KeenTeaThyme

I won’t rate this one, as it’s my own blend from Adagio. But I needed something to rid my mouth of that horrid Cinnamon Raisin Toast one. I always have plenty of this one on hand so my Vampire Lemonade righted all that was wrong (almost).

Hey, if you have a signature blend from Adagio and want to swap with me, lemme know!

Tried this one again this morning. BLECH! I don’t know if the tea went back or something… but this cuppa was just short of awful. I guess even geniuses like Frank can have a dud sometime. Or maybe it was sitting around too long before Little Mew Brew sold it to me? Buyer beware if that’s the case! I hate to waste tea but I don’t even think I’d want to swap this one. BLECH! Wish I could get a refund!

I’m enjoying a cuppa this to wind down today. No number rating as it is my blend. I do love this one iced; it’s a great medley of mint and blackberry. Yum! Refreshing!

I won’t rate this as Peachy Keen is one of my blends…but I do really enjoy the harmony of peach and vanilla goodness in this one. I taste an equal amount of both, so much that it reminds me of peach cobbler with ice cream, or peachy ice cream (which I can’t eat anyway). Wonderful!

I’m enjoying the bagged variety of this and I’m impressed. It’s not the best chai blend out there, but it’s spicy and warm, perfect for approaching fall. I upped my rating, as I can enjoy this through the length of the cup. I added some sugar to it, but mainly because I’m craving sugar right now. This cuppa is good plain too.

This smells so delicious, just like a bellini (peach & champagne). Even though I normally don’t care for hibiscus, I gave this a try. (I love the Coconut Chai tea from this company so I winged it.) It brews up a rosy pink cup, and smells as delicious as it does in the container.

But the taste! Egads! I had to add three Splendas in order to balance the sour and bitter notes. I taste just flowers, there’s nothing berry or bellini about this! I’ll try experimenting with other teas and this to see if I can blend out the bad… I gave a couple bags to my grandmother and mother on Saturday and now I’m wishing I didn’t! If I don’t like it, I doubt they will! (Sorry Oma and Mom.)

Another goodie from QuiltGuppy! Jasmine is one of my favorite flavors and scents, and dragon pearl is one of my favorite varieTeas. ;) This one delivers! This is the bagged tea version but with the nylon bags the tea smells and tastes like the fresh, loose version! As it brews the fragrance of jasmine is so strong, which is nice. A coworker stopped by my office to see my new “jasmine candle” and left with a bag of the tea herself.

Thanks again, QG!

I kept wolfing this down so I set it aside for a while… just brewed another cuppa and I’ve rediscovered its awesomeness! I love the taste of plump, juicy blueberries in this tea. This really is a treat!

Thanks to the wonderfully awesome QuiltGuppy for sending some of this my way (along with many other samples). I’ve been dealing with allergies lately, and my throat is really sore. I can take benadryl, but then I pass out so it’s not a work-friendly solution.

This, on the other hand, is great! No, it’s not really medicinal, but it has a great placebo effect goin’ – I felt better after drinking it. :)

I love the eucalyptus smell (one of my faves) of the dry leaves. The peppermint is very strong as well. One sip later and I taste peppermint, menthol, a ginger-y/citrusy flavor, and a bit of the eucalyptus as well. The brewed tea smells as good as the dry version; my headache is starting to feel better too.

Thanks again, QG! :)

Wowser! Crazy aroma, perfect any way! It’s unbelievable – surprise, it’s a bagged tea!

Check out my full review here:
http://keenteathyme.blogspot.com/2011/07/from-wegmans-frederick-to-home-blood.html

The wonderful Little Mew Brew sent this to me ages ago, but I need it this morning as my tummy has been killing me. As I’ve said before it’s not something I could drink everyday, but I love how it soothes tummy trouble without tasting (too) much like medicine.

I’m really starting to dig these David’s Teas…

It’s that kind of morning! I need a bold, hearty and expressive tea – but one I don’t have to taste a risk in enjoying. This fits the bill and is waking me up. YAY!

A side note, this tastes great with beef jerky. (Sorry to all you vegans/vegetarians out there…but it’s true.)

Oh Read My Lips, where would I be without you? I love the spicy chocolate taste! This is to die for, truly.

Starting my Monday morning off with this recent discovery. (Eureka!) This is such a treat, a very tasty chai. I think the coconut flavor adds a hint of sweetness and enhances the taste of the assam tea base. Simply delicious! I did steep for the length of the cup and don’t recommend re-steeping, mainly as it is a bagged chai. But this is a brisk, bold cup, perfect to chase away the Monday blues! :) (Well, almost anyway…)

This is a very unique chai! Picked it up at my new, local Wegmans in Frederick, MD. For a bagged chai, this is quite tasty! I haven’t had hot tea in days. This was my inaugural tea for July and I’m glad I tried it out. I taste plenty of cinnamon and ginger, a little bit of cardamom and a lot of coconut flavor! (For those of you allergic to coconut, I checked the label – there is only coconut flavoring, not actual pieces.)
Wonder how this would taste iced? I got stuck in a meeting so the tea has cooled off considerably and it’s still tasty…

This tea is a new pantry staple. I love the Blueberry Danish one, and this one is just as delish!

Since it’s honeybush, I’ve let it steep for the length of the cup… and since it’s raspberry, I’m reminded of raspberry crisp, like my Oma makes. I taste plenty of summer raspberries. Yum! I don’t get too much of the cream cheese flavor, but there is a richness that reminds me of cheesecake.

This, to me, is the essence of 52teas – a delicious, uniquely flavored tea that within one sip you realize you cannot live without.

Wonder what this would taste like blended with the blueberry?!

This is one of my other go-to-teas when I’m sick. The rating is from previous tastings, as of right now I can barely taste anything, but that’s not the tea’s fault!

I needed more caffeine (I took the drowsy cold meds on accident), so I hope this balances out my mood.

I’d love to try blending this with a strawberry oolong or another flavored black tea – something else that would be strong enough to hold its own against the velvety, cocoa finish of the black dragon pearls.

Got any suggestions?

A side note: I finished reading Game of Thrones and “dragon pearls” made me think of the ending… I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but it’s amazing!

Now it’s my turn for a cold! Since I can barely taste anything I don’t want to “waste” new teas, so I opted for one of my favorite hot teas to enjoy when sick: Crepe Faire. I always score this after the holidays and get a couple bags to last me until the next year. I love the medley of mint and cinnamon. There’s a slight hint of vanilla, more so if you add sweetener (as I almost always add a packet of Splenda). I’ve also made this with fat-free, calorie-free vanilla syrup and it’s divine as well. Makes this cold a bit more tolerable. At least it’s Friday!

I love how refreshing this one is! It’s my first green oolong, that I can recall, and while the base tea is delicious and crisp, it’s the orange and ginger awesomeness I love! Each sip is refreshing and delicious, crisp and citrusy. Can’t wait to try this one iced! I agree that the ginger is subtle, it enhances the citrus orange. But it’s refreshing and taste bud pleasing. A new cupboard essential!

I bought the loose version of this, not the bagged as pictured. This was purchased on a whim; I love honey, I love tea, I’d like it, right? (Hence my purchase justification…) I tore open the bag and was immediately greeted with a deep whiff of honey – sweet and delish! (I imagined a bee flying right out of the bag…no worries, nothing did.) I brewed for five minutes, as it is a black tea and you know me, I like my teas bold, strong and hearty. While brewing, the honey smell was still fragrant and strong, but turning a bit floral… The first sip tastes like honeyed tea, like two teaspoons of fresh honey was dipped into a cup of floral-like tea.

OK, floral tea haters, you can breathe easy – it’s just slightly like floral, like honeysuckle, ironically. The taste is pure honey and pure delicious, there is only a twinge of honeysuckle on the end of the sip.

I did add one packet of Splenda, but I think the flavor is enhanced by that additional dose of sweetness.

I don’t know how this would taste iced and I think I would shy away from it iced anyway. A honeyed cup of warmth this is; it reminds me of autumn, and colder months approaching. It also reminds me of my youth; I would dip spoons into honey all the time. Now I just use the packets! :-D

This is soothing on my throat, too, not that I need that. But I can only imagine how wonderful this would be on a sore throat, with added honey for an extra throat soothing effect.

Yeppers, this is a new cupboard essential!

I found Sir Jason Winters and his company online; the Web site described a healing cup of herbal tea and explained his story. Intrigued, I emailed them to find out if I could include him in a story on my blog. Not only did I get permission to do that – and access to Sir Raymond Winters, his son! – I was also sent a variety of their teas to try.

I have since finished the story – and am hooked on their teas. I am not just saying that because the company was so nice to me and the teas were free. I’m saying this as a fan! I wrote the story for my blog here:
http://keenteathyme.blogspot.com/2011/05/simply-helping-people.html

Now, with all that disclaimer out of the way, on to the rating.

I have the bagged tea version of this (but am in the process of ordering the loose tea for myself). So while it is bagged, and pre-brewed (check out my story why), it is very tasty.

First off, I taste a strong oolong/black tea base. Second, the herbal taste: it’s hard to describe. Kinda minty, kinda soothing, refreshing, etc. This tastes like spiced tea – but it’s not overly spiced, for those of you who don’t care for spiced tea. The ingredients in SJW tea is trademarked and relatively secret, but I can tell you that after enjoying a cuppa SJW I feel more energized. I have the other varieties to rate as well (Raspberry and Peach are delicious).

I don’t recommend multiple infusions; also, I steep for the length of the cup, while SJW recommends 1-2 minutes. I like a bold, hearty, strong tea – and SJW’s Original Blend achieves that when I steep it as long as I want.

Second infusion: just as delightful as the first, although I wouldn’t steep for a third infusion. This is such a refreshing blend, perfect for summer.

I can never resist a mint green tea, so of course I had to obtain this one during my most recent Culinary Teas order! This minty version is unique; it’s made with gunpowder green, so it’s minty with a hint of smoky flavor. I’m a nut for anything gunpowder green…or gunmetal gray for that matter! ;) But this is refreshing and yummy. I’ve tried the cold brew version as well and it is a pantry staple. This is wonderful as well; even brewed hot, the refreshing taste of peppermint cools you. A new favorite!

I’m surprised I’m the first to review this tea. I purchased it in the loose tea version, and splurged on the 4 oz size. I love anything cinnamon so while it appeared to be a gamble, it really wasn’t. ;)
This is crazy spicy! I’d love to mix this with plum in the winter time for a cinnamon plum tea (which I love). First sip was strong – almost bitter, like I brewed too long. I added Splenda and ta-da! It’s delicious, perfectly smooth. Spicy. Delicious hot. Reminds me of autumn, which is the only season I really enjoy around here in MD. I don’t think I could drink this all the time in the summer, but come fall this will be a trusted staple.