Jessie

I cold-brewed this one overnight and took it to work with me yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It tastes suspiciously like DT’s Goji Pop, but I’m quite alright with that. It seemed a little less tart than Goji Pop, but to be fair I can’t remember if I cold-brewed that one. So I’ll have to pull it out to compare. This performs really well as a cold brew, and I’m sure as a hot-then-iced tea, but I’m not sure that I’ll bother trying it hot. It seems meant to be iced. Really sweet and refreshing; I pick out more of the melon and goji than any pear, but they really work together.

You know what, I don’t dislike this. I find it a little dusty-tasting as I often do Pai Mu Tan/Bai Mu Dan, and I find the coconut a tad soapy. But even then, the vanilla and coconut are harmonized enough that it’s not awful. It’s really flavourful but, despite the vanilla/coconut combo, not terribly sweet. It’s interesting.

So good! I threw some of this into my new Green’s Your Colour insulated steel water bottle (it comes with a really fine tea strainer; perfection!) and let it cold steep overnight to help keep me hydrated during another 12-hour. It reminds me of David’s Luscious Watermelon, but with less of the kind of bubblegumesque flavour. Very refreshing, and I find watermelon to be a really soothing flavour. I haven’t tried this hot yet, but I anticipate that brewing it hot and letting it chill would yield more flavour. This was still great cold-brewed, though.

This was nice as a before-bed on a kind-of cool night tea last night, though I found it a little syrupy-sweet. Something was just a bit off. I think I’d like it if the sweetness was balanced out with a little more body, which I imagine is hard to do.

This is actually the peach and apricot teas mixed together, as they no longer carry specifically Peach Apricot. Fair enough! I could have chosen one or the other, but whey not both?

I’m liking the fruit flavours in this. Sweet and subtle. Overwhelming, chemical-tasting peach flavour has been a stomach-turning issue for me in the past so I’m very happy with this! Unfortunately I’m finding this overly bitter, too. I am actually doing short, 30-second ish steeps, which is working pretty well. It keeps it nice and light but doesn’t quite let the flavours come out to play.

I found this one not bad, but pretty dull. I didn’t get a lot of rhubarb from it, and very little cream. I had the odd nice hint of tart rhubarb, but it was really overwhelmed by bitterness despite a very short steep! It fell a bit flat.

I was worried by being pretty underwhelmed by the scent of this tea, dry and steeped. But, it’s quite good! I steeped for 3 minutes at 205, and it came out robust but sweet and creamy. I don’t think I’d go any longer, and might try 2 minutes as per Bigelow. In any case, it helped me stay awake for a particularly ridiculous 12-hour work day. Let me outta here!

Whoah, orange! This was intense and really enjoyable. I made it last night as my post-workout, pre-bed tea and it filled both roles. It’s really refreshing but also relaxing. I found it really sweet ‘n’ juicy, like biting into a clementine. This is the strongest, most natural orange flavour I’ve had in a tea. I had just eaten an orange, too, so I believe I’m qualified to remark on this. I’m going to have to ice it soon!

Okay, this was bloody amazing. I had a cup of this kindly made for me in preparation for a road trip yesterday, and it was delicious. The caramel flavour is really incredible. I’ve never had a caramel tea that blew me away, so I was surprised that the flavour in this was so spot on.

This morning, I had to go for the combo of this with the green apple matcha. Perfect! Tart, fresh green apple with gooey, sweet caramel. This stuff tastes so sweet, and it’s so smooth and lacking any bitterness, that I don’t really understand how it works. But, I am loving it and I’m so glad to have had the chance to try ‘em! I’m also impressed by how vibrant the matcha is. It tastes very fresh, and is that awesome deep green colour, not the sickly powder green I’m used to seeing in flavoured matchas.

This is even better than I was expecting! It’s a very fresh-tasting sencha with a gentle, delicious sweetness from the peach combined with subtle, earthy notes from the gingko. Nicely done.

Oh, this is fine but I’m unenthused. The berry flavours are nice, and it’s subtle enough not to be overbearing (read: I will be able to finish the pouch), but I just don’t get along with the sencha Teaopia uses in their blends. It’s kind of scratchy, and not very flavourful. I’m also finding that their blends kind of blur together for me as the fruity ones end up tasting the same.

This was surprisingly good! Unabashedly fruity, and nicely refreshing. I’m shocked to find that I think it actually tastes a fair bit like Tealish’s Fairy Dust. This is completely welcome as I’m out of Fairy Dust right now. Not much else to say. It’s a nice balance of berry and tropical fruitiness.

I had a coupon (from signing up for a mailing list in store) for 50 g free with the purchase of 50 g in Teaopia. I will go to great lengths for free or discounted tea, and realized it was expiring today (it actually turned out to be yesterday but still worked), so headed down today before work.

I lucked into an employee who was different from the others I’ve had at the two Teaopias I’ve visited; he was actually friendly and easy-going, and seemed pretty honest in telling me which teas he thought were good/popular, and which he and customers found lacklustre.

Anyway, he said this was one of his favourites so I thought I’d might as well grab a cup to go. It’s interesting. Very almondy, very sweet with some tartness from the currants. I enjoyed it but don’t think I’d buy any, as I’m not such an almond person. I was worried that there would be too much going on (which had me wondering about the accuracy of its name), but it was pretty well-balanced in the added flavour department. I can’t say I’m a fan of the sencha they seem to use in their blends, though.

Okay, I’ve had this several times now and haven’t logged it because I couldn’t really figure out what I thought about it. It’s just kind of weird. It’s not bad, and it accomplishes some sort of ice creamy taste, but it’s odd. I don’t care for the carob in it, nor do I care for the stevia!

Anyway, when I put my hand into the chaotic tea corner, I grabbed this one. I need to use up what I have, so I went with it. But I wanted to change it up, so I basically made breakfast out of it by adding the most coconut milk I have ever added to a tea (Aroy-D, in a carton, from an Asian market; it’s the way to go for coconut milk). I have mostly concluded that I don’t like my cherished coconut milk in tea because the fat floats to the top and gets weird. But, I used a lot. And I already think that the coconut milk tastes like ice cream when it gets really thick. So, the texture rocked. And it was sweet and creamy and tasty.

But, there was the WORST bitter aftertaste on it. Yuck. I definitely find that I like stevia in food but can’t handle it in beverages. I’m going to have to try a super-creamy coconut milk latte with another tea because it showed great potential and also kept me full for hours!

I had this to-go today in an effort to knock off some of the teas I haven’t tried that I think sound okay-ish. This one falls firmly into that territory.

The description really confuses me. I got lots of fruitiness from the scent, both dry and steeped, and the flavour! Fruity and a little floral. It was quite sweet, nice and smooth. Not bad!

This was a blast from the past today. I’m doing some 12-hour (incredibly slow, boring) shifts at the office conveniently located near a DT, and have taken to popping in for a to-go cup. The problem is that I never know what I want; I have pretty much any of the teas I have any interest in drinking at home. And I feel silly paying $2.63 or whatever for a cup of things I have tins of. But, I have to do it. It’s just too damn convenient.

Anyway, I haven’t had this one in ages though I often pause over it when choosing what to drink. I think it was in my first-ever DT order, so we go way back. And it just jumped out at me today. I knew it was the tea for me. When the employee opened the canister to scoop mine out, the scent was incredibly powerful and had me excited to get back to my desk for some quality time with that turquoise paper cup. It didn’t disappoint. It’s as good as I remember it being. I think I might need to indulge in some fresher stock, as my love for this one has been renewed. So sweet! So creamy.

This was quite nice! It has a light but tasty and natural strawberry flavour. It tended towards bitterness, though. 2.5 minutes at 175 made it a little unpleasant, though a second steep at 3 minutes was perfect. This is another one that is nice but not particularly memorable. A good stand-by, though. I don’t find strawberry flavours are usually done very well so I appreciate this one.

Not bad, though it feels like one of a million incarnations of the same tea. Definitely not exciting. That said, it is light and fresh and citrusy, so it’s pleasant. The stevia thankfully doesn’t bother me in this one.

I’ve had this the past two mornings. It’s utterly drinkable, but that’s about it. I find it quite bland. I don’t like the sensation stevia gives me in tea, which is odd as I use stevia plenty in food and have come to like it. I’m also a bit biased against carob. I don’t really mind carob by its own merits, but I don’t like it when it masquerades as chocolate. It doesn’t work as chocolate for me. Too bitter.

I also don’t like the copious amounts of carob powder that end up in the bottom of my cup. I’ve ended up leaving about 1/5th of both cups as it makes it too gritty and bitter.

Anyway, not awful but nothing to make me want to finish what I have let alone buy more. I will say it smells awesome, though! I get chocolate cake from the scent, and muddy, watery carob from the taste.

Finally got my hands on the cake teas! This is nice, though it doesn’t shout cake to me. It is very sweet (though I don’t have an issue with it being sickly-sweet like some other reviewers), and nicely creamy. I would have guessed it was a vanilla rooibos, and I can also see where others are getting maple. You probably could have told me this was the Oh Canada rooibos and, especially in my present sleepy state, I wouldn’t have questioned it.

It’s funny; when I take a couple-minute break and come back to my cup, I get BUTTERCREAM ICING at the very top of the very first sip. And then, bam, red rooibos. It’s sweet enough that I can tolerate the rooibos, but it has me wishing this were more honeybush or green rooibos-heavy than red rooibos. Very tasty vanilla rooibos is what I’m coming away with, basically.

I am just a little bit surprised by my reaction to this tea. In my quest to drink every coconut Oolong I can get my hands on, I ordered some of this from iHeartTeas. I expected to be madly in love with it, and heartbroken that Golden Moon for some reason can’t arrange shipping to Canada (I’ve emailed them about it and they are very nice and helpful, but say it’s not a possibility at this point).

Anyway, I’m not in love! What! This isn’t to undermine this tea. It’s good. It’s really good! But, my mind is not blown. And I’ve been finding coconut Oolongs pretty mindblowing 3/3 up to this one. It has the same light Oolong crispness, the coconut sweetness. But I’ve had it twice now and it’s just not quite matching up. It’s going to be a pleasure to finish it, but I am (thankfully) not going to be in mourning when it’s finished. I’m enjoying it but it’s not the first tea I want to reach for like Tealish’s Coconut Bongo was while my 50 g lasted. I think the Spice and Tea Exchange and Tao Tea Leaf versions have been my favourite, but the price of the Tao one sets it back. Tealish’s is a close third, but its accessibility boosts its rating. This one comes in fourth, as a solid contender but lacking the star power of the others.

Okay, I should have given this a shot earlier. It took me a long time to get around to it, as I “don’t like” Dragon Well. But this is really quite nice. It’s sweet, warm, nutty, and very smooth. Definitely the best Dragon Well I’ve tried, though my experience hasn’t been extensive since for some reason most turn me off. Thanks to Teavivre for the sample and opening me up to trying more Dragon Well!

Oh, I adore getting Verdant’s blends in the tea of the month package. They are always so much fun to try.

This is the second one I’ve been quite frightened of, however. I haven’t had good experiences with the holy basil I’ve tried, and I’m not a huge supporter of minty teas. And this is quite minty and spicy. But, I think I’m coming around to the mint. I thoroughly enjoyed this! It was very minty, but had enough body that it wasn’t biting. It was sweet and earthy. I actually didn’t detect the licorice root, so it was pretty harmoniously blended with the other flavours. It was really remarkably refreshing, and the suggestion of mixing it with sparking water sounds mighty fine, maybe with some cucumber.

Yum! Definitely sweet, definitely bakey, but melded nicely with a smooth black base. I didn’t add milk, though I think it would definitely be an excellent addition. This is the kind of tea I always want in the morning. I always reach for dessert teas first thing out of bed.