Fusion Teas

Good afternoon Steepsterites!

Sorry to have been gone so long, but I spent the past week drinking Bagged Orange Pekoe (PC brand) at my father’s after the death of my paternal grandfather. At a time when I could have used my favourite teas, I had time and energy only for whatever my family had thrown together. On the plus side, I learned that I come by my tea drinking honestly (even if I am the most discerning in the family). On the minus side, I ‘lost’ both my grandfathers in two months. My remaining grandmother has been informed that she has to live forever.

On to the tea! On my fiorst try, I didn’t appreciate Good Morning Mate. I took out all the coconut pieces to remove that issue, but I found the cinnamon over-powering and the chocolate lacking. Today, I added 1/2 teaspoon of Fusion Tea Room’s Chocolate Mint to 1 teaspoon of their Good Morning Mate and like the result a lot more. The cinnamon is still kicking it up a bit more than I would prefer, but the extra chocolate and hint of mint tone it down a bit.

Increased rating because it worked well when blended – Though it seems a waste of the Chocolate Mint I so enjoy. : )

Continuing on my mate and chocolate streaks, I figured I would give this a try today. However, this was a tea from Fusion Tea Room that I was afraid to try. Though I have really come around on chocolate or cocoa in tea, I still hate coconut. So much so that I actually picked out all the coconut pieces from this tea, so as to minimize any potential coconut flavour. Accordingly, I assume that my cup of this tea tastes at least a little different than it is supposed to.

I also learned that this one really needs to steep to the upper limit of the parameters, either that or it makes a weaker cup than the other Fusion Tea Room blends I have tried. I get a hint of cocoa and a (stronger) hint of cinnamon (is there any in there??) but not a whole lot else. For me, this would be improved with a stronger chocolate taste, and possibly more mate/no rooibos. This one is a bit of a miss for me. Drinkable, though a bit bland. As the cup cools I get more and more cinnamon…which, unfortunately, I am not enjoying. Thanks for the sample, Fusion, but this one was not for me.

Wow, looking at everyone else’s comments I am sorry to rain on the parade. The cinnamon really didn’t work for me, and in this cup at least, that was all I tasted. Maybe the coconut I removed was vital to the overall taste, in which case this is definitely not the tea for me. Oh well!

Finishing up my sample of this today – Another one down, wahoo! I must admit that this tea has become less appealing to me over time. I have a tendency to have my strongest feelings about a tea on initial tasting and to gradually come to enjoy it less and less. Such is the case with this one. The apple that was so innovative at first is now too sweet, the mint too mild and the tea too cloudy (it is a particularly fine rooibos – Lots of little bits floating around, it’s almost like matcha in terms of consistency).

The chocolate has all melted in (according to the “oil slick” on top of the tea) but isn’t very present either. I am getting a lot of sweetness and a very slight hint of mint and milk chocolate at the tail end of the sip but I would prefer for them to be more bold. This is still a nice tea and different from most mint chocolate teas on the market, so I am pleased to have had some, but it doesn’t demand a re-order anymore. What is going on with my tea tastes lately??

THanks again to Fusion Tea Room for yet another glorious sample. I never used to be a fan of chocolate in tea, but have gone on a kick lately so this seems suitable. The smell in the bag is chocolate chocolate chocolate…with a hint of mint and sweetness from the apple. With the inclusion of yogurt, this almost has the aroma (and taste) of chocolate covered raisins.

The apple lends a sweetness to the tea, mixing with the chocolate to make a surprisingly sweet and rich flavour – Honestly, I didn’t expect it to work so well. I find Fusion Tea Room puts apple in unusual combinations, and so far it has worked out every time. I know that I wouldn’t think of apple and chocolate, though it does lend a flavour similar to chocolate covered raisins. The star of the show for me in this one is totally the chocolate though. I wish the mint were stronger in this blend, but that is something that I could easily remedy by adding some extra mint of my own.

I’ve got to say, I’m impressed. This is one I would definitely consider getting more of if I place an order with Fusion. It shares qualities with the Read My Lips that I (now) love from David’s Tea, but the yogurt and apple really push it over the top. Even cold (as the bottom of this cup was by the time I got to it) this is a rich tasting tea with a thick mouthfeel. Mmm!

Edit to add: I know that I have used the word sweet a lot in my Fusion Tea reviews, but honestly, they are. I was given a sampler of various dessert style teas and they are all just so…sweet! : )

Thanks again to Fusion Tea Room for this sample. This is the first Tulsi I have tried, so I am not sure what to look for there, but I ended up with a sweet liquor, fairly applish with a hint of cinnamon which actually worked nicely to give the impression of baked apples and/or pears. As with the Mango Mate from Fusion Tea Room, this brewed a very sweet pot of tea and would make a wonerful dessert treat. I believe it will make a very strong second steep which I might try later on, unless I want to move on to something else. I picked up quite a bit on the pineapple pieces in the tea, and I believe they are what leant the brew such a sweet fruit taste.

I got more apple in this tea than pear, but it was almost like a candied or sugared apple. If anyone else would take apples, cut them up and mix them in cinnamon sugar as a child, it’s almost like that. I don’t know who created that snack, by the way. Here, take this sweet fruit then add sugar! Brilliant! : )

revisiting this one last time (using the last of the leaf that I have of this blend) so that I can finalize the review that I started on it a few days ago.

This is yummy. The aroma is awesome. If you love the smell of brownies or chocolate cake as they’re baking – that’s what this brewed tea smells like. I wish that the flavor had as much of a chocolate impact as the aroma does. As it is, it is yummy, but I would love more chocolate flavor. (But then, I always do, don’t I?) The caramel and the rose are lovely.

YUMMY! Rich and chocolatey… I like the background note of caramel. I can even taste the cake-y taste. Sweet and delicious. A little more chocolate would make this even better though!

Continuing on the mate learning curve, I’ve opted to try this sample from Fusion tea room. They sent me four of their flavoured mates, and I am excited to try them all. In the bag, this has a strong (though slightly artificial) mango aroma. Very ripe and sweet smelling. While steeping, the liquor is a vibrant yellow and the smell is still enticingly mango wafting through the apartment. The beau comments that it “looks like pear” and I think I also get a smell that is a bit like extremely ripe pears. Well done, beau!

For my Canadian friends, the mango smell is reminiscent of David’s Tea’s Mango Madness, which I quite enjoyed. When I get very close to the cup, I get a buttery almost coconut sort of smell. That worries me a bit, but it still smells more like mango than anything else. I’m not all that clear on what mate smells/tastes like yet as I’ve only had it flavoured, but nothing stands out that might be mate.

First sips are sweet mango. Not just ripe mango, but it tastes as if sugar has been added. There is no bitterness and nothing I can define as mate, this just really tastes like mango tea. As the cup cooled I found it seemed more and more sweet until it was a bit sweeter than I’d like, but I don’t know what contributed that. This was more mango flavoured than anything I’ve had before. Nice to have tried, but I don’t think I’ll buy more. Continued to learn that mate doesn’t give me an energy boost as I am strongly considering a nap right now. But at least I had yummy tea!

Tea #1 of 12 from the exceptionally generous sampler package from Fusion Tea Room. Thanks, Fusion! I have been big into herbals and tisanes for years, and even when I go on a different kick (such as my recent fondness for unflavoured blacks) I always still enjoy them. This one smells very berry in the bag, with no discernible note over-ruling though I do think strongly of strawberries and raspberries. Steeped, it turns a deep red fairly quickly but the smell is muted quite a bit and I couldn’t pick out one particular scent.

First sips are berry, but gentle. The hibiscus does NOT come up as tart as I expected based on the colour but does add a little balanced tartness at the end of the sip. The lingering taste is of strawberry and raspberry (I would say more raspberry than anything) which is very exciting. I have very few teas that capture raspberry and this one does it. Of course, it is still a ‘berry melange’ and not just a cuppa raspberry tea, but it’s really enjoyable and surprisingly sweet. I’ve got to say, this raspberry note sort of blows me away. I think this could have done with a bit more steeping for full strength (I was worried about the hibiscus) but this first cup is excellent. The beau comments that it “tastes like a watered down juice. I like that.” : )

Excellent!

Having this with milk. Now it’s Creamy Pumpkin goodness! But I think that next time, if I"m planning to have milk in it, I will make it a bit stronger.

Pumpkin! How can you not love pumpkin? Especialy when it smells so heavenly, of pumpkin, cinnamon and walnuts? Happily, it doesn’t end there, and it tastes as good as it smells.

Without additives, it is not very sweet, but very nutty. I imagine that it would be good with a bit of sweetener, to bring out that pumpkin pie tastes, but I like my tea unsweetened, so I left it that way. I will try it sweetened the next time I make this. For now I’m enjoying the pumpking goodness.

Well done Fusion Tea Room!

I think I agree with the previous reviews of this mate. The chickory overwhelms the rest of the flavors. I got a lot of chickory, a little mate and almost no caramel taste.
Overall, not a bad tea, but not what I had expected.

Yummy! I’m on my second cup of this!

The first cup, I drank straight. With the second cup, I was a little more adventurous and added a little milk and sugar… and the tisane really come to life. It was delicious straight, even better with milk and sugar. YUMYUMYUMMMMMMMMY!

This tea is simply amazing.

I am having this with milk and it’s awesome.
I have finally put my finger on what this was reminding me of.
It’s chocolate cake, all right, but the honeybush is sweet in a different way from the chocolate. It’s sort of a fruity kind of sweetness. That’s it! It reminds me of aBlack Forest chocolate cakes – chocolate with cherries in the middle.

This is delightful!

Another amazing tea from Fusion Tea Room. Each one that I have tried has unique flavors, but none fall from the high standards that I am coming to learn characterize all of Fusion’s teas. This tea, when hot, is really chocolate cake. But not just. There is the sweet honeybush base that lends it’s distinctive sweetness. Put all together, it’s a wonderful cup! When cold, it’s more honeybush than chocolate, but that’s good too, because the honeybush is delicious in itself.

Wow, by the smell (and taste) of this, Fusion Tea Room has squeezed a fresh orange right into this bag of rooibos! This tea is outstanding! For me to give such compliments to an orange rooibos is saying something. I am hard to please when it comes to orange flavored rooibos.

Orange rooiobs was the first loose leaf tea (tisane) that I had, and what made me fall in love with tea and out of love with coffee. The brand I had then was a local brand (bagged) that has since gone out of production. I have a certain memory of the wonderfulness of that tea, however I am not sure if it really was as good as I remember it, or if the novelty of the whole tea world inflated the quality of the memory.

Regardless, ever since I have been looking for an orange rooibos that can live up to that.
This does! It’s sweet and just a little tiny bit tart, and so orangey. It’s a very natural orange flavor.

I ordered many samples from Fusion, and I must say I am very impressed with their teas!

This smells intoxicating – walnuts and spices. The taste is the same, but with an added sweetness that makes it more cake-y. DELICIOUS!

I’m not a big fan of fruity teas, except citrus flavors, so I was expecting to not like this too much. Maybe because of such a lack of expectations that this tea totally took me by surprise.

WOW, it’s wonderful! It’s juicy, and yogurty, and a tiny bit tart. It has a very rich taste.
I like this very very much!

I had this tea last night because I knew I was getting my Adagio shipment in the next day. I had ordered almost all their rooibos and honeybush samples, so I figured this tea was getting pretty stale and better to use it up before the exciting new ones come in.

Well, I can only guess the tea I had was this one… I purchased a 1 oz. pouch of this from a nearby new age store. After some investigating online, however, I’m almost positive it’s this tea.

Stories aside, I don’t really know what to make of it. The first several sips were amazing. It tastes exactly like what it says – a warm, nutty gingersnap cookie with all the earthy, sweet goodness of rooibos underneath. As I kept drinking it, however, I kinda lost interest and the sweetness of the drink really built up on my tongue. If only all the sips managed to taste as good as the first few…

On a weirdly positive note, though, I had trouble falling asleep last night. After tossing and turning for an hour and going downstairs for a midnight glass of milk, I came back to discover my entire room smelled like gingersnap cookies! Who needs candles anymore?

YUM!

This is easily one of the very best – if not the best – yerba mate blends I’ve yet to try. It is incredibly smooth. No bitterness. Simply delicious. Nice mango flavor. The vegetative taste of the green yerba mate in the background. A beautiful symphony of flavors.

This is so much better with milk. The last time I tried it, the chicory was a bit too strong for me. Today, I added a splash of milk and that tamed the flavor down. This tastes very much like a caramel latte and it’s quite yum.

I tried this for the first time today, and I am trying to determine how I feel about it. I definitely enjoy the caramel aspect of this, and the roasted yerba mate is a good platform for the caramel flavor. I think it’s the chicory for me… it’s a little heavy on the chicory. It would be so much better with a little less chicory.

I am going to try this again in a day or two and see if I can improve on the flavors with the addition of sweetener and milk…