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This is a tea I’ve had a very long time and haven’t tried. I’m finding that I’m leaning more towards unflavored teas, so I wanted to try out some of the ones I had in my stash. I’m using office water to make this one, so these are all at 165.

Attempt 1: Since I only have 165 degree water, I have to search around a bit to get the right time. This one was two minutes. I can get some roastiness out of this but not much. The color was a light and looked weak. I’ll get some new leaves and try 30 seconds longer

Attempt 2: This one is 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The roast flavor seems more full, and I think I can get some of the actual tea flavor now. It’s also brewed up a very nice light amber color. I’ll try three minutes and see how that is, but I’m thinking this might be the winner

Attempt 3: This one was for three minutes. It seems to somehow have traded roast flavor for tea flavor. While this isn’t bad, I prefer the stronger roasted notes personally.

I know that I’ve reviewed this tea before, but I have no clue where my notes are. To sum them up: I’ve never managed to get the amazing flavors out of this that everyone else has. I’ve adjusted everything, and it always comes out bitter.

Well I decided to try this today with the water at work. I didn’t expect much, but I’ve had this for a very long time and I should really finish it. Well, this is the closest I’ve been to tasting what everyone else writes about. I could actually taste the tangerine, just barely. Maybe it really was there, or maybe my mind was just desperate for this to work and made me taste it. I’m thinking of cold brewing the last bit of this to see if that goes any better.

TTB 11: This one smells very nice and fruity dry. However, I think I may have underleafed. I can taste the white tea some, but everything is very weak

TTB 11: The name definitely gets your attention. When steeping, this tea smells like some kind of candy that I can’t quite place. I was prepared for the slight burn in the back of my throat this one causes. This one tastes like cinnamon and some kind of fruity candy, I really can’t think of just what candy it reminds me of

TTB 10: I pretty sure I underleafed this one. It was difficult getting the big, fluffy leaves in my spoon. I’m getting some white tea flavors with a bit of sweetness I’m assuming is the peach. I’ll likely update this soon when I try again with more leaf!

Edit: I resteeped and added more leaf. I got more tea flavor, but I still didn’t really get any peach flavor. This is a bit disappointing because it smells just like a fresh peach. I may have to cold steep this one and see if that brings it out any.

TTB 9: This tea definitely has all the scents that make me think of the holidays. The holidays are my favorite time of year, so anything that reminds me of them is already on my side. Both dry and steeping, this smells full of spices but not overwhelming. The flavor doesn’t quite live up to the scent. The spices are there, but much much more mellowed out than I would have expected. This tea is nice and smooth, and I would drink it (and enjoy it) if I had it, but I doubt I would seek it out or buy any.

TTB 8: I’ve been having stomach troubles lately. I’m gluten intolerant, and my doctor is having me eat gluten so that I can take the Celiac test. Its important to do, but its making me feel miserable. So I was wanting a tea to sooth my stomach, without caffeine in it. Unfortunately this wasn’t it. This tea smells like soup and tastes like licorice. Definitely not a tea for me.

TTB 7: This one smells really good! Its not overwhelmingly rooibos at all, and has a nice sweet fruity flavor

TTB 6: I didn’t read the ingredients before trying this one and it made for an interesting experience. As I was drinking, I kept noticing a bit of a burning sensation in my throat. I thought maybe I was getting a cold or the tea was too hot, but even as it cooled, the burning persisted. Finally i realized that this must be a spicy tea! I’ve tried a few teas that were intended to be spicy, but I think this is the first one that I’ve actually noticed having an effect. The tea flavor itself was tart fruitiness. I think the real draw for this one is definitely the spice!

TTB 5: Another tea from Friday. The tea flavor (which surprised me, since it was a white) was actually what dominated, the blueberry was there, but behind the tea.