Violet Send Message

Backlog from this morning!!

Thanks to Naomi at Joy’s Teaspoon for this sample, and the great personality! :-) Another perfect Earl Grey!! YAY!!! First off, let me say this now that I have had two loose leaf Earl Greys: I WILL NEVER DRINK BAGGED EARL GREY AGAIN. EVER. IF I DO, I’LL HAVE A SUPER GREAT REASON, OTHER THAN THAT, I’VE GONE CRAZY! Ok, that’s out.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. YUMMY EARL GREY CITRUSY WONDERFULNESS! I love Earl Grey! I love it! Steeping it’s about the same, just muted slightly. Nice dark color.

Taste: Ahh, nice and smooth, the wonderful flavor is just there and good and I love it! It’s a bit sharper than the other Earl Grey I had, but it’s not a bad bitter, it’s a light one, and it is that bitter I find in Earl Grey anyway, but it’s well done. Both this EG and Fusion Tea Room’s EG I LOVE, and I just can’t pick one. Yummy yummy yummy YUMMY!

Again, thanks to Fusion Tea Room for this sample! I must say, it was a very beautiful blend!! Very colorful and it made me smile at how pretty it is! Job well done. :-)

Smell: Dry, in the bag. PEACH!! PEACHY PEACH PEACH! And maybe some berry-ish appley smell? More peach berry than anything else. It was another one that I kept sniffing the bag while I waited for my water to boil. Steeping the peachy smell was still there, though the berry kind of died out and the hibiscus began surfacing. Color was a pretty red-purple, common for hibiscus and berry teas, I’m noticing. Kind of wine like. Yum.

Taste: First sip, with one packet of sugar (in the raw, as always!) It was tart. Not overly so, but a little bit, and the peach was so-so. A bit more sugar, and the peach came out a bit more and the tart died down. I’m not sure what my other tastes are, to be honest, because the tart and peach are the only ones surfacing. I’m going to let it cool for a bit.

time lapse. Warm now, but not hot, and the peach is WAY there, the tart is not bad at all anymore (me and hibiscus are starting to become friends) and I can taste a berry something. Not sure what, but I can taste it. I really like this tea, I think it’s yummy, I can taste all sorts of things, just don’t have a name for them, and I can taste lots of peach, which is good for me, because when I get a peach tea, that’s what I want: peach. (And I LOVE peach!)

I’m going to try this iced in a little bit, and update, because that is how it was suggested, though I think it is good warm. Peach. :-) Yay.

Side note on brewing: The first few times I’ve brewed any of my Fusion tea room teas (the Earl Grey, and the Chocolate Cake) and a few other loose leaf teas I used a tea ball, and they didn’t come out right. Now that I’ved used my bigger tea strainer (not huge though. You can put it in the mug. Perfect size!) all the teas have been perfect. :-) Yay for good tea strainers!! And letting tea breathe!

Update: THIS TEA IS GREAT ICED! But again, it’s also very good warm, so which ever you try and prefer is the way to go!!

I want to send a big shout-out to Thomas at Fusion Tea Room for your amazing service (100 rating, I swear) and the wonderful (and generous) samples. My first review wasn’t great, so please read this one instead if you already saw that one!

This is a re-do of my first review. I am heating the water now, and I am going to ensure I have the proper water temperature. I’m going to let the pot cool for a bit, and then try again.

time lapse Yeah, because I’m not going to make you wait.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOODNESS OH MY……Just wow. I love the smell of Earl Grey, and I could just smell this the whole time I am waiting for it to steep. I mean, I don’t know if you can eat tea straight up, but if you could, I would want to eat this. That may be weird, but it just SMELLS SO GOOD TO ME! It’s a light, citrusy (did I spell that right?) aroma, and it isn’t too strong. It’s just….heavenly! :-) As it is steeping, the aroma isn’t as strong, but still as good. I am going to up the rating just because of the smell….

And my temp. slider won’t let me set it at 203 degrees……but 205 isn’t that off, so yeah.

Taste: Ohhh yeah, that’s perfect. This is a very smooth Earl Grey. There is NO bitter in here. None. So I take back my previous statement about Bergomot being bitter in general.Well, ok, I taste a small amount of…not bitter, but just the strong taste of tea in general, you know? But the Earl Grey! The flavor!! THIS IS AMAZING!!! And it’s amazing what temperature change can do! Two packets of sugar in the raw and this is perfect for me. And yeah, you may think my rating is high but THIS IS THE BEST EARL GREY I HAVE EVER TASTED!! It is even a bit better than my favorite, also 100 rated Earl Grey tea. I’m going to have to bump that rating down a bit, since it has been so long since I’ve had that EG anyway. I don’t think I’m ever going back to bagged tea again, not if it comes in a loose form. (Or if it is just one of those really high quality places anyway. I can do that.) I want to just ramble on. I LOVE this!

And this review is supposed to be completely honest. So here is my honesty: The first steep, before I re-adjusted tea temp, wasn’t so good. I could drink it but it wasn’t that good. But now that I have re-done it, THIS TEA IS AMAZING I AM NOT LYING!! BEST EVER! EVER!! And to know that I have CHOCOLATE CAKE HONEYBUSH BY FUSION TEA ROOM THAT I HAVE YET TO TRY? Oh……………boy.

I drank this one last night but it was iffy since I wasn’t using my kettle/tea stuff, I was using a friend’s while visiting. So I didn’t add the tasting note last night because I wanted to make sure I did it right with my own things. :-)

Once again, thank you to Fusion Tea Room for this!!

Smell: Dry, in the bag. Very Cocoa-y. Can’t really smell the orange, and the cocoa is a medium smell, but yummy. It doesn’t smell overly sweet, it smells like natural cocoa, and I like it. Steeping the cocoa is still there, though not as strong. Still yummy though. Makes me excited. The color is a light orange-brown, and I was worried that for some reason it was steeping weak, but the taste for both times is about the same, and this time is strong, so I think I’m doing this right.

Taste: First raw sugar packet, the cocoa is subtle, and the orange isn’t there at all. A little bit more sugar (I like sweet!) and the cocoa is definitely there. The orange is also there, a bit less than the cocoa, but I love the mix. The cocoa is smooth, creamy, and again, not overpowering, and there is a nice citrusy taste, but not sour. It’s all very sweet and pleasant. takes a sip. Oh yeah, this is just….so yummy! I love how I can taste the cocoa, so that the name isn’t lying. The orange…it’s there, but, now that I’ve tasted it again, it’s very subtle, and a bit overpowered by the cocoa, but for me personally, I like that. Upping the rating a bit because it is sweeter than the first few sips let on….

more sips. Yummy. I’m happy with this, and it’s herbal so I can drink this late at night!!! :D

My first cup last night was steeped at 7 mins, but again, it just wasn’t exactly right because I was working with stuff that wasn’t mine. This time, I bumped it up to 8 minutes. If there wasn’t orange in this, I would possibly put cream, but I learned the hard way (before being told) that cream curdles in orange tea. :P But I don’t think it needs it that bad, it would just go nice with the chocolate taste.

I’m very satisfied with it though! YUM!

This is the spiciest, yummiest chai latte ever. This isn’t the first time I’ve had it, and I still love it.

Today though, I have to share this: CHAI TEA LATTE ICE CREAM FLOAT!!! Oh….my…..GOODNESS! It’s….just…heavenly! Pretty much, it’s an awesome dessert/snack, whatever. Yummy. So I had tea, but this time it was a remix! Lol

But for the real chai tea, the Kuerig kind of does everything by itself. So I can’t really give any more info, I’m sorry.

My bag is different, but it is Chai.

Color: Smooth, dark brown before milk. Kind of a caramel light brown after I added a bit of soy milk.

1st sip, 1 pack sugar (raw cane): Mouthfeel (trying out new descriptions, so don’t hold me to errors) fuzzy? Would that be appropriate? It tastes a bit grassy, but not too much. Spicy at the end.

2nd sip, after 1 more pack of sugar, and (vanilla) soy milk: smooth, warm and very (but not too much!) spicy. Yummy cinnamon and other flavors. Nice.

Once I perfect the hot milk mix, I know it’ll get even better, but at the moment, I am content. I love it. :-)

I don’t remember this tea being so……bland. It may have been a bit old, but until I (possibly) get more, I am keeping this review the same. Look out for updates, though not anytime soon.

Color: dark brown, typical black tea.
Smell: A bit fragrent like most Earl Greys, but not strong.

Taste: Dull, just dull. And with a hint of bitter. And boring. And….I have no more to say, really, because this tea didn’t have anything to offer me. Sorry, Twinings.

Orange teas are one of my favorite types of tea, so I usually have high expectations for orange teas. Unfortunately, this tea didn’t quite reach my high standards, but didn’t completely fail, either.

Color: A reddish-black tea, smooth color, not too dark, not too light.

Taste: Bentley must be known for subtle fruit flavors. I can taste the orange in this a bit more than the other fruit teas I’ve had so far (raspberry, and one other, I think?) but this has a slightly stronger orange taste, so I’m happy. It’s not too much, could even be a bit more, but with a fair amount of sugar, it’s actually pretty nice.

The first time I tasted this, I think I steeped it a bit too much and didn’t sweeten it right. So this is my second try I had it this morning after breakfast.

Color: It’s a nice medium green with yellow undertones.

Taste: It’s got the same smooth flavor of green tea with a definite hint of ginger and pear. The ginger is strong, but good strong. And the pear is light and flavorful. I happened to really love it, even though it was simple.