Skittlefox

I am going to admit a very embarrassing fact: this is the second green tea I have ever had, the first being Tetley’s “Green Lemon” BLAAUGHHH. Needless to say, I had been turned off green tea like it was my job. I bought this mainly for the novelty of watching the pearls unroll. I was pleasantly surprised! I have no idea what jasmine smells like, I can only assume the delicious aroma wafting off the cup was it. The taste was much different, definitely grassy. Not normally my cup of tea ohohohohaha ahem. Still, I couldn’t stop drinking it. It had an incredibly calming effect after a very stressful morning. I’m not sure I want to call it tasty, but it was definitely good. At the very least it makes me want to try more green tea!
ETA: I just read one of takgoti’s reviews about green tea, and “celery” is definitely what I want to say this tastes like!

The first steep was straight black, and once again I failed to appreciate a black tea all on its own. They describe it as “extraordinarily sweet” but by the gods I could only think “extraordinarily burnt.” This tea tastes like burnt things. If you like that kind of thing, for sure check this out straight-up, but burnt is not my idea of tasty.
Second steep was with my requisite milk and sugar for black teas, and VAST improvement. The only problem with thinking black teas are delicious with milk and sugar is the possibility that I just like the taste of milk and sugar. But, it has been argued that the flavour of the tea must be in there somewhere, so kudos to it for grounding my sweet tooth?
The “extraordinarily sweet” was true this time, it was much like other black teas I’ve had (English breakfast comes to mind) but actually without the burnt-flavour undertones! Just pure sweetness. It was ridiculously delicious. So sweet I might have to have to delegate it to a dessert tea. Yum!!

Oh man did I ever over-brew this the first time. This is my second Darjeeling experience—the first was a blend of Darjeeling and raspberries and I never took the leaves out! That must have been an incredibly light version, because within 4 minutes this tea was so bitter as to be undrinkable! I literally did the second steep in seconds, for fear of wasting more. The dry leaves themselves have a very fresh, grassy smell, but it’s like the tea itself is completely different. The smell I’m not even sure about… I want to say buttery? The liquor is deliciously smooth and silky. I’m not sure what to call the flavour, but it’s full, interesting, and probably nutty. Darjeeling, they weren’t lying about you!

This smelled marvelously strong, but the taste was what I take it is typical for white teas: very mild. But quite nice. Very subtle fruit flavour, I wanted to say pear, but that isn’t an ingredient! There was unfortunately also a pretty bitter taste, I don’t know if that was from the accursed paper cup I was using from Teaopia (I’m thinking of bringing my own mug next time!!!) or the tea itself. Mayhaps I brewed for too long. Very pretty champagne colour and all in all pretty tasty.

The first thing I noticed was the smell—very strong vanilla scent! Despite the Ceylon, which I normally cannot drink on its own, the Rooibos and flavouring make this delicious enough for me to gobble it up on its own. The little sayings on the tea tags are added fun too. I like having this in the afternoon or when people are over, I haven’t served it to someone who didn’t like it! Makes a beautiful deep red cup.

This is my go-to need-to-wake-up-it’s-morning tea. I find I can have a cup of this (with milk & sugar, I still have to work up to appreciating black teas straight) and be good for the rest of the day. However my caffeine tolerance is super low, so it might not work for all. Delicious. I’m looking forward to trying loose leaf versions of this!

I second the Coca Cola descriptions! When I first smelled it I immediately thought of Cherry Coke. It is quite nice in the morning, but I find I can’t rely on it as a true “pick me up”—I need something stronger like a black tea. But if I’m awake already, it’s quite lovely.