Elizabeth

I love chais. It’s just something I have had to accept about myself. I adore the mixture of comforting milk, the sweetness of boiling it with sugar or honey, and the complex spiciness of the resulting tea. That being said, I like interesting chais, and am not a fan of the repetitive spice chai formula that seems to be done by various companies all over the place. So, when I brewed up a bit of the Masala Chai sample I had been given by Adagio, I hoped it would be different from some of the others I’ve tried. Very much like Good Earth chai that I used to drink as a young teen; also similar (though, obviously, not as sickly sweet) to Oregon Chai.

Yes, this formulation is traditional and a standby, and it certainly holds up, but it’s boring having the same ratio all. the. time.

So, Masala is nice and spicy. I love cloves, and you can definitely taste them in this blend. Cloves and cinnamon are the two big flavors in here, and ginger adds some good heat. Cardemom makes an appearance, but is mostly clouded out by the other strong spices.

I would drink again, but not necessarily buy this from Adagio. There are bagged chais that are cheaper and compare to this.

3 teaspoons tea, 12 oz. water and milk in a 1:1, 1 teaspoon sugar.

Pretty good for a bagged tea. This one has a ton of flavor, and is a good pick-me-up in the evenings on long days (it’s decaf). This stuff was definitely a craving while I was taking my previous class, TOTALLY stressed out the whole time (in my nursing program, we go through one class at a time, obsessively in-depth), I ended up needing this sweet boost some evenings.

Now, this is my daughter’s favorite. When she goes to my tea cupboard and insists “tea, tea!” this is what she wants. I brew this for her for about 6 minutes, but like many tisanes, it doesn’t hurt to be forgotten for a few minutes.

The bags are good for an 8 oz. cup, and a little sugar goes a long way.

First sip-down since I started Steepster. Finished my first container of Nutty Almond Cream, and wished I had some more. This one is so soothing on a stressful afternoon, and the perfect almond mellowness just makes this utterly drinkable. Hoping to find a place that sells refills of this stuff.

Free sample gotten from Adagio. When I opened the packet, the smell of almond was overwhelming. This, for me, is an intensely good thing since I absolutely adore almond flavored anything.
With boiling water poured in, the smell of almond is still present, but the smokiness of the oolong also shines through.
All in all, it’s a nice tea, good strong flavor. I’ll need another tasting to really decide on this one, though. I’m new to oolong!

Dirty water indeed. The white tea, combined with what I can only assume is purple dye from the candied violets, turns this brew into a supremely unappetizing purple-brown color. The tea itself has a faintly detectable white tea flavor, but it’s mostly masked by the lavender. This tea tastes like herbs de provence smells. Not appealing.

Glad, at least, that I got this super cheap.

OK, so I was apparently being overgenerous when I first rated this tea. There are so many other teas with flavored elements that are better than this. It manages to just taste like black tea, with maybe a little chocolate in it. No noticeable sweetness from the marshmallows, and I can’t taste any graham cracker. I don’t see a point in trying this one again.

When the milk/water mixture is poured on, this tea smells exquisitely of coconut and mellow lemongrass. Absolutely freakin’ delicious! Oh my gosh, this tea has my favorite aspects of chai (the spiciness, the ability to hold up to milk and sugar) and the best parts of thai curry (coconut milk and lemongrass) and just smashes them all together for a perfect chai. I swear, this would be amazing even on cool summer mornings because of the tropical feels it gives off. So cozy, so perfect. I’m officially in love.
Prepared with: 3 teaspoons tea, 6 oz. water and 6 oz. milk heated to boiling together in pan with heaped teaspoon of sugar.

Oh man, it’s even re-steepable. Awesome.

Not bad. When I opened this packet, my first thought was “oh, smells like another chocolate tea…That’s weird.” But, when this one brewed up and I added a little sugar, the vanilla flavor burst forth. I am a vanilla connoisseur, and I would not say that this tea smells truly like real vanilla, but it’s approximation is close, and ends up lending a sweet creaminess to this tea. I wish it tasted a bit more like real vanilla, but this is pretty tasty, so I’m happy with this blend. My daughter loves it.
2 teaspoons in 12 oz. with a teaspoon of sugar.

I ordered myself one of these after using my mother’s a couple times and really enjoying it. Annoyingly, even though I ordered a design with birds and magnolias, the cup I received was plain white. I wrote to Amazon to complain, and they did nothing, then wrote to Tea Forte and they sent me a replacement and said to keep the first cup. So, these are my current favorites to use, and I really enjoy having two to switch around and use during the day without having to constantly wash.

The cups keep tea nice and hot while it steeps, and the lids also help a lot. The strainer is fairly effective, and better than many I’ve tried at keeping small particles out of the liquor.

First try with Hearts and Roses. I opened the packet, and it smelled strongly of chocolate, and the sweetness from the roses and candy hearts was noticeable. Once the water was poured on, the almost sickly sweet smell of roses emanated up from the cup as the sweet candies started to dissolve.
The first taste was of cheap chocolate with perfumey rose. Sugar makes both flavors stronger. This is not a keeper for me.

A beautiful blend of white and oolong teas that isn’t overpowered by the touch of cinnamon. This tea really does taste like cookies, but it’s not an overwhelming flavor. The tea is quite light and refreshing, and perfect no matter what the season. If you’re looking for a tea that’s very strong, this is obviously not it, but what would you expect with the delicate whites in this tea? Pretty darn good. This may be a staple for my cupboard.
2 teaspoons in 12 oz. of water, a teaspoon of sugar. Can be resteeped, but for about 5 minutes.

There’s nothing inherently wrong or bad about this tea, it just doesn’t taste much like cream to me. The tea in the packet smells like cream, but not as strongly as I had expected, and by the time the tea had steeped it didn’t smell like anything other than black tea. When I tasted it, it didn’t have any cream flavor. I fervently hoped that when I added my spoon of sugar it would help the cream pop out, but the hope was in vain. I was really hoping to find a nice cream I could like, and am glad I only got a sample of this…Sad.

Alright, this is my last try with Eight Candles. I steeped 2 teaspoons in boiling water for almost three minutes (about 2:50) in my 12 oz. cup, and I’m still not impressed with this one. Sure, it’s a little marshmallowy (not really much caramel to speak of), but the tea itself is kind of bitter no matter what I seem to do. Perhaps I got a bad batch? Anyway, I’m really not thrilled with this, since through my tastings all I’ve gotten was bitter black…I like black tea, I really do, but it sure doesn’t need to taste like this. Disappointing.

First taste this morning. Not yet ready to do a full review, but this is going to be a cupboard staple for me. Light, gorgeous flavor that really does give hints of snickerdoodles. A hug in a cup.

Great EG for the evening. Quick steep, perfect body, nice flavor without being overbearing. Can be used with or without cream and sugar on first and second steeps. It only took one and a half teaspoons of this to make a nice, strong 12 oz. cup of tea. Ideal EG. I’m in love.

At 2 minutes and 45, this tea came out perfectly. The balance of black tea with coconut is delicious and creamy, as the light sweetness of the coconut delicately enhances the overall body of the tea. This is a keeper.

At first whiff, this tea smells divine right out of the bag; just like sweet, fresh coconut. After steeping, the tea retains much of its coconut scent, but with the added earthiness of the black tea. The tea leaves themselves looked gorgeous, having unfurled fully, and returning to their natural length (pleasantly surprised how intact they were).
Since there were no hints on how long to steep this baby (the company’s website is lacking a little as yet), I went for four minutes, which unfortunately, was too long. At four minutes, it’s a little bitter, so next time I’ll try three and see what works. But, even though the time was too long, the tea still manages to taste deliciously of coconut. I’m loving the aftertaste, and looking forward to trying this one again.

Oh, and I wanted to add that this is a “local” tea company for me, so I’m excited to be the first reviewer. I picked this one up at a great co-op near Albany, NY.

Second cup of this one. I wasn’t terribly interested the first time around, and decided to steep it just a little longer (4 minutes this time, as compared to 3 before) to see if it drew me more. Oops, too long of a steep. Instead of being light and delicate, and the caramel and marshmallow notes readily available, it’s slightly bitter. Yes, it’s to be expected when let alone too long, I was not expecting the extra minute to change the tea experience so completely. Not my last try, though, so I’ll be giving this another shot.

After enjoying Della Terra’s Earl Grey Creme yesterday, this Grey seems to lose a little of its lustre. It’s more, bam, in your face, and not subtle. The bergamot and tea are not complex or terribly interesting.
I suppose this is to be expected, a tea I used to enjoy a great deal has proven to be less than ideal in comparison with others.

First taste on a nerve-wracking exam morning. So far, loving this tea. The bergamot is definitely flavorful, but not overpowering as in some Earl Greys, and the creme flavor softens it enough to allow for a milk-free cup. I love the marshmallowy creaminess the creme adds. Since I’m still a newb, I haven’t had the delight of tasting many creme teas yet, but if this is a hint of what’s to come, I’m pleased to start on the adventure.

Yes. Yes I did get a pick-your-own sample pack from Della Terra. S’mores is my second foray into the delectably scented teas made by DT, and I will admit it was fairly good. I used two level teaspoons for 12 oz. of water, and steeped for 3 minutes. I added a heaping teaspoon of raw sugar.
The tea had a nice subtle flavor of chocolate and marshmallows, and overall, it was tasty. I don’t feel like I got any graham-cracker essence in this steep. Perhaps this will be a little more flavorful with a full, rolling, boil and a little longer steep. Experimentation time!

OK, so I love having a nice black tea I can drink in the evenings (I’m hugely sensitive to caffeine, so sue me), and this one has some great flavor. The vanilla is neither overpowering nor weak, and overall this has a great, slightly nutty, taste. I make a cup of this using one teabag in 8 oz. of water, steeped for 4 minutes, and with a teaspoon of sugar. It’s pretty yummy, and I enjoy it that way….But, I’m also a fan of milk in my tea (depends on my mood), and with the addition of milk (whole, organic) it gets too dilute. Well, darn it, that’s not cool. I have even tried steeping it to 5 minutes, and I still couldn’t get enough flavor to stand up to the milk – it just managed to get bitter.

First try. My phone was on silent, so my tea-timer did not alert me that this was done steeping, and I may have left it sitting a little longer than I should have…That said, Walnut Brittle has a lovely delicate walnut taste, and opening the lid of my cup to see the beautiful green tea leaves having unfurled was a pretty sight. I’m currently enjoying this with a teaspoon of raw sugar, and it’s going down quite nicely.

Just got this baby in the mail yesterday…For an unknown reason, Teavana enjoys paying UPS to deliver my backordered teas one packet at a time (I’m still waiting on 3 packets and a canister) from their post-holiday sale. If I’d known about Steepster when making that order, I probably wouldn’t have ordered this one, since I’m not terribly interested in a cup of lavender perfume. But, I will certainly not judge until I’ve had a proper cup. This morning was most definitely an Earl Grey morning, so Lavender Dreams will have to wait a bit.