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Do you know how muggy it is in Houston right now? Well, actually, it’s not too bad- only 77% humidity and 82 degrees- downright mild, by Houston-in-June standards. Not to be deterred, I made a big ol’ pitcher of iced Champagne Mojito and stuck it in the fridge. It seemed to call for a straw- wanna see the cool glass straws I have? You should totally buy some: http://www.glassdharma.com/sets.html (the dots’ set).

But I digress… this tea kinda grew on me as an iced tea. It mostly tastes of spearmint, but there may be something like dry champagne behind it if I’m not mistaken. I wish there was at least a slight lime kick to this.

I learned an important lesson today, folks… and that lesson is- no matter how big of a chocoholic one is, one should not pick chocolate chips out of one’s tea. The lil chip had essentially taken on the taste of the rooibos, not to mention the bits of rooibos that clung to it and that I was unwilling to go to great lengths to remove. I mean, c’mon, I was already being so lazy as to pick chocolate chips out of tea when I have chocolate in the house.

Brewed, this one tastes to me like… rooibos, mixed with what tastes a bit like a very watered down hot cocoa. It’s faintly chocolatety, but not enough that I’m digging on it. I think it smells more chocolatey than it tastes, but the smell is mostly of the cacao nibs. For some odd reason I don’t find that the chocolate chips really dissolve much for me. I take a chopstick after the tea is done brewing and try to moosh them up a bit. So odd….

I think I need to stop caving into chocolate themed teas (some of you will be nodding and going DUH), because they almost always disappoint. It’s hard to make a good rooibos chocolate blend, I guess. I don’t want tea makers to resort to spray-on artificial cocoa either, so I guess I’ll just do without after I finish this tin.

Wow, this one tastes just like the Neapolitan Honeybush to me! Uncanny. This doesn’t wind up being a bad thing, as I liked the Neapolitan.

I have been using this one lately to experiment with tea lattes, but I wouldn’t call the experiment successful yet because it’s still not as good as one I’d get at a shop. So, tell me what I am doing wrong:

-Steep 1 cup (8oz) of water with tea. Add agave nectar to taste while doing this, plus 1 tsp vanilla extract (or almond, or whatever)
-Heat 1/2 cup (4oz) of soy milk (or whatever milk you prefer) – I do 1 min 20 seconds in the microwave.
-Use frothing wand to make plenty of foam.
-Pour steamed milk over tea, scoop on rest of the foam.
-Sprinkle cinnamon.

It LOOKS great but tastes too thin, so I guess I need to either steep a lot more tea or use less water. I tried steeping it extra long this time to no avail.
Here is a photo:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4558670&l=b7d7567f43&id=535762108

I loooooooove lemons, so I rushed to buy this one! I’m hiding indoors where it’s air conditioned today too, so I’m trying this one hot for my first cup. It’s got a very pleasant, tart, lemony taste that reminds me of some of the lemon cream or lemon chiffon blends out there. It’s much more mild than the typical black tea with lemon types on the market, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. I don’t know that I’d be able to identify most of the lemon notes in here, as to my palette it basically just becomes ‘good lemon’, but I’ll bet this one really will make a stellar iced tea. If you’re shopping iced tea-fodder for the hot weather, and don’t stubbornly hide indoors as I do, check this one out.

Kristin sent me some of this (thanks!), and I was eager to try it despite her sad review, because the photo looks so good. Brewed, it tastes of herbs, but not at all of berries. I feel like I’m drinking a cup of sage in hot water. Funny for a brew that advertises itself as fruity… straining to taste something fruity there may be a hint of berry, but only because I’m trying so hard. Meh to this.

Did I not review this one yet? Weird….. anyway, I adore mojitos, but I’ve never had one with champagne. That sounds like a hybrid mojito-mimosa. Either way, a delectable sounding summer tea! I decided to try it iced today, and that actually turned out to be a mistake. The spearmint wound up tasting a bit toothpasty to me, and I couldn’t escape the sensation that I was drinking either that or chewing gum. Hot, it seems to be a somewhat pale mint tea – don’t know about this champagne business, as I don’t detect either that or the lime. I’m not as impressed as I’d hoped to be, considering mojito tea would be at the top of my fantasy flavor list.

Ho-hum, I’m not really digging on much these days, it seems! Maybe it’s me!

I looove chai, but generally choose to make a sort of pseudo-chai using just the spices, so as to refrain from consuming the caffeine. Feeling a bit woogy this morning I thought I’d give this chai a go- and it’s pretty mediocre. Just … vaguely chai spiced. (Not as good as the masala chai from SpecialTeas). I thought the cinnamon chips would stand out, but I don’t taste them at all.

Chai is, however, really great for soothing the tummy.
I accidentally oversteeped this one, and it still tastes a bit…pale… glad that the black tea didn’t turn bitter.

You know, the tea bag seemed a bit under-filled. I know a cup of tea always uses far less loose tea than I expect, but it still looked a bit sad. Revolution teas are always overpackaged, but they’d make good stocking stuffers or care-package add-ons. I’m gravitating towards tea bags as I am heading off to a scary language-intensive training program that involves living in a dorm. I am far too old for dorm living.

This brewed really dark for a white tea- as dark as a black tea, actually. Not promising. I’m also discovering that it really doesn’t taste like tangerines, or like much of anything. (I swear, my palette is fine this weekend!) I was kinda unimpressed by this tea in the bag too, as it looked a bit sawdusty. I do smell the tangerine in the form of a kind of bitter orange rind, but it just doesn’t come through in the flavor… or, if it does it’s doing too close of an impersonation of plain black tea for me to be that thrilled.

Yeah, this one just tastes like rooibos to me. I swear, I steeped it enough- but no ridiculousness involved. It’s just bland and weirdly flavorless. I’m sure I tried the right sample that K sent, as the packet smells strongly like raspberry- but sheez, nothing going on in my cup.

Well, my headache came back, and I was reading that mint tea can cure headaches (it’s even in the description on here). Don’t get me wrong, I popped an ibuprofen first, but I’m finding what is essentially a plain mint tea to be very calming right now. I don’t think there’s anything special about this at all- but sometimes that’s what I’m in the mood for. Mint tea, unlike my previous teas of the day, is a great antidote to the hot, humid weather. It cools my mouth and body, despite being hot.