Jason

NIce and roasty toasty. Could use a little more of the base green tea flavor in contrast to the toasted rice aroma/taste, but still very enjoyable. A solid genmaicha.

Pretty good, but not getting any real strong flavors that I’d expect. The sugar and caramel are more on the nose, not so much in the tea. But still enjoyable.

Since I’m generally not huge on pu-erhs, this is a great middle ground for me. One of my favorites as far as pu-erhs.

Hmm, I used a good amount of tea for this one. I can’t remember exactly, but it was something like __lbs and __ . __ounces (1 decimal).

That’s kinda cryptic…

Something about this didn’t sit right with me. It’s got a lemon flavor, but doesn’t really seem like a real lemon flavor/smell. It’s oddly flat, making it seem fake. I think some of that comes from the earthy, sweetness of the rooibos, but still kinda weird. It feels like it’s sitting between the two different teas that it should be but can’t make up its mind, so it hangs out in the middle not really embracing any flavor.

Pretty nice blend. I’m not getting a ton of tea green/black base blend and actually would have thought it was an tisane had I not looked here. But the sweet fruit is at a good level, nice and tangy but not overly so in an artificial way. It’s got a little more body to it than some of the other really fruity tisanes/7 treasures I’d compare it to.

No notes yet.

Very delicious. I get a little floral/sweetness that’s silky smooth on the nose. The liquid is nice and sweet and the smoothness carries through on the tongue. The creamy, milky-ness is really enjoyable. This seems like a really solid milk oolong favoring fewer powerful flavors over several subtle, deeper notes.

Interestingly, I get a little spice at the end of each sip. Not sure what’s going on there but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Brews a light yellow with a greenish tint and smells amazing. It’s so thick yet smooth when you take a sip. I can’t quite place the flavor it reminds me of but for some reason it makes me think of corns and grains. Really nice for oolong lovers or a green tea fan looking to branch out.

This is definitely an interesting experience. The aroma gets you a hint of that peppermint/licorice/menthol smell found in lots of more generic herbal teas. It also has an oddly rusty smell, almost as if I were drinking from a metal container (which I am not). It’s not what I expected, but that’s not a bad thing at this point.

The first sip is…unexpected. I was looking for a strong menthol flavor and was instead hit by a overwhelming sweetness. I immediately turned to ask the gf if she put a bunch of sugar in it but was cut off by a cough caused by the sweetness that flowed to the back of my throat. In fact, she didn’t add anything to this and it’s just naturally crazy sweet.

A few more sips and I started to acclimate to the intense sweetness of the tea. Seriously, I can’t understand how they make the tea this sweet, but they do, and they do it well. As someone who likes things on the very sugary to the super sweet side, this is something I could drink often – not as often as a good clean oolong, but maybe even like a semi-consistent dessert tea. Now that I’ve had it I can totally understand why it’s served at a salon/spa.

If you’re open to really sweet teas, this pulls it off and does it without help. If you’re a purist, you’re probably not going to like this one.

Another crazy purchase from the speciality food market. I thought this would be a good way to test a take-home version of boba/bubble tea.

In terms of the packaging, it doesn’t have the most appealing design. Maybe it’s just a cultural thing, but the flat yellow and the basic design of the can give the impression of a cheap substitute rather than a convenient portable version of the real thing.

I cracked it open and was immediately surprised by the color of the liquid. It was much more light brown than I had expected. I guess the “boba” and “pearl” in the title had distracted me from the “milk” immediately following them. So, while I was expecting a straight boba tea, it’s actually much closer to a boba tea latte.

The aroma is super sweet, you can smell the sugary cream wafting out of the can. So much so that I can’t really smell the true tea at all. And now, the tasting…

It’s actually better than I expected. I was thinking it was going to be gross and way too artificial, but it’s not. It’s a tea latte with tons of milk and sugar, surprisingly so. Now I see why it smelled the way it did, there’s excessive amounts of milk/cream and sugar, too much for a tea latte.

Also, whether it’s a mental thing I can’t say, I can’t get over the sense that there’s a slight yet noticeable artificial hint to all of the flavors. The milk is good, but slightly artificial. The sugar is good (if not overwhelming), but slightly artificial; and same with the tea (or what you can taste of it through the wall of sugary sweetness). I’m thinking it’s part mental and part actuality.

It takes a while to get to the bobas, without a straw you have to drink about half the can before you reach the pearls. Now the only bubble tea I’ve had before included tapioca pearls that were big and black and slimy and chewy. So I was surprised when these came out small and white and slightly crumbly when chewed. Based on the texture, my guess is that they are made from rice, which I don’t even know if that’s possible. But, similar to the black tapioca pearls, they don’t have any flavor and are just a novelty I have yet to grasp.

So, it was certainly worth the experience, just so I can have tried bubble tea in a can. If you can deal with seemingly artificial flavors, then this might work for you. If you’re looking for a true tea or true boba experience, I’d go elsewhere.

Wow, I’m not sure if I got a bad one but this is pretty awful. It still has about a year left until expiration, so I don’t think that’s the issue.

It doesn’t taste like green tea. It certainly isn’t a #1 green tea. In fact, it tastes closer to a Lapsang Souchong than anything. I’m getting a ton of smoke, lots of bitterness, and it generally tastes kinda dirty. It doesn’t taste like it was sweetened, so that part of the label was correct (that’s about all it has going for it). Really awkward after taste too; tastes slightly of vinegar and brine. Can’t finish the bottle.

I’m assuming I just got a bad bottle because I’ve had other bottled Ito En teas that were good. I’d try this again (hesitantly) just for the sake of seeing if this was a fluke bottle. Maybe this was mislabeled…

A really nice, soft treat. The liquor is very light, a little yellowish and clear. It has a fairly floral nose and some vegetal notes, almost somewhat like a green tea, but not nearly as strong.

It’s surprisingly sweet throughout the whole sip. You get a good amount of sweetness when it first hits your tongue, then it recedes a little, but comes back the strongest farther back in your mouth. It finishes nice and sweet with an almost buttery flavor.

It’s light, but at the same time feels like it’s coating my tongue (in a good way) which I think may be where the buttery flavor sensation comes from. A good white tea with some flavor complexity and unusual notes that make it stand out from other plain whites.

Got this from the asian food market a while back. My bottle actually looks a little different (it doesn’t have the Tea’s Tea branding on it) but it appears to be the same thing. I liked this a lot, especially since I like the in-your-face flavors like this.

I think this is a great option for “real” tea drinkers. Personally, I enjoy Arizona iced tea, but I know lots of loose leaf drinkers would cringe at that. However, this one gives the convenience of a bottled iced tea with actual, real, oolong flavor.

I’m not sure how accessible these are since I got it from an asian specialty market, but it’s worth a shot if you’re looking for a “truer” bottled iced tea.

(TTB 1.2)

Pretty tasty, good classic oolong aromas and flavors. Kinda floral and vegetal. The liquor is much lighter than I expected and I’m not getting as much flavor as I expected or would like. Although, the lightness can be kinda pleasing since it isn’t too overwhelming. Even though, I think I may try another infusion to see what else I can get from it.

BTW, I have been drinking tea since my last tasting note, I’ve just been really bad about logging them. More to come + probably some backlogs…

This has some good body to it. Not overwhelmingly so, but not so light that you don’t notice the flavors. The color is really light for a green and given it’s delicacy, I agree with everyone else that this is a green bordering on a white. Very vegetal, grassy, a little earthy/heavy flavor. Some buttery sweetness on the nose and just when it hits your tongue. I’m getting just a tad of bitterness toward the end, but I think that’s because I got the bottom of the pot. For not being such a fan of greens, this is a good one.

The best thing about this tea is the smell. Really great blackberry aroma comes wafting from the tin and the brewed liquid. I tried two cups using my fancy new water kettle my gf just got me (kept the water warm for me!). The flavor seems to be more on the sage side than the fruity blackberry side. But I’m still not getting much from it. First time I tried about 4 mins steeping, then 4:30 the second time…not much difference. I feel like flavored/fruit teas have a hard time meeting my flavor expectations and continually come in below where I’d expect. Maybe I’m not as big a fruit…tea drinker as I thought ;)

For my thoughts, see: http://steepster.com/lfiske29/posts/24744

Ditto, minus the starbucks and never having had actual Coconut Cream Pie, which is delicious.

I was busy when we made this so I kinda forgot about it while it was sitting right next to my laptop :/. I think that probably affected the taste, but I’ll try to be as objective as possible.

I get a nice, fresh, floral aroma from the cup. I can’t say it’s specifically jasmine, but seems fresh enough. Unfortunately, I also get a ton of bitter green tea smell too. I think, largely, that’s a result of me letting it sit so long before drinking it, but I also think to some extent it as to do with the tea. It’s just too bitter and not flavorful enough to compensate for the bitterness. The instructions say boiling water for 7 mins which seems like a lot for green tea , so I think it could just be a lower quality tea. It was also pretty cheap :)

I’m going to have to give this one another shot sometime…just don’t know when.

It’s been so long since I’ve had any tea!!!!!! After holiday travels to distant lands, battles with various viruses/viri, and a good heaping of “damn those people on Steepster really love their tea and while their love of tea makes Steepster possible it also makes me quite busy,” I just haven’t found myself with a nice warm cuppa in hand in quite some time.

Luckily, my gf saw our feature of 52Teas’ Coconut Cream Pie and knowing how much I love that sh** (even though we just had Strawberry Rhubarb pie) she sneakily got a pouch for us to enjoy. Now on to the tea!

I opened the pouch and was pleased to see plenty of large coconut shavings mixed throughout. The black tea seemed like a pretty good quality, albeit a little on the smaller side (I’m assuming because of the plastic pouch it travels in). What surprised me the most is the very noticeable mint smell coming out of the bag. I read the other reviews of this and nowhere do I see mention of mint, but I get a ton of that…I think it’s a natural part of the coconut (or maybe I’m just coco-nuts) – sorry.

The brew has a nice darkish browny amber-likey color a you definitely get that punch of coconut and that mint thing I mentioned. Sip time :)

Ok, I feel this is more of a coconut tea than a coconut cream pie tea. There are some more subtle cream/dairy undertones that compliment the natural flavor of the black tea, but I’m still feeling like it’s not quite a slice of coconut cream pie. Great coconut flavor though (if you’re into that, def give this a try)! I’m still getting that after-dinner mint-iness a little, which surprises me but isn’t unpleasant.

Overall, a great experience, good flavor, nice to sip. Not quite a coconut cream pie flavor explosion in your mouth, but I see the potential. I’ll definitely be trying this again soon and I will most certainly be attempting their tea latte recipe with this -it’s supposed to deliver the greatest pie flavor you can get. (speaking of that…if a certain someone happens to be reading this and they are planning to stop at the store on the way home, it would be pretty cool of them to pick up 3 (14oz) cans of fat free sweetened condensed milk :)

I’m busy making some food (southern style stuffing and a veggie tray) for a friend’s Thanksgiving gathering. I figured I’d put my recent tea advice to test and I’m glad to say it paid off.

I went with the advice I got from Jack (http://steepster.com/jack), Cofftea (http://steepster.com/Cofftea), and Angrboda’s awesome conversions (http://steepster.com/Angrboda). I added about twice as much tea as I was using before and I got the much stronger flavors I was expecting. This tea naturally has some really strong flavors, but I think it worked much better.

Great sweet raspberry aroma, and super sweet and tart raspberry taste. It finishes with a little of the bitterness from the raspberries, but still good. I added a little bit of honey to cut some of that and it seemed to do the job. The one thing I’m not a big fan of is the hibiscus flowers, they can be a little overpowering.

But overall, much better and an enjoyable experience. Props to my Steeps!

With all these updates I’ve been forgetting to drink tea!!!! (I hope you’re all happy)

I looked at some of the other reviews of this one and I’m afraid I don’t get it. Or maybe I just have a long way to go with my tea preparation knowledge…

Absolutely love the aroma! That’s the saving grace of this tea. Open the tin and you get hit in the face with chocolate (not literally). Some people probably wouldn’t like that but I do. But after that amazing nose, I only get slight hints of those flavors in the liquid. There’s a slight maltiness, but I don’t get strawberries. Maybe a bit of sweetness for strawberries…but I think that’s stretching.

Oh, and since situational drinking descriptions seem to be the trend now…I’m sitting in my apartment working on Steepster listening to 3Oh!3 (also from Boulder). Fatty (cat) is sleeping on the couch and Dexter (dog) is sleeping in his bed – real lively bunch.

Anyways, I’m really doubting my tea drinking skillz…where my Steeps at?
said in a high voice choking back the tears

Definitely…interesting.

Unfortunately I’m drinking the bagged version, not loose leaf. And I’m thinking that is playing a big factor in the experience. I get a distinct, artificial aroma and flavor from this one. I’m thinking it’s coming from the plastic the tea bag was individually wrapped in, but I can’t be sure.

I’m not really getting any of the jasmine, just a hint of sweetness followed by the classic green vegetal flavor. I’m getting a ting of bitterness, but I think that’s just my feeling towards greens and the fact that my water might have been a little on the hot side. Even with the whole “artificial” aspect of the tea, it’s still somewhat pleasing. I think in some weird way it reminds me of my grandparents or something (try to take that in the least weird way possible). It just kinda makes me think of their house, which, is not necessarily a flavor I want everyday but a nice reminder every now and then.

Very nice, especially because I don’t usually go for the greens. Good vegetal flavor, not too grassy/earthy or bitter. Light and airy with a touch of sweetness. The brew is surprisingly light in color, just a hint of green (unless you let it sit in the pot too long :) ). I think you green and non-green lovers might like this one.