Handmade Tea

I can’t believe I’m the first to rate this one. Thank you Rachel for sending me this one. I’m a huge fan of roasted mate. I like the roasted flavor on this one. The leaf is quite small almost like dust rather than full leaf. There’s not just mint in this one but full mint sprigs, which adds a nice touch to the roast flavor of the mate. However in steeping this one a few time I have yet to pick up any berry flavor to this one. I’ve even let it steep for ten minutes and still can’t pick up the Elderberry. Still this one is tasty. I would love to try more from handmade but unfortunately monthly subscriptions are not in the buget.

I’m not big into “flowery” sorts of tea, but this makes for a very nice post-yoga-workout brew. The lemon balm gives it a sort of cleansing feeling and overall is very relaxing. The flowery-ness is apparent, but not in an overwhelming way, just enough to be soothing and fragrant.

This is my first shipment from Handmade Tea, and it’s delicious!

I’ve tried this a couple of different ways now: first, given Caleb’s suggestion of a 4 min steep. The rose and jasmine are really strong with that method and it reminded me a lot of Lupicia’s Yume blend. What made it stand out compared to Yume was the hint of lemon in the background.
The second way I’ve tried this (and my favorite) is with short subsequent steeps, starting around 15 seconds. The smell is lightly chocolate-like and floral, and the lemon balm really pops with the short steeps!

I got the mini subscription to Handmade Tea, and this arrived in two small tins. I gave one to my brother-in-law and he wrote the other day to say he loves this too!

Can’t wait to see what comes in the mail in December. :)

I got a tin of this in the mail this afternoon and I’ve already had to brew five cups—three for me, and two for my mom, who just had to have some as soon as she smelled it.

Dry, the floral scent is big and sweet, which is complemented very nicely by prominent lemon balm. I was afraid the brew might be TOO lemony, but the results were mellow and wonderful.

I love the balance of black tea to floral/citrus notes. The flavor is bright without being sour, floral without being perfumey, strong without being too bold or astringent. Overall, a perfectly billowy and sweet cup with a velvet mouthfeel.

Sorry for the delay in posting my longer review of the October offering from handmade tea. Life has been crazy, been traveling, etc.

The joy of handmade tea begins the moment you receive the package. I have the full monthly subscription which means every month I receive both the tea and the palate building ingredient samples. (If you want to try handmade tea for less $$ you can get a smaller subscription without the ingredient samples.) Handmade tea is a great fall-blend. The ingredient samples that are included are African Black Tea, cinnamon and ginger root, and allspice. The spices that were included are whole (as opposed to gound powder) and are the exact ingredients that are in the tea. I’m not entirely sure that I knew what allspice smelled like exactly until I got this tea.

After smelling the ingredient samples I smelled the dry tea. I really like the ingredient samples because I’m not sure I would be able to pick out the different ingredients. Not only can I SMELL the ingredients in the blend after smelling them on their own I can also SEE them in the dry tea. As an aside, now that I have familiarized myself with these samples I can now much more easily pick out the flavors in other teas.

As the tea brews I can smell the cinnamon and the ginger. At the first sip I get a slight pepper essence from the black tea base. The cinnamon, ginger, and allspice flavors are all PERFECTlY balanced. I have had some cinnamon blends that were like drinking red-hot candies – the opposite of this. I LOVE THIS TEA. I really think this is a perfect fall tea. I am already more then ½ way thought my 3oz and I DO NOT want this sample to run out.

I am revisiting this one today (and I sort of revisited it yesterday too, because I tried the small, sampler tin of the Yunnan by itself) so that I can complete Part 2 of the review for this tea which will publish on the evening of November 14 on SororiTea Sisters: http://sororiteasisters.com

This time, I added some extra of the pepper flakes, cinnamon chunks and cacao nibs to rev up the flavor of the blend, and it’s good like this, but, I think that it’s better the way that Caleb blended it. It is better balanced that way. This amplified version is warmer, spicier, and with a bit more chocolate-y flavor and I like it … but, I think that the blend on its own gave off just the right amount of flavor to really showcase the Yunnan in a very special way.

No notes yet.

I LOVE THIS TEA! This was my first package from Handmade Tea. I will be drafting a more complete review as I drink a few more cups. However, I enjoyed this cup SO MUCh that I could not wait to post a short note.

I love the flavor profile and can clearly get the malty base with the harvest-fall flavors added. Probably one of my all time favorite teas because it is the combination of malty black tea + fall flavors + cinnamon + subtle flavoring. OH, YUM!

My first selection from my second sampler box from LiberTEAS – thank you so much for putting this box together for me!

I’ve been wanting to try Handmade Teas for a while, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to actually subscribe to their tea of the month program before trying some of their tea. I’m really anti-commitment and I can never make up my mind about things like tea clubs…it’s just too hard to choose which one to join so I end up just completely avoiding making the decision by not joining any haha! Silly I know…

I love the way the dry tea smells. Fruity and sweet. Once brewed though I’m not really smelling much aside from the white tea base. Upon tasting I do taste the strawberry, but it isn’t a very bold in-your-face type of flavor. I’m actually really enjoying the fact that the strawberry seems very light and natural. The chocolate adds a really interesting aspect. I feel like it makes the cup a little “fuller” if that makes any sense. The white tea base was a good choice for such a light flavor profile.

I think that Murmur is the perfect name for this tea. It really does fit the way the tea tastes. It really is a murmur… soft, quiet, natural, almost illusive but I actually found these things quite enjoyable. Such a relaxing lovely cup!

A while back Handmade Tea was featured on one of those flash sale sites, and I ordered this from that sale. This was apparently their tea of the month for March, but they remade a batch for the sale. It is a combination of Yunnan black tea, Guajillo Chile Peppers, Saigon Cinnamon and Cacao Nibs.

I was a little hesitant with the first sip. As much as I love spicy food and drink, I am always a little worried it will be too spicy and flames will shoot out my nose or something. However, this isn’t really too spicy at all. The heat develops, with the first couple of sips tasting relatively tame. As I continue to sip, I feel the heat develop a bit on the back of the palate, but it never becomes an overwhelmingly SPICY kind of tea. It’s gentle and warming, and even soothing. Comfortable.

A very pleasant cup of tea. I am really liking this.

I received this in my super amazing sampler box from LiberTEAS!

I think I must have made this wrong… I just got a grassy bland flavor from this that I am sad to say that I ended up pouring out. The description sounds lovely and the tea looks delicious too. Bah.

My third “experiment” with this blend … What I did is add the rest of the additional freeze dried strawberries and the cacao nibs to the blend and then brewed it to see how much difference the flavor would be with some extra strawberries and cacao.

There is more flavor from the strawberries and especially the cacao here, but, the flavors are still rather subtle overall. But I like it. Together with the white peony, they offer a very soft, soothing flavor that is contemplative when you want something like that … and if you are just looking for a refreshing, relaxing cup, this one can do that for you too. Nice.

Tonight, I am revisiting this tea … specifically, I am trying the white peony base. How? Well, Handmade Tea offers their blends in a totally new and very cool way. The large tin is the actual blend (in the case of this Murmur blend, it is a blend of white peony, strawberry and cacao nibs) and also tucked inside the box are three small, sampler size tins that hold some of each of the components (in this case, I have a tin of white peony, cacao nibs, and freeze dried strawberry pieces). I wanted to explore the white peony separately, so that I could get to know the quality of the base tea that Handmade tea used in this blend. I like that I am able to do this – I like that Handmade Tea makes this exploration possible!

This is a very good White Peony. I can’t say that it’s the very best I’ve tried, as I’ve had the opportunity to try some pretty amazing Bai Mu Dan offerings from some of the best tea companies in the world. That said, this isn’t the worst Bai Mu Dan I’ve come across either. It’s a fine quality White Peony, and I think that the flavor profile of this White Peony works well with the flavors Handmade Tea chose to feature in their Murmur blend. It is sweet with hints of vegetation. Interestingly enough, I noticed more melon-esque notes when I tasted the blend than I do now, I think that perhaps the strawberry and cacao highlighted those sweet, fruity notes. Pleasant and delicate, I’m enjoying this cup.

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

First of all, the packaging is pretty cool! It is all stacked neatly into a box which is then tied with twine and sealed with a wax seal. Pretty snazzy! Inside the box, there are four tins: One large tin that holds the blended tea, and three small tins that hold the components of the tea – white peony, dried strawberries, and cacao nibs. I like this, not just because one can customize their cup of tea the way they want it, but also because you can easily judge the quality of each component (I like that I will be able to brew a separate cup of white peony so that I can judge it without the strawberry and cacao nib)

But it also causes me to wonder … is this blended with JUST the dried strawberry or with strawberry flavor also? If it’s jut the dried strawberry, I’m in for a pretty dismal strawberry experience, I fear. I guess I will have to wait until the tasting …

Yep, it is as I feared… the strawberry notes are very faint. VERY faint. If you were to order this “flavor” with thoughts of chocolate strawberries dancing in your head, you would be sorely disappointed. This is white tea. First and foremost. It’s a fine white tea though. It is sweet with honey-esque tones and a fresh vegetal tone. A very nice white peony: flavorful yet delicate.

The strawberry flavor is there. But it is very subdued, and noticeable primarily toward the finish and in the aftertaste where I note a taste much like I’d experience if I had just eaten a fresh berry. The aftertaste is very similar to that. During the sip though, the strawberry is not there.

The chocolate is even more pale in flavor than the strawberry. However, it IS noticeable in the sip, around mid-sip, I notice a delicious chocolate-y note that washes over the palate. It’s wonderfully delicious, even if it is a bit on the softer side. And when it comes to chocolate, more is better.

I think for my next pot of this tea, I shall add a few more of the cacao nibs and perhaps a little more strawberry to bring these flavors out. And before that, I intend to try some of the white peony on its own to see how that experience differs from this one. For now, though, I think I shall hold off on the rating, because, while it is enjoyable for what it is… it isn’t what I think I wanted it to be, so I find myself a little disappointed because of that.

WOW! I’m in Heaven! This is AMAZING! It far exceeded my expectations!
The Black/Herbal/Oolong Trio plays very well with each other!

The Black is mellow to medium strength with that malty-ness I look for in a black tea. The Oolong is sweet and juicy and incredible clean and crisp. The Lemon Grass is VERY Lemony and pure!

This is FAB hot or cold and I could see myself drinking this A LOT but I’m going to send the rest to my Sororitea Sister Liberteas as I think she will appreciate this very much as well!

WOW! YUM! This is Tremendous!

I seriously LOVE the whole concept of this company! Everything about the company shouts QUALITY!

Caleb sent me a good size tin of this lovely white tea offering along with 3 small sample tins. In each sample tin were each of the 3 individual ingredients that were in this tea. He does this because we wants tea lovers and his customers to be able to see, touch/feel, and smell each of the ingredients stand-alone. Another PLUS for doing this is if a specific tea drinker would like a little extra of one flavor in the tea they are able to add a little more if they wish! GENIUS! How many times have we said…I wish such and such had a little bit more (enter ingredient here).

Caleb also sends great information along with the tea! This is wonderful! It tells me he’s really taken the time and effort with his tea offerings!

His packaging is just as impressive! Like I mentioned above the tins are wonderful but the labels are great as well! And…the brown fitted boxes that hold the tins that hold the tea are neat, too! He secures the box with twine and presses a good-ole-fashion wax seal on top!

As for this specific tea…I think it’s very good! I have to say the White Peony, alone, is right up there with the best quality of Peony I have tried! The dried strawberries are amazing! The cacao nibs are mixed sparingly thru-out the loose leaf mix…I must admit I purposely added a little more from the sample tin! I TOTALLY LOVE THE FACT I CAN DO THIS!!!!

The flavor is great! The Peony and Strawberry combo is the highlight and the cacao is like a back-up dancer! Very nice!

This is a treat from start to finish!

The founder of Handmade Tea had me at “whiskey oak-smoked” with this one. The yerba mate base is given that very treatment. Peppermint and cinnamon round out the rest. The introduction is smoky, while mint dominates the middle. The aftertaste reminded me a bit of Keemun. Even with my prejudice against peppermint, this was a heckuva holiday blend.

Full Review: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2011/12/13/hark-i-herald-booze-blends/