New Mexico Tea Company

ok, im a little surprised by the current ratings but maybe the other (10+) teas i tried with this with werent all that good that is why this one stood out (with a couple others)

it is sweet and tasted fine enough while warm. it didnt get to the cool stage because i brewed only small samples haha

but this is good. thanks Kasumi for this sample! wanting to try other plum oolongs :)

Thought I’d give smokey teas a try again with this one. Still not loving it. My feelings about it have nothing to do with quality of tea, so I’m sure this is a good quality Russian Caravan. It has all to do with taste. It must be an acquired taste or something that just hits some people right. I’ll be passing this on to my dad who loves a good lapsang souchong.

After the success I had with Casablanca, I was excited to try this one. Jasmine, like mint, tends to be quite overpowering but the bergamot worked so so well in Casablanca, how could I not be excited!

This tea has a nice, fluffy base that smells strongly of both bergamot and jasmine. Well duh, of course it does! It smells like heaven while it’s brewing, I just want to stick my face in there. I wish there were tea perfumes! Well I mean, there are, but I’d like an endless variety of them.

I think 3 minutes is a little too long for this, since the jasmine is just a tad soapy. Not overwhelmingly so, and I think a 2 minute steep would fix that up nicely. The bergamot balances so nicely with it, both are quite strong but neither one is too strong. It’s exactly what you would expect—a light green earl grey with jasmine! I’m not going to rate it until I get the steep time right, but it’s pretty damn yummy.

This is alright. Im too exhausted still due to hubby having been on overnight schedule this past week – to do a proper review. I will not rate yet either.
Its good but not mind blowing but I was also half asleep still when I made the cup so it could be my fault.
There may be some fakey like flavor in it … its perfumey sort of but please don’t take this for sure until I have it again. I will update and do a formal review.
I do like it a lot better as I let it get cool. This may be one of those I save for iced tea in the summer.

Second tea I tried from LiberTEAS for day three of the 12 Days of Christmas swap, thank you! I didn’t have time for three black teas (or a black green blend, or really any tea) yesterday, so I enjoyed this one earlier today while making stew. It’s a very nice blend, it feels luxurious but not overly floral. It’s more of a smooth, candy like floral, perhaps the cornflower and vanilla? I might have made it a bit light and will probably steep it a second time. French Vanilla and hopefully Black Currant for tonight, will share the latter with the husband!

Home from work!
Today I brought this one with me – it was SO good paired with my spicy pad thai from Thai express! Quenching, delicate but full of flavour – and man did I EVER get a kick out of today’s 3rd day of Christmas from LiberTEAS!!! Made my DAY! I’m still smiling :D

http://www.daisychubb.com/on-the-third-day/

Last cup of my little sample. This is thick and rich. Pie.

Wouldn’t you know it—-cold dreary day giving way to cold crisp sunshine today; perfect tea weather; a mug has been omnipresent in my hand all weekend … and we’re having Internet fits so I couldn’t log a one of them. Oh, the joys of ISP’s that don’t see much of a need to service their rural areas. But I digress.

Nicole kindly shared this one, and it is mighty tasty! The flavor surprised me. Extremely rich and extremely strong. Leans more heavily to the apricot side, and the black tea base has some meat on its bones, too. (Oh, look, a bunny! Not really, but my ADD just kicked in while….

….

…..I went to the kitchen and put a spoonful of raw sugar and a dash of cinnamon in my cup.)

Now it’s apricot cobbler!

Thanks for the samples, jubjubs, they smell heavenly. Unfortunately I was dumb and I oversteeped it/added too many leaves and it got bitter. When I poured in boiling water, it got really dark immediately. I’ll try it again soon.

Tea of the morning……. (SRP #21)

Initial thoughts: I am undecided on this one. It definitely comes across as jasmine vanilla, but I think the tea base is too smokey (which does not really mean it is all that smokey, just too smokey for this flavor profile.) When I imagined this tea, I imagined the flavor of jasmine and vanilla on a lighter, sweeter black tea base. This one seems a little heavy. In my opinion, jasmine and a heavy black tea base just don’t seamlessly blend on the palate. I taste the distinct flavors. They did do a good job of matching the depth of the jasmine to the vanilla. I might have to play around with the steeping parameters a little. I did go with slightly lower temps on the water just because there is green tea involved in this blend.

Usual mug method with slightly cooler water.

Edit to add: I am going to try adding some jasmine pearls to my Vanilla Black from Harney. I have a feeling that this one will be rehomed. Surprising, because I love the Earl Grey Jasmine Monkey King.

Still not crazy about most greens. The taste that really stuck out to me was: Breaded fried shrimp. All but one of the green teas I’ve tried tasted like a weak veal or seafood stock. Not that It’s a bad thing, just not what I expected.

Thank you Nicole!

So I was a little wary of this one because I am not a fan of floral/jasmine teas. However, it’s not often you get a jasmine tea with a black base so I was totally curious.

As it turns out, even with the black base I am just not a fan. However, setting aside my dislike of jasmine, I can see how this is is a pretty decent tea. It’s smooth though I’m having trouble identifying any “green” tea.

Thanks again for the sample nicole! :)

This came my way via a generous, thoughtful gift from nxtdoor. Thank you for the teas!!!
The rooibos is definitely present in this tea. I like rooibos so that wasn’t a problem for me, but for others that aren’t keen on it, it may get in the way. It was really sweet with lots of caramel flavor, and just a hint of creaminess. My only minor complaint about this tea was the mouth feel. I thought it felt thin, and then somehow that translated into watery. The flavors are not watery, but it’s hard to wrap your head around those rich flavors in a thin tea. At least is was for me.
All in all a solid caramel rooibos that I certainly will enjoy drinking. Thanks nxtdoor.

Mmm… orange and spices. That is both the scent and flavour. It’s like having a hot orange cider, except is summer.

I have been wanting to try this tea for quite awhile. Cardamon is my favorite of the “chai” spices in tea. The thought of having JUST cardamon in a black tea sounded devine to me. Thanks to the very generous, and special nextdoor – who sent me a gift order from NMTC – I finally got to try it.
This was everything I was hoping it would be. The cardamon is warm and inviting without being over powering. There is no doubt that this is CARDAMON but it’s not offensive in your face. It blends really nice against the black base. This could have a permanent place in my cupboard.
Thank you so much nxtdoor, it’s awesome!!!!

Backlog:

A really nice twist on the classic Earl Grey. You know me, I love me some Earl Grey. I’m not always fond of smoky teas though, so this was a questionable tea for me to order, I guess I was feeling adventurous when I did order it.

I’m glad that the smokiness is not overwhelming. It IS smoky, but, the smoked notes do not interfere with the tangy citrus notes of bergamot. In fact, I really liked how these two flavors mingled together to create a very unique and lovely kind of flavor that was kind of new to my palate, but at the same time, familiar. I like!

A memorable tea.

This tea is very very tart, so unless you can drink tart, be prepared to add sugar. I bought this tea to make iced.

Lots of cherry flavor with raspberry, blackberries and hibiscus notes. Iced, the cherry flavor stands out more than the other berryness going on. Both hot and cold, this tea has a tart dryness, despite sweetening. However, I found Pondi Cherry not flat at all!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/pondi-cherry-from-new-mexico-tea-company-tea-review/

This smells like the Lemon Lime Tart (except with ginger instead of cream). Which is to say…. so very good. The ginger comes out well in the flavour too (with a bit of fruitiness). And this would be good iced.

This is another one of those evening teas that I take a while to actually write up. Don’t hold that against the tea though – this one is fantastic. I got it as a sample with my Extra Sleepy Bear and I actually like it better. This definitely deserves a spot in the regular rotation.

10 minutes is a long time to wait for such a yummy smelling tea! It’s like inhaling manuka honey. And you know what? It tastes like honey too! There’s a nice thick mouthfeel and it tastes like hot honey water with a hint of citrusy tartness. A touch of mintiness rounds out the sip and lingers on the tongue. This tea usually leaves a comforting touch of warmth in my chest, though that’s perhaps less comforting in the summer heat.

There is stevia in this, which I’m always wary of, but it’s deployed really well in this blend to support the other flavors without being overwhelming or cloying. I will say that it’s a bit too strong in the aftertaste, but the mintiness keeps it from being awful.

I finally bough myself some of this tea after enjoying a swap sample from GiggleGoddess.

The huckleberry flavor seems a lot more fresh and sweet than before. The base isn’t as malty and bold as I remembered, but it still comes through nicely.

ETA: The black base is indeed a touch bitter and astringent as my husband described (see first note), but it is hardly noticeable while the tea is still hot. This is also when the huckleberry flavor comes through the best IMO.