The Boston Tea Company

Horrid.

Absolutely horrid.

I can taste the jasmine flavoring, and jasmine teas should not be flavored they should be scented. This tea was flavored, and I can taste it, and it is disgusting.

If I could rate this lower than one, I would. It deserves something in the negative digits.

Another from my box o tea from LiberTeas several years ago. Initially it smells as though it has been scent contaminated with all the rest, but when steeped 2.5 minutes it smells definitely like black tea with light citrus. More like cleaner than fresh fruit, but not unappealing. It looks and smells like a tea that will get bitter if over-steeped so I was careful with the time.

First sips yield a fairly typical black tea that starts out a bit sweet and then goes a bit astringent, with some light citrus in the background. Considering the age and storage of this sample, I am impressed that there are any flavours to distinguish at all. In the aftertaste I get a sense of bergamot but it is very light and not dusty at all the way bergamot can sometimes be.

This is a very pleasant (if mild) cuppa, and I will definitely be able to finish the sample. Yay!

I know I like this lean, clean dragonwell, but just now noticing that it’s being advertised as a digestive aid. After a large sweet-n-sour pork lunch with all the trimmings at a local Asian buffet, it is a comfortable topper…

Sweet. Gentle. Flavor-accurate. You need to have this. You need to have this with cookies.

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I agree with Michelle on this one. This tea is like bagged tea, unbagged. It is nothing special but not terrible as well. There are many other teas that have superior English Breakfast blends. It definitely needed milk and sugar.

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So last night when I was placing my Adagio sample order, I contemplated their Apricot Green until I remembered that I have a sample of a similar blend from Momo! So into a cup for an overnight cold brew it went.

This tea reminds me of something I’ve tried before almost exactly, but I can’t place what it is. Infuriating! I’m pretty sure I never logged whatever this mystery tea was so I’ve spent 20 minutes glaring angrily at my cup as if it will give up the answer. Funnily enough, I don’t think it was another apricot blend, but a flavored green with fruit of some kind. Oh well.

This is a nice enough tea, though I don’t know if I’d know it was apricot without being told first. A little fruity, but the base dominates. Oddly enough, I’d swear the taste was changing as I work through my cup. With one sip it’s very plum-like, then I get a hint of real apricot, then it’s just generic fruity tasting. If nothing else, this is a big ’ol cup of mystery!

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Mixed this one with Fujian Tea Imports’ Jasmine Tea.

Sipdown :( Super sad face here. This tea was absolutely delicious and I’m sad to see it go. Even more sad that it’s been out of stock at Boston Tea for a couple of months. I hope they restock sometime.

I did find the Bentley’s bagged version of this. It’s just not as good. It will have to do from now on.

I probably should have chosen my Scottish Toffee Pu-erh to complement my watching of Monarch of the Glen, but I wanted to finish up this last sample of the day :) I love this show & this tea!

Need to drink more tea to combat whatever this is trying to infiltrate my sinuses.

It was not too bad, but I cannot say that it will be going on my shopping list.

Still enjoying the sample of this Nicole sent me. It’s definitely a top tea for me. I like how smooth and simple it is. A pleasant cuppa for a dreary day.

…made myself a small pot in preparation to see the Hobbit. Appropriate, don’t you think? I’m thinking this is my favorite unflavored green tea. Gentle, cereally, but strong enough to assure you that you’re drinking something of substance.

Received some great news tonight. Felt like celebrating by enjoying a cuppa rooibos while watching the series finale of Gossip Girl.

This was one of the many generous sample I received in my holiday sampler box from Nicole. I LOVE this tea! It doesn’t have the greatest of reviews here on Steepster, but I’d like this to be on my shelf always :)

It is wonderfully honey flavored with a hint of lemon. I like that the honey is the dominant flavor. Honey has always been a favorite of mine. It needs to become the sweetener I use more often with tea. I can barely taste the rooibos, but I think it works as a base. It is calling for a second steeping.

Kim, you need to come over tomorrow night for a cuppa :)

Just looking for something different, I browsed via my cupboard and this caught my eye.

No notes yet.

I just can’t resist loose leaf or pyramid bags in new flavors when I see them in physical stores, so when I found a box of this at Marshall’s it was an obvious buy.

The first thing I noticed was a rather small amount of tea in each bag. While this makes it easier for one to get the exact amount of tea desired steeping, it still feels like kind of a rip-off, especially considering how unnecessarily large the bags each sachet is packaged in are. The smell is also quite distinct: strongly lemon, similar to a lemon candy rather than cleaning supplies. There are several large chunks of lemon peel in each sachet, so it’s not just added flavoring.

The liquor is a nice golden-green and similar in scent to the dry leaf, although the aroma of the green tea base is more obvious. And pleasantly enough, the taste follows suit. It’s not incredibly strong — you’ll definitely want to use two sachets unless you are using a very small cup or prefer a very subtle taste. Nonetheless there’s a nice balance between the base and the flavoring, with the candy-esque lemon and the grassy green tea surprisingly harmonious. It’s a tad astringent, and there’s even a little bit of lemon aftertaste.

Highly recommended if you want a simple and inexpensive flavored green tea and happen to see it!

Changing things up from my Peet’s Winter Solstice, black tea all day kick on which I have been for the past several days.

Picked the morning tea before the morning food…time to decide on breakfast.

Now, let me preface this by saying I may have a different product. I received a tea sampler set from my cousin that had already been opened. I do not remember all the names, and I wrote them down in short hand, which apparently I can’t understand. Anyhow, I shall assume it is this one as I have (seemingly) all the flavours listed here. I shan’t review them all, however the mango and the blueberry stood out for being good. Nothing was ‘blow my mind spectacular’, however. For a cheap set, this one will do.

Lovely damp and dreary afternoon. The leaves on the giant maple in the yard have fallen almost simultaneously (whoomph!) and it really does look like a yellow and tan shag carpet. Hard to keep my eyes off the window.

(My opinion of damp and dreary afternoons will shift radically come January and February.)

Knowing that I was likely to spend the entire afternoon with a cup in my hand, I figured I’d better steep something that wouldn’t caffeinate me into agitated insomnia tonight, so I picked this nice go-to dragonwell. Boston Tea does everything properly and elegantly. This is gentle, lovely to look at (huge leaves), not too vegetable-y. Steeped beautifully a second time.