A Southern Season

This dry tea smells wonderfully of sweet plum, and the tea’s aroma is rich and earthy. The first sip is of a nice, tart plum. Then out of nowhere comes this nasty artificial aftertaste, yuck! There’s very little oolong noticeable, the flavor is mainly of plum. Everything leading up is wonderful, but I can’t get over that aftertaste. I actually didn’t even finish the cup. Sad!

-Dry blend has large black tea leaves with pieces of dried fruit.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of sweet plum. Tea liquor aroma is of rich and earthy plum.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish purple color.
-Tart plum flavor and finish. Strong artificial aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Poor tea. Tart plum flavor with an unfortunately strong artificial aftertaste.

The name of this tea kind of jumped out at me, and then when I read the ingredients and smelled the dry leaves I knew I had to purchase a sample pack. It is a perfect black fruity tea. There is an overtone of lemony flavor that is refreshing, but an undertone of maltiness from the black tea that makes it a deep-flavored tea as well. I know this is one tea that I will be going back to again and again!

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves with small yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell like raspberry and lemon. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet lemon.
-Tea liquor is a clear reddish brown color.
-Malty lemon flavor with a sweet fruity raspberry finish. Slight creamy vanilla aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. Refreshing flavor.

This herbal tea smells heavenly – full of cinnamon sugary marzipan amazingness! And even better, this tea is a pretty, perfect reddish-pink color! I can’t help but get excited every time I see that pretty color come out of my little teapot. This is a soothing tea, with a nice almond flavored finish. It’s hard for me to have just one cup of this tea, I always want to brew some more. A perfect tea to have in the cupboard for an evening cuppa!

-Dry blend looks like a trail mix with large pieces of apple and beetroot and sliced almonds. Ingredients plumpen and float to the top during steeping.
-Dry blend smells like cinnamon sugar marzipan. Tea liquor aroma is of warm almonds.
-Tea liquor is a clear reddish pink color with an oily sheen on top.
-Cinnamon nutty flavor with a sweet almondy finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. A caffeine free cup of sweet almond flavor!

I was a little hesitant about this one, until I smelled it. I enjoy pecan desserts (like pecan pie and sugar/cinnamon-coated pecans), but I don’t necessarily love pecans just by themselves. The name of this tea interested me at first, then I decided against it because I was afraid it would be too much like the true pecan nut flavor. Right before checking out I came back to this tea and opened the bag for a smell and I was hooked (on the aroma at least). I steeped a cup this morning for breakfast in case I didn’t like it and I could make something else instead. Luckily I was very pleased with it! It has more of a sweet-dessert like flavor (although faint, not too strong) as opposed to the strong purely nut flavor that I was hesitantly anticipating. There are little chips of maybe white chocolate? in the dry leaves that I think add to the sweet flavor of the tea. Maybe not one that I would reach for every day, but one that would be a pleasant treat every once in a while.

-Dry blend has large tea leaves with yellow petals, pieces of pecan and small white chocolate chips.
-Dry leaves smell like caramel and pecans. Tea liquor aroma is like pecan pie.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Pecan nut flavor with a lightly sweet and nutty finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Nice authentic pecan flavor.

This has a beautiful color in the cup. It is dark and shiny with a red tint around the edges. Lightly malty. Nicely fruity. Bold but not too bold. Not bitter or harsh. Assam based teas are not likely to ever be my first choice when thinking what to sip, even so, this one is very enjoyable.

This is so much more aromatic than the Harney version I started the day with. So nicely fruity. It does not have the face jolt astringency either. Just a beautiful fully developed cup. I imagine A Southern Season is a reseller of this tea. I wonder who actually blends it. Very nice.

Made a second cup with supper. I wasn’t afraid to let it steep this time. This is a very nice tea. I was going to try and grab a picture off their website to update the tea info. Apparently they don’t actually sell their tea over the internet. Despite being a breakfast tea it doesn’t seem to pack the caffeine jolt of the silver needle white I had yesterday. Tastes yummy.

Thank you ashmanra. I know very little about Irish Breakfast. I went a little light on the leaf because I don’t know how my stomach will react to this black tea. This is so much smoother than I expected. I thought it would be harsh. It is nicely fruity by mid sip and lingers into the aftertaste. No bitterness and only slightly drying. A good cup!

Thanks to Josie Jade for this sample!

Smelling the dry leaf is very strongly lemon. At first, I thought of bubble gum when opening the package but with a deeper sniff the lemon comes to the fore.

A decent black tea base, definitely lemon. Maybe a bit of vanilla or possibly some other “fruity” flavors. Onto the shopping list this goes. A very pleasant blend that I think the tea party ladies at work would certainly enjoy this coming spring.

This is one of many teas that I picked out from Southern Season when I visited the store for the first time on Saturday. The dry leaves smell amazing, very strongly of vanilla and caramel. The tea liquor was a little bland at first, but once I added a little sweetener it became a wonderfully smooth tea with a nice, strong caramel finish. Perfect for a cold and rainy night!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves with caramel cubes and yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smells like caramel and vanilla. Tea liquor aroma is of creamy caramel.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark golden yellow color.
-Light caramel toffee flavor and finish. Smooth texture.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Good tea. A simple, smooth and sweet cup. Flavor becomes richer as cup cools.

Sip down. The dry leaf is soft and fluffy. 2m steep w/ boiling water. The aroma coming out of the press is intoxicating. Ok, not literally, even though it has a bit of a hard drink aroma. It just smells really good. This is CTC which is typical of black tea but this is not typical black tea. This is very rich and malty. To my tastes this smooth tea has no sharp edges, meaning I don’t find it what I would call brisk, bitter, or astringent. It kind of reminds me of the one Yunnan I have had, with a hint of Darjeeling like wine notes without the bite, and baked yeasty bread, with a fruity aftertaste. My description does not do this justice. I find black tea promises so much and usually leaves me feeling meh. This is one of a handful of black teas that I think deliver on the promise. 2nd steep was as delicious as the first. Thank you again Ashmanra for this tea.

A Surprise gift from Ashmanra! Thank you for sharing this.

The dry leaf is fluffy and oh so soft. It is a pretty mix of tan and dark browns. It does resemble a dark version of Bi Lo Chun. The dry scent is a bit cocoa to my nose. I steeped a healthy scoop for 2 ½ minutes in below boiling water. This is just a hunch since it works so well with Teavivre blacks.

The brew is dark but not too dark and has honey/caramel notes. The wet leaf is small torn pieces and chocolate in color.

The aroma in the cup is very similar to golden tips. Fruity – winelike. The sip images sweet dried hay. The aftertaste is mildly honeyed. Absolutely no hint of bitterness or astringency. From beginning to end this is a very good cuppa.

Second cup, full roiling boil for 4 minutes. This is very similar to the first cup. No bitterness or astringency. Just good sipping.

In doing my semi-annual tea bin reorg, I came across a sample of this sent to me by @ashmanra that I had misplaced. Fortunately it was packaged well enough that it held up after all these months.

It was sent to me to compare to a tea that I liked from Shui Tea. Unfortunately, Jimmy recently closed the doors on that endeavor and I now need to find replacements for his blends. (Some, like his Moscow After Hours, can never be replaced I’m afraid. Sorry, I’m still in the denial phase of mourning.)

Ruby #18 is a mild yet flavorful black tea. It has a fragrance of dried raisins and vanilla and steeps to a mild, well balanced, and moderately astringent tea. While it’s not quite Black Ruby from Shui Tea, it does come awfully close.

This is a delightful tea! Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for this sample. Although I did not pick up on the soy sauce overtones mentioned in Jacqueline M’s review, I did find it deeply robust and satisfying.

This is a different tea for sure and a keeper. I will have to place an order. It is very smooth. I had it straight up and loved it that way but I also think it could sustain milk and/or sugar and is stalwart enough to be experimented with.

Thank you, Ashmanra.

My mother loves A Southern Season, so anytime they’re running a sale – like the store-wide one that just ended – I can look forward to being mailed at least a half pound of new teas. This is one of a variety of fruit teas I was sent this time, including the Blood Orange Chocolate Rooibos that’s become a new favorite.

When you open the bag, the scent of orange that comes out is very, very strong (as citrus scents are wont to be), leaving no room for a tea scent whatsoever. The oolong is so dark as to be colorless, and has a disappointing amount of stems to it but fortunately doesn’t overdo it with the sparse bits of dried orange peel. Still, it is a pleasant enough scent – not being a big fan of most orange teas, I was surprised to find myself excited for this cup.

The liquor is a dark yellow bordering on orange, which is unsurprising given the leaves’ color. It doesn’t release much scent when steeping, and you’ve got to dip your nose into the cup to get a faint earthy whiff. The taste is unexpected but very pleasant. That strong orange nose to the raw tea shuts up and lets the mild, earthy tea take the stage. I generally like a stronger, fuller cup than this provides but the experience was tasty enough all-around that I would definitely consider this as a regular morning tea.

Don’t be tricked by the scent expecting strong orange flavor here, but if you’re a scented oolong fan this is a great mild option.
-Cash

A strong, thick brew with a wonderful blood orange scent. The chocolate flavor is somewhat lost under the blandly creamy rooibos, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it leaves a lot of room for the fresh, juicy blood orange to shine. The liquor is the embodiment of “red tea,” looking exactly the way its name should.

Far more satisfying than the other blood orange rooibos I’ve been able to try (from Spice & Tea Exchange.) I expect this to be fantastic over ice, and hope a little sweetener may bring out the chocolate notes.
-Cash

I found this to be a very boring chai, more spicy than flavorful. I like my chai complex, and the short ingredient list and overly-spicy scent to the loose tea didn’t get me excited for the decidedly lackluster cup I ended up having. Even with generous helpings of milk and honey, little flavor or aroma came through but pure spicy cinnamon and cardamom.
-Cash

This tea’s got a strong vanilla (bean, not the sweet flavoring) scent to it that comes through well enough in the taste of the liquor, but the black tea base is weak and I found myself disappointed with every cup after smelling the loose tea to get myself excited. Okay, but not something I’d purchase again.
-Cash

I had a little trouble deciding on the pairing for this week’s tea time. I had to accommodate the dessert and the guest, and the tea I would have chosen would not have been a good choice for one of the guests. I went with this reliable standby!

Our dessert was Walnut Mocha Torte. I have never had tiramisu but my guest loves it and said the dessert was similar but with lighter coffee flavor. My daughter made it – she is pretty amazing and loves to bake and tells me not to ever mind asking her to make something. The torte had no flour in it, only breadcrumbs and ground walnuts and lots and lots of eggs, and other things to be sure but I don’t know what! And she actually used panko breadcrumbs because we had so much on hand. The frosting was whipping cream with coffee and I know not what else but it was SUPER TASTY. It is light and cool, not heavy and overfilling.

The tea went with it well, not detracting or competing. I wish I had some pure cacao nib “tea” to go with this torte, though. I think that would be the perfect pairing for me, but I know not everyone likes as many things as I do!

What a great, all around daily drinker! Today was tea party day, and you may remember that I feel that my guest has done all the experimenting she really wants to do, she has determined that she loves black tea best, and I determined that I will start serving at least two black teas at tea party instead of wide assortments. The third tea will be either a flavored black or a green or oolong tea that she has had and loved.

I usually start out with an unflavored black tea to complement and cut the sweetness of our dessert. Today we had a couple of Hoosier pies that my daughter made, also called Sugar Cream Pie. It was really good, and the tea was a great pairing for it.

This tea does NOT taste like a decaf. It has so much flavor and heft, but is smooth and nice even without milk or sugar. Classic orange pekoe flavor!

On a side note, it is funny that I have a teapot purchase decision to make, thought about asking for advice here, imagined what advice I thought you would give (and what I would give to others in my shoes) and decided I knew what you would say and didn’t ask after all. So, thanks for your help, guys! I think I know what to do now! :)

Bleh. Do not use this to make cold brew iced tea, even steeping for twelve hours. Well, unless you enjoy the taste of cold water with a molecule of tea flavor added. Even when I added simple syrup, then more syrup, then more syrup, it just wasn’t tea. Pouring it all out and starting a new experiment. This time, Harney and Sons English Breakfast. Now THIS should be interesting!

I want TEA! But it is late, and I want something strong because it is very cold. So I made this but added a bit of ground clove and some freshly ground cinnamon. I couldn’t find any ginger anywhere! I must have used it all. It is a nice, fresh, satisfying cup for after chicken soup!

Hmmm, the mysterious tea database worm must have eaten this one, because I am sure I have reviewed it before! Anyway, this is a staple in this house for hubby. He loves a big mug of tea after work, but doesn’t want too much caffeine since he has to get up so early. This is the most expensive tea on the daily tea counter at SS, and I think it is because it tastes SO GOOD. Ceylons just seem to take the process of decaffeination better than other teas.

I think this one may have even more flavor and strength than Harney and Sons Decaffeinated. It is as smooth as you expect a Ceylon tea to be. We drink it with sugar, or with milk and sugar. We also enjoy adding freshly ground cinnamon and sometimes…hanging head in SHAME and embarrassment….we add lots of Tang instead of sugar with that same cinnamon and make a Christmas tea of it. Oh, guilty pleasures are hard to admit – don’t judge me! :) (You want to try it, you know you do!)