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I’ve been drinking this tea more often lately.. it just seems to fit fall evenings. This tea is incredibly roasty, but sweet. While this tea isn’t that pretty (lots of twigs and stems), its flavor evokes images of burning fires, dry leaves and oozing caramel. As it cools, it becomes more smooth which makes it even better!

I’m a bit behind on some of my tasting notes. Life has been busier for me lately, but once I’m a little more settled in with a routine, I’ll be more regular with sipping and writing. I couldn’t seem to get it together tonight to pick a tea and all my mouth was saying was “something tart, please!” so there really isn’t a better choice than hibiscus in that department.

The color of this tea is beautiful. It’s dark with a deep berry color. Definitely something you wouldn’t want to drink over a white carpet! The scent is pretty much one dimensional, but that doesn’t come as a surprise as it’s plain old hibiscus in the tea bag. It does smell a lot like a really sour, flowery sort of grape.

Sipping… well, this is a bit more complex than I expected. It actually tastes a lot like wine. There is a savory note at the beginning, the obvious tartness, but then a sweetness that reminds me of raisins. I think this is definitely something you need to be in the mood for unless you truly love hibiscus. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be and is more enjoyable alone than in a blend because it’s not taking over the entire cup.

I’m happy to have given plain hibiscus a chance, but it’s not something I’d like to drink regularly.

Hmm. I’m not sure about this one. It smells quite strongly of a winter/autumn candle. My mom also said that it smells “like Christmas” to her. It does steep up to a beautiful deep crimson color.

Sipping… hibiscus is the first thing I notice and wow, it’s very strong! It lingers for a long time, but slowly changes into something like a spiced cider. I suppose that it’s cranberry that I’m tasting, but to be honest, it’s more of a weird cranberry candle + spice mixture. This is surprisingly drinkable given how much hibiscus is in it.. I think it also helps that I’m in the mood for something tart. I don’t hate hibiscus, but wish it didn’t take over everything in the universe when it’s included in a blend.

While I finished the cup, I don’t think that I would repurchase more of this blend. I think less hibiscus and more of a real cranberry flavor would have helped it out. It really is like drinking a candle only without a waxy flavor.

I ordered some of this with my last order because it sounded like it would be something I’d enjoy. I’m always looking for an alternative to hot chocolate, but one that still has that rich, sweet flavor. I love hot chocolate, but would prefer to save the calories for something else.

Sipping… this tastes really familiar and I think that it’s the cinnamon DAVIDsTEA uses. It’s sweet and warming, but I don’t get that much of a cocoa flavor. For me, this is hot cinnamon water with maybe a touch of cocoa if I really look for it. I keep sipping the cup thinking that maybe I’ll get a stronger chocolate flavor, but it never comes. Normally a watery cinnamon tea would be down the drain by now, but there is something in this that keeps it from being a cup of spicy liquid gum. I’m not sure what it is, but I appreciate it!

I am disappointed because I wanted this to be a nice Mexican hot chocolate blend, but I really don’t detect any rich, milky chocolate. I suppose I’ll have to move on and find another alternative.

I still haven’t given up on honeybush blends, but I’ve realized that there is no getting around the fact that the base tends to dominate any other flavor. That being said, the honeybush is the most prominent. There is a lovely sweetness in the cup that brings to mind a sugary blueberry syrup. There is no hint of anything like a cake, though, but I wasn’t really expecting to taste it. I do pick up on a little bit of citrus, but it blends weirdly with the blueberry giving the cup an odd flavor. The aftertaste is a little unpleasant, but it’s not enough to keep me from finishing the cup.

I do think this is a fine blueberry honeybush blend, but I would like to be able to taste the cake and the streusel topping.. it is called blueberry streusel, after all. I wouldn’t repurchase, but won’t have any difficulty finishing the pouch.

I wanted to try this tea, but didn’t want it enough to pay for the shipping cost. It was at the grocery store this evening and I decided to grab it. To be honest, I’m expecting this to taste like Forever Nuts. It’s definitely a brighter pink, but smells quite similar.

Sipping… Hm.. this one could have used a longer steep time. It tastes a little bit watery and weak. Besides that, I do get some of the same notes as Forever Nuts. It’s slightly less tart, though, which allows for the sweet apple and almond to come through more clearly. The cinnamon seems to be stronger in this blend as well. I’m going to try to play around with this a little more, but I’m not sure I like this more than Forever Nuts despite the convenience of buying it in person.

I really loved Butiki’s other plum tea, Traditional Plum Pudding, but it was discontinued and replaced by this one a while ago. Although I was sad about the plum pudding tea, I knew that this one stood a good chance of being delicious as it combined plum AND cheesecake into one tea. The scent of this blend is mostly tangy and cheesy. The plum reminds me more of blueberry, but I bet it will come out in the flavor.

Sipping… I first taste a smooth, almost tart cheesecake flavor. It reminds me a bit of the 52Teas cheesecake blends and is almost artificial-tasting. It quickly changes into a sweet, juicy plum. Delicious! These flavors work so well together.. this cup is so good and so very unique. The only thing that I don’t really like is that the base becomes quite astringent and sort of distracts me from enjoying the cheesecake and plum. I think that I would like a different more silky base because it would really make this tea even better. Still.. this is so original and tasty. Mmm!

This cup scared me a little bit with its dark brown color. I haven’t had great experience with darker puerhs, but I’m trying to branch out a little. The scent is familiar: rice, hay and a little bit of something fishy. I typically stay far, far away from fishy puerhs, but once it’s cooled a little bit, this tea loses a lot of that fishiness.

Sipping… this tea seems to be dominated by two main flavors: rice and earth. I don’t necessarily taste that fresh hay that I’ve had with the greener rice puerhs, but this one is very smooth, starchy and sweet. It’s far more tasty than I thought it would be. I’m really surprised at how smooth and sweet it is. The earthy flavor is nice in that it isn’t too much like dirt. Given the choice between this one and a green rice puerh, I’d likely still pick the green one, but I’m very happy to have seen what the other side is like.

The first sip of this tea is thick on the tongue. It brings to mind pouring honey from a jar. The main flavor I get is of butterscotch candies, particularly the hard ones that stick to your teeth when you try to chew them. The rest of the sip is where flavors become a little muddled for me. I’m picking up on the white tea, some very light floral notes and something similar to toffee. I can’t seem to taste any of the hazelnut or mocha flavors. The finish is brisk and quite astringent.

I like the butterscotch flavor, but there’s something a little too artificial about it for me. I’m not wild about the base either, but I think it’s because I’m generally not a white tea person.

I’m a little bit nervous to be trying this one. It smells tasty, but also like hot cinnamon gum. It’s so strong that it calls to my nose from the other side of my desk. I enjoy a good Snickerdoodle cookie, but after reading that this blend tastes a bit like cinnamon water, I don’t know if this is the best representation of a Snickerdoodle tea.

It smells like hot cinnamon once it’s steeped and I’m hoping that it offers something more. Sipping… Hm, not quite as strong as I thought it would be. The strongest note is definitely the cinnamon, but it’s not that crazy cinnamon punch I was expecting. It is warming, but tastes very much like cinnamon candies or gum. There is a nice sweetness to the cup as well and it adds another element to keep this from being complete cinnamon water.

I am really happy I tried this one before buying a bunch. It’s not terrible, but really doesn’t resemble a Snickerdoodle to me and has too much cinnamon for me to want to have this permanently. Many thanks to Ost for sharing some with me!