KeenTeaThyme

I rec’d this as part of my HoppiTEA goody basket from the very sweet Alana237. Thanks! :) This is my first tea by this company and the first lychee tea I’ve ever had. Actually I only remember smelling lychee, so I’ve never tasted it before… it’s a day of many firsts! (OK, OK. I’ll confess. I entered “lychee” in wikipedia to see what came up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee)

As soon as I ripped open the package, the fragrant and floral lychee smell hit my nostrils…and instantly calmed me. Lychee is a unique scent – it smells very floral but with a twinge of berry. Tastes more berry than floral – which is good news for you anti-floral tea fans.

I don’t have anything to compare this to, but I really do enjoy the unique flavor profile. It’s different and for that reason, fun. And because it’s black tea, it’s helping to kick my butt in high gear for the afternoon!

Had to hit this after the Incident with French Vanilla Assam… Much better.

I’m not sure about this one, honestly. Yes, it’s uber vanilla – which I always like – but there is a hint of flavor there I don’t care for. Now it’s possible that it’s an ice-creamy flavor. Since I can’t eat ice cream, whenever I taste anything like it my body imagines what will happen when I do eat ice cream (serious, serious chest, throat and mouth pain). So maybe that bias is constricting my enjoyment. But I don’t think I can really enjoy it. So I’m not going to rate it, I don’t think it would be fair to rate it.

I think I’ll sell it on tea trade so I can try to make some $$ back for my tea budget this month!

Got this from Rachel@iHeartTeas as part of the “Rescued from Retirement,” initiative between her newly formed company and 52teas.

The first sip is a blueberry explosion! So yummy! I feel like it’s a naughty dessert (or breakfast!) instead of a low-cal tea. I taste sweet, juicy blueberries and a bit of a vanilla or cream flavor, perhaps to get the “cream cheese” taste. So glad this was included in their inaugural run… it’s so delish!

Second steep: the tea bag is still HOT, which tells you how quickly I gulped this down. I upped the rating; this second steep tastes as good as the first. Not all blueberry teas can say that! So often the blueberry flavor is faint, or an afterthought. But this tea is blueberry-in-your-face, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

OMG! One sip of this is utter bliss! I’m not normally a banana fan (there was an Incident in CA with a spider that terrifies me to this day), but I do like banana bread and the flavor of banana, artificial and natural.

This is a natural flavor, pleasing and delicious! I taste buttery banana bread, just like Mom makes. It doesn’t beat Pancake Breakfast as my favorite 52teas black tea, but it’s definitely an any-time-of-day cuppa. Lip-smackin’ delish!

My awesome HoppiTEA, Alana237, sent this in my package so I am enjoying a fragrant cuppa right now.

This is the first tea I’ve tried from Golden Moon. I really enjoy the deep coconut flavor (and fragrance!), but the pouchong tea is what I’d write home about.

It’s grassy and mellow, light but not so much that the coconut overpowers the tea flavor. It’s a comforting, fragrant cup. Delish!

Thanks to Wifey_Woman for sending some of her stash my way!

This is an interesting blend. I’ve had some tummy troubles since Friday so I thought I’d try it out. I love how comforting it smells dry and while it is brewing.

Upon sipping it, though, the taste changes. It’s not a bad change; I taste fennel seed, licorice, and a bit of citrus. It’s a refreshing and tasty tea. And is helping my tummy. It just happens to smell more comforting than it tastes… odd, but still decent. I wouldn’t drink this every day, but it’s a great alternative to just plain peppermint on days when your tummy is finicky.

Read My Lips – this is the best chocolate mint blend, hands down! Thanks to Wifey_Woman for sharing some from her stash. I am officially a David’s Tea fan!

Love the blend of dark chocolate and peppermint. This is a liquid peppermint patty, which is one of my favorite candies. Chocolate and mint are a match made in heaven and sipping this tea will send you to cloud 9!

This blend of chocolate and mint lasted through three steepings, too. Longevity rocks!

P.S. The little lip candies are totally cutie too.

Backlogging – had this the other afternoon. Thanks for sharing, SpecialTEA Brew! This is a delicious, satisfying cup of vanilla tea. I tend to prefer vanilla over chocolate anyway. The interesting feature of this vanilla tea is the flavor: it actually tastes like vanilla beans versus just the artificial vanilla flavor that is in many other teas. I’ll need to test it out iced but hot is a satisfying cuppa!

Tried this iced today – and it’s delish! It’s sweet enough on its own, no sugar or Splenda needed. I steeped it for about two hours in a Diet Snapple bottle.

This reminds me of an Arnold Palmer, you know: a blend of lemonade and tea. Really good and I’m glad I can at least take advantage of green rooibos since red rooibos is my Tea Foe!

This is such a bright, fun, festive tea – perfect for a Friday afternoon. I still need to try it iced. (Please see other tasting notes)

YUMS. Although I am totally biased. :) (Please see other notes.)

Thanks to Wifey_Woman for sending my way… This is the first David’s Tea product I’ve tried and I’m very impressed! Tastes as tropical as it smells when brewing. The coconut is a nice touch, making it sweet without needing to add more sweetener. I gulped this right down (once it cooled, so I didn’t choke on burning water!). I’d love to try this iced… guess I’ll have to try more teas from David’s Tea!

I know it’s probably too late in the day for caffeine, and I’ll kick myself for it later when I’m trying to go to sleep, but darnit, I wanted this one! It’s such a treat!

I’ll have to try it first thing tomorrow morning too…finish up the bag so I can buy more…

I really do have a soft spot in my heart, always, for this tea. It tastes like sun tea and really lead me into the world of green rooibos, which is a newfound love! (Thanks again, ColumbiaKate for getting me hooked!)

This is bold, citrus-y and bright – like I’ve brewed sunbaked tea leaves. Love it! I will have to purchase more to experiment with – add other flavors. I’d love to brew this with a tropical flavor and make it iced, just in time for summer.

Stay tuned…

There is a little bit of rocker & punk in me, and more so that I’ve tried this. I grabbed this today, wanting to try a new Snapple. It’s Diet, so I was immediately drawn to it. Then I saw it was Bret Michaels’ blend, so I was in!

This is a hearty iced tea with a vibrant and mouth-satisfying blend of tropical fruits. I wouldn’t compare this to other iced teas, however, as I didn’t brew it myself. But this was a great treat today, and with only 10 calories in the entire bottle, my body thanked me for not opting for a 220 cal bottle of Coke.

My staple. It’s my first day back at work after being out for surgery and there is too much BS going on… thank goodness for this spicy wonder… and my painkillers. (Please see other tasting notes.)

Found this one in the back of my tea cupboard and couldn’t remember when I purchased it. Whoops! So I tried brewing it to see how it turned out. I remembered that I liked it OK, but wouldn’t purchase it again.

Now, on to this cuppa: it’s funny that it’s considered oolong to me, because it tastes more like green tea if anything. It’s much more grassy and light. (Maybe it’s a poor quality, I don’t know.) The tartness is extreme – anti-hibiscusers beware! I added two Splenda packets to make this more drinkable. It’s decent, but again, I wouldn’t repurchase. That tartness is tough to beat. Perhaps if the raspberries were mixed with a sweeter fruit (kiwi? banana?) or just a big ol’ sugar crystal this would have more appeal.

This is smoky and minty – bliss, really. It’s cooling to the palate and senses, but with a hint of smoky tea, enough to keep you interested. I drink this all the time, especially in the afternoons. It’s stress-relieving as well! :) A pantry must-have!

This is so comforting to me, on a rainy and gray day like today. No rating as this is my blend. Please see other notes. And lemme know if you wanna try it!

One of my tea friends recently had a birthday. She’s an Earl Grey fiend, so I purchased a bunch of EG samplers for her, from Adagio and other places.

I decided to try EG Lavender by Adagio for myself. I’ve tried other EG Lavender varieties – such as Metro Teas – and enjoyed the cuppas. I call EG Lavender the EG Gateway. I’ll get there some day, folks.

But not with this variety. This doesn’t taste anything like lavender! It brews up syrupy sweet – meaning it smells like syrup. And not in the way that the awesome Pancake Breakfast from 52teas does (which is my latest obsession). It’s bizarre. I’m going to try to brew it w/less time, maybe that will help.

Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed that I trusted Adagio’s EGs for a b-day present.

See more on my quest for EG on my blog: keenteathyme.blogspot.com

This is the perfect tea for the afternoon, hot or cold. I love that you can just leave green rooibos in the tea as long as you want, no restrictions. So when I forget that I have brewed tea for the afternoon, it’s not all bitter when I realize it 30 mins later. :) And I’m glad it doesn’t give me migraines like that pesky red rooibos!

I was so excited to try this – and it’s pure genius! Toasty, marshmallowy and sweet, this tea does remind me of a rice krispie treat! I did add Splenda which enhances the sweetness, of course. My first cup doesn’t have any marshmallows in it – they are further down the bag – but I can still taste a hint of it. Absolutely delicious, as per usual, Frank! :)

Just blended up a huge batch of this. I love it! It’s fruity and sweet but also floral and elegant. I am lovin’ the green rooibos.