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(Catching up on old tastings…)

This is from the Tea Forte “single steeps” sampler that my sister bought for me to bring me into loose leaf tea. It was the first one I tried and with a little sugar it was to die for. The rest of the flavours in the sampler went quickly downhill from there, but I did drink them in the order I expected to enjoy most.

Before joining Steepster I’d already tried each flavour once as the full package as suggested, but the only flavour that worked for me at full strength was the Strawberry Apple. Such a great taste. Was so disappointed when I learned it wasn’t sold on its own. That’s what made me start looking around for more teas and yea, I’ve made two tea orders since haha…

Anyway, this tea has smaller “leafy bits” than the other loose leaf teas I’ve tried. Smells kind of apple/citrusy when dry and right when the boiling water hits, it has a very strong apple cider type smell.

I steeped half a package this time for 5 minutes at boiling, just to see how it would taste at half strength. Would love to stretch these last two “singles” to four more cups instead of two because this tea’s just so delicious and it’s unlikely that I will buy this sampler again just for this one tea.

The tea once steeped turns out an amber colour and still has the apple cider smell to it, though not as strong with the loose tea removed. Again I added a bit of sugar (I couldn’t remember if I’d added sugar the first time I tried it, so I tasted it this time before without the sugar, and it definitely tastes better to me with the sugar.)

Not as absolutely amazing as last time, but it’s still a delicious light-tasting afternoon drink. I have no problem at all drinking this at half-strength. I can definitely taste both the apple and the strawberry quite strongly. Not really picking up the citrus taste that I was smelling in the dry tea though.

As half strength, I’d probably rate this tea 85. At full strength though, 95.

Updated cup count from 3 single steep packs: 2 (1.5 single steep packages left.)

Would I buy this again? If they sold it separately, in a heart beat. But I’m not going to buy a set of teas that most I don’t find that good, just to get more of this one.

(Catching up on old tastings…)

So, I just went a little crazy online today and bought a bunch more tea. Yea, I might be addicted, considering I still have a ton of unopened ones still here. But the deals were right and the names sounded oh so tasty that I couldn’t resist.

Anyway, because I have a whole wackload of new tea on the way, I thought it might be a good idea to try and finish some that I have already started. The one that’s currently closest to being finished is the Maple Dream, so that’s what I chose even though it’s also the last flavour of loose leaf tea I drank.

Didn’t deviate from my previously-discovered preferred taste profile—Used 0.75 tsp of tea for 12 oz water, instead of the recommended 1.5 tsp per 8 oz. Steeped 2.5 minutes at boiling, then just added sugar to taste.

Nothing too remarkable to say, I’ve drank this tea several times now.

Updated cup count (12 oz) from 8g sampler size: 5 (+ 6 re-steeps). I measured the remaining tea in the sample bag and there was only about 0.5 tsp left after my 5th cup, so not enough for another full tea. I ended up just adding 0.25 tsp into each re-steep to liven up the flavour. It definitely helped and I wasn’t just drinking tinted water by the third re-steeped cup. It tasted like every cup was a fresh one. Also, the last of the tea packet had some powder with it and I was a bit worried that it might all fall through the infuser basket. Some did, but it wasn’t bad.

Final verdict: I really enjoyed this one, I’d definitely buy it again if it’s still for sale the next time I buy from this company. And I couldn’t really beat the price, 5 cups not counting the re-steeps for just $1 (plus shipping). If my completely non-scientific math is correct, there was about 4.25 tsp total in the package in case you were wondering how many teas this sampler might make for you. The suggested amount is 2-3 cups.

Was feeling somewhat stressed tonight and had a bit of a headache coming on, so I wanted a nice relaxing tea to sit down with. Decided on the Maple Dream because the black teas have been my favorite so far of the loose leaf varieties I’ve tried.

Though my original tastings have taught me that I prefer this tea with only sugar, this time I decided to also add some milk because it felt like it would be more relaxing to me with the added milk. (I know, it’s a medium caffeinated tea with added sugar, so it’s probably not the best for relaxation, but whatever.) Upon drinking it however, I kind of wish I didn’t add the milk. Oh well, it’s still totally drinkable.

Anyway, used my normal 0.75 tsp for 12 oz water, instead of the recommended 1.5 tsp per 8 oz. Steeped 3 minutes at boiling instead of my usual 2.5 minutes. Might have seemed a bit darker in the cup, but I thought maybe the extra half a minute was a good idea since I added the milk.

Updated cup count (12 oz) from 8g sampler size: 4 (+ 5 re-steeps). Definitely enough for another cup in the sampler using my measurements, two might be pushing it though, we’ll see. Might start getting creative combining tea leftovers one day, who knows.

Edit to add: Since I was rather underwhelmed with this tea after I added the milk to it on a whim, I decided to re-steep the tea for a second glass with just the sugar. Re-steeped at boiling for 6 minutes then added sugar – tea came out about half as dark as my previous cup. Found this cup to be more to my liking (even if a little weak) though the first cup did help de-stress me some, so that’s something.