T.C.

Another trade from Stephanie
Smells strongly of lemon.
Light liquor.
I get Orange as the dominant flavor and some lemon in the background. Very hard to taste the oolong as the citrus flavors take center stage. It’s an enjoyable blend for me. My first time trying a David’s Tea I believe and not disappointed.

Figured today was a good day to work though a bunch of samples I’ve received.
This beauty came from Stephanie and caught my eye due to the coloring of the flower petals in it.

Took one sip first (for comparison) then did as Butiki and other reviewers recommend and added a small amount of sugar. It’s very good. I’m becoming a big fan of whites on their own recently and I love the watermelon smell. After the addition of the sugar the watermelon pops much more. This is a good tea that I’ll be placing on my “to order” list.

When I first opened the bag of this I was knocked off my feet! It REALLY smelled of Caramel and Appple. I think a blind man who had never tried tea could have easily identified the flavor of this one.

The taste, while not as strong as the smell (sadly) is still true. It’s one of the better honeybush I’ve had and I’m happy I can actually taste the apple in it (a few other teas claiming to be apple flavor left me wondering if they forgot the apple). Good tea all said.

Sipdown

Fruity and floral smell.

Just not feeling this. Nothing “wrong” per say, but nothing “right” either. It’s not grabbing me and saying YUM. I’ll drink it without a problem but not something I’d ever buy.

Yet another sample from Lariel

Gives off a sweet smell but I can’t exactly place it.

Hmmm…I can not taste ANY mango. Did I do something wrong here? Hair under 2 tsp for 8oz. steeped for 6 min. There’s understated, and then there’s nothing. This is nothing….

Strong rose smell out of bag.
Taste is of rose and rooibos. I’m losing any and all of the berry flavor somehow. Was hopeful for a bit more flavor (especially from certain ingredients in the blend) as it does seem a tad washed out.

Another swap from Lariel
Was feeling “berryish” tonight and this looked good.
Surprise, surprise it smells like berries and rooibos…
Deep red coloring looks very appetizing (looks like red wine to be honest).
The taste is very tart. High citrus note that runs to the front of the line. It’s STRONG on the fruity/citrus taste. So much so I can only vaguely taste the rooibos. It’s certainly unlike any other flavored rooibos I’ve had…I like it in its own way. Imagine it would taste awesome on a hot summers day iced.
I’m sure most of the “professional” tea connoisseurs would claim the berry flavor is way too powerful. Luckily I’m just an amateur hack and like it the way it is :)

I love phoenix jasmine pearls. I have since the first time I ever tried them. Well Ovation was doing a liquidation sale and they had these babies up so I went a bit crazy and bought a full pound of them.

They are literally the best I’ve had! SOOOOO glad I got them now!!! Soooo bummed I won’t be able to get more once these run out.

They are more fragrant then I’m used to when I open the bag (could be because they are packed 8oz together). The smell is awesome
Watching them steep is fun as the tiny balls unfurl. No filler in this tea, just 100% hand rolled pearl goodness.

Taste is EXACTLY what I wanted. I can taste the green tea foremost but the jasmine is present and noted. Nothing bitter or astringent. Smooth, happy, and uplifting. I knew from the first sip this was going to peg 100 for me. Swear I could drink just these for the next month.

So this is my 2nd time trying this. I took the advice of NMTC and dropped the temp down to 170 and increased the steep time to 3 minutes (normally would never do this but sometimes you have to play with it a little).

Can vaguely smell the papaya, the whole tea smells “fruity”
Taste? Well I can taste more this time (assume due to longer steep) but it’s still REAL light on flavor for me. It certainly smells more like it should taste then it actually does. I’m going to move my rating up a little since it is a bit better but still not one I’ll be reordering.

Received in a swap today from yssah

I can smell the green tea but the roasted nut/rice smell is the dominant one.
Not the best processing…small pieces of torn leaves. These certainly weren’t picked by hand.

Taste is mostly a burnt/roasted flavor with the green tea in the background but present. A little aftertaste but nothing too bad. It’s ok, but perhaps a bit to “burnt” for my tastebuds.

Kindly received from a swap with Lariel

Ok, this is going to sound strange….but I smell tangy BBQ when I smell this. No, I don’t have a clue WHY I smell that….but I do…I’m craving Famous Dave’s all of a sudden. Also smell the cinnamon.

Taste is good (because I’m a huge rooibos fan) but lacking in apple in any way as far as I can tell. As it cools down, I can finally detect a hint of the apple at the very end. Cinnamon seems about right. I like it, but think that’s only due to my love of rooibos. For this to be “perfect” I’d need a much more pronounced apple out of it.

Just loved the name on this tea so had to buy some.
Smells very fruity, it’s the dominant smell by far

Taste is something of a let down. I steeped for a minute and 15sec and the color is very pale. The taste is faint and washed out. I’m disappointed because I’m a big fan of everything that’s in this tea, but it’s just not doing it for me. :(

I’ll try some different tricks in the future to try and get some flavor out of this but for now my rating isn’t going to be the best on this. Such a letdown after trying the Ontario Icewine from the same company yesterday!

Fresh NMTC order in today!
This one caught my eye immediately and I had to try it.
Whites are still new to me so I’m somewhat leery on rating them…but here goes!
The smell does have a wine tinge to it. sharp and vinegary.
The first sip I immediately wanted to say I didn’t like it. But a second later I changed my mind. It’s one that grows on you. The more you sip the more you like it. No aftertaste. It’s smell is there in the taste but subtle. The more I drink (and the more I type while drinking), the more I like it.
All I can really say is that like most whites it’s a delicate and light taste. I personally enjoy it and feel if you enjoy white teas you would also. It’s a keeper for me. I’ll decide weather to reorder it after I try a few other whites for compairison.

Tried this brand for the first time today.
It smells like grass (not grassy tones but straight up GRASS and only grass)
Tastes like matcha….I like matcha so it works. Not the smoothest I’ve had but I can’t complain. Oddly enough I get a strong citrus note halfway through a sip…it stays for about a second then dissipates (not in the aftertaste). I think I like that though it’s a bit odd…

Back to the Moroccan Mint today. Brewed it a shorter time (1 minute flat) which is shorter then I normally do blends (2 minutes). I think I like it more this way. The mint is still present but it’s much more in the background. I’m also thinking this would make an awesome iced tea (something I’ve yet to attempt with any tea). Anyway, yum yum yum!

I’d forgotten i had this.
Either my tastes have changed a bit since the last time I made this, or I prepared it differently. This time it just tastes way too sweet for me. That’s odd since I have the “normal” version of this without the German rock sugar (as apposed to those sample packs they give out with it).

Anyway, I never use additives to my tea but finding this a bit too sweet for my tastes. I’m dropping it a few points from my last ranking. Still love the smell (fruity and spicy) but this may be a better iced tea in the summer.

Another hit. I like the little snowflake sprinkles lol.
I can smell the spices easy but they aren’t strong in the taste. No idea why, but I catch a hint of mint in it. It’s tasty and good! I’m a rooibos fan and this one I’ll happily drink on those cold winter days.

No notes yet.

First off, Yay to me for not ruining my entire Della Terra order by ordering all flavored blacks (which I’ve found I don’t like).

Tried this guy out for the first time tonight. And the verdict is YUM! As a green tea and mint fan I was hopeful this would be just what I was looking for. Mint and jasmine are present but not overpowering at all. Just a nice little added note. I can see myself enjoying this one a lot. I expect it will be something I reorder.

Another impulse buy from my trip to AZ.

I wanted to try a honeybush and this one smelled good in the store.
It smells and tastes like (wait for it….) Apricots!
Easy to drink and enjoy, it’s my first foray into the realm of honeybush and I wasn’t disappointed. No need for any additives, it’s good all by itself.

No notes yet.

Ok, one of my fellow steepsters reminded me I had this hidden in the back of my tea cupboard (obviously hidden under way too much other tea). Had to dig it out to send her some so figured I’d give it another taste

The smell is 100% mint….it’s pretty overwhelming even to my poor sniffer.
The taste is 100% mint (notice a theme here?). I’m a fan of matcha and a fan of mint, but I think they may have messed up the proportions some with this. It’s pretty overwhelming on the mint part to my tastebuds. Not that that stopped me from drinking it ;)

Had a rotten day so dug around for my favorite tea.
Not sure what does it for me with this combo but I love it. It’s happy and relaxing and all around GOOD!

Sadly I may soon run out.

With great dread I dipped back into my Della Terra order. This order was supposed to expose me to a lot of flavored blacks with the hope of finding something I liked. Thus far it’s been a failure sadly.

Smell? Chocolate and strawberries! It’s smells GOOD! I sorta want to lick the packaging…

Taste? sigh disappointment for this non-black tea guy. The black base still ruins the enjoyment for me. This is not DT’s fault…it’s a “me” thing. I’m finding I just don’t enjoy any black teas or blends. Also the strawberry is extremely strong in my cup. I love strawberry but this might even be too much.