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I was preparing a big Valentine’s dinner for my hubby when my eye fell on the basket of leaves from making this earlier. I don’t often resteep a flavored tea because they usually don’t retain enough of their original flavor to keep me interested. But I liked this one so well, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.

It was a success! Yes, it is lighter in flavor than the first steep, but still had as much flavor as some teas give you on their first steep. It was wonderful! Lazey commented it was too strong, but maybe icing the first steep and drinking the second would work for you?

I have loved Fruits d’Alsace for iced tea in the past, but I think this one is going to be even better for a fruit flavored iced tea.

Oh joy! Joy! Holy cow! This is not at all what I expected. Instead it is 18273658382 times better. (Tip of hat to JacquelineM there.)

Thank you, Nina’s Tea, for these lovely samples!

It was hard to choose my flavors for sampling from Nina’s Tea. There are so many and they look so good. A few French teas I have purchased have been unbelievably yummy, but a few required tweaking as the base could get bitter to me, like Dammann Freres Charlotte au Chocolat.

Honestly I made this tea because the Je T’aime smelled too good to drink yet. I wanted to save it for a really special time, not the middle of the homeschool day waiting for a student. It smelled so good the dog was dancing around my feet with his eyes wide because he thought I had a dessert hidden somewhere.

Now on to this one – the fruit aroma was absolutely arresting. It was so real, so fresh. So Garden of Eden pure. The fruit rides above, but is grounded and rounded by, the vanilla and caramel notes. I braced myself to sip, in case the base was one of the rough ones, but no! It is as smooth as silk, and you can taste the tea! Delightful, and delicious!

Just as exciting to me – this is a very close flavor profile to the tea my daughter bought in Budapest that we adored but have been unable to get again. Excellent, delicious, wonderful flavored tea, fit for a tea time with nobility. Even better, get it for yourself and sit down with a good book, some soft music, and a cup of this. You will feel like a benevolent Lady of the Manor.

Grand Amour, I love you. I would share you with the one I love, but I drank you all up.

Speaking of the one I love, a little old retiree lady called today to tell my hubby that she saw Safe Haven yesterday and that Josh Duhamel reminded her so much of him that she just had to call and talk to him!!!! I feel just a little bit jealous! LOL! (I confess, I think my hubby is gorgeous!)

I am so pleased! My hubby is a picky eater and it is hard to get him to try new things. He has started drinking green and oolong teas and that is a huge step forward, and he takes them plain which is so much better for him. I am hoping he will take a shine to the smoothies I have been making lately, so I gave this a try tonight.

One organic banana, four large strawberries, a big scoop of Greek yogurt, some honey, crushed ice, and a splash of milk. To this I added one teaspoon of Black Cherry Matcha. I did not sift it this time since it was in the blender, but I have found that when using the aerolatte it is best to sift. The good news is that he liked it and drank his whole smoothie. The last time I had him try one he said it wasn’t really his thing, he wasn’t a smoothie person, but that one didn’t have cherry matcha in it!

I served this at tea party today and it got an unusual reception. My guest sniffed it – we always sniff and swirl and observe and such as part of the fun – but she was really excited by the fragrance. “Is that caramel? And something else!” Yes, caramel toffee popcorn. Well, she curled her fingers around her cup and held it like someone would hold a hot chocolate when they just came in from a snowball fight!

I am definitely going to have to serve this one again and again for tea party day! It is a lovely flavored tea that needs no additions and is a great treat, and very satisfying.

This was my second Red Leaf Tea flavored matcha latte of the day! Earlier, I had a Butterscotch latte, but this evening after a too heavy supper I wanted another latte, and I wanted something especially light and refreshing. When I sifted the matcha into my glass, the loveliest lemony aroma filled the air. Even though I am whisking these with my aerolatte, I find that sifting makes a very noticeable difference.

I added about a cup of cold water and the honey, then whisked. Then I filled to nearly the top with skim milk and topped it up with a little crushed ice, because I like for these to be really cold! It was perfect, refreshing, and gone way too soon. I really shouldn’t have three in one day, should I?

I made my afternoon matcha latte with this flavored matcha today! I like this one both hot and cold, but for cold lattes I like Bavarian Cream, and plain matcha most of all! With honey to sweeten, and crushed ice, of course!

Thank you to Zen Tea for this sample!

I had a terrible night last night – obstinate, irritating, disappointing family stuff – so I am determined to drink tea until I feel better. I started the day with Queen Catherine, my usual bucker-upper. Poking through my samples to see what I could finish off, this one really appealed to me. I find vanilla to be a very comforting scent, full of “home” and peaceful. Paired with bergamot, which is bright and awakening, I hope this will help kick start me to a better attitude.

This one is so much about the aroma for me. It is so creamy and sweet smelling. Earl Grey lovers really should try this. The tea base is strong enough to be used for a wake up call, too.

Because it was the kind of day yesterday and I’ve had that kind of morning. Grrrrr.

Sadly, I finished my sample from Nuvola Tea today. Joyfully, I took a look at their website and saw that it is half the price of others that I have been looking at. I have been trying to get a couple of friends hooked on matcha lattes and have had pretty good success. Today I introduced them to unflavored matcha lattes.

My friend preferred this brand because she felt it was creamier and had a fresher taste than the first one she tried, though it could simply be that this one had more honey since I was drizzling it in and not really measuring.

Bottom line, this is a really tasty matcha for a price I can hardly believe. It is because this is made in Taiwan rather than Japan? Whatever the case, I want more, and I won’t be ordering just one pack!

Thank you, Nuvola Tea, for the sample. It was great to get to taste another matcha since I am fairly new to the type of tea. I have enjoyed every bit of this one!

I had no idea this ginseng oolong was going to be so different from Teavivre’s. There are a couple of obvious reasons why it is, though.

First, this is a Chinese oolong, while Teavivre’s is from Taiwan. Second, this uses Siberian ginseng root, while Teavivre uses American ginseng. I really thought there was licorice root powder on the Teavivre leaves but I asked them some time ago and was told there was not. I taste something similar here but no licorice root is mentioned and it is lighter.

This tastes like a Tie Guan Yin, and the ginseng is adding just a hint of flavor that comes as a sweetness after the swallow. It doesn’t even come close to the floral sweetness that follows with Teavivre’s, though. This is the level of ginseng flavor I would expect on their third steep.

Second steep is sweeter than the first, but still milder than Teavivre’s.

The Tin Roof leaves are still tightly balled up and coated with ginseng after the second steep. Now I have done the third steep and they still haven’t unfurled. I think something about their ginseng powder must have more sticking power and dissolves into the tea more slowly.

The leaves are still dark pellets, but the tea is getting a little sweeter with each steep – just a bit. I think this gives the tea a consistent level of flavor with lightly growing sweetness each steep.

Several people mentioned disliking ginseng. If you want ginseng for its benefits and like TGY, this would be the way to go. Personally I love the BANG POW of the first steep of Teavivre’s Taiwan ginseng followed by the gradually calming down of the following steeps.