Popular Tasting Notes

Kind of bland. Steeped it for five minutes and it didn’t get any stronger. Not bad, but not really worth drinking, either.

I’ve almost finished the Pregnancy Tea I ordered, and I have a bunch of raspberry leaf from Rose Mountain Herbs, so I decided to try making my own blend. For my first attempt I added a bit of peppermint, a few small pieces of clementine peel, and a couple dashes of ginger. The flavor was fine, but it immediately triggered my heartburn, so I took a few sips, then dumped the rest and tried again.

For my second attempt, I added 1 tsp raspberry leaf, 1/2 tsp honeybush, 1/2 tsp chamomile, and a couple dashes of ginger. It was quite good, with a mild yet complex flavor, and it cleared up my heartburn right away. It tasted like a warm summery meadow- grassy, with undertones of hay, wood, flowers, and a hint of ginger. I think I’ll keep this base recipe and try adding different variations to it.

Started my day off with this tea. This is one of those blends I try to be a little more careful with. It needs to steep long enough to get a good flavour, but I try not to oversteep it, because I am not super crazy about the base tea. It is not a bad, tasting tea, but it is certainly a strong tasting base and one that I feel works best in moderation. With a quick steep and a pinch of sugar, the chocolate and the orange shine though and this is a nice, indulgent morning cup to wake up with.

I am not sure whether this technically still counts as an Earl Grey. If it does, then it is an unusual one. Not only is this tea flavoured with bergamot oil, but also with neroli oil (a Sicilian bitter orange). The strength of this flavouring gives the tea almost an artificial scent and taste despite the company’s claims of the flavouring consisting of natural oils. The tea is characterized by this sweet citrus aroma which differs from everything I have perceived before. I am certain that this aroma is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is definitely worth trying. The leaves are rather large-sized and almost pitch black when dry.
Considering the price, this tea isn’t really a bargain, but for those who like it, this tea is worth its money. Those who are open for less traditional tastes should consider having a cup as well.

Subtle and delicate, a tea to be examined thoughtfully. Lots of little things going on: a hay-like, dry grass note, even a mild cedar tone. Think mild summer nights and clean, open air in a cup.

The type of tea that you drink in silence or with a good book.

I got this in my tea haul at Walt Disney’s Epcot in the Twinings Tea Shoppe in England in the World Showcase. It’s one of my staple autumn/winter teas. Perfect for when the weather is cold and either pumpkins are on your porch or a lit up tree is in you living room (hopefully not at the same time).

Really nice, gentle tea with a natural melon flavor. Pretty touchy and oversteeped easily.

First cuppa today. I went a little lighter on the amount of tea per cup. I do think this works well for Harney’s blends to avoid bitterness. Also, a 3 minute steep seems to do the trick. This blend has the perfect amount of ginger and peach.

Hmm, it has been awhile since I’ve drank this, and really just wanted to try it again. It is very lemony, and was a fabulous addition to the fish I cooked for dinner tonight. There was also a sweetness that I didn’t remember from before. I think it is because I steeped it for two minutes this time. I’m continually impressed by how much just a minute of steeping time effects the taste of tea.

This is the best of the spring collection samples I’ve had, but, honestly, that isn’t saying much. It reminds me of Hot Tropic without the spice. The green tea base is very noticeable and not in a pleasant way. Something in the blend leans on the sour side. I’m not a huge fan of pineapple in tea when it’s the predominant flavor, so I’m not terribly disappointed that I don’t love this tea. I’m happy to have sampled it, but I won’t be stocking up. The spring collection is a miss for me. That’s probably a good thing, more money in my pocket to spend on other brands (I’m looking at you 52Teas). Here’s hoping the summer teas are up my alley.

Compares to a strong green camellia tea, but Mum says I can re-steep thrice, and below boiling. Energizing.

Sort of a run of the mill black, I’ve never been super impressed by Yunnan blacks. Pu-erhs, now that’s another story.

I popped this in my iced tea jug and have been drinking it over the past few days. I’ve never really been too keen on the idea of iced early grey but am really enjoying it. This time around I brewed it on boiling water and then chilled it but next time I’ll try a cold brew over night.

Very weird flavour. It tasty a lot like yerba mate in that it has a burnt earthy flavour to it like cheap overbrewed coffee. You can taste a bit of cocoa, but no caramel.

What a warm and refreshing nectar. The peach in this tea really tempers the oolong leaf – which I find is not especially pungent in this blend. The almond comes through as a nice addition to this melange, but does not have a distinct flavor of its own.

The mouth feel of this tea is a little dry and nectar-ish, although not negatively so. It’s a pleasant thing.

I like this as-is or sometimes lightly sweetened with stevia for dessert.

Great, well-balanced tea.

The balls are interesting, smell intensely of Jasmine as one would expect, and produces a cloudy peach-gold colored liquor. I may have used too much leaf (? but doubt it since the people I was sharing it with didn’t take any offense to it…) as the intense jasmine taste and smell is overlaid on a quite dry, astringent, herb-y flavor/feel that made it hard for me to pick out any other taste to the tea, although I wouldn’t call it thin at all. It finally dies down by the fourth resteeping, but the astringency increases to take its place and it becomes notably bitter at that point.

A disclaimer, though: This bag has been sitting in my cupboard for about a year (best by date on the bag was 1/8/16 and it is now a solid almost four months since then) and I am not typically a fan of Jasmine tea, this bag came to me as a gift from a non-tea drinking friend. I usually find Jasmine to be too floral, overpowering, and too dry to boot most of the time, which I found to be disappointingly true in this instance as well. in fact, I’d say all the things I dislike about Jasmine teas was compounded in this instance due to the fact that it was made with white tea and had less to tone down/dilute the crazy Jasmine element than usual.

Bottom line, between this and a standard Chinese restaurant tea, I’d probably pick the restaurant tea, but that’s probably at least partially because Jasmine tea in general tends to offend my personal sense of taste and maybe partially due to the length of time it’s been sitting in my cupboard, although I don’t remember liking it when I first got it either, as that’s why it’s been sitting there for so long.

One of my best ever teas, I order it directly from a guy in Taiwan on eBay. Bewwed just right it has a melon-ish taste and sweetness, very little earthyness.

Much better with added honey!

Ahh, yes, this is exactly what I wanted this evening: clean and calming, with notes of honeysuckle and clover and chrysanthemum, and of course, jasmine. Just delicious. happy sigh

Great flavor.

I bought this on a whim after reading a review of a gentleman who drank this tea while reading long Russian tomes (Tolstoy’s War and Peace). It isn’t just the English major in me that pounced on this coupling of images. The scent of books and a smokey, full cuppa…. Well, I am a fan of the occasional wintry smoked tea, especially because it brings to mind 19thc Russia, or frosted windows by a rustic fireplace…

A lovely light Oolong. It’s very mild and refreshing. Second infusion brings in some toasted flavor.

This is probably my favorite just-plain-rooibos tea that comes in bags: It’s a very nice tea! It’s a great, basic rooibos without any other flavors. Would I recommend you buy it in its usual 36-bag tin? Sure. Would I recommend that you buy 250 bags of it in bulk, like I did? No, my friends, I would not — having finally completed that sipdown, I can assure you that it is not 250-bags-worth of amazing.

This tea has been my unchallenged favorite for several years. It’s the perfect blend when I need a little caffeine boost – just about every weekday morning. It’s a strong black tea mixed with wonderfully-scented rose petals. I’ve had other flower-scented teas, but they were always too floral and cloying. This one somehow manages to convey the scent of roses in foody, non-floral way. This tea is lightly sweet even without sugar, but is robust enough stand up to extra sugar and a splash of milk. It’s also wonderful on its own.