Sundart

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I had such high hopes for this tea, but ultimately I was very glad I only bought a sample size. Maybe it has a flavor of apricots? I’m allergic to fresh apricots, so I can’t swear that it doesn’t. But what I was hoping for was a tea with the rich flavor of dried apricots, and that wasn’t what I got. I’ll drink what I bought, but I’m not buying it again. The black tea base that Adagio uses is, as usual, of good quality.

This tea is fantastic unsweetened. The interplay of fruity and herbal flavors tops my charts.

This is a lovely caffeine-free spicy infusion, but I must say I can’t detect a single hint of chocolate in there anywhere. It brews up pale golden, with a robust cinnamon aroma. The cardamom and clove round out the flavor nicely, but cinnamon predominates there as well. A nice, warming choice on a crisp autumn morning, but it’s just not a chocolate tea.

Usually I drink this iced, but I thought some hot mint might make my cold feel better. It was drinkable, tasty, and ultimately forgettable.

As this herbal tea was billed on the box as a coffee alternative, I assumed I’d like it best with sweetener and milk, and that seems to be true. It has a very strong aroma of roasted grains which luckily is different than the flavor of the infusion (the scent’s a little too strongly roasty).

Honestly I’m surprised by how much I like this beverage. I clearly taste the roasted carob (the sweetness of the honey I added helps a lot with that) but the spices billed on the list of ingredients are missing in action – even the cinnamon!

Had some of this tea this morning straight up. It’s decent, but by no means my favorite chocolate tea, and I don’t taste a whole lot of citrus in it, though I saw bits of orange in the tea. I’ll be happy to drink the rest, but with milk and honey to boost the flavor.

Drank this yesterday, and I felt that it tasted mostly of fruit. No chocolate and certainly no chili, but a tart strawberry finish. I admit, I was not too impressed, and though I will probably drink the rest of what I have in the house, I won’t be buying more.

Why do I like this tea? This sweet and spicy herbal concoction that smells like potpourri? Why do I go back to it, even though I know that it’s going to remind me of that basket of bark on the back of some old lady’s toilet? (Or perhaps an apple cinnamon candle?)

I truly don’t know. But I will probably keep drinking this tea intermittently, anyway.

The central smell I get from the dry leaf is caramel, rounded out with pear and chocolate notes. Brewed, the fruitiness of the pear is somewhat muffled, and the chocolate and truffle notes come to the fore. The flavor is sophisticated and balanced, and makes me want to go invent some desserts with pears, caramel, and chocolate. A sorbet, perhaps? Yum.

This tea smells and tastes like a lighter, classier Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice. Very spicy in the scent, cinnamon predominates, with a mellow citrus body. The flavor is mild and warming. I enjoyed it this morning with a scant half-teaspoon of honey. Lovely on a cool morning!

For something that comes in a bag at a low, low price, this tea is surprisingly nice. Pre-brewing, it smells spicy and chai-like. Once brewed, however, I find the spices to be overtaken by a hazelnut smell and flavor. In my opinion, this blend beats the standard Twinings chai all hollow. I enjoyed it this morning with honey and lowfat milk.

Generally not a big fan of chamomile, but I had a sore throat today, so…

The tea bag had a fantastic honey scent right out of the box. Once brewed, it still smelled more of honey than anything else. Lemon dominates the flavor, but that’s ok with me, since I’d rather not taste too much chamomile.

Overall, it’s decent but not amazing. I brewed it double strength (2 teabags for about 12oz of water) and I’d recommend doing it that way.

Chai Ultra Spice is only ultra gingery to my taste, and not ultra spicy, possibly because they didn’t put in any black pepper. They claim there is cardamom in there, but you could have fooled me, I didn’t taste it at all. Also, I looked at the ingredients list, and I’d really like to know what “natural chai flavour” is. Last I checked, “chai” means tea, and I seriously doubt it is natural tea flavor they’re talking about.

But, that said, if you’re looking for a bagged tea that tastes like liquid gingersnaps when appropriately doctored up with sweetener and milk, this is the tea for you. Even though it wasn’t the ultra spicy chai I was hoping for, it was pretty decent anyway.

If Constant Comment had a baby with a chocolate tea, it would be Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut. I didn’t taste vanilla or hazelnut at all, but cocoa and clove were very prominent. I usually prefer to drink spiced teas in the winter; maybe I’ll like it better then.

I also love this tea brewed hot and then chilled. One of the few iced teas that I like without sweetening it! I consider this tea one of my top ten of all time.

Delicious! I haven’t had an Earl Grey Cream that I haven’t liked, but this one is light and fresh. The vanilla notes age well. I enjoyed this tea today with wildflower honey and low-fat milk.

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I don’t usually like fruit teas, but with a 2 minute steep time, this one hit the spot, hot and unsweetened. It had an almost magically perfect balance between the fruit and tea flavors.

I used to love this tea hot, but something happened – maybe I just got tired of it? It’s still delicious cold, though (brewed hot and then iced) and I’d recommend that to anyone!

As a hot tea, Berryblossom White is failing to wow me. I steeped it for the 3 minutes recommended on the package, and the tea has little flavor or scent, just a mild cranberry and tea astringent aftertaste.

As an iced tea, this one was even worse. It had a vaguely berry related aftertaste that I found lingering and icky.

This is my standing favorite loose-leaf tea. I prefer it with just a touch of honey and a little milk. When I first buy a canister of this tea, the creamy vanilla note is perfectly balanced with the Earl Grey. After it’s sat in my cupboard for a while (because I don’t drink just ONE tea, now do I?) the vanilla fades away, revealing smoky notes that are different from other Earl Grey Cream teas. I enjoy it in both phases, but a little more when it’s fresh!

I had high hopes for this cold brewed iced tea, since I’ve enjoyed brewing Lady Grey hot and drinking it cold in the past. Alas, in this case, Twinings has made bergamot into a bat and then beaten my tongue into quivering submission.

I don’t think I’ll even drink the rest of the box in my cupboard unless I somehow forget this terrible iced tea experience.

Even though I was drinking it old and stale, this is a lovely tea with strong notes of lavender. It’s good hot or iced (I’m drinking it iced today) and I feel, best sweetened.