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Got this one with Den’s Tea green tea sampler – it’s the first I’ve tried, because I was craving something roasty one morning.

So far it’s given me a really great and tasty five cups’ worth from the sample! With a tiny bit left over for an extra half cup.

This is one that smells a bit sweeter than it tastes. One thing I kept noticing about it is how full-bodied and nearly creamy it is – it’s really satisfying and filling, like a food (I might be associating that with the nutty flavor). I don’t really notice anything green about it, though it does remind me of the toasted rice in genmaicha. The nuttiness hits me most with the aftertaste, which isn’t too strong but lingers for a really good while afterwards.

I’ve been drinking out of the huuge sample of this that Pekko Teas sent for a while!

I’ve noticed that there’s starting to be more of the toasty scent on the leaves than the orange scent that was there when I first got it (hopefully not a sign that’s it going bad?), though I never really did notice the jasmine all that much. I might be looking for too much jasmine though, since the only other jasmine-scented tea I’ve had was /really/ strong (in the words of my boyfriend: like drinking the liquid from a Glade plug-in).

I love this one a daily kind of oolong! It’s a really cozy tea – a little floral, a little fruitish, but mostly a warm and crisp oolong with a perfect amount of aftertaste and a natural sweetness. I haven’t noticed any astringency in any of the cups I’ve had so far. Haven’t tried it iced yet, but I bet it’s going to be just as good.

Thank you so much for this very generous sample, Pekko Teas!

The caramel scent from the dry tea on this is really strong – I almost want to describe it as dark? It’s a delicious smell though!

I got this one as a free sample along with one of my try-me packs, which I’m very glad for! It seems like I’ve loved the randomly chosen free samples even more than many of those I selected myself. I didn’t notice any of the caramel chunks in my sample, but it doesn’t seem at all hindered by that.

When brewed, it tastes noticeably sweet (though I didn’t add anything to it) and caramel-y, but the black tea is at the front. I think a single word to describe this tea, for me, would be “comforting” – especially when combined with the warm, caramel smell that this fills the room with. It probably helps that my first taste of it was a shared pot between me, my mom and my younger sister. It has something that reminds me of mornings in general. I think I’ll save my last cup of it for one of the upcoming near-freezing mornings.

I don’t remember this one having such a graham cracker/roasted smell to it the first time I tried it, but it’s definitely apparent now. And it’s a really nice smell! The smell is sweeter as well, kind of candied. Maybe because I mushed up a few of the marshmallows in it. The brewed tea brings out more of the chocolate and black tea smells, pushing the graham cracker scent to the background.

But yumm does it taste nice – a slight sweetness, lightly chocolate, black tea still apparent and an aftertaste of toasty graham cracker. I can definitely see why it’s one of Della Terra Tea’s highest rated teas on here.

Ahh! This smelled so, so good. Licorice-y and caramel-y, very sweet and dark. I could sit there and smell it all day.

Brewed up it smells even more delicious. It may be my mind playing with me because of seeing “pine-needle shaped,” but I even feel like I’m getting a pine-y taste. It’s like a combination of a woodsy and medicinal (which is in no way negative for me) feeling – it tastes like something that could have once been called an elixir. This is one of those where I actually whispered a little “wow” after the first sip. There’s a lot about the taste that I’m not experienced enough to name (though I know I love the full-bodied-ness of it) – I see a lot of other members mentioning malty, which I think is what’s making me think of medicinal things.

My amazement might come from never having had a non-flavored, high quality black before. But I love this! I am so glad Teavivre sent this sample along with my flavored sample pack, because this one really impresses me.

I’ve never been an especially big fan of Earl Grey, which is what this one seemed to resemble with the bergamot, but I still picked out this tea for one of my try-me packs. I gotta say, it may’ve been because it’s so pretty.

I remember not really liking the first cup of this I had, but I think I must have oversteeped/put too much leaf in it or something. Because this second cup is very delicious – the dry tea still smelled a bit overpowering, but the liquor ends up with that nice mild and dark orange-y tea scent. It’s very thirst-quenching to me, with the orange taste lending a refreshing note. It also has a nice, slight bite to it that increases as it cools down. And my Earl Grey-loving boyfriend seems to definitely be a fan of this one!

The smell of the dry leaves on this one was like a licorice-y butter to me, though the wet leaves had a much more darkly vegetal scent – I think this may be the greenest oolong I’ve tasted so far. I’m not sure I’m getting too much of the milk (I think I was expecting it to be really strong, since this was the flavored version), but it does have a really pleasant creamy-buttery taste. The cup is tasting better and better as I drink more of it (I think because I’m getting better accustomed to the greenness), and between sips there’s a long lasting pleasant aftertaste. After I let it cool down a bit more, I can taste more of the milk flavor in the aftertaste.

With the second and third steeps (at two and three minutes), all the flavors started coming out much stronger – more vegetal, but also way more milk taste and almost a kind of spiciness to it.

Last cup! So I’ll definitely have to make a note, as this is one of my favorites. It’s been my first guayusa and it makes me excited to try more.

I love having this one on mornings where I think I might need a little extra kick. It’s a really relaxing tea (the tangerine taste is fairly sweet to me, not as tangy), and the guayusa does always seem to give me more energy. The whole tea just seems like the perfect blend of a grassiness, citrus taste and a light creaminess. I put off the review for so long because I can never pinpoint what it is that makes me love it so much, and I still can’t quite name it. The smell is always amazing, and does actually reminds me greatly of a tangerine creamsicle! (though brewed it’s a bit less so) The tangerine taste is very juicy, and the creaminess to this one is light, making it really refreshing instead of too dessert-y.

I never did end up adding sugar to any of the cups I had, so I’ll have to remember to try it that way with my next order. I’m definitely going to try and keep this one in my permanent teas (as soon I’m allowed more money to spend on tea)! I even got a separate tin all ready for it, with labeling and stuff.

Another from my CS Fruit Tea sampler, since it’s 4am and I may as well!

Had it sitting steeping right next to another mug with the True Blueberry in it (for the boyfriend), and the two together made a very pleasant smell. I went ahead and added honey to this before tasting, since I was planning to just have it iced. But I miscalculated the size of my cups, so I now have half a mug of hot peach and a full glass of iced!

Another reviewer mentioned peach-flavored oatmeal – that is exactly what this tea hot reminds me of! It has something non-peachy in it that smells more like a baked good. Like others mentioned too, it’s definitely not tart. It doesn’t taste very much like peaches either though, to me. A lot like the blueberry one, this is really thick and syrup-y, and ends up reminding me of a peach syrup/jam. It tastes like something that would go well on pancakes. Like also happened with the blueberry, I’m finding it difficult to finish this one hot.

Iced though, it’s fairly nice. It’s diluted a bit and the whole tea is much lighter. For some reason it seemed to go a little melon-flavored on me when iced, in a not very pleasant way. It makes it somewhat sour, so I’m guessing that may be the hibiscus finally coming out.

This has been my favorite tea from Della Terra yet! After I burned through the try-me sized pack, I immediately had to go for another two ounces (and it helped that I’d won a coupon from them from one of their numerous, generous giveaways).

The smell is immediately comforting to me. “Mellow” is a really good descriptor – it’s juicy, floral and fruity (with two of my favorite fruits!), smelling almost like an exquisite candy. It’s excellent both hot and cold, sweetened and not. I’ve mostly been drinking it hot (where the creaminess seems most prominent for me), but when iced the mango and peach flavors really come out. It’s extremely refreshing and light that way, especially with a little honey added!