357 Tasting Notes
I don’t know why, but when I took my first sip of this today, it tasted weird. You know that smell you get when you water a bunch of house plants – that dirt smell. That’s what my first sip reminded me of. It was quite strange.
After my first sip I said “ugh!”
After the second one I said “hmm?”
After the third I said “mmm…”
I’m finishing off the last of this little sample I bought. I think I mentioned this in my last tealogs for this tea, but if you let this tea get cold, it has a creepy little scum layer at the top of it. Despite this initial dirt taste and cold-scum this tea is still delicious. I can’t remember if this is part of Davids regular collection, but if possible, I intend to at least buy another sample of this in the future. It’s yummy-yum
I just finished the last of this tea today while emailing our real estate agent and distractingly watching the movie New Year’s Eve (wow, that movie has a huge cast).
I believe this was part of the limited time Fall tea collection for 2012, but if this comes back next year, I’ll be getting another sample size. It’s fresh light and fruity whether I drink it hot or cold. The taste honestly doesn’t make me think of Fall, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.
I thought it was really good. The lady in the store joked that they just took all the odds ‘n ends from the summer blends to make this as it’s a weird combo, but I really enjoyed it! I bought a cup in store, and then came back the next day to buy 30g.
It is like all the odd ‘n ends! The tea even has summer in it’s name and references a country that is usually imagined as warm- very misleading. Oh well, I love the smell of it most of all.
I think the phrase “Indian summer” usually refers to the second summer you sometimes get in the fall, like when it’s uncharacteristically warm during October.
Yeah, I thought that right after I clicked submit! Oops. Either way it’s a little bit of summer in the fall collection :)
Yes :)
this is such a great tea. Glad I got a tin of it. It is soo fall-sih and soothing.
It’s surprising that this tea doesn’t have a better Steepster rating, quite apparently I’m not the only fan :D
lol I agree canadianadia :) I really think this tea should be more loved… perhaps we should give it time.
I’m still working on this very generous sample from Teavivre (thanks again Angel).
I love how much these thin leaves expand while steeping. The taste is light and satisfying and is somehow able to be steeped over and over again with no loss of flavor (I have been resteeping these same leaves all day).
I imagine the order I placed with Teavivre is making its way to me through this gray wet weather. I bought a few different sampler packs, and I look forward to tasting some new options.
Yesterday we went to a couple of open houses, then to a friend’s Dad’s Movember moustache birthday party (he’s battling cancer – hence the theme). By time I got home and finished some chores I was feeling tired so I slacked a little on my tealogs, so now it’s Sunday morning catch-up for me.
I polished off this tea last night. It’s not my favorite, but I’m not a big fan of red rooibos overall, so considering that, it’s pretty good. I wouldn’t go so far as saying that I’ll repurchase it, but I’m glad I gave it a try. I must say: I’m proud of myself that I made it through this tea without eating any of the pistachios. Hooray!
Excited Sidenote: I just got an email from 52teas – their 12 Teas of Christmas samplers are available – I ordered one – YAY! Did I mention that I’ve never tried 52teas before, and I already have an order from them on the way? I might be going a little tea order crazy, but I can’t help it, there are just too many yummy teas out there to try :) Here’s a link if you want to check it out for yourself http://www.52teas.com/2012/11/03/12-teas-of-christmas-2012/
At least I’m doing a good job of finishing off the previous purchases in my stash. I just had the last of this cranberry punch today. It’s so yummy good! It does get a little tart as it cools, but not overwhelmingly so. I would feel inclined to buy more if I was in the area of this shop again, and if miraculously, I wasn’t distracted by their other tea options. The empty tea sachet that the leaves came in almost smells good enough to eat…don’t worry, I won’t :D
Thanks for the link. I haven’t tried 52 Teas before but maybe I’ll try that sampler. Or maybe I’ll get the DavidsTea one. #decisions
Don’t get caught in the constantly-purchasing-tea trap! You’ll buy too much and never finish it all! Samplers, however, are always appropriate (I’m totally not trying to talk myself into anything here…)
@Cavocorax – For me the 52teas sampler seemed like a good opportunity to try something completely new, but I will probably go buy a few sample sizes at Davids also when I’m in the area of their store (or if they have some kind of online special that entices me enough).
@Kittenna- That’s good advice. I mainly purchase samplers so I’ve been pretty good at getting through my teas so far. In fact, my tea collection is looking seriously depleted these days, so I’m hoping at least one of my orders shows up really soon.
I drank this tea last night to help soothe my stomach after it had a “run-in” with a tea that didn’t agree with me. This refresh tea eventually helped to ease my discomfort. I finished the last teabag and I plan on purchasing another mint tea, but not necessarily this brand. It was pretty good while it lasted, but I’m just too curious to pass up the opportunity to try something new.
So I went into starbucks today ( like an hour ago… lol) and decided to try the refresh tea. It was I guess, like you said the better the of TAZO collection. It was really the only tea that I was able to enjoy finishing, the others have been painful to get to the end of the cup. I am not the biggest fan of mint, but it was pretty cool. If I am stranded with Starbucks and have no way to get one of my own teas, Refresh will be my go to.
I’m glad you found Refresh to be the better of the TAZO collection also. I have a 5$ gift card for Starbucks so I might eventually cave and get Refresh again. I’m a little scared to try any other TAZOs. I always find I have to choke them down or toss them out and feel guilty for wasting. I guess I could always get a non-tea item.
Dot worry. I feel thhe same way. I used to LOVE the earl grey TAZO but then I think the company started puttring tomany leaves in one bag. it would just get overpoweringly strong in no time. ive also tried te chai. it was so dificult to inish this tea to the last drop. i def had a hard time nd would never have it again. te taste was nic but then there would be a horrible after taste. ive also tired zen , its a green tea with lemongrass. it was alright but i didnt really like it. a friend gave me orange blossom . i have yet to try it. so ill keep u posted on it.
Yes, definitely keep me posted, thanks Calla
There’s something in this tea that does not agree with me. Maybe it’s a combination of things. It just makes my stomach turn. They weren’t kidding when they called it “Lively” lemon. It feels like it’s coming to life and trying to escape my tummy. Ugh…I drank this last night and it upset my tummy so bad I had trouble sleeping. I eventually decided to try some mint tea to try and settle it, which can go either way for me, but thankfully it eventually helped me and I finally fell asleep.
I’m drinking soothing teas today after yesterday’s fun Halloween with a friend; we took her kids out trick-or-treating, and indulged in a few too many treats. For my costume I decided not to do anything scary because her girls are quite young, so I did a butterfly-inspired look. If you’re interested, please check it out on my Beautylish profile to see what the makeup looked like: http://www.beautylish.com/f/gxvmyr/butterfly
Although I’m not a lover as Rooibos teas as a whole, this tea is doing quite a decent job of changing my mind to think of them in a much more positive light. I don’t think I would go so far as to say that I’d repurchase this one, but I’m definitely going to be less hesitant to open my mind up to trying different types of rooibos.
that is very cool makeup!
Thanks Nicole :)
very beautiful butterfly ! congratulations
You looked great! What did the girls think? =)
Very nice!
Thanks Ysaurella and Helena
Nik – The girls were very excited (although I must admit that one of them is a baby and she is happy almost all the time. The older one kept wanting to touch it (I let her do it once, but showed her how it gets all over her hands). They had the most adorable costumes. The older one was Snow White and the baby was dressed as an Elephant – so cute!
That’s adorable. I love elephants (“lullafant!”).
This tea is good but, I don’t think I love it enough to say I’d necessarily want to repurchase it when it’s done. With ingredients like oolong tea, mango, and pineapple, I thought it would be a love at first taste, but there’s something in this that I don’t care for. Maybe it’s the safflower petals or I suppose it could be the Kombucha powder, since I don’t really know what that tastes like on its own? I’m not sure what it is, but whatever it is, it mutes the fruitiness a bit too much for my liking. I have at least enough to make one more pot of this, so it still has a chance to change my mind.
Have you ever tried any kind of kombucha? I wasn’t sure if you meant in general or just within this context. I used to want to try it (like I want to try any tea-related thing) but I have an aversion to the word “fermented” (and all that it signifies). When I read the description (it was a bottled tea in the supermarket) I just put it back on the shelf.
(Tangent: imagine my ewwness, then, when I read that the red rooibos I love so much is fermented… I’m trying to pretend I never learned that.)
I’ve never tried kombucha, in fact, before having this tea, I had never even heard of it. When I brought this tea home I Googled it to find out more about it…intriguing.
I don’t think I’m turned off by the thought of fermentation, although oddly enough I’m not really a huge lover of red rooibos. I don;t think it’s that though, because I have no problem eating yogurt or drinking wine :) If I saw it fermenting in front of me I might change my tune though lol
Oh, good point. I love yoghurt. I think my issue is that there’s a very particular flavour I associate with it, like apple cider that’s a bit…off. Blech.
Ahhh, yes, I’m not fond of that apple cider taste int teas either. When I have this tea next time, I’ll have to pay attention if that is the flavor I’m not liking in it.
