teabird

Got my Teafrog order today! I actually tossed this in as an afterthought, having forgotten that they offer a free sample with every order. So! I used a little less than a teaspoon, because the spices smelled very strong and the black tea is tiny CTC pellets: 3/4tsp for 7oz water seems to have worked fine. The dry leaf smells pretty strongly of anise to me, but the taste is more balanced. With milk and sugar this is a good, spicy chai that I might buy more of (I don’t think I’d want to drink it plain though). I might stretch it by adding some plain black tea next time.

ETA: Lasted fine through 3 steeps, with a little extra Assam. It’s a very nice blend, somehow managing to be spicy without either a pepper or ginger kick.

3/4tsp leaf, 7oz water

Having this iced, sweetened, and with milk tonight at G’s request; ’tis the last of the sample, but more should be arriving soon!

It’s surprisingly good like this – something about the chill or the milk actually makes it taste like flowers instead of fruit! Still pretty sweet, even on its own, but a tiny dash of sugar turns this into a dessert tea like violet ice cream. Mmmm…

No notes yet.

Still a very fake vanilla (which tastes even stranger laid over the real mint and chamomile) but it is soothing, and sometimes it’s nice to just toss a bag in a mug for bedtime.

No notes yet.

Thanks to Lisbet for the sample! (I know I rated it badly, but I do like getting to try new teas)

(Backlogging) I wanted to like this, I really did :( It’s sweet, and cinnamony, but I just couldn’t get past the anise. I’m a licorice hater. I really couldn’t drink this hot, so I put it in the frige overnight and tried it cold with lots of milk the next day. That was… drinkable, so if you only have a mild anise dislike, cold+cream might work for you. The rooibos is detectable, and a perfectly good base for this blend.

Anyway, between anise, my distaste for chicory, and the fact that my mother only drank herbal teas when I was a child, there’s good reason that I thought for years I didn’t like tea!

More leaf has definitely improved this one. It tastes like a spicy, fruity roasted oolong now – Darjeeling flavor, but smoother. 2nd steep is visibly lighter already, but I’ll see how long it lasts anyway.

1.8g leaf (about 2 tsps), 3.5oz water

No notes yet.

I oversteeped this a bit (forgot to set a timer), but a little dash of sugar saves it very easily. I love how lemony this is, and how wonderful with milk.

In line with the pairing suggestions, I’m drinking this with bread and butter :) I’ve been off pu-erhs for awhile, so unfortunately I’m getting more of the barnyard taste (that I acclimate to when drinking pu-erh frequently). It’s also not comparing well to some of the plain blacks I’ve had lately, just for strength of flavor. But, it is exactly what I wanted after my bike ride – something smooth, sweet, and mild, but also energizing (and for a bonus, re-steepable and forgiving) – so points for that.

We’ll see if it grows on me after a couple of cups.

1 tsp leaf, 4oz water, dumped first rinse with boiling water

My water temp must have been too cool this time, or something, because this is looking and tasting a lot more like white tea than the bright buttery green I remember. Still nice flavors, but rather mild :( will try to fix on the second steep.

ETA: 2nd steep, checked the water temp this time: 175˚F. That’s a little cool, but should have been fine. I’m wondering now if this is just getting old – it’s been… about a year? since I bought it. Ah well, I’ll just have to drink more soon :)

1.1g tea, 3.5oz water

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Thanks to Lisbet for this one!

I’m actually liking this more than I expected, after being unimpressed with Adagio’s Decaf Vanilla. It’s mild for an Earl Grey (though that makes sense, with two parts creamy things to one part EG), but the blend comes together well. If you’ve seen my review of Adagio’s Cream, you’ll know I actually think it tastes more like maple than dairy, but that works ok here. I’d agree with Lisbet that this certainly doesn’t taste natural, and the decaffeination kinda destroys the best of the “tea” flavor, but… neither of those things surprised me, so I like it well enough for what it is ;) With 1/3 the caffeine of a normal cup (the Cream part isn’t Decaf), this is something I can have in the evening – a sweet and creamy bedtime Earl Grey.

Rating relative to other decaf and herbal teas only

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Found a random individually-sealed sachet of this while cleaning today… I think it may have been a Christmas present, so at least 8 months old, but it was exactly what I wanted with the weird cold weather. Oh-so-spicy and tingly warm in the mouth. I love this tea, so much. Pretty good for an old bagged tea, though trying for a second steep was a bad idea :( undrinkabley weak.

It’s a cold, rainy day here, so I wanted something roasty to warm me up – Formosa oolong definitely fits that bill. I prefer greener oolongs in general, but this is probably my favorite instance of a darker one. It’s warm, and a little sweet, and apple-y, and almost smoky; think… apples roasted in a campfire. Mmmm.

I feel a little silly for not getting a bigger bag of this with the TeaFrog order I just placed, but frankly (even though I’m trying to break the “save my favorites” habit) I don’t drink oolongs that often, and dark ones even less. But, if you like roasted oolongs, you should try it! Especially since TeaFrog 1) sends a sample of your choice with every order (and they’re generously sized samples) and 2) is having a promotion ‘til the end of the month giving you a discount for each review of their teas you’ve written.

I’ve gotten 2 steeps from this so far, and expect at least 2 more.

1 tsp, 30 second steeps, almost boiling water, 3.5oz pot

A very solid flavored rooibos – I’ve actually enjoyed several cups of this already from my TeaFrog sample, but hadn’t gotten around to logging it. The picture is quite accurate, and I like being able to see the little cubes of caramel in this (they don’t dissolve very easily, for better or worse – 2 or 3 steeps and some vigorous stirring will do it, but one simple steep will not). I have gotten more than one steep from this, but the first is by far the best. I’d consider buying it, but my decaf-creamy-sweet niche is currently being filled by Hazelnut Honeybush; maybe when that’s gone…

No notes yet.

Mm, very lemony. As in, I’m sure the bergamot and orange are there, but somehow it all comes together as lemon for me. Also, pleasantly smooth for a bagged tea. I steeped a little over 5 minutes and I didn’t try it plain, but it’s quite tasty with just milk (no sugar needed). At 10¢ a cup, I will probably buy this again. For those who have had TeaFrog’s Earl Grey Special, I’d say this is quite similar, though probably less good for re-steeping (I haven’t tried yet).

High marks for a bagged tea!

I really love this one – now that I’ve been out of Fujian Baroque for a couple of months, this is reminding me of it, so I think there must be some Fujian in the blend. In any case, it’s delicious, and I will be sad when it’s gone.

I was so excited when I saw that my local grocery store is carrying a wider range of Inko’s flavors – I got a bottle of the Unsweetened Honeysuckle (my very favorite bottled tea), and this Sweetened Apricot because I’d never seen or tried it before.

It’s good! Fruity, a little sweet (sweeter than Honest Teas), but not sickeningly so. The apricot flavor is really interesting – definitely distinct from, say, peach. A little sharper, almost citrusy. I’ll probably buy this again sometime, when I want something sweet/refreshing, but mostly I’m a sucker for that Honeysuckle :P

I’m a big spice lover, so I was a bit disappointed by the weakness of the cinnamon and clove flavors here; there was a lot of rooibos, a bit of cinnamon, and a little clove and orange. Others might call it well balanced, but for me it was weak. I liked the flavors! I just wanted more of them. I think I’ve been spoiled by Harney’s cinnamon spice, and another rooibos cinnamon tea I had from Light of Day :(

For reference, I used 1tsp in 8oz water; since the samples are generously sized, I’ll try using more leaf in my next cup and see if that’s better.