Thomas

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I really like the fact that Della Terra use real ingredients in this blend. It doesn’t taste artificial. I’m sure that other people could create blends which were more focused on making the tea like a s’more rather than a flavoured tea.

This tea looks like exactly like I imagined from the ingredients. The white mini marshmallows and cracker bits stand out against the dark tea and chocolate background.

There is definite chocolate in there, but it isn’t overpowering. It seems to form the base of the cup alongside the tea, with the marshmallow on top. There is just a hint of the graham flavouring coming through, although it might be nice to have a bit more. It’s not a sickly sweet cup, that would ruin it. The tea in the background is pleasant, but this blend could maybe use something a bit stronger. I’m very pleased overall though. I’m gradually getting in to flavoured teas, and it’s nice to be getting experience of Della Terra first because I think they make proper flavoured tea instead of anything artificial.

First of all, I’ve never had eggnog before, so I can’t make any comparisons!

The dried tea is a rusty brown colour with odd white snow flakes in it. It’s smells of cinnamon with a hint of other spices like nutmeg. When steeping the spices come out again, but with extra warmth which makes the sweetness more pleasant. There is also a slight liquor smell to it, although not in a bad way. I found it was present more in the dry leaves than the mug.

My first try was without milk, and it tasted nice, but I felt it needed some creaminess to help balance the sweetness, so I added just a dash to my second cup. This made it really good. Cinnamon is one of my favourite sweet spices, and it came across well. It is quite a sweet blend, and I didn’t really get much of the tea at all in the first cup, so second time round I also steeped for a lot longer.

Based on my first cup I wouldn’t have rated it as highly, but playing with how I made it helped a lot, and I really enjoyed the second cup. It’s not a flavour to drink all the time, but nice would be nice with sticky bun in the afternoon.

I really didn’t think I would like this as much as I do. The reason I was a bit unsure was because I am not a massive fan of pineapple. Turns out I’m into pineapple and vanilla though!

I’ve had a lot of flavoured black tea recently, so switching to this white and green mix was very refreshing. Visually, The tea looks nice and light, with flecks of red peppercorn and the light pineapple. It is very appealing.

The dry and wet smell reminds me of baking. That lovely warm cupcake vanilla with the pineapple immediately puts me at home in the kitchen baking with the wife.

The liquor is a pale yellow and tastes incredibly refreshing. No one flavour stood out above the others, which is a compliment because they all balanced very well. My main fear was that the pineapple would be overpowering, but that’s definitely not the case. It’s just slightly sweet with the vanilla, and the pineapple comes in just after that.

The green and white leaves mix well here. It seems to me like the green stops the vanilla from being sickly and the white adds this butteryness that probably blends to give me that cupcake vanilla and baking association.

Very pleased I tried this tea now. One problem though, I know others in the family who would love this tea as well, and this means I am going to have to share my sample! Oh well, just an excuse to order some more ;)

This is another winter warmer full of spice, but it has the added bonus of the sweet fruitiness of the mango, papaya and orange. Although I couldn’t taste any of the white chocolate, the sharpness of the fruit was not as prominent as I expected, so it must work to blend and add a touch of creaminess to the cup.

It’s such an inviting tea in the tin, as is J&J’s Girlie Grey. It’s lovely to look at as the different ingredients pop out against the dark brown assam, and the smell is intense but very pleasant. Very sweet from the choice of fruit but with classic winter spice.

It’s tastes just as good too. It’s another tea that I immediately want to go out and share with people. It would be great to have as an afternoon refreshment when you all sit down having spent a long time out in the cold.

The tea in the background works very well with the other flavours. In my opinion sugar and milk won’t get anywhere near this cup as it is sweet enough as it is, and any more creaminess will take away from the sweet definition of the fruit which help distinguish this blend.

As others have mentioned, this tea is a definite reminder of mint chocolate confectionary, such as After Eights. It smelt incredibly chocolatey in the bag, but the mint comes out as soon as it starts steeping.

You can definitely taste the mint in the tea, but the chocolate wasn’t as prominent throughout. This may be because there wasn’t a good ratio of chocolate drops in my cup as they’d all sunk to the bottom of the bag, but a bit of sugar may also help bring it out as mentioned elsewhere.

Overall it’s quite refreshing. I like the peppermint flavour, it’s got exactly the right amount of sweetness in it. I’m sure this is going to be a great tea for dessert as soon as I get the right balance.

Mmm, this was nice. Exactly what was needed when the heating in our office broke! Just shut my eyes, take a sip, and I’m sat by an open fire in a log cabin that’s surrounded by snow.

It’s does smell spicey! Quite sweet thanks to the vanilla, but the ginger and the chai spices really come through.

It’s nicely reflected in the taste. At the start you get a warming sensation on your tongue, and it’s a definite winter spice mix. This is followed by the vanilla coming through and the everything blends in to a natural of sweetness and spice (and all things nice!)

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Another first for me! Well, a couple in fact. I’ve not tried any compressed tea yet, or anything remotely close to a Pu-erh. The compressed tea is in the form of an acorn cup, complete with little dimple on the end. I’m not sure if this is intentional or because of machine production?

The liquor produced is a light brown, and it smells of earthyness with a hint of wood. The taste is quite refrshing, very light with no real after taste. I can just taste something sweeter in the background. I’m wondering if it will come out in later steeps? I will find out!

Update: Second steep produced a liquor which was slightly redder (not sure if that was to be expected). The smell changed quite a bit. There was a definite sweetness to it, not floral at all but fruity. Reminds me of raisins quite a bit.

The taste wasn’t as sweet though. I could sense it in the background when taking in the tea, but it wasn’t in the body. There were some more hints of it when the taste was going. The taste was still earthy, but there wasn’t as much wood to it this time. Still very pleasant, and did leave my mouth feeling quite refreshed. Easily got another two steeps from this one toucha!

Third steeping! This time the taste reflects the sweetness in the aroma. A nice blend of fruit and earth. I can see why some discard a number of steepings to suit their palette as the taste changes dramatically. Personally, I have enjoyed it all so far.

This tea has a sweet and nutty aroma, with just a hint of smokiness. The combination comes across as a bit buttery. The wet leaves are a dirty green colour, and the liqour was amber, darker than I expected.

I must admit that the aroma made me think this would just be an average green tea, however I was definitely wrong! The taste is something quite different. I’m finding it difficult to describe really. It’s not as nutty as I expected, and although there is a sweetness to it it’s not like the aroma. There is a taste of smoke though. It’s not as in your face as a Lapsang Souchong, more subtle and well balanced. A strange buttery smoke mix that’s surprisingly refreshing.

I did think that I wouldn’t find anything special in this leaf considering the aroma, but was thankfully proved wrong. However, it doesn’t stand out as much as the Royal Ceylon Gunpowder I tried last week. It’s definitely higher on my list than some green teas I’ve had, but it’s never going to compete for top spot.

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Mmm, I enjoyed this tea quite a lot! Whilst it is a green tea, it struck me as something half way between on the first steep.

The dried leaves, as expected, are rolled in tight balls. There is a real mixture of greens in this one, dark to light in colour. There wasn’t a strong scent when dry, but when wet you get a slight earthy note. Again, when steeping the aroma isn’t particularly strong.

The wet leaves become more vibrant as usual, but I noticed that there were flecks of rusty, ruddy brown leaves now.

As far as taste goes, this was a real change from the green teas I’ve been having this week. It is difficult to describe, other than it’s definitely got some oak and earthyness in there. It also tastes like a good quality tea. It immediately grabbed me and made me think this was something a bit special. I’m really pleased I got to try this.

Second steeping lost the oak as the main body, and balanced itself with the normal slight floral and sweetness of green leaves. Very pleasant again, and the third steeping matched this balance.

I’m looking forward to my next cup of this, and it’s one that I’m looking forward to sharing with my family.

This is one blend I have wanted to try ever since I began researching tea. It stood out as unique because of the addition of the toasted rice. Out of the packet, it’s visually appealing thanks to the toasted colour of the rice against the dried green of the leaves, with the odd large fleck of popped rice, which looks very much like popcorn. The smell is fairly strong too, predominantly of the rice with little room for the tea.

Once steeping the aroma grows even more. It is intensely nutty and savoury, although after a few minutes a hint of the green tea forms in the backgroud. The liqour is a pale mixture of green and yellow.

The taste of this tea has the familiar nutty and earthy flavour from the scent, but the sweetness of the tea was much more noticeable. The body of the tea wasn’t as heavy as I expected from the strength of the aroma. After drinking my mug down I was left with a slight buttery taste which was very pleasant.

Argh, someone remind me to edit this later. The company is meant to be Simpli Special!

The dried leaves live up to their ‘eyebrow’ nickname. The aroma of this tea was quite understated for me, although it does replicate the taste. It created a pale tea between yellow and amber, sligthly darker than expected despite following recommended brewing technique.

The taste was the same as I expected from a Chun Mee. The nut hits you, and then the smokiness joins it subtly, and before you release it you’re finishing with a slight sweetness just before the flavour melts away.

To me this seems more like a tea to help you get up and do things, rather than some lighter/sweeter/flowery green teas. I would definitely prefer this as an everyday tea rather than saving it for times of relaxation. It’s got an initial punch with the flavour that really helps you focus!

Update: Upon second steeping the aroma was much sweeter! It was very pleasant. The taste of the liquor wasn’t quite as smokey as the first time, and this helped to bring out the natural sweetness here too. Maybe it is just the way I’m brewing it, but it seems like an interesting main course and then pudding combination in one set of leaves.

I experienced this tea at a corperate function today, and I was definitely glad of it! They had a small selection of teas from H&S, but I thought this Sencha would be the most refreshing. It’s the first time I’ve sampled a Sencha, and I was looking forward to trying it.

The tea in the bag looked quite dull to start with, but it smelt good. It was quite grassy as someone else has mentioned. When brewing a hint of nut was also released in the background. The taste was similar, although the nuttiness at the back came out more to balance the grass. The wet leaves were a fantastic emerald green colour. I did feel the bag hindered the flavour a bit though, whether it was the general tea in a bag production or the steeping.

I was impressed with this first try of Sencha. I have some loose leaf to sample soon, and I expect a more natural flavour. I’m excited to try multiple uses to see how the flavour changes.

One other thing about my experience, there was lots of bits on the outside of the tea bag before I put it in the mug!

There is a wonderful fresh aroma and taste to this leaf. It is lovely and smooth. I like how well it steeps, you can get a light-medium strength easily to suit your mood. Despite leaving it in longer than usual once I never got any bitterness, which is a great characteristic of Nilgiri. It brought a great malt flavour.

I find it perfect for times when everything around is a bit hectic and scattered. The refreshing flavour and smoothness seem to wash all hassle away!

When steeping it smells exactly like Lemsip! Definite lemon scent, but again Liptop manage to get a strange artificial edge to it as well.

The taste is better than expected, although more on the bland side, and it’s not because the bag wasn’t in long enough! The lemon is pleasant, and does taste more natural than it smelt. Occasionally I got a wonderful lemon fresh taste rush through after swallowing, but it didn’t happen often enough for me to love this tea.

I found the aroma to be a bit too strong and sickly sweet. I couldn’t help but think it was a bit artificial.

The taste isn’t as bad thankfully, although I have had much better versions of this tea. The fruitiness didn’t really come out in the way I would have hoped, and it unfortunately this version isn’t for me.

I don’t have experience of any loose leaf Lapsang Souchong to compare against unfortunately, but I did enjoy it in a bag. I can see the loose leaf have a fresher underlying tea flavour, but I thought this was great as a quick brew solution.

It has that wonderful camp fire smell, much stronger than I expected. The taste was very pleasant too, just enough wood and smokiness in it. It wasn’t overpowering and steeped very well.

I was very impressed with this tea. It certainly lives up to it’s ‘girlie’ tag over traditional Earl and Baroness variates thanks to it’s blend of citrus and sweet flavours alongside the flora. I enjoyed this tea during an afternoon tea outing with family, and the three of us that tried it all loved it. It is one that I will have to purchase more of.

I really enjoyed this black tea. It’s important to note this is a CTC tea, so don’t expect full leaves.

This Brazilian blend has a very subtle sweetness too it, predominantly from a hint of coconut in the background. I find it represents it’s Brazilian heritage very well. I’m a big coconut fan, but I would expect black tea with a lot of coconut would not work well. This is spot on though, and leaves the mouth feeling quite refreshed and ready for more. I took it with a little milk, it doesn’t want too much because it isn’t too strong.

I’m not a massive orange fan, but I like the scent of this tea. It reminds me of an orange squash flavour rather than a pure orange juice. It’s that balance of pure orange against sugary sweetness that creates a smoothness to the tang of orange.

I found that, even after steeping for longer than usual, the green tea wasn’t as strong as I had hoped. However, the orange and mandarin come in subtly as an after taste which is enjoyable. Definitely not overpowering.

I like this tea a lot. It does have a very summer smell out of the packet, although the rose isn’t as distinguishable from the fruit as some might hope from the tea’s name. This probably explains some of other reviewers feelings.

I have found the taste varies a lot depending on steep time. The longer you steep the more the rose influence is lost to the black tea. Because of this I usually taste a spoonful along the way to get the right time to finish steeping.

I drink this tea on my own at home, and therefore I only make enough for one cup. I’ve found the taste of rose and fruit can vary a lot depending on what you get on the spoons you put in, so if I can’t see much rose going in I will add a bit more to try and keep each mug balanced.

I find the taste has the correct balance of floral and sweet tones rose, and it’s a great way to pick the mood up over a very wet winter.

This has the most incredible smell, an intense mix of sweet vanilla and caramel. Thankfully the taste is not as sweet as I believe it would be too overpowering. I found that when piping hot the flavour of tea against the caramel and vanilla were a little at odds with one another. However, when it cooled a bit they balanced very well.

I didn’t try this with any milk, which may have been a mistake. I think the addition of the milk would help to bind the flavours better.