QueenOfTarts

Another rainy day… which means oolong or black tea for me! This one smells just lovely! It smells fruity, bakey, sweet, leathery… so delightful! Sipping… the scent actually translates very well to the taste! It’s sweet, fruity and a little bit bakey. There are so many layers, it’s hard to pick all of them out! Fruity, leathery… darker and more bitter the more I sip. I love the finish on the tongue — it’s sweet and begs to be sipped again! At times, this tea seems like a much lighter black tea and at others, it becomes almost a bit brisk.
I’m really enjoying this cup because it’s so unique. I don’t think I have anything like this in my collection. A great cup to have this afternoon!

I’ve had a pouch of this tea in my collection for a little while and haven’t wanted to open it as I can go through all of this tea in the matter of a week. Same wonderful flavors: peachy, milky, leafy — all so pleasant and just perfect on this rainy evening. I’d like to make a little pot of this tea, but can’t seem to find it at the moment so I’m going back to the kettle for cup after cup.

I can’t believe I haven’t written a tasting note for this tea yet! I’ve had it many times, but I guess I haven’t been in the mood to write anything about it. Today I’m TRYING to be productive and make some progress on a paper and another assignment.. but I’d much rather read or nap instead!

It seems like every single time I drink this tea, I keep expecting there to be a stronger flavor. It could be that the scent is so strong that I’m expecting a cup that’s insanely creamy and tangy.. but each time it’s a little bit watered down. It’s not a bad cup at all, it’s just not what I expect every time I brew. It’s quite soft and smooth, but not terribly silky. The oolong remains in the background and the vanilla and the citrus are what I really taste. The citrus is quite interesting because it’s not tart, but a bit bitter… the kind of bitter that I don’t like all that much. It reminds me a little bit of unripe oranges. I think the vanilla is the redeeming flavor in this blend.

This makes a very pleasing cup. I still have a whole bunch of this tea so I need to drink this one more often! In the future, I think I’ll buy a smaller amount of tea as there are other oolongs that I like a bit more… but this one is still delicious.

I am very much in the mood for this kind of tea right now… something milky and creamy. I am really trying to drink more of the tea I have in my collection before buying any more. I’m making progress, but it’s slow progress. I always find that I crave other teas than the ones on my shelves. Anyway, about this cup…

The scent of the brewed cup is wonderful! I detect whipped cream, coconut (of course), a bit of buttery oolong and something like vanilla ice cream. I’m hoping that the scent translates into the taste because I would rate this tea a 95 based on scent alone!
Sipping… not really tasting whipped cream or vanilla.. but more of a green oolong with coconut. I suppose that I expected this, but the scent fooled me into believing that there would be something in addition to the coconut. The first part of the sip is of a very green oolong and then the coconut notes come out. As the cup cools, more of the oolong’s buttery notes appear and the cup becomes more silky.

This is a very solid cup and I think it would be very tasty iced. When it gets warmer, I’ll try an iced version. Thank you, Lindsey for a sample of this tea!

Many thanks to both TastyBrew and Lindsey for this tea. I was so excited to give this a try since Butiki does flavored blends so well. I’ve enjoyed most of the flavored teas from Butiki and I love caramel & vanilla — it seemed so perfect!

The scent of this tea is sugary sweet with a hint of a toasty black tea base. In a way, it reminds me a little bit of Lucky Charms marshmallows. I’m bracing myself because it smells very, very sweet. Sipping…first I taste the lovely black tea. It’s not bitter or too strong at all. In fact, it’s smooth and slowly turns into a very strong sweetness. It’s the nicest combination of caramel and vanilla, although I can’t seem to separate the two. It’s almost like I have a very sugary caramel between my teeth. The tea and flavoring give me the impression of a golden marshmallow. I can actually detect the roasted aspect, not just the fluffy sugar! How interesting! It’s not even supposed to be a marshmallow tea… but it works.

The finish is buttery and a little bit like a soft frosted cereal. Very nice and very rich. I’m impressed with this tea and look forward to drinking it when I’m in the mood for something sweet. This would satisfy any sugar or dessert craving quite well. Delicious!

I love milk oolongs and have been wanting to drink them more often, but I haven’t been able to sit down and devote myself to a cup. This afternoon seemed like a very good time to enjoy a new oolong.

Once water has been added, I’m surprised to be smelling such a buttery tea! It’s very much like salted butter with a hint of milk. Sipping… hmm.. this is very tasty. It reminds me very much of chewy milk candies. Not really an authentic milk flavor, but milk + butter nonetheless. It’s very smooth, brothy, with a savory finish. I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting this to be that great, but it’s very delicious. This isn’t my most favorite milk oolong as it’s more savory/buttery instead of milky/sweet, but I enjoyed this cup. Thank you Jessiwrites for a sample!

I’m a little nervous to try this tea because it looks like it has some things in it that I might not like. It’s mostly all about the pink peppercorns.. but I’m hoping that they won’t be too prominent. Peppercorns and I don’t go well together.

Sipping… It’s very sweet at first and actually fades into something a little bit buttery. I’m not sure that I taste sea salt or caramel — just a messy sweetness. The flavors are all muddied together and I can’t seem to pick anything out. There is something very artificial about this cup and it makes me want to stop drinking. I wish that there was something more natural about this blend, because the idea behind it is fantastic (I love caramel and sea salt… or really anything salty and sweet at the same time). It would also be nice if I could distinguish each individual flavor note… but this means that I can’t taste the pink peppercorns at all, thankfully. I won’t be finishing this cup, but thank you to Yssah for a sample of this tea!

I’m not sure why I am so nervous to be trying this tea. I opened up the pouch and it didn’t smell like I expected it to. It might be the nuts or the flavoring that make it a little strange, but it didn’t smell all that delicious. Once steeped, the tea smells like leaves and vanilla cake.

Sipping… oh, this is interesting! It tastes very much like white chocolate. That flavor doesn’t linger for the entire sip, however. It has a very leafy taste that is just as strong as the initial sweetness. It’s not the same kind of leafy flavor from something like an oolong, for example… I can’t really describe it. This is one of the most unique teas I’ve tried. A bit part of me wants to like this tea more since it doesn’t really have anything I don’t like… but the more I sip, the more I realize that this tea isn’t for me.

I’m learning that I think I only like rhubarb when it’s paired with strawberries or something else and not by itself. Sometimes rhubarb can taste so sharp and like dirt. It reminds me a bit of taking a spoonful of plants and flowers in the garden. I saw this blend and knew I had to give it a try as I love custard and have been trying to find the perfect custardy tea blend. I’d actually love to find a plain custard rooibos tea, but back to this tea…

It has the same sweet and rather creamy rooibos tea base that Bluebird Tea uses. The rhubarb is very realistic, but doesn’t taste too much like a garden. The flavor is actually pretty light. I actually taste only two notes, the rooibos and the rhubarb. I’m not getting any custard or anything dessert-like beyond the sweetness from the rooibos. It’s very drinkable, but I would have loved custard and not just rhubarb. Thanks to Bluebird Tea!

I’ll start this tasting note by saying that I love the name of this tea. So great! Onto the tea itself.. the dry leaf smells of rooibos and tart raspberry. After water has been added, the raspberry scent still remains.

Sipping… this tea is surprisingly creamy! I was expecting there to be more rooibos + plain old raspberry, but this is more of a raspberry dessert tea. It might just be the characteristic of the rooibos… it’s not terribly woody, but creamy and sweet instead. A great pairing!

I think that I like the birthday cake blend a bit more than this one, but this is certainly yummy. Thank you, Bluebird Tea!

Oh, I thought that I would really love this tea. I adore the marshmallow treat blend and thought that this would be a nice alternative tea. Right when I opened the package I knew something was really, really wrong. It smelled very funky and sharp. Once the tea was brewed, I was really too nervous to take a sip. The brew smelled like burning chemicals — I just don’t know how else to describe it. After a few minutes, I finally took a sip (against my better judgment!) and tasted more chemicals mixed with hot water. The strange thing was at the tail end of the sip, I detected the smallest bit of artificial chocolate. I’m really bummed because this blend sounded so yummy. I’ve never had this experience with 52Teas before — I’m guessing that this is just not the batch for me.

Any tea with a cake aspect (especially a rooibos blend) jumps right into my shopping cart. I don’t really know what my fascination with cake flavored teas is.. it could be that cake is one of my favorite things to eat! Yellow, white, fruit, angel food, shortcake (I’ll pass on the chocolate, though) – CAKE CAKE CAKE!

The photo of this blend first caught my eye because of the adorable star-shaped sprinkles. It also seemed like a great new version of a cake tea.

After water has been poured over the tea, I smell a rather strong rooibos with a light medicinal note. There is something like cake in the background, but I can’t put my finger on what KIND of cake it would be. Sipping…. Hmm.. this is very tasty! I was a little concerned that the rooibos would taste medicinal, but it’s actually rather light. There is a bit of almond flavor that when mixed with everything actually tastes a little bit like cake. It’s not really a very buttery or sweet cake, but something a little drier.. crumbly.. maybe like a cookie?

I’ll likely purchase more of this in a future order. It’s light, yummy and different than anything else I have in my tea collection. Big thanks to Bluebird Tea for a sample!

I must admit that earl grey teas are not my favorite. My experience with them is that they’ve been a little bit too bitter, drying and sharp. My friend did give me a nice earl grey from The Tea Spot and I enjoyed that whole tin. I also have sipped Teavana’s earl grey cream, but I found myself wanting a bit more cream.

I know that some love earl grey cream teas so much.. and after seeing the potential of Teavana’s blend, I thought it was time to try more! This tea smells very much like a typical earl grey, but with the addition of something else… milk perhaps?

Sipping… ah.. that signature bergamot taste. This one is very smooth, though and has somewhat of a creamy finish. The cream doesn’t overwhelm the blend, but adds just a hint of softness. It’s delicious even though I would like more soft, lovely cream! I will definitely finish the rest of my bag, but I’m still on the hunt for the creamiest earl grey out there!

I thought that this would be a good tea as Lupicia does fruit blends so well. I had wished for a stronger apple flavor.. but this one was so mellow. Even though the apple flavor is so soft, I can detect all of the different parts of the apple: tart skin and sweet center. The green tea base is smooth and just a little bit grassy. It seems to have all of the components for a delicious tea, but each one is so weak. Disappointing… I’m left wanting a lot more flavor!

Today was an unusually rainy day. It hasn’t been pouring, but the skies have been grey & it’s been so dreary. This kind of weather also has me craving tea… truly CRAVING. It couldn’t be just any tea either… but a black tea. I knew that I couldn’t concentrate on multiple infusions, but needed a single reliable and tasty cup instead.

This blend has always been yummy. It’s sweet and a little astringent as usual. I’m actually getting a little bit of salty pretzel as well… weird! There isn’t as much maple as I remember, but it’s still pretty good.

I first had this tea as a nice sample from jessiwrites (Thank you!) I enjoyed the sample so much that I jumped online and ordered 4 oz. When I first sipped this blend, I was thinking of all of those yummy citrus desserts. Lemon meringue/chiffon/cream pie teas are some of my favorites.. but I had never tried a LIME tea.

Once this tea hit my tongue, I was thrilled! It was lime and rooibos hugged with a very light, sugary cream. What I love about this tea is that even though it smells like artificial lime Skittles, that it tastes like authentic lime. Ever since I’ve purchased a big pouch, I have noticed that the cups I brew are a bit inconsistent. Sometimes I taste mostly lime with something artificial. Other times, I taste that creamy citrusy cup that I adored from the start!

If each cup could taste like the first, this tea would be one of my favorites. Quite tasty otherwise, though.

This tea reminds me so much of Christmas! I used to always find a chocolate orange in my stocking from Santa. I’m surprised at how close this tea tastes to a real chocolate orange!

The first part of the sip starts out with the light and tangy flavor of orange, tightly hugged by the dark chocolate. The tea base seems to support the chocolate orange flavor beautifully — lending itself well by adding bitterness to the orange notes and richness to the chocolate. The marshmallow makes for a very soft and smooth finish. It’s fluffy and silky. Delicious! I wish I could detect a bit more marshmallow (I LOVE marshmallow teas) but overall, I’m very happy with how yummy this blend is! A permanent spot in my tea collection!

One of my favorite memories was eating potato pancakes during the special winter celebrations day in elementary school. I remember loving the balance of potato and apple. Plus, it being something I didn’t eat on a regular basis made it even more special. I thought that this was a brilliant idea for a tea. I’m a little nervous to see just what it will taste like, but it smells promising: sweet cinnamon, apple and the strong note of potato.

Sipping… I taste apple with cinnamon first. It’s almost like a very, very light cider.. as if the apple went for a quick dip in the water. The sip quickly changes to a potato finish. It’s not so much a mashed potato kind of flavor, but more like very raw potato slices. As I sip, I realize that this tea is a bit more savory and salty than sweet. The aftertaste is almost a little bit like an apple pastry — dough, butter, cinnamon, apples — only without the sweetness.

I think that could make for a very nice and light apple tea if there were no potatoes… but removing them would take away all of the fun that this tea has. Although I am not sure I would love to drink this each day, I cannot think of a more perfect potato pancake & applesauce tea. It’s so creative, interesting and actually quite tasty!

I’ve been saving this little sample for the longest time and I just needed to find the right moment to enjoy it. The end of a school block is never a good time, but I’m now on spring break for a week – so it’s TEA TIME!

The scent of this tea is of rich sweet potato and milk. Oh, this smells so delicious!
Sipping… this is a solid and smooth tea. It’s definitely got that sweet potato flavor with a bit of milkiness in the background. I’m not picking up on any astringency.. it’s just smooth & soft. Quite yummy!

I’m not sure I would buy this again as it’s pretty expensive and there are other teas I like more. Sadly, I’m also not getting the “wow factor” everyone else seems to get with this tea. This was a nice treat, though. Glad to have been able to try this.

When I first saw this tea on the DavidsTea website, it didn’t interest me and actually creeped me out a little bit. It just seemed strange with all of the… popcorn… tea… flavoring… kind of like a crazy carnival in a cup.

I received a nice sample from jessiwrites (thank you so much!) and the scent was calling to me from the bag. I sniffed sweet, salty, buttery… a bit like yogurt-covered pretzels (a huge love of mine — the perfect combination of sweet, creamy, salty). Once steeped, I became a little hesitant to sip because it smells like buttered popcorn jelly beans and I strongly dislike buttered popcorn jelly beans. Actual buttered popcorn is perfectly fine with me & is often my companion at the movies. Bringing my nose to the cup again.. I get caramel corn. Not so bad! Let’s give this a try.

Sipping… the sweetness is the first thing that I taste. It’s followed by a rather savory, almost salty note. Yep, it’s very much like caramel corn.. but in tea-form. There is also a bit of apple — I’m thinking Granny Smith as it’s rather tart. The apple balances out the sweetness pretty well and keeps things interesting. The more I sip, the more everything comes together. Caramel, tart apple, salted popcorn. The tea does finish on an artificial note, sadly.

I’m happy that I was able to try this tea. It’s definitely an original and interesting treat for the taste buds.

This afternoon I had a sudden and overwhelming craving for chocolate. That typically doesn’t happen to me all that often. Even though I had a few squares of chocolate already, I thought that it was about time that I tried this tea. I received it a while ago and just didn’t think that there had been a time that was appropriate to drink this blend.

I was so happy to see that there truly are large curls of chocolate amongst the oolong leaves! Sometimes tea photos are misleading in that they show all of these great ingredients and the actual tea never ends up looking like what was advertised. This tea is a real exception to some of my experience. I would almost say that there is an equal amount of chocolate curls to oolong leaves!

The scent is of a toasty, almost green oolong with just a touch of chocolate in the background. It’s surprising that the oolong steps up to the front after all of that chocolate has melted!

Sipping… What I get first is a very toasty, dark oolong. I do prefer greener oolongs, but this one is not too bad. I was at first disappointed to taste just the rather vegetal roasted oolong, but as I sip I do get a bit of creamy white chocolate. It’s not very pronounced, so you do have to look for it. As I get down to the bottom of the cup, I taste something rather milky and a bit like hot chocolate. It’s not milky so much in texture as it is in flavor. I like it!

I did enjoy this cup of tea, but I wish there could be more of the milky hot chocolate bit and a bit less of the toasted flavor. I would be interested in seeing how this tea would taste with a different base. Thank you very much to Nature’s Tea Leaf for a sample!

I’m not sure why I didn’t buy this blend when it first popped up. I had immediate regret after reading all of the yummy reviews. I realized that I HAD to try some and see what the talk is all about. Yssah generously shared a sample with me and this is my cup of choice this afternoon! Thank you!

Sipping… I detect a rather smooth and subtle tea. It’s primarily a black tea base followed by a whisper of blueberry. Darn. I was really looking forward to some of that cream cheese/pastry flavor as well! It seems like my tastebuds either hit the mark with 52 Teas blends or they completely miss. Now, this isn’t a bad tea… but it seems to be just a subtle blueberry black tea. I still have about a cup’s worth left to try and coax out more of the creamy danish flavor.

I wish I knew why I have such a strong attraction to lemon teas. They just really hit the spot! Lately I’ve been drinking a lot of lemon myrtle and lemon meringue teas, but I thought that I would try this one tonight. I’ve noticed that the dry leaf smells very lemony, earthy and much less sweet than any lemon dessert teas. Hm.. this might be a nice change!

After water has been added, the scent is much more earthy and a lot less lemony. I’m not sure how I feel about that… It reminds me a lot of plain lemon myrtle without rooibos, lemon grass or lemon peel.

Sipping… I’m glad that the flavor is not as earthy as the scent. It’s definitely not sweet and desserty, but more savory. The general flavor is something like a blend of herbs.. Not very specific.. but a bit like Celestial Seasoning’s Sleepy Time tea. I can’t pick out much anything in particular, but I seem to taste a bit of a jumble. My tongue tastes chamomile, lemon and hay.

This tea, while not my favorite, feels appropriate for night time — it’s very soothing and relaxing.

I wanted to choose something special for my Valentine’s Day cup of tea. This one seemed very appropriate with the white chocolate curls and roses. I’m watching the snow fall after just making a big batch of chocolate chip cookies.. and have now cozied up to write this note.

The dry leaf reminds me of my childhood. I’m really not sure why, but I think it has to do with those plastic dolls/toys that were supposed to smell like roses or flowers. It’s not that it’s artificial, but just that it’s very ROSE scented. It brews up a very dark & mysterious liquor.

Sipping… I’m actually surprised by how much I like this tea. The strongest flavor is the rose, but it’s very gentle and smooth. Some rose teas are too strong, too much like the flowers were just picked and their very souls were concentrated. This one is nice and sweet and actually offers a nice balance between rose and black tea by the end of the sip. It’s quite astringent at the end, but I think this could be fixed with some sugar or maybe some milk. I’m disappointed that I can’t pick up on the white chocolate at all. It’s almost like those curls were never there. I wish that I could bring out the white chocolate more as it would be a lovely addition to this romantic blend.

I couldn’t have picked a better tea for today. It has everything a Valentine’s Day cup of tea should have. I will be picking more of this up in the future when I’ve worked my way through more of my tea collection.