PureAromaTea

Hot this tea emits a fruity smell with an orangey peachy top note. It is slightly candy like, and has a hint of malt. The tea brews to a maple wood colour.

At first sip the tea has a green faintly floral note that quickly dissipates into a sweet orange taste, closer to a mandarin orange. This is followed by a rich deep note from the base tea that hints of malt or chocolate and a sweet note from the base tea that is seperate from the flavouring. The peach notes in this tea may be the result of the almonds. There is a slight sharp tang from the orange flavouring and the orange peel and hibiscus. There is also a faint hint of spice. The cloves are not in your face but instead leaves a faint tingle on the tongue and bring a certain warmth and brightness to the tea. This is not a spicy tea it is not like the fruity chais you get in fall, and while it tastes warming it is something that I could happily drink all year round.

Ok so I had this one hot a few days ago and commented on how the black base tasted strange. Then I made it as a cold brew yesterday and I did not get that strange black base taste. So I thought my cup or infuser may have been contaminated, therefore changing the taste of the tea. But I made it again today and got the same strange black tea base taste. Not strange in a bad way. Just strange as in something I have never tasted before. It kind of reminds me of a darjeeling but not quite. The Pure Aroma website says the base is China black tea. I have emailed them to see if they can be more specific on exactly what kind of Chinese tea/blend it is. I will update with results as soon as they reply.

UPDATE: here is the reply from pure aroma. I guess I was half right on the Darjeeling – happy to know that my tastes buds do work.

“Our Earl Grey blue flowers tea is blended with black Keemun from China’s Anhui province and Darjeeling from India.”

Oh, this is a classy classy rose congou. I was comparing it with my random generic rose tea from this old tea (coffee actually) shop and this is so different.

Not that the generic tea is bad, it´s actually pretty good (and the 100 grams I bought before this one was good, though this latest batch is not the same. They deny being a different tea, maybe it was due to freshness or being crushed or just differences with the blender. The problem with “generic” teas), and large enough leaf. But this is quite different – less roses, and a different rose smell. The generic tea is more full of rose petals (pretty filler but adding very little to flavour) and is richer in aromatic oils (oil can became bitter and just cloying). The generic tea is more one-note rosy. This tea has a different, more complex, more realistic but just as intense rose smell. Its leaves are also a smidgeon bigger and plumper. It brews much more subtle and much smoother. A very classy tea, if that description makes sense to anybody but me.

Notes – it is of course a rose tea. I usually find rose teas sort of fruity , in this case it reminds me a tiny bit of grapes.

Made this one as a cold brew, brewed for about 26 hours. This is super strong bergamotty Earl Grey, so obviously, I like it. Black tea base is smooth. I am not getting the strange black tea flavour I got when I had this hot yesterday. I am wondering if maybe my infuser or cup was contaminated yesterday when I made it hot. Happy I tried this one cold. Much stronger bergamot flavour cold than when hot.

I’m rotating between this and the English and Irish Breakfast blends, but never managing to make the definitive tasting note on any. I think this might be my favourite, though I feel I should be loyal to the Darjeeling-less blends (which the Irish definitely is, and I’m guessing the English too). I make them all with two teaspoons for a cup about 300 ml, and all are nice and strong, round, and astringent enough to know you’re drinking a strong black without taking your mouth off. None is too round either, and someday I’m going to figure out what I mean by too round so it’s remotely comprehensible to others.

My wonderful tea-drinking day yesterday started off with the best cup of this. Good stuff!

My only complaint about this is that I wish there were more info about the teas in this ‘most traditional tea blend’. Love the sense of history you get drinking it, and obviously, love the taste (strong, smooth – very smooth – and just the smallest sweetness as the sip goes down), although there isn’t really “more” history to this than any other tea. Never mind! Like my imaginings as I’m sipping. I’ll probably end up prodding the nice guys at PAT for a breakdown, just out of curiosity. Wiki says Keemun, Oolong and Lapsang Souchong, but that still leaves a lot of territory, and probably isn’t true for all Russian Caravans anyway.

Makes a great breakfast tea, as do both PATs breakfast blends, which I’ve enjoyed and will note soon.

Finishing off this swap from KittyLovesTea.

Made it as a cold brew. Brewed for about 6 hours. The tea smells so awesome, like strawberry juice.

I am happy I stopped brewing after 6 hours, because the hibiscus is just on the verge of getting too strong. I can taste the strawberry. I would say it tastes similar to other strawberry kiwi flavoured drinks I have had, but I do not distinctly taste any kiwi.

Definitely a good fruity, juicy cold brew!

Thanks KittyLovesTea for this in a swap!

This tea smells of beautiful bergamot. The bergamot is super strong, and I love it. The tea is also very pretty with whole black leaves, mixed with bright blue flower petals.

The brewed tea smells very strong of bergamot as well, but there is another smell I cannot place. It is the black tea but I can’t tell what kind of black tea it is.

The taste is good. Not as strong bergamot as it smells. The black tea base is throwing me off a bit, I wish I knew what kind of black tea it was. It is still good though, just not a familiar taste. Cornflowers always adds a flavour of pastry/crust/bread to me. So there is a faint taste of sweet bread underneath the earl grey taste.

Delicious Earl Grey, definitely something different to mix it up a bit!

I must admit that i really like this tea, it capture the high notes champagne mixed with the fruity notes of slightly sugared crushed srawberries . It smells a little of strawberry cordial. The base is a fairly light slightly grassy sencha, whose grassiness is tempered by the chamomile that acts to also increase the fruitiness of the tea. I steeped the tea for about the two minutes suggested and the tea did not become bitter, there is a little astringency but all it does is act to mimic the dryness champagne can leave in the mouth.

The tea re-steeps well with the champagne weakening and the chamomile strengthening.

I needed a bit of a pick me up and I was craving something fruity but not overly desert like so I decided to try this tea. It delivers well on the first part after a cup I am pleasantly buzzing.

The dry tea consists of a nice dark congou blended with calendula petals and dried fruit. It brews to a nice maple colour. The scent of the tea very much reminds me of this peach apricot tea that I have:
http://steepster.com/teas/big-active/35473-essence-tea-yunnan-with-peach-and-apricot. However while the Posti tea is kind of rugged this one has a much smoother and subtle base and a lighter flavouring.

The tea smells more of mango than apple. It smells faintly peppery with a hint of that slightly starchy fruity scent that mangoes can have. The Mango becomes even more distinct as it cools with some bright accents peaking through from the apple

The tea base is very smooth with a slight hint of dark chocolate malt underneath a dominant top note that is very bright and light which melds with a mango note and something that is almost floral. The apple is not distinct but it might be contributing to the floral hint and helps to prevent the mango from becoming heavy and overly sweet. This tea is easily drinkable, but not heavily flavoured. The peppery notes become more distinct as you drink the cup. It has an interesting slightly raisiny aftertaste. A pleasant afternoon tea.

sipdown! 290 :) Back to where i started this week with my mini relapse thanks to sloane’s stupidly amazing sale. I really like this one a lot. which says a ton about this tea since i am not a fan of coconut overall. it’s smooth and tasty and the coconut doesn’t overpower, instead it blends really nicely with the pineapple.

sipdown! with the addition of the teas i purchased today, that brings me to 291. Not to terrible considering it was my goal to get to 290 by the end of this past weekend. I’ve really enjoyed this caramel green while it’s been in my cupboard. I’m pretty sure it’s my favourite now, topping even the persimmon tree’s version which i loved for the longest time. it’s smooth and delicious!

This is a very nice rose scented black that has a similar flavour profile to my favourite rose white:
http://steepster.com/teas/big-active/35474-white-tea-with-rose-petal
hence I’m already disposed to look on it favourably.

It brews to a bright copper colour, and has a scent of tea rose mixed with a deeper , slightly bready tea scent.

The first taste is of rose water with a slight metaliic ting. While it captures a similar flavour profile to my favourite rose white tea it lacks a bit of the sweetness and most of the citrus notes the white possesses. The tea underneath is quite smooth with very little astringency, just enough to leave a freshness in the mouth. The base tea has green vegetal that blends well with the rose flavour as top
notes that dissipate into a sweet fruity, raisiny base with biscuit notes. The tea is not powdery or overtly perfumy. It resteeps quite decently with the rose becoming a little more peppery and the base developing a faint hint of liquorice. I would enjoy keeping this tea in my cupboard.

So I figured that I’d try this one out as a cold brew since as a hot brew it was quite delicious. As a cold brew this is nearly as tasty! I say nearly because the coconut overpowers the pineapple a little more in the cold brew. Th pineapple is still there but the balance is just a little more off than the hot brew. I think this would make a fantastic cocktail if there is? Sch a thing as pineapple liquor to add to this cold brew. Either that or maybe a splash of lime….lemon? Not sure yet. Either way this is a really nice blend :)

Got this in a swap with Kittylovestea.

This tea smells like luscious strawberry. Super sweet and fruity.

The packaging recommended a 4 min steep but I was a bit scared of the hibiscus so I kept it at a 2 min steep and think it turned out wonderful. The brewed tea smells very much like sweet strawberry. The tea tastes like sweet, juicy strawberry jam. There are notes of kiwi underneath the strong strawberry taste. There is a slight hibiscus taste which works well with the fruitiness of the tea. It doesn’t overpower the tea at all. This tea does remind me of strawberry kiwi drinks or candy.

Definitely going to try this one cold brewed.

Thanks so much Kittylovestea!

There’s so many chunky fruity yummy bits, I could totally eat this as trail mix! (Fiance and I both had to nibble the fruits before we made a cup. Too tempting!)

Tastewise, and I’m not sure how with all the fruit and trail mix feel, it’s tastes like vanilla marzipan. It’s a little uncanny. The end note of each sip has a little but of fruity lift, but otherwise? Dead on.

I’m gonna be really sad when this is gone. This is like a perfect comforting before bed caffeine free cup.

sipdown! I shared this with a friend the other night and left myself just enough for another large sil mug of this one. I really do like this – just a delicious fruity blend to enjoy in the summer.

I really like this version of green caramel. I’m pretty sure it’s my favourite so far. There’s just something about it that is seriously creamy and delicious without any sort of bitterness. if i need a green caramel in my cupboard it’l be this one for sure!

backlog sipdown! (223, after some adds and deletions but there’s another box waiting at the post office for me….eek!)

Another tea that went off to my friend last night after sharing a cup. I don’t think i’d reorder this but not because it isn’t a lovely tea. I just don’t love the taste of marzipan so it wouldn’t be something i would need to have on hand lots. I would however pick this up now and then in the sampler size to have a few cups :)

backlog sipdown! I had another cup of this last night but the rest went off with a friend who is looking for more variety in her herbal teas. She’s suffering from a heart arythmia and so her doc has said no more caffeine for a bit. So she came over to raid my cupboard since she knew i’d have a bunch to toss her way lol She was pretty amazed that i have 200+ teas and they all tuck away nicely in my bookcase. I think i’ve given her some ideas lol. I quite enjoyed this tea and will likely pick some up again. :)

I figure what the hell, let’s just have some more coconut! oooooh see this? this really is a delicious pina colada like drink. I can taste the pineapple! and the coconut isn’t overwhelming…yes. i must try this cold brewed! Seriously? I am really digging these teas from purearoma. While not all of them have been out of your world knock your socks off, these are some really nicely blended teas that are better than your average tea company in canada/US, at least in my opinion so far. This one leaves a bit of a dryness in my mouth when i drink it but it’s pineapple! and coconut! but not that artificially gross coconut taste. mmmmmmmmm……….

SIPDOWN! on this one as well tonight as the rest of it is going off to a lovely home. :) I think this may be a potential re-order for the summer, though i’m sad to say i forgot to try cold brewing this ever. The strawberry is refreshing and the green tea doesn’t get on my nerves :)

SIPDOWN!

I tried the last of this as a cold brew and to be honest? I think i like this better as a cold brew. The hibiscus didn’t turn the cold brew into a sour cup of red. Instead this was just a mild red brew that tasted quite nice. The cold brew sort of evened out the berry flavour and it almost reminded me of cherry jello but with the flavour backed off. lol

So seriously? There are giant strawberry chunks in this tea! I picked up this one to see how it compares to franks’ 52 teas strawberry rhubarb honeybush and stacy’s custom black strawberry rhubarb pie tea that we created. I’ve never seen a green strawberry rhubarb pie so in to the cart it went.

This is a really tasty tea! I still prefer my Ruby Pie from butiki teas but this is an interesting take on S&R. i don’t get a lot of rhubarb flavour out of this, but then rhubarb taste is a hard taste to catch imo. it’s generically tart ish. In any case. i am really quiet enjoying this one. and it’s a green tea! :) I can’t wait to try this one as a cold brew as i think it might be pretty darn tasty. Also, did i mention the giant strawberry pieces! Stacy has them too and they are so much fun to eat afterwards lol