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I’m starting to become a bit leery of herbal teas, and I really don’t like genmaicha, or at least the kinds I’ve tried. So… herbal, with rice. Open mind! Open mind!

The cinnamon saves this. Actually, it’s not bad at all. I think the rice makes it smell a bit funky, and this is my first introduction to coriander. I’m assuming that’s the flavor I don’t recognize. It’s yummy! Yay!

Unfortunately, I picked this up as Verdant was transitioning to China and completely revamping their products. I suppose if I really wanted to make my own, I could follow their blend recipe. :)

Is re-steeping a thing with herbal tea? I guess I’m about to find out! :D

I decided to scoop up a bit of this tea because it sounded interesting, and I’m certainly happy about that decision! This is my first introduction to purple tea, and it’s a much lighter taste than black tea—almost flowery or fruity, and sweet. It’s not as creamy as a black tea might be, but is still smooth. It’s got a little bit of a bite to it there at the end that I think I like? Haha!

I received this as a sample once upon a time. The smell is mostly amazing, with a little bit of a funk going on—it doesn’t come through in the flavor (at least, after the first sip) so that’s a relief! By funk, I suppose I mean a sort of burnt, wet, mud going on. Maybe my glass teapot needs cleaned? Hrmph. That’s probably it.

The first steep I did was only for a few seconds (like, thirty). I usually don’t do shorter steeps, so I was surprised at how strong the tea was after only a quick dip. It’s smooth and malty and fantastic.

The second steep was my usual length—a couple minutes. It’s not bitter at all, which makes me very happy. Another fantastic tea from Verdant—if they can make me fall in love with Wulong, then it only make sense that I feel the need to rave endlessly about their other teas. What a perfect end to a cold day in the bitter freezer! I’ll just curl up right here with my journal, and my books, my tea cup, and my cat, and my fuzzy slippers… take that hypothermia!

I already have quite the selection of loose leaf plain black teas (thanks to Verdant, actually), so I will have to put this in the running for when I need more.

Meh. It’s a decent chai. The tea part is kind of weak, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Not sure I would invest in an entire box of it, though. :)

I added some hot milk (I used almond) to this as suggested on the tin, threw it in my go-cup and took it to my volunteer desk-job. Yum! I really needed something hot and comforting as the weather’s turning and I caught the very first autumn cold to come around. Woooohooo. This cheered up my day a bit. :)

I have a cheap apple cider than I enjoy, but I splurged on this because it has more spices in it, and you can’t go wrong with that. It wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked it, but it was still yummy! I think a strong apple flavor is what it was really missing, like the spices gave a good punch and the apple kind of fell on its face. lol :D

More an acidic/sweet combination for an oolong. Yummers! I know my lazy brewing doesn’t do justice to this tea, but that fact it’s amazingly delicious despite my own clumsiness just speaks to the quality of this tea. :3

I’m not a big fan of fruity-tooty teas hot (warm kool-aid?), but this makes a great iced tea! I like to mix it with lemon lime soda and make a spritzer (is that like, sacrilegious?).

This tea just kept getting better with each steep! I’m not a huge fan of oolong/tieguanyin teas, but I actually enjoyed this! :)

I’m a sucker for jasmine tea, and for white tea, so put them together and I had to buy this right after I tried the sample. Absolutely delicious! The jasmine was strong but not totally overpowering. The white tea is smooth and flavorful enough not to be lost in the background. My collection of jasmine teas is now complete!