The Republic of Tea

I had to be away from home for a little bit without most of my tea. I brought a couple of bags along, but ended up in the mood for something fruity.

Luckily, my favorite coffee shop came to the rescue. I am not really sure what I love about this tea. It doesn’t pack too much of a punch, but the black tea is comforting if not sharp, the ginger is present if not strong enough to make your mouth tingle, and the peach is delicious.

I’ve been drinking it hot (the a/c at the hotel was a bit overbearing; the a/c at work is the same), and tried it iced last night as well. It’s soothing and refreshing and deliciously peachy either way.

Backlogging from a zillion years ago.
I remember this being a lipsmackingly yummy, fruity cuppa that the bf and I equally enjoyed.

[Backlog] – I love Irish Breakfast tea, but I was left unimpressed by The Republic of Tea’s version. It’s not as rich or robust as other Irish Breakfast teas that I’ve had. It wasn’t undrinkable, just nothing really that special.

This tea had always interested me whenever I saw it at the store and I finally got to try it. The dry leaf is very pretty: little bright petals in a bed of pretty rooibos. The scent was rooibos with a TON of apricots. I didn’t smell a bunch of caramel or honey, but pure apricot fruits. Steeped, the tea smelled equally as fruity. It even retained the juicy character of the apricots. Each sip had a nice balance of apricot and rooibos, and the slightest bit of honey flavor. As much as I wanted to love this tea, I just couldn’t. Something about it didn’t taste RIGHT to me. Maybe I had imagined this tea to be something beyond delicious – I think I wanted apricots dipped in honey & caramel. It’s not a terrible tea, just not as good as I wanted it to be.

On my last bag, Erin! Thank you for sharing such a beautiful tea with me! I’ve GOT to order more of this pronto.

Oh here’s a couple better pics of my newly ginger hair in the sunlight! http://i56.tinypic.com/2r56o3m.png, http://i51.tinypic.com/sya3ki.png It’s in a ponytail, because I’m growing it out and it’s at an odd length. Wish hair grew faster! Did the whole extension thing but it’s just annoying.

This is definitely my cup of tea. Rating’s going up. Thanks so much for turning me on to this one, Erin! SO great for a bagged tea. I wasn’t feeling amazing so I steeped this double strength for 40 seconds and poured over ice. So awesome. I feel a million times better. Probably the most refreshing iced tea ever. I need to stock up on this. So clean and pure tasting. Feels like it clears my mind. Sip. Deep breathe. Ahhhhh. This would pair good with yoga.

This is nice! Heated water to 175 degrees in my Breville and steeped for 40 seconds in my awesome new glasses – http://tinyurl.com/3w6hggp SO pretty! Bought them on sale at Amazon.
Thank you Erin!!

For my second journey into the land of The Republic of Tea, I chose their Vanilla Almond blend. I anxiously waited for this tea to finish steeping as the sweet vanilla aroma filled my nostrils. Finally, after five minutes (that seemed like five days), the tea was ready to taste. With my first sip, the full, sweet, vanilla, and nutty properties danced on my tongue. The robust quality of the vanilla joins expertly with the almond presence and the supporting tea flavor to create a delightful taste sensation. This tea instantly became one of my favorite selections. The Republic of Tea continues to create incredible blends that coddle my insatiable sweet tooth.

My RoT favorite. I’ve been having some serious reservations about sweet tea lately, and sweet is pretty much the last thing genmaicha is. Warm, earthy, toasted. RoT’s version is pretty tame compared to some others I’ve tried, but by itself I don’t think it needs to be any stronger. Just a super pleasant kind of woodsy toasty rice flavor. I would say to those just trying this, be prepared for a rather distinct toasted rice, or popcorn-ish flavor. In my experience with genmaicha this is usually stronger than in Tea of Inquiry, but it does not go unobserved here.

If and when I am in precisely the right mood for this tea, it’s perfect. Unfortunately that moment comes across maybe once every couple/few months at best, and the rest of the time I really want something with more kick. The fragrance is amazing, truly lovely. Warm, earthy, summery, and sweet, it’d ROCK if only the flavor came across so well. I’m incredibly tempted to try this this in an ice tea blend with some lemonade. If I manage so and it’s any improvement I’ll have to update.

Lemonade update (random yes?): Flavor DOES seem improved upon with the addition of a lemonade. The tannins became more obvious, so used a higher ratio of lemonade to tea to compensate. Agave helped, but made it too sweet for me. Not so sure about the pairing, I think the lemonade trick probably works best with something like passion fruit. Worth a shot though.

I wanted to like this tea, there ARE green teas out there I very much enjoy. The fragrance for Honey Ginseng is lovely. It’s a little earthy, a little grassy, a little spicy and a little floral. I can definitely feel the kind of musky background note of honey in it. Steeped, it reminds me of a incredibly tame chai, but a chai mixed with flowers? I’m not so sure about this one. It’s not bad, I just don’t see myself purchasing this again in the future.

I tried this tea iced for a refreshing drink after the gym. It almost tastes like chocolate milk this way! Some chocolate teas sound good in theory but aren’t after tasting but this definitely is not one of them!

Sipdown!
Not bad, actually pretty tasty for a bagged rooibos. Nice and lemony and spirit lifting :)

Still love this one, great bagged rooibos and it makes me happy ^^

Cold brewed this for today with some Belgian Chocolate rooibos
It’s like a roobibos party in my mouth, and everyone’s invited. Or maybe just me.
Either way… TASTY!

I am really loving this tea.
It’s (hopefully) probably not apparent on Steepster, but I need a lot of help in the happy department. Tea is my current sanctuary, and I’m loving every sip of it.

This tea is perfect in that respect! I love love love peach teas (usually green) but with the rooibos it’s deep and luscious. The lemon myrtle is a tasty touch, and I can’t wait to make a huge jug of yummy iced tea.

It’s making me smile with every sip, and this is totally the tea for me.

Right now, this is my absolute favorite tea in the world. As it steeps, an intoxicating fragrance reminiscent of fine chocolate cherry cordials or cherry pipe tobacco fills the room. The flavor is equally impressive. The light cherry and chocolate essence lingers on your tongue for minutes after your final sip. The color of the steeped tea has an elegant light reddish hue. My only complaint about this tea is that it is a limited World Market exclusive offering. It is only available In World Market stores from about January through Valentine’s Day. Next January I intend to buy as many containers of this tea as possible so I can enjoy it throughout the year.

One of the few blacks I’ll drink without any sweetener. Crisp, appropriately fruity, goes great with dessert. Just plain good.

I brewed this a little too thin, but it’s still flavorful. I was worried that it might be too tannic because of the berries and currant, but it’s not at all. The cardamom sets it off very nicely, and gives it a wonderful aroma.

I thought this tea would be good iced, but so far this tea’s only been ok. I don’t like the stevia added; I want to be able to sweeten as I please and stevia isn’t my sweetener of choice.

I’m nomming it. I think I used too many bags though. Syrup-y!

I can’t always eat bananas. I have intermittent allergic reactions. The flavor of fake bananas gives me a headache. This is scrumptious! I’m not sure I can taste the coconut, but I ate a granola bar before I ate it. I’ll rate it again later :) I really really like that I can drink this!

I do not drink very many flavored teas, but from time to time I will indulge, and also for a nice change of pace. I believe my first flavored tea was Earl Grey, and it is a tea I could drink almost daily, but I don’t….probably because it would strain my tea budget. I bought this at the World Market during Christmas 2004. and again Summer of 2005. Earl Grey is probably my favorite flavored tea, as I just love the scent and flavor of natural oil of Bergamot.

Earl Greyer is true to its’ description, very citrusy and fresh tasting. I didn’t taste much of the base tea, but then again, I didn’t expect to. The dry aroma and cup aroma is fantastic! As the extraordinary Bergamot washed over my tongue, I savored the flavor for a few moments before swallowing the tea! As a hot tea, I use one teabag to the specifications below per 8 oz cup, with a rating of 88. I used this mostly for iced tea in Spring/Summer, as it is extremely refreshing! Same specs as hot tea except I use two tea bags; rating 90.

I did not taste bitterness with the extended steep time, but more flavor.

At the time this was my new favorite Earl Grey, but as I neared the end of the tin I realized something. Iced, Earl Greyer may be my favorite; BUT, as a hot tea, I began to miss the taste of the TEA! I missed the balance of a good base tea, and the natural Bergamot flavoring. Even as the tea cooled somewhat, the black tea base was overpowered by the extra Bergamot. I just prefer a cup of hot Earl Grey to be more balanced.

Overall, it was still delicious and a worthy contender among the competition.

“Teabags” you say? Yes, I thought I’d review a tea I had a couple years ago. “How can you remember what a tea was like two years ago?”. Well, I can’t remember every subtlety, but since I have purchased this tea several times (and don’t plan to purchase it anytime soon), I’ll give it my best shot.

The aroma of blackberries—and to a lesser extent sage—fills my sniffer with wonderful sensation. Even in the cup the aroma is very apparent. It is a good, decent cup of hot tea, with the flavors more pronounced as the tea cools. To my palate, the fruitiness of the blackberry is more noticeable, while the sage never lets you forget it is there. It’s kind of like the demure lady I notice at a party… me, trying not to stare, but at times unable to avert my eyes. It is a very compelling, delicious tea. I just wish there was a stronger sense of the base tea in this blend.

For hot tea I use one teabag per 8 oz cup, at 212 degrees for five minutes. Hot tea rating: 70. I use this tea mostly as a delicious iced tea using twice the amount of tea following the preparation below. As an iced tea I give this one a 75.