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This is a really old tea I’ve had for many years (originally from a user on here or possibly a TTB). It’s older 2015 harvest or before but has been in a well sealed pouch in a dark drawer.

I went with 225 mL water (hot, maybe 75 deg. C) and steeped 5 minutes. The liquid has no colour but has a faint flavour of dried oak leaves and fresh fiddleheads or green beans. It’s very faint, through, and more vegetal than anything else. It wasn’t a very good cup due to the very faint flavour and few nuances. I’m not going to rate this one because my tea sample is so old. If I did rate it, I’d give it maybe 30-45/100 but that wouldn’t be fair to the quality of the fresh buds.

Review from May 2022

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Yep, that’s a chai! It’s got all the typical spices and a good amount of flavour. As always, I drank this with some vanilla soy milk and a tiny bit of sugar (~1/2 tsp). Nice cinnamon and warm peppery spices but balanced out by the clove and cardamom. Nothing particularly exceptional about this blend, but it is an enjoyable cup. Best with milk to round out the CTC black base, which can be a bit overly tannic and tending towards bitter.

May 2022

Trying to use up random teabags and made this hot and then made a second cup iced with lemon and sugar. The hot cup was generic, bitter, vegetal notes of corn husk and matcha powder. I dislike the bitterness in this green tea, which is why I avoid bagged greens whenever possible.

The iced cup was better, but not very flavourful or memorable. If anything, it was mostly lemonade with a touch of green tea. The sugar takes care of the bitterness but it’s just so bland. :( The second cup was too weak to really make out any motes.

I bought this on a whim last November for my stocking and kinda wished I had bought a second box. This has an excellent dessert flavour reminiscent of cream and digestive biscuits. It really says “cream” to me more than just being creamy or milky. It has a natural sweetness as well (but no stevia! hell yeah!). The biggest downside is that it is caffeinated. However, this does mean that the black tea base isn’t hidden or washed out like decafs can be. You get a lot of malty, strong black tea flavour. It’s got a very English tea with digestives thing going, which I love. I love digestive cookies (especially with tea)

The only way to drink this is with vanilla soy milk/milk of choice. You could also add sweetener if you wished but I don’t think it needs it.

I’ve missed you all dearly. I have a bunch of reviews saved that I want to post, so please excuse the spam.

I got this as a sampler from Well.ca and was delighted that they had a free sample I actually cared about. This is a wonderful peppermint. My teabag was called “Minty fresh” but it seems to only contain peppermint.

This is a fresh and strong peppermint with a lot of menthol. I brewed this sachet (single serve mesh sachet – but both the sachet and the wrapper are compostable/recyclable) in hot water (~90 C) for 5 minutes. I could smell the mint right away. Even as a dry leaf it smelled very potent. I’m impressed! It wouldn’t be my go-to just for cost reasons but this is one of the best straight peppermints I’ve had.

New Years Resolution – January 1st: Drink An Comfort Tea

An old favourite that I always keep in stock. It is so warm and comforting. I really like wintergreen and spearmint so this blend is 10/10 for me. Nothing more to really say since I’ve written detailed reviews several times.

This tea company is now called Flora Health.

This blend is surprisingly lovely. I normally don’t love licorice root in teas but I think this blend is well balanced. It doesn’t have a bad medicinal flavour or that metallic fake sweetness that some licorice has, although it is herbish and a bit woody. The lemongrass and peppermint are a nice base for this evening tisane. It is fruity but not bitter or acrid like cranberries can be. The elderberry leaves a nice after taste that I enjoyed.

I drank this at a friend’s house at a holiday get-together and they used boiling water and an insulated mug. It took more than 30 minutes to be cool enough to drink. I took the teabag out around the 6 minute mark when it smelled fruity but I don’t know for sure what the best steeping time is. When tea is that hot you can’t taste very much.

2022 Advent Calender Tea (I’ve forgotten which day is which now)

I had this iced as a long brew with a pinch of brown sugar and in a fancy glass. I miss summer. One teabag (sachet/mesh) and 600 mL cold water.

Delightfully fruity with strong peach and chamomile notes. A bit of general stone fruit
and then something else but I’m not sure what it is (apricot or kumquat, maybe I’m picking up citrus?) It tastes summery and refreshing without being overly acidic and hibiscusy. The sweetness and the acidity are well balanced but the extra touch of sweetness really makes this perfect.

This sample is quite old so it might be that the flavour has changed as it got older. Label says it is 2019 harvest.

Slightly bitter and not as thick as I remember. No creaminess but there is some lightly fruity notes like green melon (honey dew without the sweetness) and some floral notes as well. Not rose-type floral, maybe more like nasturtium or geranium. Overall nothing spectacular. I think if I had done a second steep it would have been better because I noticed the bottom half of the cup was better due to the little dusty bits giving it more flavour.