Summer Cabin Blend

Another tea in The Great Tea Purge/Sampling of 2014. I am trying as many untried teas as I can before the new year, and trying to figure out which ones to rehome/purge from my cupboard. This is next on the list, not really sure why I haven’t tried this one yet, but I know that it looks similar to the previous blends club one that I loved! Jingshan Earl Green!

The dry smell is very lavender, also smells a bit citrusy, so that must be from the fresh green base used in this tea. It smells very calming, I enjoy lavender. It’s not as enjoyable of a scent as the Jingshan Earl Green, as there is a woody note from the birch in the scent of this one. I steeped for 2 minutes with 175 degree water and the steeped smell is lavender, toasty coriander and crisp green tea.

As for the flavor, this is mostly a lavender green tea, with a bit of a toasty note from the coriander. It’s okay, but I found the other lavender green blend more flavorful and interesting. It’s pretty easy to drink, but does get a bit soapy near the end of the sip. The base is not overly present here either, mostly lavender, don’t get much of the other ingredients either unfortunately.

Overall, this is a decent tea that I will probably be able to sip down, as long as I remember to drink it. It’s not a favorite, but it is easy drinking. I might drink up half the bag and give the rest to a friend with similar tastes to me, she also loves lavender. Happy to finally have tried this tea!

So this tea came from my swap with Cameron, who didn’t seem to like it very much. When I opened the bag I did notice the overwhelming lavender/woodsy smell, which was quite aromatic. I think this tea should be made into a bath soap, if nothing else. It smells really good!

So, on to the flavor. I am getting some vegetal notes from the green tea but it is definitely very strong on the lavender with a pungent, spicy flavor that is coming from the coriander, I think. It’s a creative blend, for sure, that does remind me of the great outdoors. I’m a little more sold on the aroma than I am on the flavor, but I haven’t really loved any lavender blended teas I’ve tried. Something about them reminds me of soap and/or cleaning product instead of something to drink. This is definitely an interesting tea but I can’t say I would be rushing out to buy any. I think I will finish the cup but might use the rest as bath tea… lol. It’s kind of bitter too.

So… this tea. This is definitely the one I’m least excited about. It’s a shame because I’ve tried the base tea plain and really enjoyed it, but when I open the pouch I can see (and smell) a ton of lavender… :( Now, lavender’s not as bad as a lot of other florals in my opinion (*cough*rose*cough*), in fact there’s something about it that reminds me of citrus. But lavender is all I can smell here, and that’s never good… Visually, this tea is a mix of wiry green tea leaves, lavender buds, coriander, juniper berries, and some other small chunks of herbal-y things. I brewed mine for 3 minutes at 175.

Hmm, yeah, I pretty much just smell lavender in the brewed tea as well, with a little bit of coriander mixed in. Ooh, and it tastes like almost pure lavender as well. I can’t even tell that there’s green tea in this blend, which is rather sad to me. Lavender tea! :(

Not rating as I feel somewhat biased… Although clearly this is a very heavy-handed blend, and that speaks to me of poor blending.