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I toasted some sesame seeds a couple of weeks ago to put in my cereal in the morning. Today I decided to brew up a teaspoon to see if it worked as a tea. It makes for a tasty cup of tea. It’s toasty and nutty and good. It’s similar in flavor to toasted rice, but certainly not identical. I’ll have to try toasting rice in the oven, since that would take less constant attention than toasting it in a skillet does.

This is a decent chai. It’s somewhat spicy, but no one spice is overpowering the others, and it has just a bit of sweetness in there. The ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon all kind of blur into each other. I find myself wishing for some clove or allspice, or for a bit more cinnamon. The black tea is just barely noticeable through the spices. It’s good, but not my favorite blend.

Old sample from Tea Sipper. Thank You!

There was just enough left here for a single cup. I don’t know how old this is, but it’s a little bland. It’s sweet and a bit nutty, with a definite taste of rooibos. The rooibos is a little medicinal, but not too bad. Nothing too remarkable

Having had a several more cups of this, I still say that mint and pine are a great flavor combination, but I’m not quite as pleased by this blend as I was with the first cup. It seems rather inconsistent. Sometimes it will be mostly mint or mostly pine. Sometimes the sourness of the berries will come through more strongly – which I really don’t think adds to the blend – and occasionally it will have an odd waxy mouthfeel and a chemical aftertaste. Sometimes it’s amazing, but sometimes it’s disappointing. It still makes for a nice change of pace, and I’d buy more to see what it tastes like fresh since mine is rather old, but I’m dropping the rating a bit.

Old Sample from Tea Sipper. Thank You!

Hmm. This is an odd black since it tastes much more like a green tea or light oolong. No bitterness at all though. Interesting.

Old sample from Tea Sipper. Thank You!

Earthy +Grassy+Slightly Bitter+Caffeine = Not my favorite herb. I’m willing to try anything once, even an herb I generally don’t like by a different company or in a different blend (unless it makes me feel ill like stevia or lavender), just on the off chance that it surprises me, but this one did not.

This was from a swap with Zennen. Thank you!

I picked this up before I discovered that I don’t like Tulsi, but figured I should still give it a try. The dry leaf smells strongly of Tulsi and Pepper. It’s a little intimidating smelling. The first sip is savory and spicy with a hint of sour fruitiness. It’s not nearly as intense as the smell of the leaf would lead you to expect, which is actually a relief. I’ve never had Chartreuse so I can’t tell how accurate the flavor is, but it’s interesting. I don’t know that I’ll want more than this cup of it, but it’s definitely interesting to try!

Old sample from Tea Sipper. Thank you!

Why is this so sweet? I don’t see anything in the ingredients listed here that accounts for the overpowering artificial sweetness. The sweetness utterly overpowers all other flavor, so even though some of those flavors are appealing, this is definitely not for me.

Old Sample from Tea Sipper.

I don’t like many green teas, and this reminds me why. This is rather bitter even though I brewed it with a splash of cold water, and I don’t like that bitterness alongside the vegetal taste of this tea. It’s not undrinkable, and might be better if I steeped it at an even lower temperature or for a shorter time, but I don’t like it enough to bother tinkering.

Sample from Kristal. Thank you!

This tastes herbaceous and ever so slightly citrusy. More like orange than lemon, unlike most citrusy herbs. It’s not bad, but not something I would seek out.