Ovation Teas

This one came from a swap with Lariel!

This one smells so good. Dry, the blueberry scent sticks out a little more. Once brewed, the black base, bergamot, and cornflowers are more detectable. Luckily, the blueberry is still there, and not overshadowed by the earl grey notes.

Taste: Yum! I love me some earl grey and I love me some blueberries, and this tea delivers on both. All the basic aspects of an earl grey are present; the earthy black tea, the bergamot, the citrus notes. And the blueberry shines through very nicely. Not overpowering, but almost naturally blending with the other aspects. It isn’t artificial in the least. I love this! Too bad Ovation is no more. =(

Thanks, Lariel, for letting me try some of this before it was gone forever. Happy to have tried it.

I picked this one up from the Ovation liquidation sale for its potential as a cold brew in the summertime. Most of my favorite iced teas (for example Cantaloupe & Cream or Green Chestnut) are way too pricey to make in bulk, and while I have a few that I like to make pitchers of I enjoy variety. And with 8 ounces of this one I think it will last quite a while!

This is nice iced, the pineapple is in the forefront and the blueberry a nice burst at the end of the sip. I think I’m going to leave off a rating until it’s hot and really iced tea season, I can see this being so refreshing during the warmer months… especially with a splash of coconut sake.

thanks again, Starfevre for the trade! Another Ovation tea I get to try. What I love with this one is that the steep color is actually caramel colored! After a four minute steep, I don’t find much caramel flavor, though I did see three caramel pieces in the infuser. There is a lot of caramel pieces, at least in the amount of tea in the bag I have. Maybe I should have added sugar for more of a caramel flavor? The black tea itself has a very deep and unique flavor, that I haven’t tasted before. I like it!

Got this in a trade from Tea Sipper and I thought I might try something I’m likely to really like after my wonderful tea experience this morning with 52teas.

From the other tasting notes on this tea, which I really should have read before I brewed it, I could have avoided the bitterness I’m tasting if I had brewed it for less time. The liquid was awfully dark after 3 minutes. 2 minutes would have been better. I have some more to experiment with though.

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a fig in my life so I’m not sure how to pin down a ‘fig’ flavour. There is a sweetness in this tea, beyond the sweetener I added, that I assume is the brown sugar, but it might be partly the fig too. It definitely doesn’t taste like plain black tea though. Although the black base is really strong and that comes through clearly, must be the assam, that always seems like such a BOLD tea whenever I drink it. I’m not sure I like it as a base for flavoured teas.

Overall I do like this tea, just am somewhat confused by it.

Tea #24 from the ‘Here’s Hoping’ teabox.

Mmmm, this is some tasty tea. It’s dark and malty, but not at all astringent. As the tea cools the fruity flavors become more noticeable. There’s apricot and something else… not cherry, but some other stone fruit. About halfway through the cup I added some milk. The addition seemed to meld all the flavors together. Nice! This is a tea I would like to have again.

Having this again, though I brought it into work this time for some tastiness at work. Good way to get a nice taste in my mouth. First steep came out very burnt-caramel with hints of vanilla and I’m steeping it a second time right now.

Drinking the second steep right now, I think, for the first time ever that I have experienced in flavoured black teas, that the second steep is better than the first. The first steep, the caramel flavour was overwhelming. Nice, but a bit POW IN THE FACE and tongue and the second steep, the flavours are a bit more nicely balanced and delicate. Overall, this a tea that holds up well to two steeps, though I won’t go for more than that.

It smells nice dry. The flavour is a little brown sugar, and kinda like maple. I mostly taste the black tea. It was good with my fig oatmeal.

Since I started a new Stargate SG-1 DVD, I needed some tea. I like having tea with my shows.

This tea smells like tootsie rolls (more so dry). Not sure why. The flavour is sorta generally sweet, with a little caramel. Nothing in it makes me think of praline. I might have to try with vanilla or vanilla next.

No notes yet.

My first tea from the ’Here’s Hoping’ Teabox. It’s a very good choice, if I do say so myself!

The bergamot is not overly strong, but it allows the raspberry to be the star of the show. I like that the raspberry is a fruity flavor rather than a candy one. So the taste is mostly of raspberry with the bergamot being a lovely end note. It’s absolutely delicious! The black tea base is strong, which I also like. I wish more EGs were paired with a strong tea base!

I’ll definitely resteep this tea later today. I wish I had known how good this was before Ovation went out of business. C’est la vie.

A big thanks to Dustin for sending some of these my way because they are DELICIOUS. If only Ovation had a really great sale BEFORE they went out of business, I would have known how nice their teas were. The taste here is so smooth, so delicate and super sweet. It kind of reminds me of a milk oolong. With most jasmine teas, I can’t find the flavor, but the jasmine here is definitely noticeable and lingering! I’m not sure if it was because I hadn’t had tea all day, but I was guzzling this down. The second cup is slightly less sweet than it was before, but it has more jasmine.

Thanks Yssah for this one. I’m agreeing with the other people that recently got teas from the huge liquidation sale from Ovation. I feel like this needs to sit awhile so the flavors can really get into the tea since right now all I am really tasting is the assam and a hint of fig. The assam is good but I just want more fig and I am not getting much from it right now. Think I will give it a week or two and try it again.

Thanks yssah for buying these teas for so many of us Steepsters! This blend sounded divine. Caramel, cocoa, hazelnuts! This blend really has a very unique flavor. Just the black tea alone I’m thinking has a very strong flavor. I’m not sure if it’s because it was just blended or if the hazelnut flavor is making the black tea itself seem stronger. It had a very deep, dark flavor! I saw a couple pieces of caramel hidden in my infuser, covered in black tea. They added a sweetness along with the cocoa nibs giving it another element to its deep flavor. I may have sipped this too late though. I don’t usually have black teas late anymore, but I couldn’t stop yawning. It kind of made me a bit dancey (and I am never dancey) or it could have been the No Doubt show I was watching on TV. Gwen can make anyone dancey! But it was probably a combination of both. I really like this blend and it’s another one I’m happy I was able to try! I’m looking forward to many more cups of this, and apparently the flavor will get better as it settles. I’m hoping I won’t miss Ovation too much after they went out of business and I try many more of their blends.

I’m a little bit disappointed in this tea. Maybe my expectations were too high, given what I thought of the other teas in my order, but I thought this one would be better than it is.

Let me start off with the fact that this is a very pretty tea with a lot going on in the dry leaf with the big what look like freeze dried raspberries and the peppermint pieces. The taste is mostly black tea and mint with the barest taste of chocolate in the sip and I didn’t pick up much raspberry at all save a bit of sweetness in the aftertaste. I really wish those flavours were stronger. Perhaps after the bag has time to sit a little. I’ve heard that Ovation teas need to meld a little to get the best flavour. I’m rating this tea based on today’s pot but I’m open to changing it later, maybe in a few months.

First to log this one I guess. Well I got a pound of this in Ovation’s going out of business sale so this is likely the first of many tasting notes.

The dry tea is very interesting to look at, with large chunks of dried pear in it. The pear flavour is actually more subtle than I expected, given that. I wish it were a bit stronger but it is nice all the same. It is definitely pear though. Not my perfect pear tea yet but perhaps as the tea sits and melds for a while it will be better. I did just get it after all and I have heard that this is the case with many Ovation teas. Maybe a longer steep time next time too.

I got my pound on order of this from Ovation last week and trying it out for the first time now. On my last cup of this pot that I made and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Which is good because I have a pound of tea to get through and I like to switch it up a lot.

This is a very pretty tea to look at and also to smell. Lots of big raspberry pieces as well as raspberry flavouring to this, according to the ingredients. There is a nice bright flavour to it, citrusy from the bergamot and orange peel and also the tanginess of the raspberries. This is a nicely done earl grey and I don’t like a lot of earl greys so I’m glad that I like this one.

Jasmine pearls are fast becoming one of my favorite teas of all time. These are what angels would drink, people! Delicate sweet little pearls of yum! Thanks TC!

I’m sipping this one now, thanks to Yssah buying some Ovation teas for a ton of people. I ended up buying four ounces of this, hoping it was delicious! It is! And it looks like I’m the first to write a tasting note. It’s exactly what I look for in a lovely black tea. Well, sometimes they are nice brisk. This one is sweet, smooth, a bit malty. I was hoping it would compare to Golden Moon’s Sinharaja that I adore, and it is the most similar tea I’ve had to that one, but I really love the flavor of the Golden Moon. That one has a great maltiness to it, and a fuller flavor. (Though I didn’t steep this one quite at boiling, so maybe that would help next time.) This one has a nice lingering flavor. I’m VERY happy with this one. It will be my go-to black tea! I can’t wait to try other Ovation teas that I have on the way. It’s very sad Ovation went out of business!

This is what I was hoping Numi’s Berry Black would be and I am so happy that Ovation Tea chose to omit hibiscus flower. The floral “perfume” side of bergamot is missing, leaning toward the fruity lemon side, which is particularly enhanced by addition of orange peel. I’m not sure of the tea base; maybe Ceylon, maybe Keemun. The tartness of the raspberry hides the pure flavor of tea from my palate. I followed the instruction to brew for 5 min but I will go back to my usual 3 min next time. I do detect a dryness/astringency that might be diminished with a shorter brew. Today, I made two separate pots, one of 52teas EGC and this raspberry EG. Yay for finding another way to make EGC last longer.

Got a pot’s worth of a sample of this from Alphakitty, thanks!

I brewed up a pot earlier this morning and poured myself a mug. Then I got distracted and it went cold. So I warmed it up again. Then I got distracted again and it got cold. At that point I decided to just drink it. So that’s why I’m reviewing this as a room-temperature tea rather than a nice hot one. And I can’t stand ice in my tea so it’s not even iced, just room temperature. Which is about 70F in the office today.

Anyway, adding a bit of milk and sugar to the blend and this tastes pretty great. I get the chocolate, quite a lot of the caramel, and a hint of nuttiness. I’m proud of myself about the nuttiness though because I really really wanted to just eat the hazelnuts out of the dry tea leaves because I love hazelnuts. I may eat them anyway now that this has finished steeping a while ago and with the caramel melted, I won’t go for another steep. I generally don’t for flavoured teas.

I’m glad I got to try this and this is another reason why I’m sad that Ovation has gone out of business. I have 4 lbs of tea from their going out of business sale, but this is not one of them. Oh well, onward and upward!

Got a cup’s worth of these in a trade from T.C., thanks!

So far, this is one of the only green teas I’ve liked so far in my entire life. I keep trying them and they keep being not good for me, but this one is pretty nice. Not something I’d normally seek out, there is still that essential green tea flavour that is not my favourite, but as a specimen of the green tea genre, this is the best I’ve ever had.

I have no idea why there is no entry for this tea until now, when they are going out of business. Did this company really only last for so short a period of time? Most of their teas only have a few ratings on them, if any. Strange.

Anyway, this tea looks and smells awesome. The smell is particularly potent right out of my one pound bag. There are so many large! caramel drops in this and the tea steeps up all murky because of it. I added milk and sugar because this is a dessert tea and I’m craving something really sweet.

This tastes of burnt caramel and vanilla all right. Very strong flavours. This will be a great tea for me when I want something sweet and POW in your face!

I love phoenix jasmine pearls. I have since the first time I ever tried them. Well Ovation was doing a liquidation sale and they had these babies up so I went a bit crazy and bought a full pound of them.

They are literally the best I’ve had! SOOOOO glad I got them now!!! Soooo bummed I won’t be able to get more once these run out.

They are more fragrant then I’m used to when I open the bag (could be because they are packed 8oz together). The smell is awesome
Watching them steep is fun as the tiny balls unfurl. No filler in this tea, just 100% hand rolled pearl goodness.

Taste is EXACTLY what I wanted. I can taste the green tea foremost but the jasmine is present and noted. Nothing bitter or astringent. Smooth, happy, and uplifting. I knew from the first sip this was going to peg 100 for me. Swear I could drink just these for the next month.

I’ve been hoarding the less-than-an-ounce of this that I have left, but now that there’s 8 ounces on their way to me I can indulge a little! Such a tasty blend.