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Another one of my recently aquired samples. When I first brewed this one the aroma wasn’t pleasant to me at all. Sort of musty, weird and hard to describe, but it didn’t smell good. The taste, however, is nice and light, sweet with coconut and creamy vanilla notes. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a disconnect between smell and taste! I enjoy the tea for the most part, but it’s hard to get past that smell. Maybe I “overcooked” the white tea?(When I smell the brewed leaves in the infusion basket, it smells disconcertingly exactly like cooked spinach). Mostly I’m left completely unsure about how I feel about this tea, so I’m not going to rate it yet. Good thing I have enough to play around with my parameters and try again.

I got a box of tea in the mail last night, which was very exciting. I’ve been waiting for a couple of tea packages recently, two of which had to deal with customs coming from Canada, this being one. I ordered a bunch of samples from TeaFrog, and this tea was one of them.

I couldn’t really tell you what the dry leaves smelled like; the plastic pouches don’t do much to keep their smells in, and after 11 days of sitting in a small box together they all smell somewhat alike. When brewed I get a really fruity aroma from this one, which I was not expecting! Kind of a sweet/tart fruity candy scent, actually, which initially makes me wary because I have had some blends with that kind of smell that I did not like the taste of at all.

The taste is pretty nice, however. For me the jasmine is the main note here, but I definitely get an underlying fruitiness (not that I can put my finger on the fruit). By going in between the black and green in my brewing paramenters, neither tea suffered. This tea makes me think that I’m drinking a jasmine green, but then a fruitier black tea comes up in the background. I think it works, ending up being a nice balance of floral and fruity.

I tried this sample bag of Guayusa with the recommended 8oz of water instead of my full, 12oz Kati cup. The tea is much better than the previous sample I tried, but it’s still not a super strong tea. The main even here is the guayusa, which is vegetal and ‘green’ tasting, if that makes any sense. I get a nice ginger note that rounds it out and gives it a little more depth, but I’m not really tasting any citrus. Overall a nice tea, but not really what I usually go for.

Steeped for 4 minutes this time, the scent of this tea is strongly citrus and jasmine with an underlying layer of lavender. The citrus and jasmine combine together to form a bright, sharp aroma that smells like it should be tart. The taste ratchets that down a bit, and it’s well balanced with the lavender. This one ends up a somewhat floral/perfumed citrus-fruity tea, and it’s a great combination. The bergamot has a strong flavor without being very astringent, and the jasmine brings out the sweetness in the lavender so it’s not too herby. I think I have to bump my rating up even higher because I’m really loving this tea!

I have a feeling that I won’t be craving this tea for very much longer; spring is in the air, and there is something that is so wintery about a cinnamon and clove tea. I forget how sweet and clovey this tea is sometimes!

I really love rose-flavored candies and such, so I didn’t hesitate to get some rose black tea when I had the chance. The dry leaves of this tea have a rose scent, but it’s not super powerful. The instant you pour hot water on the tea, however, a much stronger rose aroma is released. The tea brews up with a dark liquor and smells of rose and the Orange Pekoe base. The tea itself is quite lovely… the black tea doesn’t have any traces of bitterness, and it has a pleasant, slightly malty flavor. The rose is well blended with the tea; it neither overpowers it nor fades to the background. This is the flavor of rose water, rose baked goods, rose loukoumi (turkish delight). This tea actually reminds me of Paris as much as Paris tea, eating rose macarons and rose candies from Fauchon. If you’re a fan of rose-flavored foods and drinks, this tea would be a good one to try.

I bought this tea a while ago at a tea shop near my house because I couldn’t resist: I love love love marzipan, so I had to get a sample. I’ve made it before, but not since I’ve become really into tea. I noticed just before I made it that it has papaya bits in it too, which add some natural sweetness, but I was afraid that they would make the tea fruity and that I didn’t remember it right or notice it before.

I needn’t have worried about the papaya; this tea actually does have a fruit undertone, but it says stone fruit/apricot to me more than tropical papaya. Anyway, the flavor is all robust almondy marzipan. It’s very strong, which I totally love. Yum marzipan!

Paris was calling to me this morning… another delicious cup of course. I’m getting a lot of vanilla creamy flavor in this cup. This tea never fails to make me feel good!

This was the very first tea I wrote a note for on Steepster, back when my tea obsession what first blooming (it’s been helped on significantly by Steepster!). I brewed this one with a little less tea than before, which seems to have taken care of the bitterness, as it did with Harney’s Earl Grey Supreme. And like the EGS, I enjoy this one much more this time! The bergamot is the primary note but it seems light, with a bit astringency. The Darjeeling base is prominent, and I detect some roastiness especially as it cools. This is a nice, well-rounded tea, but I think I prefer my EG to be a bit more floral.

I actually drank this one earlier this afternoon, but never got around to logging it at the time. I brewed this one with 1.5 teaspoons for a 12 oz cup, which is what Harney puts in their sachets, and it seems to have taken care of the faint bitterness I was getting even steeping for only 3 minutes. I’m bumping up the rating on this one because I enjoy it much more now! I’m not sure it’s my favorite straight Earl Grey, but I feel like I’ve been drinking so many different ones I can’t keep them straight! I need to have a side-by-side taste test.