ESP Emporium

I had this last night and, not surprisingly (for me), I’ve already forgotten most of my impression of it. I recall the red rooibos flavor being strong but still detecting the strawberry. It was good, but not great. Definitely palatable, but there are too many other teas I like more.

(Sample from silentrequiem. Thanks!)

Huh… I guess I must have tried this and failed to write a tasting note about it previously? There was definitely only one cup’s worth left (yes, sipdown! 867), and I know CHAroma was generous enough to send at least two cups of pretty much everything.

Anyhow! I have now for sure tried it, AND written a tasting note :D It’s a pretty decent flavoured green – nice sweet candied berry flavour, kind of like Della Terra’s Double Berry Burst, but perhaps a bit tastier. The green tea is pleasantly vegetal in the background, and there’s no astringency or bitterness. Overall, a pretty tasty cup. One of the few flavoured greens I’ve actually enjoyed!

What IS this? It tastes like there’s basil, thyme, rosemary, or some other heavy cooking spice in it. None of these are in the tea description, although there is the ambiguous “flavoring” listed in the ingredients…

My reaction to the first sip was “EW!” because I wasn’t expecting the heavy spice taste. Steve tried it and said that if I’d told him it was tomato tea, he would believe it. It’s gotten better with the subsequent sips because my expectations have changed, but I wouldn’t exactly say I’m enjoying it… This is a weird tea.

(Tea from silentrequiem. Thanks!)

This is a nice tea. The flavor is subtle, but it’s there and it’s good. (“Berry cream” really does describe the flavor perfectly.) I steeped this a bit longer than the recommended time (about 3.5 minutes, I think), which was probably the max I could do without it becoming bitter. Despite the long steep, the flavor was indeed subtle and while I usually like my teas a little stronger than this, it was still a very tasty tea.

(Sample from silentrequiem. Thanks!)

I like this. It’s very light, and more flowery than I expected. The citrus is a nice touch and is what I notice most. The peppercorns and almonds add a little nutty and almost (but not quite) spiciness to the tea. I don’t really see this as a winter tea though, despite the name and the very Christmas-y look of the tea.

The flavors do taste a bit artificial though. I would have rated this higher except for that.

Backlog:

I didn’t dislike this quite as much as some of the others who tried it. I liked the touch of spice. I’d rather there not be hibiscus in it, but, I’m glad that it isn’t a heavy amount of hibiscus in this blend. I like the blend of the fruits – I could taste the pomegranate, the orange and the cranberry. I found myself wishing I could taste more star anise.

Overall, it’s an interesting blend. Not my favorite, for sure, but I didn’t hate it.

This tea has the distinction of having both weak flavor and artificial-tasting flavor. SIGH. I am so done with this company. Every rooibos has been a miss (minus one – but the only reason I didn’t hate it was because the flavor was weak). I have some regular tea I bought from them so maybe I’ll try those next to see if they are any better.

I am really baffled because previous reviews said the flavor was really strong. Maybe the company just has a large quantity in stock and it sits on the shelf for a long time losing flavor?

Steeped 5 minutes with a bit of sugar.

Pleasant but not blow me away amazing. I’ve been a bit underwhelmed by the teas I’ve tried so far from ESP (three so far, and I still have a handful I picked up to round out my first order with them to try). The flavor in this, like the other teas, is on the weak side. I can barely taste strawberry. The lemon comes through as a slight tartness. Basil? What basil? Oh, there it is but I have to roll the tea on my tongue a bit.

So weird. It’s not a bad tea, but I wish it were MORE.

I think I liked this a bit more than the other ESPs I’ve tried so far. The strawberry was very distinct but not overwhelming. It was still on the weak side, but unlike other flavors I actually prefer this (for those who don’t know, I really hate the taste of fresh strawberries), and it doesn’t totally taste like strawberries – instead, it tastes like strawberry flavoring.

Hey, I’m the weirdo that does not like real strawberries but what companies make us associate as strawberry tasting.

I think Tazo’s sultry strawberry was better. I may have to compare.

Another tea from the Here’s Hoping TTB:
Arianna & I shared a small pot of this.
When I think of truffles, I tend to thing ‘chocolate’, like a chocolate bonbon filled with caramel or something.
This is the other kind of truffles. The kind you use pigs to find.
It’s buttery & savory, & Ari, the chef, said it did have a certain truffle like flavor to it. We both enjoyed it.

Hmm. Odd. And bland. No pumpkin in the ingredients list, no pumpkin taste, and yet it’s called “Pumpkin Cream”… odd.

So the first few sips, I tasted the honeydew, which is weird because PUMPKIN. But after that, even that faded away and I can’t taste much of anything. Meh.

“Another Traveling Tea Box?!?!”

Yum! It has a similar peach flavoring to the peach tranquility I had last night, but the peach itself is weaker because there are other flavors going on here. The strawberries are fresh-tasting and work well with the peach. I’m not picking up a lot of the black tea base- I can kind of just tell it’s black tea and that’s it.

A nice warming green tea blend- More savory than sweet. Slightly heavy on the lemongrass, but it works well with the sweet strawberries. I’m so glad this is not overly floral.

“Another Traveling Tea Box?!?!”

I’m having so much fun trying the different teas from the box! :-)

There is no mistaking the sencha base in this- It’s definitely warm and grassy sencha. Flowery sencha blends sometimes give me a headache, but this one doesn’t.

There are big chunks of ginseng root in this and it adds a nice warmth to the strawberry flavor, which is fresh-tasting and natural. Rose and orange blossoms sweeten the flavor and smooth out the ginseng a bit. I’m starting to enjoy orange blossoms in blends. I might have to seek out some more.

I’m breaking from the box to drink this because I mighta kinda sorta forgot I put this in the fridge to steep on Wednesday night.

Even so, it was still insanely good!

It’s a juicy honeydew with bright lemon notes. The honeydew surprisingly pops more in the cold steep and the lemon mutes. Which was pretty much the opposite of I was expecting. This might become my go to iced tea (at least while it lasts).

Also this is AMAZING:
http://www.google.co.nz/

After my episode with the Lemon Sorbetti, I was still craving a lemon-y citrus green, so I went for this one, which came to me from momo (thanks!)

This is so much better! The lemon comes through strong on the sip, but it’s a sweeter lemon taste and far less jarring. The beaniness from the green tea is also there and not completely overwhelmed. Then on the end of the sip it fades into a sweet melony flavor that lingers on the tongue.

I can’t wait to try this iced!

No aroma. But a very tasty tea. Soft gentle hints and a nice smooth texture make this a good cup of tea.

A nice tea. Really exactly what the description says. It is a low-priced Gunpowder, and it is exactly that. If you want something with complex undertones and such I would recommend you try something else.

Sipdown! 32/365

Apparently I didn’t care for this initially… and I thought it was just tea age this time! Nope. It was pretty bland, really taking the “flavoured water” thing to a new level. Not sad it’s gone.

Thanks to momo for this one! Unfortunately…. It literally has no flavour. None. I can’t even lie and say it tastes “fruity” or “green”… because… it doesn’t. It tastes like water with something in it… but for all I know, that something is mud. Sad sad. Maybe it has lost some flavour sitting around…?

I’m a bit apprehensive about this tea, to say the least. The name sounded wonderful, and made me think of buttery, sweet cookies. Instead, the ingredients listed include cumin, coriander and pink peppercorns. The dry leaves do smell very strongly of peppery spices. The rich, buttery aroma comes out in the tea liquor, and there is also a hint of salty spices. This is by far the oddest tea I’ve ever tasted, and I can’t quite decide if I am enjoying this cup. It has a thick and buttery flavor with a spicy finish. There is a light buttery citrus aftertaste that does remind me of cookies. Adding sweetener tones down the spiciness nicely, and adding milk adds a touch of creaminess, but the milk isn’t necessary. I think I’ll finish off this cup, but that’s about it. Although I like the butteriness (this is the most buttery tea I’ve ever had!) and the hint of citrus, I’m not loving the peppery spiciness that I keep picking up. This would probably be an excellent tea for anyone who likes savory flavors.

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with pistachios, almonds and small red berries.
-Dry leaves smell like black tea and strong peppery spices. Tea liquor aroma is of rich butter and salty spices.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow brown color.
-Thick and buttery flavor with a spicy finish. Light buttery citrus aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Fair tea. A very odd flavor. Buttery with a spicy note. A hint of citrus and cookies noticeable.

I feel bad because I drank this yesterday and forgot to log and now I can’t view it on the site. I couldn’t find it on steepster, either, so I am creating a new one, now.

This was fruity-bitter. A fairly strong base. I don’t think I will give it a rating because I didn’t write down appropriate notes for this tasting log and I usually do. It was ok but not my favorite from them.

This tea is just weird. It tells you it’s like butter cookies but then cumin, peppercorns, and coriander are in the ingredients….those aren’t really cookie ingredients? So I am kind of scared of even drinking this.

It smells terrible. It smells like butter and spice. That’s fine in food, In tea, I don’t know. Yeah really the actual ingredients say Indian food, the description is just way off. So is the name. Truffle would imply either there’s chocolate or there’s mushrooms.

No. I don’t even want to drink this. I took a couple sips and just no. Whatever it is doesn’t work. It makes me feel sick to just smell it because of the various spices, they don’t mesh, and so it just smells like a poorly stored spice rack where they all hit you at once, and don’t smell great together.