95 Tasting Notes

23

I recently vacationed in Indy and happened upon this place. You can see my review of it under places. This was what I choose to buy with just a tiny, trying not to be rude and sniff all the bags that will eventually be sold to other people, smell.

I love mates. I love their taste and I love how they seem to calm my migraines. We’ve got a heat wave moving through that’s hell bent on destroying my head so I grabbed this one this morning hoping it would help.

It’s possible my taste buds are messed up from the migraine, sometimes that happens, but there’s just something off here for me. Some flavor that doesn’t sit well with the blend and ruins it for me.

I’ll likely be posting this up for swap shortly and just stick to the tiramisu mate I got at another Indy tea joint. Ick.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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drank Ice Cream Cake by DAVIDsTEA
95 tasting notes

Thanks Emilie for swapping with me and sending this to me!

If you follow me you know I am by no means a tea purist. If it’s got a dessert-like name it’s probably going to make its way into my mug and belly.

Storms knocked out our power for nearly 24 hours and took work’s power with it for nearly 48 hours. Unfortunately work got power back early enough this morning to make us all come in but not early enough for the AC to work until at least halfway through the day. Did I mention there’s also an excessive heat warning today? So yea. Ice cream tea? Sounds fantastic and would have sounded better had I thought to brew it and ice it.

I did make the critical mistake of sweetening this tea because I sweeten all my teas. With this one though, I don’t believe it necessary. Never one to let a little extra sugar dissuade me I will persevere even though it’s currently a little too sweet, even for me.

I can see where people are coming from with the neopolitan ice cream comparisons as I do get a hint of strawberry somehow. Very smooth and creamy taste. I’m not getting the cake notes but I may have squelched them with the extra sugar.

I’m guessing this will rebrew well too.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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I get migraines around a pretty predictable schedule and have found mate tea to be helpful in reducing the severity so I’m always looking for mate teas so I get a bit of variety. What I’ve found is that there isn’t a ton of variety when it comes to mate. Most have some sort of chocolate base, which, if you know my tea preferences at all, you know I’m ok with.

This tea is a little bit more mellow than other chocolate mates and the vanilla gives it a different note than most. It’s less roasty-toasty and more cookies and creme. Very pleasant and I’m glad I got 2 bags with my groupon.

I’ll be doing a cost analysis on this vs a few of my other go-to mates to see which is the most cost-effective and hopefully adding this to my regular rotation.

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68

Like Dinosara I also got this through a groupon purchase (great minds groupon alike?). I love everything about this tea! Unlike Dinosara I use the full recommended amount and probably a scootch more than that because I like it STRONG! I was a little leery of the 5 min recommendation since it had black tea in it and went for 4 mins the first brew, 5 the second, and 6 the third. No difference in taste for me between brew 1 and 2 with a slight decrease in flavor in brew 3. I may be able to get another brew out of it.

I have noticed that the more I brew it the more of the coconut I taste to the point where at the third brew it’s really more of a coconut tea with hints of chocolate. Since I like both this metamorphosis is welcomed.

Overall? YUM!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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67

The description is right: you won’t miss the chocolate in this one!

I made a mug of this this morning to bring to work and on the drive in my husband asked what kind of tea I had because it smelled really good. He could really smell the chocolate.

I hoped that the flavor would pack as much of a punch and it does not disappoint. There is a strong chocolate flavor followed by a subtle cherry. The cherry is very very subtle and could be easy to miss so I do wish they’d bump that up a bit. On the whole though, this is a very enjoyable tea for those who want a little twist on the classic chocolate tea.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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28
drank Cinnamon Roll by ESP Emporium
95 tasting notes

Yea, this one is not for me. When I smelled the dry leaves I was concerned that it would be too cinnamony and make my tongue do that weird thing where it feels like my taste buds swell. Brewed, however, there’s hardly any cinnamon flavor at all and there’s some other flavor there that I don’t care for, something vaguely savoryish? I don’t even know how to describe it but I don’t care for it at all. It’s almost as if the 4-5 minute steep time that scared me with the other two black teas I’ve ordered from them finally impacted the tea and made it an odd bitter. It’s going up on the swap wall if anyone wants to try it.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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53
drank Orange Cookie by ESP Emporium
95 tasting notes

This was another tea from my recent amazon deal. The smell of the tea smells like what it says, an orange cookie. I made it over the weekend and, while it was good, it lacked the punch of flavor that I got from the bon bon tea from ESP. It was pleasant and good and I could taste the orange but I was missing the cookie. Overall a good tea but I don’t think I’d order it again.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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53
drank Thai Chai by Adagio Teas
95 tasting notes

I got this in a swap from Nina (a swap in which I was a terrible swap partner and kept forgetting to bring money to mail her tea – Sorry Nina! It’s on it’s way!). I’m a big fan of Teavana’s Cha Yen Thai Tea and I love chai so I thought this might be a good combo.

In the bag it smells like most chais do. I didn’t get a ton of coconut aroma.

First brew was just ok. Something seemed too strong and it came off a bit bitter. I was gonna toss it before rebrewing the following day but decided, based on its smell, to give it another try. I’m glad I did give it another try. The second day the flavors meshed much better than the first and I did get chai with a twist. Not sure it was still terribly coconutty, but it was certainly good.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of going for a day three brew and the flavor was all off again. Too much of the spice came through and was, again, bitter. This tea seems to shine on its second steep so much that I may brew it once, toss that, and go for it again.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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100
drank Bon Bon by ESP Emporium
95 tasting notes

I cannot resist a tea deal so when ESP Emporium popped up on my Kindle, I had to go for it. Before ordering the deal I scoped out the tea and made sure there was stuff I’d want and this tea immediately caught my eye. If you follow me you know I’m a bit of a chocolate teaaholic. AND I love coconut so this was a no-brainer.

I opened the bag this morning and the tea smelled so fantastic I was expecting it not to taste as good. Holy heck though does this tea deliver! It’s fantastic! It’s almost like a combo of chocolate tea with Teavana’s Cha Yen Thai (another one of my favorites).

Like the other reviewers mention, the black tea base is very mild. I was a bit concerned about the long steep recommended on the bag because I often find black tea gets bitter if you do a first steep longer than 3 minutes but not this one.

It’s smooth and delish and wonderful. I even ended up putting in a bit too much brown sugar splenda, which can often ruin tea, but this weathered it well. Looking forward to a second steep tomorrow.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
CHAroma

Just received this today, and I’m really excited to try it! I’ve been on the lookout for a great chocolate tea lately. This looks like it’ll fit the bill! :)

LefTea

Joy’s Teaspoon Chocolate Pot De Tea is amazing if you’re looking for a chocolate tea. I haven’t been as impressed with Adagio’s chocolate teas.

CHAroma

Thanks for the tip! I’ll be sure to check it out.

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59
drank Amandine Rose by Teavana
95 tasting notes

Teavana, you’re not fooling anyone. Amandine Rose is just Almond Biscotti with a less appetizing name and a slight hint of something different (probably the rose).

That said, I preferred the almond biscotti, but this is close enough that I’ll mix the two just to save storage space.

Final verdict: yummy, but not as cookieliscous as it used to be.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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Bio

Hello!
I’m Amanda, and I’m new to the world of tea. I got sucked in by a sample at Teavana and have been exploring ever since. I prefer loose tea but will slum it with the occasional, high quality bag.

I live just outside Chicago with my husband and our dog.

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