tigress_al

I tried this cold brewed this time. It does improve the taste slightly. However, it still tastes very artificial. Oh well!

It is hard to believe that no one else has reviewed this yet.
This is alright, but nothing that blows my socks off either. It is slightly sweet and floral but it is a little pricey for what you get. It is very pretty in my clear mug and infuser.

This one is pretty good cold brewed. I mostly get the pear flavour and then I get some light hints of vanillla. I think they go together fairly well. It isn’t as sweet as I would have thought maybe, but I will still drink numerous pitchers of this in the summer.
Bumping the rating up a little bit.

It has been a long while since I had this. It was so good this morning. Brewed at 95degrees. Chocolatey and the raspberry was true tasting. And provided lots of energy!

I actually thought this was pretty good. It kinda tastes like this dessert I had once with grilled pears and vanilla syrup, but not as sweet.
I like the pairing of pears, apples, and vanilla. And the fact that there isn’t artificial flavourings to get this flavour.

I need to try this cold-brewed and then I will determine how much I really like it because to me, pears would be best enjoyed cold.

This was just ok for me. I really liked the strawberry taste and the brittle was good. I was kinda suprised though when it was a little bitter. I didn’t think that I had oversteeped it or anything but I guess maybe 5 minutes was a little too long.

I will give this another chance and steep for less time and see how that goes. Otherwise, I certinaly won’t be re-stocking my 25g sample bag.

Pina colada? Exciting!
This does taste fairly close to a pina colada, not as creamy of course but that would be impossible I think. I am definitely getting the pineapple and coconut. With some sweetness. Those little candy hearts are cute.
I think I might get a tin!

I will have to do a comparison one of these days to 52teas Pina colada honeybush. DT’s version is cheaper but 52’s version has less artificial flavouring I believe.

Also, I am curious how this would taste hot.

I am going to up the rating a little bit. I just finished off my stash from last year. If it is cold-brewed, it doesn’t come out as bitter as iced in my opinion.
It does taste fruity and like watermelon.
I wasn’t going to stock back up if it came back, but I have decided now that I will.

I was so excited about this one, I love kiwis!
I like this one alot. Cold brewed, it is very refreshing.
Lots of kiwi flavour, then notes of green tea, apple and tiny bit of lemon. Tad bit tart, but mostly sweet.
Too bad there is artificial flavouring in here. But, still really like it.

The mango is really good….but I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food, so I found it too spicy for me.
However, it delivers what it promises.
I will still give this a fairly good rating since it really is good.

This is my last session with this tea for awhile. I am sure I will be stocking up after I finish my other milk oolongs.
2nd steep: 95degrees, 4minutes, butter, milky, silky smooth, does it get any better than this?
I will miss you Q. milk oolong, see ya soon!

This is my last sample of this package, I was so excited to try them all that I had to sample them all right away! Thankyou again to Angel and TEAVIVRE for these wonderfully generous samples!

I used 1 teaspoon of leaf. The leaves are nice looking, different than anything I have seen before.
I was a little worried about the smell of the steeped leaves….it was like smoky potatoe soup.
The liqour is a nice deep brown.
1st steep: complex sweet potatoe with a little pit of smoky and sweetness in there. This might sounds weird but it tastes a little like barley without the grain-i-ness (does that make sense). It kinda tastes like sweet potatoe soup, which sounds really strange but actually tastes pretty good.
2nd steep: 90degrees, 3minutes, a little less sweet but still good
3rd steep: 95degrees, 4 minutes, now it tastes like potatoe soup without the sweet potatoe

This is very different than I was expecting and very different than anything I have tried before. I actually like it!

Smells like a fresh rose garden
Tastes too strongly of roses, but I guess I should have expected that! I would put less than the recommended amount of leaves next time, then maybe it wouldn’t be quite so overpowering. However, I did actually enjoy this as I was in the mood for something very flowery.
2nd steep: 85degrees, 4minutes, still tastey rose going on strong

Smells fruity first of all.
Tastes better than I was expecting. I taste the green sencha with slight hint of berries with some freshness from the sea lettuce. A couple of sips in, the caraway and mustard started to take over. I don’t think I am a fan of mustard in tea.
I am glad I got to try it, but I don’t think that I will re-stock my small 12gram sample.

First, I get the licorice, then a chocolate hint, then the strawberry, right at the end of the sip I get a bit of the anise flavour. It is kinda similar to DT’s Love Tea #7, but I like Love Tea much better. I am not sure that I like the licorice in this blend.
Actually, the licorice coating my throat actually felt pretty good today, it would probably taste great when you have a sore throat.

I cold brewed this.
It is not as tart as I was expecting. There is sugar added, so it sweetens it a lot. I am definitely getting the cranberry taste. It tastes like a store-bought cranberry cocktail.
I really like it, but I don’t like the fact that sugar was already added.

Hmm, this was an interesting tea. It smells very peachy.
Taste: mostly a peachy taste with a little jasmine. The tea taste is a little hidden underneath though. I didn’t have any hibiscus blossoms in my steep.

I like it, but that peachy taste is throwing me off, like other have mentioned, the description says just natural flavouring……so where is the peach taste coming from?

2nd steep: 85degrees, 4 minutes, I actually like this steep better, less peachy flavour, more jasmine, and more tea taste!

First of all, thankyou to Angel and TEAVIVRE for this generous sample.
I have been wanting to try unflavoured pu’erh for awhile now, so I thought Teavivre samples was a great opportunity.

Smell: earthy, reminds me of working in the garden! Not fishy smelling at all like some bad pu’erhs can be

Taste: very earthy tasting, and not bitter at all with just a tiny note of sweetness at the end of the sip.
2nd steep: 2minutes, same taste, a little lighter brew, the toucha has opened up now though
3rd steep: 2.5 minutes, this still doesn’t lose any flavour.

I suspect this could re-steep all day. I have lots of errands to run today, so this is it for me today though.
In summary, I think you have to be in the right mood for such an earthy flavour and it would feel good to drink this after a heavy sweet meal.
At this point, my palate still appreciates flavouring (maybe I will give the rose toucha a try next time). However, I did enjoy this today.

Thankyou to Angel and TEAVIVRE for this wonderful sample!
Dry smell: tastes like sweet hay and fresh grass
Taste: I still taste the hay a little bit but there is certainly floral and sweet notes poking through this very fresh white tea base. I like white teas because they are so fresh and light!
2nd steep: 95degrees, 3minutes, now the white hay base is lighter and the floral sweetness is really taking centre stage, my favourite steep
3rd steep: 95degrees, 4minutes, losing the sweet floral taste but still good.
I think this tea would also be good to mix with other teas that are floral

Once again, thank you Angel and TEAVIVRE for their generosity for this sample!!
I only used 1 tsp.
Dry smell: fresh cut hay
Taste: grainy (but not in a bad way), slightly sweet like caramel but not as sweet as I thought it would be from all the reviews on here. I might try a 3 minute steep next time and see how that goes
2nd steep: 90degrees, 3minutes, less grainy, a tad sweeter
3rd steep: 95degrees, 4minutes, I found this to be the sweetest steep, and not as grainy, so this is now very smooth, this was my favourite steep.
I would have went for more steeps, but I was out and about for too long and had to throw out my leaves.
I am so excited I finally got to try it!

My local tea shop labels this as a sun tea, so the first sun tea I am trying I guess.
The process of actual “sun tea” kinda freaks me out a bit, just leaving it out in the sun for hours. So instead, I cold brewed this.
This was really good. I was worried about the hibiscus which can sometimes be a mean ugly dragon and spoil a good tea.
The hibiscus didn’t steal the show, so it was ok. The orange was the superstar, and I could definitely taste some strawberry and lemon. This was very refreshing for a mild spring day. I can see myself making this alot this summer!

Also, I tried it in one of my tea smoothies with vanilla yogurt and frozen strawberries and it was very delicious!

My second sampling of TEAVIVRE samples arrived today!!! So excited! Thank you Angel and TEAVIVRE so much for your generosity!!
This was my first sample to try.
I used only 2tsp of leaves instead of 3-4 because it looked like way too much, I am glad that I did because there was hardly enough room in my infuser.
Dry, this tea smells very vegetal, I was a little worried at this point, I am not the biggest fan of really vegetal teas.
Steeped, the leaves also smell very vegetal, but then when you take out the leaves, it smells much sweeter and more floral….weird, but good!
1st steep: very fresh, earthy, vegetal, with notes of floral and nuttiness (not the usual butteriness I am used to in oolongs). I also get a little sweetness and a very full mouthfeel (I like that!)
2nd: 3minutes, sweeter and possibly creamier, less vegetal, my favourite steep for sure
3rd: 4 minutes, not vegetal, but the creaminess and sweetness is starting to deteriorate, still a good steep though
4th: certainly weaker, but still maintains a good mouthfeel, and light enough to have in the evening without being up all night, hopefully….
Overall, I really like this, a very different green oolong than I am used to.

This was one of their valentine’s teas, but I just got around to buying it in April.
This was just meh, I could certainly taste the chocolate, but it tasted like a cheap bitter chocolate. I don’t think the rose really melded with the flavour either.
That is ok, there are many other good black teas my favourite local shop stocks!

I tried this with 1.5 teaspoons instead of 2 because I wanted to see if it would hold up. It does! I think I like this even better than last time I had it. I steeped it for 7 minutes at 95 degrees so that is probably why. Longer steep than I am used to.
This tea is so complex with lots of different notes….caramel, maple, apple, popcorn!….just plain yummy.