Allie

I’m finally starting to get through some of the samples I’ve received! Yay!! I received a more than generous amount of tea from Amanda and found a sample of Copabanana included. I am now interested in more fruity teas as the weather warms up and this one was exactly what I was looking for.

I brewed this one at double strength and then iced it. I find it to be quite flavorful! Banana is front and center with hints of coconut and strawberry. I used a bit of sweetener and it almost reminds me of a fruit juice. It might just be me, as I do not drink fruit juices anymore. While I am enjoying this tea, it reminded me that I need to put in an order for more tea suitable for summer. I love the teas I already have, but they seem to be more appropriate for cooler weather. There is nothing wrong with more tea though. :-)

Due to the demands of the semester, I have been drinking more coffee these days. After an interesting day, I felt like I needed tea to end the night. I still have many teas to get through in my cupboard, but I remembered I still had this sample hanging around. The smell is wonderful with hints of chocolate and smoke. I acutually over-steeped this tea by accident, but it had no effect on the flavor.

This tea reminds me of bonfires in autumn with s’mores! Given the fact that I do not eat flour and sugar, this was wonderful. I might wait to make my next cup when the temperatures drop, as this would be the ideal time to drink this marvelous tea. I am going to purchase a full amount when I need more! :-)

I bought a lot of sample sized teas from sTEAp Shoppe, but have finally gotten around to trying some of them! This particular tea is good. There is a smokey dimension to it, though it is overall light in flavor. The chocolate stands out, but given the name, I was really hoping for a stronger tea. Maybe I need to increase the amount of tea for the steep? I’ll try it again to see if it helps. If I can find the right tea/water ratio, I might buy the full size!

I received this as a sample from Amanda. For some reason, the dry smell almost reminds me of egg nog! Maybe I’m nuts, but that is what I smell. The taste is very light, creamy, and slightly sweet. I really enjoy this tea and I’m glad I finally got to try it out! :-)

It has been a while since I’ve reviewed anything, but I look a small break from tea. I have so many to try now that I cannot wait to get into everything! I won’t be trying them all at once though. Anyhow, on the the review!

I’ve been wanting to try this tea for a while now and was so excited when I got the chance to sample it! I do not have any blueberries in the sample I received, but I am definitely okay with that. The scent is pretty strong with blueberry. I am enjoying this tea. The blueberry is not overpowering, but I am not getting much of the buttery/tangy notes that many others have mentioned.

Overall, I am happy to have finally tried this tea and will continue to enjoy it. Maybe the other notes will show up in another cup. Thank you Lindsey for the more than generous sample!

I was so excited when I received more samples in the mail! The first one I decided to try was Cookie Dough, as this one intrigued me. I decided to wait until I worked on my never-ending barrage of essays for this semester. On a positive note: we’re finally on week 10 and there are only 15 weeks! I’m starting to see the light! :D Anyhow, onto the tea!

I do not smell cookie dough in the dry leaves, but I knew it would be different when brewed. Now this is where it gets strange. I like the taste, but the smell is a bit off-putting. I don’t know why, but every time I take a sip, the smell of the tea is pretty astringent. Maybe it’s just me? I am liking this tea now that it has cooled down considerably. The taste is finally more like cookie dough. That said, I am not getting many, if any, chocolate notes. I’m okay with this though.

At the moment I am on the fence about this tea. I want to like it more than I do! Maybe my expectations were too high. I am going to finish out this sample and see how it goes. Thank you shakirah1984 for this generous sample!

I have not ventured out very far into the world of green teas, so this was an interesting one for me. I like rooibos, but have never tried a green tea/rooibos blend. The flavor is pretty earthy and then follows up with caramel at the end. The caramel comes out a bit more as the tea cools. I’m just going to keep drinking and see how it goes. Thank you yappychappy!

Now this is a tea I enjoy with mint! I believe it is because mint is not the primary flavor. It blends nicely with chocolate and somewhat reminds me of Andes Mints! Now that I have that out of my system, I am going to enjoy this tea while working on statistics.

Thank you whatshesaid for this sample! The name of the tea intrigued me as well as the concept of popcorn in tea. Popcorn is one of my weaknesses and I don’t eat it often after going low carb three years ago.

The scent is a mix of popcorn and maple with something a bit earthy. I was good and did not eat any of the popcorn in the tea, though it was tempting! This brewed up pale yellow in color and I steeped it for seven minutes in order to get all the flavor out of it. I prefer drinking this in one of two ways: The first is with nothing added to it, because it tastes almost just like buttery popcorn. The second is with no more than one Splenda mini tab to slightly enhance the maple flavor. This makes it taste more like kettle corn. I do not get any apple notes from this tea unless it is cold and has been sitting around for a while.

Overall, I am happy with this flavor! It is not one that I will be drinking regularly, but it’s good to have around when I get a popcorn craving at night.

This tea is very true to it’s scent and the blueberry flavor is very strong! I’ve made this twice now; once brewed according to the instructions and once as a latte with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I have to say I love this as a latte! The first time around it felt like it was missing something. I have yet to try this iced, but won’t be doing so until the weather heats up at some point. Thank you whatshesaid for the sample!

Thanks to another wonderful gift I received, I am well stocked with tea for quite a while! I don’t know if that will prevent me from purchasing more flavors, but we shall see! Anyhow, I have to admit that I was not completely sure about this flavor when I saw it, but it smelled wonderful. There were a lot of tart notes with strawberry. As I’m drinking it now, I have to say I am bowled over by how good it is! I tried it without sweetener or cream at first and it was tart and refreshing. I’m pretty sure this one would good iced! Since I made it hot, I decided to add sweetener and a touch of cream. I love it even more now! It has the tartness of rhubarb and sweetness of strawberry. I don’t taste any apple notes, which is fine with me. The tartness with the added cream and sweetener reminds me of strawberry cheesecake! I will try re-steeping once this cup is finished. This one will be part of my permanent collection!

Thank you elizabeth229 for the trade! I’ve been wanting to try Salted Caramel for a while, so I was excited when I finally received this in the mail. The smell was sweet when I opened the package, but nothing special. The taste is much better than the scent of the dry leaves. The black base is pretty mellow and the caramel really stands out. I am missing the salt though. I think if there was a touch more salt in this tea, it would be even better. I finished the cup pretty quickly though, so that is good thing. I think this one is a keeper!

I completely forgot that I had this one laying around! This was another sample I received with my last order. I have to say I’m conflicted with this one. The initial smell is that of ginger and citrus, but when it’s brewed the smell reminds me a lot of the Aveda Men product line. I love the smell in the product, but not so much in tea. The taste is not too bad though; the ginger is not too overpowering and I still get the citrus. It’s a tad woodsy as well. I am glad I got to try The Skinny, but I don’t think I’ll be purchasing it.

This is another sample I received. I’m noticing a trend: I am not a huge fan of teas that are heavy on mint. The predominant flavor is mint. I only get a very small hint of coconut with barely any fruity notes. It is a smooth tea though. This is not one I will be purchasing any time in the future.

I had this tea hanging around my cupboard and rediscovered it. I love the sweet kick you get after every sip! When I went to cosmetology school, I used to sneak small cups of this tea out after the night was over. It’s definitely nice to see that I still have it around! :-)

I received this sample with my order from them. The initial smell is nearly pure mint. I find it strange that the ingredients listed on my sample pack is different than that of their website.

Mine reads: Chinese black tea, peppermint leaves, candy cane sprinkles, cloves, cinnamon, orange zest, natural and artificial flavoring.

Anyhow, I was expecting this tea to have more complex flavors, due to the ingredient listing. I was disappointed when it was only mint. It’s not a bad tasting tea; it is reminiscent of Aveda’s tea without the licorice root. Though it is nice, I will not be purchasing this one any time soon.

Thank you again to T.C. for this sample! The flavors are pretty balanced between the chocolate and strawberry. That said, this one was just alright. I think if it had a more pronounced chocolate flavor, I would have enjoyed this more. It was nice to try, but I don’t think I’ll be buying this one.

Hmm… I like this one, but I am a bit disappointed. I brewed it for the recommended amount of time and even added more tea in to make it stronger. It brewed up quite weak, though I do taste equal amounts of chocolate and coconut with a hint of cinnamon. I’m hoping it will get better as I continue to drink this one.

UPDATE:
I find myself drinking this tea much more than I thought I would. This tea is brewing up stronger now and I think that adding a bit more tea helps in the steeping process. All in all, I am quite happy with this one. :-)

One word: YUMMY!! My wonderful boyfriend was kind enough to order this tea for me (as I was contemplating buying it myself). The smell of the leaves are definitely buttery and is reminiscent of cream cheese icing! I couldn’t wait to brew this one. The taste is definitely cake-y and delicious! There is a hint of chocolate that is not too overpowering. I made this with a touch or cream and a bit of sweetener. I will definitely be buying this one again!

Thank you T.C. for this sample! I was not sure about this tea when I first made it, but it grew on me. It is definitely a marshmallow tea! I was hoping to taste some of the caramel notes, but I couldn’t. I made mine with a little sweetener and cream. Overall, it is pretty good and I may consider purchasing this one in the future!

I bought this tea with a discount and because I felt like having a no frills black tea. This tea was good, though I have had better. All in all, this is a nice tea to have when you’re not looking for something extravagant and in a pinch.

The aroma of this tea is wonderful! The chocolate is pronounced and you can smell the spice. Unfortunately, the smell does not match the taste. I don’t know if I brewed this wrong, but it seems to be pretty weak. I even added more tea leaves and made sure the water was at a sufficient temperature. It got a bit darker, but not much. I was hoping this one would be full bodied. I’m glad this was a sample, otherwise I would have been sorely disappointed.

I am really enjoying this one! The caramel is slight, as strawberry is predominant. Still balanced and tastes wonderful. This tea really satisfies one’s sweet tooth. :-)

This is a good tea. The lemon is not overpowering and it is very refreshing as an iced tea.