sarai

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This one just didn’t cut it. I generally prefer full bodied black teas with noteable earthiness. This one was just too light… and a little musty. The dry leaves had a bit of an alfalfa type scent to them along with the traditional (but lighter) black tea scents. This one didn’t steep up very strong, and more time did not improve the flavour. I’ll be leaving this one on DT’s shelves instead of taking it home to mine.

LOVE THIS! It has such a wonderful body, and delicious notes of honey and earthyness. Cannot say enough about this one. I do take it with milk and a little sweetener. Though I can go with or without the sweetener depending on the day. I love to steep this one up really dark because it just gets wonderfully strong and more earthy without getting astringent or bitter at all. It reminds me of Twinings’ Irish Breakfast tea quite a bit, which is likely why this became an instant favourite. It will be keeping this one stocked up, that’s for sure!

I’m not really sure if this one is just too close to the darjeeling for my liking, but I was not a fan. I usually prefer my black teas to have a bit more body, so this one felt like it was a little ‘empty’. Definitely on the mild side, this one would be good as an afternoon black, or perhaps even early evening. I did play around a little with the steep times and additives, but this one was just too light for my liking. It also tended to ward the astringent side at times. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I’ve been dancing around this one for a while, and I finally broke down and bought a 50g bag of it yesterday. I love the freshness of the dry leaves, and it didn’t smell like the citrusy flavours would be too astringent either, so I took some home. First impression was that it has a lovely vanilla-like mellow note that I really wasn’t expecting. Kind of like the ‘cream’ part of the creamsicle. At any rate – I like the complex smell of the steeped tea. At first sip I can still taste that creamy note that I could smell, but not as strong as I was hoping. It has some wonderful citrusy layers, but they aren’t definitively orangey, grapefruity, or lemony, like some of the other citrus based teas are. Thank You DT! I was expecting a little more of the apple notes that the sales girl mentioned, but there was none of that. Gooseberries though, I could definitely taste those :) The mint was also deliciously prominent as well which I was really happy about. I’ll have to experiment a little more with temperature, steep times, and addiditives (I had this one with agave), but I think this one might be a great summer/spring tea. I especially want to have this one iced.

Big fan of the Green Mate! I really like this, it’s a little green tasting which is a nice change from the roasted mate that seems a little too close to coffee for my liking. I take this one clear, or with a little agave if I’m in the mood for something slightly sweeter. It’s a great early morning tea as it does bive a good jolt in the morning. Before breakfast though, not with. I also turn to this one fairly regularly in the evenings when I am trying to stay up and alert to finish a paper or some other literature assignment. good times.
This one is a keeper on my tea shelves for sure!

First Gyokuro I’ve tried, and it did smell good dry So I though I’d give it a go.
Definitely vegetal and grassy, but I didn’t get any of the smooth buttery flavour that other people seem to. This one turned bitter almost right off the bat, though I think that was due to the staff person using water that was too hot since I didn’t let it steep long at all. It seemed slightly sencha-like to me, but even that didn’t redeem it in the long run.

Not sure why I haven’t reviewed this one yet because I’ve had it for quite a while. Anyways, I really enjoy the blend of black tea and mint. Especially after Santa’s Secret, it’s become one of my favourite types of blended tea. Read my lips has got a bit of spice though, depending on how it’s steeped which is different from the creaminess that comes through with Santa’s Secret. I’m definitely a fan of the flavour profile of this one, and it’s great as a once-in-a-while tea. However, I don’t think it will be making a continuous appearance on my tea shelves.

I found that I really liked this tea – it was a little close to a Darjeeling, but not too much.
I was looking for a nice mild black and I definitely found it in this one. Very mild but not watery, there is not one flavour that stands out strongly which is nice. It did steep up a little sweet as well. A great simple black for mellow afternoons, though I think this would be good any time of the day, really. I’ll be returning to get some of this for my tea shelves.

I had such high hopes for this one, it sounds fantastic, and it smells fantastic in dry leaf form… but I don’t know whether it was the water temp or the steep time or the lack of sweetener… but sadly this one fell very very flat for me.

It wasn’t so terrible when it was really hot, but the moment it started to cool down it turned bitter and changed in flavour. While I love the scent of rose… I’m not entirely sure I love the taste, and there is a lot of rose in this one. I didn’t notice at all any of the calming effects of this one either which was dissappointing.

I might give it another go as a cup to-go… but I won’t be looking for any of this for my tea shelves!

I got a few cups worth of this tea from a friend coming back from Christmas break. I’m not normally a super huge fruit tea fan but this really works for me. I love the mint – its prominent but not super potent. The raspberry isn’t super tart either, instead its very well balanced with the rest of the blend. I don’t get too much of the lemongrass in the steeped up tea, which makes me wonder if I just didn’t really get any in the bit that I was given, or if it is just there as a lower base note. I drank this clear with some agave and it was beautiful as a hot tea. I feel like it would be fantastic iced as a nice fruity summer drink. I’ll definitely be looking for this one again!

Tried this one in-store as a cup of tea. I was quite pleased with it. The dry leaves smell delicious – sweet, but not overly so. When it steeped up, the tea was nice and fruity, I could definitely taste the cherries AND the white tea base which was nice. It did not turn acidic or bitter either which was a definite plus. I drank this one with a little bit of honey because of a sore throat. This tea will definitely make a repeat performance on the cut of tea roster, but I’ll likely wait till summer to buy any amount of dry leaf.

Genmaicha is a tea that I return to again and again; I love the roasted flavours of the rice with the delicious green. I’ve had some really good Genmaichas, and I’ve had some … not so good ones. This though… beats all. The tea does not turn bitter at all, or at least it didn’t for me – and I played around quite a bit with my water temps and steep times.

Very well balanced, and a great quality of green tea with this one. The roasted rice flavours didn’t dissappear either wich made me happy. Initially, I was slightly saddened when I saw this is my steepster selects box as I already have two other kinds of Genmaicha on the go right now. But I steeped it up anyways – and it blew me away. So glad to try this one, and will likely be on the lookout for more when my stash runs out.

Thanks Steepster!

Another from my Steepster Selects box!

I was hesitant with this one because of the smokiness. I’ve smelled a few off-puttingly strong smoky black teas before and didn’t like that at all, so I was wary of a smoky Houjicha. I really shouldn’t have been. This is delicious. Absolutely delicious. It is perfect on a dreary cold afternoon (we get a lot of those in Halifax this time of year), and the roasting takes the caffeine out so that makes it great in the evenings as well. It steeps up beautifully and with no bitterness that can sometimes happen with other greens. The smoky flavors are muted in the steeped tea, but are still there in a sweet delicious way.

I think this one might be one of my new favourite greens. SUPER glad to have received this one since I know I would have by-passed it simply because of the smoky roast if I had come across it in a tea shop.

I received this one in my Steepster Selects box – So Excited to get that in the mail!

Sencha is one of my favourite green teas so I was especially looking forward to this one. The dry leaf has that wonderful and quintessential sencha smell – very ‘green’ and comforting. It steeps up beautifully; more body than a regular sencha – it seemed like the finer leaves stayed in the steeped tea a little like matcha powder. Definitely delicious. I’ve had some time to play around with steep times and while a shorter steep is generally my favourite, a bit of magic happens with the right temperature and a longer steep.

definitely one of my new favourite senchas! So glad I got this in the mail!

Haha this is me to a T. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this one as soon as it’s released on the tenth! I’ve been happy with the other vata ayurvedic tea I’ve had from David’s so I’m sure this one will be excellent as well!

I was surprised with this one. In quite a wonderful way.
I was apprehensive when the salesperson brought this one down in the store as I’m not generally a fan of the citrusy teas, but it smelled wonderful. The lemonyness doesn’t stand up and kick you in the face, but instead is slightly earthy. I had this as a tea to go in the store – it took the super hot water and the much longer than usual steep time very very well. I took it with a bit of agave because I knew it would be steeping for so long, but you could easily do without. It tasted a little like lemon lozenges but not so strong. While I don’t think this will become one of my go-to teas, I think I’ll definitely be getting myself a small bag for an early winter morning tea. It would also be great with honey for a cold or sore throat.

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I am LOVING THIS!! I’m generally fairly wary of citrus in teas – it generally does not work for me. But this? This is glorious! Mellow and sweet but very well grounded in the rooibos base, the balance between the orange and vanilla is wonderful. I don’t normally drink my rooiboses with anything, especially the flavored and sweeter kinds, but this just begs for a splash of milk. Anyone else thinking of orange creamsicles? I know I’ll be going back for more, and quite soon too!

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I recently received this as a gift from a good friend of mine. Holy fabulousness in a mug! I’ve been really partial to peppermint teas of late and this one does not disappoint at all!
The candy canes add a nice creaminess to the overall tea, and I find that it didn’t get bitter after sitting in the tea pot for a little while. The peppermint is not overwhelming at all, and the teas are extremely well blended. I noticed the black tea a lot more after it had been steeping a long time, but this did not detract at all from my original opinion of the tea. I’ll definitely be stocking up on this one before its taken out of rotation after the holidays!

I was expecting this one to be a little bit more chocolatey… but I’m still enjoying it. I love that there’s a slight spiciness to this one, and when I steeped it at home I broke up half a cinnamon stick into the basket and let it steep with the tea. Fantastic.
I take this one clear with agave. But I’m thinking about trying it as a latte at some point as well.

I’m a huge fan of rooibos teas, and banana, and chocolate as well. But here they just don’t work for me. The rooibos overwhelms the banana and the chocolate, and even a little agave doesn’t bring them out. I’ve tried a few different steep times and still I’m not getting as much banana/chocolate as I’d like.

It’s not terrible, mind you, but definitely didn’t live up to my expectations.
Once I finish the bag I’ve got, this one will not be making a repeat appearance on my tea shelf.

I was super happy when I found out that DT was bringing out four new permanent Oolongs, I had to run out and try a few. I’m really big on banana lately and this tea is marvelous. I got a 26g bag just to check it out and I will definitely be going back for more. The banana is not as present in the steeped tea as I would like, but I’m still working out steep times and number of re-steeps. I love this one straight or a bit of agave, I find that the agave brings out the banana a little bit more.