, the tea would work better. Overall, still a good tea, but not one I’d re-purchase at full price.

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90

Actually pretty good! I feel like this tea won’t get a fair shake from me right now since I adored Twinings Pomegranate Raspberry herbal so much, and in a way, I’m right. This tea is delicious – when steeped properly, its not bitter at all, and the fruity sweetness is really nice. But, possibly due to my taste buds missing the raspberry in the other tea, this one feels like its missing something. Maybe a squirt of fresh citrus juice, or a dried berry from your personal stash tossed into the steep?

Overall, still a very good tea that I would order again, since it does have a flavor, yet is still versatile enough to play well with others.

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Bio

Vegetarian and mommy. Prefer my tea with sweetener and have weaned myself off of creamer. Believe all tea would be better as chai.

Location

Pennsylvania

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