Miss Sweet

Brewed for 4 minutes but 3 minutes is much nicer. This Assam is definitely BFFs with Hazelbank. They stay up all night gossiping on the phone to each other about cute boys and the latest fashions.

Brewed for 3 minutes (4 is definitely too long). I found this comparable to my beloved Malty Breakfast Blend, only a little less maltylicious.

Brewed for 4 minutes (3 minutes is much nicer). I am usually pro milk in black tea, but I actually enjoyed this straight. My tasting notes for this say “Very smooth” and then next to it I drew a heart.

This Assam is so strong it will cut your face. If you are hardcore, I’d recommed drinking this straight. Or for those who don’t want to put their life in danger, adding a generous splash of milk or cream makes this delicious. The savoury aftertaste is especially yummy if you pair it with some fresh-out-of-the-oven gingerbread…

This tea is just a smidgen less delicious than my favourite earl grey (Earl Grey Excelsior from t Leaf T, which is notoriously out of stock). The black tea base is light, and the bergamot refreshingly strong. I’m definitely going to pick up a big pretty tin of this for Earl Grey related emergencies.

This… doesn’t really taste like anything. I add apple pieces & brew with a cinnamon stick to punch up the flavour, but I shouldn’t have to.

Chinese black tea frightens me because it either tastes like mouldy dirt, cigarette ashes, death, or all of the above. But I actually enjoyed this one! I found it mildly malty, with just the tiniest edge of ashiness. I could quite happliy drink an entire pot, go the Yunnan!

One of the most delicious flavoured black teas I have ever come across! With natural almond flavouring and almond slivers, this tea is an absolute delight – I prefer mine with a tiny splash of milk, but it stands up well on its own. Fingers crossed they get this flavour back in stock soon, I’m not sure how long my current bag will last…

The green rooibos base takes away some of that syrupy sweetness that most fruity teas have (and I dislike). The peach flavour is nice and mild, but I definitely think it has more bang when its iced – brewed double strength, topped up with soda water and peach schnapps… mmmm…

I thought I’d give this another go, seeing as I have made several people hopelessley addicted to it by saying “You have to try this insane tea! It tastes exactly like warm cream! I hate it!”. It does taste less cream-like without milk, and actually isn’t as confronting as I remember it being the first time I tried it.
If you are a fan of vanilla black tea (which I am not) I highly recommend you give this a go, as it just has that extra bit of sweetness that takes it from being a plain vanilla tea over to a real scrumptious treat!

It was interesting trying this after the Oolong tastings I did today. This one has a Tie Kuan Yin base, and combined with an incredibly light tough of pomegranate, its still boring. The oolong still leaves a lingering taste, but the tea itself isn’t anything to write home about. Its “nice” but not as exciting as it originally sounded to me.

Brewed for 2 minutes (3 minutes is recommended, but I felt the tannins had won over the taste by that stage). Could this be a Darjeeling I actually like? The aroma is quite leafy, and the taste is indescribable. Very strange, and – I know this word is bandied about a lot with Darjeelings and always sounds like a load of waffle to me – complex! There is so much going on with each mouthful, and I think its one of the reasons I enjoyed it!

Brewed for 3 minutes, but again I found brewing for 2 minutes was more satisfactory. I found this incredibly delicate and soft and creepily smooth, as I always find darjeelings (especially the first flush variety)

Brewed for 3 mins as directed on the packet, but I found 2 minutes was much better. I’m not a fan of Darjeelings really, and found this creepily smooth and very light.

A very laid back oolong, I didn’t find this one too offensive. Was comparable to Iron Goddess of Mercy.

Taste definitely lingered with this one. I found it quite similar to Buddah’s hand.

Brewed for 5 minutes. Formosa Oolong completely embodies my dislike for oolongs – it was smooth but very reminiscent of trees or some form of vegetation that I can’t quite put my finger on. The taste wasn’t overly offensive but the mouthfeel was awful, really syrupy and made my tongue feel funny.

Brewed for 5 minutes. This oolong suprised me! I found it rather tasty, probably because it was very similar to a black tea except it didn’t have a malty kick or any tanniny tangs. I think I’ve found an oolong that I can actually drink!

This tisane is chock full of all those crazy immunity boosting and healing and magic herbs like fennel, rose hips, aniseed, elderberries and peppermint. Thankfully it doesn’t taste like drinking a herb garden though, as the aniseed overpowers all. I hate aniseed so I drink this like its some awful tasting medicine, but I drink it because it works! Whenever I’m feeling a bit run down, a pot of this never fails to perk me up. And if I skip that, chugging it down in the midst of a flu certainly makes a difference. Herbalicious.

ETA: Adding a teaspoon of ginger root to this drastically reduces the aniseed flavour, making for an almost pleasant cup!

(lends well to multiple infusions) Green tea for green tea haters! Its deliciously nutty and savoury, tastes like popcorn with a delicate green tea undertone. A cup (or pot) of this is a perfect afternoon snack alternative. Mmmhmm!

Really full of flavour without strength, a nice laid back Assam. I’d recommend drinking without milk.

The best cinnamon black tea I have ever come across, the chunks of cinnamon in it definitely amp up the flavour. I love this one blended with t Leaf T’s Turkish Apple, the real apple pieces push through the cinnamon to create a yummy apple pie in your teacup!

Both the leaves and resulting brew smell incredible, but the flavour really disappoints. Both the cinnamon and apple are barely there, and adding milk just mutes the tea further.

The most delicious and flavoursome white tea I have ever come across – tastes like you are eating a peach!