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I haven’t had much luck with RoT but this is a pretty solid cup. It is not the greatest thing I have ever tried and I would prefer DTT’s Lemon Chiffon but this is something I can easily grab when I am in Buffalo or Florida to enjoy in the evenings/at night. It has a slight lemon flavor that pairs well with green rooibos base. Plus, all the flavors are subtle and airy to wonderfully resemble chiffon cake. It really is good and it’s a tea bag which can be very convenient at times. I am glad I got to try it out. Thank you so much Cavocorax for the opportunity :)

What’s one of the best things about living near other steepsterites? Drive-by tea drops. Today I was able to pick up two boxes outside Cavocorax’s door (one for me and one for Sil) and deposit a box for Cavo in it’s place. I was so excited to go through the many samples I had to try and after four long hours of work, I was able to come home and brew up a cup. I went straight for this given the love it’s been receiving recently on this site.

I gotta say, I am jumping on the Golden Orchid bandwagon because this is delicious. It’s a little malty, a little bready, a little creamy, a little chocolatey, and a whole lot of vanilla. Mmmm tasty! Thank you Cavo!!! I now see a Whispering Pines order in my future but first to try the other samples Cavo generously shared.

ETA: I am not loving the resteep of this cup. The vanilla is gone leaving behind bread and chocolate but not in a way that the flavors are meshing as nicely as they did with the first steep. Usually I don’t resteep my teas anyways so I am not too bothered by a poor second performance (and by “poor”, I don’t mean bad…just not as good)

I was inspired by DAVIDs Caramel Corn and decided to combine this matcha with my mango smoothie. Unfortunately, the outcome is not as delicious as the herbal blend. The matcha and fruit competed for center stage as opposed to performing a beautiful duet. Well, now I know.

I oversteeped this and though I expected it to be bitter, it turned out just being more minty. Then, just to try something new, I added some coconut almond milk. Unfortunately, the milk brought out an artificial sweetness that is too overpowering. I should have left well enough alone but now at least I know for sure.

I added milk to this hoping to bring out some more icing notes and somehow I managed to highlight the honeybush base. That means, this tea is much more peppery than usual. Lesson learned.

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So we ran out of regular milk but this is one tea I just won’t drink without a milky addition so coconut almond milk it was. Surprisingly, that didn’t really alter the flavor at all. This is still a creamy french vanilla treat, perhaps with just a hint of nuttiness from the milk/black base combining beautifully. Really good. This is one I will have to buy again in the future, especially given it is decaf :).

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The last of this is off to JustJames because for the life of me I could not make this work for me and since it was on his wishlist, I am hoping he will have better luck. Still, I am grateful to jump62359 for the opportunity to try it out.

So, I am trying it for the last time and this time I cold brewed it for 4 hours. There is more flavor this way but unfortunately all that flavor is coming from the rose. Now, I am learning I don’t hate floral teas as much as some but this is just too much rose for my liking. Oh well, c’est la vie.

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Thank you Roswell Strange for the chance to try something delicious and new. I finished this off in a mango smoothie because I really enjoyed it the last time I had it. It comes out creamy, summery, and oh so refreshing. It was great while it lasted but I don’t know if this is one I would order again. I think perhaps I would order pear for the fruity route over this one.