Karsh

Still one of my favorites from Golden Moon Tea, hands down. The mellow sweetness of the pouchong along with the depth from the coconut make this an enjoyable treat.

Haven’t been doing too much tea drinking lately since I have been super busy and gearing up for a big client meeting next week. The samurai chai maté is my go-to tea for the morning, as well as for an afternoon pick-me-up. It’s spicy, sweet, and has a nice flavor.

I know, not super poetic, but I’m still working and sipping.

This is still one of my favorite teas from Teavana’s line, mainly because of how easily it blends with so many other teas. If you want more maté flavor, try adding a lemon maté blend (it also helps accentuate the raspberry flavors). In the past I’ve added herbal teas like spearmint to it to give it a bit more depth and interest. Even on it’s own, it’s a great herbal maté blend with strong flavors of raspberry (and no harsh aftertaste).

I’m usually not a big fan of white teas unless they’re silver needle, but I found a whole tin of this while doing my tea cabinet clean.

It’s not big on ginger flavor — that would overpower the delicateness of the white tea — but you do get a little hint of it as an aftertaste. It’s just an OK, middle-of-the-road tea. I expected to like it, but it was just average for me.

I’m a big fan of coconut, and this tea does not disappoint at all. It’s even great to use when baking desserts for a punch of coconut flavor. This tea also goes to a whole ’nother level when you add coconut milk. Excellent dessert tea. Excellent.

I love lemon beverages — really any sweet lemon desserts — and this tea definitely brings you a huge punch of lemon flavor. It would be a great tea to take if you’re sick. Just sweeten with some honey and you’re good to go. Like some other reviews have mentioned, it’s good straight, but because it’s such an essential flavor, it would go great in a blend with any other type of tea where you want to bring that zing.

I’m not sure when I got this tea, but I found it in my cabinet after doing a recent cleaning.

Here’s what’s in this tea blend: cinnamon, fennel, ginger, rosemary, peppermint, cardamom, carob, damiana leaves, licorice, sage, black pepper, cloves, sarsaparilla roots.

So yeah, there’s a LOT going on.

Taste-wise, it resembles a mix between Samurai Chai Maté from Teavana and Comforting Tea from Aveda. STRONG notes of fennel and sarsaparilla overpower most of the other flavors in this blend, and there’s a slight aftertaste of the black pepper. This would be a great tea to have if you’re congested or feeling a bit under the weather. It could even serve as a good holiday tea.

Overall, it’s good, but not great. If I ran out of Samurai Chai Maté from Teavana, this could be a close replacement until I pick up more.

I had my eye on this tea for a while, but couldn’t just pull the trigger on spending $17 for 20 tea bags (or $27.50 for 4.9 oz). I just decided to splurge and get it and it’s been a good choice so far.

I will say this — if you don’t like anise or mint, this tea is not for you. The blend is comprised of peppermint, liquorice root, and fennel and is quite sweet on its own without any added sugar.

I usually have this on a rainy evening or after a long day because it is very relaxing. It’s good, but not an every day tea. If it’s too sweet for you, dilute it with a little water.

OK, so this isn’t a tea, but it is what I use to heat water for tea (as well as other things which require hot water). It’s a bit on the pricey side (~$100), but the auto-timer, four different temperature settings, and HUGE capacity make it well worth the investment if you’re an avid tea drinker.

If the guayusa, green yerba mate, and roasted yerba mate don’t get you going, the harmonious mix of orange peel, lemon peel, lemon myrtle, and lemongrass will definitely give you a much needed jolt.

I’d say it’s more of a morning tea, but I had a cup iced this afternoon for an after-lunch pick-me-up. It’s great hot also, but iced, it really shines as a sweet refreshing beverage. It’s good straight, but try it with a touch of agave nectar to boost the flavors.

Samurai Chai Mate is my favorite tea from Teavana. No question. Hands down. I drink it every morning, and that sweet spicy flavor brings me back time and time again. (It’s also the only chai I drink straight without milk.) If you’re looking for a nice cinnamon and fruity start to your day, check it out.

This Pisces blend from Adagio was one of the first loose leaf teas I’ve ever bought. I don’t recall if I’ve had it before, but a recent inventory and cleaning out of my tea cabinet showed that I hadn’t even tasted it.

This blend is an odd mix of rooibos, orange black tea, and chamomile. There’s also a few orange rinds thrown in to add a citrus note.

Now it may just be the proportions, but the rooibos overpowered the black tea, which is perhaps a good thing (all the caffeine with none of the kick). But then, there’s chamomile. Combined with the orange rind, there’s a slight citrus aftertaste.

It’s not a bad tea, but it’s not good either. It’s just OK. I could probably get the same effect with a bag of Lipton and a strip of orange peel.

I forgot this tea was steeping, so I went well over the suggested 4-5 minute steep time. (It was probably closer to 10-15 minutes…yikes!) I was afraid that the tea would be bitter and undrinkable having steeped so long, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the aroma and taste.

The plump, full blueberries in the tea are the star here, transforming a plain cup of black tea into something extraordinary. I added sugar and just a touch of cream to bring out the cream cheese notes in the blend, and it was a very, very satisfying cup.

I just have to remember next time not to oversteep it!

Blooming teas — lovely to look at, but hit or miss on flavor. Such is the case with this Peach Momotaro blooming tea from Teavana.

Like most white teas, it is very delicate and pale in color. The peach flavor makes it even lighter and adds a bit of fruitiness, but with a sharp tangy stringent aftertaste. The tea certainly has a peach aroma and taste, but the aftertaste ruined it for me.

It’s definitely a tea more conducive to drinking straight as opposed to sipping.

I have three of these sample packets from some old Teavana orders, so I figured I’d fire up the Zojirushi and give ’em a spin while I get some writing done.

One of the other tasting notes for this tea describes it as “warm fruit punch”, which is quite apt. I take sugar in my tea, but this wasn’t overly sweet even with the additional rock sugar added to the sample. Actually, it was very bitter (I’m guessing it’s because of the orange rinds in the mix).

The sample is aromatic though with strong notes of citrus and fruit. I know there’s tea in it, but you certainly don’t taste it. I can imagine it would taste great iced with sugar to taste. The sample alone was just OK for me.

Maybe that’s why they were giving it away.

I haven’t been here on Steepster in a long time, but a recent refresh of my tea cabinet reminded me to come back on here since I’ve gotten a lot of new teas. I’m going to try going through each one of my new teas (and a few older ones I haven’t tried yet) daily.

Now, on to the show!

This Citrus Lavender Sage from Teavana is a bit deceptive because it doesn’t take much to give you a nice flavorful cup. It has a very fragrant citrus and herb bouquet, although I didn’t really taste much sage while drinking. The citrus and pineapple are pretty overwhelming, but the lavender provides a good counterpoint. The sage kind of gets lost in the mix for me. Overall, it’s very bright and summery in nature. It would probably be great iced!

Haven’t tried this particular tea from Golden Moon Tea in a while, and it’s just as delicious as I remember. When brewed, it has a nice caramel aroma which is further intensified upon tasting. It’s a great after-dinner tea with a good balanced flavor.

I tried my hand at creating my own tea blend over at Design a Tea, and this is one of the packs I created (the other was hazelnut and peppermint; Design a Tea also threw in a sample of marzipan tea which I’m dying to try). There was nothing overly special about this tea; when sweetened and splashed with cream, this tastes like a creamsicle with a faint eggnog-y flavor. All in all, a good dessert tea.

Mmm…I do love a good smoky lapsang souchong, and Golden Moon delivers on that with this tea. The dry leaves have an intensely smoky sweet aroma…almost bacon-y. Almost. I usually mix lapsang souchong with an oolong to get a more rounded mouth feel, but I didn’t need that with this one. The smoky flavor carried through to the initial and second brews. A good morning shakeup from my usual matés.

“Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. Though my personal preference was for Lux, I found that Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor – heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness. Lifebuoy, on the other hand…”

+5 cool points to you if you recognize the quote.

So I generally don’t dig black teas. I love white teas, and I’m crazy about oolongs. Tisanes are nice too. Black teas usually don’t float my boat unless it’s a smoky lapsang souchong or a chai blend. Golden Moon might’ve just won me over with this rose tea. As I opened the package, the smell of fresh-cut roses immediately hit my nose. The aroma is intoxicating and subtle. I brewed it up, and much to my surprise, that same subtlety carried over to the cup. I took the first sip (and sniff), and only one thing came to mind.

Palmolive soap.

This tea has a very soapy mouthfeel. And honestly, I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, because I gulped this cup down and brewed up a second one. (No, my mom didn’t wash my mouth out with soap, but the earlier quote immediately came to mind when I finished the cup.) It certainly doesn’t have the astringency and bitterness that usually comes with a black tea. I’d be tempted to probably buy this one.

Would that make me a soap lover?

Well since Ocean of Tea has pretty much closed up shop, I was on the search for another lemon maté blend to get me going in the morning. As soon as I opened the bag, the fresh grassy smell of green yerba mate hit my nose, and I was in love. The smell is amazing. It’s like fresh cut grass mixed with morning dew. Sweet and vegetal, with a faint brightness from the lemongrass. I brewed up a cup, and I definitely got more mate flavor than lemon. Ocean of Tea’s Lemon Maté Delight had pieces of lemon zest in it, so the smell and flavour was akin to a lemon Life-Saver. This was a different riff on that, and pleasantly delightful. I’m looking forward to drinking more of this!

I was really expecting to get some light cherry flavours with this tea, but again, H&S didn’t deliver. I got more of the green tea flavor with little to no cherry blossom taste. I got a few floral notes on some sips, but I didn’t know if it was that or the green tea (which was very buttery). Nothing terribly special. I might try another brew at a later date.

My Harney & Sons tea order came in the mail today, and it seemed like a little bit of nostalgia. When I first started exploring loose leaf teas about ten years ago, the first teas I bought were Harney & Sons teas. So I kinda felt like I was coming full-circle having been on this tea journey for a decade.

Anywho…back to the tea.

The tin describes the mix as having extra large leaves of Ti Quan Yin oolong. As soon as you open the tin, you immediately get a strong whiff of pomegranate. Strong and penetrating. I figured that would carry over on the brew, but no…just the aroma. When brewed up, it tasted just like Ti Quan Yin (mellow, buttery mouthfeel, a touch of sweetness at the end). I got very little pomegranate flavor. But then I added more water to the brewed tea (H&S recommends steeping in 2 cups of boiling water, then adding 6 cups of cold water), and the pomegranate flavor started to emerge more. I guess the water drowns out the Ti Quan Yin, so it might be difficult to get a good balance of oolong and pomegranate in a particular brew.

The rest of it is in a pitcher in my fridge, but I’m not too wild about it. A pity.

Based off of a comment here, I decided to try this in some Chick-fil-A lemonade. It was a hot day, so I hit it up before coming home from some meetings. I added a small scoop of strawberry matcha to a medium lemonade. A quick stir turned the whole lemonade a sickly shade of pea green (not unlike matcha itself); the deep matcha taste played well off the lemonade, although I wish there was more of a strawberry flavour. Ah well.