Mandy Bee

This is my favorite coffee flavor from Barnie’s. My friend bought me a box of this tea yesterday when we saw it. (Thank you, Fleur!)

It smells similar to the coffee but with the smell of tea instead of coffee. Not that tea smells bad but it’s never quite as satisfying taking a whiff of tea as it is taking a whiff of coffee in the morning.

After about three minutes, I took a sip of this. The flavor is really light and mellow. There’s some coconut and caramel.

I’ve kept the tea in my cup instead of removing the bag. It doesn’t really seem to be oversteeping. Not the best tea I’ve ever had, not the worst. It tastes similar to another caramel/vanilla tea I’ve had (I think it’s Lipton).

Might need some milk or honey to make it a little more interesting.

I had three cups of this today. Great chai blend – not too spicy, a little sweet, a little pumpkin-y.

Having this with breakfast. Office-brewed (which means I just sort of pour boiling or once-boiled water, let it sit however long I remember, then drink).

Nothing too special here. Tastes good with some honey and soy milk. Good alternative to coffee in the morning. (The coffee maker at work needs some help.)

And it’s hot. Ow.

I had two cups of this this morning. It’s not too bad the second steep around.

I don’t LOVE this tea but I think it’s pretty good, even for something that already has sweetener in it. You can also smell it across the room, a kind of fruity, dessert-y smell.

It’s been so long since I’ve done a proper tasting note, I’m not actually sure how to describe this tea.

I would say this one is earthy but not in a straight up dirty kind of way. Maybe like wet leaves – oh wait, that’s what it is. :)

I can sort of taste the ‘coffee’ thing but wouldn’t say this was a substitute for coffee. It’s very good though.

Some days I really like this tea, other days the smell of it is weird to me. Maybe it’s a fake banana smell, not sure.

It’s very nutty but if I didn’t know there was supposed to be banana in it, I’m not sure I’d be able to name the other flavor in this tea.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

This is sour, as the name claims. I’m not a fan.

I think I actually made the red Steepster face when I took my first sip.

Wow – this was supremely smoky and I couldn’t take but a few sips. To be fair, I’m sick right now, so that may explain my aversion. (Stuffed up nose + smoky fire wood = Sad panda) Not sure if I’d try another Lapsang Souchong… Who knows. I really thought I’d like this one.

Got this sample from Jennifer B – thanks! Like she said, the flavors are light but this tea is really good! It has just enough flavor without overpowering the tea.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this tea because ginger and lemon can both be very strong flavors and sometimes I just can’t handle them. This one is mellow with that nice zing that ginger adds to the back of your throat. It has just enough flavor for me to wake me up but doesn’t get to be too much halfway through the cup. I used really hot water on this because I thought it was black tea (woops). Didn’t seem to hurt it much though. Yummy!

No notes yet.

This is going well with my strawberries and Cool Whip dessert. This blend feels kind of heavy on my tongue, almost as if it were gritty. There’s a lovely coffee note to this. I’m a coffee-lover as well as a tea-lover, so this satisfies both cravings. I think I taste a little nuttiness and a little bit of chocolate. There’s some vanilla in there somewhere.

Also, I looked up “crocant” because I had no idea what it was. Somehow, Google has been of very little help to me but I’m thinking, based on search results, that “crocant” is derived from the French word “croquant” meaning crispy and that “crocant bits” are little crispy… bits. They seem to be used in chocolates and with nougat. :9 (Can anyone clarify??)

With little crispy bits in mind, I think there’s a puffy, wafery kind of undertone to this tea. All around, this tastes like dessert – a puffy, chocolate-dusted, coffee dessert. Oh. That’s what tiramisu is, isn’t it? Well done, SensibiliTeas. Well done.

This tea is very subtly floral. It’s really nice and I just sucked down a whole mug in ten minutes. Guess I liked it!

Backlog: Love this tea! It’s so unique and tastes delicious. Whenever I want “green”, I get some of this. Read my review: http://mandybee.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/kokeicha-from-tantalizing-tea/

First, I have to admit that my sample of this has been sitting in its little tin for almost three years now. (Yikes!) I hate to waste, so I thought I’d give this another try. I remember my first run with this being a bit unpleasant. I think I decided at that time that I just didn’t like chestnuts (I’ve never actually eaten one before so I can’t judge this tea based on the actual taste of a chestnut).

For being so old, I think this tea has held up pretty well. The flavors are a little light – possibly due to a short steeping time or the age of the tea – but I actually kinda like the tea this time. It’s nutty (duh) and I can still taste the tea. It blends together very nicely and is nice and mellow.

I think I brewed this a little too long today. It’s a bit bitter. I love the underlying flavor though and it’s still drinkable. I can’t find the words to describe the flavor at the moment though. I feel like a tea review failure. :P

This is one of my favorite chai tea blends, mostly because it doesn’t contain pepper. It’s mellow and lovely and I need to buy more!

No notes yet.

Adding a little sweetener (agave nectar) and milk make this tea amazingly delicious. See my full review: http://mandybee.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/coco-chai-rooibos-from-mighty-leaf-is-delicious/

This would definitely never be a go-to tea for me but it’s pretty good. I like the addition of the cinnamon with the berries and lemon flavors. I think I would like this better during the winter when I’m looking for something warm with a little tartness as I enjoy the flavors better when the tea is hot. When the tea is cool or iced, the berry flavors are a little overwhelming.

Rooibos Renewal is a nice, fresh-tasting tea but it uses orange as a main flavor and it just doesn’t work for me. It smells really good, orangey and a little flowery with that familiar smell of rooibos. The large pieces of orange peel add a lot of citrus flavor to this tea and it’s slightly mellowed by the flower petals (rose and blue mallow). The second steeping isn’t quite as strong as the first and I find it a bit easier to drink but this isn’t a tea that I’ll be looking for next time I go tea-shopping.

I’ve had two cups of this tea on this lovely Saturday morning and I have to say… not feeling the rejuvenation I was looking for. I think others may enjoy this tea more than I do. It’s not necessary bad, just not my cup.

The melon flavor in this tea is strong and doesn’t hide anywhere. Makes a wonderful iced tea (whether you purposefully make iced tea or just leave your tea to sit too long).