Happiness

Backlogging:

After receiving a sample pyramid bag of Happiness I could not wait to give it a try. Mostly because I was exhausted and really did not feel like messing with my loose leaf tea, which is really all I have anymore. I was really happy to get a sample tea bag and be able to just boil some water and toss it in. Granted it is not difficult to use loose leaf tea but I was just THAT lazy, the mental aspect of a tea bag seemed right on for me in the moment.

I was not anticipating much, it was after all a tea bag. Yes I have become a bit jaded regarding them. To my surprise and delight I could not be happier, no pun intended, with this Happiness tea!

I clearly can taste the peach and the grapefruit gives the tea a nice bright cheery note but is not biting like grapefruit is known to be. The mallow really makes this tea soothing, almost creamy but not as creamy as a cream tea of course, just a slight smoothing effect. The floral notes are very well balanced and complimenting to the fruit notes.

I steeped my sample bag in boiling water for 2 minutes on the first steep and 2.5 minutes on the second. Yes, this tea bag did re-steep quite nicely!

Happiness is made with a mixture of green tea and green rooibos tea. I do believe that this is the first green rooibos tea I have had the pleasure of trying! Green rooibos is caffeine free, although green tea is not, however is low in caffeine in comparison to black tea. So what you get is a lightly caffeinated tea with Happiness. Yet still, I felt awake after drinking, not jittery but calm, serene, and happy. Green rooibos is not fermented like red rooibos. The process is stopped by withering the leaves right after being cut. I intend to do more research on green rooibos myself, and always love to find something new that I have not tried before when it comes to tea!

I have been looking for a peach tea that really tastes like peaches right off the tree! One that is very natural tasting, I have found that in Happiness. Of course everyone’s palate will pick up some notes more strongly than others but this cup provides so many wonderful offerings! This tea would appeal to floral tea lovers, green tea lovers, and fruit tea lovers and I also feel this would appeal to anyone in your life who does not particularly care for tea at all. Without the sugary, fake flavorings this tea reminds me very much of many bottled drinks on the market today, or a smoothie even. I know my entire family would enjoy this tea! I also allowed the second cup to get cold setting beside me and it is absolutely wonderful cold so would make a very nice summer iced tea!

This is a sample I received forever ago in a Lupicia Monthly Newsletter. I actually forgot I had it as it wasn’t even recorded in my virtual cupboard here on Steepster. I literally stumbled across 5 Lupicia tea samples in my quest to organize my non-virtual tea cupboard. Score! This is the first one I wanted to try as I’ve had it a couple other times, but I’ve never really formed an opinion about it.

For those of you new to Lupicia tea bags, it’s important to note that the instructions say to brew them in only 5 oz. of water. I’ve made the mistake many times of brewing them in 8 oz., and they taste like barely flavored water. No mistakes this time! ;)

The dry leaf aroma is very fruity. It does strike me as happy fruit, if there can be such a thing. The brewed tea aroma is purely green tea with just the smallest hint of fruit. The taste is the same as the aroma here: green tea with a hint of fruit. The fruit is largely unidentifiable to my palate. I looked up the ingredients to see what it is supposed to be: peach and grapefruit. I suppose it does taste faintly of those, but it’s not obvious. I’m not getting any recognizable green rooibos flavor either.

I’m sad to report that this tea does not evoke any happiness in me. Rather, I find that it’s a lackluster tea and largely forgettable. I suppose that’s why I’ve had it three times and can never remember what it tastes like or whether I like it. The longer I sip it, the more generic it tastes. It also has a very drying effect on my mouth. I feel positively parched! Lowering the rating from 60 to 49.

This is not a winner in my book, but I’m glad I can finally put my mind to rest about this one. Farewell, Happiness tea! May you be loved and appreciated by others!

A free sample tea bag of this came in my latest purchase from Lupicia. And by latest purchase, I mean the one I got about 6 months ago, hahaha!

I made this at work, so I don’t really know what temperature the water was or how long I steeped it for. I definitely used way too much water because I forgot that most Lupicia teas say to brew it in only 5 ounces of water. I probably used twice that much at least.

So, it didn’t really taste the way it was supposed to. Honestly, I couldn’t discern much beyond a low-grade green tea flavor. I’m disappointed I messed this up because I don’t really remember what it tasted like the one other time I’ve tried it. So, I guess the rating will remain unchanged. Too bad. I thought this was my second chance with this tea.

Alas, I guess it wasn’t meant to be.