Tin Roof Teas

Courtney sent me enough for a cup of this, and I actually quite enjoyed it. It’s not as rhubarb-y or as creamy as the name would imply, but I still thought it was a nice, subtle tea. I enjoyed the tartness that I did get from the rhubarb.

I probably wouldn’t ever order it, but I’m so glad I got a taste!

Thanks whatshesaid for this one :)

I’m getting the rhubarb but very little, if any cream. The black tea base is overtaking the flavours. I’m finding that with a lot of black teas – it seems a delicate balance for flavours with black tea. I’m enjoying this one enough, but I’d prefer if there was more of an actual rhubarb and cream flavour.

I am drinking this sample from a friend just so I can have a sample sipdown! I will be making another tea shortly because this isn’t doing anything for me. The base feels a little rough and grassy and the coconut isn’t as strong as it could be. Maybe I did something wrong but I know for sure the water wasn’t too hot. If anything, it was too cool. Steeped for three minutes.

No notes yet.

I’m agreeing with Josie Jade on this one. Needs more coconut flavor. The sencha in this is thick and grassy. Is it really Japanese sencha? Maybe I’m just spoiled from Den’s because this is not what good Japanese sencha tastes like to me. This reminds me more of the cheap Chinese sencha that I really don’t like. It doesn’t seem to get astringent, which is good, but neither is it fresh and springy like a quality sencha should taste like. This is overall, a pretty meh tea.

Unless you’re not picky about green tea quality and don’t mind a weaker coconut flavor.

Thank you Josie Jade for the sample of this. Tonight was clear with a phenomenal sunset but it was still pretty nippy out, enough to where I decided to stay inside with a cup of tea instead of going for a run.

This is a really lovely tea. The green tea has sort of a vegetal, buttery taste to it (not at all astringent) and it blends beautifully with the coconut flavoring. (the coconut isn’t as as sweet as I thought it would be. Instead it lends itself as more of a subtle, smooth, rich element, much like full fat coconut milk, which is fine by me) I kind of wonder what it would taste like if it had actual coconut milk added. Although it may be a while before I decide to try it iced, I am definitely planning on doing so. (as soon as it warms up to at least 60 degrees)

EDIT: as this has cooled down 20-some minutes later, the coconut has taken more of a dominant flavor. so good! I’m going to look into pricing for this one, I think. :D

Yum yum. This tea has me smacking my lips after every sip! My first milk oolong of any sort, I have a sample from Teavivre sitting around as well so I will have compare the two later. They are both flavored I think (not super sure about this one), but that’s no problem.

Creamy and delicious, milky sweet. Just plain delicious! First steep, we’ll see how the others go. I’m glad I got a decent sized back of this!

ETA 75th tasting note!!

Got a sample of this from Josie Jade – thanks!

I honestly didn’t taste a whole lot. A hint of slightly bitter fruit (the rhubarb I suppose….is rhubarb even a fruit??) and a bit of cream. Not super creamy though.

I forgot about the leftovers in my cup and ended up drinking it room temperature (office temperature really, always chilly up in here!!) and the flavours seemed to come out a bit more.

Ultimately I was a bit disappointed with the lack of tastiness with this one!

Ugh, this weather. I suppose I shouldn’t complain since so many Steepsters to the North are still getting snowed in, but this cold weather is just so abnormal for the South at this point in the year. When we went out to dinner last night I saw some older lady in shorts and a tank top and she looked so crazy (and cold)! Now, to her credit, it was in the almost-70’s last week and I think she was just really confused, like the rest of us, bless her heart.

Since we are having such a dreary, wet, cold day I’m having a cup of a little something tropical to warm me up. My tea doesn’t look exactly like the picture, because my coconut pieces are a really bright green color!? I imagine it’s just from being mixed in with the green tea and am hoping it doesn’t kill me :) The tea has that really fresh coconut aroma. The flavor and finish are mostly of green tea and the coconut comes in afterwards. It’s a creamy coconut taste that is more of fresh coconut than sweetened coconut. I tried adding a little sweetener to see if that would bring out the coconut more and it didn’t really help. This tea is alright. I think that I just love coconut a lot, so I like for it to really stand out in a tea. If the flavor of this tea had more of the creamy coconut in it, rather than just the very end aftertaste I think it would be perfect!

-Dry blend has large flat green tea leaves and twigs with small pieces of dried coconut.
-Dry leaves smell like green tea with a hint of coconut. Tea liquor aroma is of fresh coconut.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy bright medium yellow color.
-Vegetal green tea flavor and finish. Light creamy coconut aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Fair tea. Very subtle fresh coconut flavor.

This is one of those teas that I always wonder why I don’t reach for it more when I do have a cup. It smells really strongly of bergamot. Is there any scent more comforting to an Earl Grey lover? The tea itself tastes much less of bergamot than the smell would lead you to believe. The flavor is a smooth black tea with citrus, mainly lemon. There is a nice, light bergamot finish. The rose is noticeable a very small amount in the aftertaste. If the rose popped out more I think this would be a go-to tea for me. And it’s decaf, so you can drink it right before bed and have Earl-Grey scented dreams!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with pink and yellow rose petals.
-Dry leaves smell heavily of bergamot. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and bergamot with a hint of rose.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Smooth black tea and citrus flavor with a light bergamot finish. Small hint of rose noticeable in the aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A thin delicate tea. Prominent lemony bergamot flavor.

Adding a little festivity to this ordinary Tuesday morning with some Champagne green tea. This tea has large slices of strawberries and white blossoms mixed in with the Sencha tea leaves. It smells fruity, with just a hint of that sharp champagne aroma. The tea itself smells just like champagne. I doubt I would know the difference by smelling it if I was blindfolded. The flavor is strawberry up front, with a champagne finish. There is even a lingering alcohol taste, just like with real champagne. This tea certainly fits it’s name! I will probably keep some of this on hand for those times that calls for a celebration, without the icky after feeling the next morning that comes with real champagne. :)

-Dry blend has long flat green tea leaves and twigs with large slices of dried strawberries and large white blossoms.
-Dry leaves smell fruity with a sharp hint of champagne. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet champagne.
-Tea liquor is a clear pale yellow color.
-Strawberry flavor with a champagne finish. Lingering alcohol aftertaste.
-Best with a small amount of sweetener.
-Excellent tea. A festive cup of celebration! Authentic champagne flavor. Fruity and light.

I really love this tea. This used to be my go-to morning tea, and I still look forward to revisiting it frequently. It’s malty and strong, but with a delicious marzipan aftertaste. It’s just like those pretty little marzipan candies. The flavor of this tea is so true to actual marzipan, nothing artificial about it. I like mixing this one with the Bon Bon tea from Tin Roof Teas – chocolate covered marzipan magic in a cup!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs and pieces of almonds.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of marzipan. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and almonds.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium brown color.
-Malty almond flavor and finish. Strong marzipan candy aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Authentic marzipan flavor.

I always say that I don’t like rooibos, but then I come across a rooibos blend that is decent. This one isn’t my favorite, mainly because it has a pretty strong rooibos aftertaste that I don’t like. To be fair, that does lessen as it cools. The flavor is completely strawberries and cream, and the tea even feels creamy in my mouth – like really creamy! I added a little milk and sweetener, and it’s not bad for a caffeine free cuppa at night. Probably not an everyday tea for me, but I will keep some on hand for a nice nighttime tea.

-Dry blend has fine red rooibos leaves, yellow petals and pieces of green strawberry leaves.
-Dry blend smells heavily of rooibos with a hint of strawberry. Tea liquor aroma is of strawberry and cream.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Fresh strawberry flavor with a sweet whipped cream finish. Creamy mouthfeel. Rooibos aftertaste present.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Fresh creamy strawberry flavor with an unfortunate rooibos aftertaste.

Ahhh. . . another favorite from Tin Roof Teas. And a sipdown! There is a tiny bit left in the bag, but I think I will just put it aside to send out with a swap since I just transferred all of my tea to tins and don’t want to use a clean tin for just a small amount of tea. Plus someone else will get to try this wonderful tea!

It’s very fragrant – both the dry leaf and the tea liquor. It smells florally and fruity and sweet. Every time I make this tea it makes me smile just smelling it. The flavor is malty and fruity, with a nice floral finish that you continue to taste for awhile after swallowing. This tea takes milk and sweetener well, and it seems to enhance all of the flavors and meld them together. I will definitely be picking up more of this on my next visit to Tin Roof Teas!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell fragrant and fruity. Tea liquor aroma is sweet and fruity.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Malty and fruity flavor and finish. Light floral perfumey aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. Perfect balance of fruit and black tea. A delicious florally cup!

This tea was one of the first ones that I purchased from Tin Roof Teas, and it’s remained a favorite. I love chocolate and coconut, and this tea has both! It’s a pretty blend with large flakes of dried coconut, cocoa nibs, and small pieces of white and dark chocolate. The tea itself smells of black tea and chocolate. The flavor is nutty, with a sweet chocolatey finish. This tea is really good when mixed with Tin Roof Tea’s Mazipan blend, ah-may-zing!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs, large flakes of dried coconut, cocoa nibs and pieces of white and dark chocolate. Coconut and chocolate float to the top during steeping.
-Dry leaves smell of coconut and chocolate. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and chocolate.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Malty coconut flavor with a sweet chocolatey finish. Slightly creamy mouthfeel.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Excellent tea. Perfect chocolate and coconut flavor.

Last night was Writers’ Group at my house and nowadays that means TEA! And lots of it! We had homemade bread with jam and some flavored tea first, and I saved the big tetsubin of this for after we were through snacking.

This is so good. It makes me crave more every time I drink it. I used to wonder what all the fuss was about TKY teas. Now I know.

Driving home today I was suddenly haunted by the memory of how this tasted last night and the ghost of its flavor filled my mouth. I had to have some when I got home. It was such a spiritual experience that I was struck by the many hands that worked so hard to bring me this tea, and the great distance it had come. I feel very thankful, and humbled.

I really want to try the Top Ti Kuan Yin from Harney and Sons now. It is much, much more expensive, and I really want to experience it.

Rhubarb always reminds me of my grandmother’s garden and the delicious rhubarb pies that she used to make. This tea is good, but I really wish that it had more of that sharp, tart rhubarb flavor. It seems that the cream mostly takes over in this tea. I like cream flavors, so it is still enjoyable, but a little more rhubarb and it would be perfect.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves with pieces of dried rhubarb.
-Dry leaves smell like black tea with a little hint of tart rhubarb. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet cream and rhubarb.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium brown color.
-Soft rhubarb and black tea flavor with a sweet cream finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Little rhubarb flavor, mostly cream.

No notes yet.

Ugh, another Monday morning. . .This is one of those teas that has been in my cupboard for awhile, and I’ll make a cup of it every once in awhile. The smell reminds me of dried apricots, very sweet and fruity smelling. The flavor is malty (you can taste a strong black tea) and has a light pineapple finish. There is a really strong dried apricot aftertaste. This is a nice tea that is very nicely blended, but not one that I couldn’t live without, especially since there are oh so many other TRT teas that I love so much more. :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and small blue petals.
-Dry leaves smell sweetly of apricot. Tea liquor aroma is of black tea and dried fruits.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Malty apricot flavor with a light pineapple finish. Strong aftertaste of dried apricots.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Flavor is reminiscent of dried apricots.

I had no idea this ginseng oolong was going to be so different from Teavivre’s. There are a couple of obvious reasons why it is, though.

First, this is a Chinese oolong, while Teavivre’s is from Taiwan. Second, this uses Siberian ginseng root, while Teavivre uses American ginseng. I really thought there was licorice root powder on the Teavivre leaves but I asked them some time ago and was told there was not. I taste something similar here but no licorice root is mentioned and it is lighter.

This tastes like a Tie Guan Yin, and the ginseng is adding just a hint of flavor that comes as a sweetness after the swallow. It doesn’t even come close to the floral sweetness that follows with Teavivre’s, though. This is the level of ginseng flavor I would expect on their third steep.

Second steep is sweeter than the first, but still milder than Teavivre’s.

The Tin Roof leaves are still tightly balled up and coated with ginseng after the second steep. Now I have done the third steep and they still haven’t unfurled. I think something about their ginseng powder must have more sticking power and dissolves into the tea more slowly.

The leaves are still dark pellets, but the tea is getting a little sweeter with each steep – just a bit. I think this gives the tea a consistent level of flavor with lightly growing sweetness each steep.

Several people mentioned disliking ginseng. If you want ginseng for its benefits and like TGY, this would be the way to go. Personally I love the BANG POW of the first steep of Teavivre’s Taiwan ginseng followed by the gradually calming down of the following steeps.

I met a dear friend for lunch today and she was so sweet to bring me samples of several teas she just bought at TRT. This is one I had my eye on to try for a while but haven’t gotten around to it yet since there are probably ten on the list every time I go!

I am pretty sure this is a Teageschwender tea since they have a tea of the same name and identical description. This reminds me of the fine French teas which are perfumed with so many floral scents.

I would love this in my room, in my closet, in my chest of drawers scenting my clothes. I am not sure I would want to drink it often, though it is quite nice. It is just a bit too perfumed for me. Perhaps with food or cake and a friend to chat with it would be right over the top and I would adore it, but as of right now, I don’t desire to go buy this. I would recommend it to anyone who loves floral teas that make your pinky hoist itself into the air on its own.

It is possible that I also need to play with the parameters a bit, as black and green blends can be a little touchy. There is a little bite of astringency, like lemon, that I think is the main thing making me not fall in love with this one, though I do think it is a very good tea.

A sunny Sunday afternoon sipdown. A much needed dose of “yes, spring will come” both outside and inside.

You know how when you get to the dregs of a sample—enough for one cup, not enough for two—you just say, “aw, shucks” and dump the whole thing in. Wasn’t the wisest move in the world; turned the green tea base a little bitter on the back of the tongue. But the strawberry/vanilla was still sweet and pleasant at the front of each sip.

I fixed it, though…treat yourself to a big slab of cherry dump cake and you won’t notice the bitter at all :)

Whoosh! A whole pot all by myself! Well, I drank it by myself in that no one else had any, but I wasn’t alone. I enjoyed a nice Sunday morning with my godson who is visiting from college, chatting about the future and life-purpose, thankfulness, and living purposefully, loving and serving others. What a great young man! If you are ever having the “what is the world coming to?” blues, ask him to come over!

The tea: lots of good sized pieces of coconut are in this blend. The black base reminds me a lot of Harney’s straight chocolate tea, but this isn’t really tasting exactly like Soho Blend to me. I think Soho has a little additional flavor, maybe vanilla? Or something floral? It has been a long time since I have had it, but I think when I restock it will be with Soho.

The description of this tea says to let the tea seduce you. That is exactly what the aroma did yesterday in the shop. I intended to buy a white, a green, and a black and my eye fell on the name of this one. Intrigued, I asked for a sniff. The seduction worked and a pouch of it came home with me.

There were big chunks of candied fruit, I think kiwi though it also says raspberry. The dry aroma is powerful and I was even worried as to whether it was going to overcome the tea, but when steeped this is nicely scented, slightly fruity and sweet, and the white and green teas in the base still come through. A fun purchase that I will enjoy sharing with my bestie who is trying to get into white teas.