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The aroma is somewhat slight as it steeps. Perhaps my water wasn’t hot enough. Fascinating, I can see why they call it fireberry. It gives off notes of campfire smoke but don’t worry they aren’t strong like a lapsang. This is a mind-boggling tea. The smoky notes then turn into cranberry and hibiscus notes with elderberry swirling around them. The rooibos isn’t as strong as I thought it would be but it shows its face occasionally with earthy and sweet cookie notes.

Rooibos is love. It’s so good. Its earthy yet sweet cookie notes always give me a warm hug. I’ve never had banana macaroons or the cake version of it but it sounds delicious. As I sit here above it smelling it as it steeps my anticipation grows. The aroma is full of banana, sweet banana, and sweetened milk. Oat milk. Slight almond. Steeping at five minutes reveals lots of banana notes. Mostly dried and candy bananas, like runts. The rooibos comes in after with earthy slightly milky notes. This is quite a bit weaker than I thought it would be though. Strong enough to be enjoyable but I feel the creamy notes could be a touch stronger.
Speaking of almonds I’m allergic but I used to love how they taste and smell. When I was getting my hair done for my brother’s wedding they for some reason decided to give me a free manicure. I haven’t had my nails done in 11 years because I don’t like the feeling of the nail polish on top of my nails. I know, I’m weird. Anyway, at the end the lady sprayed something all over my hands and walked away. As I was sitting there I smelled it and I looked up at the lady and said, “This smells like almonds, is it almond-scented?” “Yes” I didn’t wait to see if I was going to react so I went straight to the bathroom to rinse it off. My hands were a bit red but I didn’t notice anything otherwise.

Weak sauce. This one needs a long time to steep. The first sip at 5 minutes was decent but definitely weak. Slight fruit and floral hints with a new house something… With an added 5 minutes (at least) the flavor has improved. It reminds me of the kiwi strawberry cooler from Caprisun. Haven’t had that in forever. This would be a good gateway tisane for kids. The flavor is nice and I bet it would steep nicely overnight for an even stronger kick in the morning.

This one loves passionfruit. Before I found out I was allergic to dairy I used to seek out this passionfruit dessert that was melt in your mouth and pucker your face. No, this is not a replacement for that and to be honest I remember each time I drink flavored teas now why I don’t buy them anymore. The names sound so enticing but the taste is just not anything near to what a pure tea offers. Yes, I am biased. This one offers a bit of bitter raspberry and a hint of passion fruit on the tail end. It’s decent… Not one I would drink again me thinks.

We used to roast chestnuts on an open fire in our house. But my mom kept getting sick. We then realized she doesn’t do well with campfire smoke. 20 years later I’m still not a fan of chestnuts but this tea intrigues me. The steeping aroma is delicately nutty with woody undertones that dance with some chocolate notes same with the flavor. When you drink it the notes come out almost exactly in the order described above. If left to steep too long some bitter nutty notes come out that remind me of whiskey. After not having any tea for almost a week I feel like I am stuffing my face full to refill.

This looks like a black tea. If this is a green I might cry, The steeping tea at least has a pleasant aroma. Jasmine, just like on the bushes in Hawai’i. Okay. Now I really might cry. This also reminds me of many of the Chinese restaurants we visited while in China back in 2008. The taste is decent. Hints of jasmine. Bit of some type of hardy wood. T_T yeah… It’s a green tea. Oxidized a bit too long for my preference. Oo… oh man. Whoa. I only left it in a bit longer but it punched me in the face with bitter notes and then tried to apologize with some nice floral jasmine notes. And now it’s leaving me hanging with astringency. Would be better with some honey.

A nice blackberry aroma drifts from the tea as it steeps. Brings me back to Missoula, MT. The purplish/blueish mountains spread out forever to the horizon with the rushing river flowing past. This has a nice woody tone to it. Warm and inviting but also somewhat flat due to the flavoring. The blackberry flavoring is decent, not high in metallic notes as you can find with some flavorings but still it’s there. This was a good try just for the aroma and quick mental trip but not one I would buy myself.

Smells like cola. Fascinating. The wet aroma reminds me of those candies called Bottle Caps. The leaf is decent looking but nothing to alluring. Overall, the flavor I find very lacking. A bit of black cherry in the background laced with some vanilla but buried with some bitter walnut bark, though all of this is not all too pleasant. The taste is tepid and uninspiring. Though I do want to retry this at some point bc I have a feeling I needed hotter water…

The aroma was unfortunately ruined by something near it but the flavor has remained intact. I can see why they called this French Breakfast but I think it would have been even better without the vanilla. The black base adds a nice woody touch with oak barrel and walnut tree bark while the rose petals round it out nicely. Actually, now that I’m on my second session I’m realizing that the vanilla almost gives it some bourbon flair. On a side note, I apologize if my last few notes have been a tad on the touchy side. My lil brother got married this past weekend. I am happy for them and the wedding was beautiful but its been an emotional rollercoaster. My sister tried to change my hair appt to have my hair done the way she wanted it to be and I had prepared a speech but they only gave time for 2 speeches. I’m really trying to be positive but there are other things too that my emotions are just doing crazy up and downs.

I thought I had ruined my first cup of this because of something I had in the cup previously but I know I rinsed it fairly well. This just seems to be a weak sample maybe? I will re-evaluate if I get a change to try a fresh sample.