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I bought this tea because it sounded weird. It is indeed quite weird. Maybe a little too so. I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea with eucalyptus in it, so my curiosity was peaked enough that I neglected to notice hibiscus in the ingredients. Surprisingly, the hib isn’t overwhelming! The cool euc mix is strange and a hard taste for me to acquire. I chose it today because my lungs have been feeling restricted and I thought it might help open them up on top of my inhaler. Not sure it’s doing the trick, but it was a high bar in the first place. I’d like to try this cold steeped sometime.

My David’s order arrived today! I’m a sucker for all things pumpkin and hadn’t tried a pumpkin matcha that I can recall, so I couldn’t resist adding this to my order. I heated some water, added a David’s matcha spoon full to a cup filled 1/3 of the way up, added 1/3 of creamer and frothed it up. It really does smell like pumpkin pie! So many pumpkin products rely on the cinnamon/clove/ginger pumpkin spice combo to invoke the feeling of pumpkin without pumpkin and it’s a little disappointing. The spices in this matcha are not overdone in an effort to mask a lack of pumpkin! I get a distinct pumpkin flavor that is supported by the spices. It’s harder to taste in the sip, but is very present in the finish. I do wish I had made this with a little more matcha so the flavors were stronger and cut through the allergy/histamine reaction I’m having, but it is still a surprisingly delightful cup! I wonder how quickly I’m going to end up going through this bag.

Picked this up in a fancy grocery store in Dublin. I was looking for local tea companies. I had been to Dublin six years ago and had found several tea shops that sold loose leaf teas, but they all seem to have closed and I was on the search for what the current tea offerings were. This being an Irish company seemed to be a good alternative.

The first thing that caught my attention with this tea was the name: Life of Brian! I can appreciate a good sense of humor, even in tea. Second thing was the ingredients. Sandalwood?! Sandalwood with papaya? I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea with sandalwood in it! I’m a sucker for unique ingredients in tea. Sold.
Unfortunately my initial enthusiasm was muted when I steeped a cup. It’s a light fruity green tea. I get the papaya. It’s not super strong or juicy, but it’s there. I can’t for the life of me (or Brian) pick out the sandalwood! Maybe it’s working behind the scenes and supporting the flavor of the papaya, but it would be quite subtle if it was. I might try this again cold steeped, but if there is no magic in that cup, then I’m done with it. It was a nice dream.

I had a cup of this the other day and it was okay, but in an effort to use up the rest of it I dumped the rest of the tin in a mason jar and cold steeped a concentrate overnight. I added some ice, sugar and coconut milk and it made it very Oregon Chai like. Still not much in the way of pumpkin or other than chai spices which is a shame because pumpkin would have matched the skies in California today!

This was a bit of an impulse purchase. My family was waiting for me outside the shop on our last day in Paris a year ago, so I had to make it quick. The man behind the counter was very helpful in narrowing my interests, pulling this one out when I said I like almonds. I was in such a hurry that I totally forgot I had meant to ask about their cacao teas.

This tea has a nice fruity almond scent that translates well into the cup. I’m not sure what all is in it, but it’s hard to scoop accurately because there are large non tea leaves in the mix. The tea has a very light feel to it, so much so that it doesn’t strike me as a black tea at all. It has some sweetness to it that rounds out the fruit flavor which mixes well with the almond. As it cools it takes on a flatness and becomes slightly tart and alkaline. Much better when hot! I would like to cold steep this sometime if I can remember to do so next time I come across it in my cupboard.

I picked this up at a grocery store that had an impressive bulk tea section, including the little pressed pucks of this. Tu chas? I forget the right name for this sized puerh puck. It has sat in my cupboard for six years now, which is not the idea storage climate for puerh. It has a very earthy cave like scent, which seems promising, but the sip is a let down. I’m not familiar with what lotus flavoring is like, so I can’t pick it out in this cup. The puerh on the other hand seems flat, dull and weak. Almost soapy in the finish. I’m not sure if this is all due to user error, if the tea wasn’t that great to begin with or if having tasted some really great strong puerhs have colored my perception of what it should be. Either way, glad to get this out of the cupboard and I’m going to dump the rest of this cup.

Having the last of this taster. I was really hoping to adore AU teas. They have such interesting sounding blends, but they more often than not don’t translate to a cup I thoroughly enjoy. This one for example is good. It has an interesting blend of flavors. Fruity with spices. The apple comes out really well in the sip and doesn’t taste artificial. The fennel is very present in the finish. Somewhere between sip and finish is an alkaline appearance that I can’t get over. Each sip is like a roller coaster of spicy fruity goodness plunging down into a taste void and then back up to deliciousness. It’s distracting and playing hard to get in between being welcoming. I’ve had relationships like that before and they don’t last. Farewell to you, little tea.

I don’t recall how many bags of this I have gone through over the years now since my first mention of it 8 years ago, but it still resides in my cupboard. I hadn’t thought about it in a while, but there was a cup of it steeped on the counter this morning. I quickly swapped the cup for an empty one, hiding the full cup and watched the husband search for his cup of tea for several minutes before he found it. That’s how it feels when you swap the utensils drawers in the kitchen, husband! >:) I of course had to take a few sips before hiding the cup and that put me in the mood for a cup of my own. It is still one of my favorite jasmines, but I don’t often reach for it so this bag has been around for a while. My second steeping cup is a little on the soapy side, just a touch in the finish. The scent is a crisp jasmine and the sip is strong and aromatic. It reminds me that I should get back into jasmine tea by having it more often.

This seems to have fallen to the back of my cupboard. The out of sight, out of mind void. This mornings expedition has uncovered it! I’m starting the cup out without adding cream and there is a sharp bite to it. It fades a bit as the tea cools, but the first several sips were unpleasant. When it was hot I mainly got the bergamot, with a hint of chocolate in the finish. Cooling down unveils the chocolate more and more. I find I have to keep sipping this cup to enjoy it or the bergamot bite starts to take over. I’m caving and adding cream! It’s a bit more palatable now. The sharp bite is gone, but the chocolate now hidden in the sip and present in the finish.
I was just eyeing the Lupicia website last night, pondering an order, and was sad to see this tea was out of stock. Now that I’ve refreshed my memory about it, I feel much better. My opinion further into this bag of tea could change, but right now I don’t think it is a reorder once done.

I’m not sure I got the best out of this cup. It was a little bitter and unbalanced before I added some creamer. This might be one that I have to fuss with the steeping parameters on. Once the cream was added the flavors improved. The sip is brighter. Light butterscotch comes to mind. The finish has more depth, a little malt and the butterscotch becomes heavier, almost caramel like. It has an aftertaste similar to MF’s Wedding Imperial. I’m liking this cup, but I’m not crazy about it as is. I’ll have to look up the Wedding Imperial steeping parameters I favored and try it on this one next time I have it.