Trader Nicks Tea Company

The almond and orange and rooibos somehow mix perfectly in this tea – it’s quite delicious! I’m drinking it cold, and it’s really so refreshing and perfectly blended. The second time I had this, it was a lot more orangey than the first, which was still nice, but I did miss that awesome almond flavor. The cold resteep of this is almost as strong as the first. I’ve finished my 2 oz now, each steep different from the last, but all nice.

This is supposed to be tiramisu flavored rooibos, and I’ve had a lot of good coffee teas lately, so I was looking forward to this. I taste rooibos and alcohol-tasting chocolate flavoring. In the aftertaste, I detect a hint of coffee. The second time I had this, the alcohol flavor was a lot more present, and it was really too much for me. It smells so strongly of alcohol too. I’ve now had this four times, and I think I’ll have to pass along the rest of the bag. I just can’t get over the alcohol flavor.

Sipdown! (33 | 188)

I’m not big on fruit tisanes, but I actually really enjoyed this one.

It tastes like cherry candy, but specifically like cherry Jolly Ranchers, one of the few cherry-flavored things I actually enjoy. It has a nice tartness to it, but not too much thanks to the lack of hibiscus. Perfect balance of sweet to tart IMO, with the coconut adding a subtle accent.

Tried it hot and cold brewed, and both were scumptious. Would consider buying more of this, shockingly LOL. Now I really want to order more from Trader Nicks, but I’m not doing very well at drinking tea at the moment, so it’ll have to wait heh… :P

Had this one again hoping that I’d get the love for it a little more if I could fully pay attention to the cup, but I just don’t feel the love here. It’s a fine tea, but the oolong is a little drying and coarse and there’s a borderline plastic-y side to the nuttier notes. Just doesn’t make me think of beignets, either…

Geek Steep S3E6 – Koroko’s Basketball

As y’all likely know by now, I got a Trader Nick’s order a while back. What you don’t know is that the thing that sparked the order was the fact we were doing a Disney episode for Geek Steep – it was the perfect excuse to to finally pull the trigger on placing an order with this company that had caught my attention.

This is the tea that I drank while recording this episode and as you may have noticed this wasn’t the Disney episode – that was the week prior. I actually placed my order well in advance in the hope that my Disney haul would arrive before we recorded and both Marika and I would have lots of teas based on our songs/movies to chose from. To no fault of Trader Nick’s, the order unfortunately arrived just days after we had recorded.

I still wanted to show case the company though, and if nothing else it made for a great start of the episode story. Since this is the blend that I’ve seen discussed the most from the company (it has some pretty die hard fans on IG), it’s the one that I picked out. At this point I’ve tried many teas from Trader Nick’s so I can confidently say that it’s not a personal favourite of mine. However, I do get the love for it. The blend is warm and cozy with a really lightly sweet vanilla note and a bit of a nutty toasty pastry flavour. Smooth, and easy drinking with just enough of a nod to the movie inspiration.

Free sample from my holiday order. I think I steeped this a little too long since it turned out somewhat bitter. I taste a bit of almond, but it’s mostly slightly bitter black tea. It’s desserty, but I wouldn’t want it again, even brewed properly. I just wanted more from it.

A bit sad to see another floral tea this month, after the cherry blossom one in April. Ah well, not their fault that I don’t like rose.

It’s honestly a bit bland? I do taste rose, but it’s much milder than the dry scent. Not really getting black currant at all though…? Maybe a little hint.

Not loving it, but mostly due to my personal preferences. Going into my rehoming box so someone else can hopefully enjoy the pretty stained glass-themed label art.

TeaTiff Traveling Tea Box | No. 7

This one smells incredible, like amaretto. I was so excited about it, but ultimately it fell flat for me. That’s not to say that I don’t like it, but the aroma was so promising that I’ll admit I was a little disappointed.

The other Star Wars tea from my subscription bonus samples!

This one is a black tea with forest fruits. Quite nice actually. The strawberry is the strongest to my tongue, but I do also taste some syrupy blueberry notes. I also get the sweet, slightly creamy roundness of the vanilla.

The only negative for me, is that the black tea base is coming off quite earthy and almost a bit musty. And those strong earthy notes do sort of overwhelm the berries a bit, and leave a lingering mustiness on my palate instead of a lingering fruity flavor. So another one that’s not quite a winner for me, but was fun to try and enjoyable for a single cup.

One of the free single-serving samples with my May subscription package. They recently released a Star Wars collection and I was happy to see it represented in my samples!

This is a nice fruity white tea. It seems like the only flavoring is blueberry, but there are several types of dried and candied fruit chunks included. I don’t feel like I specifically taste blueberry? It’s more on the light and sweet-tart side of things, closer to the pineapple, kiwi, and starfruit pieces.

It’s a very pleasant cuppa, but overall a bit generic for me, so I don’t think I would order it because of that. I did enjoy my mugful though!

A touch undecided on this blend. It’s supposed to be raspberries and blackberries, which is pretty cute for a Mickey Mouse themed blend – it’s practically his colour scheme! It is nice and jammy with some distinct raspberry notes, but the blackberry tastes more like black currant to me in a kind of “Ribena” sort of way. I like black currants a fair bit, but sometimes they read a little medicinal and I’m getting a bit of that in this cup.

Another blend that I pulled out because I was craving something relaxing and honey flavoured to sort of decompress with, and this did the trick! The honey flavouring isn’t quite as strong and delicious as the 52Teas blend I had earlier but I love it combined with the cooling peppermint, vanilla, and apple notes. It’s a very smooth cup and it definitely helped with the tension I was feeling.

I should probably increase the rating from the 78 it’s at currently as this has really become a reliable favourite of mine.

I don’t really plan on placing a Trader Nick’s order an tiny soon, but this blend has quickly become one of my favourites from them so it’s something I’d definitely want more of it I were to order again. At first I thought it was a little too apple forward, but the more I drink it the more I appreciate how the apple adds a slight brightness and compliments the ginger notes, while creating balance for the cooling, herbaceous mint and the sweeter honey and vanilla elements. It strikes a balance of fruit and herbal infusion that makes it work for a lot of different kind of moods, while still staying a good functional blend for when you actually have an upset stomach.

I am blanking on what the version of a “trifecta” is for five things, but this is definitely whatever that word is…

I had a bit of an upset stomach a few nights ago so I decided I’d give this blend a try since the ingredients looked like they would be appropriately soothing. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the tea. All four of the primary ingredients/flavours (ginger, honey, peppermint, vanilla) were very clearly discernible in taste and felt really well balanced – nothing was too strong or too weak! I do wish the tea was just a bit less apple-y because that brighter fruity note felt a smidgen out of place, but the level of sweetness and the overall heat and cooling factor of the peppermint were spot on! Plus, I did feel like it helped with the queasiness I was experiencing.

Sipdown! (16 | 138)

The second tea from my April subscription set.

It’s a pleasant enough herbal tisane, but the thyme is a bit too strong for me. It makes the whole thing taste a bit like a roast chicken, which is sort of odd LOL. Otherwise I’m mostly tasting the peppermint, and perhaps a hint of fennel.

I could see it being soothing maybe, but the thyme just makes it weird for me.

From my April subscription package!

I knew I would hate this as soon as I smelled the leaves ha ha… It smells like generic cherry lollipops, a flavor of which I am not a fan, and also roses. Why stop at one flavor I don’t enjoy when I can have two? ;)

But I figured I would steep up a small cup just to give it a chance. It’s fairly mellow, which helps a bit, but it still tastes like a cherry lollipop combined with powdery floral notes.

Definitely not for me, this will go into my rehoming box. A shame, because the label art is so pretty and I love Mary Poppins! Alas, someone else will hopefully get to enjoy the pretty packaging.

This was a free sample with my subscription. They always include a bonus single serving sample along with the two monthly blends, which I think is a nice touch.

It’s supposed to be a fruity-nutty rooibos, but it’s mostly coming off as cherry candy to me. And unfortunately, it just tastes super medicinal with the rooibos base. I think I’m getting a hint of rhubarb? But mostly just cherry cough drop and rooibos.

Fresh oranges, sweet candied cherries, amaretto. This is like the best, most “sunset tasting” cocktail straight in a cup! Strongly continues to be my favourite blend from Trader Nick’s and was a highlight of my weekend in terms of teas I steeped up.

Cold Brew!

I think this is my favourite Trader Nick’s blend. I had the cold brew pre-strained and waiting for me after my day out yesterday, and I have to say that my first sip of this blend after hours in the heat and humidity was HEAVENLY. It’s sweet and fruity, but with a deep and very round feeling nuttiness as well. Blood orange, amaretto, maraschino cherries. I’ve waxed poetic about it before, but suffice to say there’s a reason I bought more of this before I’d even finished my first bag.

I just need it in my life.

Geek Steep: Top Geeks 2023!

Cold Brew!

It’s that time of year – top geeks! And how could I pick anything other than a fandom inspired tea for this recording? I won’t spoil exactly what my top geeks were so that it’s still a surprise if you listen to the episode but I will say that this was one of the best (if not the best) fandom teas I tried this year. I’m not a huge Lion King fan, but this tea is pretty incredible. It’s sweet, bright, and fruity in a way that feels really warm and sunset-like in terms of its vibes.

More specifically it tastes of blood orange, sweet amaretto, maraschino cherry – very much in that “red” flavour familiar but with a lot of layers. Citrus. Candy. Nuts. Booze. They blend together in a very fun way that tastes exactly like the colours of a sunset. It feels like a fantastic fandom blend both on a flavour level and mirroring the fandom inspiration.

Iced!

For the most part, all of the blends from Trader Nick’s have been pretty good. However, I think this might actually be my favourite so far! It’s also maybe the first one that’s felt truly like something I haven’t tasted elsewhere.

The smell of the dry leaf is really mouth watering to me; it’s mostly like a sweet orange candy aroma but with hints of red fruit syrup and just a little ‘something something’ that reminds me of baked goods??

Steeped, it’s more apparent that the baked goods element I was smelling is this really sweet and wonderful amaretto/almond flavouring that’s kind of aromatic but also very dense and coating. It compliments so perfectly the other two flavours of blood orange and grenadine to combine into a sweet but surprisingly complex profile that tastes like what I’d imagine the flavour of a sunset might be, if it were to have one. Like a fun mixed cocktail, in a way, too. Or, like, an Italian soda?? It also has just a bit of brightness – mostly from the hibiscus – that helps break up the sweeter flavours, but without shattering their balance.

I am very, very into this one!

Cold Brew Sipdown (2401)!

Sweet, fruity and honestly surprisingly smooth? Mostly what I mean by that, though, is that despite lots of very acidic ingredients I didn’t notice the tart twang or bite of the hibiscus/acidified apple as much as I’d have expected visually. The strawberry was stronger than the watermelon, though both flavours were present. Sort of had a semi-sweetened Jello or Kool-Aid mix kind of vibe to it.

Really refreshing, and definitely very tasty but I think I’m okay finishing this one off because it feels like something I can find similar of elsewhere with relative ease.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz4fs9mOA2Y/?img_index=5 (5th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1x_-iAJBDU