Mountain Rose Herbs

This is one of the best black teas i have had. Use it alot in my blends and it makes an excellent iced tea as well.

I absolutley love this tea. I mixes very well with other teas and is awesome in a Chia tea mix.

This is one of my favorites and even my girls like it. It brews to a beautiful amber color, smooth and easy to drink, I enjoy it with raw honey.

I generally use this as my primary iced tea, has that classic iced tea flavor.

One of my favorite herbs/flowers. When I first wanted to buy Jasmine Flowers Years ago, I still believed that the scent would be as strong and apparent as the one from Lavender flowers. I was surprised at how ‘distant’ the scent from dried Jasmine is to that of the freshly picked one. It took me a bit to get used to, but one learns along the way.

The tea from the flower by itself is very gentle and subtle, yet it wields a somewhat hidden complexity. I would never imagine Jasmine being naturally sweet after having tried it as a very perfumy flower. The tea resembles a very volatile vanilla that is playful and seems to fade but constantly re-appears. There are subtle ghosts of the perfumy nature of Jasmine as you drink and sniff the tea, but is everything but overwhelming. The tea is soothing and calming, a very nice night-night tisane. This tea really help in stressful nights and when you feel tense for almost no reason.

Quick Notes I’ve been sick lately. So even though I always make my herbal blends at home an enjoy them, I’ve been drinking them a LOT more instead of tea.

I like this lemon grass, Its not the MOST flavorful I’ve had but deserves the best score for what matters CONSISTENCY. It is almost impossible to find these days. I’ve had ‘better’ tasting from other companies to only have the next badge be weak and old almost stale tasting not a few months after when I re-ordered.

The price is excellent and I haven’t had any problems when drinking in blends or by itself. The color is beautiful still and looks fresh. Honestly, I use it to cook and to make Lemon Grass Martinis (just Brew a stronger tea, let it cool, mix with gingered simple syrup and you have your base flavor).

This is a lovely Yunnan … smoky, rich, earthy and sweet. Lovely malt tones. Even though the description depicts an Oolong by saying it’s partially fermented … it tastes much more like a black tea than either an Oolong or a green. I do taste a lightness to this, hay-like and sweet, but, I still find it leaning more toward the black tea type.

It’s good, a fairly strong amount of astringency toward the tail. Enjoyable. Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this.

Between working a somewhat ‘normal’ shift at work, and doing some crazy house cleaning/reorganizing for Missy’s visiting brothers, I haven’t been updating much lately.

I’m not entirely sure what my mental block is against working the standard business hours of 8-5. Well, traffic is a big part of it, commuting is definitely not all it’s cracked up to be. I digress. Working 8-5 makes me tired, and my tiredness prevents me from writing interesting and witty things in a tea review. This should probably be etched in my mind for those silly times where I think “Hey, I should write a blog, and make witty and interesting posts several times a week!”. It is unlikely to happen.

So this? This was kind of a random herb I threw into my Mountain Rose order just to give it a shot as a tea. I had a somewhat vague idea of what Fennel was, because I know it’s in some Mediterranean food, and it’s rumored to kind of taste like black licorice. I like black licorice, and things that resemble the taste of black licorice, so I’m interested in what it could mix with.

The liquid itself has a light yellow color, and gives off an inviting smell of… well, like an Indian restaurant. It’s not as sweet as what I think of the smell of black licorice being, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that I don’t have any sugar in this cup. Just fennel, all day long.

The taste follows suit with the smell. It is very reminiscent of black licorice, but with a more savory, almost salty flavor to it. A little sweet, almost imperceptibly salty, and with a teensy woodsiness at the end.

I had Missy try a little sip of this (she made it for me, after all). Her review is something along the lines of “It tastes like salty black licorice, and I can’t stand it”. Though, in my experience, I haven’t met many women who enjoy the flavor of black licorice. Not sure why, but it seems to be a trend.

So yeah, this isn’t necessarily something I’d ever want to drink on it’s own, but it could definitely add an interesting background flavor to some blends. It would probably go well in the background of a Tulsi blend.

This is so yummy! Definitely a tad different than other Jasmine teas I’ve tried – has a bit of a roasted flavor, I’d say. Very flavorful, but not at all bitter. Heavily recommend.

So lucky to have inherited this tea. For the longest time, I was not a fan of spicy teas, but this one changed my mind. Mmm, it is delicious! Definitely want to check out some of the other teas this company has to offer.

I need a weekend from my weekend.
My mother was rushed to the hospital on Saturday and it has been a roller coaster of a weekend.
But, she is now stable and the Doctors are figuring things out and things are looking better.
All weekend I was drinking Lapsang Souchong, it seemed to give me the jarring perk I needed to be alert.
But, today, I am emotionally drained and really wishing for a spa visit.
But, a Jasmine Pearl taste testing sounds like the next best thing.
This is the first tea in my tasting of all 4 of the Jasmine Pearl Teas I own, that I will be doing for you all today.
Dry, the pearls smell more of honeysuckle than jasmine, with a bit of a bread or starchy background note.
The tea smells of jasmine but there is also a sweetened milk smell too.
This tea is both lighter in taste and smell than some jasmines I have tasted.
Also, that slightly creamy/milk smell transfers into the taste.
Jasmine first hits the tongue but then that creaminess.
I do not get a strong green tea taste with this tea.
If you are not into highly perfumey jasmine teas, then this tea might be for you.
Overall, this is a lovely delicate tea and very nice price too, at $15.50 for 4 oz!

This is a delightful afternoon tea.
If you love Jasmine Pearl tea but do not want to drink it all the time due to the price, this is a great way to get your Jasmine fix.
The fragrance is heady and the taste is floral and honey.
Feels very much like an indulgence, however at 7 bucks for 4 oz, this is a indulgence that can be afforded to be drank often.
This tea is a beautiful honey color.

This is part two of truly attempting to understand the herbs and flavorings that I think I know. Spearmint.

From the bag, the loose leaf smells less potent than peppermint. It is a softer, more luxurious smell. It’s cool and refreshing, but with less of the bite that you receive from the peppermint. More relaxed, it attempts to impress rather than intimidate.

Steeped, the liquor is a yellow-amber, almost golden. I was still expecting green. Call me crazy.

The flavor has a sweet, foresty taste to it. It is lush and smooth, but without the pine tang of the peppermint. It’s softer. Flavorful, but not powerful. There is a light, soothing coolness to the flavor, and a sweet candy flavor to the finish.

Part of my whole basis for these experiments I am doing is to make myself more aware of when I “guess” at flavors, instead of actually experiencing them. One of those “guesses” that I think I need to throw out of the window… is my love for spearmint. I’ve always thought spearmint was my favorite. But really, after having a steaming cup of peppermint vs a steaming cup of spearmint, all alone… Peppermint definitely takes the cake.

Part of this has to do with the fact that… spearmint is evidently more prevalent in most of my dental products than I thought. As much as I sat and tried to drink this with an open mind… I thought of mouthwash. I thought of toothpaste. I thought of mint waxed dental floss. I swear in my head that flavor was a candied peppermint, but no, evidently it’s spearmint.

Now, I’m not saying this flavor doesn’t belong places… but I really think that I want it in a slightly lesser abundance than the peppermint. Maybe 60/40.

I think you would be hard pressed, especially in the tea-drinking community, to find someone who was not at least passably familiar with peppermint. Maybe not a fan, but at least familiar.

I’ve decided that there are certain blends of herbs, teas, other such things that I wanted to try my own hand at making. However, I’m pretty self-aware in what I’m lacking, which is a base understanding of what particular ingredients truly taste like. And if I’m going to do this, I need to do it right, and that starts at the basics: stop and understand, truly understand, what each ingredient tastes like.

And what better to start with than something as ubiquitous as peppermint?

The smell of the dry leaf is truly wondrous and powerful. Though, it is an 8 oz bag, so it’s a LOT of mint (think if you stacked three bricks on top of each other, and that’s the approximate size of this bag of peppermint). The smell is sweet, lush and foresty. It feels cool on your nose at first, but with a sharpness at the end. Invigorating.

While steeping, that aroma begins to fill the room, and I find myself challenging my first preconception: the liquor is not green. It’s actually a reddish-amber color, that deepens to an auburn-brown as it steeps. Darker than I expected, more of an earthiness to the color.

The smell of the brew is significantly less powerful than the smell of the dry leaf. It is still sweet and foresty, but the cooling sharpness has mellowed to a more agreeable level.

The taste is sweet and pleasant, Sharp, fresh, cooling. The taste has similar qualities to pine, but less abrasive, muted, like a pine forest after a rain. Powerful from start to finish, from the moment it crosses your lips, to the lingering chill that it leaves well after you’ve swallowed.

This is so amazingly good. I’ve never had fresh, straight, high quality peppermint tea before… and this really blew me away.

I think I’m going to have fun with this.

This is the first Matcha Tea that I have ever had.
I made this about a dozen times and I still never really loved it.
At first, I think the water was too hot and it was terribly bitter, finally got that figured out.
Over all the best taste I can get out of this one, is when I am on the tractor when we are baling and alfalfa particles get in my mouth.
Which is not terrible, but I am not sure I want to drink that regularly.
I was not overly impressed with my first Matcha experience.
Thank goodness I am all about second chances…

I try to always have a Chai around the house.
I believe that there is not a better tea for fighting a cold or warding off nausea than a Chai Tea.
I prefer traditional Chai Black Tea, but if you are ill you are not supposed to have too much caffeine, so I when I saw this Chai with a Rooibos base I thought that I would give it a try.
I have been drinking it the last few nights as a dessert tea.
It is a very spicy Chai, which I personally like.
Last night I did a bit of experimenting and actually added a sachet of Vanilla Comoro to the teapot.
I thought that was a very nice additive for a dessert experience.
Overall, a good tea to keep around the house.

Backlogging from the last two days…and a sipdown!

First three cups of the day…just because…see other notes…

A bit bolder than my first attempt…it fits my morning…see previous notes :)

Special Thanks to Hesper June for this one!

This has a lot of personality! I can pick up on gentle smoky notes – almost like leather, hay-like flavors, sturdy black tea that turns semi-bakey, There are hints a black tea, green tea, and oolong tea type notes!

This is very tasty and very much a conversation-piece. I like it!

My tea of choice for the morning so far.
I have had four cups of this so far today, and each cup is still a delightful burst of smoke and honey.
I do believe that this is my favorite LS I have tried so far.
Grace Tea Co. is my second fav.
I just want to let all my dear Steepster friends on the East Coast know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.
I will continue to pray for you all till nasty Sandy is done having her fit and moved far away from you all.
Take care!

Yesterday afternoon, I needed a energy boost.
But, I was also heading out the door.
I just received my tea order from Mountain Rose Herbs, so I reached my hand in the box blindly and pulled this out.
I had forgotten I had even ordered this tea.
I actually ordered it for my Hubby.
He likes black teas, when he does drink tea and I thought this tea would appeal to him.
I almost groaned inwardly when I grabbed it though, I have had a terrible Lapsang Souchong experience.
But, there was no time, brew it up and stick it in a mug and out the door I run.
Ten years ago my father was experimenting with new flavors of tea and bought a Lapsang Souchong from somewhere…I wish I could remember where so I could avoid it.
But, it tasted nothing like this tea, it was so highly smoky it caused me to have a headache when he brewed it.
It was a chemically smoky smell, like someone had dumped liquid smoke into a cup.
Enter me taking a sip of this tea.
Well, Hello There!
Surprise was so written over my face yesterday, that the person I was talking to asked me if I was all right. (I mean, I did just take a sip from my cup, then my hand flutters to my chest and a look of complete surprise on my face… I think I should try new teas at home and not in front of others from now on:)
It is lightly smoky, not intense, the odor is like a campfire across the canyon rather then sticking my face in a trash burner (what I would say the other tea tasted like)
The tangy smoke hits the tongue and then a well rounded sweetness emerges.
In fact it is a earthy sweetness, like honey.
Last night I went to bed thinking of this tea, so much so, that I had to tell myself, like a child waiting for Christmas, that the sooner I fall asleep, the sooner morning will come and then I can drink more of this tea.
Brewed in my Libre, it has a lovely rosy red color.
It holds up to a second infusion well.