Georgia Tea Company

Big thanks to my tea twin Amanda for sending me some of this to try!

I really love the combination of coconut, almond, and vanilla. This is a tea that I feel has a lot more potential then what I gave it. (Just a normal steep with sugar). I am for sure going to have to make it again and add a splash of cream (or almond milk in my lactose intolerant case) I am really interested in finding out what that would taste iced as well. Iced snowflake late anyone? Sounds good to me!

Will post a note when I try that experiment. For now, a generally good dessert black coconutty almondy tea.

Please check out my full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ to be posted tonight at 6 central time. For now here are snippets:

Like a lot of tea drinkers I go through stages in what type of tea I crave. Lately I have been feeling put off by flavored teas, just wanting to enjoy unadulterated teas. After several failed attempts today at flavored teas I remembered my prized precious stash Georgia Tea Company teas. Snowflake from Georgia Tea Company is one of those flavored teas that I never tire of. As a matter of fact, I could select any of my Georgia Tea Company flavored teas and be in bliss. At this time I only have a few teas from them but I do intend to get more as I dwindle down my existing stash.

I love that Georgia Tea Company teas are heavily scented because not only does it add a lovely dimension to the sipping experience but it makes your home smell warm and welcoming as well. Put out the candles and put away your room spray, just steep some tea! While the tea is heavily scented it is not overly flavored. Georgia Tea Company does not smother their teas in artificial flavorings just to cover a bad base. I rather enjoy this simple yet flavorful black tea base used in this blend. Their green blends are even more amazing!

Thank you Amanda for sharing this tea with me!
Its lovely!
I visited the site and was shocked at the low prices there but I shall refrain (for now) in placing an order.
This has the PERFECT balance of nutty, vanilla, and coconut!
It is also perfectly sweet without adding a thing.
Really a very nice tea.
Thank you again Amanda – this goes into the wish list!

After reading the reviews on this tea I was curious about trying out a different, beneficial tea! Ordering was a breeze and shipping was fast! Even the packing/packaging was nice and simple, though I will need to get myself more tins since the ‘Kraft bags’ wont be a suitable place to keep the tea in for too long.

Opened the bag and much to my delight there was a very fresh fruit aroma that washed over me. The smell isn’t overpoweringly sweet like a fruit tea, but more of a fragrance of late spring sort of like when flowers are turning into fruits. Can’t wait to try it!

The Tea did not disappoint either! It is a very smooth mix of fruit and earthy flavors making it light and refreshing without feeling as though you have taken a bite out of a sugar cube. A very nice tea all round!

Yummy!

I’M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Did you guys miss me? I missed you!!! I’m super sorry that I’ve had such a long absence but I’ve come back to everyone still being here and to a lovely message from Bonnie, thank you for that!

This summer was pretty hot therefore tea free and I went out to explore more interests that I’ve had, and that is what usually happens-summers are tea free because of laziness and then when things actually start and I don’t have time to make a bunch of different teas I want to start again! Anyways, this is (in all honesty) the first tea I’ve had since probably June-ish.

This is still as tasty as I remember! It’s a very full (please don’t laugh at my tea-describing vocabulary, I haven’t done this in a while and I’m afraid I lost a little bit of my touch!) tea and it’s really really nice and comforting.

I’m sorry that my return is somewhat short as I have some other things I need to get to tonight so I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave it at that but I will be back ASAP and I hope that you are all doing well and didn’t miss me too much :P

Backlog 5/10

All previous notes still apply to this one! I love this so much, it’s really creamy and sweet and yummy! I’ve noticed that it smells a LOT like cake batter and I love that smell (and that taste, shhh don’t tell anyone I eat raw cake!) so that adds even further to my delight! Yummy!

Thank you brandy3392 for sending me this generous sample!

Another EXCELLENT tea! The smell of this is intoxicating! It smells like creamy almond goodness, oh my god I can’t even handle it! I got so scared that I oversteeped this one, but in reality it only really went for an extra minute or so. It was still excellent!

This was so sweet with just the flavoring! I added no sweetening and still got WONDERFUL flavor! Gahhhh I love this one so much. It’s sweet and creamy and almondy and sweet and sososososososoososososososososososososososososososo good! I’m getting annoying, I can tell, so I’ll stop.

Just.

Soooo good.

This tea was a definite risk since it only had one review that wasn’t good, but I’m always on the lookout for a good almond tea so I ordered a sample anyway. I was briefly hopefull after the Snowflake tea that this one would be like that except without the coconut, that is to say very almondy, but those hopes were dashed the minute I opened the pouch. The tea is definitely made up of little CTC nuggets, and didn’t smell ike too much of anything, certainly not almonds. The steeped tea smells like kind of plain, teabag black tea that has been sweetened. No almond aroma here. And that’s what it tastes like… very slightly sweetened black tea that is somewhat bitter, astringent and wholly not the flavor of plain black that I like. There might be the tiniest hint of almond but that’s reaching.

Honestly I’m not going to finish this cup. It’s not wholly undrinkable, but it certainly doesn’t deliver on the flavor it promises, and I don’t enjoy the flavors that are there at all. Bleh.

Well shoot. For some reason I thought I hadn’t tried this one yet, but apparently I had. Tells you how memorable it was! I basically concur with my first tasting note, in that this is fruity and decent enough but kind of boring, tea wise. I’m sure at one point in my tea journey it wouldn’t have bothered me at all that the black tea base is basically nonexistant in regards to the flavor (in fact I would have welcomed it), but that is not the case anymore. Oh well.

This tea has evoked multiple reactions from people walking by my office, mainly “that smells really fruity!” and “is that peaches??”

The leaf on this one looks more similar to the quality of that in the Snowflake tea rather than the Earl Grey Cream, that is, smaller pieces like a typical flavored tea you might come across. It is one of those teas that smells very familiar but I can’t quite place. Like, don’t I have a tea just like this already? But I can’t think of one that I do. Maybe it’s the peach flavoring is reminding me of peach teas like Harney’s Midsummers Peach. I typically don’t drink many peach teas so it’s not a big list of possibilities.

The flavoring on this one is juicy and tasty; mostly peachy but definitely with some tart cranberry notes as well. What sucks here is the black tea base… not only is it uninteresting, it also borders on bitter and distasteful. That sounds worse than I mean it too… it’s not like I’m going to pour the cup out, and it’s not really that bad, but it certainly puts a damper on the whole experience. I haven’t been able to find this blend on Monterey Bay Spice Company’s website (though I recognize some MBSC blends on GTC’s website), but it certainly tastes like a MBSC black base, which really aren’t that good. Fortunately, like other MBSC blends, I have a feeling that this will make a tasty cold brew.

Sipdown, 166. Backlog, cold brewed this sample from the traveling tea box.

I have had this tea once before hot, but I decided to grab this sample out of the tea box to cold brew because I love earl grey cream cold brews and I haven’t had one in forever. This was pretty good, though it did have some kind of off taste to it that got worse as it warmed up. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I wouldn’t necessarily go for this one again.

I actually have a lot of Earl Grey Cream in my cupboard right now, and I’ve also already found one I really like and am not really looking for a replacement. Nevertheless I ordered a sample of this one from GTC because I’m always interested in Earl Grey Creams, and because it had a rave review on here (though it’s possible the blend has changed once or more). It is also supposed to have a hint of coconut, which I thought would be an interesting addition to an EGC.

One thing I noticed when I was portioning the tea out was that the leaf was more intact and nicer looking than I expected. There were some fairly large leaves in there! When I first took a sip while it was still very hot, I was very pleasantly surprised. I expected this one to be a fairly standard Earl Grey Cream without much in the way of interest in the black tea base. But there was actually a kind of nice, caramelly, tasty black there! Unfortunately as it cooled it became fairly bitter, so perhaps this one needs an even lower steep time. Beyond the bitterness, the tea had a nice bright bergamot flavor and a lovely rich almost caramelly creaminess (no doubt helping to bring out those flavors in the tea base). There was no distinct coconut to speak of, but that’s not the point of it here… it’s suppose to just boost the other flavors. If I can get the bitterness to go away this could really jump in ratings.

Sipdooooown! 128. Now I only have one more GTC tea to get through. A triumph! I’ve been cold brewing this one, and it was tolerable, but not great. Fakey flavoring on mediocre tea base, no thanks. I think I can say that I have certainly learned my lesson about ordering indiscriminantly from tea companies just because I get a deal.

Honestly I was worried about this one. I have been burned more than once by mango/passion/floral green/white blends that clearly come from wholesalers. I love the idea of that combo, but it’s just really hard to get those flavors right, I guess. I couldn’t find this exact blend anywhere else, though, so I took a leap and ordered a sample.

It does remind me of a tea I’ve had before, but I can’t place it. Maybe it’s just that mango-candy smell that comes with fake mango flavored greens. There are definitely some rose and jasmine notes buried in there, but they’re not very prominent. Mostly it’s that sweet, mango candy flavor that I don’t mind because I love mango candy. Overall it’s a decently tasty fruity and lightly floral tea, though again one that is all flavoring and not much tea taste. I like it fine, but it’s not a rebuy.

Hmmm. I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, in part because I had probably an ounce of it and I didn’t think I could make a dent in it during my recent sipdown-a-thon. Turns out I should have at least pulled it out because I think this one is going to get tossed now. I got in the scent but definitely in the taste… The coconut has spoiled. A common problem with coconut teas! Oh well, I’m not all that broken up about it, because this really wasn’t that great (to my tastes) in the first place.

I finally made my last groupon-style tea order. I tend to sit on my groupons (or in this case, kgb deal) until they’re just about to expire, and then I use them. I bought a lot of these types of deals when I first started really getting into tea, almost a year ago, and finally I’ve used them all up. I don’t have any more partly because there haven’t been any offered in a very long time, and partly because even if there were some offered, I’m way more picky about my tea these days so I probably wouldn’t buy them as readily. In any case this was a pretty good one because I could buy a bunch of 1oz samples. This tea I actually bought two ounces of, just because it got such good reviews on Steepster and I thought I would like the flavors (coconut, almond, vanilla). I’m not a big fan of Georgia Tea Company’s packaging, which are the kind of pouches that just fold over to close, not with an airtight zip seal. Now I have a ton of teas in non-airtight packaging and nothing to put them in. Oh well.

This tea smells really sweet and creamy and amazing dry. I wasn’t sure what temp to steep it at because the range on Steepster is amazing… from 165°F to boiling. Most people seemed to err on the side of not boiling, so I went with just under to see how it turned out. Steeped, it retains much of those sweet, creamy aromas, with the strong coconut and almond flavors vying for the main note. I don’t get much of a distinct vanilla from this, but I have a feeling it’s providing that creamy backing to the whole thing. The almond is a sweet, marzipanny, extracty-type almond, not as much the nutty fresh almond aroma.

Wow, there is no mistaking that this is a Flavored Tea with a capital F. Sweet, coconutty, and with an almond flavor that coats your mouth. Is there black tea in there? Well, yes, but it doesn’t really make itself known. Actually as it cools there is a faint bitterness coming out from the black tea; not the kind of black tea flavor I’m looking for. Otherwise it’s smooth, creamy and pretty tasty overall.

I really don’t know what I think about this one. On the one hand, the flavors are really delicious and lord knows I’m always looking for a really almondy tea (and am usually disappointed). On the other, my tastes have changed and I find myself wanting more from the base. Honestly a year ago I probably would have rated this one into the 90s because I didn’t care if I couldn’t taste the black tea, but now I want more from my flavored teas. Nevertheless I do still really like the flavors in this one mostly because it’s so intensely almondy and I never find teas that almondy. I guess I can say that I’m not sorry I bought 2 ounces of it.

Amanda sent this to me! Thanks so much!
:)

This is different…as she mention :)

It’s like candy, popcorn, fruit, and a girlie drink all in one. The popcorn and the fruit notes conflict for me in this particular blend. It leaves a FUNKY after taste. It’s VERY sweet.

I can taste all of the ingredients individually as well as together. As it cools the popcorn flavors take a back seat and the fruity and wine notes step up to the plate.

I am grateful there isn’t hibiscus in this…so a few points there…but the aftertaste has me grimacing a bit.

It’s not bad but not really my cuppa either.

I’m very glad I got to try it tho! I’m always interested in the different ones! Thanks again Amanda!

Thank you AMANDA for a bit of this one!!!

This is a fun one! it’s colorful and smells like a sugary chai. I can taste a bit of pumpkin, various spices, the sugary candies, a little citrus, and just a touch of tart which I will chalk up to the hibiscus! This is NOT Hibiscus-Intense and I LOVE THAT!!! Totally agree with Amanda in saying those who choose to add Hibiscus to their teas need to take note, here!!! PAY ATTENTION! Just a little dab is all you need – IF – at all you need!!!

There is a bitter-spice end sip but it smooths out very nicely in the aftertaste. This is really something unique! I LIKE THIS!

This Yunnan is fabulous! Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some!

It is everything I expect from a Yunnan. Peppery and bold. Nice wine-ish finish. Warm and delicious. A really delightful Yunnan.

Hmmm..I don’t know why I didn’t write a tasting note when I’ve had this previously. Whatever!

I love this. I actually didn’t even order it, but Daniel included it in all my other teas which is awesome but I’m sure it’s part of some sort of addicted to his teas plan or something.

It reminds me so much of the almond crescent cookies that my mom makes for Christmas. And because I am in fear I don’t get to have them since I’m going on vacation on Christmas, I turned to this tea. I probably don’t have to worry since I have to go visit beforehand but still…excuses to drink this.

To me this tastes just like a cookie. It even smells like they’re baking while it’s steeping. You could really ruin someone’s day with that (then make it all up with a cup). It’s like I know the coconut is there but I think it works so well with the vanilla it reminds me just of sugar.

I love this. I am so getting more once the sample bag is done.

This is different. I let it steep for a really long time because it was pretty blah after 5 minutes. It’s somewhat better now, but nothing jumps out at me about it.

I get the apple and a bit of papaya, the sweetness comes with a beet flavor. I don’t know what the popcorn is adding, I got a big kernel in this cup, and I’m not getting anything toasty or savory from it.

I like this way better cold. I can taste the fruits in here a bit better, but I’m still not entirely a fan of it.
It tastes like very sweet cider. I’m gonna see if it’s any better if it’s cold.

Look how cute this tea is. Not only does it have snowflake sprinkles it has dragées! So pretty.

Additionally it has chunks of marzipan and slivers of almond. The liquor smells just like marzipan, I can even smell the sweetness.

It even really tastes like marzipan, but as a bonus it isn’t as sweet as it smells. It’s just slightly got a medicinal taste, put I imagine if I steeped it a bit shorter that would be gone. Doesn’t bother me since I love rooibos, but the sweet almond flavor kind of brings it out a bit more.