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I don’t care much for black tea or black tea blends, but this is one of the rare few that blows me away.

The dry leaf smells like a Green Apple Jolly Rancher. I couldn’t detect a floral smell at all, even though rose petals are an ingredient.

After I brewed this tea the apple smell was less intense. This tea definitely tastes like an apple in the first steeping. Thankfully, not in a “Jolly Rancher way”, but a “natural apple way”. The black tea is mild and smooth in the background.

In the second steeping, the scent and taste of rose petals comes out. The apple flavor is more mild than before, but still present. I enjoyed the second steeping most since I LOVE rose. Apples, rose petals, and black tea make a winning combination. I’m so glad I tried this tea.

Lavish Lavender tea is one of the most soothing teas I’ve ever tried. The dry leaf smell is complex – I can’t think of a good way to to explain it. Once the tea brews, however, the scent is heavenly and I can easily smell a combination of lavender, raspberries, and citrus. Yum! This tea tastes as good as it sounds. All the flavors come together nicely and make for a smooth drink.

I’ve had several cups of this tea since I received it last weekend. It’s not going to last long at this rate! Anyway, here’s what I’ve discovered. If you drink this when it’s piping hot (but not tongue-burning hot), the tea is very tart and somewhat harsh. If you wait for it to cool down a bit, you’ll be rewarded with an amazingly flavorful brew that just melts on the tongue. Also, I’ve enjoyed the second steepings of this tea more than the first. With the second steep, the raspberry is more mild and the taste of the oolong peeks through more. It’s practically a different experience altogether – both of which are great.

I’m giving this one a rating of 100. It’s just that good! Plus, I’ve searched far and wide for a caffeine-free dessert blend that I would like to have around at all times. This one is it!

It’s a delightful smelling tea. It also looks good enough to eat. In fact, I ate a small bit of the tea right out of the package. I’ve never done that before! It was good. Anyway, the brewed tea has a wonderful nutty and creamy flavor. I didn’t get “almond” from it, but I did get nutty. It’s really just a melt-in-your-mouth kind of tea. I could sip this all evening and not grow bored. Well done, Tiesta!

I think I could just smell this tea all day. The aroma is amazing. The taste is incredible. I’m a huge fan of white teas and floral teas, and this one blew me away. I brewed it gong fu style and drank 6 steepings of it in one sitting. I probably could have coaxed more steepings from the tea, but I was fulfilled by that point. I’ll be ordering much more of this soon.

This is THE tea that I can’t live without. I can get two great steepings from it, which makes it an even better value. The Bao Zhong base perfectly complements the coconut flavor. It’s truly a delightful mix of fruit and floral flavors. I’ve only tried it hot. It might make a nice iced tea, but I have to wait until it’s much warmer to try it out.

This is a decent tea. I drink mine hot with nothing added to it. Although it smells just like apple cider, it tastes mostly like black tea with just a hint of apples and spices. Appropriate, sure, but I think I was hoping for more of a cider-y flavor. That’s not really the tea’s fault, though.

It’s more subtle in flavor than the scent leads one to believe which is why I’m planning to take the flavor up a notch in the future. I have two ideas: (1) brew this tea in a large batch, then add mulling spices and simmer; (2) swirl a cinnamon flavored honey stick in the cup. Oh, I should probably see if I can add more apple flavor somehow – possibly a splash of apple cider or juice? We’ll see.

Long story short: As long as you don’t expect the intense flavor of apple cider, you shouldn’t be disappointed with this tea.

This blend smells amazing before it’s brewed. So much so that I’d consider buying it just to take a whiff of now and then. It has a delightful coconut-floral-grassy aroma. In that order. It yields a dark golden infusion that smells strongly of coconut but tastes like a pure jasmine tea. The taste of the tea was both vegetal and grassy

If you steer clear of jasmine teas because the floral taste is too strong, you might like this one. It’s the most subdued floral jasmine tea I’ve tried. It was a nice change to taste more of the green tea than with typical jasmine teas.

Although a pleasant cup, I would love to taste more coconut flavor. That said, I’ll take a great jasmine tea that smells of coconut over one that does not.

I’m drinking this tea as I type. It’s about 9:45 p.m. and I have a strict no caffeine rule after 6 p.m.

Anyway, this is a good tea. It’s the perfect blend of orange and mint. Tea Forte did well striking the balance without this tasting artificial. Here’s the thing: mojitos are my favorite mixed drink. I would LOVE to try this tea with lime rather than orange. Although I enjoy oranges and mint on their own, I don’t adore the combination. It’s not bad. It’s just not fabulous. I’m glad I tried the combination, though.

The fact that this is a reasonably priced fair trade and organic tea is a huge bonus. It’s also a nice change to the chamomile and peppermint teas I normally drink at night. This is worth a try if you’re considering buying it.

Oolong teas are essentially uncharted territory for me. Since I’ve only tried two varieties of oolong, it was time to expand my palette. The Tea Merchant sells an oolong sampler that sounded too good to pass up – so I didn’t pass it up. :)

This tea was a hit with the first steeping and a miss with the second steeping.

The first steeping reminded me of Salada’s Asian Plum white tea. This tea is much better, however. It had a noticeable plum flavor that didn’t overpower the oolong tea. It was a sweet, slightly tart cup of tea that was pleasing in every way.

The second steeping came out very tart. I couldn’t taste the oolong, only the berries. It reminded me of hibiscus. I’m not a fan of hibiscus.

Both cups were smooth, light-bodied and brewed to a dark golden hue. I enjoyed the first steeping of this tea enough that I’ll probably purchase it in a larger quantity. I wish that the second steeping was to my taste. Maybe I can fob it off on my husband and then not feel like I’m being wasteful. Does that make me an awful person?

Okay, I’m drinking the 2nd steeping of this tea. Oh. My. Goodness!

I was delighted to find that the leaves retained so much of the smoky aroma and taste after the first steeping. This time around I tasted more of the black tea than before but less of the smoky flavor. It was a different experience altogether with slightly sweet and nutty notes. Yum! After each sip there was a pleasant tingling on my tongue. I’ve only experienced a “tingling” aftertaste with a couple of teas now and I love it.

*According to the Whispering Pines website, the tea should brew for 6 minutes on the second steeping. I brewed it for 5 minutes – oops! No matter, it was still a great cuppa.