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I steeped equal parts Bear Trap and Queen of Tarts this morning.

I’ve decided two things:

1.) I need to acquire a large tin of Queen of Tarts.

2.) This blend shall henceforth be referred to as Trap Queen.

I wish I’d tried Queen of Tarts earlier in the summer because it’s been saving my mornings lately. This blend is awesome lightly sweetened over ice, and I’m so glad QoT is a permanent tea.

Matcha and I are not the best of friends. There are a few unsweetened blends from Red Leaf Tea that I’d like to try when pay day rolls around. I’m also intrigued by DT’s new Pumpkin Pie Matcha that’s due out soon. This blend, however, is one that I’m trying to sipdown (quickly). I like it but I don’t love it.

I reorganized my tea collection over the weekend. I really dislike having superfluous boxes lying around the house, and I had two tea hauls that needed to be properly stored. I now have a small bin of opened bags of loose leaf tea that I’m trying to drink before I open (too many) additional bags.

I was clearly not very awake this morning when I made the decision to prepare matcha instead of maté on the first day back after a three-day weekend. I don’t know what I was thinking. Halfway through my morning bus commute, and the iced matcha latte in my matcha maker, I realized how much I’d regret the decision. I’d probably like this matcha blend more if it had more vanilla flavor. The vanilla seems like an afterthought. As of late, every time I prepare this matcha I add vanilla extract. It’s not an awful blend (particularly if you like sweeter teas), but I’m grateful I only have enough to make one more latte.

I spent a good portion of my morning reorganizing my tea collection. Why doesn’t DT sell their larger tins online?! There are so many teas I need to re-home! I seriously need to buy a scale. But, I digress.

I stumbled across a bag of Bear Trap that had ended up in my box of unloved teas. I was craving some iced Queen of Tarts and added a PTS of Bear Trap to the infuser for funzies. The Bear Trap herbal blend added a wonderful boost of berry flavor and a little bit of sweetness. I don’t care for Bear Trap on its own but this combination was tasty enough for me to keep the rest of my 50g bag to combine with Queen of Tarts on occasion.

I needed a bit more oomph this morning. It’s the Friday before a three-day weekend, so I’m really dragging this morning. In addition to Queen of Tarts, I added a bit of DT’s Strawberry Colada to my infuser.

Bad idea. There’s a tropical beach party in my mouth.

Now I’m really ready to clock out.

I received a sample of this in a recent swap. Normally the word “chai” is enough to dissuade me from trying a tea. Spicy teas, we just don’t mesh well. I took a quick glance at the ingredients and didn’t notice the list of the usual chai spices, only ginger and cinnamon. I love all things coconut and I don’t mind ginger or cinnamon in small doses, so I decided to give this tea a try.

I steeped my sample per the directions on the packet (1.5 tsp in boiling water for 3 minutes), poured it into my travel mug that was partially filled with ice and topped it up with a decent splash of coconut-almond milk. This tea tastes very bread-y to me. It might’ve been the addition of non-dairy milk. The more I drink this tea the more I’m reminded of spice cake batter, like a carrot cake batter minus the carrots and pineapple. It’s nicely spiced but not overwhelmingly so. Despite the addition of coconut-almond milk, the coconut flavor is, unfortunately, barely there. It’s not something that I’d rush out to purchase, but it wasn’t unpleasant. I imagine it would make a nice base for a autumnal smoothie, oatmeal/porridge or baked goods.

First time trying this blend. I attempted to drink it straight but it’s a bit too spicy for my palate. I added a heavy splash of almond milk and some brown sugar in an attempt to tone down the spice. That said, there is still quite a bit of spice, even when combined with (non-dairy) milk. The sample I received is large enough to try this tea as a latte, so I will probably go that route the next time I have a hankering for black tea in the morning. Unfortunately, the amount of spice overwhelmed my palate this morning so I didn’t taste a ton of either the chocolate or the pumpkin. I’ll see what happens when I prepare this as a latte.

I think this tea has earned a spot in my collection. I’ve been sipping it every morning for a week or so. It’s really lovely and it blends well with other herbals in my collection. Thus far I’ve steeped it with Berry Poppins (another hibiscus and blackberry blend) and Guava Cadabra (just to add a bit of tropical-y, fruity goodness). Both winners. I’d even go so far as to say if this wasn’t a maté blend I’d drink it all day long. There’s something about the cranberry-esque tartness of the hibiscus combined with the slightly sweet blackberry that’s just wonderful.

I don’t know how they managed to make this taste muffin-like, but this is easily my favorite of the three samples I’ve received recently. I’m glad the hibiscus flavor isn’t as strong as I was expecting when I saw that it was an ingredient. This is a really pleasant tisane with strong, but not overpowering, cranberry flavor that is nicely complimented by the orange, pineapple and cinnamon. It’s definitely my favorite from the fall collection, so far.

Props to DT for such a witty name. This maté tea is a pleasant blend of apricots and almonds. I added a bit of ice because I prefer my matés over ice. It’s tasty, but the flavor was quite light. That said, I was only working with the tiny amount available in the sample packet. It’s not something that I’d rush to stock up on, but I’ll likely order a small amount to drink when I want a maté that isn’t super tropical. I imagine it would make a tasty iced latte with almond milk. I’ll give that a try when I get my hands on more.

Peanut butter cup? Hm, I dunno about that. Maybe my sample packet had too much apple and not enough of everything else. This tastes like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to me. I don’t get much chocolate flavor at all, so that’s disappointing. I’m not a huge fan of peanut butter, but there’s potential for this tea as the liquid base of a smoothie. I don’t know that it’s something I’d drink on its own again. If the chocolate flavor was more present I’d probably be more inclined to stock up on this tea. But the apples, as the primary ingredient, really take over, imparting not just their sweetness but their flavor as well.

Peanut butter cup, not so much.

Peanut butter and (apple) jelly sandwich, definitely.