Josie Jade Send Message

I survived my first week of nursing school. It was actually a lot less stressful than I had been expecting. And my schedule isn’t terribly horrible – class/clinic 4 days a week and then 3 days off. I’m sure I’ll have so much work to do that those days off won’t really be days off, but that’s ok. I’ve been drinking tea non-stop all week, and it’s helped me with my new schedule of waking up at 5 am. I’ve gone through a ton of tea, but that’s ok because now I have an excuse to order more!

I’m trying to get through my box of teabags on the days that I have time to add to my tealog, and this one was on the top of the pile this morning. I was a little sad to see so many negative reviews about this one, but it’s not surprising to me since I didn’t care for TRoT’s Holiday Spiced Plum blend. Maybe their holiday blends just aren’t my thing. This one smells strongly of cinnamon and sweet cloves, and the tea liquor has a nice tart apple aroma. Unfortunately the flavor doesn’t match at all. The flavor is a very bland apple with a spicy cinnamon finish. There is a strong spicy aftertaste, but it is really artificial tasting. Adding a little milk and sugar tones down the spiciness and artificialness from the spices, but it is still a very weak cup.

-Round unbleached teabag.
-Teabag smells strongly of cinnamon and sweet cloves. Tea liquor aroma is of tart and spicy apple cider.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium orange brown color.
-Bland apple flavor with a spicy cinnamon finish. Strong aftertaste of artificial spices.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Poor tea. Very weak apple flavored tea with a note of artificial spices.

I received some free Twinings tea bag samples in the mail awhile ago, and this was one of them. Not too bad for a bagged tea, and it had a nice pomegranate flavor, although it was a little artificial. I think I prefer Bigelow’s Pomegranate Black just slightly over this one. I probably wouldn’t purchase more of this one, but wouldn’t turn it down if I were offered a cup!

-Standard teabag with a tag.
-Teabag smells lightly fruity. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet pomegranate.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium golden brown color.
-Tangy pomegranate flavor and finish. Light malty and juicy pomegranate aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A cup of softly tangy and sweet pomegranate.

I love when companies send out samples with orders, because it usually means I’m trying something that I ordinarily wouldn’t have chosen for myself, like this one. I was surprised at how good the dry leaves of this one smell. There is a buttery sweet quality to them that reminds me a little of Movie Night, along with a fruity apple aroma. The flavor is very smooth and of sweet apple. There is a fresh, tart apple aftertaste that lingers. I usually find white teas too lightly flavored for my liking, but this one is amazing. Although the apple flavor is soft, there’s a richness to the apple and buttery flavors that’s very appealing. I would probably even order more of this one!

-Dry blend has medium and large pieces of brown and green tea leaves and twigs with large pieces of dried apples.
-Dry leaves smell buttery sweet with a note of fruity apple. Tea liquor aroma is of soft sweet apple.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium bright yellow color.
-Smooth sweet apple flavor and finish. Fresh tart apple aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Sweet and tart apple flavor with a hint of butteriness.

This is the last day of summer for me, sad! I know this is so cliche, but it really went by so fast. Back in May I was so excited to start nursing school that I wanted the summer to fly by. Now that it has, I’m sitting here saying “Just one more week of summer, please!”

This is the first Steven Smith tea that I’ve tried, and I found it at the local Sur La Table store. The flavor of the tea is very nice, but very light on the bergamot. I can taste more maltiness than bergamot in this blend. It does take milk and sugar fantasically, though, so I am happy with this cup.

-Large square silk sachet with a tag.
-Sachet smells of rich black tea and bergamot. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a very faint hint of bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a thick medium brown color.
-Bold and sweetly malty flavor and finish. Very light citrusy aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A smooth and sweet cup with a very faint hint of bergamot. More maltiness than bergamot flavor.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever even had a huckleberry before. I was surprised to see that there is cinnamon and clove in the teabag, and that’s actually what the teabag smells like. The tea has a sweet clove and berry aroma. It has a very earthy flavor at first, almost as if it is a little stale. The aftertaste is what I suppose huckleberry is supposed to taste like, although it seems very artificial and fake-tasting. It’s almost like a heavy, syrupy-sweet artificial taste. It does get a little better as the cup cools, but I can’t see myself finishing the rest of these teabags or ordering more. Into the swap pile it goes! Thank you to Skysamurai for these samples!

-Square teabag without a string.
-Teabag smells like cinnamon and cloves with a faint floral note. Tea liquor aroma is of cloves and sweet berries.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium golden brown color.
-Earthy flavor and finish. Sweet artificial berry aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Fair tea. Heavy and sweet artificial berry flavor.

I received this sample with my recent Davids order. I wasn’t so excited about it, until I opened up the little wrapper and smelled wonderful piña colada! The tea smelled like nutty coconut and sweet pineapple. The flavor was good, tart and sweet and fruity. There is a creamy piña colada aftertaste that is very nice. I added some milk and sugar, which made it nice and creamy. Even though I added only a little milk, I think I would add a little less next time because it sort of overwhelmed the other flavors. The creaminess that it adds to the cup is worth it, though!

-Dry blend has a mixture of large pieces of dried fruit, rose petals, yellow petals, small reddish orange petals and small red hearts.
-Dry leaves smell like creamy piña colada. Tea liquor aroma is of nutty coconut and pineapple.
-Tea liquor is a clear bright medium yellow color.
-Slightly tart and sweet fruity flavor and finish. Creamy piña colada aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Smallest amount of milk optional.
-Very good tea. Sweet coconut and pineapple piña colada flavor. Becomes creamy with a little added milk.

I’ve been avoiding cleaning the house all day today and I just really need to get it done. So I’m having a cup of this tea in hopes that it will motivate me. I really have been wanting to try this one since forever, and the two times I went to the closest Teavana store they were out of it. I even tried to order it online at one point, but it was sold out then too. I think it just sounds so delicious – strawberries, champagne and rose?! Fortunately, it’s pretty tasty too. It’s hard to see any of the oolong in the dry blend, because it’s mostly large pieces of dried fruit and pretty pink rosebuds. There’s really not any oolong flavor in the cup, either. It tastes more like a white grape juice with some rose thrown in. I like it though! I added some milk and sweetener, and the milk made it a little more smooth and added a nice touch of creaminess. I don’t know if I would ever purchase any more at the rather steep price, but I will certainly enjoy the rest of this sample. Thank you, Skysamurai!

-Dry blend has a mixture of medium clumps of green tea leaves with large pieces of dried fruits, pink rose buds and petals and fennel.
-Dry leaves smell fruity and sugary sweet. Tea liquor aroma is of grapes and fruit with a hint of rose.
-Tea liquor is a clear pale pinkish orange color.
-Light and tart grape flavor with a fruity strawberry finish. Lingering rose aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Very good tea. No oolong flavor noticeable. Reminiscent of white grape juice with a hint of floral rose.

First time using my new Timolino this morning and I am officially on Team Timolino! I had to drop my car off to be inspected and decided to bring my new little friend to try out. I actually steeped the tea in my IngenuiTea and then drained it into my Timolino so that it would be the perfect temperature to drink right away, and it was! It didn’t burn my tongue and actually stayed the most perfect temperature the whole time. It is still just perfect, over 2 hours later! I haven’t used the infuser basket, so I don’t know about that yet, but it seems just fine. I love the little secret space in the lid to hide more tea or even a teabag. I’m glad that I ended up keeping the 12 oz one, even though I really wanted to exchange it for one of the 16 oz ones. I like my tea with milk and sugar, so I think that I will probably just end up making all my tea in the morning at home and just keeping it in my Timolino all day. So I can see the beauty in having a couple of Timolinos full of hot wonderful tea to have throughout the day. I will definitely be purchasing a 16 oz, if not even another 12 oz once I see how many mugs I go through during my school day. Yayyyyy Timolino. I’ve been looking at these since forever, and so far am completely satisfied!

This is a very odd tea. I didn’t know quite what to expect, and the plum flavor is more tart that I expected. The almond flavor is more of a fresh, nutty almond, rather than a marzipan almond. Adding milk and sweetener did help to add a little smoothness to the cup, but it’s still just kind of indescribable in a way. I wish the marzipan stood out more than the plum, and this one would maybe be a winner for me. Thank you, Skysamurai, for this fun sample!

-Dry blend has a mixture of dried fruits and nuts with pieces of rose petals.
-Dry leaves smell like almond marzipan with a sweet fruit note. Tea liquor aroma is of candy marzipan and cinnamon.
-Tea liquor is a clear bright reddish pink color.
-Tart plum flavor with a nutty almond finish. Light fruity plum aftertaste with a tiny artificial taste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Fair tea. Fruity plum flavor with a fresh almond note. Very faint artificial note.

Back in April, my mom gave me money to buy a Timolino as part of my birthday gift. Last fall I was on campus for 12 hours straight every day and I seriously would’ve committed a crime to have a hot cup of tea by the time my last class started. So when I heard all sorts of good things about Timolinos I did a ton of research and then decided to buy one so that I could enjoy hot tea this fall, when I will be practically living like a hobo on campus 24/7 until they make me leave at night (or so I’ve be warned by other nursing students). I ordered my Timolino last Saturday and it arrived today (super fast shipping!) I kept waiting from April until now to see if they would have any cute colors come out (pink please!) but finally decided to go with the pretty white one. Well, lo and behold what do I see on Facebook right after I admire my Timolino and loving wash it out and dry it, that Davids is now offering 16 oz Timolinos!! That was my only hesitation in being completely sold on the Timolino – that it may be too small at just 12 ounces! I considered sending the white one back and exchanging for a larger size, but I figure I may as well try this 12 oz one out and then if I like it I will invest in a larger one in the future. I could use 2 sizes, anyways, since sometimes if I’m just running errands or going to church 16 ounces is almost too much.

Anyways, this is the one tea that I allowed myself to purchase from Davids along with my Timolino. I’ve been curious about this one for awhile, and coconut and raspberry are some of my favorite flavors. Overall, I like this tea! It’s very strongly coconutty, but in a sweet kind of way. It tastes similar to a coconut macaroon, but with a little fruitiness to it. I’m almost curious as to what a little chocolate thrown into this one would taste like. I’m not absolutely in love with this one, but I think it will end up in my Timolino many times in the near future!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with slivers of coconut and dried raspberries.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of nutty coconut with malty and sweet notes. Tea liquor aroma is of malty black tea and buttery coconut.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color with an oily sheen on top.
-Malty and almost tart raspberry flavor and finish. Light rich coconut aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Reminiscent of a coconut macaroon with a hint of sweet fruitiness.