Tea Forte

I have been working my way through these samplers. Morning of last I decided to try the Kiwi Lime Organic Relaxation Tea.

This contains a pleasant scent of citrus, and ginger extract (bits) making for a comfortable cup of tea with the lingering note in the ginger.

In continuing with the sampler pack from Tea Forte, selected the Cherry Cosmo organic herbal tea. it is a deliciously relaxing taste of sweet plump cherries with light fragrance of hibiscus blossoms and raspberry.

I tried another of the Tea Forte’s sampler this morning, Blueberry Merlot described as succulent summer-sweet blueberries with a subtle wisp of sage to heighten an excellent cup.

Merlot conjures wine for me and I could not help in noticing this through and through while drinking and savoring the sweetness in the tea cup, or do I mean cup of tea.

I am sorry to have missed the sage note.

Sample pack is from Tea Forte and today I decided to give it a try. I selected from the pack the Apricot Amaretto from the Herbal Retreat brand; organic relaxation tea.

It is a strange way to begin one’s day/morning in wanting a cup of relaxation tea; yet that is what i wanted this morning…as described; a double delight of sweet apricot and juicy peach with nuanced notes of almond.

This much I can attest to, the almond scent was indeed over powering, erasing seemingly all other notes. There was a hint of sweetness in the cup. I am unsure as to which fruit lingered in the sweetness more; but the almond was very pronounced.

So first thing in the morning I am wanting a cupful of almond, depicting my state of mind perhaps.

I must say this is loose tea sample; so I had to retrieve from the cupboard a tea infuser that I had purchased some time ago from another tea merchant during a store visit. It is The Teapot Tea Infuser with drip tray, made of stainless steel.

I opened the small packet of Apricot Amaretto and removed the lid from the tea infuser. Now I had to try and scoop some of the tea into this infuser and not make a mess/spill it. But I did make a mess of it since no spoon I have is small enough to get it in there; I did eventually…but it all seemed so ridiculous.

I simply put a spoonful of the tea leaves/crumbs into my cup and poured the hot water; later on during the day I added a simple tea bag of green tea and let that brew with what was at bottom of the cup.

I ended up having green tea flavored with sprinkles of apricot amaretto. It was very nice.

I liked the smell of this tea, it’s sweet and fruity and reminds me of blueberry pie or cobbler. Sadly the sweetness is mostly confined to the smell and right as I take my first sip I can pick out the tart hibiscus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as horribly sour as some blends (I’m looking at you Stash’s fruit teas) but it’s still kind of unecessary as blueberry isn’t normally a tart fruit to begin with. There is some actual blueberry flavour there too, thankfully, but I’m not really feeling the sage and mixed with the tartness of the hibiscus it gives the tea a bit of an acrid, unpleasent flavour.

Sorry, this one isn’t a winner.

This one just doesn’t stand out for me. I’ve been sipping at it all night and it just…I don’t know. Ten seconds after a sip, I can’t tell you what it tastes like.

I taste a bit of juicy peach, but overall, it just tastes like tea to me…which is neat, seeing as how there’s no tea in it >.>.

Enjoying a surprisingly strong second steep of this today. It is not as tart as yesterday (less hibiscus) and I find the blueberry flavour is more out to play. The sage is still fairly strong, but supportive of the blueberry.

Also, unrelated but I have noticed today that my tea has been bothering the heartburn I have been enduring for a few days. Has anyone else ever noticed this? I’m assuming it’s a reaction to the hot liquid rather than anything else. Stupid heartburn, making me question my tea…

This smells HEAVENLY. I am a blueberry fan, and this smells like sweet ripe juicy berries…even like cooked bluieberry pie, where all you can smell is sugar and blueberries! If I concentrate deeply I get a hint of what must be the sage, but this is mostly just a blueberry assault on the nose. If it tastes like it smells, this might be one I actually keep on hand.

Steeped, that sage really comes out to play, in the smell at least. There is stil a definite blueberry aroma going on, but that sage is surprisingly bold. Honestly, I’m a little concerned about the sage business, I don’t know that I’ve experienced it in a tea before.

First sips are tart blueberry, with the sage hiding under the taste and a sweeper blueberry flavour on the aftertaste. It’s surprisingly complex over the course of the sip. I really enjoy the aftertaste of juicy blueberries, but wish that the tart aspect up front were diminished. This is definitely enjoyable and one that I think I will keep an eye out for, but wouldn’t make a special order for (mostly because I have “too much tea”). I don’t get any alcohol or medicinal taste in this which is, at this point, a huge relief. Thumbs up!

Cold brewed for around 20 hours in 12 oz. water. This is the third of the five samples provided to me by Tea Forte. I loved Mojito marmalade, HATED apricot amaretto, and so I had no clue what was going to happen with this one.

The smell of this (both before and after steeping) reminds me of sour gummy worms. So, kind of fakey. But gummy worms are tart and limey smelling, which makes it kind of accurate, too. Luckily I like sour gummy worms (understatement: they were one of my favorite candies when I was younger).

The sip does treat the lime and ginger pretty equally: first I get lime, and then ginger which has a bite. But then I get the “bonus” of some kind of medicinal aftertaste. Nowhere near as terrible as with the amaretto, which was all medicinal, but just enough that it kind of ruins the drink for me.

Meh, at least I can finish this one. Two to go, and I am definitely curious as to what will happen with those.

So! Forgive me for posting this a day late, but I did try the Mojito Marmalade sample that Tea Forte sent out. I had some apprehensions about this tea because I’m not a huge fan of orange and mint together. It reminds me too much of a stomach med my mother used to spoon into me. However, I pushed those pre-conceived notions aside because you never know if you will love a tea based on the description. Only on the taste. So I set up my water, grabbed my infuser and then ripped this one open.

The first thing I noted was that the tea smelled more like Citron than actual oranges. I work at a spice store and we have orange peel. This orange peel didn’t smell fresh at all to my nose, but bitter. I also detected other citrus flavors underneath the aroma, sort of a lemon something.

It brewed up to a beautiful dark brown with orange tints and was much lighter in color than I’d been expecting. My first taste was of a very strong mint. On the back of the sip I could taste the orange. I did not know before this tea that I really do not like orange and mint together in a tea. AT ALL.

All the mojitos I’ve ever had were with lime, not orange. There was just something…off about the orange and the mint for me. I love mint! And I love Oranges! Just…not together. I wish there had been some cloves, or that the oranges had been swapped for limes or lemons. I wish that this tea was mint julep instead of Mojito Marmalade.

So to rescue the cup, I added some sugar. After all, whoever liked sugarfree marmalade? And since when do Mojitos not have sweetness to play off the rum, lime and mint? I appreciate the sample and the experience. I feel like even when I drink a tea that I don’t like, I learn something more about tea and where my tastes are.

If you are a person who loves citrus and mint, you will adore this tea. Its not bad in terms of flavor, but it just wasn’t to my taste.

I feel like kinda a douche bag, all my reviews of late have not been overwhelmingly positive, unfortunately this isn’t going to be the tisane to change that.

First off let me state that I hate rooibos and honey bush, or more correctly my strainer hates rooibos and honey bush. But that has absolutely nothing to do with this review I just needed to get that off my chest.

Again beautiful packing and kudos on the single steep idea, it is wonderful for samples however that very environmentally sound for anyone who would drink this stuff regularly, but since I doubt that is likely that is a moot point.

When I opened the package I was quite impressed with the scent, it was as advertised, kiwi, lime and ginger all readily apparent. As I was pondering how they did this so well I soon picked up a chemical scent, then it started to smell like cleaner, not promising. Once brewed it takes on a strong ginger scent. Yeah I’m kinda nervous now.

As I poured the water onto the dried bits it immediately started to fizz slightly, what the ..? Once brewed it is quite hazy, why the smeg is it hazy? Ok time to suck it up and take the first sip.

…

…

OK FINE if your going to just sit there and watch then I’ll do it!

Well its not as bad as I … wait yeah it is. To be honest this is not terrible stuff, just not at all what was advertised. I was expecting a clean crisp cup of kiwi-lime with subtle ginger notes. Its very heavy for some reason, and the ginger completely dominates the palette with nearly indiscernible notes of citrus. I supposed that if you really like ginger or have stomach problems and ginger makes you feel better than you may enjoy this. As for me I’m tossing the rest of this and making myself a cup of tropical rooibos.

Backlogging: Last night, I steeped this in chocolate vodka, then mixed the infused vodka with a mixture of warmed sweetened condensed milk and 1% milk. I added a little agave nectar to the cocktail, and frothed it up.

It was very yummy. I am not one who drinks very often (I think this may have been my first drink in quite some time actually), so I did find the flavor of the vodka to be a little overwhelming. But I could still taste the chocolate and chai flavors. I enjoyed it.

I brewed this in ginger ale, and am loving the result. It is bubbly, sweet, and very nicely spiced. The cinnamon and ginger are prominent, with the cardamom offering low notes in the background. The black tea isn’t incredibly strong, but it’s there. Very tasty mocktail!

I was really disappointed here as we just got a pint of Luna & Larry’s Cherry Amaretto coconut ice cream just to pair with this. I can summarize it as cough syrup poured over an other wise decent, if overly tart, ingredients list. May re-make this one with just real cherries in it?

Thanks to Tea Forte for their sampler! I must mention the great packaging, which isas relaxing as the tea. Very nice.
I can see why this one gets top billing; of all of them it’s my favorite. It really tastes like dried apricot, and feels well rounded by the rooibos, much to my surprise. Not too sweet and fruity floral like chamoile. I can only imagine how great this would be iced. Without caffeine or a need for eye popping sugar, I would call this the perfect summer sunset tea.

This is the second of five samples provided to me by Tea Forte. The first one I tried was the mojito marmalade, which I loved. This one, in contrast, evoked almost the exact opposite response in me.

The smell of the dry leaf alone made me nervous. It was SO vile and medicinal – more accurately, it was reminiscent of Robitussin. It gave me a headache and the memory of the smell lingered unpleasantly for a while after I set the leaves in water to cold brew. I didn’t find any apricot in the scent at all.

After steeping some of the apricot smell was more evident, and the medicinal odor had faded a lot, but that first sip…

Let’s just say I didn’t get past it, because it tasted like it’s original smell and I can’t drink Robitussin. :(

Oh, well. I have three more samples to try – I hope they’re more like the mojito marmalade than this one.

This was a highly awaited sample. When I opened it, it was crushed as finely as my Apricot Amaretto of yesterday, but again I don’t know if that speaks to the quality of the rooibos or the dangers of shipping. This one smells very strongly of oranges (more like the peel than the juice) and mint. I am very very excited!

I accidentally steeped this about 10 minutes and I have a very dark brown brew. The smell is primarily orange peel (you know, but a little juicy) and almost comes off as an orange scented cleanser. I don’t really smell the mint anymore, which is rather disappointing. First sips are vaguely orangey, with a mint aftertaste (but still very gentle). The orange is still more on the cleanser/rind than sweet or juicy, but it is mixing well with the rooibos (which I don’t pick up on at all) and the hint of mint.

I am pre-disposed to liking this, but I am impressed. This one is right up my alley, flavour-wise and actually delivers on the tastes promised. A stronger mint taste would be nice, but there is enough there to reflect an orangey Mojito. Also, I’m slow, I know, but what is with this sampler and the Booze names? Only Kiwi Lime GInger misses out on the alcohol title. I bet it feels rejected because of it. Anyway, I won’t be buying this one either, but I am glad to have tried it. Now all I have left is the Blueberry Merlot.

(In reading others tasting notes, I saw something I totally missed on my own, but really notice now that it has been suggested: this really is quite “jammy”. There is a thicker mouthfeel that lends to the impression of maramalade. Impressive!)

Finally one from the sample I like and when I say like I mean I’ll probably order some at some point. I love how all the flavors blend together (yes my cold is on the way out so I can taste again). Yummy! I’d say more, but I’m at work (3 days left) and I should do something. ;)

First off thanks a bunch to tea forte for the samples! The cherry cosmo was however a disappointment, the tea smelled like cherry cough syrup with … plastic? And no this was after I poured it out of the bag. The taste was worse, it did hold up to its cherry cough syrup scent though. It was overly tart almost to the point of tasting carbonated. I did manage to finish the cup but not by much.

This was however the one that looked the least appetizing so here is hoping the rest are better. On a plus note the packaging was fantastic.

So its Tuesday and I am ready for my second go at the Tea Forte samples that I was sent. Today’s tea is the Blueberry Merlot. Opening the package, my first smell impression is the blueberry. I can also smell the rosehips and sage pretty strongly through the blend. I’m smelling something that smells a bit like currant, so that could be the merlot coming through.

Water is going to be boiling and the steep is going to be 5 minutes since that is what the package recommends.

When the tea brews, it comes out very dark purple, almost like a wine! The smell isn’t very strong in terms of blueberry, but I’m looking forward to the first sip.

But oh! It is in the first sip. My tongue exploded with that blueberry flavor…oh and the second too. Alright, so far, out of the five teas that I received from Tea Forte, this is my favorite. I am going to have to buy some more of this one.

I also really like it because it doesn’t need any sweetness added. That blueberry really just gives it exactly what it needs. The more I drink, the more I like. I can also taste something of a currant something in the aftersip. The aftertaste is also a really fruity blueberry. Its official. I want some more of this one.

So, because I am who I am and because it’s hot out, I’m going to try all of my samples from Tea Forte iced. This one came up first because of all the negative reviews it has been getting. I am eying that Blueberry Merlot, but saving it for last.

The smell of the dry leaf was overwhelming. Some have called it medicinal or alcoholic, for me, and I hate to say it, it smelled like nail polish remover to me. I just….did not like it.

Iced, it still has that smell, but the taste is much, much different, thank goodness. I’m surprised by the taste and how much I do like it.

However, the ginger does take over, and I don’t know what is supposed to be tropical, but I’m not tasting it. I taste ginger with an aftertaste of lime…

I’m not a fan, but I would definitely recommend it to someone who like ginger and lime.

Lots of dust, weird smell. I’ve gotta say, I’m feeling uneasy about this. I had been drinking these in the order of what I expected to like (least to most). Maybe I was wrong. Dry, I get an odd smell, almost alcoholic or possibly even like hand sanitizer. I can smell something definitely amaretto-esque, but not in any sort of pleasant way. I forget how much I hate amaretto…There is no discernible apricot smell, it is all booze. I’m worried.

The rooibos/honeybush are very fine, almost pulverized, though this might have been a fault of their travels to get to me. It’s definitely some of the finest (read: dusty and falling through my filter) I’ve had. Steeped, it smells a little less boozy, but I must say that they have accurately captured the amaretto scent. Still no apricot though.

First sips are fairly accurate to the smell. There is a tinge of medicinal/alochol based flavour at the end of the sip that I’m not too wild about, but otherwise the taste is fairly unassuming. As I said before, they’ve captured the amaretto flavour well, but there is still no apricot to be found anywhere. Since I quite like apricots and don’t like amaretto, I was hoping it would be the reverse.

I’m going to rate this at 70 for amaretto accuracy, but still factor in my concerns about the aftertaste and lack of apricot. I’m quite pleased to have the flavour profile as strong as the smell, that’s rare in Tea Forte teas I have tried in the past. Once again, I can drink this but I wouldn’t buy it. I would consider gifting it though…

I received a sample of this tea along with four other herbals that I will be reviewing this week. Since I had five of them, I decided to begin with the Apricot Amaretto. My first impression was that I really loved the smell. The aroma is sweet, and I could immediately pick out the apricot, peach and almond notes. The fruit dominated the dry leaves and I was pretty interested in how it would taste. I used my perfect tea maker to infuse it. I generally brew herbals around 208ish and the instructions on the back said to let it steep for 5 minutes. I loved out dark it got when it brewed, but the fruit smell began to fade as it steeped and the almondy flavors became much stronger.

I let it cool to about 140 degrees and took my first sip. The almondy amaretto was very strong, so much so that it really overwhelmed and took over the apricot and peach notes that I’d smelled when I first opened the packet. I drank the cup with no sweetener, because I try not to sweeten a cup of a new tea when I first tried it. However, while it wasn’t a terrible tea, I was really hoping for that fruit that the title promised, leaving me a bit disappointed. Its tasty enough and would be interesting to try iced or sweetened, but I only had enough for the one cup. By the time I’d finished my first, I wasn’t interested in trying to re-steep it and see. I might pick up a small amount on my next tea order and try it again, but at the moment, I’m not that impressed.

Still, a lovely almond flavor so if that is what you are hoping for, you’ll be satisfied.