Barb

Spearmint and peppermint nicely blended. This was my breakfast tea today! Usually I crave strong, hearty tea like Assam, Lapsang Souchong, Yorkshire Gold, etc. In fact, I went hunting for Lapsang at work and realized it was at home. So I went in the opposite direction.

This was quite refreshing as a wake-up tea. I brewed it only about 2 minutes and added a little stevia after tasting. I think this would be even better with honey, and delicious over ice with a dash of honey. Am I right that traditional mint tea is drunk very hot and heavily sweetened in North Africa? I can even see doing that with this tea, as an after-dinner drink.

I barely taste the lemongrass.

I have another Moroccan Mint in my shopping list. Am very curious now to sample and compare. I can’t recall whether that one is straight herbal or contains “real” tea. One or the other will probably become a staple.

Darn. Don’t taste sweet, apricot, or amaretto. What I taste it metallic, on the sides of my tongue. I’m pretty sure I followed the preparation recommendations. Now I’m wondering whether that’s the “off” almond flavor I’m getting.

It smells fruity. Going to wait and let it cool down a bit more. Maybe I’ll be able to raise my rating.

A little later: Nope. Mostly tastes like hot water now. At least the metallic taste is gone. Dumped in another bag and left it. Will update again shortly.

A little later still. Nope. I can taste the almond a bit — it doesn’t taste sweet like amaretto. I can’t taste anything else.

The box is very well constructed and nicely decorated.

Another sample from friend/coworker.

I didn’t think I liked spearmint. I have now sampled 2 different teas on 2 different days with significant spearmint flavor, and found them both quite pleasant. Maybe what I don’t like is Wrigley’s Spearmint gum?

I can also taste something lemony but I can’t tell whether it’s the verbena or the “natural flavors.” It doesn’t seem like lemongrass to me.

I deliberately gave it a very brief steep and did not let the water boil. There’s only the barest hint of tea in the background.

I like this hot. Iced, I think it would need something else – maybe a little honey. I can see how it might grow bitter if it were steeped long enough to stand up to ice.

Peachy! Wonder whether CC has reformulated this? It smells peachy and it tastes peachy and it looks peachy — even though hibiscus is listed, it didn’t turn this ruby red and the flavor I’m getting is peach, not tang.

I cold-brewed this. Would be delicious brewed strong and over ice, or mixed with a lighter black tea or maybe a green tea.

After reading some of the reviews, I decided to try cold-steeping this one. It was a sample provided by a co-worker/friend.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Sweet? Not. I’m getting SOUR, seriously sour, sour-pickle sour without the garlic, not merely tart. Also orange and spearmint, after about 3 minutes of steeping. The tea is a not-unattractive pale clear orange. Oddly, I don’t hate it. I’m not a big fan of spearmint.

After waiting a bit I’ll add more. I only have the one bag and I don’t think I am likely to buy this.

OK, waited a bit and tasted again. The sourness is becoming less extreme after another 3-4 minutes with the bag in, and now I can just barely taste the licorice.

I don’t think I’d care for this hot at all, but it’s pretty interesting with a cold steep if you’re patient with it. Maybe the “sweet” refers to the variety of orange that contributed the peel (sweet orange rather than bitter orange) so that’s a bit misleading, but wild certainly applies!

I’ve raised my rating twice. And I might try to cadge another sample after all.

Now, THIS is what I wish I had been brought up on instead of Lipton. I’m thinking maybe it just wasn’t imported to the States for many years — otherwise, my Anglophile grandmother would certainly have insisted upon it despite living in the deep south.

So glad I picked up somewhere that I shouldn’t over-steep. I think I steeped only about 3 min., added half-and-half but no sugar. Now I understand what malty means.

I have been drinking wimp teas for breakfast. Not that those others aren’t lovely, and I won’t be able to drink this stuff every morning, but I’m definitely keeping it on hand at work and at home for those mornings when I just need to get over myself and buckle down!

Third tasting, this time with stevia and nothing else. Started with 1/2 packet because I don’t often sweeten tea unless I’m trying to turn it into a dessert, and also because I am not used to stevia.

Had to add the whole packet of stevia and then I was getting this weird psychedelic tea-stevia-tea-stevia taste. Not the two tastes blended into sweet tea.

Do not like. I’m pretty sure that’s mostly the fault of the stevia, which I will have to try in some other tea before giving it to my sister or leaving it on the workplace tea/coffee table. In the Aged Earl Grey, it’s contributing its own aftertaste to the bitterness I mentioned last time, and not enhancing the bergamot at all. I shall now dump a bit of half and half in and see what happens.

…dum-de-dum-de-dum-de-dum,,,,

…and reheated it a bit.

…dum-de-dum-de-dum…

That’s better. Not as good as the first batch, when it was unpolluted by anything sweet, but acceptable. I will be enjoying this with half-and-half or 2% milk from now on. So there you go.

P.S. Numi’s website has it as loose tea, so I may go that way next time also.

Second tasting, this time with nothing added. It was a little bitter for my taste, especially as it cooled off. I’m going to try it once more with a bit of stevia added and then again with just the half-and-half.

Still enjoying the subtlety of the bergamot, though. It’s like a whisper.

This is SO good and so smooth and subtly flavored! I had it this morning with half and half. I had planned to try it again plain or with a little sweetener because I used up the last of my work stash of half and half. Maybe later today, plain.

I think this will have to be in my regular stock.

Well, this time I made sure the mug was rinsed multiple times and I removed the bags after about 5 minutes.

So no soap, but no particular flavor of anything else, either. Aside from an unidentifiable aftertaste I’m getting. Orange and mango ought to taste JUICY. Again, the aroma was pleasant, but not worth the trouble. Maybe I got a bad or stale box — others have seemed to enjoy this.

A friend gave me a sample of this. I have developed a jaundiced view of Teavana based almost wholly on some comments about their merchandising style in the shops. Ditto for tea with hibiscus in it, based mainly on the Zinger family.

What a pleasant surprise this stuff was! I am not overwhelmed by hibiscus at all and definitely taste the orange/fruity flavors. The red color is very deep, probably because of the beetroot as much as the hibiscus. My friend said “it tastes just like it smells” and it actually does.

I too assume the “orange juice bits” must be freeze-dried orange juice, but it doesn’t bother me. I think this would be very nice as an iced tea or the basis of a summer punch mixed with ginger ale. The flavor actually reminded me a bit of some Sangrias I used to enjoy.

I’m going to withhold rating this until I give it another chance or two. No scent at all when I opened the box, but after steeping it smelled very promising. Lots of orange in the steam. I left the bag in the mug and let it cool a bit.

It tasted like soap.

I had just washed my mug so it’s POSSIBLE that I didn’t rinse it well enough, but I was still so discouraged that even after washing again I wasn’t ready to give it another try yet.

On the plus side, no hibiscus.

I have now seen the light, thanks to (Liberteas?) who advised me to seek out an unbagged chamomile. I’ll be trying samples of others, probably, but in the meanwhile this herbal tisane has also redeemed Old Wilmington Tea Company for me.

Elsewhere I mentioned recently that I was going to have to give up on their blended teas but that I had a sample of Egyptian Chamomile and one of Amethyst in my recent order.

Reader, there truly is all the difference in the world between loose, good-quality chamomile like this one and bagged, semi-crushed chamomile which is all I had ever had before.

It’s a very delicate flavor, but it’s there. The scent of apples is lovely and innocent, like slipping into a cool white cotton nightgown on a mild summer night. I steeped it about 10 minutes and did not add anything to it.

Just a sweet old-fashioned treat for bedtime.

Visited my sister yesterday. I had given her several bags of this from my stash. When she reported the “double bergamot” was definitely double bergamot, I gave it another try.

I could definitely smell the bergamot this time when I opened the wrappers. Since I was using a big mug, I also used two bags. So far, so good.

The aroma was a little diminished after steeping. I tarted up the cup with a dash of brown sugar and some 2% milk, and sipped.

Well, yes. It is Earl Grey. It still doesn’t taste like what I would call “double bergamot,” but it’s a perfectly serviceable and pleasant Earl Grey for those times when I’m in the mood for Earl Grey.

I checked my cabinet and what I currently have is a Twinings decaf Earl Grey and a Taylor’s of Harrowgate caffeinated Earl Grey. I cannot tell what others I’ve tried (probably Bigelow at least) but I guess I’ve just never developed any brand loyalty.

I’ve been enjoying this right along, just not logging it. I wonder whether this will show up correctly, or at least be intelligible if not?

<3

(Yummy – today a dash of amber agave nectar and a sploosh of half and half.)

Another sample from Old Wilmington Tea. This one got me all excited when I opened the packet — definitely a strong orange aroma, and there was a gigantic piece of dried orange in the first tablespoon I put in my infuser. (Orange, pineapple, vanilla, and chocolate are all almost irresistible to me.)

So I made sure there was plenty in the infuser, and I steeped it a long while, but…

Meh. The orange was there but barely after steeping. I think I may have to give up on this company’s flavored teas, no matter how delicious they sound or how enticing the aroma of the dry tea.

But I still have an untried sample of Amethyst and one of Egyptian Chamomile, so I have hopes for their unblended/unflavored teas.

I ordered a sample of this from Old Wilmington and had some earlier today, with nothing added. It was smooth and mellow, but the vanilla was not pronounced. I’ve tried 2 vanilla rooibos teas now, this one and Madagascar Red from Celestial seasonings, and so far I haven’t found what I’m looking for — a lush vanilla aroma and flavor with some sweetness.

I resisted this for a long time because I had tried the regular version of Lady Grey some months ago and had given it away to my sister after one cup.

I probably bought this box of [meant to be] cold-brewed Lady Grey because I had tried the mixed berries version of Twinings’ cold-brewed tea and found it pleasant.

Well, here I am with the box 2/3 gone, quietly sipping on a cool glass of the stuff, and I haven’t even admitted it’s in my cupboard, much less written up a tasting note.

Obviously, I haven’t given this away to my sister. I am finding it very refreshing. It tastes like tea (no clue what the base tea may be, other than black — maybe Ceylon? Kenya?) blended with a dash of bergamot and a dash of lemon. Orange and lime are supposed to be there as well, but I’m not finding them. Still, the citrus is an accent to the tea rather than overwhelming it. I drink it plain.

It was fine to accompany lunch though maybe not the best for the lunch I actually had. I had a rather spicy black bean and rice concoction and I think this would have gone better with something lighter and milder.

It’s even more fine for a mid-afternoon break when I want something cold to drink. That’s how I’ve been using it for a week or two. I will be re-stocking when this box is gone.

See my tasting note under Celestial Seasonings’ Peppermint for blending these two together.

Tried this again this morning added to a black tea – Harney’s English Breakfast, a “silken bagged” Keemun. One bag of Harney’s, one bag of the mint, steeped about 4 minutes, added half and half.

This made for quite a tasty and refreshing late-morning-post-meeting-wakemeup. I’ll be adding somebody’s mint to my cupboard for a blending tea, and it may very well be this one.

I actually tried this the other day — Sunday, maybe? And it alarmed me because it didn’t taste like something I would call “Double Bergamot.” I don’t know what that means.

Yes, I tasted the Bergamot. It was fine. It wasn’t spectacularly strong. Does that mean I’ve only ever tasted Earl Grey teas that were spectacularly strong in bergamot flavor? Does it mean that Stash Tea’s plain old Earl Grey is not especially strongly flavored with Bergamot? Does it mean my taste buds are just weird? Or that I was not feeling my best that day?

Like I said, I don’t know what it all means. Perhaps this weekend I’ll have a taste-off with a “regular” Earl Grey that’s in my cupboard. (I think that one is Taylor’s but it may be Twinings.)

I really liked the aroma of this tea. It reminded me of good-quality soy sauce sprinkled on yummy Basmati rice. Very comforting, hearty scent.

I drank it plain and thought it was a little bitter — next time will pay closer attention to the steeping time. Somehow the idea of adding milk sounds wrong, but I may sweeten it a bit next time also.

I have an idea this is kind of an acquired taste but at this point it’s one I would like to acquire. I may try another brand after I finish this box of Numi.

Another in my Celestial Seasonings’ Herbal Tea Sampler. I Added about 1/2 tsp of sugar.

I’m drinking this about 10 AM. The mouth feel is definitely minty and I think if I were at home I’d add agave rather than sugar. It’s tasty as long as I don’t let it cool down, but it doesn’t seem to be helping my slight sinus headache. The vague unsettled stomach is better, though.

I believe I would have to consider this one a medicinal — not sure I would drink it by itself for enjoyment, but I may try adding it to an uninspiring black tea at some point.

Tried this one again this morning with a proper infuser so I wasn’t bothered by twiggy bits at the bottom of my cup.

Still. Obviously I need an afternoon taste-off among my various black teas. That’s the only way I’m going to be able to tell the difference between Assam, this African tea, and the Ceylon. When I drink each of them in the morning, with nothing to compare, about all I can manage is “tea good” or “tea not good.” So far, all have been “good” but I still can’t detect the tobacco-like aroma others have mentioned.