Tegan Fyretyde

The smell of the dry leaves was a little weird. But as it is sitting here brewing, let me tell you, it is starting to smell good.
It has been a few more minutes….such a good chocolaty smell. It is like I am baking something chocolaty on my coffee table (er, tea table).
Took a sip and it is a little sweet and has a subtle chocolate malt flavor. I think with some training, I could drink this as is (I am working on not adding so much sweetener to my teas).
I added a splash of Coldstone Sweet Cream creamer (which tastes like melted coldstone ice cream on its own). It actually did not make it better. It kinda killed the deliciousness of the tea. Tomorrow I will try it with a little sugar and milk.

Getting to finally taste this tea was a nightmare. Day one, I used boiling water and steeped it waaaay to long (about 7 or 8 minutes). It was god awful. It was bitter and disgusting. Adding sugar did nothing.
Day two, I made a fresh teabag, not wanting to even mess with the over steeped grossness from the day before. I popped it into my cup, put it under my Keurig at 192* and hit brew. Out comes pouring French Roast Coffee all over my teabag! SOB! I fished it out as quickly as possible and rinsed it off. I dumped and cleaned the cup…then tried again.
I brewed it with 192* for 2-3 minutes. Did not want to oversteep this time. Took a sip, not to bad. Nothing real magical either. I added some brown sugar, just a bit. Holy yum. Delicious. Really enjoyed it. One of my favorite teas in my collection, if not my current favorite. Hope they restock soon because I could slurp down this bag within the month, but either way, glad I snagged the last bag so I could at least taste it

I just got my tea order from 52teas/mysweethoneybush today (Only a few days after placing! Awesome!). I opted to give this one a try first. The dry leaves had a coconut odor, that was pleasant and not to overpowering. I put a tablespoon into a tea bag and covered it with boiling water. The smell as it was brewing was pretty tasty. I think I could get a hint of the cheesecake in the brew. I left the room it was brewing in to go find the travel lid to my cup. When I returned, WOW, could I smell the coconut. I’m not a huge fan of coconut by itself, but I love it in other things.
I took my first sip without any additions. The tea had a pleasant taste with a coconut-y aftertaste. I like my tea sweet so I added some honey….to much honey. I had to add more boiling water and steep the tea a little longer.
Once that was done, it was a pretty tasty cup.
I think I am just all tea-ed out today, because I am on my 5th cup…..for that reason I am going to with-hold judgement until my next cup.

Lady Grey, how excited was I to find some more bags of you in the cupboard.
This Lady is the one that made me finally like tea. I had tried and tried for years and years, buying a box here, a box there, brewing a bag and dumping it down the drain (of course I just poured boiling water on everything and steeped it forever back then). Then I bought a Twinings black tea sampler box, and there she was in her pretty blue wrapper. Love. I always take her with honey and milk.
She does not smell like much in tea bag form, but when brewing a light citrus scent fills the air. She is rather plain before you dress her up, but once you add the milk and honey…..yum. I could drink her daily….both because she is delicious and because she is affordable.
I love earl greys, and she is one of my favorites.
Cup is empty, time for another.

I ordered this one before Christmas and am just getting around to trying it today. The tea smells really strong in the bag, and it is a lot of fun to look at. I picked around trying to get a little bit of every ingredient (and there are a ton! so there was a lot of rummaging).
I steeped it about 6 to 7 minutes and then pulled the tea bag out. I let it cool for a bit and took a sip. I am not sure how I feel about it. I thought it was a little tart and could not pick out any specific flavor, but would have been able to drink it straight. It was a very pretty red color.
I added a little honey and I thought it tasted much better, sweeter and not as tart. I think this one will make a great Iced Tea during the summer, but for now, I think I will keep it in the cupboard.

I adore red velvet….and make a really good red velvet cupcake. Red Velvet fried chicken with mashed potatoes with a cream cheese ribbon is a staple in my house.
When I saw this tea, I got really excited and was like “Shut up and take my money!”
I brewed a cup as soon as I got it home but was not impressed and shelved it until now (because everyone needs tea at 2:30 in the morning).
I steeped two bags in a big ol’ mug for…a while. After about 5 minutes I started smelling a little bit of chocolate in the air. When I took my first sip, I was not real impressed. The flavor was not bad, it just does not scream red velvet to me. I did not taste very much chocolate, but real red velvet is not very chocolaty either.
I added a little vanilla coffee creamer (because that was what I could grab) in hopes that it might bring out the sweetness. It helped a little, but not much.
I will finish the can, but doubt that I would buy it again, at least not unless it was a lot cheaper.

Edit: I bought some on the little coffee mate shots in creamy chocolate. I threw one of those in there…..more delicious. Gives it a little more chocolate flavor. I would give it a 70 when prepared that way!

My husband gave me this tea for Christmas and I finally got around to having a cup (and then another) of this tea today.
I steeped it with 202* F water out of my Kuerig coffee maker and forgot about it. The good news is that although I steeped for over 10 minutes, the flavor was not too strong and there was no bitterness.
The first sip I took was sweet and had a nice vanilla flavor. I personally like very sweet and flavorful teas, but I would be able to drink this one straight if I had no honey and milk available.
I added about a teaspoon of honey and a french vanilla coffee creamer to bring out the vanilla flavor. It was pretty tasty.
I don’t think I would buy it again, only because I have several other teas that are similar in flavor, but if it was gifted to me or if it was available at a friends house, I would drink it for sure.