New Mexico Tea Company

I like this one! My order from NMTC came in today – three cream teas. This one, their Vanilla Cream, and a sample of their Black Jasmine Cream. That one interests me the most, but the EGC just smelled so good!

Nice black base, not astringent. A bit of agave, a bit of milk. Not quite enough bergamot for my taste, but it’s still good. Ended up adding /too/ much agave, made it too sweet, but still finished the pot. I don’t regret buying 2oz of this!

I love Earl Grey and this is my first cream. I like the addition of vanilla in the flavors. It’s very smooth and bergamot-y.

I like the suggestion of making a London Fog. I may have to try that next. It is crazy foggy here, so it would be fitting.

Note: my oolong is greener and more balled up than the picture depicted on the website.

Disclosure: The fluoride treatment I always end up with at the dentist’s is orange creamsicle, the near identical flavour of this tea. It’s throwing me off a tad. I am clearly biased here so I will try to do a quick summary breakdown of the basic characteristics.

The leaves smell of the orange rinds found along with the oolong balls. The aroma of the liquor is buttery, milky oolong notes with a backdrop of candied orange. The broth feels oily and rich. The main notes are buttery, vegetal oolong followed by tangy orange peel which mellows out for the fruity and creamy sweet finish. Floral, buttery qualities make up the aftertaste texture, while citrus sourness linger on the back of the tongue.

When I had my first cup of this I was ready to drop this tea for reminding me of fluoride but today I can respect the solid floral green oolong and the milky orange. I’m actually enjoying this cup; it isn’t coming off as artificial and chemical-like as I first experienced. It’s very much the candy creamsicle tea, however.

I do not drink this one near enough.

This is your classic, straightforward breakfast tea with milk, and it’s all kinds of amazing. It gets huge comfort points. The wisp of smoke is an added bonus today.

As much as I like this straight I have to admit it’s even better with milk.

The variations of tea in this blend means it tends to come out tasting slightly different each turn. While predominantly malty, pointy, and consisting of a good brisk finish, when I get more golden tips in my strainer I notice the finish inclines to an awesome, yet very subtle, clove-like spice.

A lot of the black teas I’m learning to love lately are quite expensive and “fancy” but this one’s nice and casual; I don’t feel I need to get all dressed up for it or ration it out!

I’ve never been one for breakfast teas. They make me nervous. Are they a tea-lover’s equivalent to the black hole that is a cup of morning coffee? Are they robust? Aggressive? Some hideous demonic fiend, come to rip me from my comfortable sleep-deprived stupor? I don’t want that. Not at all. Leave me alone, scary black tea.

I love to force myself out of my comfort zone… really, I do, but I don’t think I truly left it by ordering this tea. It’s surprisingly mellow and non-confrontational, which is very misleading, seeing as the sticker for this tea consists of some dude in a chariot, clutching both a spear and shield. I was expecting to get shredded and then dragged along behind! I usually steep it underneath the recommended 4-5 minute mark but I think I would still be safe if I hit that time. It would be the perfect milk companion then.

Orange Pekoe is new to me, as are “Indian teas”. A peppery finish, while less new, is still a novelty, although I don’t always pick that up with this blend. A cup of this tends to be pointy and a tad bready- like a morning orange and bun. It has a zippy fresh quality that is invigorating, yet manages not to shred my tongue up with astringent talons. It’s pleasant and bright.

The liquid’s aroma comes off as pleasantly musky sweet. It tasted and smelled rather fine with the butter chicken yesterday. It’s been a good month for black teas!

I usually have this tea with milk but today I made a cup before finding out we were out of milk so I had it was just a little sugar. It’s still a good cup of tea, creamy and the bergamot is more noticeable without the milk so I might keep drinking it without milk because I love bergamot.

Loose
Appearance: dark loose leaf oolong
Aroma when Dry: fruity, syrupy, jammy, sweet plum notes

After water is first poured: earthy faintly sweet plum
At end of steep: syurpy, jammy, plum sweetness
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: meadowy green
Staple? No
Preferred time of day: afternoon

Taste:
At first: floral sweetness, plum, closes on a slight sour tang
As it cools ? All notes lighten, chalky note closes
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No

Lingers? Briefly, slight sweet-tart plum notes

Backlog from yesterday, this is the third tea that I received with day 3 for the 12 days of Christmas.
ahhhh so much tea to get through.

This smelt nice creamy, vanillaey but also floral like. I really don’t like floral flavours.
once steeped it smells quite floral.
definitely not a tea for me, but glad to try it.

Happy Autumn! My latest sample from the local shop. It has a nice mild vanilla scent. With a little sweetness. There is a mildly creamy vanilla flavour. Reminds me a little of pastries.

Nice to see that I’m not the only one enjoying this tea. It perks my spirits up a little after hearing about what happened in Boston. :(

I recently splurged on 4 ounces of this tea because I love it so much. It’s the perfect blend of black and green, mint and bergamot. Currently keeping it in the bag it came in but am thinking about getting some of those Adagio 4 oz tins.

I no longer add sugar to this tea, just steep it for 2 minutes in 160 degree water and it’s good to go. Thinking it will taste good iced in the summer. I am also beginning to wonder how this tea will taste with a little milk. But it’s so good on its own I do not want to risk spoiling it.

I also still really love the smell of this tea and think it would make a great scent for a body wash.

I love my bergamot.

I got this as a free sample from the NM Tea Company and I wish I had a couple ounces of it, this is good stuff. I’m usually not too crazy about mint teas because the mint tends to get overpowering, but in this tea I can also taste the tea and more importantly the bergamot. The mint blends well with it.

I only meant to steep this tea for 2 minutes but got distracted, I think it would be better with a shorter steeping time but it was still good. Added just a little sugar and drink it like I drink my regular Earl Grey – enjoying and trying to make it last instead of gulping it down too fast.

This tea comes across as pretty mellow for me. I like it and the floral notes add a bit of awesome to the mix too. It’s so funny that it looks like a black tea, but smells more like a green/herbal mix. Def. different! Many thanks LiberTEAS for this 2 of 3 teas on the 3rd Day of Christmas. Yes I know I’m behind. But I was out of town and away from proper brewing tools!

The second of the three teas that I selected for the third day of Christmas in the 12 Days of Christmas tea swap. If one enters in “French Blend” in the Steepster search, you’ll find a few different brands of teas with “French Blend” teas. I ultimately decided upon this one for a few reasons: 1) it was a blend of black and green teas, and since the other two teas that I selected for this day are both black teas, I thought that a blend of these two teas would at least offer a slight variation to the base tea. 2) It had lavender in it, and I wanted a lavender tea included with my French teas. 3) I liked that there is jasmine and rose in this tea.

My first couple of sips of this tea were a bit astringent, but, I found that the astringency has waned since then. I attribute this to the fact that the tea has had a chance to cool slightly. Other than the astringent start, this is really quite a flavorful tea. I taste all the elements that I was promised in the description: I taste the black and the green tea (I brewed this at 180F) and I taste jasmine, lavender, rose and vanilla. It’s really quite a pleasant cup.

Sipdown! Totally not allowed to buy more tea until i can get my cupboard down to 150. That means i need do some swaps in the new year!

I’m not overly a fan of floral teas. This is a really nice tea but i just do not like the floral notes.

Day 3! of the 12 days of christmas tea swap! Thank you to Liberteas for your egg-cellent idea :)

I opted to try this tea first since “floral” and i generally don’t get along and i’ve tried della terra’s tea before. The scent of this one brewed, reminds me faintly of "red rose’s orange pekoe tea. However, the first sip of this is pretty delicious. While i can taste the floral notes in the tea, they’re REALLY subtle and don’t clobber me with flower power. I’m not as familiar with green and black teas but this is an interesting blend. I don’t get much “creamy” flavour, but i may add a splash of milk to my next cup to try that out. Overall, this is a pretty enjoyable cup!

I’m liking this one a lot! The pear comes through really nicely – which I was afraid would not be the case, because it seems too often with pear teas that the pear just doesn’t come through strongly enough. Pear is such a delicate flavor as it is. But the pear comes through in a really good way with this tea. It is sweet, the green tea is brothy and slightly vegetative, and the plum comes through as sweet at first, with a tart-y finish that lingers into the aftertaste.

I really like this one.

I’m going to be focusing on teas that I’ve already tried over the next day or so because I think I’m coming down with something (again … gah!!!) My taste buds are definitely impaired as I feel that sort of icky feeling in my throat and in my mouth where it feels like everything is lined with scratchy wool or something. Like I said, icky.

So, I’ll seek comfort with teas that I know. This is my absolute favorite Coconut tea. I don’t think I’ve found one that’s better. It’s so deliciously coconut-y. I love it, and even though my taste buds aren’t working oh so great I can still taste the goodness here.

I’m loving this tea. It tastes very coconut-y and it’s authentic tasting. It doesn’t taste artificial. The black tea is robust without being too aggressive, and the coconut flavor is smooth and creamy. I did not make this in to a latte, just enjoying it straight up and there’s lots of coconut flavor. I imagine that the milk would only enhance the creaminess of the coconut.

Really yummy.

Edited to change the rating … it deserves much higher than an 86. As this cools, it becomes so creamy and coconut-y delicious.

I got this tea at a Farmer’s Market – I thought the ginseng root in it might provide an interesting taste and effect.

DRY: Roasty mate + fruity. Weird hunks of stuff in this tea. Upon closer inspection, they are mango chunks that are crusted with mate and rooibos. Mmmm mate crust.

STEEPED: Very roasted and rooibos smell with fruity notes. Dark amber colour.

TASTE: The roasted mate and rooibos come through. A mysterious tangy earthy spice (ginseng if you ever drank those tiny ginseng shots) with a background of fruity.

WHO’D LIKE THIS TEA: Someone very tired in the morning and doesn’t mind a ginseng taste. Mate and rooibos drinkers (caffeine-free rooibos drinkers – come to the dark side and energetic side of mate)

COMMENTS: The market didn’t give me brewing instructions so I assumed a 180F for like 5-7 minutes. I checked the site and I was practically right! “180F for 5 minutes” off nmteaco.com. Can tell I drink mate a lot.

Okay, Mango Mate Energizer – I wish it was more fruity. The main taste is the mate and rooibos. However, that ginseng taste I do like and would love to try more teas with it. The pairing of it with the roasted mate is very good. I used to drink those ginseng shots in those teeny bottles. They taste horrible and sometimes they come with cute little straws for you to slowly suck down the horribleness. Rest assured, this tea isn’t that horribly strong, but that earthy zingy spice is present in this tea.

This is ultra energy tea – I’m feeling pretty zippy right now!

Azzrian sent me a bit of this and I sipped it down just now…see previous notes. This time around I did a half cup and it was much more bold :)

Thanks so much for this one Alphakitty!

This totally hit the spot this morning! I’ve already had 3 cups! The black and green blend/base is just what I look for in a black/green combo. There are various floral additions to this as well and they are nicely done. There isn’t one flower that speaks louder than the others…and I like this. It has a hint of smooth in it too! Not really a creamy-flavor but it’s nice regardless!

Sipdown! 292/365!

The leaves had a bit of an off flavour when I smelled them earlier; likely from another tea. Thankfully, it didn’t carry into the flavour, so I basically have a very lightly fruitily-flavoured oolong with a pleasant woody base. Definitely not what it used to be, but that’s what happens when you leave teas this long.