Alphakitty Send Message

Woah, this tea is STRONG! I mean, pu-erh is obviously a dense, flavor-packed tea, but I always expect it to be lighter in blends. In fact, the Nature’s Tea Leaf pu blends (oh god that sounds horrible out of context… pu blends…) have been pretty light on that signature flavor to me. Not necessarily in a bad way, but I was not prepared for this!

The tea is so dark and murky, almost coffee-colored. The lavender is quite assertive but the earthy, rich flavor of the base makes it oddly enough a not very floral tea. Woodsy and an almost chicory note? Very tasty but a big pow of flavor and I did get a bit more buzzed from it than I normally do with tea (even though pu is apparently lower in caffeine?). I think this would be a good morning brew! Thanks to Kasumi for the sample.

I got this one from Novi! I am kind of obsessed with melon teas of any form, and they seem to be relatively rare so it’s always exciting to find a new one. And with kiwi?! Oh yes please.

Though really you can’t really taste much kiwi, the watermelon is BAM in your face in a very good way. Very much like a liquid jolly rancher but the base does stand up to it. But somehow it’s also quite natural tasting? Truly a mysterious tea! Mysterious and delicious.

You know how some people put salt on watermelon slices to make them sweeter? I am kind of wondering how iced watermelon tea would taste with a tiny sprinkle of salt… and maybe mint… and rum… I feel a cocktail experiment coming on!

I am so painfully behind on logging my teas. I’ve been drinking a lot, but for some reason I am lacking the motivation to log them all. Well, I must push through and try to catch up! Starting with this, which I got in the book club swap with Terri HarpLady and am sipping right now!

I was planning on a gongfu session with one of the new(ish) Verdant oolongs, but I’ve been eating painfully healthy recently so screw it, I’m making a latte! Not that lattes are particularly bad for you, I’ve been using less and less sugar in mine recently. 1 cup milk, 1 cup water, a tiny squeeze of honey, and my sample of this lovely blend which reminds me wonderfully of my beloved Paris.

This is creamy with a delicious berry note, so smooth and tasty! As a latte it’s just to die for, like a fancy dressed up london fog. And perfect for the book we are reading, An American Heiress. Blackcurrant always reads as a very European taste to me (probably because of those hard candies that come in the fancy gold tins), so I can close my eyes and imagine myself in a British castle, hanging out in front of a roaring fire instead of a boring old tv!

Mint, orange, berry… a combination made in heaven. I had so much success with the teas I ordered from Steep City my first time around that it was only about 2 weeks before I placed another order! And this, of course, was a blend I couldn’t pass up. I love Moroccan Mint but oddly enough I’ve never had any variations of it—just green tea and mint. But add in berry and citrus? Sounds like heaven!

The mint here is mild, but it still pops at the end of the sip. The berry is sweet and juicy, and there’s a bit of tartness from the citrus. And then, there’s a creamy aspect! Almost like vanilla? I don’t think there is any in here, but it really does taste like it. And last but not least, a hint of grassy smoke from the gunpowder!

This is absolute perfection iced—in fact I almost like it as much as their Citrus Sunshine Oolong (my current favorite iced tea!). Another winner from Steep City!

I got this as a sample in my latest Den’s order, which is good because I am on a quest to try all of their flavored senchas! I love love rose, so I thought this for sure would be a winner.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but this was just okay for me. Actually, it’s tasty: I found the sencha to be dominant, but it wasn’t the same buttery flavor that I got in the pineapple sencha. The rose is faint and at the end of the sip, but somehow still very perfumey. I don’t mind perfumey but it wasn’t my favorite rose flavoring.

I feel like I’m being kind of harsh on this tea! It’s good but just not quite what I was expecting after the yuzu, pineapple and sakura which are all super fabulous.

I’ve tried what feels like a hundred of flavors from Red Leaf Tea, yet there are always so many more I haven’t tasted! Thanks so much to KallieBoo for including a sample of this in our swap, I am kind of a matcha addict—especially when it comes to new flavors.

I usually pick the crazy dessert flavors over the simpler ones, yet the packets I reach for on an average day are usually the “plain” fruity ones! Fruity matcha is the best in the afternoon. I love plums, so I am wondering why I never ordered this one… I guess it just slipped through the cracks!

Made in the water bottle shake method this smells so good, kind of like jam! It’s not a fresh plum flavor, more pie or jam: slow cooked and rich! But not heavy, there’s still that nice fruity tang. The grassy matcha is, as always, excellent and delicious. I really enjoyed this one, and I even have some leftover for experimenting—caramel plum matcha? Plum cheesecake? Plum toffee?! The possibilities are endless!

Surprised this one doesn’t have any notes yet! I mean raspberry & cream, what is not to love. Dry the leaves remind me a lot of another tea, the smell is so familiar but I can’t place it. How bothersome! I think it might actually be Adagio’s Ripe for Romance, which is strange because that is raspberry and chocolate.

Anyway, this tea is scrumptious. I made it iced with some cream just to bump up the creamy notes, though I tried it first sans-cream and, yes, it’s very creamy! Not like vanilla, but a smoother and less sweet cream element. The raspberry is bright and fruity, one of the best raspberry flavored blends I’ve tried. That seems to be a finnicky flavor, but it’s perfect here!

On a side note, I totally spazzed and missed my 400th tasting note (which funnily enough was another 52teas blend, Genmaichai). The same thing happened to me with #300, I am terrible at keeping track of this stuff.. So I dub this my honorary 400th!

Grabbed a sample of this when I stocked up on Maple Sugar. I mean coconut and chocolate, how could I resist? The dry leaves smell so good, like chocolate cake soaked in coconut cream. I love to do cakes sans icing with coconut cream, you brush it onto the dry cake over and over until it’s just oozing with creamy coconut goodness. Mmm!

This is a very chocolatey tea! And not fake chocolate, but nice dark roasty cocoa notes. The coconut kind of plays second fiddle to the chocolate but it’s still there! This reminds me of a more dessert-y version of Yunnan’s Fable/Coconut Cacao (which I am 99% sure are the same teas). Very nice with a little cream and sugar!

Once again I am behind on tasting notes! I was so absorbed with tasting out my Red Leaf matcha samples and making sure I have sufficient notes for each that I’ve had about 7 other teas so far that I have yet to log, all of them new. Sigh! Well, I’ll start with this, which I am drinking right now. I made my dad Teavivre’s Yunnan Golden Tip earlier today and the smell had me really craving a Chinese black. I got a sample of these in my recent order and they seemed like just the thing.

I love how these look! They’re my first pearl-type tea that wasn’t a Jasmine, which are generally pretty smaller. These are big and chunky, I used 4 for a big cup and they unfurl into so much tea! It’s fun to watch, they start dissolving as soon as you pour water over them. And among all the black tea leaves was one stray green one—wonder how it got there?

This is a strong, malty tea with heavenly cocoa notes. It’s a bit astringent but in a pleasing way, in fact it reminds me of an Assam but lighter and with less body. It brews up a surprisingly light amber color, very pleasing, and has a light flavor to match. Not bad light, just less heavy than I expected from the heady, yeasty cocoa smell. However, it’s the most chocolatey black I’ve tried, so scrumptious! Reminds me of a bakery shop, which I think most Chinese blacks do… or maybe I just really like pastries and associate everything with them!

this blend smells just like Pineapple Kona Pop from Teavana, which I enjoy… even though it’s not anything like tea. It’s pretty much juice, delicious tart juice. Except less calories!

However, PKP is a little sour for me most days, so I was a bit worried about getting this. But with samples so cheap, how could I resist? After all, I love pineapple.

This blend is surprisingly light looking, not that ominous red you can get from hibiscus. But roselle is a bit different, right? Less tart, I think. And indeed, this doesn’t brew up very sour—it’s light and fruity, almost airy. It’s not packed full of flavor, but it’s a nice tropical drink.