Tamm

This smells so familiar somehow. It smells like my grandma’s home when I was younger, in a way. It smells like Christmas and horchata with my girlfriends. The teabags themselves don’t smell the most awesome, but brewed I think I’m going to enjoy this. I think that store teas get a bad rap. I actually enjoy most herbal store bought brands.
I think I’m in the “I enjoy roasted chicory club”. This is very calming. I was expecting more black pepper flavor for whatever reason, but it isn’t too evident. This is plenty sweet without adding anything, but reminds me of a chai base meant for milk. I really like this one!
More grocery store herbals for me!

So I’m in love with my new tea kettle! :3 It boils water so fast. What in the world was I doing not using one of these?!
This tea is actually really good. I bet it’d be great cold. It tastes like peach and it is somehow not really artificial tasting. It reminds me of peach rings. I’m loving these herbal blends.

I’m going to be reducing the amount of caffinated tea I’m drinking, so herbals it is! My husband picked out a tea kettle for me today. It’s cute!
This actually tastes almost exactly like Adagio’s Berry blues tea. I really liked it. It mainly tastes like tart, fresh berries with some hibiscus. Pretty great for me!

Sipdown! I’m really sad to see this one go. It is easily my favorite plain black tea.
4sec: Very roasted, sesame smelling with a golden liquor.
4sec: Caramel, chocolate, roasted almond skin notes with a deep golden amber liquor.
6sec: Mostly caramel and almond notes this time.

Sipdown! I had this one last night while having movie time. I used a little extra leaf and it just brought out all the awesome flavors in this one. It was even better as it cooled. I really loved the hojicha in this and it really blended well with the other flavors. It really made me want to try some plain hojicha. 52 teas has always had blends that I love and everyone should give them a try!

I really have to recommend this as one of my favorite teas from Adagio. It is very straightforward, the tin is beautiful, and you get a large quantity for a reasonable price. The base for this black tea is much more mellow than some of Adagio’s other flavored blacks. The hazelnut is the main flavor, followed by the black tea, and has hints of cream. Basic, but tasty!

sipdown! So I’m going to finish of the last of this sample today. This tea has just been wonderful. I think this may be one of my very favorite green teas. I’m using Western style brewing again today; which actually gives extremely good results. The flavor is the same as the other day. Lots of peas, greens, sweetness, and lychee. Not a tea to be missed.

Western style brewing today! This is such a wonderful tea. It has lots of bright, clear notes, along with snap pea, watermelon, leafy greens, lychee, and general sweetness. The lychee notes are really prominent today and are very intriguing. I really loved this sample and I’m glad I have ~2 cups left!

No notes yet.

Wow, this smells so much better to me today. I wonder why that is? I’ve heard of other brands needing some adjustment time before being had. For whatever reason, I think that may be why this one was throwing me off. The smell is still very strong with this one. The lemon verbena is so much stronger than I would suspect, being as it is just an “accent” to the tea. I really actually love nut (especially hazelnut) teas, so this has plenty of that to offer. Still, the ginger and lemon verbena are strong players in this blend.

This is such a good tea. I’m surprised that there are any plain blacks that I’d be willing to give a 100/100 on. I generally do not enjoy them, but this is a real exception. This has notes of spice, chocolate, malt, and roasty goodness. It can be steep many times and is just amazing. It should be on people’s must try list.

I’m still battling a cold, so I’m relaxing with some herb teas today.
This one is much more flavorful than what I expected. There is a lot of rooibos flavor (woodsy) so this would not be a tea for everyone. It also has notes of lemon, grapefruit, and chamomile. It is extremely relaxing. The steep time can be played with a lot. I personally wanted a really dark cup today, so 5 min. it is!

Thanks Nicole for the sample! This one is really good. It’s probably my favorite of the three teas you sent me. It is sweet, the base isn’t too bitter, and it is very inviting. There is a slight hint of flavor at the beginning of the sip that’s a bit interesting/don’t know if it’s my favorite; but it’s still very nice.

Thanks to Nicole again for this one! This tea smells very good today. Cherry teas can be a bit tricky for companies to pull off, but this one smells a lot more subdued than others that I’ve tried (which is probably for the better). I’ve never had anything from Capital Teas, so here’s a first!
This tea was very inviting. It had very subtle cherry notes and warm, almost spice notes too. I really enjoyed this one!

Thanks to Nicole for sending me a sample of this! This is one of those teas that is totally different than what you were expecting! The dry leaf smells mostly of basil. When I think of fig teas my mind instantly goes to Teavana’s Fig Rose tea. That is fig. This doesn’t smell like fig to me (dry at least). I also thought it was interesting that this is listed as a white tea because I really can’t pick it out for the peppermint and basil leaves.
Wow, when sipping this I can instantly taste the honey/sweet flavor. I agree with Nicole, this tea needs a pretzel! The basil in this is just out of control. I like basil, but this isn’t supposed to be basil tea; it’s supposed to be honey/fig. I think that the biggest problem with tea sellers that I run into is the names. I see a name and expect a flavor, but it is often something completely different.
This tea is unique, that’s for sure! I’m a bit torn about what to think of it.

I was interested in this tea by the description, but also a bit hesitant. It is just that, interesting. The ginger and lemon verbena are more aggressive than I personally would have made them. It makes for a really interesting tea. I wouldn’t say I like or dislike it. The chocolate notes are very, very subtle. The base on this one seems more stable than other Adagio flavored blacks. When you smell this in the bag it instantly reminds me of chocolate orange. It is actually a very calming tea; perhaps the lemon verbena? I’ve never had it before.

(copied from Adagio) How does this not have more notes?! This tea is soooo good! I was a bit timid about temp/times because this has some white tea in it, but it could have been brewed longer without any issues. This tastes just like those little jelly roll chocolates that everyone buys me for Christmas! It is very flavorful and I look forward to having this one around.

Thank you so much Angel for this sample!
I think we’ve been through the drill. I love dan cong. I love that I have 3 different company’s versions of this tea right now because I could possibly do comparative tastings.
The leaves of this tea are smaller than the other two brands; not that this is a bad thing. It has this interesting grape smell when I opened the baggie. After a ~1.5 min. steep the liquor is a light amber/hay color. It smells creamy and grape-esque. Oh this one is soooo good! It has notes of florals, honey, and fruit. It is an excellent dan cong and I’m guessing short steeps would bring out even more of these great flavors. This is right up there with Teavivre’s milk oolong.

Sipdown! This one is actually really good! It is very fig and nut flavored. I couldn’t taste any rose in this one, but maybe the batch wasn’t well mixed? I’m sad that I didn’t get more, but it turns out that the ingredients are pretty heavy because it’s mainly fruit pieces. So although it was 2oz, I felt like I got a lot less cups out of it. I’d recommend this one to mix with other teas.

Sipdown! I had no idea I had any of this hiding around. It was in the very bottom corner of my sample stash. Amazingly, despite being stored in a plastic baggie for quite some time, it still smells pretty fresh. I actually really like the couple of Kusmi teas that I have tried. Maybe sometime I’ll actually order some! This is a very good black base with notes of several different fruits. I can’t really pick them out, but it is good nonetheless!

Thank you Angel! I just got my package in today. Perfect timing by the way, as I’m trying to relax. I have to say that Teavivre’s shipping is amazingly quick. This tea is just something else. The leaves are this amazing, deep green color. The dry leaf has an amazing magnolia/deep floral aspect. I’m so surprised how fragrant this one is. I’m going to steep this in my smallest teapot (~6oz) for 1min/2min/3min.
1st steep (1min): The liquor is very clear and has notes of hay and flowers. The leaves unfurled in this amount of time and are just the most amazing shade of green. This has the most interesting flavor! There is a bite of something I don’t have words for. This has some quiet floral notes and almost a hint of grape there in the background; it is very faint. This is one interesting tea!
2nd steep (2min): Much more floral this time. Very warming and strong flavored.
3rd steep (3min): Still very flavorful, a really solid tea and one that I’d recommend.

I’m surprised how much the osmanthus adds to the flavor of this tea. It mostly tastes of darker, black tea with almond and light flowers. It is pretty good, but for whatever reason, I don’t drink it very often.

I’m so excited to try this one! My husband remarked that the dry leaf smelled like licorice to him. The leaves are large, deep brown, and a bit shiny.
1st steep 10sec.: Very light. The flavor isn’t too overt. It is fruity, sweet, and clear.
2nd steep ~20sec: The first steep seemed really light, so I stepped up the timing a bit. This is (oddly) very floral. It reminds me of magnolias. It is also a bit fruity as well.
3rd steep 25sec: Very flavorful. There are fruit, floral, and some rock notes in this cup.

Sipdown! Thank you Angel for this sample! I’ve really loved this one. I actually thought that it was gone, but there was one cup left! This has many sweet, roasted notes that last at least 2-3 steepings for me. This tea is pretty unique when it comes to oolongs that I’ve tried. I love it and I’m so glad I got to try it!