Tina S.

Sipped down the last of this one tonight. It came free with my order and while it wasn’t a bad tea at all, it isn’t what I hope for in a tea. Those who were disappointed in David Tea’s Caramel Spice may enjoy this one though, since there is a definite caramel flavour to it!

This tea is quite an enigma! I stole a sip from a friend a week ago and was awash in fake vanilla flavouring. Because of this I was hesitant when I brewed this up for my morning cup, knowing I wouldn’t get a chance to finish whatever I chose.

Reader? I loved it. I must have done something right with it because it was minty with just an undercurrent of vanilla and the green tea flavour was still there. I was very happy with the half a cup I got to drink before dashing out for work.

Which of course meant I came home to a half cup of room temperature tea. Curious since mint teas are usually pretty good even if left sitting, I tried it. And wow, cold this was so gross. I don’t foresee myself making this into an iced tea anytime soon! But hot, it was delightful.

This is an average oolong for me. Slightly roasted, requiring some sweetening, but with nothing special to make it stand out. Even a second steep did very little for me. I definitely prefer my greener oolongs to this one.

Made this one as my last pot of the night, in the mood for something light but flavourful. Flavour I am definitely getting, but it is anything but light and delicate. It is almost too strong in my mind, and my throat thinks so too. It is starting to tickle, and my tongue isn’t happy either. Definitely not going to be buying this one. :(

Apparently I’m a sucker for a roasted green. This is lovely, and fills a nice hole in my collection since I ran out of my genmaicha. I can’t compare it to other Hoijicha since this is my first time having it, but I found it nice and light while also being toasty and slightly sweet. I am extremely curious how it would taste with a hint of brown sugar!

I had so much hope for this one. Sadly for me, there was just too much ginger. It combined strongly with the lemon grass to make a blend that just wasn’t loved by me. So sad.

Not a fan of this one at all. I adore cinnamon but that is the undercurrent here. I have no idea what the main notes are, but plum they are not to my tastes. I couldn’t even finish the mug. :(

Cold steeped this one last night so I could take it to work today in my jug. Even after a litre of it I wasn’t sick of the flavour. Sadly I used the last of the leaf I had to make it.

This was my cup for work today. I loved how it smelled, all berry-full and delightful. And I know I enjoyed every sip I took. But now a few hours later I can’t remember much of anything about it to describe it in detail. Apparently I agree with everyone else about it being unmemorable.

Okay, you guys are gonna kill me for this one but I didn’t love it as much as you did! It is nice, and I can definitely see it iced in the summer but I want to blend the hell out of it with raspberry juice. It was really really light for me. The flavour is lovely, and once I started having supper along with my cup they did become more pronounced, but . . . I don’t love it.

Oh this was a lovely tea to have walking to work today! The smell for me was strawberry, which made me smile since spring is coming and I’m looking forward to berry season. The flavour notes are a nice balance of strawberry with an offside of melon. What melon I’m not quite sure, but it is melon-y and lovely.

I’m going to have to sip this one again soon. I’ll try to make my review more detailed that time!

Okay, I’m cheating here. This is actually a chocolate bar. http://tea-room.stores.yahoo.net/michbarinwih.html

But what a chocolate bar! And it has tea in it! The taste is delicious, and there are most definitely strong caramel notes here. The fact that they are coming from a tea makes it even more awesome since they are so strong. I don’t get much honeybush flavour, and I think I’d love this even more if the chocolate was a tad darker, but you know what? This is still one darn delicious chocolate bar. With tea in it!

Did this one up in a travel cup for a meeting I had today. Brewed it in a t-sac and left the bag in the entire time. Dry leaf smells lovely and exactly like its name, and in the cab I couldn’t stop smelling the brew.

First sips of the cup had both the orange and the almond flavour and was lovely. As the cup continued (bag in since I couldn’t get it out in the meeting politely) the marzipan began to dominate.

I’m looking forward to trying this one again with an infuser and a shorter steep, and a bit of sugar. I think it’ll help make the orange flavours pop. Not rating yet for that reason.

Tried this one tonight, brewing it up in my glass pot. The base tea is lovely, not too harsh or astringent and great for blends. The blend itself however I found lacking. I didn’t get much cream at all, or chai. I felt like it was a coconut black, and since I’m not a big pure coconut fan, it was a disappointment. Guess I’ll go back to the coconut oolongs!

This tea confuses me! It is a nice flavour, but I don’t get what I expect a baked apple to taste like from it. There are definitely notes of something similar, and the spices are lovely, but it isn’t what I expected. Perhaps I expected a different brand of apple and that is my issue. I grew up in apple country so baked apples to me are Spies and Empires, whereas this tea may be what a red delicious baked tastes like? I’m not sure.

The tea notes that are there are nice and fallish while being naturally sweet. There are hints of cinnamon but nothing overpowering. I think I’m going to have to try this one some more before I rate it because I really am confused still.

I am not usually a fan of coconut, but I do love myself a coconut cream pie. And sweetened, that’s exactly what this tea gives me. It’s mellow and creamy and delightful. Without the sugar I do find that the coconut is more of an undertone than in prominence, but then the sugar is added and this is just perfect for me. I’m glad my friend send me this one to try!

Had this as a to-go cup today during a tea meetup. Dry it smells like peach with a dash of ginger. Brewed . . . it lost most of the flavour from the aroma. It was a nice tea, and definitely had fruit notes, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. A nice tea, just not one that makes me think of millions of peaches for me.

I don’t know what I was on when I decided this but two nights ago I tossed a couple teaspoons of green rooibos in the pot with three of Cold 911 from Davids and tossed it in the fridge to cold brew. I know, not exactly something that screams “delicious”.

And yet it is surprisingly refreshing! The rooibos cuts down on the medicinal aspects of the 911, leaving a really nice refreshing mint flavour and burn. I think I may have to try this one again in the summer when I’ll be desperate for the cooling sensations!

This tea tasted nothing like what I expected, which is stupid since it does taste like white tea with white chocolate. Both notes are very apparent, and blend surprisingly well together. I liked it better with just a little bit of sugar, but it definitely is an enjoyable cup. I’m sad that I didn’t get to try more teas from SpecialTeas if this is an example of what they produced.

Mmm this one brewed up perfectly tonight. Sweet and orangey and just what I’d been hoping for. Yum.

Oh man what a delicate tea. My first attempt at this one I steeped it for 3 minutes, and the leaves were definitely burnt. So the next time I didn’t even let the water come anywhere near a boil and did two minutes of a steep. My cup is still burnt! Sorry Sweet Lemon, but I don’t think you are for me.

I know there are strawberries in this tea because I can see them in the loose leaf, but after brew, I can barely taste them. It is a lovely white peony, but there is very little strawberry in the flavour. I think I definitely prefer the David’s Tea version.

You know that feeling of a first sip of a tea when you realize you’ve been craving a flavour without realizing it? That was this one today. It just felt like coming home, and was exactly what I needed. I love the cinnamon with the chai undertones, and after all the new teas I’ve been trying lately I just needed this tea-home. So glad I grabbed it to make today.

This was the first cup of the day, determined as I was to try some of my untrieds in the cupboard. Sipping this black, I definitely got coconut, but overwhelmingly was more the flavour of the black tea itself, and one that isn’t my favourite black taste. Determinedly I added some sugar, which mellowed it out nicely. I think I’ll try this one as a latte or with some whipped cream and see what that does as I didn’t get much cream pie flavour.