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This tisane came in the “Warming Joy” gift set by Tea Forte. I was a little confused at first because they are now calling this “Spiced Ginger Plum”, although it appears to be the same tea.

This was the one I was looking forward to the least due to the hibiscus in it. It definitely has a plummy smell but I would describe the flavor as a combination of tart and medicine. I really wish I liked hibby a bit more because it’s supposed to be so good for you; nevertheless I am not a fan and will be struggling to finish the cup.

This tea has a “bite” which I’m not sure is the hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger or a combination of the three. A bit of sweetener improved this, but I don’t know what I will do with the rest of these Sweet Ginger Plum samples that came in the set. Any hibiscus fans out there?

Sample from Yezi Tea I am trying this morning…

I was tempted to gong fu this but am running a bit short on time to get more caffeine into my body! I decided to steep it Western style for 2 minutes.

This is a really lovely red (black) tea. It definitely reminds me of a dark, hearty bread like pumpernickel. Then there is a nice sweetness in the brew, the sweet potato taste some people have picked up on. Chocolate notes are also present. This is really good when you drink it plain, but I also liked it a lot with soymilk added. The creaminess of the milk seemed to enhance this toasted grain quality. Overall this is a really delicious tea and I am adding it to my wishlist. Most of the black teas I have from China are from the Yunnan region, and this is a delightful Fujian tea, I’d love to have it in my evergrowing stash but it is not an inexpensive tea for sure.

This has more of a mellow, soothing energy than a get up and go type of energy. Good for a relaxing morning.

Sipdown
I thought today was a good day to finish off this tea. I have enjoyed this blend very much, although like a lot of flavored teas, it loses some flavor over time. I find that 52T does banana very well. I would order this again if it ever came through as a re-blend…

Wow, this is some seriously potent stuff!

I got a tin of this ginger/lemongrass blend to replace the one I finished off yesterday. This is very strong, lots of ginger and licorice and lemon flavor. I think you could use this to strip paint off your walls. I’m not necessarily thinking I will drink this for sheer enjoyment but it will be a good thing to have around in the winter to warm up and for immune boosting benefits. I think this would have been better without the licorice and more lemongrass in the blend. I can barely taste the spearmint here but the overall effect is… medicinal, unfortuanately

Sipdown of the afternoon…
I really enjoyed this Lime Gelato, much more than I thought I would. It’s fruity, with creamy and tart notes and makes a really nice iced tea as well. I will probably get some more of this next summer if it’s still available.

I’ve been reading a lot about the health benefits of pau d’arco and want to try drinking more of it this winter in the hopes it will perk up my immune system. Unfortunately the taste of it is enough to make me gag, so I keep trying to find things to mix it with. Tonight I tried this spicy licorice tea with a bit of coconut oil. This is definitely a spicy concoction but I think I prefer the pau d’arco with plain licorice root which more effectively masks its flavor. If anyone has a good pau d’arco tea blend please let me know what it is. :)

This is a sipdown for me tonight…
I’ve had this herbal for 2 years now so it’s a good thing I’m finally sipping it down ;)

This is a good blend of herbs including lemongrass, ginger, lemon peel, licorice, and peppermint. The licorice is not that strong, in fact I usually add sweetener to this when I drink it. I would like this better if it didn’t contain peppermint, I’m not always in the mood for mint and it can trigger my acid reflux. I will be on the lookout for some plain lemongrass soon, I think…

Thank you Teavivre for sending this sample my way!

I was in the mood for some shu this afternoon and hopefully this caffeine will not keep me awake later… instructions say to brew this at 212 F for 3 to 10 minutes? That seemed like a lot to me.

I decided to dump my whole sample in a little yixing and I have been doing steeps for 30 seconds. This is a very nice shu, has pleasant flavors of coffee, cocoa and a fruitiness like dates. This is a very clean tasting tea, without any musty flavors or odors that would signify a bad tea. The reviews on Teavivre’s web site, a couple of people had different opinions and remarked on the fermentation flavor and a mustiness but I didn’t pick this up.

Lately I’ve been wondering about shu pu’erh as it’s fermented with bacterias which might be good (like probiotics) but also aspergillus niger which is a fungus/mold and one I might be allergic to. Right now I don’t notice any bad effects from drinking shu and I know it is supposed to be healthy… so I will keep drinking it anyway.

This is a very good tea. I would definitely consider buying a cake of it for drinking now.

I ordered this from 52T recently because I love coconut and the reviews just made this sound so good…

I wonder if something is up with the re-blend because I get a lot more black tea base than coconut, and I am finding the base to be slightly on the bitter side. I added coconut sugar and soymilk to this but am wishing for more coconut flavor. Alas. I think I will try steeping this again with some slightly different parameters, perhaps with less leaf or a shorter steeping time. For now I do not love it, but the flavor is nicer as the tea cools.

I got this tea from Trader Joe’s the last time I was there. I actually don’t like plain mate on its own so I won’t bother to rate this for now. I like the way it makes me feel but it seems so bitter, even after sugar is added. I got this hoping I would find some other stuff to mix it with to make it more palatable. I am thinking licorice might be a good place to start because it is on the sweet side…