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I honestly thought this was Forever Nuts! Both Forever Nuts and Sleigh Ride are in the Caffeine-Free sampler set, so when I happened to look at the bottom of the tin, I was flabbergasted. The thing is, I’d even been reading the reviews for Forever Nuts and agreeing with them, so…. Clearly Sleigh Ride and Forever Nuts were Separated At Birth.

Dry, this tea smells sweet, sort of reminds me of muffins. It brews up to a .deep pink-red color and smells like fruity cinnamon. It tastes like a tart apple pie- not super tart, but just a bit. The fruity apple-cinnamon flavor is nice and subtle. I found it relaxing at the end of the day.

I’m definitely going to have to try some Forever Nuts tonight… see if they’re different at all.

I’m so glad the Sweet Indulgences set came with a bit of this. I don’t think I would have ever picked it out on my own.

This was a home-run for me. I didn’t really read the ingredients before brewing a cup – I just knew it was a chocolate tea with cute little red candy lips, so when I tasted it I was surprised by the minty taste. It was a great surprise, as the flavor instantly reminded me of Thin Mint cookies. The chocolate is present, but not overwhelming, making this a nice middle-of-the-day tea. Super satisfying, and I’d consider buying more.

Finished the rest of this tiny tin from the caffeine-free sampler tonight!

I’m a little torn on this one. Last night I think I understeeped it at 4 minutes, and it tasted like very, very light milk caramel chew. Tonight I got distracted and it definitely steeped for longer than 5 minutes… maybe 8 minutes? Whatever it was, it was way too long and it tasted woodsier and not caramel-y at all. But I’m not clamoring to try this one again. I was expecting something a bit more like Lupicia’s Caramel & Rum, which may have been the problem. That and the dry rooibos smells amazing. I wish I could just eat that smell.

Depending on how you make this, this tea is either a very nice black tea with an aftertaste of cocoa, or it is a cup of bitter chocolate (in the good way). I think the depth of the chocolate flavor may also depend on the age of the tea. I swear it was stronger when I first opened the package, and I swear I’ve stored it properly – it even came with a tin!

Anyhow, take 2 generous teaspoons of this, steep for 3 minutes, and boom: bitter chocolate bar. If you let it go for too long, the tea itself does get bitter on top of the chocolate, which I do not recommend. A nice afternoon cup of tea, but I do wish it would keep better.

Yet another tiny tin from their Sweet Indulgences set – I’m working through these rather methodically.

So much fruit! Tons of tiny peach pieces and some flowery red bits. A tad difficult to figure out which bits are the tea leaves, but I think I got some in there. ;) Smells like a real peach.

Taste-wise: still smells a lot like peach when brewed, but the peach flavor isn’t all up in your face. The oolong tempers it back from being a fruit-splosion. I think this would be great cold-brewed or iced – the peach taste is actually quite subtle, so some may wish to add a bit of sweet to bring it out.

Freebie bag from their store.

The dry pyramid smells amazingly of tart green apples, and while that scent doesn’t completely survive brewing, it persists. I spent the first few minutes waiting for this to cool enough to drink just breathing in the steam and its green apple aroma.

Comparatively, the flavor disappoints, but I do get a sense of apple contrasting nicely with the bancha, and as the tea cooled further, the apple flavor grew more pronounced. This makes me think that cold-brewing might be more successful. I’ll try that if I ever get another tea bag.

From my Lupicia Lucky Bag, and wow I really enjoyed this. I’m not getting that overpowering bergamot aroma or taste others have mentioned, but the bergamot is present, and I think it blends very nicely into the backdrop of the black tea. I’ve never tried Keemun on its own, but here it translates into a smooth base with sweet notes. Every mouthful is basically me going: mmm this is some great tea.

One of the tiny sweet indulgences set tins.
Smells super fruity, sort of reminds me of raspberries, even though I know this is a pomegranate flavor tea. That pomegranate aroma comes out a lot more once it’s steeped, and it tastes like sweet pomegranate seeds. For some reason I’m getting a hint of chocolate as an aftertaste, which might be the result of mixing the black and green teas in this blend. It’s an interesting tea, and pretty good, but not super exciting.

50g package came in my Lucky Bag. I like rooibos and drinking tea at night, so I was happy to see it.

I can understand why some might be put off by the smell – it’s slightly medicinal and artificially berry. Brewed, the rooibos does come through, so this is not a tea for those who dislike it. If you use about 1.5 teaspoons and steep for at least 4 minutes, the berry and honey flavor develops a bit more and is pleasantly sweet.

I don’t think I’d rush to buy this again, but it did the trick.

Got this out of the sweet indulgences set. Immediately I am surprised by the amount of fruit packed into this tiny tin. The fruit looks like cranberry and apple pieces, but I’m sure at least some of these are pear bits.

Smells really fruity and distinctly like apples and pears. The flavor of the actual black tea isn’t super noticeable, and it’s not tart. It’s more of an apple/pear taste with a hint of cranberry.

While it was nice to try this, I don’t think this is a tea that would make it into my regular rotation.