The Republic of Tea

…if one follows the tradition of Chinese tea drinkers then all leaves have to be washed before the actual infusions. That simply means that the fist brew gets disposed. This first brew suppose to wash out the dust, open or pre-soak the leaves and start to develop their flavors.

The color of this tea could be compared to a rich single malt whiskey.

Color: golden, bronze. Very appealing to the eye…
Nose: sharp, fruity, slight bitterness in the end (…fresh cut grass)
Palate: clean, smoky, hints of soft,creamy sweetness such as butterscotch
Finish: aftertaste does not manage to stay very long. Bitter sweet with a pleasant,refreshing roughness.

A interesting, complex tea. Not very awakening though. Nice to drink in order to get through the day.

Soothing with milk and honey. Perfect if you like all things almond-flavored. I read some of the reviews and I agree, there’s definitely sentimental value attached to this one. It always takes me back to rainy mornings in college.

I love the berry infusions in this one— not too tart, almost creamy. It’s tasty enough to use just one teabag if you’re making iced tea (for one). Perfect!

Not bad for a bagged tea. It was a bit weak for me though, I like strong green tea.

This was one of several teas by Republic of Teas that I purchased at a discount about a month ago. It has a rather weak spice taste and the apple is faint as well. Being that it is a tea and not actual apple cider, I still expected a strong spice taste. I would recommend adding extra cinnamon stick to steep and a little amount of sugar to complement the taste. I would not repurchase again.

Mmm…banana. I don’t usually like banana flavored things unless the flavor comes directly from bananas. It usually ends up tasting too fake. This tea however seems to do it right. Lovely fruity banana with a somehow tangy fruity coconut. Very tasty. I also enjoy this green rooibos base. Light and green and refreshing. This is a great cold tea.

Cold brewed overnight in a mug of water. Convenient and tasty. Thank you, TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some!

I usually like chai teas. I love the spice.

When I first open the canister, I was concerned because it looked like I bought ground pepper…

I decided to persevere and try the tea anyways. I steeped it as directed, and took a swig… Big mistake. It looked like pepper, smelled like pepper, and tasted like pepper. There wasn’t the nice spice or tea flavor, it just tasted like I was drinking pepper.

Not sure if I’ll try it again, I think I got a bad batch. I mixed it around, and it just looks like pepper.

Sipdown! 776.

Although this is fairly good for a bagged tea, I prefer looseleaf milk oolong enough that I’d be unlikely to pick any of this up for myself.

Another milk oolong for me :) Thanks Alphakitty! This is my first bagged one; I’m curious to see how well it holds up to loose versions.

The smell is clearly delicious, caramelly milk oolong. I’m not used to teabags having an aroma, so I’m excited!

The tea is actually pretty darn good! Creamy and oolongy, although it could be stronger in both areas (maybe I used a bit too much water?) I’m pleasantly surprised! Can’t touch DavidsTea’s version, but I’d definitely drink this one again :) Thanks Alphakitty!

This was really disappointing. I absolutely love the tea bag version and bought the full-leaf tin, thinking it would be the same.
The full-leaf brews a different color than the bag and tastes totally different, I don’t like it at all! It actually tastes kind of gross, like something you shouldn’t be drinking.

Found this to have a nice balance, the rose flavor was balance with the black tea so you could taste everything. Love this as a hot tea. Found it was not good over ice. Overall a great tasting tea to have with cake or cookies.

Nice licorice flavor. Could be spicier. Second steep is thin.

I got a sample of this from the Republic of Tea mailing and while it was kind of them to send, I would have liked if the tea was actually good.

Its just so blegh! I did not understand what was going on inside my tea cup and I couldn’t finish it. The name is appealing but it just doesn’t work.

-Round natural unbleached teabag.
-Teabag smells of sweet, tangy mango. Tea liquor smells slightly malty with a hint of fruit.
-Tea liquor is a dark amber-brown color.
-Fruity flavor with a malty finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener. (Milk lessens the mango flavor).
-Very good tea. Perfect for a juicy morning tea.

-Round natural unbleached teabag.
-Teabag smells of sweet blueberries. Tea liquor aroma is more faint.
-Tea liquor is a dark reddish brown.
-Malty flavor with a slight blueberry finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Almost bitter unsweetened, but perfectly juicy with milk and sweetener.

Not bad, for what it is. The tea is nice and smooth, though as others have said, the vanilla isn’t extra strong. I may try it again with a little vanilla extract added. It gets pretty bitter in left in for a long time, though!

Had this with a friend after an amazing dinner at Joe’s.
As for this cuppa… Still good, but a little sour. Lowering the rating a bit as I think this was tried the first time before the Tsaa Sweet Temptation discovery.
Anyhow, I am waiting for my contract at work to finish. It keeps getting extended in little bits. I’m grateful for that, but… is it wrong that I’m getting antsy because I expected to have some time for organizing/cataloging my teas and now won’t have a chance/space for maybe two more weeks?? Seriously, I just want a week off with my teas! :D

Backlog from yesterday. I had this with my dinner while at Panera. At first I had my doubts about eating there but it was super convenient at the time and then I saw they carry Republic of Tea and I took it as a sign. (Have some nasty memories associated with that place, Kristaleyn, they can be replaced!)
Anyhow, this tea… Hmmm. Well it was great, I really felt as if I was drinking red velvet! with a fraction of the calories (I did add a packet of rock sugar). And no milk needed! sometimes I find milk enhances/detracts from a rooibos dessert tea. In this case, I feel it would have taken away from the natural creaminess that was already there.
When it was really hot, I found the intense astringency a bit annoying but as it cooled… it toned down significantly. Also, I wish the flavour was a bit more intense, just a tad. Otherwise, I am in love! :)
Anyhow, I’m headed to a tea tasting today!!! I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks now. Yeaaay!!

While visiting my grandmother several years back, I tasted this tea. At first, all I could smell were the roses. Then, the naturally sweet-smelling black tea shone through. Although the scent of the roses was strong (yet not overpowering), the taste was very light.
I guess this tea is alright, but not my favorite.

Round, no-string bag. Appearance: small CTC. Liquor: lighter brown red. Smell: fragrant, peach and citrus notes predominate. Taste: peach and citrus flavors predominate, with some noticeable ginger. The black tea is present, but the sharp notes are subsumed by the flavoring. Passable without milk or sugar, but becomes more tart as tea cools. A small amount of sugar helps this tea, by bringing out the ginger notes. This also has the effect, though, of reducing the “tea” flavor. 4/10.

This tea is ok, not outstanding, but it will do for the price. It is probably better than the Tazo brand of matcha that Starbucks uses.

If you drink tea and hot chocolate instead of coffee because you don’t bloody like the taste of coffee, don’t drink this tea. The tea smells just wonderful in the can and you definitely get both the chocolate and coconut aroma, but it contains chicory. I personally don’t think chicory belongs in tea because if I wanted to drink something that bitter and reminiscent of coffee, I would just drink coffee. If you like coffee, you might like this tea.

Personally, I gave my can to a friend who mainlines coffee. She thought it was a little strange, but not bad.

Another RoT chocolate tea I am actually a fan of. This truly does smell like chocolate-covered strawberries and the taste is pretty darn close to the smell. For someone is trying to pay more attention to what I eat, having a dessert-like tea without caffeine is kind of a nice stand-in. Granted I’d rather actually eat a chocolate-covered strawberry than drink this tea, but I can’t eat those as often as I can drink the tea. It’s a nice trade-off.

I do get that rooibos sourness I see other reviewers commenting on, but I don’t feel like it breaks the tea. I don’t generally drink much rooibos tea, so my experience is limited and this is one of two that I’ve tried which I actually like.

One thing: definitely add sweetener. I use Sugar-in-the-Raw pretty much exclusively for tea because I think it dissolves better and isn’t as sweet as regular sugar. In this cup, the sweetener brings out the sweetness you expect from a chocolate-covered strawberry. I usually use about a teaspoon (three small sugar bowl scoops) and I always put the sugar in the cup before pouring the water so it has the most time to dissolve.