Tina S.

I had this one hot tonight to try and redeem it after the horrible experiment of a cold steep. And thank goodness I did, because this one is so much better hot. It still isn’t memorable, but I don’t dread reaching for it now either. In fact I enjoy it as I sip.

I’m still not getting any apple notes from this one. I think I’ve come down on the side of not liking it. It is a very very odd tea, and if anybody would like to try it, I’m more than willing to share!

Chocolate mint was one of my first teas from the Tea Haus, and is one of my favourite flavours to have in tea. I haven’t had this one in two years, though, and my chocolate mint cravings have been met for the last while with Read My Lips from David’s Tea. Lately I’ve been curious about how this one would compare to RML, and so when we roadtripped up recently to the store I got a small package to re-try.

Sipped black, the mint definitely dominates in this tea. I got only a slight chocolate note, but it was still nice. I knew that I used to drink this one with milk and sugar, so I added some sweetener, and curiously it only heightened the mint. I still couldn’t find the richer chocolate notes I remembered. Determined not to give up, I added a little milk.

AHA! There was my chocolate! With milk and sugar, this tea became the most delicious combination of mint and chocolate and finally rivalled my RML. I’m going to have to do a side my side next time to figure out which I like better and will remain a constant in my cupboard.

Did this one up as a cold steep Saturday evening at the request of aisling so she could try it. It is interesting iced . . the fruit notes definitely become more prominent, and they themselves are lovely. The tea notes though seem . . . not quite right. And my stomach reacts to it in an unpleasant way. I don’t think I’ll be cold steeping this one again.

Haven’t had this one since I reviewed it ages ago, and so I’m revisiting it tonight. Dry, the leaves smell almost chocolate like! I didn’t notice that before and it made me smile as I scooped it out of the tin. Once brewed the broth is a beautiful colour, almost that of a dark brown brandy with just hints of red notes. I’d seriously serve this just because it looks so pretty.

First impressions on first sip is . . malt. Definite strong malt although still a light broth. It’s interestingly unique that way to me. As I sip a bit more I get almost . . barley? Oh, and there is the astringency I remember from last time.

If you like Assams, this is definitely a great tea to try. I’m offering samples if anyone’s interested!

This is definitely a great example of an Assam. It is deep in flavour and very malty, with an astrigency that only hit after I was more than halfway through my cup. It brewed to a beautiful dark brown and I’d almost forgotten that an Assam could actually taste this way after a few weaker ones I’ve had lately. The first sips took me by surprise, they were so full of flavour.

That said, apparently I’m not the biggest Assam fan right now in my tea journey. I used to love them but I know despite this being an absolutely amazing quality tea, I just won’t be reaching for it. So, it is up for trade. If you’re interested, just drop me Steepster message! I’m not rating it solely because its my personal tastes and not the quality that would give it a lower number.

I want to like this one. I want to love this one. But I can totally understand where Aisling was coming from when she said she couldn’t really finish her thermos of it. There are blueberry notes, and the black tea is prevalent, but I just felt like the combination wasn’t . . . exactly what I was looking for. I shall have to play.

So a person at work here got the 24 days of tea for Christmas and has barely touched it. Shocking horror I know! But we benefit since she brought it into work and has let us go to town with it. Since I was in the mood for something slightly soothing and caffeine free I grabbed an old favourite. Like always it was just what I needed to get through what has quickly become a hellish night at work. You’d think being a librarian meant happy people with smiles, not downright b****es who think the world is owed to them on a silver platter and lie to get whatever they want.

This was a nice cup tonight before bed. Hints of mint mixed with natural raspberry notes! It was nice and mellow and relaxing, which after a weekend of work and tea party sleepover, was exactly what I was looking for in a mug. As I drank I debated if I was going to try this one iced but ultimately I decided that it might get a little scary if I cold steeped it. The mint is nice and an undernote when brewed hot, but I suspect a cold steep would bring it out in focus, contrasting against the fruit. Still though, a lovely tea overall!

I finished this cup about half an hour ago and my mouth and throat still feel extremely dry. I have no idea what exactly is causing the reaction but since I tend to run toward dry mouth naturally, I am not enjoying it.

The tea itself wasn’t bad. I didn’t get much jasmine (which is good since I don’t enjoy it) and the tropica flavour is nice. But the tea as a whole wasn’t memorable for me. Considering how pretty it looks in the cannister, I expected more from the steep.

To make up for the other bland iced tea today, I made a pot of this one. This is my favourite black to steep cold and southern style. Sweet and rich without being too much of either, I treasure every pot I make of this. Especially since the company is no more.

Another tea puzzle! Strawberry Lemonade was a nice tea, and I adore Blueberry Bliss. So then why does this tea come out generic and bland to me? Honestly it didn’t stand out at all. I made it iced, cold steeped with agave. I know this was a fresh bag, too, so I have no idea why it futzed out. Next time I’ll stick with straight Bliss.

This was my cold steep tea to have iced yesterday at work. Wow what a difference a cold steep makes on this one. There were delicious cherries everywhere in each sip, and not a tart or off note at all. I’m glad that this summer heat is here so I can brew and enjoy this one up again this way. (And yes, summer heat in March is crazy, but my apartment hit 87 degrees yesterday!)

I’m still not sold on pu’erh, so I thought that this one would be a good tea to re-dip my toe into the kettle water with. Dry, I get no fishy smell, instead I get an earth-balanced coconut. This got my hopes up since it is the fishy that really has turned me off in the past.

I really wanted to avoid the fishy, so I rinsed the leaves in cold water for a bit before brewing. It definitely helped since I didn’t get fishy at all (yay!!). The tea itself has lovely notes of coconut and a deep earthy flavour. In reading the other tasting notes I see that this is a mild pu’erh, but I still could definitely predominately taste the notes that make it such a specific type of tea. I’m not rating this one though because I’m not sure yet that pu’erhs are for me. This is definitely one of the best pu’erhs I’ve had from David’s, but I still didn’t really love it.

I’m not giving this one a number rating because I suspect that if I caught the right way ot brew this, it would be amazing. However after three attempts I have decided that I do not have the skills with this one. First cup I got a bland dull green tea with no lemon at all, and second steep on the leaves wasn’t much better. Second time I tried I got a strong green again with no lemon at all. And tonight when I tried again I found the lemon, but had oversteeped and it didn’t taste lovely at all. So farewell fair tea, and big thanks to De who was generous enough to let me steal some from her stash!

Like lemon and green mate? Think you may like them together? Then try this tea. It is exactly as advertised, a seemingly simple blend of intense lemon and green mate flavours. My first brew was a tad too mate for me so I’m going to ratchet down my boiling temperature next time, but overall it is a pleasant tea. There aren’t any surprises here, but I didn’t really expect any with a name like this one has, either.

Generic and dupeable. As much as it breaks my heart to say it, that is my impression of this one. It smells like an orange tinted earl, and that’s basically what it tastes like, except I didn’t get as much tangerine as I’d’ve liked. If you’re a fan of Earls, especially green leaf ones, then give this one a shot. It is a good tea, and you may find that you fall hard for it. But if you’re only a mediocre earl fan like myself, you may want to give this one a pass.

Still in love with this one. It’s great for later at night when I want a mellow cup to enjoy as I calm down from the day. The fact that it gets better with a resteep is just a bonus!

What a lovely mellow fruit tea. The cherries are nicely balanced and true to the taste of the fruit, rather than an artificial flavouring. I drank it without any sweetener and it was naturally sweet without being too much so. I think it would be absolutely delightful iced. For those of you who wanted more from David Tea’s Cherry Potion, I recommend trying this one.

Wow, this green is just . . . there are absolutely no words. It looks and smells like a white, and taste wise? There’s green notes and white notes and hints of mango and just . . . this is practically heaven in a tea cup. Hawaiian tea may be a rare thing, in fact I’d never heard of it before this week, but wow is it amazing. This is the first speciality tea that I can actually see myself paying the premium costs for.

Extra kudos to The Tea Haus for selling such a rare amazing tea, and even more so for selling it at such a fair price. (And for letting us try it before it hits their store!)

I love quality greens, and this is definitely one of them. I steeped it loose in the cup and just kept adding water as needed. The cup lasted me for hours, with the tea only getting better and better.

Apologies for all of these entries, I’m totally behind on Steepster-ing!

Sweet Orange was my travel tea on both days, and it was almost exactly what I needed. Something with a slight kick but mellow enough to not distract me from driving. Putting 1000km on a rental car over two days is very very tiring!

This tea is lovely hot, but the orange seems to come out more the more sweetener that is added. If you’re not a sweet fan, you may not get as much orange.

The more I drink this one, the more I really really enjoy it. I may actually reorder it!

Wait, a Teavana blend that isn’t overloaded with hibiscus? Can it be?

This one surprised me. Hot, it really isn’t that great or different than the million other fruit teas that Teavana has, but I cold brewed it overnight and wow. I really enjoyed the cup I had this morning. I didn’t sweeten it at all, which is rare for me in my iced teas, and got a nice slightly dry cup of fruit flavour. I can’t pick out individual fruit notes, but overall this is lovely for a summer iced tea. I think it would be amazing as a punch with gingerale as well.