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I was bracing myself for completely hating this since, even though it smelled good dry and brewing, the last Kusmi mate I had tasted thoroughly awful. Well, I was surprised (there seems to be a lot of that surprise happening with the Kusmi I’ve sampled…) It’s essentially the green chai I never would’ve wanted to sample—except it doesn’t taste wrong like I’d always thought a green chai would.

Unsweetened (on the first steeping at least), it tastes like a bit of a harsh cinnamon bomb in that it has the sharp taste of something to which too much cinnamon and nothing sweet has been added. Sweetened, it’s interesting. Sweetened and with soy milk, it’s a different and pleasant take on chai. You wouldn’t necessarily guess it was made with green and mate teas unless someone old you, because it produces a nice, light chai latte that doesn’t taste grassy or weedy in any way. It’s less fragrant and spicy than a regular chai, kind of like the polite, delicate younger sister of normal chai or something, but I think the flavour is still essentially chai. A key difference between this and the other Kusmi chais I’ve had (Sweet Love and Tchai) is that cardamom is not one of the most dominant notes here (its place is taken by cinnamon).

It’s good, but if you want chai, there’s better stuff around. It might be a good tea for you if you like to rotate different chais or something like that.

When dry, this tea had a smell I think I can’t really describe. It didn’t smell much like any other tea I’d ever smelled before, though earl grey would be the closest comparable smell. Like all other blacks I’ve had, I found it needed sweetener to be palatable. Hot and with sweetener, the flavour was something completely unexpected. There was a faint hint of orange blossom, a bit more of lemon, and a real sense of floral. The first thing it reminded me of was actually Kusmi’s rose tea with some peachy kind of overtones, to the extent that my first thought was to wonder whether it had rose in it. When it cools, it’s really more like those pre-made liquid iced teas that are black plus lemon, which is nice—except for the annoying peppery note in it. That damn peppery note! Y u do dat, Kusmi? Hahaha! Seriouly though, it’s a letdown that it’s there, because otherwise this is a nicely fruity, slightly floral black that could be good both hot or cold. As it is, I don’t think I could bring myself to buy it. That demonic peppery element lurks there in every mouthful. It doesn’t even lurk, actually—it’s the first thing you taste. Only after it do you get the delicious tea taste and well-executed fruitiness.

It’s hard to not be on the fence about this. I can’t stress enough how tasty the fruitiness is. When I lived in Australia, I used to drink the pre-made Lipton iced lemon green tea and iced peach black tea, and they’ll always have a place in my heart, though their flavour is hardly groundbreaking or exotic. This tea (once you get past the damn peppery aspect, of course) reminds me of it and I like that.

I didn’t try this with milk (well, I did take a spoon out and add some milk to that just for a tiny test, but the flavour wasn’t tempting), and wouldn’t suggest it, because the fruity flavour is more lemony than orangey, which I think makes it a poor candidate for a latte (and a good candidate for serving iced). I’d recommend giving this tea a try (do try before you buy), and perhaps adding fruit juice like lemon or peach to it, on top of the sweetener. Also, the peppery thing goes away a bit when the tea cools and may have been exacerbated to a degree by my over-steeping (but if it was, presumably the fruitiness was too), so all hope isn’t lost with this. At room temperature, I thought it had something of a classic iced tea flavour (but a bit less fruity), which wasn’t what I was expecting of something whose description makes it seem kind of complex and refined. That’s not a criticism, though if you were expecting something that really balanced all of those citrus ingredients and genuinely represented lemon, orange, and lime all at once, you’d probably feel disappointed.

Update: I raised the rating for this a little bit because on the second and third steepings (the third was pretty weak, so don’t count on it being satisfying), there was almost none of the peppery note, and iced with a bit of lemon juice and sweetener, it was good.

I tried this again, hot, with sweetener, and with no milk. It seems really different to what it was last time. The aftertaste has a beautiful delicate orange flower sense if you really pay attention, and this time, even though I oversteeped it as per usual, there wasn’t an annoying peppery element, and no bitterness. It seems a lot less lemony than I found it last time, but overall, I think I was wrong about my impression that this is no more than a failed earl grey. The more that orange flower element gets to me, the more I want to raise the score of this. I raised it two points, but the taste in my mouth says that wasn’t enough. The tea of adequate strength without being dominating, it’s ladylike without being overly demure, and it’s floral without being perfumey. Not bad, Kusmi! I’d drink it again!

This tea smelled like chai when it was dry, and like chai when it was brewed. With sweetener and no soy milk, this tasted like what I would describe as a “chai and friends” kind of tea. It was like a weaker chai with a little something extra. Some bitterness, some natural sweetness, some very slightly soapy kind of element. It was fine without soy milk, but it was so reminiscent of chai that I felt like it was begging for soy milk. It’s very heavy indeed on the cardamom (which I love about it), and I think the cinnamon and pepper really just create an aura of warm spiciness rather than contributing identifiably to the flavour. There’s almost something vaguely Coke-like about the aftertaste.

If you plan to use this as a latte base as I did, it will be satisfying to you if you like chai and especially chai with a lot of cardamom. Surprisingly (perhaps in a pleasant way), I didn’t really notice any of the flavour I generally associate with licorice root (i.e. licorice!) with what I tasted, but the flavour is obviously more easily perceptible when the tea has no soy milk, and I drank most of mine with milk. I found with tea quite stimulating, which makes sense given that it has tea and guarana, so don’t try drinking it in the late afternoon. It’d be interesting to do a comparison between this and Kusmi’s regular chai, with both being served without soy milk so that the difference is clearer.

Oh my God. This tastes like cigarettes. Like wet cigarettes or something. I can’t believe a tea this afwul is made by Kusmi! Christ on a cracker, this is just vile. It doesn’t get the lowest possible score because there’s a very slight hint of lemongrass in the smell and taste, and I like lemongrass, but the tea’s basically not good in any way at all. This was undrinkable, and I don’t often come across teas I can say that about. Don’t let the pleasant citrussy dry smell fool you—it’s really bad.

I’ve tried this again today because I got another of the Kusmi variety packs and I didn’t want to just write it off based on the first bad experience (time heals all wounds, right?) No, though. This tea is offensively bad. When it’s dry, it smells fine. In the first minute of steeping, it smells okay. After that, and into the recommended 5 minute steeping time, it becomes completely foul. I actually can’t even believe how bad this tastes. Hot, cold, unsweetened, sweetened. Nothing fixes it. It smells like stale cigarettes and tastes like a bitter, watery form of the same. It’s a bit deceptive, because if you have the tea in a hot, sweetened for, when you take a sip, it seems for a fraction of a second like this is a lemongrass tea. Then that cigarette flavour makes itself heard. Arghhhh. I tried to really give it more of a go, but even as you raise the cup to your mouth, it’s like breathing in cigarette ash. As it cools, the cigarette-y flavour just gets worse and worse, though there’s not that scent wafting effect like when the tea is hot.

I feel bad wasting tea, but this cup of tea and my unopened second sachet of it from this sampler are going in the garbage. I think what added to the disappointment I felt with this tea was that I really love lemongrass and dry, it genuinely smelled like it would be very lemongrass-y. You can still smell that in the brewed tea a bit, but it’s very much overridden by that cigarette aspect. Even the squeezed-out bag smells quite lemongrass-y, so just where is the lemongrass flavour going, Kusmi?!

I poured this out in the sink in my room and now from a combination of the steam from the tea having gone into the air in the room and the liquid having gone down the sink in the room, there’s a faint cigarette smell in here. It’s truly disgusting.

The first time I made this, I brewed the tea, added half soy milk after it had steeped, and went to pour in some sweetener. Before I knew it, a very large amount had come out. The drink was overly sweet and the tea flavour that was coming through was rather forgettable. I thought just to give it a fair shot (and also because I needed the stimulation and hadn’t had a cup of chai in a long time), I’d empty out the contents of the tea bags and put all of the liquid into a saucepan and boil it for a while to get more of the tea flavour out. In the meantime, I started writing a review on how this tea is basically another average-at-best black tea chai, one that has confirmed the fact that black tea just muddles the delicious spiciness of chai and that the only worthwhile chais are the large whole spices by themselves or a rooibos mixed with these.

I came back to taste the tea after a while, and I felt inclined to backspace everything I’d written. This tea was a surprise to me in the end, and pleasantly a slight bit reminiscent of my holy grail chai, Rainbow Chai (which I can’t buy in Germany).

Tragically, I was neglectful of the pot because I was trying to get ready for a meeting at the time, and part of the tea boiled over, so I didn’t get the full serve I would’ve liked or that would’ve been useful to give a more comprehensive first impression in terms of the flavour. Instead of two cups of tea, I got about half a cup : ( Some notable things I can share about this tea are that it seems refreshingly traditional and makes cardamom a key player. It’s not a weak cinnamon-ginger bomb, it’s not packed with yucky things like licorice, fennel, pepper, etc. It was pretty tasty. It took me until the third time I tried this tea to pick up on just how evident the presence of the anise is (previously, I had just got a nice spicy melange with black tea that had with the longer steeping miraculously gone from dominating to being put in its place as just one ingredient of a spicy, complex brew), but even by then I didn’t feel like I tasted anything particularly laurel-y, and I didn’t taste that much clove. It seemed to be mostly ginger, cardamom, and anise, with a touch of cinnamon, and a backdrop of tea. It can be a bit hard to pick these spices out, though—probably because they’re often used together in teas and baking, so it’s easy when they’re always mixed to get a bit thrown off. I like this tea, but it could never replace my beloved Rainbow Chai. There’s also something vaguely medicinal about it, and I don’t mean that (appealing) eucalyptus-y cardamom taste. In fact, the smell of the tea brewed and with soy milk for some reason strikes me as a combination of a milky, gingery chai (this one smells a fair bit like lebkuchen) with a very faint, far away note that is for some reason like antiseptic iodine solution. A problem unrelated to the scent or taste, but which is noticeable and must be noted is that the tea is not as spicy as other chais, and I think that’s a real drawback. The spiciness is part of the comfort for me, and it feels much too subdued here.

If you’ve found black chais unsavoury in the past, I’d give this one a go. If it doesn’t satisfy you on the first round, steep it longer with your milk and sweetener. The tastes I got on the second and third tries were unlike like what I tasted the first time around. When I first wrote this entry, I said, “I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying it again. I found it comforting and well executed.” I’ve tried it three times now, and I don’t think I necessarily feel that way anymore. It’s not because there’s anything wrong with the tea as such, it’s that I’m comparing it to something I tried long before and developed a real love for. Kashmir Tchai came as a pleasant suprise to me, and needless to say, I was devastated when I came back downstairs the first time I made it thinking, “The entire cooktop looks brown…why is that?” before realising that it had been inundated with the tea I’d been looking forward to. Ultimately, though, it’s like a chai rebound to me or something. I feel like I can enjoy it when I’m drinking it, but subconsciously I’m thinking about missing Rainbow Chai. This chai still cut it to some degree, as with other chais I’ve had while in Europe, but in a way they all feel like new chai boyfriends that make me reminisce about the good times with my ex-chai.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this tea—firstly because I’ve never had rose in a tea and secondly because when dry, it had a strong, perfumey smell that was a bit reminiscent of pot purri or even a rose perfume. Well, it’s not great in my books. I’ve not found it truly disappointing or poor quality or anything, but it just has a kind of dull, herby, very faintly peppery kind of taste. It also gets kind of bitter if you steep it for a while, so watch out for that. This tea needs sweetener and is so far the only Kusmi tea that as early as the second steeping has lost significant flavour (in comparison, I drank the spearmint green tea yesterday and got three or four steepings out of it, witht the cool, clean flavour still clearly perceptible throughout). I don’t think the downfall of this tea is its demure quality, because that is also a characteristic of the strawberry green tea by Kusmi, and I thought that was a pretty great tea. I think the problem with this tea is perhaps that the rose flavour, while certainly notable, is not necessarily a good match for the green tea (it may be this type of green tea [a lighter, sweeter, grassier one could work better], but I’m not sure there). This tea is pleasant, but I don’t think it’s very memorable.

If rose is a “thing” for you, maybe you should give this a try, but if you pick it up and think, like I did, that that lavish, rich eastern quality of rose’s fragrance as in rosewater or rose sweets will be well reflected in the tea, I don’t think this will be what you’re looking for. Rose might be a better match for a lighter green tea (potentially with jasmine), or a white tea. A rose fragrance that’s as strong as the dry scent indicates this one is could be really good on its own, too. This tea is basically a good concept executed somewhat unsuccessfully. Overall, I’d mostly recommend this to someone looking for an appropriately flavoured green tea of decent quality to pair with a Lebanese meal. It might also be more interesting mixed with chai or a floral tea of a different variety. There’s a difference when it’s cool, so it could make a nice iced drink with more sweetener or a little something added. It would also probably go quite well with milk.

This is probably the only mint tea I’ve ever had that’s had any of the freshness you’d expect from a product containing mint. The spearmint must make all the difference here, and instead of that usual weedy, bitter, dull flavour, there’s a fresh, clean mint taste with a backdrop of grassy, non-bitter green tea. The mint flavour is a very pure one, a “straight from the leaf” taste. I’m taken aback by some of the average reviews Kusmi has had. I’ve found the brand pretty reliably good so far, and that’s relying on the tea bag set I got, so the quality I’m tasting probably isn’t even the best they have to offer. Surprisingly (given that in Be Cool it’s peppermint and here it’s spearmint) the mint flavor is kind of reminiscent of that in Be Cool, but the green tea makes it less in-your-face minty. Since I’ve found a number of minty teas average at best in the past, I’m shocked that I’ve found this one so well carried out. If you’ve disliked mint teas in the past, I’d recommend sampling this one. It has the downside of not being caffeine free like pure mint teas are, but I’ve found the combination of the mint and green here really works.

This tea’s flavour was really set off with just a little sweetener, but I had the first two cups of it with none, and that worked, too. I also tried it iced, and that surprisingly clean, refreshing flavour it has is much more conducive to serving cold than the usual (and frankly off putting) taste of mint teas. It was very refreshing. It wold go especially well with some fresh mint and lemon or lime juice/zest. Vodka could also work if it’s that kind of moment for you. Like all of the Kusmi products I’ve used, I’ve successfully re-steeped this. I don’t know how well it’d work if you were more anal about the correct steeping time than I am (and by “more anal,” I pretty much mean at all concerned about taking the tea bags out before it cools), you might not have as much luck getting this much flavour out again.

Overall, I don’t really know why some people have had negative things to say about Kusmi. Maybe it’s because it’s more of a “trendy,” image-conscious kind of brand than others, and tea purists might frown on the flavours. It may also be expensive compared to what one would pay for other brands (honestly, I don’t think much about this. If it looks/smells/sounds good, I’ll buy it), but to me, it’s a tolerable 75 euro cents per cup (at the more expensive rate that comes with using bags) and I haven’t been truly disappointed by a single flavour yet. I’m no tea expert, but to me, that’s a win. Admittedly, I might change my mind when I’ve tried some more premium-type teas, since I’ve mostly used supermarket brands up until now, but I’m pretty satisfied.

I’m really surprised that so far only one person has mentioned the vanilla note in this. To me, it’s undeniable—so much so that when I first tasted it, my immediate thought was of a vanilla green tea made by Lipton that I used to drink sometimes. If anything, I’d call this a strawberry-vanilla green, but I would understand if someone thought that there was no strawberry at all and just a general fruity kind of lightness that’s a bit nondescript. It’s identifiable as strawberry if you know it’s a strawberry green tea, but otherwise, I think it may not be. Before you steep it, though, it’s very strawberry indeed. It smells exactly like strawberry candy or a strawberry lip balm. Upon steeping, that’s pretty much gone. You’ve got some light, fruity sweetness (this was brought out in mine with sweetener, but this is one of a small number of flavoured green teas I’ve tried that I’d say you could be satisfied with unsweetened), but to me, the vanilla note is what’s predominantly there with the green, which is a pretty subtle green. The strawberry taste does come out more when the tea is cool, though, so if you’re having this at room temperature, it may come across as more true to name.

Because vanilla’s pretty much my favourite thing ever, I didn’t have a problem with the fact that this wasn’t strongly berry-flavoured. Someone commented that the flavour may reflect that Kusmi’s claims of using natural flavours may be dubious, but if anything, I’d say that the kind of weak berry aspect could be a reflection of strong-tasting, artificial sweeteners not being used (I have to say, though, the smell before steeping does make it seem a bit fake [but the smell is here no indicator of the flavour]). I thought it was a pleasant tea, but it didn’t really feel original (though that means that it could be a crowd pleaser if you’re having a tea party or something [depending on the attendees, obviously—I wouldn’t serve it to my parents]). I’d probably buy it again, and it might have other uses (I used to blend up the Lipton vanilla tea with fruit and some other things for a smoothie, and that would work well with this, especially if you’re someone who wants something new to do with your tea).

I’ve tried a few different lemon and ginger-type teas, and they have had the advantage of being caffeine free, but this one’s flavour is the best, for sure. I had it sweetened and it has a pleasant grassy kind of taste with just a hint of lemon and some slightly stronger gingery notes over that. Ideally, the lemon and ginger would be stronger (particularly the lemon, which is kind of a ghost here), but this way, you can appreciate the taste of the tea leaves, so fair enough. You could also just add some of your own fresh lemon and ginger too, or mix it with another tea that has stronger ginger and lemon elements I guess. I may have been expecting the flavour to be a bit different because similar teas I’ve had in the past have had ginger and lemon as the only thing going on. As it is, it has a very pleasant aftertaste of a lemon and ginger candy or something similar. Something that was really nice about this tea is that I’ve had problems in the past with what I feel is a kind of staleness or overly dry, bland kind of taste to ginger in tea. Maybe the green tea adds some freshness to the flavour that prevents this. I was pretty glad that this tea didn’t have that aspect! To me, the main drawback to it is its lack of lemon, which is disappointing because lemon goes so well with green tea. You get a tiny suggestion of lemon at the end of a sip, but otherwise, it basically tastes more like a ginger green tea to me, though a well orchestrated one that I’d probably buy again.

This tea has a really soothing, subtle feel to it. “Peaceful” would be a good description of the vibe of this tea (the vibe, but not the effect—it could just be the fact that even a single cup of tea will really wake me up, but I had two or three cups of this today and even though the taste was peaceful, it certainly didn’t have a calming effect! Don’t drink it at night!) A word of warning: I always over-steep stuff, and this tea wasn’t as forgiving as many other teas are. Its flavour was still great, but there was a bit of a noticeable bitterness that may have been prevented had I watched the steeping time.

In a word? NO! I thought I’d give this a try for two reasons. Firstly, it was a free sample. Secondly, even though I’ve already ad excellent chai, this one had ingredients I hadn’t had in chai yet, so I thought there might be something I’ve been missing. Well, not at all. This was an excessively bitter, far too anise-y, peppery mess. It wasn’t the absolute worst tea I’ve ever had, but it was pretty close. I really don’t think licorice, fennel, or pepper should be in a good sweet chai tea, and this has taken all of them to crazy extremes.