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From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

It’s an apricot green tea! I love apricots, but finding a good apricot flavor in a tea ain’t easy. Tavalon did a great job with this one. The tea is really juicy, sweet, and taste like a perfectly ripe apricot rather than a jam or jelly. This is a tea that’s begging to be iced, and it’s going on my shopping list so I can do just that.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

Although I have sent the tea box on its way I do have a few more teas to review. I think I have five or six more teas and then I’m done with traveling tea box posts for a while. :)

I love the smell of the dry leaf, but the wet leaf had a smell that made me crinkle my nose. It went from smelling like grapefruit and citrus flowers to something sharp and bitter. I was worried that I had steeped it incorrectly, but thankfully the taste was all grapefruit and fresh grass. I actually had to move the wet leaves away from me so I could enjoy the tea. The tea itself is lovely. The taste is grapefruit, bright fresh grass, and, as the tea cools, slightly floral.

I can see myself enjoying this tea a lot during the summer. It’s light and really refreshing.

Tea of the morning. I picked up almost three ounces of this the last time I was at the grocery store because I really like dark, malty, biscuity teas when I first wake up. This tea meets all of those requirements and won’t kill my budget. It’s a win win.

If this tea has a downside it’s that I can only resteep it once. After that it is too watery. On the other hand, by the time I’ve had two mugs of this I’m up and moving, so I’m ok with it not being a tea I can steep again and again.

I started feeling sick earlier today, so I’ve been drinking this tea as a way of calming my stomach. So far so good. This is no where near my favorite Moroccan Mint tea, but as a medicinal tea I’d be happy to keep some on hand.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

I’m guessing this is from Kimlovestea. If I’m wrong let me know!

One of the bags in the tea box is labeled Kim’s Homemade Chai. I immediately put it in the pile of teas I wanted to try because I love the idea of homemade chai. Adding all the spices you love, using a heavy hand with some and a light touch with other… just the thought of it makes me smile. I have promised myself that we if ever finish our kitchen renovation (ugh.) that I will spend some time in my kitchen perfecting my own homemade chai. Until then I’m happy to sample lots of different chais including Kim’s.

The first thing I like about this tea is that the base tea is strong and really tasty. It has a kick, and I’m glad I chose this for my morning tea. It’s not a cinnamon heavy chai. I do get some heat at the back of my throat making me think there is ginger in the mix. Nice. I added some honey and milk to my cup, and now I’m just enjoying. It’s a robust, sweet, spicy chai that is hitting all the right notes this morning.

Well done Kim!!!

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

Meh. The vanilla in this is nice and strong, but the base tea seems weak which makes the tea seem watery. I could probably play with the parameters and find something that I enjoy, but since I’m already in love with Zen Tea’s EGC I will just stick with that one.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

I have wanted to try a Milk Oolong for a while now, so when I saw that this and the unflavored Jin Xuan were in the tea box I was excited.

This is good. Really good. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s a pop of fruitiness followed by cream. The tea feels thick but not heavy, and it’s very smooth and silky. I’m surprised by how sweet this is, but at the same time it’s not too sweet which is good because it allows the buttery notes from the Oolong to be tasted. This was great from start to finish, and that’s just the first steep.

I’m probably condemning myself to a sleepless night, but I want to try several steeps of this and see where the flavors go. And then I have the other Milk Oolong to try. And then there are the 12 or so other teas in the tea box I still want to try. And then there’s….

So I told myself that I’m only allowed to drink teas out of the traveling tea box today because I want to get it in the mail on Friday, and I still have a bunch of teas I’d like to try. I failed. I wanted to sit on my porch and watch the rain, and I wanted a tea that I knew I would enjoy while I was out there. After a quick look through my stash I chose this one. I love the dark chocolate notes, and the mint is really good. It was a lovely relaxing moment in my otherwise chaotic day.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

I liked the lemongrass and berry flavors in this tea, but the mint tasted too much like toothpaste. It was sugar sweet instead of herb-y sweet, if that makes sense. I think if the mint were different I would like this one a lot.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

After reading some of the reviews on this one I was a little afraid to try it, but I like cinnamon, and I like fig. I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot.

Not bad! Cinnamon is the main flavor, but it’s not a super intense cinnamon. It’s a softer, warmer spice, and it pairs well with the fig which is sweet and gives the tea some depth. The base tea didn’t have a lot to offer, but it didn’t detract from the flavors either.

Given that a couple of the people who participated in this tea box thought this tea tasted like a stinky shoe, I feel like I dodged a bullet. This isn’t a tea I would purchase for myself (although I’d love to find a good fig tea!), but I’d drink a cup if it were offered to me.