333 Tasting Notes
I’m very excited to try this one!
The blend is made of dark, twisty leaves with some lighter, almost silver ones. The aroma of the dry blend is intoxicating already—it has that clean, complex “black tea fragrance” that is hard to describe. The brewed tea has that same enticing aroma. The taste is malty but complex; unlike some black teas of this style it’s not heavy or earthy, and lighter, crisp notes just this side of sweet develop with each sip and linger. The mouthfeel is absolutely smooth in spite of the strength of the tea. Highly recommended!
This is one festive-looking tea! There are pink peppercorns and flower petals in the blend, which has a sweet, mixed-fruit aroma. There’s something about it that seems just right for the winter holidays.
The brewed tea is malty and smooth, with an abundance of fruit flavors—mango, stonefruit, banana, and others all seem to melt together. It’s not overly sweet or artificial, and the black tea base is of good quality. There’s no trace of the peppercorns, but then again, there was only one in this serving! Overall, a solid offering from Lupicia that lifts my spirits on a busy afternoon. Thanks beelicious!
Thanks to Tealated for this free sample!
I’m generally a fan of Earl Grey, though most of the ones I’ve tried fall within the “like it” and not “love it” range. The mixed reviews on this one were a little daunting, but I have to form my own opinion first, right?
The dry blend consists of black tea, blue petals, and some small, seed-like bits which were not listed in the ingredients. The tea smelled like bergamot—nothing strange or unexpected, and not overly strong. Once brewed, the tea reveals a rich, creamy vanilla aroma. The creamy notes are the highlight of the flavor as well, making for a nicely smooth profile, with just a hint of sweet from the vanilla. The bergamot is gently aromatic, and lingers on the finish, not too sharp and balanced just right. The one weakness of this blend may be the tea base, which is fairly average and has a little bit of bitterness with longer brew time, but this is mostly smoothed out by the creamy quality of the tea. Overall, it’s pretty unique as far as Earl Greys go, and quite enjoyable in the morning. I’m glad I gave it a try!
This one smells delicious—just like a creamy strawberry milkshake, as advertised. The blend has dried strawberry pieces in addition to honeybush, and everything is covered in a russet color. The tea brews up to a lighter color than I would have imagined, also reddish in tone. The taste is sweet and woodsy; my experience with honeybush is limited, but the base does resemble the last honeybush tea I had. The strawberry flavor is natural-seeming, a little more tart than I would have expected, but enjoyable. The cream flavor has less presence in the brew compared to the aroma. I tried adding some coconut milk to bring it out, but I don’t recommend that anyone else do this! Both the tea and coconut milk smelled fine (the latter was delicious and newly opened), but once mixed together, they produced a dirt-like, fishy aroma like a low quality pu-erh. I’m not sure what chemistry lies behind this, but no, bad idea. In spite of this unfortunate experiment, this is an interesting and unique caffeine-free offering. Perhaps trying it with dairy milk or other plant-based milks will give a better experience. Thanks again to beelicious for the sample!
I’m glad cupboard sorting on the site finally works now!
This sample is from beelicious. It’s a very cute, cheerful looking blend, with large chamomile flowers, apple pieces, blue petals, and lemongrass bits. The tea brews up to have a pleasant, fresh chamomile scent. The flavor is definitely sweeter than the typical chamomile tea, and is predominantly apple. I was surprised to find such a long list of ingredients (all natural though!), since I didn’t get the flavor for most of them. However, it doesn’t suffer as some herbal blends do of being too busy, and feels just right as a fruity chamomile blend. A nice bedtime or dessert tea!
I’m back from my travels! This was also from The Book of Tea, from which I took a handful of samples before heading back. I realized on the train home that the samples were in the most accessible part of my luggage, so I brewed this one with the hot water that was provided. There’s something uniquely enjoyable about having a hot cup of your own tea while looking out at the ocean view along the California coast! Even the name of the cafe car is the Seaview Cafe—truly we’re spoiled to be living in such a beautiful place :)
The sachet contained sencha leaf bits and dark orange-colored toasted rice kernels, and was tinted green by matcha. There weren’t many black soybean pieces in there, or at least I didn’t find them. The tea brews up to a rich green tint as well. It’s nicely smooth and savory, moreso than the typical genmaicha. The soybean adds a very distinctive dimension. This might sound terrible to some, but it was “oily”—not in any offputting sense of the word, but rather, the natural oils of the rice and soybean had come through the toasting, and made it a very rich tea heavy on the grain notes. The nori (seaweed) quality of the tea was milder than the average sencha. Overall, it was a very substantial and highly unique genmaicha. If you like genmaicha and soybean, as I do, you’ll probably enjoy it!
Happy new year, all!
This one smells—and tastes—like a fresh, natural white peach. The tea base itself is, of course, not very robust, but provides a nice smooth backdrop for the peach flavor. In my recollection Momo Oolong was more distinctive, but this one is quite enjoyable as well.
In a few days I will be back to my old place to finish up my projects and resume job searching. Hopefully the weather warms up too!
This is one of those infamous ones where the existing reviews already say it all! In the spirit of scientific inquiry, or “could it really be that bad”, I finally tried it today. Verdict: yes, it really can.
The smell is nice. It could probably be kept around the house as potpourri, which is the only use I recommend it for. The taste…others have put it more creatively already. It’s more tart than anything I would want to voluntarily imbibe. The only saving grace is that there is a detectable touch of lemongrass in it, to assure me that it isn’t pure acid. Never again, Wild Sweet Orange!
A very lovely and nuanced black tea to start the day with—highly smooth, with a lingering sweetness that is somewhere between floral and fruity, and just a touch earthy. There is a light roastiness to the finish as well. The body of the tea is quite crisp and light, and the tea liquor is a clear, light amber. I’m surprised that no one else has reviewed it yet, and wish I could offer a more detailed description, but I had it early in the morning and by now some of the impression escapes me!
