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This is the last of the three sakura teas I got in Japan! I was intrigued by this one because it was described as having sugared cherry blossoms. I did notice a tiny amount of some sort of sugary lumps in there, but it’s minimal. The sencha is bright and crisp in this, but not puckering. The sakura is a little more subtle than one of the other two sakura teas, but it’s really nice. It has the lightest bit of that grassy pucker in parts of the sip and my mouth is left feeling dry after sips. I had a cup of this yesterday and was enjoying the three steepings more than I am now. Not sure if I steeped it different or if I’m just having an off day.
I will say… the packaging on this is gorgeous. The bag has sakura leaves printed on it and has strands of fiber running through the paper.

Opened the bag of this and was confused. It smells more rose like than sakura like. It also had a very TWG like scent to it, which makes sense with it being a TWG blend, but I’m puzzled now as to what exactly about their teas gives me that impression.

I’m having a hard time picking out the sakura. It comes off more as a general floral blend. I can MAYBE pick out some sakura in the finish, but for a tea named Sakura! Sakura! I expected a shock of sakura. I did just have a cup of another sakura tea with very distinct flavor, but I really feel like this tea should be focusing more on it’s name sake or changing it’s name to Sakura! Rose!.

Went to a shop in Tokyo called Leafull Darjeeling House. They primarily focus on straight teas, differentiating between the different seasons and flushes, which is impressive, but isn’t quite my thing. They did have some flavored teas in their “Aroma” line, one being Sakura. I was really excited to try all things sakura and was trying not to buy every sakura tea I came across, so I was glad to see a 5 tea bag size of this. Enough to have a few cups and appreciate the tea without overwhelming my cupboard.
Sakura is such a light flavor, but it come across prominently in this cup. The green tea is just background and blends in with the taste of the sakura leaves. It becomes a little less interesting as it cools, so I should make a point to drink this cup a little less leisurely. I’m kind of surprised I’m enjoying something with such delicate flavors when I usually favor teas that are bold.

Picked up a tin of this on a trip to Japan! Fauchon has multiple store fronts in Japan, usually in the lower level of a mall which are these insanely busy high end food courts. The translation I was seeing and understanding was that this was a fall tea with chestnut and maple, but I don’t think that is correct. On the tin the translation is cinnamon, ginger and cardamon. Marron is mentioned, which I think is French for chestnut, but now that I’m home I’m not seeing any mention of maple. Could have been the orange maple leaves on the tin that gave me that impression.

This tea is coming across as a very light and delicate attempt at a chai. On some sips I’ll think I get a hint of chestnut, which isn’t an ingredient I’ve come across often in teas so I’m not super familiar on the flavor. I’m not loving this tea, but I have had several Fauchon teas that I wasn’t excited about with my first few cups and then had the tea grow on me quite a lot. Not writing it off yet, but I’m not impressed so far. Maybe a slightly higher temp next time.

I’m not usually a fan of oolong. It takes a really special one to not taste like steeped cardboard to me. This one is okay, which is good praise in the oolong department. The leaves expanded a lot in the bag and looked like they needed more room to stretch. There is a touch of licorice root in here to add some sweetness that linger in the finish, but not enough to identify it without reading the ingredients or taste like licorice in the cup. The amaretto is there and distinct, but that’s about all that is happening. Nothing that says cupcake, like what is pictured on the package and it leaves me wishing they developed and built on it more.

This has a very rich scent to it when dry! Like many of the Almost teas, this has an oil sheen on the surface of my tea. My first few sips were soapy and I was worried that the coconut may have gone bad. A few more sips in and that lightened up a touch. Each sip is a muddling of flavors that is hard to decipher, but there is something with a slight fruit tang for a second. The finish is nice and has a chocolate cake like feel to it and I wish the sips conveyed the same. I’ve noticed one or two other Almost teas having something that gives a scratchy tickle to my throat. I’m not sure what my body is reacting to. I haven’t been super impressed with most of Almost’s chocolate flavoring and this one falls into the same grouping. I probably won’t even drink my second sachet of this.

This one is a little underwhelming. The mint is very mellow, not sharp or bright. There is something a little ashy in the sip. The chocolate notes are very muted. I get what they are trying to go for here with the thin mint type cookie on the wrapper, but I think they missed the mark with watered down flavors.

My partner brought this back for me on a recent trip to New Zealand. I had to look up what Feijoa is… pineapple guava! Not a flavor I’ve encountered in tea. It also has manuka leaf aka tea tree in in. It’s a bright floral fruity mix. It’s well rounded, tastes good plain and has a nice finish with a strong floral taste. I’m unable to describe the flavors because I have nothing to compare it to. I’m really kinda liking it! I bet it would be amazing iced!

I appreciate that several of Almost’s rooibos blends are on a green base! Did you ever try Lime Chiffon? Della Terra had it and I’m sure a few other places. This smells very much like that (which I can’t recall if it was a green or red rooibos base), minus a bit of the creaminess. The lime smells bright and well rounded. I would say it tastes the same too, a nice lime base without the creaminess. The lime is strong enough that I don’t get much of the rooibos flavors in there which is fine by me! It was a nice cup, but I decided to try adding creamer because I recall the Lime Chiffon being tasty with cream. It did not do good things for this tea and I didn’t even put that much in it. The lime flavor is muted quite a bit and I’ll make sure not to mess up my next cup of it. I like this tea well enough that I’d buy it if the price were a little lower than $1 a bag.

New teas to try! This has a really rich caramel coconut smell to it. A little bit of oil on the top of my tea, which seems like is the case for a lot of these blends, but no hints of artificial chocolate and I appreciate that! The first several sips tasted good, but the honeybush was distracting and woody. That taste faded as I drank further into my cup. I taste the caramel most predominantly, then coconut, then chocolate. The flavors are all in there layered on each other. I am getting a little of the dry mouth sensation like I get with rooibos. The flavors are good, but it seems a little light and ethereal when I’d prefer a chocolate cupcake tea to have more depth and base to it. Maybe a little cream would do the trick, but I hesitate to mess with what is already a nice cup. I’d for sure drink this again!