My Tea Box

Made this as a cold brew yesterday and had a little late last night. I remember thinking it was very bland and just sort of mildly lemongrass tasting. Today I am finishing off the cup and it’s just lemongrass. Not very interesting at all.

Cold Brew Sipdown (220)

W is for…Warm Berry Muffin

Made this overnight then made carrot muffins to go with it. Ate the muffins, forgot to drink the tea. I’m drinking it now. It’s pretty rooibos forward this way with a berry aftertaste. It’s not a favourite and I definitely prefer the DAVIDsTEA blueberry muffin tea to this.

I made this one last night and then got caught up with other things. So I am drinking it now – cold. I worried I would not like it at all because the rooibos scent was strong but its okay. It has a nice blueberry flavor in addition to the rooibos. Also the rooibos is a little honeyed so it sort of gives off a sweet baked good vibe along with the blueberry. It’s not really accurate but its alright.

This one did not appeal to me at all when I saw it in my My Tea Box subscription. Its a green tea with mango and a bunch of herbs. Not really my thing but I figured I should at least try it. Sipping on it now, its fine…better than expected, but still not a favorite. I am tossing it into the TTB.

As for what its like, its got a generic fruitiness to it. It has rosemary, which smelled fairly strong but it rather subtle in flavor. I am happy about that but I suppose others may be disappointed. The base does not contribute much. Instead its a light fruity sweetness with some herbs running along side the fruit. Nothing is too in-your-face and for those that enjoy herbal flavors in their tea, this might even be quite nice.

Turns out I did not add this tea or any of the teas from my December My Tea Box subscription box to Steepster. So this has now been added so I can talk about how it compares to Bird and Blend’s Mulled Cider. Check out the note for that tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416046

The two teas are honestly pretty similar in flavor. Like either could substitute for the other. If I really had to pinpoint a difference, I would say the Bird and Blend version is a little heavier on the clove and spice while this rests more on the apple and other fruits in the mix. This tea has cranberry and elderberry in the mix, which the Bird and Blend does not. The cranberry is a nice addition for sure as it builds on the apple to make it a more rounded fruit flavor that ties better with the hibiscus. The elderberry gives a nice berry top note that is not too sweet and steps in nicely to replace the citrus top note of the Bird and Blend version. Also, this blend does not have ginger in its ingredient list while the Bird and Blend one does. That said, the ginger doesn’t come through much in the Bird and Blend tea so its absence isn’t really standing out here.

Honestly, either way, you get a spiced yet fruity drink that would keep you warm on a cold night and satisfy a mulled cider craving for sure.

My cupboard has been a bit overwhelming so I made my sister pick a tea. I wanted to make a latte so she grabbed two and this was the only one which worked for that prep method. This basically just tastes like sweet cream though. I was surprised that the black tea wasn’t contributing more but happy since I imagine it might have been similar to Adagio base teas. However, without the base, there isn’t much going on here. It’s not bad but nothing special either.

DIY Advent Calendar – Day 14

This is basically a mint tea. It has other ingredients but it basically just tastes like mint. It’s supposed to help with brain power I guess since the tag line on it is something like “we’ve got this brain”. Since I finished my second of my 4 final exams today and have my 3rd tomorrow, I need all the brain power I can get.

Latte Sipdown (292)

After the battle, I realized there was just enough for a latte and rather than putting this back in the drawer and forgetting about it, I figured I would get in a Sipdown.

Made this way, it’s creamy and minty but it’s not the sweet and festive vanilla mint that should be with a candy cane tea. It’s different and maybe like someone tried to make a fancy and sophisticated candy cane. However, do you really want fancy and sophisticated when you are looking for candy cane?!

This tea is up against Cereal Milk by Dessert by Deb. Check out that tasting note here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416249

I have actually had this one before and I recall being confused by the use of strawberry leaf in it. I still am drinking it now. It’s a weird tea because it is Candy Cane but there is more depth to it than just the regular vanilla and peppermint. It is darker somehow, which is a weird way to describe flavour but somehow apt. Like there is more briskness here than I think there should be in a Candy Cane tea but it manages to not be astringent. I just don’t know about this one whereas Cereal Milk is pretty yum so that tea wins!

I ordered these stuffed cookies from a small business that is somewhat local to me. I decided to pair one with a latte for a fun play on milk and cookies. I went festive and everything is candy cane flavor so this is tea was paired with the candy cane hot chocolate cookie. See the pairing here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CH4Ik_agr-q/

I don’t know if I like this one. It has chamomile and strawberry leaves. It’s sweet like candy cane but sweet+. Like something more is present and sort of out of place. Given my aversion to chamomile, I blame that. Alternatively, I am just used to Santa’s Secret and Candy Cane Crush and so this just tastes off.

Sipdown (271)

F is for…Fall Carnival Apple…again

It’s not a good sign for a tea when I forget about it…twice. As in I made this and brought it upstairs. Got distracted on TikTok. Got up to go wash my face and get ready for bed. Saw the tea on my nightstand, touched the mug to see it was still hot and went I will drink this when I get back. That was hours ago and I looked over to turn off my lamp and saw the mug, completely full. Oops.

It’s cold now. It starts off tasting like a candy apple. It ends with a note that reminds me of Caramel Popcorn by DAVIDsTEA. Maybe that is what throws me about this one…why does it taste like caramel popcorn?! Oh well. It was a fine tea but nothing special which is why I decided to just finish it off.

F is for…Fall Carnival Apple

I cold brewed this and it’s a weird one. It tastes like sweetened apple chips. It also has an artificial note to it. Not sure what to make of it.

Here’s the thing with this tea…its called Carnival Apple so I was thinking a candied apple. Then I read the ingredients and they were apple, hibiscus, rosehip, and flavoring. That made me second guess the candied element since hibiscus and rosehips are typically tart. So when I actually cut the tea open and this had a very familiar sweet smell, I was a bit surprised.

It definitely has an apple flavor but a fake/artificial flavor. It sort of reminds me of those caramel apple lollipops but if they were made without any of the green apple tartness they have. It’s good and pretty accurate to the scent so if you smell it and like it, you’d probably like the taste – which can’t be said of all teas so it gets points for consistency at least.

Sipdown (252)

This is better as a tea lemonade also. Hot it has a great initial burn from the turmeric or ginger. It hits you right at the back of the throat but the rest of the tea falls flat and is somehow bland. It should be fruity or sweet but it just sort of is…

Had this as a tea lemonade and it surprised me how good it was. Sweet but spicy thanks to the turmeric and ginger.

Sipdown (1540)!

Thanks VasriaTEA for this sample! This last cup was grassier than I remembered but I think it still worked with the more turpentine/green leaning mango flavour. I know not everyone loves greener mango, but I enjoy it quite a bit. The buttery finish did through me for a bit of a loop though: mango and butter are a bit weird.

A share from VariaTEA – thank you!

This is alright; the mango flavouring is actually pretty nice. It’s distinctly mango and, while I know that not everyone feels the same way as I do, it has that mild pine-y/turpentine sort of note that I actually really appreciate in mango teas. If it weren’t for the green tea base, which tastes like lawn clippings to me, I think I’d be all over this blend.

Cold Brew Sipdown (282)

This was a freebie sample with my most recent My Tea Box box and it was meant for iced tea. The entire sample was meant for a pitcher so I dumped the whole thing into my cold brew bottle. However, I think it was overleafed.

I then let it sit overnight but two sips and this got dumped. It was like play dough. It was just bad. Very bad.

I have this cold brewed a few times now. It’s strongly hibiscus flavored but with a touch of blueberry.