Kristin

Last cup in my sample. :( I really liked this one. I did throw another sample of it into my next order so I will get at least a few more cups of this. Not yet sure I want to order a whole bag despite how yummy it is. I’ll know for sure if I need to order some once it is gone. If I go nuts and miss it like crazy, then I’ll get some more.

This is a nice afternoon black tea. It is malty and has something in the background that I haven’t identified yet (the description says lemony, so perhaps that is what I am tasting). No bitterness after brewing for 2 min in a small teapot.

Update: the Harney & Sons book says teas from this estate have a wintergreen aroma and background flavor. Maybe I can detect a little of that, and perhaps that is the flavor I was trying to indentify… but I am not sure I would have come up with that on my own.

No notes yet.

This dairy-free caramel flavor Rooibos from Special Teas is pretty good. When you open the bag, it smells amazing; toasty and sweet. When brewed it has a nice light caramel flavor. I’d like a little more caramel flavor, but overall I am pretty happy with it.

Meh. I got this free sample from Jade Teapot today. I wanted this to taste like a nice juicy pear. It doesn’t. It does have some pear flavor, but it more like an unripe pear. There is some bitter taste in the background that I couldn’t identify.

Bleah. I had to travel over the last couple of days unexpectedly so I had no time to find travel tea. I was dying for some herbal tea on Weds and I was staying with family. This was the only tea in the house. It’s awful. I expected it to be too syrupy sweet and it was exactly the opposite. Bland. And it had that smell that I sometimes describe as ‘vomity’. Yeah, that’s never a good smell.

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Morgana’s review is spot on for this one. While I love that the Rooibos flavor isn’t overpowering, I didn’t love the flavors of this one so much. The bag does have a strong liquor smell which is nice. Once brewed, it smells like mocha ice cream. The taste is harder to describe. There is a lot going on. At times it tasted like black tea and at other times it tasted like coffee. I actually feel like I have coffee breath after drinking that one. I was excited to see this Rooibos has a white chocolate that is dairy free, but sadly it didn’t do it for me.

If you are looking for something like a mocha then this tea is for you.

Wow. This tea is good! This is the one sample I got that I really didn’t expect to like. It smells so lemony (but not like lemon pledge, more like lemon custard). When I tasted it, I kept saying “This is so weird… I love it” over and over again. I gave it to my husband to taste and he said “Mmm, cupcake”. He’s exactly right. It tastes like a lemon cupcake. I don’t know how SpecialTeas makes Rooibos taste so good. I didn’t like Rooibos until I found Sweet Heart and now Lemon Chiffon. I’ll definitely be ordering more of this one.

I got a cup of this at Starbucks today. I’m not going to give this one a rating as I think that there was way too much water for the teabag. It was weak and tasted apple-y.

Man. I am at the dregs of my tea drawer and cannot wait for my tea order to arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, I drank this Hot Apple Cider tea that was in the drawer. I’d throw it out but my husband likes it. One teabag steeped for 7 minutes. It tastes like water mixed with a 1/4 apple juice and a little cinnamon. I used to like this and would brew it up and put it in a thermos for ski patrol. I’m guessing that any tea might have tasted good on a really cold day on the mountain. It never tastes as good at home.

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I like this oolong a lot. It is a light and delicate oolong; not your Chinese restaurant style tea. It has a light floral taste, almost like a jasmine. I also detect some peachy flavors in the aftertaste. It brews up to a light yellow color. I don’t know if I’ve used the word light enough in this review! But really, light is one of the best words to describe it. The un-brewed leaves are bright green balls.

I washed the leaves in hot water for about 15 seconds. Brewed 2 tsp with 11 oz water for 2 1/2 minutes.

Update: Second steep did well too.

As far as black flavored teas go, this one is pretty good. The black tea doesn’t overwhelm the strawberry. The strawberry flavor is strong in the aftertaste. But, even though I only brewed it for 2 1/2 minutes, it seems pretty bitter. I definitely had to add some soy creamer to this to combat the bitterness (but I can still taste it). This was a sample. I don’t think I’ll order more of this. I think that I don’t like it as much because I am comparing it to their Strawberry Cream Fruit Melange which was awesome.

Update – lowering my rating as I threw the rest away when I finished this cup.

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I already made another cup of this. I couldn’t help myself. One thing I noticed while drinking it this time is that it got better and better as it cooled. Perhaps that’s why I am supposed to brew it at a lower temp. I take the first sip and I think “eh, ok” and then by the end of the cup I saying out loud, “I love this tea”.

I just got this in the mail and immediately brewed a cup. I love it. I don’t know what to say about it other than yum. I am not a white tea aficionado and I am not sure what black currents taste like by themselves so it is difficult for me to be a good judge of which flavors are dominant, etc. But I can say that I really really like it.

When I open the bag and smell it, it smells so sweet, like candy. Then when it is brewed up the white tea and the black currents are both delicate and seem well balanced. I added a little agave nectar to it because, well, that’s what I do. That really made it for me. I was sad to hit the bottom of the cup.

Brewed 2 1/2 tsp to about 10 oz for 2 1/2 minutes at 187 F. That is a higher temp than recommended but I don’t have a tea kettle at the moment (getting water from the Keurig) and my kitchen thermometer batteries are out. It didn’t seem to hurt it.

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This tea has grown on me a little bit. It reminds me of a blueberry pop-tart. I still wish it was missing the grape flavor.

This tea is pretty good, but I’m don’t think it is meeting up to the expectations based on all the hype in the reviews. Maybe I’ll change my mind after I brew it a little stronger next time.

The tea itself is gorgeous. Big fat slices of almonds mixed with beautiful safflower blossoms. It smells pretty good (pre-brewing). A mixture of almond, cinnamon, and something fruity (orange?).

Once brewed, I taste a nice black tea with a hint of cinnamon and a light almond flavor in the aftertaste. I tasted it both with and without some silk soy creamer and a little sugar.

Brewed as directed. 1 1/2 tsp for 8 oz steeped 2.5 min.

No notes yet.

This is the first SpecialTeas tea that I haven’t been thrilled with. I really wanted this to be like a blueberry cobbler flavor. But it isn’t.

Smell of unbrewed tea is very herby and flowery. I don’t smell much blueberry.

Brewed tea smells strongly of grapes and hibiscus. When I first tasted it, I immediately yelled “EWWW”. Then about a second later, said “mmm, blueberry”. The blueberry flavor definitely hits you about a second or two later. It tastes pretty strongly of grapes too. It’s just ok.

This was a sample.

Update – I noticed that this is really tasty when cooled completely. I think it would make an excellent iced tea. This tea did grow on me after a couple of cups so I am upping my original rating.

Update – And now I have to up it again. I am out of this tea and find myself really wanting a cup of it. I guess I am going to order some after all.