ESP Emporium

This tea smelled quite biscuity when I opened the bag, with a hint of nuts and spice in the background. It reminds me of SpecialTeas’ Almond Cookie actually. There’s not a lot in the scent or flavour that makes me think of butter OR truffles so I’m not sure why they gave it that name. The flavour is like baked cookies with a distinctly nutty flavour. It’s quite smooth in the mouth and would make a nice dessert tea I’m thinking. A little bit of milk and sweetener might really make the flavour pop.

Thanks to Dinosara for giving me this tea to try.

It’s been a very crazy week for me, so I needed one of my favorite comfort teas. I love this tea so much! It’s chocolatey, creamy, and has just a bit of coconut flavor. This is a very flavored tea (you can’t actually taste much of the black tea, but that’s okay). Prepared with milk and stevia.

On a personal note, please send your best wishes and prayers to Minot, North Dakota and the surrounding areas. Thousands of us lost our homes this week due to record breaking flooding. Sometimes just knowing that others are thinking of us makes picking up the pieces a bit easier.

Let me start by saying that I’ve enjoyed a number of the teas/tisanes I received in my first order from ESP Emporium. (Their Ceylon Blackwood, Darjeelings and Monk’s blend were all very good.) However, they don’t appear to do chocolate flavors well.

This rooibos smells strongly of orange peel and that carries over to the brewed product. You can see small chocolate chips but they are simply not potent enough to impart flavor to the beverage. I will say that this particular rooibos was fairly good. It didn’t have the menthol-like breakdown product that is present in some cheaper stock.

This was OK. It didn’t elicit a negative reaction but it won’t make it on the reorder list either.

I got a sample of this (and a few other teas) from Rachel (RachanaC) from her teatra.de site. Thank you so much Rachel – they got here so quickly and I’ll be going through them in the next few days, I’m sure. :)

This smelled almost coffee-like when I pulled it out – and since I’m doing some studying for end of the semester finals I figured I could use this to keep me awake for the night! The smell actually seems reminiscent of the Javavana Mate from Teavana. That is strange to me, because the ingredients are quite different. I see some coconut and chocolate shavings (yum!) in the dry leaf.

I used 3 tsp. of leaf to 500 ml. water in my Breville, per steeping instructions. Once steeped the aroma turns more to the chocolate side of things – a dark chocolate smell to be specific. After the cup has cooled a little, I taste the black base and get the coconut and chocolate more on the swallow/aftertaste. I think there’s a faint hint of coconut but it’s not too strong considering the huge shavings that were in the sample. The black tea is strong but not bitter, which is always a plus for me.

This is a pleasant tea. There isn’t anything that stands out about it, so I probably won’t be buying more when there are so many other teas out there to try, but it is nice to sip on while trying to cram a semester’s worth of information (back) into my brain…

Tried this cold brewed.

The flavor is again very light for an Assam. Closer to a Darjeeling. The cold-brewed tea is vegetal and somewhat sweet, with maybe a hint of berries in the finish.

It’s not bad, but I’ll not bother cold-brewing this one again.

Scent has fruity, sort of raspberry, notes. The taste is lighter than most Assams, giving a delicate impression… not as dainty or light as a Darjeeling, but more so than other Assams I’ve tasted. It’s also a bit floral in flavor. A very pleasing cup of tea!

This is another not-so-chocolatey entry from the ESP Emporium chocolate sampler. The picture shows chocolate chips but I don’t think this bag has been within 10 miles of a cocoa bean.

The fragrance of the blend, both in the bag and prepared, is of caramel and rose. While not unpleasant, it’s not what I would expect from something called “chocolate cake.” The flavor is a strong caramel (there are actually mini caramel chews in the mix) and there is a lingering tart, floral aftertaste. Again, the flavor isn’t bad but I really wanted something with an obvious chocolate note.

Thanks QueenOfTarts!

Finally got round to trying this today. It is really good to have right now as it is a really warm day and this is a nice, light, summery tea. I used a lot of leaf brewing this and so it is very flavoursome. It really is juicy, like a watermelon, which is quite nice. It is also very sweet without any sweetener.

The initial fragrance leaned towards cream and berries with little indication of chocolate. Prepared, there was a subtly sweet, baked-goods aroma.

The taste was disappointing. While the tea base was of a fair body and the slight slick of coconut oil gave it a creaminess, there wasn’t much flavor. The ingredients list includes both cocoa bits and chocolate chips but I couldn’t detect these in the slightest.

This was part of a chocolate sampler pack that I purchased. I hope I have better luck with the remaining teas.

I had this as well earlier. I’m not sure I got many of the ‘spicy influences’ in the description this time, but it was still good.

Thanks again Ellen!

Another backlog.

The dry leaf smelled sooo good – fruity and spicy. The scent was very strong – I love strongly-flavoured teas, so this wasn’t going to be a problem. When I brewed it up, I got spices and fruits again, but orange was a lot more predominant. The taste was as good as the scent – mostly fruit, but not as much orange as I got from the scent. I have never had a black/green blend before, so this was a first for me , and I quite enjoyed it.

Todays cup is especially rosy. I’m having risotto for lunch, and this fruity, floral tea cuts through the richness of the food very well.

Having this again today as it has become a real go-to tea, probably because it is kept in my kitchen tea collection so it is easy to get to. Also because it is lovely and sweet and juicy. I love this more and more, so I’m going to raise the rating.

Had this earlier. It was very sweet today (I didn’t add sweetener) and the lychee came through especially well.

Thanks Ellen!

This smells divine – quite light and fruity, with the strawberry and lychee easily identifiable. I love watching this one steep – the leaves open up to be large, whole leaves. The steeped leaves smell moslty of tea, with inly hints of flavours in the background, but the taste of the tea is very well balanced – again, the strawberry and lychee are good and identifiable but they don’t overshadow the green tea, which I can taste mostly at the end of the sip.

A nice, sweet flavoured green tea which is capable of a very flavourful second steep.

This tea appears a bit dull and flat. There just isn’t much color or vibrance to it. The fragrance is both tart and sweet with a discernable white grape note. The ingredients list includes “flavoring” and I’m hoping it’s at least natural since the grape fragrance is so strong.

This tea brews very light; similar to a white tea. The fruit fragrance remains fairly bold but the flavor is really mild. There isn’t much to the tea body and there are only hints of the grape and currants.

If you like very subtly flavored green teas, then give this one a try. If you prefer more oomph then I’d pass.

Thanks Ellen!

My last backlog for now.

Again, just like last time, this is strong and malty. This is OK when it is hot, but as it cools it becomes very astringent and almost oily (probably due to the flavourings). I still can’t taste the flavours, but it woke me up this morning, as a breakfast tea should.

Thanks QueenOfTarts!

A fairly good black tea, but I can’t really taste the flavours in this, apart from a little berry in the aftertaste. I can’t really identify the other flavours though, but this is an OK breakfast tea if you want something plain.

The description of this tea caught my attention. It has a lot of elements I really enjoy like vanilla and bergamot but it also had a few I’ve never tried like grenadine and tea flowers.

The fragrance was a strong berry-and-bergamot. The leaves were dark and crumbly and the add-ins appeared shriveled and faded versus just dried. It wasn’t as vibrant as pictured.

Once prepared, the tea had a strong candy-like smell; think candied apple without the apple. The taste was vaguely tart and subtly fruity with a lingering vanilla aftertaste. There was also something completely unidentifiable-possibly the tea flowers?

This was an odd one but it grew on me. I really liked the flavor and fragrance but it could have looked a little better. I’ll probably try another bag later in the year to see if there’s any difference in that regard.

The twisty, medium-green leaves smelled of black cherry. There was also a strong presence of pipe tobacco. This created images of old English estates.

The brewed tea was a light copper color and it had a strong, sweet and creamy fragrance. The flavor had an initial bite then became what I can only describe as a “classic tea flavor.” When you think of what tea in general tastes like, this is a great example. That’s not to say that this tea is boring- just consider it friendly and predictable. I really liked this and see it becoming a staple.

I just received my first order ever from ESP Emporium. It happened to include two different varieties of Darjeeling; Margaret’s Hope (SF) and Marybong Organic (FF). I thought it would be a fun experiment to prepare them side-by-side and compare and contrast them in my reviews. The text of my reviews for both teas will be the same but the score reflects how I feel about this particular tea.

First, let’s talk about initial fragrance. Margaret was clean and crisp with notes of pepper and grapefruit. (This is a second flush?) Marybong leaned towards being sweet and biscuity.

Margaret’s leaves were dark and crumbly while Marybong’s were a mix of older and newer, bright green leaves.

Both teas were prepared at the same time using the same steeping parameters.

The fragrance of Margaret was bright, crisp and citrusy while Marybong wasn’t very fragrant at all. I detected a bit of hops but not much else.

Finally, the taste. Margaret was initially very smooth but then you get this final punchy astringency. Quite a pucker! This has a really complex profile. Marybong, on the other hand, was more even tempered. It was mellow and was a consistent drink to the bottom of the cup.

Up until now, I had always considered myself a first flush kind of guy. Margaret has changed my mind. I really enjoyed the fragrance and complexity of flavor it offered over Marybong. However, Margaret might be too aggressive for some. For them, the consistency of Marybong would be a better choice.

I just received my first order ever from ESP Emporium. It happened to include two different varieties of Darjeeling; Margaret’s Hope (SF) and Marybong Organic (FF). I thought it would be a fun experiment to prepare them side-by-side and compare and contrast them in my reviews. The text of my reviews for both teas will be the same but the score reflects how I feel about this particular tea.

First, let’s talk about initial fragrance. Margaret was clean and crisp with notes of pepper and grapefruit. (This is a second flush?) Marybong leaned towards being sweet and biscuity.

Margaret’s leaves were dark and crumbly while Marybong’s were a mix of older and newer, bright green leaves.

Both teas were prepared at the same time using the same steeping parameters.

The fragrance of Margaret was bright, crisp and citrusy while Marybong wasn’t very fragrant at all. I detected a bit of hops but not much else.

Finally, the taste. Margaret was initially very smooth but then you get this final punchy astringency. Quite a pucker! This has a really complex profile. Marybong, on the other hand, was more even tempered. It was mellow and was a consistent drink to the bottom of the cup.

Up until now, I had always considered myself a first flush kind of guy. Margaret has changed my mind. I really enjoyed the fragrance and complexity of flavor it offered over Marybong. However, Margaret might be too aggressive for some. For them, the consistency of Marybong would be a better choice.