TeaFrog

I’m still unable to get my favorite Lemon and Green Tea (San Francisco Herb & Natural Food) that I normally picked up in bulk local indie grocery. Boo.

So as I was rummaging this afternoon, I wondered if this might be a plausible substitute. It isn’t; not straight up, anyway. If you like serious, tart, citrusy lemon, this is exactly what you need. I reached for sweetener almost immediately. One turbinado sugar packet wasn’t quite enough; two was a bit much. But now it more closely resembles the lemon pastry vibe I’m going for.

Second steep edit: Was good. TeaFrog’s flavored green teas hold their flavor the second time around better than any others I’ve tried.

I drank this right after TeaFrog’s Gingerbread Rooibos, and they remind me a bit of each other. The orange taste is dominant in this as in the Gingerbread one. It’s pleasant, and the flavours all blend well together, but other than that it’s kind of bland to me. I steeped it for at least 6 min, so I don’t think that’s the problem.

Love is my last tea before I try to go to sleep. Wish me luck. My neighbours apparently got a karaoke machine and all I’ve heard for the last 5 hrs is really bad renditions of some songs which will forever be ruined for me. They show no sign of stopping anytime soon, and it’s almost 1 am. They really shouldn’t be allowed to sell those machines to just anybody. Apparently I’m not feeling the Love right now.

I would rename this tea Orange Almond Cake, or something along those lines. There’s no ginger, which makes it very un-gingerbread-like. It is a pretty good rooibos, though, in the sense that you don’t really taste the rooibos itself. Hopefully that made sense.

Orange is the dominant flavour, with almond following right behind. I maybe get a hint of the cardamom, but I can’t distinguish the coriander from the rest of the blend (probably a good thing). There’s a nice sweetness to it which makes sugar unnecessary.

I’ve had Blueberry flavoured teas which did not taste of blueberry at all. This is not one of them. I don’t know how it tastes hot, as unfortunately I steeped it and then forgot about it for 3 hrs, but it’s great cold. There is a definite blueberry taste that reminds me of blueberry pie filling (it’s been a looong time since I had that). Very sweet and tasty. No sweetener required here.

I’ve never tried a fruity rooibos before, but the description of this one made me give it a chance. I wasn’t sure what to think when I smelled it in the bag. I didn’t smell the woodiness of rooibos at all, but I did smell a strong scent that I couldn’t place at first. It finally came to me. It smells like lemon flavoured Halls (the cough drops). I hoped the taste would be mellower than the smell.

When really hot, it did have a strong medicinal taste to it, that thankfully mellowed out a bit when it cooled. Not horrible, but not one I’ll be reaching for anytime soon. I think the added flavouring is just too strong in this, as lemongrass and cornflowers wouldn’t overpower the rooibos the way this is. I’ll put it on the list of teas to try drinking when I have a sore throat.

I picked up my TeaFrog package at the post office today, and couldn’t wait to start trying the samples I bought.

Coconut Vanilla White was my first choice, as I had high hopes for this one. I like white tea, coconut, and vanilla. It should be a winner.

The smell of the dry tea is beautiful. Coconut and vanilla. Yum. I was careful to only steep it for 2 min, and there was no astringency when I drank it. With every sip, I taste the coconut, and then the vanilla. I’m not sure what the rosebuds are adding, but the flavours blend well.

I tried a second infusion at 75C for 4 min. The taste of the tea was more apparent, and it was also a touch astringent. I’ll stick to 2 min in the future.

This is a nice, light, sweet tea. I love teas that I don’t have to sweeten, as I never remember to add sugar, anyway. It’s not my favourite tea ever, but pretty darn good. I hope the rest of TeaFrog’s teas are this good.

Been a while since I’ve had this one. My loss; this is wonderfully light and tasty. Heavy on the coconut, but the lemongrass is definitely detectible and harmonizes beautifully. Plenty sweet without additions. (Now if I were just in a lounge chair on a tropical resort smelling the wet sand and watching the sun slip over the horizon….)

No notes yet.

Delicious, as before.

No notes yet.

1001 Nights Flavored Black mixes a Ceylon black tea and a sencha green tea with jasmine and roses. This is the second green and black tea blend I have ever tried, and the first one was excellent. I steep two teaspoons of this mixture in just boiled water for about three minutes. All of these flavors together… I was curious to see whether or not it would actually work!

With the first sip, I know that it does. The roses and jasmine blend together into a delicious floral mix and the sencha does mix with the black tea in such a way that one gets the vegetal notes of green tea with the strength and bold flavors of the black Ceylon. With such a great mixture of flavors, I feel as though this tea would be nicely paired with a myriad of foods, but it has enough natural sweetness that it could even stand on its own as a desert, if such was desired. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this tea a 90/100.

I have a work friend who (mostly to get my goat) tells me that all my favorite black breakfast teas “just taste like Lipton.” She doesn’t acknowledge all those lovely, subtle, blend and plantation differences that make tea tasting a joy.

But to be totally honest, I have a similar blind spot when it comes to green teas. Unless there is something remarkably different or unique about one or t’other, many of them taste, well…green. (With the exception of those that are cereally or hay-y. Love those.)

This nice little China Moon is one of those. A good green tea that’s balanced in the middle of the just-barely-there ……… overcooked green bean spectrum. Green. Nice. And that’s all I got to say about that.

I brewed a very indelicate pot of this in the late morning to get started on things. Perhaps a pot was too much. I was bouncing off the walls. But on the bright side, I did get several social media things done today. (Except a LinkedIn profile. Curse you, LinkedIn!) Still, quite productive regardless.

Oh yeah…taster notes.

Um…

I like it a lot.

There.

watching the Presidentail debate i decided i needed to let loose and enjoy a wonderful pot of tea. i decided on the Pu-erh because ive never had it and i am in the mood to review and do some tasting. the smell of the dry tea is supper earthy. after brewing the leafs started to loosen up and the liquor is a bright vibrant brown and smells and tastes very earthy like top soil. i first gave the Pu-erh a 15 second rinse then steeped for 2:30 minutes

Yum. Good morning, tea. (And good morning tea.)

The drink down continues, and this is one that I will be sad to see go.

I recently bought an envelope of tea samples from Amanda and have tasted several, but this is the first one I’m finishing so it’s the first one I’m reviewing. The dry leaf smells fabulously minty, with a small but still noticeable hint of the gunpowder and ceylon. It’s really nice, I’d love to have this scent as a body wash! For the most part it looks like a collection of very small (mostly green) pieces, but as it steeps the gunpowder does unfurl. I’m not sure if it’s the relative size of the gunpowder, but it looks like there’s not much ceylon in comparison.

Taking the first sip… yes, this is unsurprisingly a primarily mint taste! Great news for me, a mint lover. There’s a smoky green edge to it, though, and it really harmonizes with the sweeter tones of the peppermint. I’m not really getting any ceylon flavor, but I’d wager that it’s there to increase the complexity of the taste rather than to make it seem more like a black tea. This blend is most certainly more complex and interesting than the gunpowder and mint blends that I’ve thrown together myself!

A lovely twist on Moroccan mint tea, this blend is a winner!

My first cold of the season is coming to a end ( well i was thinking at least ) when i began to have sore throat again. That not gonna happen let kill that with hot tea ! I’d watch a couple gaiwan video during the morning so why not try it i ask myself innocently ( my answer should have been because your gonna make a mess since you don’t know what you are doing )

Ah why not maybe i’m gonna have the beginner luck well that was not the case ..

Watching a last video after installing all my stuff just to be sure

All the pre-heat did go well but first impression That thing become HOT! i nearly drop it let handle it a little higher i still need my finger don’t want to burn it

Putting the leaf in the gaiwan – 1/4 as suggested in many video that seem a lot but meh i’m no expert so i have to take my first info somewhere let’s go with what they say ( yah cold make me dumb i didn’t even think to come ask here ..)

Rince it – Done ( that kinda the easiest part lol)

First steep – Used the suggested temperature but steeping time found on the web was 20 seconds ( Gawhhh that was so so freaking bitter first time i get a bitter green tea it’s was worst than any black tea i ever taste even the new loose leaf tea from Tim Horton made by people who don’t know how to make tea i was desperate don’t judge me lol ) too many leaf ? dunno i think probably water to hot ( i could not finish the cup it’s was that bitter )

Second steep – i think it’s was the water being too hot that cause the bitterness so i let it cool down does it change something ? well no sure less bitter but the first was so bitter that i still have the taste in the mouth

i did stop at 2 steep for the sake of my bud taste ( i wish to be able to still taste my other tea) cleaning up the mess was fast since i did not really make some but will cleaning the gaiwan i drop it and it broke ( they are little fragile thing )

So it was my first and last ( for now ) gaiwan experience i finish all this by drinking my favorite genmaicha ( at least i know how to do that one )

i will start by saying way to earthy for me i prefer the grassy taste of a green I’m not really fond of earthy for me they taste more bitter than anything else with a sweetener he could be good but i don’t put anything to sweet in my tea.

I do love the colour of this one a beautiful red/brown shade

My nose maybe wrong because of my cold but i found it to smell a little like pu’erh at least the one i have

This one definitively not for me but that why i love sample i don’t feel bad for buying something i don’t like

The smell of that on is divine even more for me since it smell like the pipe tobacco my uncle and dad was smoking when i was younger its a smell that will always be in my memory that probably why i’m a little disappointed don’t get me wrong it does taste great and vanilla a good sweetness in it but not kinda sweet just natural sweet.

But because of the scent the taste is tainted by my memory

I drank the last cup of it putting fresh ginger and mint because of my cold it was surprisingly real good for everyone wanting real vanilla taste without the tartness of some vanilla flavor that on may be for you

i did over steep it because of the ginger and the mint the bag say 6 minute and that probably enough

Got that one in my sampler a while ago i don’t really know what to think about this one it’s not bad but it have a weird taste that hide all other taste ( maybe the bamboo shout ) a taste i can’t really recognize .

I was hoping for more since it’s contain Genmaicha and that one of my favourite tea i still drink it since i hate to throw away tea but i will not get more i like my genmaicha nature or with matcha in it.

No notes yet.

This is really very good. Sweet with notes of flower and juicy orange. What I’m really liking is that even though I’m tasting the rooibos – it really works within the blend. The nutty flavor from the rooibos melds nicely with the flavors here. Pleasant and nicely balanced.

Sipdown: I cold brewed the rest of my package of this.

This is a nice light blueberry white tea. Nice and refreshing. I don’t see any blueberries in here so that is a little disappointing. This is good, but I think DT’s White Tiger is similar but superior to this blend. I am lowering the rating a bit.