TreeGal Send Message

I have been pretty happy with Plum Deluxe teas overall, and this is no exception. It’s a little lighter in body than I tend to associate with a breakfast tea, but it’s still hearty and strongly black. I don’t taste much of a contribution from orange peel (which is disappointing as that’s a flavor I love), but I get a hint of it in the finish. The hazelnut adds a richness without being overpowering, although it is very strong in the fragrance. This is a fairly astringent tea, but that comes across nicely without bitterness.

It’s a dark and stormy Halloween night, so perfect for this tea, right?

No. It was awful. I love teas with all the ingredients this one has, so there’s no way on earth I should have hated it. I tried it brewed regular strength and it was super weak, so I brewed it literally triple strength and long, and it was still weak. It had no real flavor except the cinnamon, and I agree it was just murky and blah. I’m so disappointed in it, I was hoping I would love it in spite of the mostly mediocre reviews. I couldn’t finish either cup.

Very fruity and blackberry (not just generically fruity), which is nice. I’m often underwhelmed by things that are supposed to have blackberry. However, there is something in there that makes it sickly sweet to me. VariaTEA mentioned blackberry leaves, I don’t know if that’s what it is, but it’s just like a sugar bomb of grossness to me, and I don’t usually mind sweet. It is very flavorful, and if it wasn’t for that sweetness, I think I’d love this one – but as it is, it kind of makes me gag. I might try mixing it with some plain black tea to see if I can make a really blackberry black tea…then again, I may not bother, lol.

Meh. This is good, but it tastes like they forgot the tea! The dry scent is staggeringly lovely – strong lemon and citrus and zest, I was so excited! The brewed scent is much lighter and the jasmine becomes more evident. Tastewise, as I said, it tastes like they left all the tea out of it, which was horribly disappointing. The herbal portions are nice – lemon, zest, jasmine, even a hint of grapefruit. It also has a really sweet taste. I would enjoy trying this with some actual tea in there, lol.

A rooibos tea that doesn’t taste like rooibos! Yay! This is nutty, creamy, sweet, gently spicy. It has good body to it which matters a lot to me in non-tea-teas. Flavorful and cozy, which is what I needed today.

I wasn’t sure how I’d like this, since rhubarb can be very hit or miss with me. The scent of this tea is amazing, basically whack-you-in-the-head strong. I think mine was a little heavy on the hibiscus, but that was acceptable since I was expecting tartness in the tea. I get the strawberry, and yes, I get the “parfait” as well, though I think it’s more yogurt than parfait. Still, I can often miss those notes, so I give them credit. I think this one is just what they advertise, but is a bit too tart for me.

Unlike some chocolate teas, I definitely do get the chocolate flavor in this one. I do get a hint of fruitiness, which doesn’t scream raspberry but does fit that once I read that’s what it is, lol. I think I get the almond as well, which I do love in a chocolate tea. My main gripe is that this is a little watery feeling – it needs better body to it, or maybe I just need to use more tea. There is also a faint coffee-like taste to me, which might just be the chicory tricking me, as I associate that with coffee!

This is the “male” counterpart to Paris for Her, lol. That one reminded me of rose perfume, this one reminds me of a male cologne. I oddly like this one, though. There is definitely a perfume angle to this, I think I am mostly picking up orange blossoms which are in there (but I couldn’t add to the list of ingredients). I don’t taste vanilla or sage, but I imagine that combined with the coriander (which I do taste) it helps give it that male cologne angle. In spite of the fact that I rarely like perfume-y tea, I actually like this one quite a bit. It is strongly flavored without being overpowering, and it’s something a little different. Somehow, it reminds me of an Earl Grey but it doesn’t taste like that so I’m not sure where I get that from. They recommend it for morning, but it’s more of an afternoon tea to me – still brisk but a little lighter and more refreshing. I probably won’t buy more of this, but I wouldn’t mind having like 5 tea bags of it around for the occasional use.

This is nice, the fragrance is absolutely lovely and Christmas spicy. The rooibos is mild, not adding or detracting much. My main issue is that this is fairly weak – I brewed 6 oz with 1 sachet at boiling for 5 minutes and there’s very little flavor. What there is is nice enough, though. I have a small amount of loose leaf and may try making a cup with more tea, to see if that makes it better.

ETA – As it cools, the rooibos is becoming evident. Yuck.

This is a very odd tea. The rose fragrance is overpowering, to the extent that I’m convinced I’m drinking a cup of perfume. (It is a lovely rose scent, though, smelling exactly like that old perfume Tea Rose, go figure!). The floral flavor is not actually very strong, though. However, none of the flavors are very strong – I get absolutely NO tea out of this whatsoever, and maybe a faint raspberry and maybe faint lychee. (I’m not sure enough of what lychee tastes like, so not sure on that.) It was interesting to try, and if you’re a floral fan, you’d probably like this. It’s just definitely not my preference, though it seems well made.