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This is definitely not what I expected. The brew is quite dark, both in color and in aroma. The pear is quite prominent in aroma, but is mixed with the floral accents, as well as a deep rose color. This will be interesting.

With much of the fruit, I would have expected a fresher flavor, but it comes more of a darker, floral taste, which I would think would come from the hibiscus and rose petals. The salad of fruit is there, but behind the flowers, which is quite disappointing.

I would have preferred more fruit than flower, and a brighter flavor than dark. Nonetheless, it is a good dark tea.

Judging by the scent, I can tell right away this will be a dark tea. The papaya and pumpkin are ripe and strong and very sweet. It is an intensely interesting and unique aroma.

Unfortunately, the taste does not live up to it’s aroma. It is a very weird flavor I am really not used to. The papaya is there, but the pumpkin does not blend well, and the cardamom really doesn’t help.

This is the second pumpkin tea I’ve had that surprised me how interestingly unique but oddly disappointing it has resulted. Thankfully, this doesn’t have a strange banana flavor, and is quite strong for such an odd blend, thanks to the cardamom and cinnamon.

There might be a clash of seasons here, of summer and autumn, with the darker papaya and pumpkin attempting to blend with peach and blossoms. There is a bit of paleness that follows the odd after-taste of pumpkin.

It is quite ambitious. It is also not a tea to drink all the time, considering how odd it is. It might be better iced near the end of summer, transitioning to autumn, which would make sense of the clash of seasons here.

With a name that has spice right in the middle, it sure does live up to it. The smell of rich sweet spices just explodes from the bag. I can tell I am going to like this tea.

And indeed, I was right. This tea explodes in your mouth with sweet flavors and spices. Of course, the ginger, cloves and pepper are most prominent, but the vanilla and peppermint sweeten and soften. This gives me the impression of a traditional but not so overbearing chai blend.

Probably because of the candied pineapple and certain spices, this has a tropical tinge, which gives this a non conventional flavor. The blend is quite interesting, because of the richness of each side, you are hit with a wide spectrum of flavors and sensations.

I like this tea. Diving in and out of convention and tradition is exciting, if just for a fleeting steep or two.

This tea engulfs you in coconut aroma bliss. The smell of coconut is very potent from opening the bag to steeping. There are chocolate details in there somewhere, but the coconut is most prominent.

My first sip really surprised me. I didn’t expect this tea to be so creamy. The chocolate taste and nutty flavors are there, but I am quite thankful the coconut is still prominent in taste as well, it gives a bit of a sweeter flavor to it’s striking coffee similarity. The rose and licorice are quite faint in the background, which is ok, as they do not need to be big flavors in this already deliciously milky tea.

After getting repeatedly disappointed with coffee extract tea blends from another company, Teavana seem to know how to make coffee alternatives without actually putting one bit of coffee in their teas. This tea has all the right elements for a pitch perfect blend that both coffee and tea drinkers will enjoy.

This is not half bad. I was expecting worse, as this is a rooibos tea, and not a lot more.

Indeed, it is quite comforting, thanks to the lavender, the rooibos is levelled out respectably. And the coconut gives it a bit of delicious flavor.

My God! The aroma the moment you open this tea. Instant and strong maple syrup. So much maple details. Just smelling this tea is enough to make you end every line with eh, eh?

But, a tea is not just a well scented beverage. I am so glad the maple flavor is working with the rooibos taste, instead of the rooibos taste overtaking everything. It is such a full maple flavor, with a bit of a winter kick. Quite beautiful.

But the aroma of maple syrup just doesn’t fail to comfort. This is a great late winter/early spring tea.

The taste of this green tea reminds me so much of straight black tea, assam tea in particular.

The combination of the earthly green tea and lightly fruity raspberries and pomegranate make a darkly sweet brew.

I really like this tea, it is strong enough without being sickeningly imperial green, and the light fruitiness is enough to not require any sweetener.

This is a very disappointing chai. My feelings of rooibos notwithstanding, everything is just very weak, there’s barely a spice kick, a chai flair, or even a silver lining of coconut.

Opening this tea, the smell intrigued me, as it didn’t give off a typical rooibos smell, which led me to believe this wouldn’t have that overpowering rooibos taste.

How wrong I was. And that was when everything fell apart, as the rooibos just overpowered the whole flavor of the blend. As well, the bland scent now makes sense, as this is just bland.

I would be curious to know how the chai spices would taste, had it not been a rooibos blend, and the coconut seems a subtle flavor as well.

But, when the whole damn brew is rooibos, you just can’t taste anything but.

First off, I’m not a coffee drinker. I’ve made that clear with other coffee alternatives.

I’m kind of getting tired of these coffee tea blends. They are essentially coffee, as they have coffee “extracts” in them. I’ve had two coffee alternatives from Teavana, which were mate teas rather than teas blended with “coffee extracts”.

It would be better if this was mate tea than coffee extract. I can taste the pu’erh and almond flavoring, but everything else just tells me coffee, and it’s not even good coffee.

After a relatively disappointing Monday of trying the rest of my new teas, I have come back to my now heralded failsafe.

This tea just brings natural delicious joy in each cup. I keep falling more and more in love with each steep.

Sadly, this is the last of my sample canister from The Connoisseur sample pack, and waiting on more to ship will be difficult. But, it will be worth the wait, as this tea just keeps satisfying.