Happy Kombucha

Not much to say about this one, it was fruity – that telltale peach flavour David’s loves so much, but then the flavour fell flat mid sip. I’m not sure if I didn’t have enough leaf or… well – I’m just happy that I got this sample from my coworker. Who “only drinks coffee”. And now has 6 different teas on her desk, mwahaha

This is my favourite tea right now (and pretty much always). I always re-steep a couple times and find that the third steep usually tastes best. I don’t normally do a fourth steep but right now I can’t remember if that’s because it doesn’t taste as good or if it’s just because I get a bit bored. I really find the mango to be the overwhelming fruit taste for me in the tea. I always let the water cool for a few minutes before I make it because I do find this is any easy tea to singe and get that bitter taste if you aren’t careful.

Love Love Love… This truly is my happy tea.

What a lovely tea to smell! Opening the bag has rarely been such a pleasant experience. The pineapple and mango simply waft out and I’m completely caught up in it. I could make a sachet out of this…

195/3 min. The delicious aroma persists, thankfully. The tea’s flavor, however fruity, is also slightly sour and tart. I think that’s possibly the kombucha. It’s still really nice. I think I should have concentrated on getting more oolong into the teapot as the fruit tends to rise to the top of the bag during shipping.

Happiness is right! What a cheerful blend this is. Definitely fruity, but not overwhelmingly so. The oolong still shines through, unlike many a flavored tea. Now I need to go research kombucha, preferably with a nice warm cup of tea to keep me and my iPad company…

Smells pretty good both dry and steeped. Pineapple, peach, and mango yum.

Pretty good taste, very smooth. I could imagine it better iced.

Update: Yep! Enjoying it more and more as it cools.

Aroma: amazing

1st steep: wow, fruit! Delicious, and I can pick out mango, and pineapple taste. I also taste peach, but there isn’t any peaches…but it is yummy so I guess it doesn’t matter.

2nd steep: 7 min, less fruity but I get more of the buttery creamy oolong flavour coming through here. It is just as delicious as the first steep in a different way. I am not sure what komboucha tastes like, but it seems alright.

I accidentally threw out the leaves before I could get a 3rd steep, next time I guess because I will definitely be re-stocking this oolong. I find I am liking more and more oolongs.

Much fruitier than my usual, but I’m trying to expand my tea cupboard since I can’t drink black tea any more. I enjoyed it. Quite sweet and fruity, but not very tea-like. I think sharing a cup with my daughter while we went shopping together will mean this tea will always remind me of a lovely afternoon. :)

Woke up wanting something not too heavy or fussy.This was on backlog so I chose a nice fruity Oolong.

This tea smells nice like mango mostly.Doesn’t blow my mind but seems perfectly good for today.

Once brewed smells nice and sweet.Not heavy at all.

Here’s some links about Kombucha and what it is and random other scribblings(just for fun):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-173858
http://users.bestweb.net/~om/~kombu/roche.html

side note: ALL teas have history just check out the different kinds if you are a noob( Yes I do game and yes I AM A GIRL) or even a veteran it’s a rich and wonderful way to experience tea as well.

There is NO WAY I am writing a presentable essay today …lazy I know but I’m barely awake people!

They do say that with Oolong tea it’s good to re-steep the tea again for a new experience but that depends on how much I like it the first time around.

I’ve had this tea before actually but that was before I found an audience to review for here on Steepster so thank you!

It tastes nice and sweet..
Just doesn’t blow me away I was hoping I would like it more but it’s not bad and not great merely decent.

I’m trading this to my BFF lindairvine ..hopefully she’ll dig this.

I’m on the fence with Happy Kombucha. On the one hand I enjoy the fruity mango and pineapple flavors, but there is an underlying taste in this tea that makes it a little less appealing to my taste-buds. I’m not sure if it’s a specific ingredient in the tea (i.e. the Kombucha Powder or the safflower petals), or just the fact that this is an oolong (I have yet to find an oolong that I would rate higher than just so-so).

I must admit that I had no idea what kombucha was when I bought this, but after quick Google search, I learned that it is basically a type of fermented tea? I’m not sure if that’s correct, but that’s what I understood of it. I tried this one both hot and cold, and both ways are alright I suppose, but not good enough to entice me to repurchase this one again.

Happy Kombucha? Is this tea supposed to make me happy? I could certainly use a good dose of happy right now… major grad student woes XD

Anyhow, the dry tea smells deliciously fruity and juicy, with almost a slight hint of chemical (aka fakey smell). But sometimes I just find that dried fruit gets that way (sulphites??), so am not too worried yet. The peachy fruitiness is too enticing.

The steeped tea? A bit of a different story…. I am hardly smelling anything anymore, just a hint of muted fruitiness and that’s about it. How strange (and disappointing). I am slightly concerned that the water was too hot – I’m at work and have no means of measuring water temperature, so just boiled the water and let it cool for a few minutes.

First taste is… not so good. Definitely tasting an odd chemically flavour and maybe I’m catching a bit of pineapple with a mango-y aftertaste, but it’s not very obvious and tastes a little funky. Also not tasting any oolong (although apparently I’m more familiar with light/green oolongs, not brown? I need to do some more tea reading). Unfortunately, the tea is too hot for me right now, and I’m headed to a meeting in a couple minutes, so won’t get back to it until it’s cold, but my hopes have kind of been dashed. Sad :(

Hmm, a few more too-hot sips, and I definitely think I’m getting pineapple, and really am not a fan. Strange, because I think I’ve had pineapple in numerous DT offerings before and thoroughly enjoyed it, although perhaps it just blended in with other flavours instead of standing out on its own.

Ok, finishing this up later…

ETA: Wow… this is not a tea for me. It’s kind of gross cold, and reminiscent of Forbidden Fruit (although I definitely liked that one more). The mango and fruitiniess are weak, and I’m not sure the oolong base and I are agreeing. Either way, I have the rest of a small bag to change my mind, but with so many other tasty options…

To be fair, I should probably resteep this one, as it is an oolong and they apparently taste better in subsequent steepings… No rating until I’ve properly checked the steeping temperature though.

I got this tea as a small sampler from DAVIDsTEA in one of my orders and I was very apprehensive about it. I have never had Oolong and wasn’t sure what to expect but after trying another Oolong, I brought this around to try it out. I was very happy with the result!

It tasted smooth going down and even as it cooled it never seemed to lose it’s light and sweet flavor. I added a little honey to give it an extra edge – even though I could drink it straight – and I was very happy with the result. It was definitely a tin buy despite how expensive it is!

I’ve never heard of kombucha before.. maybe that’s why I wasn’t up to buying this tea despite being shown it. But the sales gal said if I like fruity teas, I should try it. I like oolong teas so I decided I might as well try it.

Dry: Strong sweet mango.. pineapply or peachy tangy? A similar tea “Life Long Oolong” I find smells less sweet, more nutty and peachy.

Steeped: classic oolong, but a tad less saturated. Smells like pineapple

Taste: deep oolong and something kind of pungently earthy (kombucha I’m guessing), hint of mango and little sweetness from the pineapple. It does get a little peachy with the mix of fruit and earthy. I sneaked a glass of this tea at work after I bought it, in which I left the leaves in and I found it more fruity.

I found this tea very strong the in the oolong/earthy department. Not the typical oolong taste. It’s not bad but it makes this tea different than just fruity oolong. With that said, a very different taste compared to “Life Long Oolong” which is more clean oolong/peachy/nut. This is almost black teay tasting for the earthy/pungent.

If you like earthy teas – maybe towards the black tea range or a strong cup of oolong, this is a good match up. I found the fruit took a backburner to the oolong/kombucha? here – what made this tea a different flavour to set apart from typical oolong, was too overpowering for me.

For fruity oolongs, I think DavidsTea’s Banana Oolong is much more complimentary to oolong tea.

Can’t believe I haven’t commented on this tea yet! Well, finishing one of my courses today allows me a bit of down-time to review this one. Especially when it was my companion at the end of that darned essay!

First impressions – Love the smell of this one. It reminds me of sunshine. That is all.

Taste – I really enjoy it. It tastes like mango-peach. It is borderline for me on the sweetness factor, but other than that I really love the taste. And the second steep is just as awesome. Plus, as you guys might be starting to figure out about me, I definately appreciate a tea that can be left to steep a long while without becoming nasty.

Loveability – Now, that’s a hard one. This was one of my favorites for a while, but it then got pushed aside come fall and the bajillion new teas DT came out with. When I pulled it out today, I was reminded of how awesome this tea is. But, it has artificial flavoring. And, because I am who I am, that bugs me. So, as much as I like this one, once I finish off what I have, I think I’ll have to pass on buying some more.

So I figured I should try this tea again in case I need to stock up before it disappears. However, one word comes to mind when I drink this: Forgettable.

Five minutes after I take a sip, I honestly couldn’t tell you what it tastes like. It’s good, but it’s not amazing. Not worth stocking up on, for me.

Ah, finally! A tea of the month I care for.
And an oolong. I love me some oolong.

Happy Kombucha is very similar to Green and Fruity and Green Seduction but with a punch of oolong. The tea is extremely fruity, but manages to maintain a “tea” flavor to it. The smell is amazing and really does make you happy after a sniff or two.

It tastes really good unsweetened, but I imagine it will taste very good iced and sweetened as well. I think I might go out and buy some more this weekend!
As a fruity oolong, the Kombucha is less artificial tasting than Forbidden Fruit and Long Life Oolong. But definitely, if you like the latter two oolongs, I see no reason why you would not like the Happy Kombucha as it is the superior counterpart in my mind.

Yum.

This loose leaf tea smells amazing, a sort of fruity tropical blend with a heavy base and perhaps even a faint fizzyness (or maybe that’s just my imagination, thinking of kombucha). Unfortunately my cup of tea doesn’t have all these flavors. All I get is a bit of pineapple in a very light oolong base. It has a sort of heavy thickness to it, it’s definitely not a thin fruit tea, and it has a little bit of the kombucha aftertaste. I’d really like more of an oolong flavor and less fruit, maybe I should steep it longer next time. It’s not bad, and I suppose it might be good iced, but it’s not as amazing as it smells in the bag.

Reaaaaally love this one. In fact, my favourite oolong ‘till now I think.
I feel kinda hippy drinking it..haha. It is SOOOO tasty, full of fruits, but not too much (Actually, I think it coulnd’t be too fruity for me..) I especially taste the pineaple and mangos, and I really like it.
I think I’m gonna drink it in the bus tomorrow morning, maybe it’ll bring some sunshine and some help to wake me up ?!

On my fourth steep, still tastes amazing! I love the tropical taste of this tea, I just keep resteeping it- makes the perfect afternoon study tea!

Oolong taste? Check. Mango taste? Check. Pineapple taste? Check. Peach taste? Che… err… I mean…. oh, there’s no peach in there? But I swear, it does tastes of peaches! Or is my tongue going crazy? Anyways, most importantly: Happiness? Check!

Went on a whim and bought a tin of this stuff. It smells amazing dry, but pretty nasty when it’s steeped. Not getting a lot of fruity flavours in here, just bitter. I wonder if I didn’t get enough fruit bits when I steeped it…

The second go was much better. You really get the fruit flavours in the after taste. There’s a few big chunks of what I think is pineapple that I’ll save when I make a pot.