New Tasting Notes
(Note, my tea bag just says “Ginger Lemon Decaf Green” – no “sun”)
Tea bags of this one were in the freebie bin at Whole Foods, so I thought “what the heck”. I often like a little ginger tea after eating, and this is decaf so a good choice for after-dinner. This one won’t disappoint ginger lovers, as it has a really nice bite to it. It honestly reminds me of a tisane though, because the green tea can’t hold up to the ginger taste (still, nice to have it there for the health benefits). If there’s lemon in here, the ginger scared it away.
Ho-hum. Unfortunately, this tea just isn’t very exciting.
As it cools I can taste the green a little bit, but it’s still mostly ginger.
If this were offered to me at a hotel breakfast, or among the teas at a meeting I’d be thrilled, but I’m not so interested by this as to buy a box.
Preparation
This is my evening tea. I drink it every night without fail. If I’m going out of town or commuting, I bring both the leaded and unleaded versions in a tin. I take my tea strong and with milk, so I’m often using multiple pouches and I go through a box rather quickly. I buy in bulk so a case of six boxes of 40 pouches per box cost me $22.00. Pretty good price!
This was actually my first time drinking Sencha, so I was actually rather excited going into this. After picking up the packaged that contained the tea this morning, I opened the resealable bag and was greeted by a wonderful fresh vegetable aroma, with a bit of grassiness mixed in. The first infusion was an wonderful balance of vegetative flavors with hints of grass and subtle hits of sweetness.
Unfortunately, this tea very quickly loses it’s flavor, and I only got four infusions before the taste became bland. On the bright side, it did not become bitter in later infusions, and it didn’t become overly grassy/vegetative like some green teas do. I’m really glad that I bought 100 grams, as this is a tea that I will definitely need to keep in stock.
Preparation
I followed a cup of H&S Irish Breakfast with this CTC Assam as a comparison to see which I liked better. They are very different creatures; the Irish Breakfast is gentle where this is a strong black tea. I like them both, but having been in search of a basic, strong, perfect black tea this one comes out ahead.
It’s strong black tea. It’s not bitter, it’s not flavored, not overly complex. I love black tea and I love strong tea that can play well with milk and sugar. This is it! I’ll be ordering a tin once I run out of the sample, for all those times I simply want a cup of delicious, tasty, strong black tea.
I drank this with 4 cubes of raw sugar, 7 drops of stevia, and a large dash of evaporated milk. Heaven! It’s strong enough to stand alongside Chai as a “food” tea: a tea rich and full enough to feel like food rather than a beverage.
Preparation
Today has not been the best of days – sick kid, behind on laundry, a not-so-happy phone call. I wanted a tea that would be comforting and give me a lift. I chose Orange Dulce, and I chose well.
See previous tasting note for my thoughts on the actual tea.
Preparation
Oh my god… this one is GOOD. Good good good. I haven’t been surprised by a cup of tea in a while, but I’m adoring this one. (Jim, if you read this we must bring a tin of this for your mother at Christmas. She feels as I do about peppermint-cocoa rooibos.)
Ahem.
There was a tea that I found in Chicago that came in a Cocomint flavor- I think the brand was Khalihari, or somesuch? Anyway, they only carried it in the Chicago South Loop Whole Foods, and I haven’t seen it since. This is a really good match for it, and might actually even be better. The mint and coco remind me of a less sweet mint-hot chocolate, and of course this lacks both the caffeine and the calories.
The girl at my Whole Foods counter insisted that I try this one on the house, and she was so right about me liking it. It really has all of the flavor of a cup of mint hot cocoa drink but just less sweet in a really good way- less overwhelmingly sweet that is.
Er, as I was typing this a UPS truck went flying down my street… backwards.
Preparation
I think you have to elaborate on the UPS truck!
This sounds really yummy – must keep my eyes peeled at Wegman’s and Whole Foods!
You know, I thiiiiiink the UPS truck must have passed the place it needed to drop off a package and concluded the best thing to do would be to reverse the truck down the street at top speed…er… yeah.
My hubby does that, it freaks the neighbors out, but in his defense he backs tractor trailers for a living! Oh and I really need to try this tea! :)
I received this lovely sample from Teavire to try. I’ve never had a Jasmine Pearl before so I was pretty eager to try one.
In a word: delicious. This is easily one of the best Jasmine green teas I’ve had. The aroma here is intoxicating but the flavor is sweet and subtle and does not knock me over the head tasting like a shower gel. I’m pretty happy. Plus the craftsmanship of these pearls is just so darn cute. I feel like such a lady…
Preparation
Rounded out my afternoon with a cuppa – this is such a fun tea! It still reminds me of sun tea and I do love this iced. Although it’s November outside, and a cool 60 degrees inside today, so I am in need of hot tea. One item to note: do not let this steep for too long or else you will really taste the carrot flavor!
Please see other notes – this is a cupboard essential.
Preparation
WOW. This green/fruit tea blend has very overpowering fruity notes that confuse my palette. I found it really hard to down because the balance between the fruits in this tea and green tea were really off. It was a mismatch of fruits with cardamom. I would probably suggest using half for a full cup, or mix with straight tea to rebalance the fruits in this tea. I was disappointed. I purchased 100g of this too :(
Preparation
I really enjoy the banana bread smell of this tea! It’s a lighter tea in taste, but that doesn’t mean that ruins the value of this tea! Although the flavour doesn’t come out too much in the tea itself, it’s nice to have the fragrance without the taste. The tea has a smidge of a fruity taste (from the banana), but very little. I find that this tea is a perfect for those who like lighter teas.
Preparation
Tried a different brewing method today by bringing the water to a boil, pouring into the pitcher, then added the pod. The old method of pouring water over the pod works better. This way the bloom remained floating on top the water for a very long time. It did eventually sink and fully open but I was beginning to wonder. The bloom is very pretty with a silver needle cradle holding a marigold while an arch of jasmine flowers rises above it to hold a globe amaranth. A few loose needles fell off but overall the display stayed intact. The brew is pale amber with a green tint.
Once again the flowers dominate. I believe the primary flavor here is the marigold. It is not an unpleasant taste but also not one I associate with tea. A bit milky? I think this would be good with honey. Not having any honey, I used sweetener. I like the taste of this better than the True Love flower tea but the display isn’t as spectacular.
Final note – while drinking the first cup, I left the remainder of the pot to steep to see what would happen. The result was a dark reddish brown tea resembling OP iced tea. Amazingly it made little difference to the flavor. No bitterness. No astringency. Mostly marigold flavored brew. As with most of my flower tea ratings I combine my sipping pleasure with the visual aspect and skew the rating slightly on the display side.
After an unpleasant confrontation with Citrus Blend, I wanted something to soothe my palate and reassure my stomach that everything was going to be okay. This gentle Irish Breakfast with the addition of milk and sugar was just the right solution.
Mild but still flavorful, this is a soothing Irish Breakfast. For a bracing, strong cup, I prefer CTC Assam and that will probably be the Assam I end up ordering a full tin of. This remains a beautiful tea and one I’m happy to enjoy. Refined and peaceful, gentle but not weak.
Preparation
So, I am on a roll. Apparently if I show my travel cup at the tea counter in Whole Foods, they give me free tea. This time they gave me one for my cup, and one to take home and try. Heh! They seem to not see the point in charging for one tea bag and hot water- is the cup part really that expensive? But I digress :)
I decided to try this one because I wouldn’t have the guts to buy a whole tin of it untested. And alas, I am not quite as impressed as others who’ve reviewed it. I can sorta get the red velvet cake scent from this if I sniff it, but brewed it just tastes overwhelmingly of rooibos. I like rooibos, but I was expecting something a touch…sweeter perhaps (without me having to add sweetener)? I tend to think of red velvet cake as sickeningly sweet. The red velvet cake taste does seem to be here, but as a backdrop.
Hmmm I like this just fine, but I can’t see myself buying it.
Preparation
Really? I don’t think my whole foods has a tea counter. Dang it! I’d be there everyday.
Yeah, you can order tea the same place you’d order coffee drinks (I know not all WF have a coffee bar)- they also keep loose tea in bulk bins there, but I never care about any of the varieties they have in the bulk section.
Citrus blend smells harsh and awkward in dry form, but I hoped that would change when brewed. Unfortunately, the brewed cup tastes bitter, unbalanced, and not at all citrus-y. If anything this is an embellished Earl Gray, without any of the refinement of a good Earl Gray.
It’s strong, which is always a positive in my book….or cup as it were. The citrus notes are an unpleasantly spicy assault on the tongue, and I cannot discern grapefruit or orange. I had it sweetened with raw sugar cubes and liquid stevia.
If anyone wants the rest of my sample, message me and I’ll send it to you, I won’t be drinking the rest. It’s fresh and only has one teaspoon missing.
Preparation
I’ve been sitting on this one for a while…ok…no, not literally…but you know what I mean!
The aroma of the spices are the freshest of the fresh! I LOVE the Vanilla and Orange notes helping to calm the spices and smooth them out. All ingredients are present and accounted for but none are overdone or too overwhelming. I like that. I agree with Liberteas saying the nutmeg really helps battle the rooibos so it’s doesn’t give into the regular rooibos stereotype! It’s more than just a flavored rooibos! This is very good!
Backlogging this one for Saturday. This is one of those teas that smells nicer than it tastes. It’s not that it tastes bad; it’s just a bit of a let-down after the amazing smell it gives off while steeping. It’s a light-tasting oolong, and the first infusion was pretty good, but the second was too floral for my taste. I might try a shorter first infusion next time to try to make the second one closer in taste to the first.
