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There’s just something about this tisane. This was my first toe dip into “tea” when I was much younger and all tea or tisane items were banned from my house (raised LDS). I used to wait until everyone else was asleep and I’d sneak downstairs and make this. The stash was hidden in various places in the small tea bags. Some inside a sock there, the pocket of a ill fitting dress jacket or most comically, under the heating grate in my floor. The lengths that I’d go to hide this stuff was insane. But well worth it. It has long been my fix for sniffles and heartburn. I love this and it always has a calming effect.
I picked up the most recent box for a steal at the Walmart. I love fancy tea but this one is just back to my roots comfort. I never really noticed the other ingredients but still enjoy the mix. If I ever had the misfortune of having to once again hide my tea habit this one would still be worth being caught for!

I saw this tea at my local Sunflower Market. Since the weather has decided it’s officially winter now I figured it was a perfect day for tea. I really can’t emphasize how much I adore caramel. So I couldn’t resist the temptation of it in my tea.
The reason why this is getting such a low rating from me is because it was just too spicy. I only steeped this for 2 1/2 min and it just came out like a punch in the face. There was no caramel flavor to speak of. I also decided to wait a bit to taste it again and let it cool off. Not much changed. I think I will try this again tomorrow with milk and sugar (or honey) to see if I can tame this bad boy down a bit.

I’m just remembering this so a short note for now! :)
I got this for free from a member of a different board; it was almost a full bag and I’m so happy! This stuff blew my socks off. Before this tea I had never experienced sencha before or even unflavored greens. Just the smell alone is sweet and succulent. The leaves are beautiful, thin and unfurl into large pieces when steeped. This tea was an experience I won’t soon forget. A++++ flavor and a perfect tea for my first green tea experience.

I almost ran in anticipation to my mailbox after my late night biological anthropology class. I knew that the chances of this being there would be pretty high. Lo and behold!!! Tea time! This is just the kind of un-winding I need after two and a half hours of learning about apes.
First off, I was trying to be very careful about the steep temperature on this one. But I think I over dosed on the amount of leaves. I thought I had grabbed my 1/2 tsp. but I had my 1 tsp spoon in hand. So the 2 scoops was probably much much more than what I needed.
The first thing I noticed was that the steeped smell when I first added the leaves was almost reminiscent of coffee. The dry smell was very much banana. The color of this first brew was very dark, most likely due to my over use of leaves. (I’m planning on steeping them for a 2nd infusion later) The flavor is very different than what I first expected while reading about Hojicha. It’s very mild on the palate. Heavier than green tea, but lighter than black. I noticed it has less of a lingering “thickness” than a black would have. The flavor is very, very exceptional. I love it. The banana is awesome. I’m missing some of the coconut but there is another layer of something almost creamy that is lurking beneath the surface in this cup. There is a slight back of the throat note of vegetal flavor that I’m getting that isn’t my favorite, but again, this may be because of my over abundance of leaves!
So until next time, this has been a very nice cup of tea. 52 teas has yet to disappointing me with a blend. This is my 3rd sampling of their selection and it makes me wish for a bigger tea allowance!

So my town now has the only Teavana in the state. Which seems to be a mixed bag. I’ll keep my store review here short, but I must comment that I’ve read plenty of Teavana horror stories. This store is no different. I went in to buy only this tea and they just won’t take no for an answer. It took 10+ min. when it should have taken 2 min to just bag it and ring me up. I don’t care about health benefits; I care about flavor and price. Yes! Price is an issue for people and when I’m buying one of the cheapest teas in the store maybe it’s safe to say I don’t want a huge tea pot I don’t need and your “special” $20 tea.
The smell of the dry leaf actually reminds me of a “Shirley Temple.” Basically a 7 up with maraschino cherries in it. The brew has a really amazing smell. It’s almost exactly like snicker-doodles. I can’t tell distinctly what the brewed flavor is like but it’s much lighter on the mouth feel than I was expecting. It’s not overtly spicy, which is very nice. The coconut in this cup kind of lingers on the back end of the sip and is just enough to compliment the rest of the flavors. I liked this because it was much less artificial tasting. I can’t imagine adding sugar to this mixture. I can’t tell if there is added sugar but it is very sweet. This my friends, is what I’d call a desert tea. It has great flavor and is easy to brew. It’s also a pretty solid cup for the price.
edit I wanted to add that I got a pretty solid 3 steeps from these leaves. Which to me, has really added to the value. Also, my tea avoiding husband was even tempted into a cup by this one!

I saw this at the grocery store on sale so I decided to pick up this flavor and the “mocha” flavor. The first thing that I noticed when I opened the two canisters is there is not much smell difference between the two. I also later noticed that is is produced by the local favorite hot chocolate maker, Stephen’s hot chocolate, if anyone is familiar with it. I can say that their hot chocolate is pretty awesome. So this should be interesting.
I ignored the part about water because I wanted something a bit more substantial. I wanted to not that if you wanted this cold with milk it would have to be skimmed off the top because it didn’t mix in the best. The end product was a frothy, vanilla smelling cup of I don’t know what to call. The vanilla is there and it is very nice. But to call this chai is very, very misleading. The subtle spice is very much a background note when mixed with milk. I’ll have to see if the same holds true for this mixed with water. This would be something that I mixed once in a while and not on a very consistent basis because as far as chai goes, I wouldn’t consider this one.

I picked up this tea at the reduced bin at my local Sunflower Market. The price was very nice for the 1.7 oz I got. I know it’s important for some tea consumers, so I’ll note, this tea is organic.
This tea was a bit tricky for me at first. My first brew was made per the instructions on the bag. This was a bit of a bad idea as it has the steep temp. at 185 degrees. This was far too long for my tastes. My second brew was at a much lower 160 degrees, which was too low! It was very bland tasting. The sweet spot for me when brewing this tea has been around 170 degrees for only 3 min. The end product, when brewed well, is a very nice chai like flavor. There are good notes of the promised mango. Overall I was impressed with the product, given the amount of money I spent on it. I would definitely buy other teas or more of this one from this company!

Thank you again, Tea Forte, for offering these samples for tasting notes!
This should be an interesting experience…I have had pretty bad run-ins with flavored and non-flavored whites in the past. But alas! Such a tempting mix of flavors. Lychee is one of my favorite treats ever. My husband hates them so I’m glad I get all of these kinds of concoctions to myself! evil smile It has been a long day of Biological Anthropology study so I’m glad I get to relax!
I’m noting here that this is the only white tea in the collection.
The smell while steeping is almost 100% coconut. The color is much, much darker than what I expected. My first impression is….great! I don’t particularly taste the lychee. All I’m getting is coconut. Which really isn’t a bad thing; it’s just not what I was expecting. I think there is a very, very faint hint of the very distinct clear notes that lychee has. Overall, this has to be my 1st successfully brewed white tea and the taste was pretty nice!

I have to say thanks again to Tea Forte for sending me these samples! This will be my second tasting from this line.
The very first thing that hit me when I opened this package is the fact that it smells a bit like cherry pop tarts. What a surprising flavor! The cherry is really there and the marzipan is light, but also present. I can taste the green tea in the forefront as well, but in a very nice way. A+ for a bagged tea!

I have to thank Tea Forte for this sample!
I am sitting here with my piping hot cup and recovering from a three day down time from the newest school-stress induced cold. I’ve been waiting for this to arrive and it couldn’t have come at a better time! I saw this product when it was first released on the Tea Forte site and I was really excited when I saw the flavor combinations. I was even more excited when I found out I was going to be able to sample them!
This is a pretty good tea! I like the more subtle cinnamon in this mix and I think I can taste some of the chocolate that the description talks about. I think that this would be very nice on a cold, autumn day. The added bonus for me with this particular tea in the set is it is the only rooibos tea; so it is a good anytime tea. I think that some rooibos blends lack flavor and this one wasn’t skimping!