Starla H

Very disappointed in this one. The cherry flavor is pretty blah and leaves a chemical/plasticy aftertaste in my mouth. The black tea component was standard for 52teas, so no surprises there. Didn’t absolutely hate it, but if you’re looking for a GOOD cherry tea, I’d recommend the Bing Cherry Vanilla from the Republic of Tea.

I was very excited to get this one after all I’d heard about it. It’s very very similar to the Mayan Chocolate Chai, but minus the cayenne, for which I am grateful. Not real heavy on the chocolate flavor, which is a little bit of a bummer, but fairly well balanced. This is my new go-to tea since I’m out of the coconut vanilla chai from NotJustTea.

This one is not one of mine, but I’m adding it here anyway as I end up making this quite often for my husband. It’s pretty much exactly like the regular Sleepytime tea, only with a touch of vanilla. My husband likes them both equally. Strong scent of spearmint and chamomille, with the vanilla overtones. Not my cup of tea, but for the herbal tea drinker it’s a decent choice.

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Ordered a sample of this from etsy.com because it sounded interesting. It’s not as spicy as I’d normally like, but this is probably my new favorite tea. A bit of half and half and some sugar and NOM. So yummy! I’m bummed that I’m almost out of the 1 ounce sample, but I will be ordering more of this as soon as I go through a bit more of my current stash! To get your own go to notjusttea.com. You will not regret it!!!

I bought this as a tea for my kids as they’re always asking for mine (but as mine is almost always black tea that’s a big NO). Gave them a few choices and they went with the apple. This isn’t usually my kind of tea, but the aroma of this one was way too tempting to pass up. The darkness of it makes it taste like a real tea (so satisfies that craving for me), plus has the yummy flavors of apple cider on top of it. The kids drank this in record time and said they enjoyed it so looks like it’s a keeper. Tazo has yet to disappoint me.

One last note: I found when making more of this that I don’t smell the caramel in the cup, but I can when I placed a bit in a spoon for tasting purposes. Odd, but not in a bad way.

Purchased this one earlier today and brewed a cup. It was a pleasant surprise to find out it’s loose leaf and not bagged. It really is a nice mellow tea and is even better with sugar and a splash of cream. I will be keeping this one on hand!

I tried a sample of this in Harry & David’s last night, so I can’t give a steep time or anything since I didn’t do that part. What I can tell you is that this is one of my favorites that I’ve tried in a long time. It was a nice mild black tea and the cherry and vanilla flavors were delicate notes in the brew. Had this one without cream or sugar (which is odd for me) and I still thought this one was fantastic. I will definitely be purchasing this in the near future!

This is more of a true chai than the mild chai I tried before. The mild is good if you want black tea with a little spice, but this one is more what I like. Even my husband (who is not normally a chai drinker), liked this one. My first try of this tea and I steeped it a touch too long, but didn’t notice any excessive acidity, so it seems to be rather forgiving. This is always good when you have kids that like to distract you when you’re brewing a cup. :)

Tried this one again at a lower steeping temperature. Was a little better, but husband still refused to drink it as it didn’t help the smell. I did manage to drink about 1/4 a mug of this before I decided to throw in the towel. I always tell my kids “you have to try it before you say you don’t like it”. Well, I did. I don’t like it. Even a little. Suppose they can’t all be winners, eh?

I love chai. It’s my favorite kind of tea on the planet. I gave this one a try via a special offer on Teaman’s etsy store and was looking forward to trying a new chai blend. When I recieved the package the aroma made my mailbox smell SO yummy! But despite the strong scent, when this one brews up the majority of the flavor is your basic black tea. It is exactly as the name implies. It’s a very mild chai. While I love a robust, spicy chai, this one is perfect for when you want something a little more mellow. The best part about the tea is the price. It’s good tea for a bargain price. I will definitely be placing another order with Teaman, but perhaps for the full-bodied chai next time.

I was really excited about this one when I read the description. I don’t normally care much for green tea, but how could I resist malted milk flavored tea? When I opened the bag, I was greeted by a lovely maple scent, with a slightly toasty overtone. However, as soon as I added water to this, I had to pour it straight down the drain. The smell was something akin to compost with rice cakes in it. My husband, who enjoys green tea, couldn’t even tolerate the smell long enough to take a drink. I may give it one more shot, (monitoring the water temp a bit more as I think it was near boiling the first time) before I throw it into the trash, but I really don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference. What a waste. Bleah.

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No idea what it is about this tea, but my husband calls it Nightmare Tea as he always has dreams that freak him out when he drinks this before bed. As for me, it’s a decent herbal tea, but not really my thing. This is more floral than I care for. I tend towards spicy or fruity blends.

Rooibos, not my favorite. This is a pretty standard one though, and not bad if it’s what you like or are in the mood for.

This used to be one of my favorite teas before I discovered chai. The aroma of this blend is really lovely. Definitely very vanilla-y, but I get a distinct honey scent from it as well, though that could be from the vanilla and almond mixing together. This tea is incredibly smooth and hard to brew incorrectly (like most teas you buy at a grocery store), so it’s good if you don’t want to fuss with loose leaf or high-maintenance teas that can turn on you if brewed too long.

I love a good, spicy chai, and this one just sort of falls flat for me. If you like a mild chai without much kick to it, this is your chai. But if you’re going to spend the money and want something with real flavor, but still in the grocery store, grab the Tazo Chai instead.

I’m trying to expand my horizons on tea (and chai especially), but I seem to come back to this one every time. I keep thinking the more expensive loose tea blends should be better than this out-of-a-box-get-it-at-any-grocery-store tea, but I have yet to find one that stands up to the Tazo Chai. The blend is the perfect balance of the black tea and the spices and it’s really really hard to brew it wrong. I’m still exploring the world of chai, but I’m beginning to feel I’ll have to travel to India to find a better one than this.

If you like rooibos, this will probably be perfect for you. I’m not a huge fan of it, but I decided to try this one as a caffeine-free alternative to the chai. I love spicy blends, but I didn’t think this one was as flavorful as it could have been. The overtones were mostly vanilla (the rooibos only enhances this), with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg in the mix and a sweet finish. My husband has since taken ownership of this tea and loves it, but red rooibos is one of his favorites so there you go. A great rooibos, a not so great gingerbread.

I was excited to try one of the Samovar teas finally, as I’ve heard such good things about them. The shop I visited was out of the Masala Chai I’d wanted, but the Vanilla Dian Hong was second on my list, and it was in stock. When I popped the lid, it wasn’t vanilla I noticed, but rather the scent of a chocolate liquor instead. I was very excited to try this one, but as it was late when I got home I opted to try it in the morning instead. When brewed, this tea doesn’t have the same taste as it smells dry, which was fine. You definitely get more of the vanilla in the tea itself. What I found was that it almost had a flavor similar to a rooibos, with the slight aftertaste of black tea. So I wasn’t blown away, though I felt I should have been for the $18.99 price tag. I’m hoping Samovar’s masala chai fares better for me.

The first thing I noticed about this tea was how darned pretty it looked in the package. The bits of purple and yellow (flowers of some sort I think) throughout really make it look festive. I brewed it with boiling water (minus a few seconds) for between 4 and 5 minutes (tried it at slightly different times but didn’t notice too much of a difference). Like all the 52teas black teas I’ve tried it’s a forgiving tea so if you go over a bit it doesn’t hurt the flavor. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more of a flavor to this aside from a nondescript sweet overtone with a smooth finish. Not really all that birthday cake-y, but it was good for what it was. I didn’t dislike it, but I wasn’t blown away either. A good starter from 52teas if you’re not feeling adventurous enough to try one like the maple bacon flavor. Yes, really.

Of all the teas I’ve had from 52teas to date, this one is by far my favorite. It’s got the spice blend similar to chai, but with the sweetness and aroma of pumpkin pie. I didn’t notice any bitter flavor to this when I let it steep a little long once (oops), but I think all the other flavors in the blend may help cover that. As far as black tea goes, it’s very forgiving, but most of the 52teas blends are.

I should start off by saying that chai is my favorite kind of tea. Ever. So when I saw 52teas offering this as part of their end of year top 10, I jumped at the chance to try it. It smells wonderful in the package, but I was a little concerned about the overwhelming amount of cayenne pepper I could see in the bag. Turns out, that concern was well founded. It’s hard to say whether I liked the other flavors of this tea as the cayenne just overpowers the rest of it. It needed more of the cinnamon and chocolate and way less of the cayenne, though the pepper in moderation would add just the right amount of spicy to this blend. All in all, it was okay, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering it again.