267 Tasting Notes

60

This is a good black tea, but I’m not sure I’ll reach for it again at my in-laws’ house, or order it myself in particular, as it has a bit too astringent a mouth-feel for my taste. I do enjoy a decaf black after dinner occasionally though, but I think I actually prefer Republic of Tea’s- surprising considering TG has much higher quality tea in general.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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72
drank Le Touareg by TeaGschwendner
267 tasting notes

This delicious combination of green tea and peppermint tastes more like Moroccan mint tea than anything I’ve had outside of a Moroccan restaurant. A sugar cube in it might make the comparison even more apt. This is truly a light and delicious mint tea, and the green does add to the overall taste profile, making it a slightly grassy, slightly minty brew that actually holds up to more than one steeping. A great after dinner tea- mint helps settle your stomach as well!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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82
drank Sikkim Temi by TeaGschwendner
267 tasting notes

This is such a nice black tea that I don’t even need milk in it. And Jim’s family was kind enough to serve chocolates from a delicious box of chocolates with it; the dark chocolate complemented this tea perfectly. It’s not at all bitter or astringent. I’m even drinking it at a time of evening when I usually don’t consume caffeine. It’s teas like this that make me miss living in Chicago, going to the TeaGschwendner and strolling around on the streets, clutching my hot cup of tea between mittened hands.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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72

I WILL NOT get sick. Will not.Willnotwillnot. In the interest of not allowing myself to come down with the blorgie, I am drinking a lot of tea today. And of the samples I picked up the other day, this is one of only two that I like. The almond comes through really strongly, and I have tried this one with both water and vanilla almond milk (I think I like the water better, oddly.) If I get an espresso machine for Christmas I’ll be trying again with steamed milk, because I do think this’d make a divine latte. Why Starbucks hasn’t started pushing this blend as a tea latte, I don’t know… apart from them not having a partnership with RoT, I mean.
Anyway, a nutty, rich blend. Nothing like coffee… not going to substitute for coffee. Not sure what the latte in the name refers to, other than a good rhyme.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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34

Dear Republic of Tea, the reason why there are no reviews on here is that your tins are over $10 each at my local Whole Foods, and that’s just a bit much for me without knowing I’ll really like a tea in advance. So once again I must praise the joy of being able to weigh this one out and sample it at my local shop. I was worried about cherry in my tea- but again, just about 40 cents worth of curious (my logic feels a bit odd there).

I made sure to brew this at proper green tea temps, and to steep for only 3 minutes. The green tea actually comes through, shockingly. And the cherry is, well, a bit lollypop but not as frightening as I feared. Still, a full tin of this wouldn’t do for me. I actually wonder if I’d like this tea better if I combined it with something vanilla or almond, but as it stands right now I feel like I melted a jolly rancher in my green tea.

Better than I thought though, so if you do like cherry teas, give it a shot.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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16

Well…. this one isn’t my favorite. It’s tart, but I just have a feeling it’d be better iced than it is hot. It’s doing that ‘hot jello-mix’ thing, but with some lime tartness. I kinda knew what to expect from a hibiscus tea, as I haven’t liked a single one I’ve tried, but because of the lime I was willing to give this once little shot (I weighed out 40cent sample of this stuff at the grocery store.) I’m not totally out of luck, as it’s still getting warm in TX as of mid-December, so….I can see making this iced in my near future. Yee-haw.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Meghann M

Loving that you have a grocery store that lets you purchase samples of teas like these. I am so jealous, as I have roughly an hour to get my hands on any tea other than Celestial Seasonings! (Or order online, but I love the sample idea). Enjoy the warm weather, we just had schools close due to cold windchills here in IL!

Lisbet

Well, I moved here from Chicago so I sure remember that cold. But it’s down to 30 here in Houston today, which probably means that the plants will all die. Palm trees don’t like freezing temps, that’s for sure. I do love this tea sample thing- I think Whole Foods has started doing that too. But their selection isn’t as good as my local shop.

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I was worried that this one would taste like Christmas potpourri. Not worried enough to refrain from trying it, of course, particularly when my local supermarket lets me weigh out wee samples to potentially get hooked on. This is never going to become my favorite rooibos blend, but it’s pleasant… it does remind me of essentially every cinnamon and orange tea I’ve tried before, but sometimes I am in the mood for that. I also think for some reason that this would just be the ideal blend when I’m not feeling well. I’m not sure that’s how RoT would want to advertise this one, per se- “Have a headcold? Do we have the tea for you!” but there’s something very soothing about it, in the same way a hot toddy is soothing. I’m sensing a personal link between citrus, cinnamon, and being soothed while ill, I think.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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77
drank Plum Oolong Tea Blend by Rishi Tea
267 tasting notes

Wow, I was a little bit worried about the plum being too sweet in this one, but it isn’t. The oolong makes a great complement to this pleasantly subdued fruit tea. This feels cozy, and great as a holiday tea. Too much red fruit tea winds up tasting to me like jello mix, when you first pour the boiling water into it, but this is much more complex than the jello-tea genre. Perhaps if I’d steeped it too long it would have gone in a bad direction. I think the key to letting the oolong shine through in this tea is not to brew it with boiling water, and to stick to under 5 minutes. Glad to have some more of this ’round the house.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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drank Almond Cookie by SpecialTeas
267 tasting notes

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83
drank Vanilla Mint by Golden Moon Tea
267 tasting notes

I’m pretty happy with this blend, actually (although it may have been a bad idea to drink hot tea in this hot weather- sweat). It’s definitely a mint-black primarily, and I do think I drowned out the green tea with my 4 minute steep time. The vanilla is there and lends the tea a creaminess that I am enjoying. MmmmMmmm…darn you and your delicious expensive blends, Golden Moon. I wish you had a student discount ;)

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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Bio

Grad student in sociocultural anthropology. I drink tea while reading for my courses, and it makes the books go down easier. I genuinely like most kinds of tea – although fruit tisanes kind of scare me.

Location

Houston, Texas, United States

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