Hawaiian Islands Tea Company

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Recent Tasting Notes

44

Perhaps I got a bland bag or I didn’t steep it long enough; whatever the case, I am not tasting much strawberry or lychee. This is disappointing because I really love both of those flavors. The black tea that they use is quite good though.

Preparation
145 °F / 62 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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75

This is one of those bagged teas, if you are used to great loose black teas, tastes kinda meh. However, after a couple runs and fussing with temperature and times, I found at the 200F and 3 minute mark gets a decent cup. About 10oz for a bag. I oversteeped the first couple and the blend is kinda bitter and weird tasting with not much pineapple.

The black base is a little uninspiring, but the pineapple is quite nice. It’s very pineapple tasting with a bit of a candied brown sugar taste. Actually, it’s not bad.

Ugg, I miss Hawaii. Wish I could move there!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 295 ML
Sil

mmmmmmmm pineapple…

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21

I got this as a bonus in a swap from CK longer ago than I care to admit, but I’m never terribly quick at getting to my bagged offerings. (I’m trying! I promise!)

I don’t really care for this though. The hibiscus adds a bitter/sour note that I can’t shake and the honey has a strange plastic/wax flavored aftertaste. It reminds me a bit of the flavor of wax lips. Which is sad, because I like it initially and then it gets blah.

This won’t be a revisit for me, as I just barely managed to get my cup down this time.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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57

I got this as a bonus in a swap with CK quite a while ago. I’m already pretty caffeinated, so I wanted something light this afternoon!

I generally like hibiscus…this tea is somewhat bitter though, and I’m not getting any honey flavor. There is a weird artificial element going on here, too. Meh, not very good, sorry! :)

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73

Trying this again. Hopefully the review sticks to the right tea this time. :)

This most definitely tastes of “exotic tropical fruit.” It’s lightly sweet and smells very good. The tea base is pretty light. It’s okay hot but cold it’s really good. Continues the preference I seem to have for fruit teas only when cold.

Thanks, CK, for the chance to try this!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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63

I’m not a huge fan of mango but it’s been slowing growing on me. It’s a perfect balance of black tea and mango pieces. Makes me want to sit on Poipu beach and sip this tea iced. Oh it’s also good with some honey.

Preparation
145 °F / 62 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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70

The problem with ginseng is that it is an overpowering flavor no matter what else you use it with. I do enjoy this tea but I wish that the guava would be more flavorful. Also if you haven’t yet, try this tea with honey. It brings out some of the guava flavor. Truly though the best part of the tea is the smell. Hawai’i in my nose.

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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Encouraged by being pleasantly surprised by the Mango Maui, I decided to continue trying out these teas that my sister purchased for me during her honeymoon. :)

Apparently wherever they source the flavoring for the Mango Maui are used again for this one. The scent of the teabag was exactly the same except with a bit of a tartness to it, despite the different fruit. Part of me is worrying about the sudden intake of chemicals, but a cup here and there can’t hurt too much.

As it turns out, it’s not just the smell that tastes pretty much the same, but the taste does too. =/ Which is kinda disappointing. When you have assorted flavors in a box, you kinda expect them to taste different. That said, the tea is surprisingly good to begin with, so it’s not a total loss. The main difference between this and the Mango Maui is that it’s less sweet tasting, which tickles the temptation to add a bit of sugar to remedy this.

Anyway, I can’t see myself purchasing these teas for myself (assuming it’s available outside of Hawaii) but it’s perfectly unoffensive, especially since it was a gift. :) I’ll still be keeping one teabag of each flavor in the box as a memento.

Only one more flavor to try from the box. :)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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Finally broke open the box. I was hoarding it for about six months, because it was a gift from my sister, who bought it for me during her honeymoon in Hawaii. So in other words, regardless of how this actually tastes, it’s automatically special. Hence the hoarding.

But she seems upset everytime she sees the still-sealed box, so I rationalized that I could just drink most of it, and leave one teabag of each flavor, (The box came with this, Pineapple Waikiki and Passion Fruit Na Poli, six bags of each) and still hold onto this precious memento.

Anyway, the smell of the bag worries me. It’s very potent and fruity, but in the way that threatens to taste very fake. Sure enough, it doesn’t actually contain any mango in it, it’s all “natural and artifical flavoring.” Which isn’t terribly surprising for a teabag. But still, this is my precious tea, so I’m hopeful it’ll taste reasonably good.

After taking the first couple sips, I must say I’m pleasantly surprised! It’s surprisingly not bitter for a bag — no additives, mind you — and I steeped to the maximum recommended time too. So far it doesn’t taste terribly fake, though since I made this with boiling water and no milk (milk and fruit? Blech!) so it’s still quite hot to taste it entirely, but so far it seems pleasantly sweet and fruity with a definite black tea taste. It’s definitely not real mango, but it tastes more authentic than any mango juice you can pick up at the supermarket.

Rating will come after I’ve finished the cup. :)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Kittenna

Haha, I think I may have received a similar set of the same teas. However…. mine’s probably close to 15 years old now. Flavour, not so great. I think I may have reviewed but not rated the teas.

Chizakura

Ha, yeah actually I read your tasting notes of them. When I was about to do one of my own, I was curious to see what other people had thought.

Not bad for bagged, but I couldn’t imagine myself buying a box for myself either. It’s more that they’re ‘special’ than anything. :)

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Hmm, not really getting a lot of pineapple here. Lots of the black tea, and behind that a bit of something fruity and woody. Kind of thin, but not unpleasant. My parents brought this back from Hawaii for me and on the box it suggests using a sweetener to enhance the fruit flavour. Trying that next time!
Edit: Lighter on the second steep— less of the black tea and wood, more of the fruit.

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I am very very picky about mango, which isn’t the tea’s fault. I thought I would give this tea a try. I think I dislike mango flavoring. The tea has a perfect balance of tea and flavoring. It is good iced. I just don’t like mango as the flavoring, I prefer mangoes only in Indian food where it’s mixed with something. Mmmm, mango pickle or mango lassi, that’s something I could eat right now.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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DISCLAIMER: If you are looking for reviews of this tea prior to purchase, do not read this one. My tea is so old as to be completely non-indicative of the actual tea. Hence the lack of rating, as well.

Ooook, so this is an OLDIE. I mean, it’s probably 10+ years old. And not stored well. I have low expectations (although got some nice fruity mangoey smells just now… perhaps it won’t be as bad as I think?) My mom brought these back for me from Hawaii forever ago, and I drank a few bags’ worth, but that’s it, and have kept them around until now out of guilt. Perhaps if there’s a bit of flavour left, I’ll finally use them up! I have two other flavours as well, Pineapple Waikiki, and Passionfruit Na Pali. The last time I recall trying one of these (a few months ago), I recall much cardboardy flavour… but there was likely oversteeping then too. fingers crossed

Ok. It smells a bit fruity in the cup now. Just a bit. Flavour-wise, I can definitely taste the black tea, and although somewhat astringent, I feel like it’s a touch malty as well, which is nice. Sadly though, this does not taste much like mango. And sure enough… there is a bit of a cardboardiness as well. No real surprise there.

It’s definitely drinkable, given that I brilliantly only steeped it for 3 and a half minutes, and without additions, even. I’d love to try a fresh batch of this (and the other) teas. I’m probably missing out, given TeaEqualsBliss ’ review & rating below.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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DISCLAIMER: This is very old tea. Please don’t judge this tea or company by this review. (No rating for this reason.)

Due to lack of a tea ball, I figured ‘why not try to use up some of these ancient teas’? So, round 2 of ancient tea. Round 3 coming shortly (well, you see, I also took home one of my mugs, so only have one…. what’s this one-tea-at-a-time thing?!)

This might be the least appetizing of the bunch. The teabag smells like… oldness. Haha. There are also more of this type than either of the others, because I guess I was more enamoured by passion fruit and mango (not too surprising).

The smell of the steeped tea has a bit of light fruitiness. I wouldn’t identify it as pineapple, but it’s definitely different than the mango tea. I’m also smelling some black tea maltiness. I think I do like the black tea base that was used for these blends.

Oh wow! There’s actually some pineapple flavour! At least initially. I was not expecting that. Like, we’re actually talking a flavour that I identify not as mere fruitiness, but pineapple. It is very subtle though, and mostly in the beginning of the sip, before the black tea moreso takes over. Given it’s age, I’m pretty impressed though. Another tea that I’d like to try a fresher version of. I think I might like it :) One more to go…

ETA: Blagh! I let this cool down, had a yogurt, and then finished it, and somehow it tasted like it had developed a fair bit more astringency. Ick. Oh well, it was nice when it was warm!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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DISCLAIMER: Very old tea. Do not rely on this review to judge this tea or company!

The third of the ancient teas. Dry, this one does have a bit of a fruity smell, different than the mango tea. Somewhat promising, but it’s unlikely to be any different than the first two :P

Steeped, there’s a definite fruity smell as well.

Argh, I let this one cool too much, and all I can taste is cardboardy, astringent black tea. I think there was potential at a warmer temperature, but it’s too late now. I really don’t want this cup. Into the sink you go…

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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49

I’m having a bit of a hard time drinking this one right now. For some reason I was feeling fine and then I took the first sip and it felt like the back of my throat became very raw. T_T

Anyway, this is another tea that says natural flavoring in the ingredients and that drives me nuts because that doesn’t say much. Just go look up natural flavoring on Google and you’ll see what I mean. So to me this is mainly a Rooibos tea with a bit of added something. I’m assuming it’s coconut seeing as how that’s what this tea is called.

Regardless it’s a good Rooibos. There’s just not much to it.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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73

For a tea that tastes so good it sure has a funky pre-steeped smell. I felt that 2 mins of steeping is the right amount to get a good flavor without making it bitter. Its good with some honey too.

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87

Yum, I like this one sweetened and iced. Doing it myself, muuuuch cheaper than buying the bottles of it at the store.

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52

Bagged

Aroma when Dry: Bright, Sour Hibiscus, Lemon dominate
After water is first poured: delicate and tangy, fruity. All three notes noticed, lemon, Hibiscus and Honey. Slightly grassy note from the green tea base.
At end of steep: smooths out, sweetens slightly, then it mellows out so much it gets bland.
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: grassy

Staple? No, but may revisit, for use as medicinal.
Time of day preferred: Morning, Afternoon.
Taste:
first notes: Honey, then a hint of lemon. Hibiscus very faint.
As it cools? Lemon surfaces greatly.
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No.
Lingers? Slightly, with mild sour note.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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100

Like the other teas I’ve tried from this company, this one is a home run – the fruit flavor is nice but not overpowering, and it smells absolutely heavenly :-)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 8 min or more

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