TeaGschwendner

Decent, but a bit bland for my tastes. Leaves are high quality, and the liquor is quite appealing. I’ll drink through the sample, but probably wouldn’t buy more.

Earl Grey No. 69 by Tea Gschwendner
“This is one of the worst Earl Grey’s i’ve come across. It has an overpowering bitter, chemical flavor.” That’s how I started this review, then I thought, “Earl Grey Bravo (Adagio) had the same issue the first time I tried it. Maybe I should brew it [No. 69] super short like I do EGB now.” So I did. Starting over…
This is not one of my favorite Earl Greys. It has a strong tea base with an overlying chemical flavor. In other words, brewing it shorter gave me less of a bad thing; which is not saying more of a good thing. Over all, I’d rather drink hot water.
[Edit 1/27] Gave away the remainder to another tea loving friend…they gave it back!

This is a super mild and buttery Darjeeling – the texture is really rich while the flavor remains on the gentle cycle. The recommended parameters are 2 minutes at 212, which yields a light orange-brown liquor with a fruity and slightly malty aroma. Gentle flavors emerge with bready, dried fruit notes, held together by a rounded creaminess.

The first time I drank this, I thought it was kind of bitter. But that was back in the day before I was fully aware of the need to steep green tea at a lower temperature and for a shorter time. So I gave it another try today, about 2 minutes at 160. It turned out well, and was much better than another sencha I recently drank (whose name escapes me now). This one is not overly vegetal but has a smooth flavor. I have yet to try a repeat infusion but will update when I do.

When it comes to Japanese green tea, I still prefer the richer flavor of a gyokuro, but this sencha will be a good alternative.

I got a sample for asking a recommendation for a lighter flavored jasmine tea. This tea is beautiful, and smells just like it tastes. It’s medium strength with jasmine. The tea itself was tasty and not flat. It makes for a great iced tea, too. A better jasmine tea I have had recently.

Lovely fragrance — the orange blossom scent is almost overwhelming. In the cup, it retains an orange-y flavor but the oolong is there as well. A good, reasonably priced flavored oolong, and one I think would be great as an iced tea. However, I am beginning to realize that the natural flavor of oolong tea does not really need any help — it is enchanting on its own — so I may not repurchase this.

I often find that lemongrass takes over my palate when it’s included in a blend, but was inspired to buy a sample bag of this when I saw that it also had vanilla in it – one of my favorite flavors and usually able to hold its own as well.

I was pleased that the bag had a generous amount of leaf in it – after five minutes I had a deeply golden green-brown liquor with a fresh citrus aroma. Sure enough, on first sip the lemongrass was definitely the most vocal component of the mix, but I could also sense the vanilla there, softening and rounding out the high notes. I’d call it a soothing and successful blend.

Another sampler pack, picked up a couple weeks ago. It looked like it had a nice potpourri of spices, so I thought it was worth giving a try. I’m actually a little surprised that the inclusion of both anise and star anise doesn’t give it more of a licorice flavor. At most they add a little warmth and sweetness to the background. In fact I thought this would be more spicy than it ended up being – it was subtle, and not overpowered by any one spice flavor. If I got more of this I’d definitely try steeping it for longer and perhaps even preparing it chai style.

Thank you, LiberTEAs! No…really…THANK YOU!!!!!!
I’m up for anything Apricot and paired with Pineapple! WOW! I was so intrigued!

Looking at this – there is a chunk of something – I thought it was a large DATE until I read the description – then I assumed it was the pineapple. There is also a beautiful purple flower bud in there! Very nice!

This has an incredible aroma! The post-infusion color is gorgeous! A dark brown with a red-orange hue! Awesome!

The Pineapple and Apricot taste great together and the black tea is still present yet not overly black tea-strong…this is a strong flavored tea but at least the black tea taste is still present!

This is a nice tea! Both hot and as it cools! YUM!

I LOVE this tea. LOVE love love love. I am primarily a Vata type according to Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine, which Western medicine is painstakingly verifying the soundness of via experiment and testing). This tea just makes me feel balanced and well; it calms me and seems to increase my overall feelings of wellness. I did without it since leaving Chicago and being able to taste it again reminded me of how badly I need to order a bag.
(I do like the taste as well- slightly herbal, slightly sweet, but I am mostly in it for the effects. Your mileage may vary.)

This is a good black tea, but I’m not sure I’ll reach for it again at my in-laws’ house, or order it myself in particular, as it has a bit too astringent a mouth-feel for my taste. I do enjoy a decaf black after dinner occasionally though, but I think I actually prefer Republic of Tea’s- surprising considering TG has much higher quality tea in general.

This delicious combination of green tea and peppermint tastes more like Moroccan mint tea than anything I’ve had outside of a Moroccan restaurant. A sugar cube in it might make the comparison even more apt. This is truly a light and delicious mint tea, and the green does add to the overall taste profile, making it a slightly grassy, slightly minty brew that actually holds up to more than one steeping. A great after dinner tea- mint helps settle your stomach as well!

This is a very good choice for a strong black tea. For me, the two things that stand out most about this one are its beautiful coppery-red color and its smoothness. It is not the least bit bitter or astringent, even when slightly overbrewed. I love drinking this in the morning to help wake me up.

This is such a nice black tea that I don’t even need milk in it. And Jim’s family was kind enough to serve chocolates from a delicious box of chocolates with it; the dark chocolate complemented this tea perfectly. It’s not at all bitter or astringent. I’m even drinking it at a time of evening when I usually don’t consume caffeine. It’s teas like this that make me miss living in Chicago, going to the TeaGschwendner and strolling around on the streets, clutching my hot cup of tea between mittened hands.

Another sample bag picked up recently; I was interested in this one because I’ve had very few Indian green teas. It recommends parameters of 1.5 minutes steeping at 195 degrees, and I think that is spot on. This produced a light golden brown liquor with an aroma that combined both vegetal and apple-like fruit scents. The flavor is naturally sweet and juicy, with just a tiny bit of buttered vegetables behind the fruitiness. Practically no astringency and no bitterness. Glad I tried this – very different from other greens I typically like, but I wouldn’t mind having more on hand.

Just got back from a week’s business trip in Vienna, where I had a chance to pick up some more tea from both Demmers and TeaGschwendner – more reviews coming soon! This particular one is one of a handful of little single serving bags I picked up so I could try a bunch of different kinds and still travel carry-on only. I also haven’t tried to many different Assams and was intrigued by the description of this one being strong with malty notes.

It steeps up to a clear, dark brown liquor, which does have a noticeable sweet and yeasty aroma. The first sip confirms that this is a strong brew – it sports a little peppery tingle, rich malty flavor, and a moderate amount of astringency, probably about 6 out of 10 on the astringency scale. It’s a great Monday morning, shake me out of jet-lag tea. Even without any additives, it’s got a substantial, chewy texture, so I think it would probably hold up to milk and/or sugar pretty well.

I had to up my rating. This tea is just so light and wonderful. Gets me in a spring mood. I brewed it strong, poured it over ice, and mixed it with strawberry lemonade. VERY yummy.

I really love TG’s herbal teas. They come in cute little paper brown bags. This is my first lemon balm base tea. It’s a lighter tasting tisane, verses the other herbals I have had from them. I think next time I will put more to brew. It’s a grows on you kinda tea. It’s not overly floral, with all the flowers in the blend. They are definitely in the background. The mint isn’t overpowering, very mellow and balanced.

This tea screams SPRINGTIME!
I am really liking this iced.

This is one of my favorite wintertime breakfast teas. It is rich and slightly chocolatey, but unlike many other “chocolate” teas I’ve tried, it lacks hazelnut, almond or minty flavors. It’s straight-up strong, robust breakfast tea with a hint of chocolate and a bit of “boozy” richness (this must be the whiskey flavoring). The other day I made this as a tea latte (half strong tea, half foamed milk) and it was incredibly good. I’m going to have to do that again soon — and I’m going to have to stock up on this while it’s still available. It’s one of TG’s seasonal teas.

This tea is almost bursting with flavor, yet its flavor profile is still what I would call “delicate.” I know that seems like a contradiction in terms, but bear with me. It’s definitely an oolong — it has that toasty, sweet note you get in most oolongs — but it’s lighter than a Formosa oolong and not that far off from being a green tea; there’s a bit (but not a lot) of grassy, vegetal goodness in there as well. The color in the cup is yellow, similar to a green tea. It’s just a wonderful flavor; I’ve purchased this one several times, and it’s become a staple in my tea cabinet. It always delivers what I’m looking for when I want a light (but not weak) oolong that goes with just about anything. It’s great to serve with dessert, but also delicious with any type of Asian meal.

I’ve noticed a few reviews stating the tea is too weak. I suggest brewing it a bit longer. I think you need to brew it for at least three minutes; as for me, I always brew it for four minutes, at a slightly lower temperature than the label advises (the label says 194, I brew it at 180), to really bring out the flavors.

It’s been in my cupboard for a long time and I’m glad to see an empty tin so I can put some bagged tea into a nice clean tin and clear some space.
It’s not that I didn’t like, but I’ve never really found that flowering teas are my favourites, and the same is true of this one. It’s pleasant, and the flower taste goes nicely with the tea, I just rather that they didn’t bother mixing them. Hmm…

I can’t decide whether the addition of the kwai flower improves this. I tend to think not actually.

I’m not really into flowery teas though, so the fact that this is getting is reasonably high rating shows that it’s a pretty good tea. It also stands up very well to being steeped several times without losing the flavour, so it must be good tea!

Very good with fake creamer and fake sugar. Could probably use a bit more steeping time.