Steeped Tea

Wow, this is the last tea in my cupboard I had yet to try! Won’t be trying anything new for the next several weeks: I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t buy any more teas until September and until my cupboard reaches less than 40 types of tea (when I made this promise a little over a week agoI had about 52 teas, now I have exactly 40. So I’m well on my way :)).

I cold brewed this tea overnight. It’s interesting that a lemon tea is red, but that is obviously due to hibiscus. When I tried it I got a mix of mildly tart and sour, which is the hibiscus-lemon combo. Pretty decent and standard flavour I’ve been having all summer in terms of iced tea. One of the better iced teas I got from Steeped tea, I think the lemon flavour is done well. I’ll have no problem using this one up, but like a broken record I have to say that for $4ish for a pitcher, I can probably make a similar tasting iced tea using Meyer Lemon and Strawberry Pomegranate tea bags from Stash for a quarter (or less!) of the price. I’m always mentioning the price, which I hope isn’t tacky, but budgeting is on my mind a lot and I think the taste/quality of a tea needs to merit the price

Surprise, surprise: more iced tea. I brewed this by steeping 30 grams of this tea in 2L of near boiling water for about 30 min then removed the filter and popped the pitcher in the fridge. The taste is dominantly apple with a hint of other fruits at the end. It kind of reminds me of forever nuts from DAVID’s, but not quite as strong or good. Still refreshing, and I may add some cinnamon to the mix. I won’t be repurchasing though because I don’t even get 2 full pitchers out of the 50 gram bag I bought (the 30 grams I used to make the pitcher cost me $5.40, which is a little crazy if you ask me) and If i was looking for an apple tea I’d go for Forever Nuts. I was kind of expecting more from this tea considering the mix of fruits to be honest.

Yet another iced tea since its been so warm!

I actually used all 50 grams today between the 2 pitchers I made. I made the pitchers differently. Pitcher one I used a little over half of the bag in 2L of near boiling water, steeped it for 30 min, and let it cool off in the fridge. Pitcher 2 I cold brewed what was left in 1.75 L of water for about 5 hours.

The reason I did the second pitcher so differently was because after tasting the tea from the first pitcher I thought I had brewed it a little too strong with the hot water because all I could taste was the tart elderberries and no mango at all. I figured the cold brew might help the mango flavour come out a bit more but I’m not getting it in the second pitcher either- All I’m getting is the slightly tart elderberries and hibiscus. This is really disappointing since mango is second ingredient (Apple is first), not hibiscus blossoms or elderberries. Just like Stash’s mango tea, I cannot recommend this tea since it does not taste as advertised. It’s not terrible, but i have to rate it poorly for that reason

Wow it’s a warm day! I got called in early to work and I was glad to do so because they have air conditioning and I don’t. Most days it’s fine in my apt but today it’s quite gross.

I made a pitcher of this tea: 2L of near boiling water and I thought I did 6 perfect spoonfuls but I think I may have only put in 5 because it tastes a little weak. I put the pitcher in the freezer for 2 hours to cool down quickly then poured myself a bottle of it for work and put the pitcher in the fridge (and removed the filter at this time). The bottle of iced tea was still warm so I put it in the work fridge to cool down further for later.

Finally when I got to drink it, as mentioned, it’s a little weak but still tasty. I can def taste the apple, followed by lemongrass and coconut. Overall it’s refreshing and a little sweet. Next time I will brew stronger though.

I love the look of this one. It has lovely dark, flat green tea leaves. It looks lovely.
But upon smelling it… yuck… It smells like lemon cleaner to me. Like Pinesol! Gross.
So onto tasting… I feel like they really tried here, but they really missed the mark. I get some floral from the rosebuds, which is such a weird addition to a citrus tea. And I’m getting the lime but it’s in such an artificial way. It, again, tastes like what I would think Pinesol would taste like.

I’ve had a few lime teas before and they have always managed to make it sweet and juicy lime but this isn’t that way at all. It’s almost dry and fake. I’m so sad. I’m going to throw the rest of this one out. I’m pretty sure I got this one for free so I’m not too concerned that I’m letting it go.

Before I actually review this tea, let me express my annoyance:

This tea costs $8.50/50 grams, which is already overpriced if you ask me (granted if you buy 100 grams it’s $14, but anyways…). I then get the tea and the package tells me to remove the bubblegum out because it’s just for aesthetic purposes only, so I weigh the tea before and after removing the gum. The gum weighed TEN GRAMS. That means I actually paid $8.5/40 grams of tea, which would have meant without the gum, if I got 50 grams of tea it would have been $10.63. That’s bullshit if you ask me considering this tea is just fruit pieces, hibiscus and some different flower pieces. Wayy overpriced.

Anyways, onto the review:

I steeped about 15 tsp of tea in 2L of boiling water for about 15 or so min (hibiscus was lower on the ingredients list so I wasn’t considered about it being overly tart). Afterwards I pulled out the filter and let it cool off in the fridge. The taste of this tea is mildly tart with fruity undertones. Pretty standard flavour I’ve been having all summer with different teas. I may try steeping it a little less to see if any other flavours come through, but as mentioned, it’s not really unique in anyway.

Overall the tea is alright but I will not be repurchasing. After removing the bubblegum I get less tea than what I pay for, and the 40 grams of usable tea will only get me 1.5, maybe 2, pitchers of iced tea (which is more than $4 per pitcher). The flavour is nothing unique, and I’ve been very impressed with some celestial seasoning’s fruit teas (which equal out to $1 or less per pitcher). Also, for a tea that’s called bubblegum, this has no bubblegum taste. Just 5 cent bubblegum pieces I get to throw away.

I got this tea free from my consultant from my most recent Steeped Tea order :). It seems like when I spend over $50 or so she throws in a free 50 gram bag which is very nice. I was asking about a tea (Bergamont Sencha) a few weeks back and she figured this would be the closest thing currently available.

I steeped about 1.5 tsp in 175 degree F water for 2 min. I thought I may have over leafed the tea because it turned a darker yellow colour, but actually this tea is very light. I’m getting a very light vanilla (and perhaps bergamot?) taste with a mineral green tea base that has no bitterness.

Side Note: This is the first tea I’ve had from Steeped tea that’s actually a decent price for quality. $8/50 grams or $13.50/100 grams and the leaves appear to be whole with little breakage and unravel beautifully. I’m reading up on different types of green tea and I think this is a gunpowder tea. Really nice.

My mom got a pouch of this in a mixed basket of various home business products and forwarded it to me. I sniffed it, thought it smelt tasty enough, but was pretty disappointed. I’m surprised by comments that say this was heavy with vanilla because I’m barely getting any, it just turned out like a general Earl Grey, perhaps a bit bitter, but I’m a chronic oversteeper so I won’t fault the tea for my tendency to get distracted and forget about it. Not bad, not great, but drinkable. I’ll finish the baggy but it won’t be replacing my staple cream Earl Grey.

Another one that I only had 7-8 perfect spoons left so I’m making popsicles. Hopefully they taste okay ’cause they smelt flowery.

I got 50 of these steeping sacks when I bought the rooibos collection from steeped tea. I didn’t need them, but they came with.

These filters are just like any other filters tea places sell: about 6 inches long, with one opening for tea. You put the filter in your mug and you get an inch or two of the filter overhanging over the end of your mug. the slot for the tea is long and when the filter is wet, it kind of “seals” at the top.

Overall these definitely do the job, but I do prefer DAVIDs drawstring filters over these. This is because sometimes when you are steeping tea the steeping sack will absorb tea all the way through the filter so when you go to pull it out it’s wet at the end. With DAVIDs drawstring filters the string and tag at the end usually doesn’t get wet.

I will definitely use these up no problem but for $10/100 filters I my as well just get DAVIDs filters.

My current favourite, and the best I’ve had from Steeped Tea!

Second or third time I’ve brewed this one since I got it at my birthday. I find it’s not all that impressive hot, but I steeped it hot and then poured it over ice and it’s definitely an improvement! It did need to be sweetened a bit but I’m not sure white sugar was the best choice, it might be better with agave.

It is cherry-flavoured, but it’s definitely an artificial taste. I’d way rather drink DAVIDsTEA “Hard Candy” than this. Iced was certainly an improvement over hot, though.

Not sure what I just did but I lost my tasting note… let’s try this again.

My aunt gave me the last two tsps of this one that I steeped up into about 16oz of water.

I get the nice roasted taste to it and I definitely get a great chai flavour to it too but I don’t really notice the apricot or even just a fruitiness to it. But I do like this tea. I probably wouldn’t get it again, but I did enjoy this cup a lot.

What’s weird is that I really liked it at the tasting party, but I am not a fan now. There is a very strange cakey smell and flavor to it. I am not getting any lemon from it. I doctored it up with two sugar cubes and some lemon and that helps a little, but it’s not perfect. It has a lovely color though. I will have to try it again with a cooler brewing temperature or a lesser steeping time.

Tea 6/6 of the Rooibos tea collection I got from Steeped Tea. I brewed it up as a latte: 10 tsp of tea in 1 cup of boiling water with a little bit of vanilla agave. Steeped for about 4.5 min, then mixed with frothed milk.

So, I didn’t get into this with my tasting note of the Cherry Pie tea from this collection, but both Cherry Pie and this tea have this strong flavouring that’s kind of fruity/almondy. Both teas claim to have no artificial flouring, but if it weren’t for that I would ave said most certainly that these teas have artificial flavouring. It’s weird because I can’t quite put my finger on what that flavouring is, but it’s the strongest taste in both this tea and Cherry Pie.
With that being said, this is quite a good tea latte. I’m getting that flavouring and also some almond notes at the end. I just can’t get over the fact of how strangely strong the flavouring is while I don’t quite know what it is.

Overall I might buy this again; it is quite tasty, but I also feel like I have better teas too in which I can actually pick out the flavours. Overall, here’s my impression of the rest of the collection:

Toffee Crunch- Amazing as a latte; favourite tea of this collection- would absolutely purchase again
Pina Colada- Really good as a latte; would purchase again
Cherry Pie- okay tea, best as an iced tea. Really strong flavouring that turns me off and I don’t care for it as a latte.
Creme Caramello- Disappointing; weak flavour, would not re purchase
Vanilla Cupcake- Disappointing; weak flavour, would not re purchase

Overall it’s been nice trying a whole new collection out for the first time in a while :)

Tea 5/6 of the Rooibos tea collection I got from Steeped Tea. I brewed it up as a latte: 10 tsp (17 grams) of tea in 1 cup of boiling water with a little bit of vanilla agave. Steeped for about 4.5 min, then mixed with frothed milk.

When I read the ingredients in this tea as well as looked at and smelled the leaves, It really reminded me of creme brule tea from DAVIDs TEA. It’s been 2-3 years since I had that tea but I remember being unimpressed with it because it didn’t taste anything like what the name said. Thus, I was skeptical of this tea when I brewed it up. Sadly, just like Creme brule, this tea failed to deliver- I wasn’t getting much of a caramel taste at all. The tastes I was getting was a bit of vanilla sweetness from the agave, as well as milky rooibos. The ingredients listed for this tea are “Rooibos tea, hazelnut pieces, calendula petals, natural flavour”. I don’t understand why Steeped tea and David’s markets a caramel taste with this tea and creme brule; there’s nothing in those teas to create that taste.

In conclusion I will mix this with Vanilla cupcake (another rooibos blend I was disappointed with) to use it up but will not repurchase. Interesting to try, but glad I only got 25 grams (1.5 lattes) of tea.

Tea 4/6 of the Rooibos tea collection I got from Steeped Tea. I brewed it up as a latte: 10 tsp (17 grams) of tea in 1 cup of boiling water with a little bit of vanilla agave. Steeped for about 4.5 min, then mixed with frothed milk.

One thing I dislike about steeped tea is the fact that they don’t have an entire list of ingredients for each tea in their catalogue. When this came in with the other teas I was expecting it to be like birthday cake from DAVID’s tea, going by the name, but this is simply a vanilla flavoured rooibos. When I smelled the leaves it just smelled like rooibos with a faint hint of vanilla. After brewing it up as mentioned, I’m getting very little vanilla flavour, which is saying something considering I added a little VANILLA AGAVE to the tea. The latte just tastes like mildly sweet,milky rooibos with a slight taste of vanilla. Overall, just like DAVID’s vanilla rooibos, it is too plain. I have half a latte’s worth of this tea so I will use it up by mixing it in with another tea, but this isn’t something I will repurchase. Disappointing.

Tea 3/6 of the Rooibos tea collection I got from Steeped Tea. When I smelled the dry leaves in the bag, it really did smell like a pina colada. I brewed it up as a latte: 10 tsp (17 grams) of tea in 1 cup of boiling water with a little bit of vanilla agave. Steeped for about 4.5 min, then mixed with frothed milk. It does taste like a pina colada and adding the milk actually made it even more so since it added creaminess. The coconut is probably the strongest flavour followed by pineapple. Yum. I would consider repurchasing this tea for lattes. I think Toffee Crunch is still my fave from the rooibos collection, but this is a close second (but there still is 3 more teas to try!).

This is one of the 6 teas that came with the rooibos tea collection. I bought the collection to try different kinds of lattes, and to be honest this is the tea I was most skeptical of because it doesn’t sound like it would make a good latte- usually I go for lattes that have flavours like vanilla, almond, and maple – not sweet like fruit.

When I opened the bag and took a sniff it immediately brought me back to 2-3 years ago when David’s tea had a tea called Amaretto. Whatever flavouring is in this tea, it’s exactly what that tea had. Ironically, there is an Amaretto tea by Steeped tea as well and that also smells similar to this one. It’s kind of fruity.

I tried this tea 3 ways. First, as a latte, which was just okay. Second, hot, which was also just okay, and finally iced, which was probably the best, but didn’t “wow” me. Overall, it’s nice to try, but I probably won’t purchase it again.

So, while I have been using up a lot of tea, I’m afraid to say that I’ve also been buying just as much. I’ve been trying to decrease my tea collection but it doesn’t seem to be working, lol.
ALTHOUGH what I’ve realized is is that lately I’ve been drinking lots of green tea (as per usual) as well as making more tea lattes with flavoured rooibos blends since I’ve been at home a lot (work is slowing down due to budget freeze at my main job) and when I’m at home I have the equipment and time to drink tea lattes. What I haven’t been drinking is herbal teas (which comprises half of my collection) so in order to decrease my collection what I need to focus on is making pitchers of iced herbals to use them up (which I have). Luckily, between my husband and I we go through a pitcher every few days (and therefore use up about a quarter cup of loose leaf tea every time- yay!).

So, in conclusion, I do not feel guilty about buying 6 new teas from steeped tea to try out because:
-I have been using up a lot of different kinds of tea
-Tea lattes use up A LOT of tea (10 tsp per 16 oz latte)
-The 6 teas I bought are all 25 gram samples that came in a tea collection, which means I’m only going to get 1.5 lattes out of each sample

Anywho, onto the tasting note:

I of course made this tea into a tea latte: used 10 tsp (18 grams) of it in about 1 cup of boiling water. steeped for 4 min, then mixed it in hot, frothed milk. I also added a touch of vanilla agave I’m trying to use up. Overall this is nicely (not overly) sweet, and I taste more almond extract and vanilla notes than toffee. Regardless, I still like it though, and when I get low on my “latte teas” (different rooibos teas) I will definitely re purchase. Yum.

The green tea is strong with this one. haha

Senchas tend to be strong flavoured from what I’ve noticed in my journeys thus far. So, the base is strong, but thankfully not overpowering. I still get the lovely flavours of the tea coming through. There’s something almost creamy about this tea and I think it’s the coconut coming through and actually probably the vanilla too, but it pairs so well with the fruity flavours of the papaya and maybe the pineapple.

I am very pleasantly surprised by this one. I didn’t think I’d like this one. I was going to give it away, but I’m actually sort of glad I didn’t.

I do wish that Steeped Tea would indicate water temperature for steeping. They don’t and all I can think of is how many people are steeping up their teas at the wrong temperatures and burning their lovely teas…? So sad, but what can you do. I let the kettle cool for about 10mins before having this one. And it seemed to be just right. Only steeped for about 2.5mins too. (I got inpatient and didn’t want to wait the extra 30sec for the 3min steep.) But I must say, I’m glad that I didn’t steep longer. It would have been too much otherwise.