New Tasting Notes

I broke out in hives last week – something that I believe is triggered by stress. Tea in general has a very relaxing affect on me, so I can’t say one way or another if this tea does this moreso than others. However, 3 days later, and 3 cups later, the hives are fading. I can say that the taste in general is quite pleasing. The anise is subtle, overpowered by the cinnamon to balance out the flavor. There is something about the aftertaste of anise that I don’t like and that subtracts points for me – but the smell of this tea is totally amazing. It’s awesome for that late night tea, naturally caffeine free. I’ll be keeping this one around, but can only drink it sparingly due to the anise aftertaste.

This was the other tea I got with my Tavalon Tea of the Month Club. I am having a nice cup after my morning class. It is very fresh and clean tasting. It is a lovely tea. It reminds me of spring :)

For some reason I got another shipment of my Tavalon Tea of the month club on Saturday. Its only every other month and I got one at the end of January. It must have just come early this month, but I’m not complaining :)

I decided to try this one out last night after a nice dinner out with my boyfriend (mmm…Ethiopian food). I made a little pot of it and it was quite delicious. It was a very nice after-dinner tea. It is soothing and has a nice hint of vanilla that isn’t overwhelming but is definitely present.

This was my first Matcha experience, so I thought I’d stick with the basics. However, I did do my research and decided to purchase Teavana’s bamboo whisk to ensure proper blending. I would say that this has been an overall positive experience. I like it a little thicker than the Barista at Teavana made it for me, but it does have a very crisp and fresh flavor. I love the health benefits and heard that although it’s high in caffeine it doesn’t provide a jolt like coffee does, but rather gives a sustained energy over the course of 5-8 hours. I can’t wait to start experimenting with matcha lattes and smoothies, and to try the Pure Matcha you all have said such nice things about!

EDIT: I just made my first Matcha Latte, and I think I’m in love. I used the recipe on matchasource.com, and it is quite a treat!

I’m already a huge fan of Joy’s Teaspoon, but this tea puts my devotion over the top! I love the taste of pear and this tea is it! Two infusions down and I taste the ripe pear flavor with spices – cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, possibly nutmeg. The combo of spices matches the pear flavor perfectly!

Delicious iced as well. A new cupboard staple!

Oh, and thanks to Jude for supplying me with this wonder!

I was very worried about this tea…its pure Robitussin™ smell when dry in the bag. Luckily the smell doesn’t transfer to the tea (too much). This tea is weird…the tastes don’t make sense to me, but here it is: the brew’s smell is pretty neutral…not much there but the faintest of faint Robitussin. I moved away from the bag on the shelf behind me to see if was affecting me..thats how faint. So, don’t sweat it. The first mouth taste/smell is faintly pine tree and pine sap. yes, really. The mid to finish taste is pine sawdust…like you’ve been out cutting up a pine tree with a chainsaw (yeah, I’ve done that) or your walking through a large lumber warehouse with fresh lumber stacks all around. Just that smell/taste that you get at the roof of the mouth. Completely unexpected. Ultimately the tastes are so faint that they don’t distract you, but they do last awhile.
I think I like it…this will get further study (especially since I have a 100g bag) ;-)

There is little to no aroma on this one. The longer I ‘steeped’ the more saffron I could taste but it also got a little bitter. With the correct steeping times on this…it tastes like a medium strength black tea in a bag. The Saffron is more in the after taste. It’s not bad.

If over steepsted I think the aftertaste had a little coffee-like taste to it. Not bad if you like that coffee taste, I suppose.

My rating may change in the future but for now I will go with mid to upper 70s

Honestly I was pretty underwhelmed with this one. I thought that the flavours didn’t really come out, and near the end it got fairly bitter. I realize that that’s generally a symptom of over-steeping, but I’ve never had this problem with any of my other teas, green or otherwise.

I didn’t sweeten it since it has stevia in it, which I thought would do that for me, but apparently not. I’ll try again with sweetener and see if it fares any better.

Mmm…delicious. Has a wonderful distinctly honey flavor to it without being obnoxious.

Thanks for this one Rachel!

This smells sweet but slightly chewy/bake-E. The taste reminds me of a mellower Yunnan. It’s a bit on the sweet side for a black and it’s fairly mouthwatering. There is a small hint of chewy-ness but not really bake-E or cakey. This one is pretty good, not really bold or overly rich, but still pleasing!

Wow! This tea is AMAZING! And they are not kidding about the pink – it’s almost a crimson. Beautiful! It’s very fruity tasting and has a nice zing of an aftertaste. I’m usually one to sweeten my teas, but generally like to try them at least for a sip without being sweetened, and this doesn’t really need it (although I may still try it, as I find it can bring out some more flavours). I’ll definitely be stocking up on this one! So far I’ve only had it hot, but I imagine it will be even better cold!!

One of the best wulongs I’ve drank this season.
Really harmonious, quite different from other Tie Guan Yins I’ve drank recently. Usually I find Tie Guan Yin quite imbalanced tea for my taste, the characteristic floral aroma is usually too strong and aggressive for my taste. This TGY is really well balanced, the aftertaste isn’t too heavy, floral-aroma is sitting peacefully in the background.
Jadepisara says the Gaude village is one of the most famous TGY producers, and I understand why. Too bad there isn’t a lot of this tea anymore.

This tasted too much like I imagine coffee would for me to take any pleasure from it.

My tea arrived!

I still get a sweet lemon flavour (if that makes sense) but this was perfect for me and my cold. I still can taste things (I think!) but the lemon was a little mild and nice for my throat. Yay!

Backlog:

Yummy nummy. Don’t know if it will help make me healthy, but it tasted great (since I could still taste this morning). Big travel mug kept me warm on my way to work. Perfect!

Summer sunrise – sure, it isn’t summer yet. But hey, the three feet of snow on the ground is melting! It’s the first time it has been over 40 degrees in a while. But maybe it is more important to drink this tea when you WISH it was summer (or anything other than winter). Basil is my FAVORITE. Especially the purple basil. I can put that on anything, when I have it. (Whole leaves on a pizza? Why not?) I’m not a tea expert, but this is different from any tea I’ve tried. The color isn’t quite black, it’s more of an amber. The flavor isn’t a strong black either. The lemon isn’t too much lemon at all. Maybe I’m used to overdoing basil, but I don’t smell or taste much of it here. It is a nice sweet and light flavor though… just like summer.

I love this tea! I was a daily coffee drinker always adding specialty creams which loaded my day with lots of sugar and unnecessary calories. So, I tried this tea after reading the comments of others on the Teavana website. To be sure, it helps me to wake up (I have NEVER been a morning person) without feeling all nervous and twitchy. Also, I have a thyroid condition that requires me to take a pill every morning and adding that with coffee made be vibrate like a humming bird…so this tea has been a great problem solver! I am a nurse so shaky hands are a big no no! But, this tea does not give me the shakes and that makes me and my patients very happy") Good product for me to say the least!

Grassy Green with hearty lemon! If you like flavored greens and/or if you like lemon…try this! It’s wonderful! YUM!!!!

1 cup hot and 1 cup cold…both great…liking it a bit better iced tho!

I’m definitely a fan of this Earl Grey green tea. The flavoring isn’t overpowering, and it maintains the pleasant, leafy taste of green tea, but over all is the fragrant bergamot with lemony citrus. It has the notes you expect from an Earl Grey, but it’s so light and flavorful it’s a different (and lovely) experience. Whenever I want a nice light tea, something with clean and bright flavors, this is the tea I come back to.

This being the first Tea Forte tea that I have tried in quite some time, I decided to go all out. I am using my Tea Forte Cafe Cup, Tea Forte Tea Tray, and the Tea Forte Tea Timer app for iPhone. The instructions, acquired from the application itself, recommend 2-4 minutes of steep time. For a happy medium, I choose three, using just-under-boil filtered water.

I have a decent amount of experience with oolong teas. As this tea is steeping, I cannot help but wonder if the tea is being restricted from expansion by the pyramid in which it rests, as most oolongs like this one do a decent amount of unfurling while steeping.

The colour of the tea is a brownish yellow; the smells wafting from the cup are smooth, mellow, with perhaps a faint hint of spice. After a couple of small sips, I determine to put the pyramid back into the cup for another minute. The strength is okay but not quite as strong as I like. (If you like your oolongs light and mellow, three minutes will probably suffice.) Another minute, and it is back to tasting. Pleasantly, I can still taste the buttery aftertaste of those couple sips, with hints of vegetal flavour. The taste of this tea reminds me a lot of a Ti Kwan Yin.

In my opinion, four minutes was a prime amount of time for this tea. The flavours are much more full-bodied and literally burst in the mouth. There is a bit of vegetal bite on the sides of the tongue, as with a slightly-oversteeped green tea (like a gunpowder), but this is hardly noticeable, and probably due to my long steep time.

Overall I really enjoyed this tea. It was a very pleasant cuppa, and I do not think I have any complaints with it, other than a bit of lacking in the flavour department. I would perhaps be interested to know if this was due to the pyramid or the tea itself. 85/100 is what I would rate this tea on my personal enjoyment scale.

Special Thanks to Rachel for this one! This has an amazing aroma! Just when I think Chai with Vanilla then I think Snickerdoodle, too! Maybe a cross between the two! It’s lovely! It ‘brews’ very dark and the flavor is super yummy! I can taste a perfect amount of the spices and a wonderfully-done vanilla but I can also taste the naturally-sweet notes of rooibos…it adds the sweetness of the rooibos without having that over-the-top stereotypical rooibos linger if you know what I mean. This exceeded my expectations and is a really great custom blend! WOW! Very nicely done!