Shanie O Maniac Send Message

Well, I wanted to try this, but I didn’t want to commit to a full box. Luckily I found sample packs of this at a local discount store. I want to draw attention to that- I bought this at a discount store. The date reads 8/20 but I still am not sure as to the quality of the K-Cup. It could be iffy. Then again, I bought coffee (gasp) K-Cups at the same time and they were remarkably good, so there’s that.

As far as the quality of THIS K-Cup goes, I’m not sold. It tastes like tea dust. It’s very bitter and tannic, even with two Splenda’s added. The bergamot, if not artificial flavored, is forced. It just doesn’t flow as a tea. To be honest, it tastes similar to the loose-leaf Twinings Earl Grey, just less pleasant. I can’t say I’d recommend this at all. Seriously, if you are going to make tea, at the very least commit to a teabag. I have found K-Cups to be abysmal for non-instant tea. Those chai lattes are still tasty, but anything other than those seem to be just bad.

I’ll continue to experiment, but don’t hold out much hope for a tasty “T-Cup”

So Plum Deluxe sent me some samples to review! How nice of them!

This was just a mini sample, and unfortunately contained less than I usually use to leaf my earl greys. I tend to do 1.5 tsp for my 12 oz mugs. This was only 1 tsp. So naturally, it’s going to be a bit weak. That said, this has a lovely flavor. The strawberry and bergamot play well together, giving it a gentle berry/floral flavor. Luckily, it’s a natural flavor though and not artificial at all. That said, I’m not getting much of the straight orange flavor that I was expecting, or would have liked. (This supposedly contains orange as well as bergamot). But I love the strawberry. It’s very fruity. I would recommend adding a touch of sweetener to this, as it really makes the strawberry POP. I will likely order some of this if I ever make a full order from Plum Deluxe. I really want to.

Good stuff. Solid B.

So I’ve wanted to try this for a while now. I kept putting it in Adagio carts but never pulling the trigger.

So finally I have it.

Naturally, I added a couple splenda’s to this. It’s supposed to be butterbeer, after all! Sadly, it tastes almost exactly like the Adagio butterscotch tea. Like, spot on for that other blend. I almost want to brew up both side by side and compare. And it’s weird because the butterscotch tea is just that – butterscotch tea. This one is caramel, cream, and vanilla tea. But then I suppose that’s more or less the flavor profile breakdown of butterscotch, isn’t it?

Now, don’t get me wrong. This is tasty. I almost want to try it as a latte. But for as hyped up as this was in my mind, for it to be this one-note is a bit of a letdown. If I wanted straight butterscotch tea, I’d buy that instead.

The tin is stylish though.

I couldn’t remember if I had reviewed this, and when I saw I did, i reread my tasting note. It basically boils down to “I lost it, I found it, I drank it, it was too mild for my liking.”

Well, surprise surprise, that is almost exactly what happened a second time. I did lose it again, and I did re-discover it, and of course I tried it again. However, maybe it’s the refining of my palate in the past year but despite brewing this the exact same way as last time, and the tea being a year older, I like it much more. It’s still a very mild tea, but I appreciate it far greater than before. The same profile is present. Vegetal, fruity, a touch floral, lingering sweetness. However, it’s no longer “too weak” for me. Instead, I find myself enjoying the subtleties of it. The flavors blend pretty nicely and for a good-night cuppa before bed, it hits the spot.

So upping my rating on this. I really think a year ago, when I started my tea journey, I simply couldn’t appreciate a tea that didn’t smash you in the face with flavor. I still tend to go for those face smashers, but I have much more range these days.

This was a free sample that came with my Adagio order.

Anyway, I am loving the maple flavor on this. It tastes like a good strong maple syrup. Mind you, I added a single Splenda to it, but I did so because I felt it might help bring out the maple flavor. It did. It’s a maple syrup flavor with a hint of creaminess. There’s also a touch of cinnamon, and that is what lingers on after the sip. I don’t mind the cinnamon, but it is a bit weird. I don’t usually associate cinnamon with maple.

It’s pretty good. Not great, but good. I’d say B -

Attempt #2.

It’s better than the Raspberry Chamomile by far. This one is actually drinkable. But it isn’t remotely good. Certainly not great. I don’t usually mind fake peach flavoring, and hibi is ok in small quantities. But perhaps it’s because those two things are combined here that it isn’t the best? I know it claims there are no artificial flavorings here, but I call bupkiss. This still has a strong artificial taste to it. If I squint hard enough, and swallow quickly, it’s almost enjoyable. Almost.

Overall, it’s much much better than the last one, but still not good. Pretty below average, actually. Can’t recommend.

So I decided to try out a handful of various Pure Leaf iced tea blends. This was the first I tried.

And sweet mother of tea that’s WRETCHED!

No really, the overpowering, fake raspberry is so strong, I can’t imagine how anyone could drink this. I love me some good chamomile, but anything resembling it is drowned in cheap perfume. I took two sips and threw out the rest of the bottle.

Worst bottled tea I’ve ever had. Blech.

Hey Teamail!

My Adagio order was on my doorstep when I woke up today, so I immediately brewed up a mug of this. I am a bit iffy on the brewing instructions, as it said to use boiling water, and there is Silver Needle in this. But, for scientific purposes, we will do it their way first.

Brewed western, 212F/1.5tsp/12oz/4min

Taste is… oooch, let that cool why don’t you! Ok, this has a strong black tea taste with flavors of malt, tannin, and a hint of leather. However, I can also taste the silver needle, giving it a fruity flavor, with notes of melon. It kinda does taste like cereal! But you know what this reminds me of more? If sort of reminds me of that one W2T cake Hot Brandy. Considering that that tea was also a blend of black/white tea, I’m not surprised. Obviously, the W2T tea is much more complex and flavorful, but this stuff is really good as well. The flavor profiles somehow do mesh together well, and I wonder how much caffeine this stuff has. It’d probably be a great wake-up tea for cold mornings like today.

Overall, what do I think? Well, I love it. The different base elements blend together into a lovely cuppa that is both malty and floral. I’m glad I got the big tin of this, not just for presentation effect, but so that I can drink this without hesitation until I can get more. I think I would like to keep this one around. It’s really good.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHXRKW0pW0

Oh NO

I love this. I love it a lot. And there’s none left on the site. Being a honeybush, this is a one and done steep, which means that I will only likely get a handful of cups out of this. I’m not sure how many pouches I have (Really got to get on that spreadsheet!) but I will be so sad when I run out of this.

It tastes like if you took a ripe strawberry, dipped it in nutella, then drizzled honey overtop. Mind you, that is with a single splenda added, but it’s also pretty good unsweetened. But add that little bit of sugar and wow does this pop.

I need ten more packets of this. At least ten more. Maybe twenty. I want to drink this all the time.

AWESOME Tea!

This is like drinking peach cobbler ala mode. It’s wonderful. Sadly it’s pretty close to a one steep tea. The second steep is very weak, even with upping the time.

The flavors play nicely against the green base, and you get notes of spice, apricot/peach, and cream. Very tasty.

I just wish it wasn’t one and done.