Devilish

Ordering this requires courage because I have been seriously let down by rooibos and Ronnefeldt lately. But I don’t want to give up trying because I hate to miss any good tea! This time, my courage is rewarded. The rooibos has no funny vegetal flavour but is earthy and slightly sweet – which is what I think rooibos should taste. The vanilla flavour is subtle but still it is able to impress with its softness and creaminess. And this tea seems to have the aroma of toffee candy, which is why I have been sniffing all the time… :)

This tea has proved to the previously faith challenged me that rooibos + vanilla is indeed a classic to be enjoyed. Yet, it is still not as good as Teekanne’s Rooibos Vanilla Tea-Butler! Oh god how I miss it….

I am happy that I started my day with this. While steeping, it gave out a bouquet so floral and enchanting that I could see roses blooming in front of me. Sometimes, a nice scent and a little bit of imagination is all you need to induce positive mood. The flowery notes of Darjeeling blended in with the rose petals harmoniously, giving this tea a very smooth taste. Oooo… I feel so girly right now. ;)

I can sense that soreness is developing in my throat… so I am self-medicating with this. I don’t really like the characteristic grassy flavour of camomile, but camomile tea is always so soothing that I always keep a box at home as first aid for sore throat. And this camomile tea by Teekanne is sweet as if it is honeyed, which makes it extra soothing :)

Had afternoon tea just now. I ordered this and my friend ordered Apple Dreams, so we could readily compare the 2 teas. Our conclusion was that this one was less likable than the other. The colour of the liquor was cherry red, indicating that hibiscus was there. This kinda surprised me – just why would anyone add hibiscus to a peach tea?? And peach is not even supposed to be red! The infusion was heavily scented with peach flavouring, which was sweet, enticing but too synthetic. Disappointment came when I took the first sip – there was NO peach flavour at all and I could taste apple instead. I looked into the teapot and saw heaps of apple pieces… I thought my peach tea had got mixed up with my friend’s Apple Dreams but the truth was, it wasn’t. The apple flavour was weak because it was overshadowed by the tartness. Seriously, I needed to rinse my mouth with water every time after sipping this infusion, or my taste buds would be too overwhelmed to taste the food!

This is one of the better infusions by Ronnefeldt. The notes of apple and lemongrass are equally potent, making it a very refreshing drink. Lemongrass, in particular, does a good job in balancing against the tartness of this infusion, making this a rather sweet and enjoyable cup.

No notes yet.

As its name suggests, this tea is chocolatey and minty. It smells and tastes like After Eight Thin Mints, which is great because I am a chocoholic (and I like mint chocolates too). It’s certainly a good dessert tea that rounds off a meal nicely. On the other hand, as a mint tea lover, I am disappointed because the mint flavour seems to come from flavouring and tastes completely artificial. The dry leaves do contain mint leaves but they are tasteless. But if you know what to expect (now you do!), you will probably enjoy this tea :)

I am biased against any tea that is deep red in colour and contains hibiscus, so I knew I would not give this tea a good rating even before I tasted it. This tisane was rather tart and I didn’t know whether it was due to hibiscus, rosehip, or combination of the two (I have no idea what rosehip tastes like because whenever there’s rosehip, there’s always hibiscus). It was very fruity, to the extent that I was half-expecting to see pulp in the cup. I found it easier to tolerate the tartness as the tisane cooled, because I could then tell myself to treat it as a fruit juice… and fruit juice was meant to be sour!

For people new to chai, this should be a pretty good tea to start with. With vanilla, it is sweet, slightly creamy and only mildly spicy. My only complaint is that it is not quite strong enough. I think it will be a great base for chai latte!

I like Messmer because it has lots of interesting blends in addition to the classic choices. This white tea has to be my favourite! Though the vanilla and peach flavours come from flavouring, they are subtle enough to make you think they are natural. And who wouldn’t like the combination of vanilla and peach?? I keep sniffing the tea because the scent is just too lovely! ;P

The liquor is delicate and decidedly flowery, which is exactly what I love about white teas. It is peachy too – Reminds me of Snapple or Twinings peach tea, only better. :) Was talking about spring blend with Winter Salo yesterday, and I realize that this really matches the image of spring in my mind. :) Beautiful. We really need more good quality, inexpensive tea bags like this!

My fourth cup of tea today! That would be a new record for me. :)

It’s the beginning of autumn, my favourite season, and I celebrated it with a pot of Autumn Blend. It has a wonderful scent – like the air on an autumn morning, it is clean, crisp, and infused with the sweet aroma of harvested fruits. The fruity note of Ceylon tea adds complexity to the fruitiness. This flavoured black tea is really great for people who enjoy fruity flavours but find fruit infusions too tart for their liking.

In sum, I love this tea. It’s both delicious and romantic. Would certainly sample more teas by Betjeman and Barton in the future! ;)

A strong, classic black tea. Kept me alert and focused in class today!

Read the English translation of the tea description just now – so this is a pure black tea. Now, I strongly suspect that the tea bag I used this morning was contaminated because I could smell vanilla in it! I am not too surprised though, cos the tea bag came in a thin paper packet, and it was stored in a box (I got the tea bag from a B&B in Germany) along with other highly aromatic Messmer teas which had the same packaging. I believe the tea bag had been in the box for some time too. It seemed to have lost some of its flavour and was not as strong as it’s supposed to be. BUT I did enjoy the tea as I love vanilla and lighter teas!! :P

My first encounter with rooibos was just wonderful. It was Rooibos Vanilla Tea-Butler by Teekanne, which was sweet, caramel-y and had the aroma of biscotti. It became the “prototype” of rooibos in my mind – I thought all rooibos were as yummy as that.

Wrong. The disillusionment was brought by this Rooibos and Vanilla from M&S. The dry leaves had the smell of herbs and… that’s all. Where’s the vanilla?? Sadly, there’s no answer to this question even after brewing. The liquor was mildly sweet but at the same time strangely vegetal/herbal. It took me a while to recognize that it tasted like bread. Damp bread, to be more precise… so it was not all that pleasant. :( Since this is a rather pure rooibos tea, I begin to think maybe it’s what rooibos really tastes like. I hope I am wrong again!

When this tea was served hot, the caramel was aromatic – kinda like caramel or toffee candies – but this didn’t translate into the flavour, unfortunately. I had the feeling that I was just having a cup of plain black tea. Imagine the disappointment! I was going to give this tea just a bare pass, but then I noticed a bright note of sweetness in my cup as the tea turned cold. The caramel was there, after all!! Perhaps I would try this with milk next time (or more radically, iced?).

It’s true that Lupicia’s teas are generally not strong, and this tea is no exception. remember to add more tea leaves when you think it is enough! Trust me! ;)

Delicate-as-morning-dew green tea + fragrant jasmine = DIVINE. This is definitely what I would like to drink while enjoying dim sum in a Chinese tea house. :) Clean, calming and refreshing, it is also my choice of drink when doing reading or meditation in quiet evenings. Too bad I only have a sample of this from T2 as it’s too expensive…

Oh by the way, T2 recommends using 3-4 tears per cup, which I think is too little. Double that unless you prefer weak tea!

There are both fruity and floral notes in the tea; my guess is that they have used a blend of Darjeeling and Ceylon. Nothing too impressive but it’s all I need for a lazy Sunday morning ;)

I ordered a small pot of this in Birdman Eating, Melbourne. The teapot for 1 used by this hip cafe was way too lovely!!! :D

I must admit that I went to the cafe for tea more because of the beautiful teaware (this sounds really crazy, doesn’t it). I picked this tea sort of randomly from the menu, completely unaware of its nature. It’s only after my first sip that I realized it was something I had never tried before – green rooibos!

I am pretty new to rooibos and therefore I don’t think I have got a good grasp of its characteristics. But I am certain that green rooibos is totally different from rooibos, or anything else. It is very delicate… the flavour is hard to describe, which is sweet and perhaps slightly vegetal? Reminds me of wheat or straw. Not sure whether the sweetness is from the rooibos or vanilla though. I was definitely bewildered, yet I was also excited to have tried such an unusual tea! It’s not something I would buy for my cupboard, but it’s a pleasant drink for a lazy, quiet afternoon as it really puts you in a relaxed mood.

I finally have tried this tea iced! As expected, it’s more delicious when it is iced – just like grape soda, but minus the carbon dioxide and fat! My choice of picnic drink! ;)

I am doubtful of how representative my first encounter with lapacho tea is. For the first thing, this Inca Tea contains so much herbs and spices but the flavour is surprisingly mild and smooth. The spices aren’t overpowering and I enjoy the tangy orange flavour in every sip. Overall, it is a very light tea, which is so different from all the spiced teas I’ve tried. Does it have anything to do with lapacho?? Or is it just Meßmer?

I bought this as a souvenir for my colleagues. I was expecting a really sweet vanilla tea, but this turned out to be something quite different. The vanilla was aromatic, but it was only barely noticeable taste-wise. The tea was a bit sweet but the flavour came from the special plum-like sweetness of Keemun tea. The blend of Chinese tea with vanilla was a very novel combination to me… perhaps a bit weird too, given I am a Chinese and the tradition is to drink Chinese tea without any added flavour!

Having this at Cafe Vue at the airport. This is going to be my last cup of tea before leaving Melbourne!

I love Earl Grey. The name sounds so regal and posh, doesn’t it? Drinking it always makes me feel like a lady. And I think this Earl Grey Imperial from my beloved MF is a great one. It’s very delicate and subtly fragrant, unlike some Earl Grey that is so heavily scented with bergamot oil probably because the tea itself isn’t very exciting. MF uses first flush Darjeeling, it says. It’s so floral that I can almost see a French garden from the window… :)

I didn’t know what it was when I ordered it at Cavallini, in Clifton Hill. Was expecting something herbal but it turned out to be a fruit tea. The cafe served the tea in a very pretty Kyoto Blossom teapot, but when I poured the tea into my cup, the bright pink-red colour really startled me… hibiscus!!! :0 At first the tea was ok, there was only sweet berry flavours, no tartness. But the tea continued to steep inside the teapot, the inevitable tartness developed… my advice: keep the steeping time short!

This tea smells really really good when it steeps – like a rich cup of cocoa with a faint hint of orange (flavouring). But you can’t really taste much chocolate or orange in the liquor – I can only get cardamom out of it. Overall this mildly bittersweet tea is not unpleasant, but it can be rather disappointing once your expectation is raised by the lovely aroma.

*edit: as it cools the orange flavour becomes more salient – reminds me of Grand Marnier!