Featured & New Tasting Notes

I like Golden Orchid, but the osmanthus really elevates it. So sweet and creamy. Delightful.

This was the main reason for my Murchie’s order. It’s a summer seasonal tea, and I love orange-flavored things. I will say, I became less excited when I saw that it also has spices in it, because why? They describe it as a transitional tea for late summer and early fall, but I guess I’m confused by that decision when they already have two other orange spice teas? So I hemmed and hawed on whether I even wanted it anymore, but ended up taking the plunge because retail therapy. I did remove all of the whole cloves out of protest! (Ashmanra will understand XD)

It is mostly orange, thankfully. I would describe it as being close to a true orange flavor, with just a touch of gummy orange slice and a bit of that essential oil sort of zestiness. The spices show themselves near the end of the sip, and the finish tastes very similar to their Christmas Tea (which is an orange spice black tea).

It does seem similar to Christmas Tea, though perhaps more orangey. I might have to try them side-by-side to remind myself. In any case, it’s nice, but definitely a fall-to-winter tea for me, and not a summer one.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for a nice, juicy orange tea, preferably without hibiscus or spices!

Fruity chai isn’t my favorite, so this wasn’t going to be a winner. I like milk with my chai, but the acidity from the fruit makes it a little funky. This tastes tart and fruity, but I also taste spices, especially the cardamom. The acidity it a bit harsh in the back of my throat. I don’t love the black base this is on. Still fun to try from the TTB!

Steepster 2025 TTB Tea

This teabag was a nice evening coldbrew. The cinnamon is sweet (a bit much for me, honestly), but it counter balances the hibiscus and rose hips. The berry flavour is pretty strong, but more bumbleberry or general berry but not distinctly raspberry and blackberry.

TTB! The peach flavoring was a little chemically for me. It reminds me of maybe an Adagio tea I had years ago. With milk and sugar, it’s still drinkable and reminiscent of peach rings. Not bad, but not something I would seek out. It’s just a little too fake, and I don’t get any cream or much oolong.

Sipdown! (9 | 86)

A lingering mini tin from the spring subscription box.

I remembered enjoying this more previously, I’m not sure if it’s the particular mix in this tin, but it’s more rooibos-y than I recall, and I can’t taste the vanilla cake as much. Also the bee pollen is adding a hint of wet dog, which isn’t ideal ha ha.

I have a full tin of this in my cupboard, maybe I’ll have to make a cup from that one and see if I feel the same way about it. Leaving my previous rating for now.

This has a lovely darjeeling base with some other green and black teas thrown in. I purchased this because I thought it would be a nice addition to the TTB for folks who want to try some Canadian teas.

Light bergamot with floral citrus notes and a hint of perfumy floral but more honeysuckle than distinctly jasmine unless you look for it. There is a nice balance of tannins and it is not overly bitter but has enough flavour. It is not your typical heavy hitter all tannin CT black tea. This has a more well rounded profile with multiple notes adding to its complexity.

It’s like how 50/50 iced tea and lemonade creates its own better-than-the-ingredients drink. This is a nice darjeeling mixed with Lady Grey and its a great union of flavour but distinct in its own right.

Sipdown! (8 | 85)

From the April subscription.

It’s okay, mostly tastes like a harsh Chinese green tea. There are some beany and stonefruit notes, but it’s also quite earthy/strawlike, a bit smoky, and somewhat astringent.

Sadly, I am not getting this subscription anymore. For some reason, S&V started making 3 out of 4 teas unflavored in every box, and I am generally only interested in their flavored offerings. Oh well!

A sipdown! (M: 3 Y: 68) prompt: May 21 — International Tea Day: Any tea that makes you happy!

I prepared remaining amount in the pot and steeped for longer time than usual, but it’s just okay.

It is a fruity black tea, although there are no other ingredients but tea. I do notice rosehip for sure today, but also mentioned peaches and oranges, but only if I know what to look for.

Mouthfeel was very short too, without any prominent note.

Very forgettable tea.

Sipdown! (6 | 83)

Finished off this delightful infusion from Murchie’s, which really does taste like carrot cake IMO. Even though I’m not a rooibos lover, I think the base here works well because of the addition of green rooibos and honeybush. It certainly doesn’t have that traditional rooibos woody/medicinal flavor. It’s sweet but not overly so, and has nice subtle warm spices with a touch of cream cheese creaminess. I’m not a fan of chocolate chips in tea, but there don’t seem to be a ton included here, and they also don’t melt all that well, so it’s not an overly oily cuppa.

I made a Murchie’s order a few days ago, as I want to try their summer orange tea, and another bag of this made the cut!

Once again restocked and back in rotation. I adore this tea. I prefer the decaf one and enjoy it in the evening. Brew ~3 minutes for optimal balance between bitter and flavourful. Add milk and you get something super creamy, malty, sweet, with a strong maple flavour. It reminds me of those maple leaf cookies with the buttery cookie and maple filling.

Such a unique tea! It’s surprisingly fruity, and reminds me of cooked apples or applesauce.

These were a Mother’s Day gift from Ashman. I have been out of jasmine pearls for a while and really only loved Teavivre’s but I told him I wanted to try these since they are a new offering. They have previously only been available in the Piccadilly location.

My complaint against Harney’s Dragon Pearls is that I don’t care for the base. The jasmine seems okay, but the green tea is harsh and sharp to me. The attraction of the Teavivre Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls was that I love their jasmine teas pretty much across the board (they have many) and I liked the base a lot. It was calm in a cup.

I made three steeps of this. It was sipped beside my wall of jasmine vine on the patio from a tiny bamboo hat cup. The instructions call for boiling water and I wasn’t brave enough to do that on my first try with these. I used 175F, and for reference Teavivre calls for 185F for theirs. I steeped for three minutes.

I am so glad we got these! The base is just right for me. The jasmine is a little lighter than I expected and probably lighter than Teavivre’s, but it is possible that increasing the temp to what F&M calls for would bring out more jasmine. I am very happy with the base on all three steeps. The jasmine was almost all gone in the third steep but the green tea was nice.

I will try it again using their parameters now that I know I don’t have to tame a sharp green tea to enjoy it.

This is so great. The green tea is lovely. The pear flavor is fresh and pleasant. The spices are well-rounded and super tasty. I’m drinking this cold, and it’s juicy and wonderful.

Captain’s Backlog 3 May 2025

What a doozy. Knocked me out cold for a 2-hour nap after only 2 pours. Whisper of smoke. Sandpaper tongue. Very drying; not a pleasant feeling when combined with dried-up mucous membranes from allergy medication.

Back into the crock.

$60 for a 200g cake in 2025. I think it was $18 or something when I bought it 9 years ago?

Another afternoon tea pick! This is a pretty hearty black tea! Nice almost malty flavor. Great warm with sugar and milk. I see from my Steepster history that I’ve enjoyed their regular English breakfast in the past, so I’m happy that their decaf blend was nice as well! Other reviewers don’t seem to agree.

Sipdown 16 – 2025

Trying to drink through green teas more quickly once I open them. This was really tasty and easy to finish.

TTB! The vanilla tastes so strong! I’m drinking this at room temperature with milk and sugar, and that vanilla flavor is so clear, sweet, and tasty. I don’t know if I’ve ever tried a tea with such a strong, authentic vanilla flavor. It’s so desserty and nice!

Sipdown

Another gift tea from the daughter who lives with us!

I had this a while back as a hot tea. I agree that it is very chai-like. I had expected just black tea with lemon from the name initially but there is a lot more going on.

Today I am having it as a sweet iced tea, steeped hot and allowed to chill in the refrigerator. Made this way, I am finding the ginger much more prevalent and the lemon less noticeable. It is smooth and lightly peppery – I have had three glasses just with lunch so it must be pretty good!

I do have a 12 ounce serving that I am cold steeping to drink unsweetened but it hasn’t been in long enough yet. Will report back on that one!

Edited to add: just drank the cold steep. Tastes much the same, but I feel like I get a vanilla note that I didn’t notice before and I don’t see vanilla listed as an ingredient. Maybe it is just a sweetness of the tea base itself. I added no sugar to the cold steep.

From the 2025 steepster TTB

This is a very lemongrass and mint blend with not much else going on. I can’t taste the ginger at all. I made sure to get some fireweed leaves but couldn’t make out any flavours from it. The mint really takes over. Without being able to taste the other ingredients, it is tough to rate this blend. I think the idea is creative and interesting but I don’t feel inspired by plain peppermint and lemongrass tea.

Sipdown 15 – 2025

Another delicious Tezumi matcha. Surprisingly good quality for the price point. Fresh, bright green. A bit of subtle astringency. Really easy to drink.

Also has a cat on the label, so an instant winner for me.

Spring 2024 harvest

Same as it ever was, and that’s a good thing! Complex or comforting, you get to choose. Grainy, sparkling, mineral and sweet with notes of orange blossom, jasmine, ginger, hay, wheat, sweet potatoes, chocolate, tobacco and light vanilla cream. I do appreciate this more gongfu (which is not usually the case for Yunnan dianhong) as I have a tendency to oversteep it western, bringing out oaky tannins.

Thanks for the sample, Whispering Pines :)

I tried this catalog tea years ago under the name “Blood-Orange Smoothie” from Spice and Tea Exchange, and sort of fell in love with it and then out of love with it. I think it was on sale at the time I made this particular Tealyra order so I figured I’d give it a try again, but mostly my opinion has stayed the same. I don’t dislike it, but I feel kinda meh about it… It has an amazing creamsicle aroma to the dry leaf, but that just doesn’t translate to the flavor. The blood orange comes out but there just isn’t enough of a sweet cream/vanilla flavor present for me. Plus, I feel the blood orange falls into the right flavor profile to bring out some of the medicinal notes in the rooibos that I don’t care for much. So to finish off the bag, I started brewing this cold brew… and it actually is pretty good that way. In general I tend to not cold brew red rooibos because in the past it has come out really cough syrupy to me that way, and despite getting a bit of that when I brew this hot, I’m not really getting that when its cold, and the orange feels particularly refreshing with this preparation method. So, I probably won’t grab this tea again in the future since it lacks that creamsicle vibe I’m looking for, but it also wasn’t really a chore to finish off this bag making cold brew pitchers.

Thank you Cameron B for a couple of these adorable teabags! Looks like I didn’t write a note for the first one I had, so here we are. I have been reading ‘The Summer Book’ by Tove Jansson who created Moomin. Right when I turned the last page of the book, I realized I had some tea in my stash with Moomin wrappers. The tea is quite good for having so little in the teabag! It definitely tastes like a chocolate truffle, and that is good enough for me. :)