New Mexico Tea Company

Slight floral and fruity taste – good both hot and cold. The rooibos taste is present but it doesn’t have that strong aftertaste that some rooibos teas get. Works well as non-caff afternoon tea.

‘Tea, Earl Grey, hot!’

I’ve been having a lot of EG lately, I blame a certain Starship Captain. My latest sample from the local shop. I’ve had lavender EG, and rose EG, but not in the same cup. Smells nicely like lavender with some rose. The rosemary scent comes out better when brewed. There is a mostly bergamot and rose scent. With the lavender notes as it cools. Then there are hints of rosemary. Got this because I thought the blend sounded interesting, but it’s very good too. (Had the first cuppa with cinnamon rolls.)

Tea! Earl Grey! Hot! (I would have tea with Picard, if he asked. Or Patrick Stewart.)

There is a nice creamy, bergamot scent. The flavour is vanilla/ citrus. Not too strong, and a little the sweet side. Goes well with brownies and Star Trek episodes.

This was a sample, so I’ll have to get more.

Finishing up the last of this. I’m just not tasting the berry here – it’s more like a mild blended black tea. It’s good (if I were tasting it blind I’d probably give it a better rating) but there are better alternatives for that sort of thing.

(EDIT: Just noticed my last several reviews were all disappointed. Been drinking a lot of African Sunrise (yum) and Chocolate Mint Black (yum) … I’ve probably already reviewed the best stuff in the tea drawer and now am just finishing up the things I rarely drink.)

I like breakfast teas, so I got this. Originally, it was purchased in winter. The brew has a nice dark red/ amber colour. There is a lightly malty scent. That comes out in the flavour, along with slight sweetness. And it also nicely smooth.

My latest sample from the local tea shop. This is named well, since it’s also monsoon season in my state. The brew smells sweet, and a little floral. That is what I get in the flavour as well. Overall, it’s just smooth and good.

I bought this yesterday when I was at NM Tea Co., and I’m sipping it this morning**. It is like an autumny hug in a mug. It is spicy, yes, but gentle enough to drink a lot of. It would also be FANTASTIC iced. The top note is a gentle cinnamon clove, but there’s also a “nuttiness” to this tea that my palate isn’t cultured enough to identify. Another brilliant tea from NM Tea Co.
On a side note, NM Tea Compnay’s customer service is the SHIZ, and their shop in Albq. is lovely.

**Brewing Note: I have no idea exactly how many ounces of water or at what temp. I throw about 7 tsp. in my Brown Betty, and fill that sucker up with water from the tea kettle on the stove. I know, I’m so not classy. Sorry.

Since I don’t live near certain stores anymore, I got this from my new local shop as a Summer tea. Firstly, it smells awesome. A nice blend of citrus and strawberry. The flavour is more lemon with hints of berry, but not as strong.

Good, but will have to try it iced.

My latest sample from visiting the local shop. This tea smells so good. Really like the scent of cardamon. There is a nice spice flavour, it’s almost like a masala chai. It also has a little bit of a dark malty taste. (Would probably be better for snow season.)

This stuff tastes like autumn in a cup (although I would gladly drink this hot or iced ANY time of year). Of the 6 teas I purchased at NM Tea Co. to sample, this is the only one that I will be purchasing again—in BULK.

Apples, almonds, citrus,a touch of cinnamon, a faint hint of hibiscus, zero bitterness. If you like Juicy Fruit gum, you’ll dig this tea. I have never enjoyed supermarket bought flavored teas because they always taste kind of like potpourri—fake and plastic-ey and heinous, but there is nothing about this blend that is remotely “off”—it is amazeballs.

It really doesn’t need sweetening, but the addition of some honey didn’t hurt it any. Also, I brewed it in a full Brown Betty teapot—no clue how many ounces of water in actuality. You know— “about 6 cups, one for the pot, yeah, that looks about right”

Do you like Laphroaig? If you do, THIS is your tea. If you don’t so much—then nope, this is not your tea.
Smells like Laphroaig, tastes faintly of iodine, smells very strongly of peat. Not my thing. Nope.
I can’t give it an honest numerical rating, though, because it might be excellent tea. I can’t get past the smell.

Ah, apricots. They go with so many things. Today, it was French toast. While reading part two of the quest to destroy the Dark Lord’s evil jewelry. This tea smells really good. I get a scent of cocoa, with hints of honey. The flavour is more honey, and generally mildly sweet.

(Have two cups with adventure stories.)

Had a pleasant cup of this this afternoon. I keep making lists of teas to buys, while at the same time I’m trying to sip down all this tea I have lying around, and the irony of this finally drove me to diagram which teas, in an ideal world, would actually fill my cupboard. It came to a mere 18 (this tea was one of them). The number is so low partly because i still have so many teas to try, and partly because with so many teas being either discontinued or re-formulated, I’m losing favorites almost as fast as I’m discovering new ones :( Well, here’s hoping this one doesn’t change, it’s become a standby for me.

So happy with this tea! I picked it out to be my morning tea, but I like it so much I’ve been dipping into it twice a day. Granted it’s not fancy — nothing but ginger and black tea, just like the name says — but the balance between the two is spot on, and the ginger and the tea leaves are both great quality (in general, I’d have to say one of my favorite things about NMTC — along with their free shipping — is whatever they’re using for their black tea base). Far and away my favorite approach to this flavor.

After a few cups, this one really grew on me, which is why it’s now completely gone :( Must order more soon.

Got this as a free sample in my last order. I feel like ginger tea is pretty straightforward, as long as there aren’t a lot of extraneous ingredients thrown in (I’m looking at you, lemongrass). So while there’s nothing particularly original about this ginger tea, it is a solid example of the genre, they chose a nice black tea for the base and the ginger tastes fresh.

It’s been so hot here I had to ice it, which worked pretty well. Nothing will save me from this temperature though, it feels like the whole landscape is toasting to a crisp. I keep painting irises (the real ones are completely withered) because they’re pretty easy and I am just too hot to concentrate: http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/danamartin/tropical-iris/

God, I wish it would rain or something.

One of the best cold brewed herbal teas I’ve had. I loved the lemony orange flavor with hints of honey. Sweet with a citrus tang. When I brewed this one up hot, there wasn’t a wow factor or a this tea rocks feel. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, just not mind blowing. Cold brewed is how to enjoy this tea.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/06/25/tea-of-the-day-african-summer-from-nm-tea-co/

And in case anybody is obsessed with owls like I am. . . Here is a post about a handmade Owl Charm Infuser that I recently discovered. . .

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/06/24/tea-ware-tuesday-my-newest-addition-owl-tea-charm-infuser-from-jiji-makes/

Happy Friday eve all!

One of my samples when I went by the store. I always like going by it when I visit Old Town. It smells nicely like pomegranate. There is a fruity flavour, but the vanilla doesn’t come out that well. Will have to try it iced.

Steeped this one up and from the smell alone I could tell I wasn’t going to be a fan. One sip and this isn’t bad but this isn’t one I want to finish the cup. I didn’t realize this had rooibos in it. I was blinded by the cool artwork on the package. AGH!

First Steep (160F, 1 min): Mostly floral with some cocoa. No astringency or bitterness associated with black teas.

Second Steep (160F, 1 min 15 s): Mostly floral, hints of cocoa and cinnamon.

Third steep (160F, 1 min 30 s): Nearly entirely floral with a cinnamon aftertaste.

Great caffeine/theanine buzz. Great flavor, but three steeps is probably sufficient for this tea. Possibly due to the low temperature suggested, this tea had no signs of astringency or bitterness. I wasn’t completely sold on the Keemun grand, but it’s suggested temperature was boiling. I will try that one again at this temperature. In any case, this tea is a great example of Chinese black teas.

First infusion (1 minute, 160): Nice malty and caramel flavors, no detectable bitterness or astringency. I highly recommend this temperature.

Second Infusion (1 minute 15 seconds, 160): Lighter malt but resilient caramel flavors.

Third Infusion (1 minute 30 seconds, 160): Weak flavor, two infusions are probably sufficient.

Overall, a decent tea with light but obvious flavors. The leaf isn’t very resilient but this is forgivable for a black tea. This tea could be considered the sweeter version of the NM Tea Co Royal Yunnan. This tea has less of a smoky profile and much more caramel and malts.

First Infusion (212, 4 minutes): Decent dark liquor, smoked malty taste. Not very complex or interesting. Very astringent and bitter.

New first infusion (200, 4 minutes): Nearly the same as the 212F, 4 minute infusion. Still very astringent and bitter.

New first infusion (190, 4 minutes): Nearly the same as the previous infusions. Astringency was toned down but still very bitter.

Second infusion (190, 4 minutes 15 seconds): Previous malty flavors barely noticeable with the bitterness.

I will update this with more temperatures. For now, I cannot recommend this tea. Not enjoyable.

Tried at a much lower temperature with long steep 4-5 minutes. Lower temperatures reduced astringency but not the flavors and I was able to get 2 great steeps. As mentioned before the smoky flavor is most prominent. This tea was very enjoyable but nothing too amazing. I think I prefer Keemums more, but I would drink this again.