Fusion Teas

another tea from nxtdoor This one smells like harney and sons black currant tea but much more intense. I brewed this as a hot brew and after tasting it, knew that i’d prefer this cooled down. So i tossed it in the fridge and once it was cooled added a small splash of sugar to this. delicious! i actually prefer this one to H&S since it’s even more black curranty. thanks for sharing nxt door! Going to try the last of my sample as a straight cold brew i think.

another backlog and a sipdown from yesterday! thank you again nxtdoor i enjoyed getting the chance to taste these teas from fusion teas. I like how the ginger takes away some of the peachy sweetness in this one :)

thank you nxtdoor! I’m finally getting some time to sit and try a few of the teas that nxtdoor sent my way before i ran away on vacation. I’m pretty sure this is one of the first teas i’ve tried from fusion teas unless there’s 1 or 2 that may have come my way via swaps that i just don’t recall.

I actually enjoy this one a bunch. I wish the ginger was a little more in your face, but it does blend nicely with the peach to take away some of that cloying sweetness that a lot of black peach teas have. I’m not a huge fan of the GIANT chunks of everything else going on in this – would like to see a little more “tea.” but overall it’s pretty tasty. I might cold brew this just to see how that works.

I can’t seem to find my tea this morning. I’ve had several unsatisfying attempts, this being one of them. I will try it again changing the steeping parameters. Although I am not sure what to change.

The tea was not too strong but the spices were. I tasted the bitterness of what might have been too much powdered ginger. The rather large pieces of cinnamon bark also worried me but it turned out not to be the most offensive of flavours. So, how do I get rid of the bitterness? It wasn’t tea bitterness, it was spice bitterness. Those who accidentally put too much powdered ginger in their cooking once or twice will know what I mean. I try to only use fresh ginger in cooking but shamefully admit to having had to resort to powder a few times.

1.5 tsp for 8 oz, off boiling for 3 minutes. Beautiful clear orange once steeped. Fragrant, just as it was in dry form. Nicely done, just not what I expected. Although I should have, with the name " ginger Darjeeling Peach"

So this bag that I’m holding reads “Roasted Cocoa Mint” — Yerba Mate. Yet steepster insists it is called something else. I would have edited the info except it was Fusion Teas themselves who updated this info last month. Mindhump?!? The ingredients in here are exactly as those on my bag, in the same exact order. So get from this what you will.

The tea is good. The dry leaf smells of chocolate. there are some rather large chocolate chips in it. Not many, but on the large side. The yellow petals (marigold?) and toasted rice are also not hard to find. Everything else, you need good eyes for, it’s sparse.

Brewed, 1.5 tsp for 5.30 minutes the tea is dark and smells mostly of mint. Ditto for the taste, mostly mint. There’s some oily stuff floating on the surface and leaving a ring on the teacup. It also has a lot of sediment on the bottom and this is after transferring! I steeped in DAVIDs steeper and then I transferred to a teapot where the resteep will also go, on top. Yah, I will be blending the two steeps.

Anyway, It’s not a bad tea if you’re in the mood for mint. You have to be in the mood for mint because it is mint first and cocoa and everything else second.

I got this amazing sample from the generous Dexter3657 – thank you!!

So, I’m not sure I get carrot cake, but I certainly get a spicy sweet dessert tea that tastes as wonderful as it smells. I was tempted to add a little sweetener to this to see if I could pull out more carrot cake flavour, but decided not to, as it already has a sweet taste to it. Besides, I really love the spiciness of this one, and don’t want to take away from it by adding sugar.

I will definitely be putting this tea on a ‘must purchase’ list.

Continuing on my quest to find green teas I enjoy I went ahead and brewed this one again following package instruction. I always brew tea the suggested way first before I start making adjustments. I received a few comments where people mention overleafing if flavour is not strong enough for me. This is fair and it makes sense, but I don’t want to overleaf if not necessary.

Fragrant dry leaf, gorgeous to look at with the red berries and blue flowers throughout the green tea. brewed 1.5 tsp for 2 minutes in 170 F water for a clear pale yellow liquor. Very very aromatic but lighter in flavour. Light base too. Second steep similar to first, continues to be extremely fragrant. Even as the tea cooled significantly, one can still smell it from few feet away.

There is great flavour here but still the base is too weak for me. I am still trying to figure it out if it’s the green tea itself or the tea company becauseI had similar experience with the lychee Licious from Fusion and with Japanese Cherry from PureAroma. Maybe I’ve been drinking so much flavoured blacks and oologs in the last couple of days that I forget greens are not as punchy.

I should not be drinking this tea in the morning, it is not a morning tea. However, being the glutton that I am I’m dying to try all my new teas at once which means I’m not paying attention to the time of day, or my moods. I really should, I’m doing them a disservice this way.

I received this as a sample with my order. It really captures black currant. There have been many teas I’ve tried which ended up lacking in the flavour department, despite the fact that their names sound full of promise. This tea does deliver. Not sure it is my kind of tea, I tend to shy away from tart (cranberry, currants etc) however I can still appreciate the technique and end result and the fact that flavour is indeed captured.

The dry leaf has a really nice smell. Once brewed, the liquor is a clear reddish brown and its aroma is mostly black tea with currant. It is tangy, I can’t tell just how tangy because I added sugar right off the bat, but it is not hibiscus tangy, it is berry tangy, possibly sour cherry. I do not drink milk so I did not add any, however I do not think this would go well with milk. It would make a great refreshing iced drink for a hot summer day.

1.5 tsp for 8 oz, off boiling water, 4 minutes. Very light astringency at 4 minutes.

I think my total count for oolongs consumed is now a whopping 3. Are they usually quite delicate in their flavouring and aroma? The dry leaf has a really strong berry smell. But once brewed, you practically have to put your nose so far in the cup you’re almost touching the liquor in order to get a good aromatic inhale. Ditto for the flavour. It’s there but oh so faint. And I’m getting jasmine in here. The one other person who reviewed this said it’s floral. I can go farther and say it’s jasmine but I don’t see it listed.

It is a very pale yellow liquor and oh so delicate flavour. I probably could have had it without sugar but decided to add a pinch (not even a teaspoon, am so proud of myself!) and see what it does.

Steeped twice so far, could probably go for three but I can’t get a whole lot of difference in flavours between steeps and I’m falling asleep so it’s time for a good kick in the pants black.

This tea came my way from an amazing swap with Dexter3657…thank you!

In my limited tea experience, I am finding that I really like these spicy chai tea’s, and this one is no exception.

The dry leaf smells strongly of ginger (in a good way). The brewed scent doesn’t have the strong ginger scent, but it comes through in taste. The ginger isn’t overpowering, but I definitely get the spicy ginger flavour from this tea. It is very tasty with a perfect balance of spicy ginger.

Backlog:

I’m glad that the hibiscus here is added with a light hand. I didn’t even really notice the hibiscus except for the pale pink-ish hue to the brew. It didn’t impart a strong tart-y flavor, nor did it leave the liquid feeling thick or syrupy. Just pink. I like that. Thank you Fusion, for getting hibiscus right.

The green tea base is sweet, slightly creamy and earthy. The raspberry is sweet yet tart, and I guess the hibiscus does help to accentuate the tart in the raspberry, but it doesn’t hit me over the head with the obvious hibiscus flavor. It tastes more like … well, like raspberry.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/03/15/raspberry-sunburst-green-tea-from-fusion-teas/

Ohhhh, this is sooo good! My thanks to Dexter3657 for this tasty sample!! The first time I tried this, I had it without cream or sugar. I found it to be smooth and spicy.

I wanted to pull out the caramel flavour, so I decided to added a bit of cream and sugar, and it took this tea from yum! to this is REALLY YUMMY AND DELICIOUS AND CARAMELY!!!.

With added cream and sweetener this pu’erh is OUTSTANDING! Sweet spicy caramel is very nicely balanced with the smoothness of this pu’erh. A lovely after dinner sweet treat!! Do I need to say it again? Yes! So GOOD!!!

Sipdown! I rarely write three notes for one tea, in fact I rarely write two, but this was so so good. Initially I had a sample and then I bought my own pack. I have just finished it and would gladly order more of it some day, in the not too distant future.

Purposely Overstepped and overleafed, 2.5 perfect measures for 16 oz of water. Didn’t set a timer. Still delicious. Soo forgiving. This is an awesome tea for those introducing themselves to honeybush. Go for it! Especially with cream and the sweetener of your choice it is an awesome beverage. Take it to work with you in the morning because it will take the “crabby” right out of you.

Sample sipdown from Dexter3657

I really should have bought more of this. I didn’t receive my Fusion tea order yet but I only ordered a 10 cup sample size. I had only tried it once before placing my order and was still not head over heels in love. I enjoyed it the first time around but apparently not enough to order more. Moronic move.

It’s perfect for an evening when you want to curl up with a warm cup of comfort. To some, that cup of comfort might be a chocolate tea, or a chai. Although I enjoy those also, there’s just nothing like hazelnut for me. I used to put hazelnut creamer in my morning coffee all the time. This tea, with hazelnut creamer is just to die for.

So it turns out I enjoy Fusion teas — the few I tried courtesy of Dexter3657 , anyway — enough to place an order. You all keep quiet now, my partner need not know, since I bought a bunch of DAVIDs on the weekend too. And I abandoned a couple of carts elsewhere. I wish the shipping wasn’t as high but I find their prices quite reasonable. The sad part is there is no size between a sample (10 cups) or 3 oz. Errr… no, I will no longer buy 100 grams of a tea I’ve never tried now that I’ve had a chance to see what’s out there.

Way to go, Fusion teas. Reasonable prices made for a quick decision. Are there teas out there of better quality? Of this I am certain. However, when one is just starting out and has yet to fully appreciate the finer teas, affordability plays a huge role.

Anyway, this little tea is really good. While I seem to not like rooibus a whole lot, honeybush is pleasant. I’ll be breaking out my hazelnut creamer for this one. I suspect the hazelnut flavouring is artificial, because it’s so there and I’ve learned that with nuts, unless you artificially flavour, the taste is not as strong (coconut being the exception for me)

Steeped for 8 looong minutes. The dry leaf smell is hazelnut and the liqour is caramel-coloured. And the taste is hazelnut but you get the honeybush too. actually, as it cools it gets less nutty and more … .. bushy :)

I’ll ruin it with hazelnut creamer for the second steep for what I’m sure will be heaven.

Ever have one of the roller coaster – OMG the sky is falling, the world is ending kind of days. That was me from 5PM yesterday until about 8 PM tonight. All is well that ends well, but I don’t like those days. Anyway, now that all is right in my world again, I’ve decided that I didn’t drink enough tea today. Feel like I’m suffering from withdrawal. It’s late, so I chose a rooibos.
First off, I just want to send a sincere apology to everyone I sent a sample of this to. (I need to stop sharing teas I haven’t tried yet.)
This tea (to me anyway) tastes like powdered ginger. All I’m getting is ginger, and not fresh nice ginger. Icky powdered ginger. No cookies, no rooibos,no nuts, just overwhelming, drown out everything else ginger. :((

Hmmmmmmm, I’m not sure what Tulsi is. Ok I know what google says it is, but I don’t think I’ve ever run into it before. I’m going out on a limb and assume that tulsi is the weirdness in this chai. It’s not bad just had a weird taste amongst the spices. It’s really spicy, I may have to try other Fusion Tea chai to see how they compare, but if you take that “weird” out of this it would be amazing. This is getting more mellow as it cools, the flavors are coming together more harmoniously. Glad to have tried it, not sure it will become my go to chai, but I like it (weirdness and all).

One more tea from Dexter3657 tonight before I switch to a tried, tested and yummy tea. Not that some of these were not yummy, but for my last tea of the evening I don’t want to try a new tea, I want to go to a tea I know for sure will deliver. For me, today it will be the organic buttered rum from DAVIDs. Although I have been staring at the organic blueberry jam from them and I really want to try that too.

Back to the pumpkin Rooibos though. Dry, it smells spicy like pumpkin pie spicy. Maybe some nutmeg, in there somewhere. The brewed smell… Well, I can now say I will be able to recognize Rooibos in the future. It has the same funky smell I found earlier today in the pineapple bacon (52teas) and in the Neapolitan honeybush (52teas).

I’m beginning to think I don’t care for Rooibos. Although its funny, DAVIDs pink lemonade is Rooibos and we like that one.

With this tea, I’m getting pumpkin mostly in the aftertaste. Can’t get past the smell though, with every sip I take it’s there. Maybe if I put some ice in here so that I no longer get the smell wafting up with the steam. Umm… This tea is not for me! I love pumpkin though so I don’t think it’s the pumpkin’s fault here.

It’s cold and rainy here today. Thought it would be a good day to drink the last of the Pumpkin Rooibos.
I think I over leafed the first cup, it was really intense. The spices overwhelmed the pumpkin and the rooibos. The second steep was much better, could actually find some pumpkin amongst the flavors. I only had about a tsp left so I threw that into the used leaves and did a third steep. This is better than the first two.
All in all not the worst pumpkin tea I’ve ever had, but does not live up to Della Terra’s Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie. IMHO.

Thanks Liberteas

Clever Flavor Combo for this oolong! I like it very much! Different and in a good way. The rose and the lemon are a bit on the lighter side but appreciated the way they are…they are playing nice with each other.

Very nice flavor combo and offering for a flavored oolong! Nice!

This is an ancient sample that I got from Fleurdelily, who doesn’t seem to be around anymore, back in October. It’s been sitting in my Untried Teas Box since then, because there were several things about it that I found a little intimidating.

I’m not super-keen on mate, to be honest. But I don’t hate it either. Also, I’ve never had roasted mate before, and maybe that appeals to me more.

I’m not super-keen on chocolate flavoured things where the chocolate isn’t a naturally occuring note of cocoa. It’s a texture thing. Or rather a lack of texture thing. But I’m willing to give them a go.

I have also had a blend previously which contained chicory, I think it was, and there was something in it that I didn’t like where people told me it was likely the chicory. I think. Or was I dreaming that? I can’t remember which blend it was or when I drank it.

So that is why it has taken me so long. Quite honestly, I’m rather afraid of this.

But I’ve pulled myself together and made a cup, expertly spilling a good slosh of it into the tray. The table at Tea Corner is wooden and was beginning to show the evidence of a lot of spilling, so I bought a small melanine tray from Roy Kirkham, with butterflies on it matching one of the small pots, to have the pot and cups and such on while brewing. It looks great (I think) and it works.

Well, it certainly smells like cocoa. Sweet and deep and very much like hot chocolate. So far so good. There’s something else underneath as well, which smells rather like coffee, so since chicory has a history of being used as a coffee substitute during the Occupation, I’m going to assume that it’s chicory I can smell.

My father doesn’t like tea at all. He doesn’t like real tea and he doesn’t like herbal tea. He thinks it stinks to high heaven and tastes even worse.

(And don’t come and tell me nonsense like ’it’s just because he’s only had bad tea’ or ’it’s just because he hasn’t tried this or that tea’ or ‘everybody likes tea, just not all types’ because it’s rubbish and it annoys me. We all have things we just. Don’t. Like. For me it’s beer and most sorts of alcohol. Yuckity yuck yuck yuck. For him it’s tea. It greatly annoys me when people seem to take offence at the fact that there are people in the world who strongly dislikes things that others like. Nobody likes everything, and we are allowed to not like some things. So there. Rant over.)

But anyway, I think he might find the aroma of this one tolerable. Yes, frankly, because it smells like coffee, but even so. The funny thing about me father, by the way, is that he’s really into whisky and goes to tastings and what not when he can with Husband and a friend of his. So while he finds my tea disgusting and I find his whisky repulsive, we get each other on this. :)

Right, enough stalling. What does this stuff taste like?

Peculiar. It doesn’t actually have a very strong flavour. At first it was just a sip of hot liquid, and then all the notes show up in the aftertaste. A coffee-y hint, a blooming of cocoa and at the very back of the throat a tiny point of something prickly, as if there was a smidge of chili in it. Well, I’ve heard of chili chocolate…

Now, it is a very old sample by now and apparently I also used water that was too hot, so that may account for the funny backwards nature of the sip. I’m far more used to things having no aftertaste than things having only aftertaste.

I’ve touched on how cocoa flavoured teas and chocolate flavoured teas usually disappoint me because they lack the thick texture of real hot cocoa. This blend, however, has managed to find a way to actually taste strongly of cocoa without bringing with it this lack of texture disappointment, in spite of how the actual texture is still as thin as water. If you get what I mean. I’m highly pleased with this. No other chocolate flavoured tea that I can think of has managed to do this.

As the cup cools a bit, the flavour becomes less shy and actually shows up on the sip as well. The cocoa remains largely on the aftertaste, and I’m catching hints of something wooden (the rooibos, I think) and nuts on the sip. That chicory that I was so afraid of doesn’t appear to be around at all. Or it wasn’t actually chicory that caused aforementioned unpleasant notes previously. See, this would be a lot easier if I could actually remember it. Now I don’t even know why I mentioned it in the first place.

All in all, this is quite a hearty and pleasant blend. What was I so afraid of for all this time? That said, I’m still not super-keen on mate, but I’ve learned that I like it better when it’s roasted.

This tea smells kinda cakey. I like honeybush, but the chocolate flavour of this one doesn’t really work for me.

This tea looks great and smells great – scrumptious blueberry aroma! It has a mellow, sweet, creamy flavor that curbs my cravings for sugar and calorie packed desserts! It is not at all sour or harsh like many berry teas. The fusion of ripe blueberry, creamy yogurt, and earthy rooibos is easy to love. It’s become one of my go-to drinks in the evening.

I like this best hot: when it cools down, the added flavors quiet down and the balance tips more heavily towards the rooibos base.