33 Tasting Notes
Had a $5 giftcard toStarbucks and since I don’t drink coffee, I figured why not waste it on some tea (although I despise Teavana…)
Upon opening the bag—WOW….overpoweringly sweet, fruity, almond smell. Strong of almond and cherry…almost like maraschino cherries to be exact. Smells very sweet and artificial…let’s see how this goes….
Brewed it up. Poured out the most vibrant red-pink liquid I’ve ever seen. Does not even look possible to have come from tea/fruit bits without the addition of some food coloring agent. Still smells very much like cherry and almond. It’s almost funny how Kool-Aid-esque this looks…oops, I don’t want to diss Kool-Aid….at least that’s good!
Tasting: Wow; surprisingly mellow, and a lot sweeter than I would have imagined. Normally the herbals I’ve tried are rather pungent and tart. I’m not getting the whole range of fruits, but the almond is a bit noticeable. The aftertaste is of maraschino cherry juice towards the back of your tongue. Hints of nuts and…jell-o? Strange cup; not terrible, but not something I’d go out of my way to buy. I think it would make a great mixer, though I’d definitely portion it out sparingly since it seems like it would be overpowering. Maybe would be great would rooibos! Definitely going to try this one iced.
Preparation
Eh…my buddy from England raves about how good this tea is, so I stole one of his tea bags while he was gone. I brewed it relatively modest for a black tea. It was ok…definitely a bit bitter, even with a sugar-in-the-raw packet. Nothing special; tasted like a typical teabag to me. Maybe a little better quality than most of the tea bags I’ve had in my time. But still pretty average. Was picking up hints of a napkin-fabric taste…don’t know if it was from the fibers of the tea bag or not..?
Preparation
Had a little sample of this leftover, so I decided to brew it up since my buddy was coming over and LOVES oolong. I don’t know why, but when it brewed, it had hints of jasmine wafting from the cup….I might have kept it too close to the other teas I received in my sampler.
Anyways, this cup was fine. I’m not the biggest fan of oolongs as they taste too roasted to me, but it wasn’t bad. It brewed perfectly…no bitterness, no harshness, just strong flavors. I’d say this tasted really full-bodied. The predominant flavor I experienced was of roasted chestnuts. Not a bad cup, but just not my preference. I wouldn’t drink it again as I don’t like oolongs, but I will still rate it high because I do believe it would make an excellent cup if you appreciate Tie Guan Yin.
Preparation
Got this little sampler when I ordered a tea pot. Smells delightfully spicy and warming on a cold winter night. Boy oh boy, was I in for a treat….
I did not taste any of the lemongrass…couldn’t pick up even a hint of it. The predominant tastes were heavily of black peppercorn and bitter chai. I added honey to try to cut some of the bitterness, but it didn’t help….so I added more….and nothing worked. Nothing helped pick this cup back up, and it got progressively worse the more that it cooled off. Definitely not my cup of tea
Preparation
Very aromatic and soothing! I haven’t had this one hot steeped in months, but from what I recall, it is fairly mellow with a warm, comforting, “homey” feeling given by the vanilla and almond slices. They don’t add too much flavor to the rooibos, but it makes it a little more rounded. Excellent cup if you add a bit of honey…really brings out the vanilla and makes this cup deliciously creamy and desert-like.
Preparation
OK, so I haven’t had too much experience with Earl Grey (I’ve had some whole food store’s tea and a decent stock from Metropolitan Tea Company), but I noticed the initial aroma of this was quite different than what I’m used to. I’m not sure how to describe it, as the bergamot oil is very potent, but it smelled more natural than the others I’ve had. I don’t know…I can’t put my finger on it. It wasn’t as appealing at first because it wasn’t what I was used to, but I haven’t been disappointed by Rishi yet, so I figured “what the heck.”
I wasn’t very much impressed with the initial brew. I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was a bit strong and bitter. I wasn’t going to give up that easily, though, and decided to make another pot fresh. Again, it was piping hot and a bit bitter, so I left the cup for a little while. I came back to it maybe 15-20minutes later, and it was PERFECT. I don’t really know how to describe what happened, but it was a lot smoother and enjoyable to drink after the heat dissipated and things mellowed out. No signs of bitterness, and the bergamot was lovely. Wouldn’t drink this tea if I was in a rush, but if you have a little time to let things mellow out, it is rather enjoyable.
Preparation
It’s 2:40 in the AM over here so I don’t really feel like writing a review…
But boy is this delicious. Phenomenal in my opinion; pretty standard and everything I had hoped for in this cup. Was not disappointed; no bitterness, just a smooth black tea that was not overwhelmingly strong.
Preparation
Pretty decent green tea. One of the best I’ve ever had (though that’s not saying much, as I haven’t really had much green tea to begin with haha).
The first infusion was pretty mellow. I brewed it at 175 degrees for 3 min. It lacked flavor when sipped hot, but once it cooled down a bit it was rather tasty. No strong flavors or nuances. Smooth, buttery feel in the mouth. Tastes vegetal, with hints of hay and chestnut. Not anything special
The second infusion was a bit more flavorful, in my opinion. I brewed it at 180 degrees for 4 minutes this time. Same description as above, but with a little more power behind the flavors. Pleased with this tea, and I look forward to trying more greens from Rishi in the future!
I have friends that work at teavana, so they make me tea for free whenever I go in there. I actually like the Fig Rose more. It tastes like liquid raisins, which sounds gross but is really refreshing iced. Most of these herbals and fruity/floral teas from teavana are better iced.
I’ve always had great tea from them when they’ve made it (loaded with sugar haha). This one I kept straight. I’m definitely trying it iced sometime this week. I think this would be enhanced with a splash of amaretto… ;)