Kristin

Teas Etc was so nice to give me a free sample of this one and I was dying to try it. I like it. I don’t love it. I wish it had more strawberry flavor. I taste a really great white tea with a slight fruitiness in the background. It is very similar to 52 teas Black Currant Bai Mu Dan, but with less fruit flavor. I’ll definitely finish this sample as it is quite yummy. I haven’t yet decided if I’d reorder it. I’m hoping the next cup finds more strawberry pieces in the sample. I’m worried that I just didn’t get any strawberries when I spooned it out. I didn’t see any.

I still had some of this sample in the drawer and I wanted a nice black tea. This one just tastes like your basic black tea. Not much else. No astringency at all (which is nice). It tastes like an assam to me, rather than a darjeeling.

This tea reminds me of the tea my mom used to give me when I was sick. I should clarify. My mom would always give me black tea when I had a stomach virus. The tea would then almost immediately make me throw up again, but yet my mom never seemed to make the connection and continued to give me black tea and toast every time. Somehow I don’t have bad associations with black tea. Actually have the opposite. When I get a black tea like this it just reminds me of being taken care of.

Not loving it as much today as before. I don’t know if I am just not in the mood or what. Bumping down a bit. I did have this with stir-fry a few nights ago and thought that the food overwhelmed the oolong.

This bag of tea is also almost gone. Only a few cups left. I had this tea an hour ago when I was sitting in a cozy chair reading a book. Perfect book reading tea.

I haven’t been able to drink tea all day! I went to the dentist today. They suggested a fluoride treatment to help with sensitive teeth. I asked if I’d be able to eat and drink afterwards. They said yes. After they applied the treatment, they handed me a card which instructed me to eat soft foods (of which I had none at home) and to not drink hot beverages. I’ve been sadly waiting till evening so I could have some tea. I know I could have made iced tea, but that is not what I wanted.

Anyway, long story short, I am happily sipping away at Black Currant Bai Mu Dan. I probably only have one more cup of this one and I will be very sad when it is gone. And, this is my second bag of it.

I’m trying this again today and I’m trying really hard to have an open mind… and the imagination of a child. It’s not working. This tea isn’t doing it for me. I taste rooibos followed by a candy cherry aftertaste. Maybe, if I think about it hard enough, there is some cake flavor. Maybe. I am not getting any pineapple. I probably won’t be finishing this bag. Very disappointed in this one.

Update – and I am getting the Pez candy flavor as it cools.

Not sure what I think of this one yet so I am withholding my rating for now. I’m not tasting much pineapple in this cup. If my bag has large pineapple chunks like Erin’s, they are hiding. I did manage to get a small pineapple chunk in this cup. Definitely getting some cherry as an aftertaste. But this one might taste a bit like pez candy too (like Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast).

Needed something to wake up today. I like this tea a lot, but there is something that smells like manure in the background. That’ll would probably keep me from ordering more. What is that smell?

I made this iced because I’d accidentally bought way more than I meant to and the description says it’s good iced. I figured I’d give it a try. It’s just ok for me iced. I haven’t quite decided if I like iced or not but I am leaning towards not. It doesn’t have a ton of flavor iced and then it ends with that peaty/earthy taste at the end of the sip. And it seems to have become fairly astringent when cold brewed.

It’s possible that I didn’t use enough tea leaves (I went by a blog post made by SimpleTeas on iced tea ratio). I made 2 quarts and used almost 1/2 cup tea leaves. Next time, trial iced tea should be made in smaller quantities. Cold brewed for 24 hours.

I’m not changing my rating because it is excellent hot!

Why does this taste like apples? There are no apples in it, but that is what I taste. This tea tastes like a cinnamon apple to me. I’m not getting much coconut flavor (I wish I was!). I am tasting the fennel/anise flavor in the background. Whoa… and that sip had a smidgen of cocoa.

It’s an ok tea. I maybe should have brewed it longer or used less water.

Thanks for the sample Lisbet!

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Drank this again iced and decided that it is a pretty tasty black iced tea. The thing that would keep me from buying a ton of it for summer iced tea is the size of the tea leaves. The tea leaves are like coffee grounds. I had to pour it through my metal filter 2x and still had a significant amount of leaves floating around.

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Upton Tea sent a sample of this with my latest order with a note saying it would be good for iced tea. I threw it in a drawer to wait for a day when it was actually above 50 degrees, when I’d want iced tea. Well, it was 55 yesterday so I threw it in a pitcher with some cold water and left it in the fridge for 24 hours to cold brew it as indicated in the directions on the sample.

It’s pretty good. More interesting and more complex than a tetley iced tea bag. Not bitter. It’s got a bit of astringency to it, but not too much. Overall, I like it but I’m not sure I’ll order it.

This tea tastes pretty much like a plain rooibos with the essence of something fruity in the background scent. Not much flavor at all. Such a shame. I was so excited when I saw that Lisbet had included a sample of this in her package to me. I really wanted it to be full of raspberry and strawberry flavor, but not so much.

This is my 3rd free loose tea sample (our of 3) from Tea Forte and I think it is my favorite of the 3 so far. It definitely tastes of mango and there is some minty coolness to it too. The smell is peachy. I do wish it were a little stronger as it is on the edge of being bland. It’s ok though.

Link to full review and pics:
http://parkcityvegan.blogspot.com/2010/04/tea-fortes-kati-loose-tea-system-and.html

This was a free sample of loose Earl Grey from Tea Forte. I don’t think I can give this a rating because I really hate Earl Grey tea. I did try a few swallows of this because I am supposed to review it, but I can’t tell you if it is a good Earl Grey or not.

The loose tea leaves smelled like a old man’s cologne. Once brewed it tasted very bitter and actually tasted like someone poured cologne in my tea. I really really don’t like Earl Grey. I had to rinse my mouth out and I can still taste it. Caveat – this is what all Earl Grey’s taste like to me.

I really appreciate the sample from Tea Forte so that I could try it but it’s definitely not my thing.

Link to full review and pics:
http://parkcityvegan.blogspot.com/2010/04/tea-fortes-kati-loose-tea-system-and.html

I had a really frustrating day and needed a tried and true go-to tea. I went to make tea and grabbed this. Then I started thinking about how much I am drinking this tea lately and it made me realize that I need to up my rating. I mean seriously, I am drinking this all the time. It is definitely one of my favorites in the tea drawer at the moment. It has grown on me.

Tea Forte sent me a few free samples (including this one) along with their Kati brewing system to review. The samples are designed to be the exact right size for the 12 oz brewing system. Just open the packet and dump the tea into the filter.

I think really nice. It tastes a lot like a Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea… but much much better. It’s minty. The minty flavor leaves a nice cooling feeling in the mouth. It also has chamomile and lemongrass flavors. I kind of wish I’d saved this one for my evening cup instead of mid-afternoon. It’s so nice and calming that I might just fall asleep while working!

As for the brewing system (http://www.teaforte.com/store/tea-accessories/other/kati-loose-tea-system/), it is a ceramic double-walled mug without a handle. It has a very fine mesh loose tea strainer and a brewing lid. I really like the Kati. It did not get overly warm for me as AmazonV’s did. That could be due to the difference in our brewing temp. Since I am at high altitude, my brewing temp is somewhere between 198-199. My mug just got nicely warm on the outside. Just warm enough to wrap my hands around and warm them (it’s snowing here and a bit cold).

One thing I didn’t like about this particular sample with the brewing system is the amount of leaves that got through the filter. I think other types of tea will work in it very well, but the herbal left cruft. I am a big hater of tea cruft and will usually use a paper filter for teas that are very fine. Since the system is designed for newbies to the loose tea scene, I think this will be a concern for them too. I can’t wait to try my rooibos tea in this cup because I think the strainer is fine enough to catch the rooibos.

Update – all the fine leaves settled to the bottom of the cup after a few minutes so the cruft wasn’t so bothersome after all.

Link to full review and pics:
http://parkcityvegan.blogspot.com/2010/04/tea-fortes-kati-loose-tea-system-and.html

I don’t think I’ve ever had rhubarb so I can’t really tell you if this tastes like rhubarb. But, if you gave me this tea without telling me what it was and asked me to name it, I’d name it “Peaches and Cream”… maybe I’d even go as far as to name it “Peach Cobbler”. Yep, that’s what I getting out of it. Peaches. It’s good though. It has a nice flavor and the rooibos flavor doesn’t take over.

Update – I forgot to mention that this was a sample sent to me by my friend Lisbet! Thanks Liz!

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No amount of coffee was doing the job this morning so I decided I would get a cup of tea with caffeine in it. I went back to the Dawn. It is so smooth and chocolaty. Perfect mid-morning cup.

Added a smidge of sugar and a tiny amount of soy creamer.

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I really really really love this tea.