The Republic of Tea

I am not too familiar with herbal tisanes, but I liked African Autumn which is also rooibos based and a friend gave me this one to try, so I thought “why not?” I like it! There is a unique taste in there that I have only experienced once before, and that was in Throat Coat or Throat Tamer, not sure which. I think it must be the licorice root. Very tasty.

My husband dislikes flowery teas and won’t drink many herbals, but he likes this tea. He was having trouble sleeping due to stress at work, but this tea helps him sleep like a baby! He doesn’t feel groggy and it doesn’t put him out, but when he falls asleep he said he sleeps deeply and awakens feeling rested.

It was 63 degrees and rainy today… i.e. almost fall weather… i.e. time to pull out this awesome tea. It is seriously the perfect rainy day tea. It just warms you from the inside out. Yum! It was delicious as always.

Despite the fact that I got this tea in a chai latte set I have never had it any way but plain, so I decided to change that. I made a latte out of it and it was pretty good but definitely not as good as plain. I feel as if when I make a latte it tastes like milk with tea instead of tea for milk. Next up I want to try this tea with just a splash of milk, but I think I am always gonna like this tea plain and simple. I enjoyed my experimentation though :-)

I just made myself a giant mug of this – YUM! I haven’t had tea in 1 or 2 days and this was a great way to break my little tea hiatus. I absolutely love this tea. It is so spicy and delicious! It makes me so happy and it gives you this warm fuzzy feeling. I think this tea would be excellent in the winter to warm you up but it isn’t overwhelming in the summer which is awesome!!! This tea is awesome!

Just made a pot of this. It was delicious and spicy and cinnamon and warm. It was much needed after a day of studying for my molecular final and packing.

I just tried this iced and I am glad that I tried the hot version first. It definitely isn’t as good iced. It way less spicy and that is what I loved about the hot version. Oh well lesson learned.

I really liked this tea. I think it is significantly better then it’s black tea counter-part and I like that tea!

It smells deliciously spicy dry, it smells a little funky when it is steeped but I’ll forgive it that. I love the flavor. It is so spicy and comforting. It is like a hug in a cup. It reminds me of something that I can’t put my finger on – maybe really good apple cider. Anyway this tea is awesome and I am looking forward to trying it iced (the pot is cooling in my fridge).

aha! on a real laptop now
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/republic-of-tea-teabag-herbal-tea-key.html

stupid silders don’t really work on the ipad

Typing this on my work iPad so you’ll have to check my blog later for full detail and pictures

1 teabag
6 ounces filtered boiling water
5 minutes

Dry leaf smell – berry tart lime
Tea smell – tart, berry, lime, sweet
Tea – tart berry (hibiscus) lime
Full body
After taste is sweet

Good enough I’ll enjoy the rest, but it seems like it would be better as not a tea, perhaps a pie or jello?

Served hot

Thanks for the sample Meghann M

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 heaping teaspoons
Water: 750 milliliters filtered, 212°
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (Black, Strong, Auto start)
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Strong vanilla, hints sweet cherry not fake but real fruity scent
Steeped Tea Smell: Sweet vanilla black tea
Flavor: Astringent, slightly bitter black tea a hint of vanilla
Body: Full
Aftertaste: Astringent, slightly bitter
Liquor: Mostly opaque dark brown with slight reddish orange hints

Post-Steep Additives:
+German Rock Sugar – no more bitterness, brings out the vanilla, still not getting the cherry
+Lactose-free milk – less astringency much better

This is from LENA in the wonderful little Tupperware containers! Yes another one I have been hiding away and am finally getting to.

This tea is a good strong wake you up black with a bad astringency problem. I am very glad I didn’t order a whole tin! Thank you again LENA for helping me satisfy my curiosity and not end up drowning in ‘Meh’ tea.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/republic-of-tea-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

I don’t drink it very often, but when I do I really enjoy it. Goes way back to before I really started drinking tea, and I had this at a friend’s place. So there’s a part of my brain that always associates it with Middle Sunday at Steve & Paula’s. Nice mix of flavors. (Often good during a cold.) Occasionally add sugar, but plain is also good.

Decided to revisit this one this morning…I wouldn’t say it’s bad…but there is little flavored to this flavored black. That is why I am giving it a lower rating…not because it tastes bad but because it doesn’t taste like cherry or vanilla or much else…but the cup is drinkable and the black tea taste is present.

Should I be afraid!? I see lots of not-so-good reviews on this one!? Oh well…I’m up for the challenge…

I must say when I see BING Cherry in tea – most places tend to over due it either with tarty-bitterness in flavor or a harsh fake smell! This it’s over the top on scent…I can smell the vanilla more than the BING.

I wouldn’t say it’s a stereotypical taste of either Bing Cherry OR Vanilla. I can taste the vanilla more than the berry-ness. It has a slight ‘roasted’ taste at first but then evens out. Yeah…certainly more vanilla over the cherry. Thankfully I didn’t fully judge it on my first sip because I made a funny face.

I must say it’s not my favorite and it’s not memorable but I can drink it and it’s better than not having any tea at all, eh!?

I will also say that when my black an flavored black teas were at a low – this could have come in handy because I was REALLY needing a black flavored tea!!!

I will hang on to this one for a standby. The more I drink the more drinkable it seems to be but…I would choose several other ‘like’ teas before this one. It’s not bad just not excellent! Soooooo glad I got to try at it and add it to my collection, tho, thanks to Doulton!

Brewed a cup of this tea this morning at work and enjoyed it quite a bit. We have one of those bottled water dispensers that provide hot water as well as cold, so am not sure what temperature it was. Left the tea in to steep and added more water an hour later…..tea still tasty after lunch.

I just bought this tea and made a pot of tea yesterday. I enjoyed it very much. From reading All the Tea in China, I learned that this tea came from the work of Robert Fortune for the East India Company in the late 1800’s. He “gathered” tea seeds in China and the tea plants that sprouted from those seeds were planted in India…Darjeeling tea came from that “project”.

According to the story on the package, this particular tea is second and third flush tea. ie, they were part of the second and third annual picking of these tea plants.

I love this tea, great tangerine notes. I like my tea sweetened and this needs just a teaspoonful of organic raw sugar.

I was introduced to the original ROT Honey Ginseng at Panera’s Bread and loooooved it. And I don’t really like honey, so go figure! But I drink decaf so I was happy to find that ROT made a decaf version. It’s very good! The flavor is just as powerful as the regular. Right now this is my new favorite tea. I am obsessed with it and wish to drink cup after cup. And since it’s decaf, I can!

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: hot spigot water, 8 oz
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: ginger, peach, delicious!
Steeped Tea Smell: peachy, vegetal
Flavor: lightly vegetal, slightly bitter, astringent
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: ginger bite
Liquor: translucent yellow-green

I got this as a sample with the Republic of Tea catalog this month.

I am not finding the peach in the taste, only the smell.

It’s an OK green, I don’t really love greens anyway. I don’t plan to buy it.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/republic-of-tea-teabag-green-tea-ginger.html

This was actually the very first tea I ever purchased. I had recently added this to my shopping list and today in the mail was this sample! The tea bag smells wonderful. The brew is light and refreshing. I am not a big green tea fan, but this is doable for me. I always tend to gravitate to ginger and peach flavor profiles. I like it:)

Backlogging…
I was trying to sing my repertoire on Tuesday, but my voice seemed to have less presence (probably because I was sitting at a piano). I drank this at dinner, and at my studio recital, I had some of the best sound I’ve ever had. It relaxes me and keeps my throat soothed when it’s not too phlegmy :)

Like the other Republic of Tea I’ve had, this also smelled very good. But I have to agree with others here…the idea is good, but the black tea is pretty strong and the expected vanilla almond flavoring barely comes through. I still like drinking it, but in terms of finding a good tea that has vanilla almond flavors, there are probably better alternatives out there…

It tastes mostly of jasmine…at least, I’m pretty sure what that flowery smell and taste were. It is good, especially for bagged tea. White tea, in my experience, doesn’t usually have a very strong flavor, and I think the addition of jasmine was a pretty good idea.
When you open the canister, it does smell very nice…that was probably my favorite part of this tea, though the flavor was very good, relaxing too.

I love this tea. It’s creamy and delicious on a chilly spring night!