Lupicia

This smells SOOO good and tastes SOOO good! Definitely muscat! =D It tastes so natural too. I really need to try more of their flavored oolongs now =)
Thanks LauraR!!!

This is a very strong tea, very enjoyable. Smooth and robust! I haven’t yet added any milk to it, but I am quite enjoying it without the milk. Delicious, rich flavor.

When I first started drinking this, I found it extremely bitter and overpowering. But after some time the taste started to grow on me. I still prefer it mixed with soy milk, but even alone it’s okay. It’s basically the tea version of eating a chocolate orange.

This is so incredibly YUM! I love the combination of the toasty flavor of houjicha and the sweet, juicy flavor of apricot – it comes out tasting like a roasted, caramelized apricot! YUMMMMMMMM!

PS: I increased my numeric rating of this because I am really loving this tonight.

I can’t believe that this tea hasn’t yet been entered into the database…

Oh well. So, now it is! Anyways… tonight I am enjoying this tea with a batch of scones that I just baked. I made these: http://cupboardofblessings.com/Tea-Foods-for-the-Tea-Table.html and they are seriously… the best scones I’ve ever tasted. Better than anything I’ve even made from scratch. Even better than the scones I’ve had from my favorite tea house (sorry Elizabeth!) and… together with their Lemon curd (same link as above), they are to die for!

Love these scones, and the Apricot Houji is pretty tasty too! YUM!

Having a nice cup of this tea this morning. I love the blueberry flavor in it!!

I had a cup of this today after my last class of my first week of classes. I also brought a cup with me to class earlier in the week. It is quite yummy. I have been finding myself craving this tea lately. I really like the fruity blueberry flavor combined with the creamy vanilla – mmm.

Thanks LiberTEAs!!!!
I agree with LiberTEAs that the black tea taste/intensity is more pale or mellow in the decaf blend here…but the decaf is tasty! I do prefer the original to the decaf but if you are looking for no caf give this one a try!

Ah, one of the delightful teas from my Lupicia Herbal Happy Bag! I was really pleased to get this one as I had been eying it for a bit. Seems I’m becoming addicted to lemongrass, especially as my sinuses have decided to state their displeasure with winter. Stupid cold weather season. Lupicia was also the reason I discovered that not all rooibos are created equal (nasty). Green rooibos is actually my friend. So yay for herbals that include both lemongrass and rooibos!

Previous, I had had a grapefruit flavored teabag from Lupicia and I was a bit disappointed because it wasn’t as obnoxious tasting as the smell and, for once, I wanted an obnoxious flavored tea. Well, this one isn’t obnoxious either, but, coupled with the lemongrass (or perhaps because the base is green rooibos instead of a black tea), the grapefruit seems to really pack more of a punch. It’s very citrus-y. The two flavors pair well to give this not-tea a great whooshy feeling that feels refreshing, makes my sinuses happy but still manages to be mild and smooth.

I couldn’t really pick out the rooibos (which is fine since it is a fairly mild taste anyway) but I think it managed to show up a bit at the end, adding a hint of extra sweetness to the citrus whoosh-iness that kept the tea from having a sharp citrus edge. I could have dealt with the flavors being a bit more intense, but at the same time, if the flavors were stronger this tea might become a one-cup-and-done type tea. As it is, I enjoyed it so much I felt the need for an almost instant resteep.

Which, speaking of resteeping, this one handled it rather handsomely. The first steep had the grapefruit flavor being a tad stronger than the lemongrass. In the second, the lemongrass perked up to stand out a bit more. The grapefruit wasn’t weak and was still noticeable but in this steep the balance was tilted ever so slightly in favor of the lemongrass. In other words – still great whooshy citrus with no unhappy or sharp edges and something I could totally get behind having more of.

Hello Steepsterites! Yes, it has been a while since I’ve been on. Honestly, Steepster loads so slowly for me that it just takes too long for me to get on here and play, so I haven’t been. But I figured I needed to bite the bullet and do some clean up to my cupboard as well as check in with folks so I’m doing that today. Hopefully slow load times won’t tick me off too much and I’ll even be able to get some backlogs in.

But enough hoping about backlogs – I’m here to log a tea that’s actually in my cup right now! This one was a teabag included in with my Lupicia Happy Bag that I bought. I can’t help it – I love their surprise grab bags! I certainly don’t need more tea, much less surprise tea, but I still buy it anyway. I’m trying to be good though, and not break open too many of the new packages of tea before I do away with some older teas. So this one, being a single teabag, is a nice burst of new that doubles as a decupboard. So win all around!

First off, the smell. Holy mother of goodness does this teabag smell apple-y. It’s like a just bit into a fresh, crispy, juicy Gala or Pinata apple. I can almost feel the crunch in my teeth! As I kept smelling the teabag wrapper while my tea was brewing (everyone does this, right?) a little note of apple-flavored hard candy started to come out on the edges of the smell which took away a bit of the I-am-eating-a-fresh-apple feeling, but it still smells delicious. Post-brewing, the actual liquid tea smells almost bake-y but not quite. Maybe like an unsweetened version of a chocolate graham cracker topped with a large dollop of tart green apple preserves. I say tart mostly because it doesn’t smell super sugared and cinnamon-y like most apple flavored things seem to. I will admit, while unusual, it is nice to have something apple that isn’t apple cinnamon.

The taste is mild compared to the smell, but that’s pretty typical with Lupicia. I taste a tea base but I can’t really identify it – Ceylon probably. The apple taste is a bit more green apple than anything but I think that has to do mostly with the end note. The initial taste of the sip seems to be fairly evenly split between tea and sweet red apple. It’s very mild but summer-time pleasant. Then the swallow which edges a bit towards the tea side – making me think a bit of a Nilgiri but without the feeling that I’m eating rose bush leaves (the texture/flavor I always seem to associate with Nilgiri teas) – with only a hint of apple sweetness. Then post-swallow, the green apple flavor expands to fill my mouth, making me feel a bit like I just took a lick of an apple Jolly Rancher, but without the sticky, icky aftertaste a lot of candies can leave. It’s not a tart green apple flavor though. There’s no sourness or pucker to it. It’s just not as sweet as the red apple portion of the program.

As almost always seems to be the case with Lupicia, the flavor is very true to the name. This is an apple tea. Quite honestly, it’s a really good apple tea. I can’t say for sure if I’d ever buy this – I rarely find myself craving apple flavored things unless they are an actual apple and even that doesn’t happen too often – but the flavor is so tasty and makes me feel like I’m walking through an apple orchard so I really can’t dislike this tea. I’d say anyone that tends to crave apple things (or just wants to experience the novelty of something apple-flavored without also being cinnamon-flavored or sour/tart) would greatly enjoy having this tea around. Honestly, I wish I had more than one bag so I could see if this made me start craving apple things. I think it might. Because now my cup is empty and I think I want more.

Delicious!

Initially, the jasmine in this tea smells overwhelming. I thought this would be way too strong. However, the teabag was really quite good and on par with loose leaf tea.

It’s a great tea to have in the office. I was able to just leave the teabag in my tall cup and keep on adding hot water to it throughout the day. It steeps very well without any bitterness, and was very flavorful even after the third time I topped it off.

I can’t believe it’s been 4 months since I drank this! OMG!
Anyhow…sipdown! :) See my other notes

Dry – this smells like fruit and a little like sour wood…if that makes sense.

Once infused…
It smells woodsy, nutty, fruity, and like honey.

It’s medium brown in color.

Toasty Houjicha is the primary flavor but both the pear and the honey work wonderfully on the assist! One thing I noticed is that the honey notes are some of the BEST honey notes I have picked up on in a tea to date! The reason they stood up and out to me is because most honey flavors in tea that I have tasted taste old, stale, or artificial. This is sweeter and more natural tasting…almost like honey with sugar. It’s very nice!!!!

Interesting offering…nice cuppa!

Sweet – yes
Berry – yes
bubblegum – yes
green tea – yes
candy shop – yes

And that’s just the aroma!

The taste is very strong and you can tell it is a flavored green for sure! The flavor of the flavoring is a sweet-berry-floral taste. I can also taste a little peach flavor. I can’t really tell you what type of berry I’m tasting but it IS berry! This is very nice!

Very flavored tho.

Thanks to LiberTEAs for this one too!

Thanks Azzrian!

It’s been 2 years since my last cup of this. I will say…I think this is a tad different than the one I had years ago because I do NOT recall the sugar gems in it. They are lovely and make it look even more elegant! The flavor is gently and sweetly strawberry and champagne and I totally need that today! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…if you can’t drink and alcoholic drink (on the job or otherwise) – drink a tea that reminds you of it! BOY OH BOY do I need it today! LOL

Upping rating a bit. A Delight!

I think this one has been on my wish list here at Steepster for like a year! I’m sipping on it right now thanks to LiberTEAs

It’s RIGHT ON with the Champagne Likeness to it! That is for sure! Then there is the rose and strawberry and grapey-type tastes that are jumping in and out. As it cools the strawberry pushes thru a lot more!

As for flavor accuracy based on their description I would say this certainly is true and stands up to the challenge! As for my own taste buds it is a little weird tasting but I am certain it is because it is so darn close to what champagne last like naturally…

This is creative and explicit! A good tea to have when you want to drink but can’t if you know what I mean! LOL

Pretty good!

I have been wanting to try this one for a LONG TIME and thanks to LiberTEAs I was able to! Thanks so much!!!!

The aroma dry and post-infusion is heavenly! Ahhhh! Like Strawberry Candy or Strawberry/Vanilla Swirl Hard Candy or something! LOVE the aroma!!!!

This has a gentle yet light-to-medium strength black tea taste to it. There is quite a bit of flavoring tho. The Strawberry is more prominent and the rose and vanilla are about neck and neck. At the end of the sip it has a nice creaminess to it. The after taste is more rose and a light-black tea type taste.

I know there are mixed reviews on this one…but I like it quite a bit!

Sixth sample from Lupicia.

It has been long since I have had any decent oolong tea apart from the bottled Suntory one. Oolong tea is quite popular in Japan, but still I feel that while a lot of shops label oolong teas correctly as “oolong tea”, they are usually only referring to darker and more roasted oolong teas in bottles or tea bags. It seems that it is enjoyed more for its health benefits rather than the taste itself. Not surprisingly, I have therefore seldom encountered any real loose leaf variations except when visiting professional tea shops.

Back in Norway I used to drink a lot of oolong tea, but these were usually more lightly oxidized green and fruity ones, so a meeting with the more baked and flowery Tie Guan Yin was certainly something else!
When brewing this, I used a small gaiwan with about 1 dl boiling water, steeping 5g of tea for about 45 seconds, just according to Lupicia’s instructions, and used the same leaves for about 5 times.

The first cup had a strong baked taste to it, and I wondered if I really had steeped it the right way. No bad astringency however, so I figured the first cup would be like this and that the taste would be more rich at the second and third serving. And indeed it turned out that way. As the baked taste became weaker in the second cup, a more nutty taste became more present, and was mixed with a more floral taste in the third cup. The fourth cup was also okay, but I do not think it is necessary to step it five times as I felt it became a bit too weak in the end.

Although the reunion with this good Tie Guan Yin was a warm and delicious one, I will still keep my focus on Japanese teas as much as possible while I am in Japan. Lately, I have been looking up different tea ware that could be more suitable to brew different kinds of Japanese tea in. Hopefully, I will be able to acquire something like that also in the not to distant future.

Weird…strange…I just can’t put my finger on it. I can taste the Sweet Potato Pie and it is in this cup I am sipping. I think this is one of those situations where being too accurate is it’s downfall. It is very buttery with a deep mellow sweetness. I can almost taste the darkness of brown sugar but not the sweetness from it. I am glad I received this sample and feel like I could drink this again. I think it would be an occasional treat though. Perhaps it can be best described as… “Complicated”

The dry leaf is one of the nicest smelling chamomile blends I’ve encountered. It has such a lovely floral fragrance, together with notes of apple and ginger, it makes for a very intriguing scent. Once brewed, it loses some of its original charm. It doesn’t smell off-putting or anything, but, it just doesn’t smell quite as delightful as it does dry.

This is pretty good. The chamomile is the strongest flavor, and it brews up a little murky, but not quite as dusty looking as some tea bags, so that is a good thing. The ginger is strong but not as strong as the chamomile, so this doesn’t come off as too spicy, just gently spiced. The apple is more of a back note – I can taste it, but it isn’t real prevalent.

It’s tasty.

Oooh, I like this more than any mint green tea I’ve had yet. I received a free sample with my Lupicia order that came in today. The spearmint and peppermint go really well together. I’m really liking the tingling sensation that this leaves in my mouth. I may have to pick up some more of this, probably just in bagged form for convenience. This is really helping me relax and settling my stomach tonight.