Teapigs

This was pretty sour and not very pleasant. Beets aren’t sour, so I was confused at first, but I guess that’s the hibiscus. Not as dirt tasting as beet teas usually are. Probably a short steep would work better for this one. I have one more bag, but I’m sharing it with a coworker who liked the last beet tea I wasn’t a fan of.

I totally get the gingerbread flavor here. The flavor is both of ginger and also of baked goods. Sweet and tasty with a little bit of heat. I used two bags for a large mug. I wish Teapigs did more flavors like this!

I drank this while moving to a new townhouse, so I didn’t have a chance to take notes as I drank it. I had intended to add milk, but really, it didn’t need it! The chocolate was light and pleasant. Definitely not the highest of quality deep chocolate flavor, but it was a nice hint. The black tea was tasty with the chocolate. Not nice enough to buy again, but good.

Had this earlier in the week – I thought it was a really fine EG with a distinct flavour, full bodied and round feeling robust black base with great malt and citrus (aside from the bergamot) notes coming through, and even a hint of red fruit leather. What I don’t get is why this is an “Earl Grey Strong”. It’s full bodied and robust, but no more so than any other well executed EG blend from any other company. The level of bergamot didn’t knock my socks off…

Seems more like marketing hype than anything else? Semi shame – I think it would have the legs to stand alone as just a regular old EG – or maybe I’m missing the point here? IDK.

It smells really nice, but you can barely taste anything! I had such high hopes for this tea but you need double the amount you should to get any of the lavender.

This tastes like a normal chamomile. Perfectly nice, nothing special, just what you’d expect.

Now that I’ve (finally) tried most of the teas from the advent calendar, I feel ready to offer my verdict for this company, which I’ve tried at last after years of wanting to. I enjoy their branding. It’s cute and inviting. Their flavors are pretty basic, but they do a solid job. They’re much too pricey, so I probably wouldn’t make another order unless I got a super deal (I did have somewhat of a discount on this order). Additionally, I was surprised to find that the seasonal flavors were not included in the advent calendar. Luckily I bought small boxes of two of those flavors separately, but I would have really enjoyed more seasonal flavors rather than a bunch of basic flavors that you can get anywhere.

I don’t love the green tea that’s used as the base for this one. I usually really enjoy the mint that Teapigs uses, but the green tea causes this blend to end up murky tasting. Not a fan. I’d drink the plain mint any time.

The flavor here is rather malty and deep. It tastes good both with and without milk. I was quite surprised to find such a satisfying bagged breakfast blend.

This tasted a little peachy, but it also had a distracting herbal flavor to it. Teas like this are frustrating to me because I don’t care about whatever supposed health benefits they offer (metabolism boost in this case), and the health ingredients just make the tea taste worse. It could have been a tasty peach tea, but instead it was a little too herbaceous for me.

This smells and tastes a little seaweedy. It’s not bad, but it’s not my preferred sort of tea. If you don’t mind savory teas, you might enjoy this one.

This was pretty weak. The jasmine flavor came through a little, but it largely tasted like water. Maybe this is because these teabags contained less leaf than others from Teapigs. Also, according to the label, it’s 99% green tea and 1% jasmine flowers, so maybe they need to increase the jasmine flavor in future batches.

Like many peppermint teas, this tastes weird hot, but is super nice cooled. I love mint teas, and I loved how many leaves were in the bag. Bright, tasty mint. No complaints! I probably prefer their licorice and peppermint blend though.

I’ve been drinking a lot of mint chocolate teas during the cold season, and this is one of the best ones by far! Instead of just mint like many others, I get a sweet creaminess that I still wouldn’t call chocolate, but it definitely makes this one special.

Okay this might be my new favorite bagged ginger tea. The flavor is so strong, but the licorice and cinnamon add a wonderful sweetness to the end of the sip. It’s pleasantly spicy and the flavor is so strong and fulfilling. My favorite Teapigs tea so far!

This isn’t one of the better genmaichas I’ve had unfortunately. It tastes pretty decent; I’ve just had better ones. The toasty flavor is there. The green tea itself has a pretty light presence. The resteep was similar to the first steep.

I loved the lavender flavor in this one. Most of the blend is apple, and I’m not sure why because it contributed nothing. Otherwise it was tasty lavender softened by a nice chamomile. I would definitely drink this one again. It’s one of the better lavender blends I’ve had lately.

The main flavor here is licorice. The mint is there subtly as well. I feel like 30 seconds after I’ve swallowed I can really taste the mint along with that classic lingering licorice flavor. I drink a lot of bagged licorice teas at work, and I have to say that this is right up there with the best of them. The sachet was also very full, so the flavor is stronger than other teas in my 14 oz travel cup. Anyway Teapigs is way more expensive than other bagged teas, so unfortunately I probably wouldn’t purchase this over other not quite as good brands. But this is super good.

I didn’t like this one hot, so I put it in the fridge for later. Cold, it tastes like Jello, but I don’t find that unpleasant in this context. It was pretty smooth and provided quite an accurate red Jello flavor. I’m sure that’s not what they were going for, but it worked.

The flavor is a little peppery. It could be richer and sweeter. In general, I think the quality of the rooibos/honeybush just isn’t as nice (or to my preference) as what other brands have. So this cup was perfectly drinkable, but not at all special.

The was a nice tea to have at work since it’s one you don’t really have to think about. It’s largely chamomile. There are other flavors in there too, but they take a back seat. Not bad, but not special.

Lemon ginger teas are usually pretty boring to me because I’d prefer to drink straight ginger tea. This one tastes better than most actually. Ginger is the main flavor. I’m not getting much lemon, which is fine. It’s not very spicy, but it’s not bad.

This tastes like a typical night time tea. Just tastes like lemon and light herbs. It’s fine, but nothing special. I wish the spices had been more pronounced. I’m glad the advent calendar has so many herbals though!

I’ve always wanted to try teapigs, and their advent calendar was on sale for Black Friday, so I finally had my chance! This was Day 1, and it’s an all right tea – a little more special than other bagged versions of this. Light cinnamon, a bit of apple, and a small amount of sweetness. It doesn’t need anything added to be tasty. I enjoyed it both hot and cold. This tea does what it sets out to accomplish, and it’s good enough!

What I smell: lavender

What I taste: applesauce, lavender, chamomile

Notes: I love the simplicity of this chamomile blend! Lots of lavender (yay!) and a mellow sweetness from the dried apple bits.