Cuppa Geek

I drank this tea to keep me awake on a long drive. The flavor is pretty simple. I get some toasted mate and a bit of dessertiness from the chocolate chips. I had it with almond milk, and it tasted decent, but not very interesting or special. It needed something to amp up the chocolate. As it was, it was mostly just toastiness, and it could have used some added complexity/intrigue.

This was a little bitter and meh without milk, but once I added it, the flavor transformed. It totally tastes like berries and cream (I wish their actual berries and cream flavor had been more similar to this!) The milk brings out the creaminess, and there’s a light berry flavor there too, though it’s hard to tell what kind of berry. The berry could have been stronger and more authentic. Overall, it’s probably not something I’d choose again over other choices, but it’s good.

This has the same pumpkin flavoring that I dislike, but with milk, the spices make it taste okay enough. The fake fruitiness isn’t great, so this advent sample has been plenty. Without that one flavoring, the spices would have made this a pretty nice chai.

The spices here are much too mild. The main flavor reminds me of the flavoring Adagio uses in their honeybush pumpkin chai. It’s just such a strong, fake fruity flavor that doesn’t work for me at all. I tried my final cup of this with some milk, and I feel like that helped cover up the fruity sweetness and bring out a slightly more chai-ish element. I wish I’d done that with all my cups of this!

Hmm black tea was a weird base choice for this flavor profile. Hot, I didn’t feel like I was getting the optimal strawberry or mint flavor. Cold, I felt like the black tea didn’t taste its best. I would have preferred this with a green or herbal base because it is a flavor profile I enjoy a lot. Sadly, it didn’t work for me at all here.

The berry flavor turned out a little fake and chalky. Maybe it’s underleafed, but the black tea is a little watery as well. Unfortunately, this isn’t very tasty.

The orange flavor here is so creamy and lovely. The orange is bright, juicy, and authentic. There’s something marshmallowy and fun in there too. I only have the advent amount, but I’d love to have more! I don’t notice the black tea or the rooibos really, which is fine because the flavoring is great. The resteep was super strong and tasty as well.

Having this for breakfast with an English muffin this morning. I started the day with watering the garden because it was still only in the 70’s and we are supposed to hit 91F later. Watering means carrying a five gallon bucket (35ish pounds) of water from the rain barrels to the garden…about eight trips usually does it. Then there was scrubbing the small garbage can and vacuuming in preparation for the day. So even though I wasn’t broiling hot, I wanted something light and lovely instead of my usual black tea.

This has lots and lots of lemongrass (which I usually grow and forgot to plant this year) and apple pieces, and I see some lavender flowers and a little oolong in there. The flavor is largely lemongrass forward with creamy vanilla and lavender rounding it out. The color is deep gold so there must be more oolong than I realized. I followed my usual Cuppageek protocol and made three steeps in the Kamjove, all combined to keep it evened out.

I really didn’t know if I would like this one, but I am enjoying it. It certainly does seem to be making me feel very chill and relaxed. I had waaaay too much caffeine yesterday and didn’t sleep much last night, so the relaxation is much needed.

This is one of the best EGs I’ve had in a while! It tastes creamy and delicious even though I don’t think it has any cream flavoring. The black tea is smooth and tasty. There’s a hint of lavender. I don’t really notice the bergamot, but that’s okay. In the resteep, I definitely tasted the cream and bergamot. This tea is great!

I’ve been craving maple, and this didn’t quite hit the spot, but it’s a decent cup of tea. It reminds me of the flavor used in Adagio’s maple creme oolong, which always hit me as more smoky/woody than maple. I get a bit of earthy ginger as well, which goes well with that woodiness. It tastes nice enough with some milk, but it’s far from a favorite.

At first, I get a lovely combination of spices and black tea. It doesn’t need milk, but I’m glad I added some because I feel like it helped bring out the subtler flavors. When I came back to the cup a little later, I definitely tasted the fruitiness, along with some sweetness that must have been the caramel. This one ends up pretty layered and nice!

This is a mild, fruity green rooibos. Without looking, I couldn’t say what fruit it’s supposed to be, maybe citrus? There’s a slight tang in there that I don’t love that could possibly be smoothed out with some additional marshmallow root. I don’t enjoy this one quite as much as other CG blends – it could use a few tweaks.

Any evening cuppa sipped over the weekend.

Since I’m a Hufflepuff and, obviously, biased towards my own house I want to like this more than I actually do. It’s not unpleasant but it basically just tastes like vaguely creamy chocolate. Admittedly, that feels like it makes a fair amount of sense for the house, but when a tea just tastes like chocolate that feels a bit too plain/simple for me personally, I want a little more dimension. Plus, I just don’t love chocolate teas.

So it’s fine and well executed for what it is – but not a personal love.

I’m pretty impressed with this one. The strawberry flavor has the quality of strawberries you might find in a drink, but there’s something like carbonation or juice in there too. I think it really captures what it’s trying to. You also get the honeybush flavor, but it tastes pretty good here. This is another one I wish I had more of!

Once again, I come on here to remove from cupboard and I had never added it to cupboard.

Was it good? It is gone quicker than most teas. First pot or two was enjoyed hot, then big, cold, sweet pitchers to beat the June heat.

Not tart, but just enough tingle to feel fruity and fresh.

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

Such a tasty, creamy peppermint black tea. I definitely get the candy peppermint vibe. It’s cooling in the mouth, even when I have a hot sip. This sort of reminds me of the various DavidsTea peppermint black blends, but I think this one is done better.

I wasn’t sure what flavor this was supposed to be, but it tastes like a combination between apple pie and a spiced fruit cider. The spices and fruit are pleasant and tasty. It’s maybe a touch too tart, but I’m enjoying it cold. I wouldn’t mind if I ended up with this in a sampler again, but I’m not sure if it’s quite amazing enough to order on its own.

Sipdown (1419)!

I couldn’t decide what tea to drink yesterday so VariaTEA very kindly helped me randomly pick a sample to drink – and bonus points for the one she picked also being a sipdown! This is probably something I would have never ordered for myself, so an additional thanks to VariaTEA for sending the sample my way too.

In terms of taste, I found this to be a pretty standard “pumpkin spice” composition but leaning a little more cinnamon and clove forward. It was nicely balanced and very cozy/warming. I didn’t really know what I was in the mood for when I steeped it up, but whatever those abstract cravings may have been seemed to be calmed by sipping on this tea. In addition to those spice notes, the black tea was rich and just a bit astringent and the finish also creamy and custardy with thick vanilla-like notes.

Very tasty!

Sipdown (1401)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the share – looks like this is another strawberry blend to add to the list from this past week…

I have to agree with Sil that I didn’t find anything in this tea macaron inspired unless we’re just counting general sweetness? But even then, it’s not an especially sweet tea. There’s astringency to the sip which feels out of place for a macaron blend, but I did like the texture it added to the profile since that added some interest to an otherwise very straightforward flavour profile: sweet (though somewhat artificial) strawberry and brisk black tea with some muted floral undertones. I appreciate tasting the black tea base, but I wish this was… I don’t know, more!? It’s a nice tea but it’s also simple.

I’m enjoying the fruity flavor of this. The quality of the fruit isn’t like fresh fruit, but more like dried fruit. It was really tasty before adding milk, but I decided to add some anyway, and I think it tastes similar or slightly worse with the milk. I don’t really get any kind of crisp or baked element, which would have been really fun, but I’m pleased with how it came out anyway. I’d have this again!

It was a chilly morning so I thought I’d warm up with a cup of dark chocolate peppermint patty. I’m not a fan of the mini marshmallows, but it adds a festive flair to a decent cup of mostly mint, but some chocolate tea. This tea isn’t anything splashy, just a cup of comfort that steeps three times.

This was a little too drying and ginger heavy for me personally but I liked the combination of maple and ginger a lot – there’s a lot of interest and fun to be had this with this juxtaposition of sweet brown flavour with it’s kind of woody undertones and spicy, hot ginger. I loved the base choice too – leans well into the more natural and earthy notes (“sap like” if you will) of maple that sometimes feel very neglected/forgotten. Gonna try this with milk though, because I think that will balance the dryness and ginger heavy aspects for me…

The scent is so mapley and enticing. The flavor is more subtle than the smell. I get a woody, mild mapley flavor along with the base tea. I’m not a big oolong fan, so I definitely would have preferred this on a black base. I would have expected bolder flavors, and what I do taste seems like spices and flavoring that’s a bit artificial. Milk complements it well. I just wish the flavors were stronger. I don’t love oolong, but that’s the strongest flavor of all. It’s funny to see all these reviews calling it too sweet/overwhelming, when that’s the total opposite of my experience. Different tastes!

I taste the lavender, but also something a little tangy and spiced? I added some milk. I wish there were more lavender! I would never guess what sort of tea this is supposed to be. It’s a bit spiced and fruity, but I do like it! This is another one I wouldn’t mind some more of!