gmathis

Another tuck-in from Doulton…thank you for widening my horizons :o)

Green tea + lemongrass is a winner combo for me, but the mate (which I also like, separately) makes this one come out with a Pine-Sol whang. Of course, if it’s doing to my insides what Pine-Sol does to my nasty kitchen floor, the health benefits may outweigh the industrial flavor.

No notes yet.

Really, really nice balance of the two flavors. Not too much of one or the other; perfect peach-i-cot.

The little brown rabbit next to the work picnic table kept eyeing me while I was sipping and smiling. I offered him some, but he wasn’t real interested.

Doulton tucked one of these into her Shirley Temple package - I’m loving the little muslin tea bags (anybody remember Gold Rush bubble gum?) - and the “tasty and competent” rating previously posted stands. I didn’t pay close attention and let the water get too hot, boiled it instead of the 90C recommendation on the tag.

I’m getting a lot more almondy-cakey flavor than I am fruit and spices, but if I just had a piece of my mom’s fruit’n’apple cake right now, this would be a perfect match.

Amendment/addition: I tossed the back half of the mug on ice at lunchtime and tasted about twice the amount of spice. Usually it’s the other way around. Hmmm.

Not as sweet as I’d expected, more like an infusion of blackberry bark, rather than the berries themselves. OK iced.

Let this slide well past five minutes, a little skim milk in the bottom of the cup … even nicer! Rarely do I sweeten, but add a sprinkling of sugar to this, and I think we’ve got dessert.

(Addendum: tried it iced after lawn-mowing detail; not as good, but still OK.)

The most effective calm-ya-down blend I’ve tried in a long time. Longer review at http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/ (I’m a bona fide reviewer now!)

Woke up craving this for some reason … haven’t been eating well or properly during the past few days (stress), so I’m wondering if the purported nutritional benefits of the acai berry are calling out to me. Mom always said that your body automatically craves whatever nutrient you need the most…

Minty? Got it. Dry lime? Hiding, but I think it’s there. Champagne? I’m a teetotaler so I’ll just have to take 52teas’ word for that one. Thinking this would be really nice chilled, if not iced. Thanks, Lori, for this one—-hoping this cup will chase the cobwebs out of my head; half of a 1500-word article to write this afternoon.

Dry, this looks like very pretty potpourri. Nothing that sets it off distinctly from most calm-ya-down herbals, but nice and light on a rainy afternoon after a tense week. And lemongrass. Lots of lemongrass, which I like.

English breakfast, in my personal set of tea stereotypes, is Irish breakfast that just couldn’t make the varsity team. But this is a really nice surprise. Stout enough to wake you up, not just jostle you. Cheapskate that I am, I tend to use about half the leaf I normally should, but I splurged this morning and put a full two-spoon measure into my travel mug. Glad I did.

There are few flavorings I know of that can put the flavor of rooibos in the background, so if you’re not a roo lover, this isn’t for you. But if you are, this is so nice and smooth and mellow and desserty!

Tried my first cup straight up, 5 min steep, water just below boiling. Next time, I’m thinking a little milk and, yep, lemon meringue in a cup.

…48 bags to get it right…still came out bitter, but then I’m working with a work microwave and multiple interruptions. Bitter again, but bearable on ice.

Well, so much for my smell accuracy … this came to me by way of Lori in a little care package, so there was no package description to read. When I steeped and sniffed this morning, the first two flavor words that came to mind were “darjeeling” and “pineapple.”

Not even close, according to the manufacturer description—green with strawberry, passionfruit, peach. But it’s a beautiful gold color and light and fruity. Something that would definitely fit a Mother’s Day high tea in the garden with gloves and feather boas.

Now that I’m at the bottom of the sample, I’ve finally figured out what I was doing wrong. You just have to steep this stuff double strength to get any flavor at all. Is that the case with all Teavana teas?

I’m still a little inexperienced with sencha varieties, so I don’t exactly know what to look for … but compared to the Oren’s Daily Roast Sencha I tried recently, this is a little yellower and a little lighter. Very nice sweet, pale flavor, but not as nutty as the O.D.R. Good for afternoon when you just need something a little warm and pleasant.

About 3 teaspoons to a 2-cup teapot. It’s thick, as though there ought to be cocoa in it, and there’s a little sediment drifting to the bottom of the cup, as though there ought to be cocoa in it, and there’s maybe a hint of chocolate, as though there ought to be cocoa in it…but mostly I’m just getting the cream. May have to doctor it with milk to see if it coaxes the chocolate out of hiding.

I’m not much of an Earl Grey fan, so my palate isn’t educated enough to know whether the bergamot flavor is spot-on or not. What I do know is that this tea has a lovely fresh-cut-flower smell and a mild lemony taste that overrides any “green” tones. Nice!

Ginger Peach is very pretty to look at: some pretty blue-ish petals that remind me of cornflowers are scattered in with the black tea. The peach scent is deep—almost apricot. Steeped in the cup, Ginger Peach turns a dark golden brown. The flavor is heavy on the peach, light on the ginger, but altogether pleasantly fruity. Nice hot; should be very enjoyable on ice this summer.

..and an amendment/addition to this one…still pretty tasty when you get sidetracked and it goes lukewarm on your desk. A good sign it’ll ice down well.

Actually needed this for a morning medicinal — woke up jittery and tense and need something to stanch the flow of adrenaline. This was handy and helped; if nothing else, having a hot cup of anything steamy and smell-goody in my hand helps me relax. I’d give it the flavor equivalent of Celestial Seasonings’ Tension tamer.

This is a lovely little sample from Jocelyn Rama. Nice toasty color; a bit like flat unsweet sparking grape juice minus the grape, if that makes any sense.

A reversal of my review of another Bentley’s tea (pomegranate). This one doesn’t smell very impressive—-kind of woody and stemmy, but it’s surprisnig pleasant. Candy cane sort of mint.

My experience with sencha is very limited, other than I knew it looks like lawn clippings. But the sweet and nutty flavor—really sweet for a green—surprised me. Thanks to Tea Bird for broadening my horizons!