bonnievantastic

This is my first time trying this tea. My brain hurts a little seeing little puffy clouds of puffed rice and what appears to be hamster poo all mixed in with some very vegetal smelling green tea. There were no instructions about brewing so I used a tsp in 98 deg [probably too hot in hindsight] for 4mins. The cup smelled much nuttier than before and very vegetal, which was the predominate taste. I added agave nectar to sweeten before I had tasted it and I wish I hadn’t – next time I will drink it unsweetened. I almost feel like eating something with marmite on it with this tea – strange.

I will drink the rest of my sampler, but I’m not sure if I will buy more.

I am just getting into the finicky art of second steeping – I brewed this one up with 98 deg water for ~8 minutes. It was definitely weaker, I wouldn’t advise a secind brew unless you add maybe another half tsp. loose to it for some muscle. I guess it is better than throwing it out, right?

I am a big coffee fan and so when I smelled the canister of this tea I was pretty excited! It is highly caffeinated, which is great when you are looking for a morning jolt, but the brew is so silky and rich you may give it a chance over your morning joe. Of course, being Canadian and having a Tim Horton’s gene has lead me to primarily enjoy this tea in the afternoon when you need a little decadent pick-me-up. It smells like a confectionary went into a forest and the liquor is simply devine.

So yummy! The rooibos is a great balancer to the mint, which seems to over-power the chocolate flavor. The liquor is coppery and the brew is very smooth – definitely a nice alternative to straight mint.

Once I figured out how to steep this one correctly it was great. The first few times I brewed it the water was too hot and the scalded leaves tasted like tingles gum – ya, the one that you are sure is made of soap. Anyway, banish your judgement of my ignorance because this is a beautiful tea. Very delicate and sophisticated, one of the few florals that is not over-powering. I really love steeping some lemon peel with this tea or squeezing some into the liquor.

This is my favorite green tea, hands down! I love that you get a little show while you wait for the tea to steep as the pearls unroll and get cosy at the bottom of your mug. And as the leaves are so long you really don’t need a filter of any kind, they just sink to the bottom. This does, however lead to some very strong tea by the time you get to the bottom of the cup, but I just use fewer pearls per cup and give it more time to steep.

Holy berries Batman! I’m not really a fan of fruity teas, but we wanted to give this one a try because I’m getting hooked on bergamont. In the tin the scent of berries seems artificial and altogether too strong, and it is overpowering in the [hot] cup. Our tin sat untouched in the cupboard for ages and I was about to throw it out when I tried cold-brewing it to make some iced tea. It was amazing!! I was really impressed at the smooth flavor of the brew that didn’t have even the slightest hint of bitterness. Oh, and it had the most wonderful body! It was the first time I have ever experienced a thick cold-brew liquor. As a hot tea, I would not recommend it at all unless you really really like berries. Then you should still save your money and just buy some berries and some good tea. But if you are a cold-brewer than for sure try this one out!

I got this one for my husband who was looking for a refreshing tea that was low-caffeine for those late night brews. He really enjoys it and I think its pretty good. There is a certain amount of astringency from the citrus and juniper, but I think that adds to the flavor. The flavlor is complex and if you enjoy tangy teas then you would probably really like this one.

Not such a fan of this one – I find it to be a bit too buttery, I prefer the liquor to be a little less thick.

Its funny, I tried this at my in-laws, and assumed it would be pretty mediocre. Was I ever surprised when this turned out to be the best rooibos I have ever tasted and by far one of the smoothest cinnamon blends. You can taste the little notes of anise and cloves as well, it just feels like you glow when you have a big mug of this in hand. My favorite way to enjoy the coppery liquor is to blend in some dark honey that adds sweetness but also another layer of richness – my husband also likes this one with a little dollop of dulce de leche for a dessert drink with a slug of brandy in it. Devine.

I really enjoyed the bright verbena and lemongrass high notes, balanced by the earthy oolong second. I think it would be easy to miss the oolong when it is under-steeped, I learned that out of stubborness when I let it steep for a full ten minutes, I was entirely determined to get some body out of it. It ddi, and further brewing made me stick to a minimum five minute steep.

Other than that, the only thing I noted was that if you enjoy a little sweet in your tea, honey was much nicer than sugar for this blend. Something about the lemon makes standard white sugar taste almost metallic – bad bad bad. Honey, however, seemed to blend much more smoothly.

I tried this tea for its combination of healthy herbals, but I fell in love because it is possibly the most delicious liquor I have ever infused! It is great hot or chilled and I always feel refreshed after having some. The pur’eh is rich but the ginger keeps it crisp. I would highly recommend this to all the tea lovers out there and anyone just getting into trying pur’eh tea – its not at all intimidating!