Hawaiian Islands Tea Company

For a tea that tastes so good it sure has a funky pre-steeped smell. I felt that 2 mins of steeping is the right amount to get a good flavor without making it bitter. Its good with some honey too.

Encouraged by being pleasantly surprised by the Mango Maui, I decided to continue trying out these teas that my sister purchased for me during her honeymoon. :)

Apparently wherever they source the flavoring for the Mango Maui are used again for this one. The scent of the teabag was exactly the same except with a bit of a tartness to it, despite the different fruit. Part of me is worrying about the sudden intake of chemicals, but a cup here and there can’t hurt too much.

As it turns out, it’s not just the smell that tastes pretty much the same, but the taste does too. =/ Which is kinda disappointing. When you have assorted flavors in a box, you kinda expect them to taste different. That said, the tea is surprisingly good to begin with, so it’s not a total loss. The main difference between this and the Mango Maui is that it’s less sweet tasting, which tickles the temptation to add a bit of sugar to remedy this.

Anyway, I can’t see myself purchasing these teas for myself (assuming it’s available outside of Hawaii) but it’s perfectly unoffensive, especially since it was a gift. :) I’ll still be keeping one teabag of each flavor in the box as a memento.

Only one more flavor to try from the box. :)

Finally broke open the box. I was hoarding it for about six months, because it was a gift from my sister, who bought it for me during her honeymoon in Hawaii. So in other words, regardless of how this actually tastes, it’s automatically special. Hence the hoarding.

But she seems upset everytime she sees the still-sealed box, so I rationalized that I could just drink most of it, and leave one teabag of each flavor, (The box came with this, Pineapple Waikiki and Passion Fruit Na Poli, six bags of each) and still hold onto this precious memento.

Anyway, the smell of the bag worries me. It’s very potent and fruity, but in the way that threatens to taste very fake. Sure enough, it doesn’t actually contain any mango in it, it’s all “natural and artifical flavoring.” Which isn’t terribly surprising for a teabag. But still, this is my precious tea, so I’m hopeful it’ll taste reasonably good.

After taking the first couple sips, I must say I’m pleasantly surprised! It’s surprisingly not bitter for a bag — no additives, mind you — and I steeped to the maximum recommended time too. So far it doesn’t taste terribly fake, though since I made this with boiling water and no milk (milk and fruit? Blech!) so it’s still quite hot to taste it entirely, but so far it seems pleasantly sweet and fruity with a definite black tea taste. It’s definitely not real mango, but it tastes more authentic than any mango juice you can pick up at the supermarket.

Rating will come after I’ve finished the cup. :)

No notes yet.

Yum, I like this one sweetened and iced. Doing it myself, muuuuch cheaper than buying the bottles of it at the store.

Bagged

Aroma when Dry: Bright, Sour Hibiscus, Lemon dominate
After water is first poured: delicate and tangy, fruity. All three notes noticed, lemon, Hibiscus and Honey. Slightly grassy note from the green tea base.
At end of steep: smooths out, sweetens slightly, then it mellows out so much it gets bland.
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: grassy

Staple? No, but may revisit, for use as medicinal.
Time of day preferred: Morning, Afternoon.
Taste:
first notes: Honey, then a hint of lemon. Hibiscus very faint.
As it cools? Lemon surfaces greatly.
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No.
Lingers? Slightly, with mild sour note.

Like the other teas I’ve tried from this company, this one is a home run – the fruit flavor is nice but not overpowering, and it smells absolutely heavenly :-)

Another review will likely be forthcoming when I’ve gotten over my cold and fully regained all my senses, but I did enjoy the 2 cups of this tea that I had tonight. Like its counterpart, Pineapple Waikiki, the fruit flavor wasn’t synthetic, and it wasn’t overpowering. It was just enough to add interest.

I’ll probably have to write another review when I’ve gotten over this cold, and fully regained all my senses, but this tea is absolutely lovely. A wonderful departure from plain black teas, and a welcome diversion from said cold. I had 2 cups this evening, and it was wonderful – the fruit flavor wasn’t synthetic (as I’d feared it may be), and it was just enough to add interest without being overpowering.

This was definitely an impulse buy at the grocery store, they had several different kinds of Hawaiian Island Teas and I chose this one. I decided to use two teabags in a large-ish mug. Eh, it isn’t terrible but not that great either. It tastes of mostly rooibos and I was hoping for something with more of a punchy flavor in terms of the coconut or the macadamia. I added some soymilk and some coconut extract to this and that did improve upon the flavor slightly but it still leaves something to be desired. Anyway I am also giving it a solid “meh”

DISCLAIMER: Very old tea. Do not rely on this review to judge this tea or company!

The third of the ancient teas. Dry, this one does have a bit of a fruity smell, different than the mango tea. Somewhat promising, but it’s unlikely to be any different than the first two :P

Steeped, there’s a definite fruity smell as well.

Argh, I let this one cool too much, and all I can taste is cardboardy, astringent black tea. I think there was potential at a warmer temperature, but it’s too late now. I really don’t want this cup. Into the sink you go…

DISCLAIMER: This is very old tea. Please don’t judge this tea or company by this review. (No rating for this reason.)

Due to lack of a tea ball, I figured ‘why not try to use up some of these ancient teas’? So, round 2 of ancient tea. Round 3 coming shortly (well, you see, I also took home one of my mugs, so only have one…. what’s this one-tea-at-a-time thing?!)

This might be the least appetizing of the bunch. The teabag smells like… oldness. Haha. There are also more of this type than either of the others, because I guess I was more enamoured by passion fruit and mango (not too surprising).

The smell of the steeped tea has a bit of light fruitiness. I wouldn’t identify it as pineapple, but it’s definitely different than the mango tea. I’m also smelling some black tea maltiness. I think I do like the black tea base that was used for these blends.

Oh wow! There’s actually some pineapple flavour! At least initially. I was not expecting that. Like, we’re actually talking a flavour that I identify not as mere fruitiness, but pineapple. It is very subtle though, and mostly in the beginning of the sip, before the black tea moreso takes over. Given it’s age, I’m pretty impressed though. Another tea that I’d like to try a fresher version of. I think I might like it :) One more to go…

ETA: Blagh! I let this cool down, had a yogurt, and then finished it, and somehow it tasted like it had developed a fair bit more astringency. Ick. Oh well, it was nice when it was warm!

DISCLAIMER: If you are looking for reviews of this tea prior to purchase, do not read this one. My tea is so old as to be completely non-indicative of the actual tea. Hence the lack of rating, as well.

Ooook, so this is an OLDIE. I mean, it’s probably 10+ years old. And not stored well. I have low expectations (although got some nice fruity mangoey smells just now… perhaps it won’t be as bad as I think?) My mom brought these back for me from Hawaii forever ago, and I drank a few bags’ worth, but that’s it, and have kept them around until now out of guilt. Perhaps if there’s a bit of flavour left, I’ll finally use them up! I have two other flavours as well, Pineapple Waikiki, and Passionfruit Na Pali. The last time I recall trying one of these (a few months ago), I recall much cardboardy flavour… but there was likely oversteeping then too. fingers crossed…

Ok. It smells a bit fruity in the cup now. Just a bit. Flavour-wise, I can definitely taste the black tea, and although somewhat astringent, I feel like it’s a touch malty as well, which is nice. Sadly though, this does not taste much like mango. And sure enough… there is a bit of a cardboardiness as well. No real surprise there.

It’s definitely drinkable, given that I brilliantly only steeped it for 3 and a half minutes, and without additions, even. I’d love to try a fresh batch of this (and the other) teas. I’m probably missing out, given TeaEqualsBliss ’ review & rating below.

Hmm, not really getting a lot of pineapple here. Lots of the black tea, and behind that a bit of something fruity and woody. Kind of thin, but not unpleasant. My parents brought this back from Hawaii for me and on the box it suggests using a sweetener to enhance the fruit flavour. Trying that next time!
Edit: Lighter on the second steep— less of the black tea and wood, more of the fruit.

My dad got this for me. It just wasn’t for me. It has a mild strength of guava. It has a cold medicine feel to it, does ginseng have that effect? I have had ginseng tea, but don’t remember that feeling. It reminds me how Coldeeze feels in your mouth, but not as extreme. It’s something that made me not like the tea. The tea itself was just mediocre. I am donating the rest to a friend who has a cold, I hope she enjoys it. I really was looking forward to the guava flavor. First guava flavored tea.

I am very very picky about mango, which isn’t the tea’s fault. I thought I would give this tea a try. I think I dislike mango flavoring. The tea has a perfect balance of tea and flavoring. It is good iced. I just don’t like mango as the flavoring, I prefer mangoes only in Indian food where it’s mixed with something. Mmmm, mango pickle or mango lassi, that’s something I could eat right now.

I give this tea a ‘meh’. It’s not bad for a red rooibos-based tea but it’s not spectacularly good either. I can sorta taste the coconut and a creaminess that that might or might not the be the macadamia nut, but none of the flavours really shout out to me; they’re there but at a background level.

I got this at my local Japanese store. I was looking forward to passion fruit flavor. I LOVE anything passion fruit. It’s hard to find products that include it, since it’s so pricey here in the USA. It shouldn’t be though.

I made this into an iced tea. The passion fruit is in a perfect strength, and very real tasting. You can’t smell it, but it’s there. I might have to check out the other flavors they offer. The black tea in it is brisk and refreshing. No astringency.

I have some passion fruit puree in my freezer, I might have to make a fun drink with this tea!

Had this again today and I forgot how old it is. Got a slightly cedar-ish note from it and then read my previous review and had to laugh because I said there was something “woody” in it. I think this is going in the trash along with the other 2 blends it came with.

I recently received this one from a friend that lives in Hawaii. This smells of glorious guava once opened! Intensely scented for a bagged tea!!! As for the taste – it was more ginseng at first! The it was half ginseng and half green tea tasting. The more it cooled I could finally get the guava notes! I prefer to wait on this one to cool a bit so I can get that guava flavor tied in! Once that happened I enjoyed this cup more!

I received this from a friend…straight from the islands! This is highly fragrant! VERY juicy and fresh aroma-wise! YUM!

This is a fine flavored black! The Mango is delightful! But you can still tell it’s a black tea. The aroma and flavor from this bagged fellow really amazes me! Very tasty!

I purchased this tea during a trip to Hawaii – I love all things guava! This tea is quite good, but it really needs a sweetener to bring out the flavor – I find a little bit of honey does the trick nicely.

The green tea is mellow, and the flavors of the guava and ginseng aren’t overpowering. I steep it for 5 minutes (the directions advise 3-5 minutes) – usually I wouldn’t steep green tea for so long, but this one seems to need it or it doesn’t come out well.

Licorice is the first thing that came to mind as the hot water hit the tea bag. I almost dumped it but thought it can’t really taste like licorice. Well, I was right but I’m not sure what this tastes like. It certainly isn’t pineapple. I think it’s trying to be fruity but it fails. It does smell a tiny bit like pineapple after I removed the tea bag but that does not carry over into the taste. Adding some Sugar in the Raw to see if that helps it any. Nope. Somehow that removes what little flavor it had.

Okay, I’m drinking this as I write about it so I can hopefully do a better job this time. I don’t get any coconut OR macadamia flavour from this, and no sweetness at all. There’s a definite taste to it, but I guess I can’t recognize what that is, so I can’t put a name on it. I brewed this pretty strong this go ‘round and it didn’t get bitter, but it made that taste even “louder” so to speak. I guess one word to describe this tea is weird. I can’t really describe it and I don’t really love it, but it’s different.