Kittenna

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Kittenna drank Pistachio Lime Mate by Fusion Teas

Thank you to Fusion Tea Room for the absolutely HUGE box of samples I received a couple days ago! Wow, I cannot believe the generosity of the tea companies I’ve been dealing with lately. And the customer service has been spectacular with all of them :D

Onto the review. The dry tea definitely has a limey smell. Exciting; I love lime. I’m not getting any pistachio smell, but then again… do pistachios even really have a smell? I know what they taste like, but…. Anyways, I’m also smelling a bit of what’s making me think of a medicinal smell. I don’t know if it’s the mate or green rooibos; I don’t have an awful lot of experience with either. Let’s see how it is steeped.

Forgot to log notes on steeping aromas again. Oops. I also did steep this one too long, and should try a shorter infusion next time.

Hmm, I’m getting almost a bit of a medicinal taste. Or that’s how it’s coming off to me. I blame the green rooibos. I can definitely taste the lime, which is lovely, but I’m not catching the pistachio. Hrm. This tastes familiar, and not in a good way, unfortunately. It reminds me of a tea from DavidsTea that I wasn’t fond of. Oh – in a way it’s reminding me of Honeybee. That’s probably the mate? I’m getting a sweetness at the end of the sip that also reminds me of Honeybee.

I’m not sure that this is a tea for me. I’m pretty new to mates, and have only tried a couple, so I’m not sure if I like them yet. Or perhaps I like the roasted mates (since I quite enjoyed 52teas Malted ChocoMate). Either way, I think I need to try this one with a shorter infusion to see if I can taste the pistachio and reduce a bit of this medicinal taste. So no rating yet.

2012-04-14 23:10:29 -0400

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Uniquity 2012-04-16 12:44:12 -0400

I prefer roasted mates in general (I;m a big blak tea drinker and the two seem to go hand in hand – I also prefer roasted oolongs to green!). Glad to see others are enjoying the bounty of Fusion samples – they were very generous in mine from months ago, I still have enough left for a couple glasses of 2 or 3 of them!

Kittenna 2012-04-24 04:17:01 -0400

Yes, they were so generous! I’m really hoping I like one of the other teas :)

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.