Ze_Teamaker

Second tea of the day. No, wait third.

The dry leaf smells nutty and a little bit of spice. I had a lot of chunks in it. Not sure what some of it is though. The liquor that it makes is a brownish gold color.

The taste is kinda disappointing. At first it was bland, but the I added more sweeter and that helped. It has a odd crisp carrot flavor with a light mix of nuttiness and cream(texture mostly) % almost savory flavor. A lot of the icing type of flavor is right after the sip on the tongue.

Overall it is just kinda weird and wishy/washy. Then again being that it is so chunky I might have not used enough; since it is hard to spoon it out properly. I will have to experiment.

First tea of the day. No, that is a lie. I tried to improve Aztec Fire (Teavana) buy adding hot pepper flakes. I think this could work, but I used WAAAAAAAAY to much…..my throat feels burnt.

I ordered some samples from this company thanks to Awkward Soul’s note. Glad she told me…

The smell of this dry is fresh with a light pineapple smell… quite nice. The brew smells very light and fresh as well, but I don’t smell the fruit a lot. It makes a light greenish yellow liquor as well.

The taste is a little bit disappointing. While the green tea base has a nice light, crisp grassy flavor, I hardly taste any of the fruit; cold or warm. It is really more of a light after taste that comes threw on the tongue after you have taken a breath. Then again being someone who has drank Teavana teas I might be ruined, since their fruity teas beat you into submission with their fruit flavors.

Overall, I don’t hate it. It just taste more a like a plain green tea to me. I would recommend it to white tea or green tea people to try; especially at $1.25 a sample with free shipping.

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Specifics
Amount: 2 1/2 tsp
Water: 28oz
Pot: Glass
Sweetener: 1 tbs light agave per 14oz glass

Made some this morning from a previous steeping. This is becoming my comfort black tea. It taste so good with cinnamon sticks and anise mixed in with it.

I am really glad I got these free samples. I brewed this while watching Dragon Ball with my brother. I brewed it past 10, since I usually like to really steep my rooibos.

Smells like mixed berry juice! It makes sort of a cold toned pinkish red. This taster very berry, but in a different and unconventional way. must be the elder berry and currant. I liked this one more then the blood orange one.

I might buy this when it comes out.

Another tea from Awkward Soul; thanks for the sample! Brewed this before I have to go to work. It smells like those pumpkin spice candles…. yum! The little pumpkin sprinkles are cut as well. The smell of this brew is reminds my of pumpkin spice. The black tea is nice, and not astringent. It is not as spicy has I have hoped, but it is still good. More sweet and pleasant, not over powering flavor.

Overall I would recommend this tea to someone who likes pumpkin pie spice, and doesn’t like really strong chai’s.

P.S. This is one of Weebl’s songs. I….. can’t………stop……listening…………to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=4M6qAMMqFhI&NR=1

I got this in a trade with Awkward Soul. I am glad I got some, since I don’t see it on the website anymore.

Don’t have time to write a long note at the moment, but I really like it. Very creamy taste and the mango helps and adds a nice after taste.

I would recommend this to white tea people and chamomile lovers.

P.S. I was able to get a second steep.

Rant: Ok, I bought this tea originally to trade with, along with a few others. I was going to the mall in Orlando that weekend so I decided to buy some teas from Teavana at the store. That way I could get 1oz of tea flavors versus having to buy a minimum of 2oz online, which I can understand; also this way I could get more flavors for the same price. When I went into the store I notice that they had made it larger, which was nice since it was crampt before. As always me and my freind walked around, tried some samples, looked at the pretty teaware, ect. I haven’t been there alot, but they seemed more car sales-y… more pushy. I don’t blame them though(I will say why later). So when I made my way up to the counter, the first flavor I wanted the standard 2oz. However, when I wanted 1oz of the next flavor, they said that I had to buy a minimum of 2oz of each flavor. I was shocked and annoyed! I mean I get why it is like that online, but in the STORE!? It just doesn’t make any sense to me, and really left me feeling sour. I kinda wonder if all Teavanas are like this. I over heard the employ that served me tell the cashier, who I think was in charge, that she told me I had to buy 2oz(I have ninja ears). I also noticed that at the bottom of the receipt it said that I was sold a total of 4 units….. for 2 different 2oz teas… 1oz=1 unit. The reason they are like this though, is because in order for employees to get hours they have to sell a certain number of units or bring in around $50. If they don’t they get little to no hours. That being said, this policy completely contradicts their mission statement. They are kinda like a friend that you slowly start to realize isn’t the best kind of friend you want, but they introduced you to other new and better people. In this case, they introduced loose teas to me, but I have found them to be a little mediocre and to full of themselves. I will buy from them in the future, but not anytime soon…

Tea Time:
The smell of this tea is very… interesting. Kinda musky, chocolaty, and coconuty. The brew it makes is a deep and nice yellow. The taste is kinda weird, but in a good way. I haven’t tried a lot of oolongs so it is hard to compare it or know what kind of oolong they used. It taste very coco/chicoryish with coconut. I don’t taste much floral notes though. I will say though that it has a kinda stuffy air and taste about it.

So far I have been able to get 2 steepings out of it, and will see if I can get a third. Even if I can’t get a third, at least you can get two which makes the price not seem as steep.

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Specifics
water: 28oz
Amount: 2 1/2 tsp
Sweetener: 1 1/2 tbsp
Pot: Glass

Overall I would recommend this to someone who likes coconut or chocolate type of flavors.

Out of all of the Epi Teas, this is the one I was most excited to try. I have never had lavender in a tea before and didn’t know what to expect.

When I brewed this it made more a of brownish color then a reddish black tea liquor. the leaves in the bags were bigger then I thought they would be. They filled up the entire bag! The smell of it was nice and balanced, since I thought the lavender might be over powering. The initial taste worried me, cause it had a soapy after taste. However, I think this was attributed to morning mouth. As it cooled a bit and tasted again I found that this tea bag made a wonderful cup. The bergamont flavor was there, but not over powering. The lavender wasn’t over powering either, and I think it added a nice creamy and slightly floral tasted to it. I think I should have brewed till around 4 minuets though, since it came out a bit bitter, but not overly.

I am really happy with this tea. I think when it comes out I will buy some more to have good bagged tea on hand.

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Specifics
Water: 14oz (I think)
Bags: 1
Method: Mug Brew
Sweetener: 1 1/2 TBL

Overall I would recommend this to a friend who likes Earl Grey and wants to try something different.

Got my samples today in the mail. It was night time so I decided to give this one a try. It has a nice odor of citrus and rooibos. I brewed it for 13 minuets and let it cool to around room temp.

It tasted more of rooibos then of the citrus, which was more of an after taste. I think though I might have used too big a cup to brew it in though. I will have to use a smaller cup for the next samples I try.

Overall it is not bad. It is more for a plain rooibos lover with the citrus adding a nice after taste.

Drinking some tea before work. I do love this tea for the fact that I don’t have to add sugar, especially when have already had a few glasses. Got my Persimmon Tree samples and Epi Tea samples as well. I can’t wait to try them!!!

I impulse bought this when I saw a post saying that it was back. I don’t know what kind of packed Frank made with the postal service that allows my tea to get shipped to me so quick; cause after 3 days it was here.

When I opened the pouch it kind smelled like dried root-beer(which is now possible). I was glad that I didn’t smell a lot of licorice though. The first time I brewed this I was concerned. It just tasted like regular black tea. I decided to make another pot and combine the two and sweeten till taste. It seems that a higher water to leaf is best if you want to get the butter beer taste, and less of the tea leaves. Another thing is that more sweeter is better.

The flavor of this is awesome. It taste like if root-beer and cream soda had a baby. It definitely tastes better cooler then hotter. I don’t know how Frank puts these together. He must be some kind of wizard…

I went and took some to my co-workes as well, and they all loved it!

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Specifics

Water: Two 28oz batches combined
Amount: 2 tsp
Steep: 2:45 each
Sweetener: 4-5 big kitchen spoonfuls of light agave
Pot: Glass

Overall I would recommend this to someone who likes cream/rootbeer soda or who is a big Harry Potter fan

Working on my dads amp website at the moment. I still have a good bit of teas to log about. Need to do them soon, since I am about to get more from swaps.

Decided to give this one another try the other day. This time I used a little more tea and it was first brewed with hotter water. I also used some 3rd steep Copper Hogcha (Teavana) to add just a tad bit of black tea flavor under it.

I was more satisfied then I was when I first tried to brew it. The liquor looks like a lightly roasted coffee brew; and taste like it to. It had a much stronger coffee bean and hazelnut flavoring with a bit of cocoa and nutty undertones. I didn’t taste really any of the citrus though that is in it and wonder how much this differs from Mate’vana (Teavana).

I don’t hate it, by any means. As someone who also likes to drink coffee(medium roast with H&H)I found it to be kinda of like a wanna be. It is a tea that when it was younger always wished it was coffee and tried it’s best to become it, but will never be coffee. I can see though how this would be great for people who can’t drink coffee or don’t like the bitterness, but still want a coffee like flavor; and for that this tea is perfect.

Overall I would recommend this tea for someone who likes coffee flavor, but not the jitters or bitterness.

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Specifics
Water: 28 oz
Amount: 3 tsp
Base teas: 3rd steep Copper Hogcha
Steep: 3 minuets by it’s self and 3 minuets with the Hogcha.
Teapot: Glass

Story Time: Not much… Just been playing Minecraft again. I have not played this game in months!!! It has changed soooo much. It doesn’t even seem like the same game. Now to just get my sever for it back up…

Tea-Time: This is my first real loose black tea. I wanted to find a good strong black tea and decided to give this one a try. The brew of this smells really strong of dark chocolate and is a golden red. Since I heard this brews bitter easily I made sure to brew it under 3.

This is REALLY STRONG black tea. I had to use a little bit more sweetener then normal. Very malty with a sort of smokey finish, which makes it taste like drinking dark chocolate. I don’t taste much honeyness that some have said to have tasted. I put a little bit of Half & Half in it and it really tasted like dark chocolate; The maltyness kinda mellowed out.

The only downside is that besides the malty chocolate flavor, it is kinda flat and doesn’t go anywhere flavor wise. You can re-steep this a few times; though 3 is kinda pushing it, since it losses a lot of it’s chocolaty flavor and is more like a plain black tea.

I have been playing around with it and put in some star anise spice and it tasted good with it. I can’t wait to see how this does to make Thai Iced Tea…

Overall I would recommend this to someone who wants a strong chocolaty black tea…

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Specifics
Water: 28oz
Amount: 2 TBL
Sweetener: 1 TBL of light agave
Any Additives: 1 small anise star and sometimes H&H

Story Time: Not a whole lot to say. Got my parts in for my record player today. I will be able to pick it up and use it by Tuesday. Still need to figure out what record to play on it first…

Tea Time:
I was surprised I got this so quick. I ordered this early this week and got it today; Which is nice, since i was wanting to try a different tea.

First of all, the smell of this is awesome. It really smells like banana fosters. Tried to sip it really warm, but it just tasted like lightly spiced black tea. But as it cooled the flavors started to appear. It had a nice flavor of cinnamon and brown sugar with an after taste of banana and rum. Didn’t taste as good at room temperature though. I kinda wish I had some banana chips to mix in so the banana flavor is stronger. I have heard that Monkey Fart tastes better cold, so I will have to try this iced down.

Later that evening…
OMG, this is awesome. I put this is the freezer for a little bit, and now it taste like I am drinking a banana fosters. The banana is more apparent and the rummy, cinnamony, caramel is in full flavor. I hope this becomes permanent!!!

P.S. I was listening to this the whole time I was writing this and feel like sharing… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qslAuezumIA&feature=g-vrec

P.S.2: I am going to see if I can get another steep out of this…

Edit: Yes you can get two steepings from it….. WIN!
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Specifics
Water: 28oz
Amount used: 1.3 TBL I think…
Serving size: 14oz
Sweetner: 1/2 TBL light agave
Iced:yes

Sigh, I had such high hopes for this tea. Especially since my Aztec Fire was a bust. It made a clearish brown liqoure and smelled nutty enough. But When I tasted it, all it tastes like to me was very watered down coffee. It was so dull I went and made my mom coffee instead.

Tasteing it again now that it has cooled a lot. I am tasteing a lot more of the flavors then before. It seems like though most of the flavors are in the after taste. Also some of the flavor might be because of the Hogcha black tea that I mixed in with it.

I am holding off my rating for now, cause I wonder if I used enough of it to brew….

*EDIT: I made another brew of this and found it to be more satisfactory. See later note.

After my disappointment with the Aztec Fire (Teavana) and do to it being night time, I decided to make this tea strait with no base and at a higher temperature. Still one of my favorite. When I got my 8oz today, there were much bigger full pieces of orange slices and pieces of stuff then there was in my 2oz order. I must say though that I taste more orange then before, and less hibiscus or floral notes. I will try to see how this does when used for sun tea…

Story Time:
I got my new teas from Teavana in today!!! I would have been waiting around for the package at the door like a crazy person if it wasn’t for the fact that I had to pick up my brother from school. Also I am starting to move all of my music files, pictures, programs, ect. back onto my computer. I must say it was a pain to format my computer, but it is running like buttda. Now if only Steam would hurry up with my Skyrim download so I can get it back…

Tea Time:
Ok, so I bought this blend with mixed feelings, since I had gotten mixed reviews. However, I figured that if it didn’t make a good brew that I could always eat it. When I first smelled it, all I could smell was chocolate and fruit… no chilies. I then tasted some of it, and all I tasted was strawberry’s and chocolate… no chilies. This was not a good sign.

I first brewed some Copper Knot Hongcha Black Tea as a base. Then I put in about 2 and a half teaspoons of this and brewed it for 11 minuets. The liquor it made was a murky brown with a oily sheen; to which I hoped was the spicy awesomeness that I wanted. I tried it plain with only a little sweetener. All it tasted like to me was weak hot coco with a mild bit of strawberry. There was absolutely no spicy taste….. AT ALL!!! The only thing that lead me to believe that there were chilies in there was the slight burning sensation in my mouth that one gets from eating them… but no flavor. I put a little bit of half and half in it and found it to be more like weak coco.

I am holding off rating though, as I have not tried it alone, at a hotter temperature, or done any trouble-shooting. At the moment though I am not pleased.

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Specifics
Steep Time: 11 Min
Tea Base: Hogcha Black Tea (Teavana)
Sweetener: 1/2 Tbl
H&H: 1 Tbl

P.S. I had to eat some chips & salsa to satisfy my spice craving…

Story time:
Finally starting to get my computer back online. I swear they make it harder every system to format and reload Windows. Anyways, I am really excited cause I get the new tea that I ordered from Teavana in tomorrow. Plus the parts that the electronics shop ordered for me should also be in as well; which means I can finally start to use the nice Kenwood record player that I found on the side of the street. Now to decide what record to crissin it with. Hmmm… “The Who” maybe?

Teatime:
Ok, I might be jumping the gun, but I think that Luzianne tea makes the best sun tea EVER!!! First, the liquor color that these giant tea bags make is extremely dark red. It reminds me of the brackish water that you see inland where all the Cyprus trees are. When you swish it around it turns into a rainbow of reds, oranges and yellows. While the taste is not super exquisite and doesn’t have a lot of flavor notes, the one classic malty note that it does have is lovable. There is absolutely no bitter after taste and is great plain or with a lemon in it. I am definitively keeping this in the pantry for sun-tea.
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Specifics
Temp: Hot summer days
Bags: 4
Water: 64oz
Time: 2 1/2 hours
Liquor: I will up load later…

Overall, I would recommend this to a friend to make sun or ice tea with.

just had some earlier cooled down that was in the fridge. It is starting to get a much stronger asteingent after taste; compared to when it was still warm from the sun and poured over ice. It will be interesting to see how it compairs with some other teas I got to make suntea with, and when I got some lemons to garnish it with.

Story Time: Ugh, why can’t formatting a computer be like how it was in the old days, simple and easy. Now it is more touchy and complicated. Back-story: I have had my Dell XPS for about 2 years and love it. I had to save up for two years to get it, but it was worth it. Lately it has been kinda acting up and would randomly go to black screen; which is bad when you are doing graphic design work. First I tried to just re-load the system, since that always fixes most Microsoft problems. However, I stupidly let it try to download and install ALL the updates… I should have known better. It was really derpy and could not get it to behave no matter the trouble shooting. So seeing how that wasn’t going to work and I really needed to back up my files, I decided a full format was in-order. After about 6 DVD disks later my files are backed up. Now I just got to go back and reload the OS FROM THE DISK. Tried to do it just from the desktop, but it didn’t want to cooperate. Hopefully I can at least be back online by tomorrow.

Tea Time: Going back through my Lipton tea pyramids to use up I decided to give Black Pearl a try. I was a little hesitant do to the reviews, but I decided to give it a shot. When it was finally done and pour it over ice i was surprised. Obviously it is not the best tea, but it tasted pretty good. It made a really dark red liquor and smelled like most bagged Lipton tea. The taste was your classic single note Lipton taste, but slightly… very slightly more complex. It was malty with a slightly sweet and bitter aftertaste, but not unpleasant. Of course that could be the light agave I use to sweeten it. I might try a darker agave next. I only wished I had some lemons to squeeze into it.

Overall I was please with it, and so was my mom. I will make a separate taste note for a regular hot water brew. I do though want to do a taste test comparison with regular Lipton bags and Luzianne tea to find out which one makes the best black sun tea.

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Specifics
Temp: Hot summer day
Water: about 64 ounces
Bags: 6
Time: 2 1/2 hours
Liquor color: http://s1152.photobucket.com/albums/p499/Ze_Teamaker409/?action=view&current=2012-07-09144950.jpg

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I have tired this tea hot, cold, and sun-sea style and find it MEH. It really should not say there is mango in there cause all I can taste is peach. The only way I have drank it when it tasted even semi remotely good is a sun tea and still it is meh.

I have even tried to brew this with my Thai Moutain Oolong (Teavana) and found it horrid. It had an astringent flavor and with a weird after taste of carrots.

Overall really bad tasting tea to me.