KeenTeaThyme

Red Rooibos and I do not get along – I get headaches from it. But this Green Rooibos is my friend. I love the flavor of light green tea (no woodsy stink like the red rooibos offers), blending with peach and berry…although the peach is stronger than the berry. This would taste AMAZING iced, as it already tastes like summer in a cup.

Thank you, JoeCool (Nichole) for sharing some of the tea bags of this Adagio holiday gem. :) I’ve used candy cane in blends before, but hadn’t tried the tea bagged version yet.

In fact, I haven’t tried any of Adagio’s bagged tea yet! So this is a first!

This tea is delightfully buttery, creamy and minty. The flavor isn’t too strong, but instead of thinking about candy canes when I sip, I imagine those buttery after dinner mints that melt in your mouth. Still, this is like deliciously sweet candy. I love the flavor and the bits of candy in the bag (always a nice touch).

I’m adding this to my 2011 holiday shopping list – to help unwind after the whirlwind of activities!

I am a Jasmine Fiend! I love the smell and the taste of jasmine tea, so I am glad to have “found” this one…in a package from Meghann (thanks girly!)

The jasmine flavor and the green tea are in a terrific balance. I could drink this over and over and over and over…

2nd infusion is as flavorful as the first.

YUMMY!

I’m hoping this will help wake me up and stay focused. Please see other tasting notes – I drink this very often!

Thanks to Jude for letting me sample this one. :)

The tea bags smell like hot chocolate – the instant kind, from a box. I’m not a big chocolate person – I like it and all but I prefer fruity candies over chocolate.

However, when I have to decide between chocolates I must go with dark (I’m allergic to milk chocolate). So this would be one I might pick for myself.

ANYWAY I’m new to mate – and my last try was disastrous so I’m somewhat hesitant.

Still smells chocolately… can’t see the bottom of the cup. I smell the “old coffee” smell that must be mate…

Drinking it, it tastes basically how it smells. It’s OK. Not my fave chocolate tea, but not the worst thing I’ve ever had.

No notes yet.

Thanks to JoeCool (Nichole) for this sample – and once again, SpecialTeas will be missed! This tea was flavorful and fresh from the bag, and smells “berry” hearty (har har). Once infused the cranberry taste overpowers the fluffy white tea base, which I love! It’s deliciously sweet and tart at the same time.

I tend to like flavored green teas the best (over black and white) because it seemed the green tea base was always strong enough to hold its own over flavors. But this white tea delivers as well.

I’m just not into trying new things this morning, even though I have plenty of options! (Please see other tasting notes. This is my most often-consumed tea!)

OK, after this cuppa, I’ll try one of the samples from Meghann, QuiltGuppy or Jude. Promise!

In the meantime, if you haven’t tried this tea and would like to, Teavana is giving away a free 2 oz sample of the blend to try – for all online orders of any amount. :)

http://keenteathyme.blogspot.com/p/deals-offers-more.html

Starting my day off with this. It’s not as spicy as my “other” chai (from Teavana) but it’s a nice way to wake up. Please see other tasting notes.

2nd infusion – just as tasty as the first. Sweet!

I’m continuing the tradition of not rating my own teas. Since Vampire Lemonade is one of my Adagio creations, I’ll just comment on its awesomeness. (And I am beyond biased, here.)

Love the aroma – tangy and orangey. Fun! Summery!

Love the taste – like an orange lollipop. A sweet blend of juicy orange with white tangerine and mellow lemongrass makes this just pop!

Named Vampire Lemonade for its liquor – bright red.

Please note, I am not a Twilight fan. I am a fan of Vampires, though, as long as they are done right: True Blood, Vampire Diaries, etc. Not Twilight! OK, I’ve stated my piece.

Enjoy!

I’m already a huge fan of Joy’s Teaspoon, but this tea puts my devotion over the top! I love the taste of pear and this tea is it! Two infusions down and I taste the ripe pear flavor with spices – cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, possibly nutmeg. The combo of spices matches the pear flavor perfectly!

Delicious iced as well. A new cupboard staple!

Oh, and thanks to Jude for supplying me with this wonder!

2nd infusion: still going strong! Me thinks there are actual pieces of lime and/or coconut in the tea, which explains the strong personality and flavor. I’m upping my rating slightly because of the strength of the second infusion.

This has turned into a daily habit, love this one! See other tasting notes.

Started my day off with this. Drank it right down – this has the right amount of lime and coconut flavor so it doesn’t remind me of cleaning products. :) The green tea base was mellowed by lime & coconut flavors as well. Wonder about this one iced??

Thank you Jude for sending this tea – along with a few others. :) I loved the minty sensation this tea left behind. Sweet spearmint with spicy peppermint created the ultimate stress reliever for me this evening. Pairs well with my latest video game, Fable 3! Next Stash order, I’m going to get a box of this – I could use another stress relief tea at work!

I feel like a chai guru lately since I’ve been on the hunt for a less expensive chai blend that still tastes as good (or better) than the Teavana one: http://keenteathyme.blogspot.com/

So I confidently brewed this tea thinking it wouldn’t come close to my “precious” blend.

Boy, was I wrong!

This tea is apricot goodness! Smells delicious – the second I opened the package, I smelled a rush of juicy apricot and summer joys.

Brews up lovely, with the same juicy apricot smell. Tastes just as nice too. There is a bit spice there as well – clove & cinnamon. It’s faint in the taste, but present – like spices in apricot cobbler.

California Tea House half-jokingly (?!) says this tea is an aphrodisiac. Hmm… let me ponder…

Honestly, though, this is a unique flavor that is Ideal Apricot. If you like apricot, this tea needs to be in your cupboard and mug asap. :)

This leaves me with only one question, really. Do you pronounce it Apricot (like apple) or A-pricot, emphasis on the “a”?

No notes yet.

Got a sample of this in the mail a couple days ago and thought I’d try it after a (stressful) work meeting. This is blueberry awesomeness! My only issue is that it is herbal with no caffeine, so drinking it earlier in the day isn’t good for me. (I need caffeine with a capital C or else…)

The blueberry flavor is strong and fruity, sweet rather than tart. Some other blueberry teas have a tartness to them – which I like – but others may not. Perhaps that’s why this is called “blueberry syrup,” because it is sweet.

The color is awesome too – a deep reddish purple. Perhaps that comes from the real dried blueberries. To make sure they were safe for human consumption (hehe) I ate a blueberry from the tisane. So yummy! I knew the tea would rock from that taste alone. But hey, if you don’t like the tea, you’ve got a blueberry trail mix instead.

I gulped this down and reached for more. Love it! :)

When I start to get the feelings of a cold – like I did this morning – I reach for this. I love the flavor, which is minty and herbal. I love that I can use just hot water without a definite temperature, and let it brew until I’m done. (When I’m sick I’m very impatient, even with things I love, like brewing tea.)
If I’m in the mood, I’ll add a little bit of honey or sugar-free peppermint syrup. But the flavor is fine enough on its own. This is one tea I always have on hand – at home, and at work.

It’s time for Chai. :)

(See other tasting notes)

This is a weird one for me. I taste the walnut. I taste the chocolate. I just don’t think “brownie” for some reason. I think, “delicious,” don’t get me wrong. But it reminds me of walnut fudge ice cream… oh who cares.

It’s walnut, chocolate and freakin’ delicious. Nuff said.

(Thanks go out to JoeCool (Nichole) for sending me some. Chica, you rock!)

I am not usually a fan of earl grey, so I approached this one with trepidation. I steeped no longer than four minutes and yanked out the bag. I am no fan of bergamot, although we are working on our relationship. ;)

This is decent as a vanilla tea. First sip I taste lots of vanilla (yay) and then a little of the bergamot. It’s faint, just a subtle twist. I don’t care for the smell as much; to me the bergamot makes it smell like cleaning supplies. To me this is a vanilla tea with an earl grey twist, not the other way around.

2nd sip, still more vanilla, just a twist.

I like this, but I don’t think I’d purchase again. However, I may be tempted to try a “real” earl grey… got any suggestions?

Thanks to the lovely JoeCool (Nichole) for this sample! :) This is a terrific blend and I too am sorry to lose SpecialTeas (but they did merge with Teavana so maybe it will be reincarnated in some form).

Anyway, the tea is wonderful – great color (I oversteeped so it’s a deep mahogany color). The dry leaves burst with the scent of blackberries and summer. Once brewed that same summer fragrance lingers; I know why this is called Summer Breeze.

The taste is blackberries of course with a tinge of floral notes at the end. I ended up letting this sit on my desk and returned to find it cooled down. I actually liked that flavor better – like homemade blackberry iced tea.

This would be terrific iced, but alas, I am saving mine for hot only. I will conduct an investigation to see if there is a similar version at the (dreaded) Teavana…