Numi Organic Tea

Nope, I wasn’t crazy. The serving size, temperature, and steep time make a HUGE difference. Good but not as good as I JUST had it.

I’ve had this tea before and I typically have problems with it either being overly light or overly bitter. That’s my problem with Assams in general.

But this morning, my snobbish tendencies did not deter me. Numi has a chocolate version of this tea and I’ve been hesitating to try it. And I’ve been an Earl Grey fiend lately. So I took the opportunity to try some with my breakfast out this morning after voting. It was served in a teapot that I guessed to be at least 14 but at most 16 ounces. Water was around 190-200 degrees F, and after about two minutes and 35 seconds poured some. I made it intentionally lighter, and as others have said on here, neither the bergamot or the Assam is overpowering. It’s actually pleasant. Really pleasant. A doubtless Earl Grey, but a lighter smoother one with the weird chocolate-cocoa-sweet potato tones that I normally get from a Yunnan black tea. Those are tastes you get from an Assam too, but normally not in the same subtle way. Normally, I get MALT and brisk astringency. That’s also what I usually get from this tea. But not today. It was like a lighter version of the Wild Grey…which has become one of my favorite teas from Whispering Pines. In short, it impressed me and I actually wanted more. That, or my hyperglycemia is making me so high that ANY tea tastes good right now. High blood sugars do screw with my cravings.

It was a little bit maltier, but also more chocolate orange-er after 4 minutes. I got three pots out of the one bag still being just as good. I normally don’t like this tea. I also am not a huge fan of Numi. But after the way it was brewed this morning, I think I changed my mind on it. So I should probably brew it for no more than a minute with one bag in a regular cup. I can now officially say that I want to try the Indulgent chocolate version of this. Or, I could officially say that my cravings were really mind altering.

Slight fishy notes on the nose but they barely come through in the flavor. After drinking this tea for a while, my recommendation if brewing Western style is to do a 30-60 second rinse in 4oz water while agitating the tea bag a bit. This seems to take the storage/fishy notes mostly out of the tea. Has a nice malty, earthy, rainy-day / wet wood taste. Very pleasant. Medium to medium-heavy body. No risk of oversteeping. I recommend full steep time, including agitation. Have not tried multiple steeps but would not be surprised if it could go for at least two 8oz steeps from a tea bag. Boiling or just-off-boiling water is fine. You cannot hit this tea too hard.

Flavor notes are very straight-forward. Not very complex, but simple in a good way. Malty, earthy, wet flavors with maybe touch of chocolate or dark chocolate.

Nice “Qi” as some would say (I use the term just to mean the energy/relaxation/body feeling it generates). Very warming and relaxing, with a bit of caffeine for focus. Balanced.

This is an unusual one. I haven’t decided on whether it’s good or not, but I’ll figure that out later.

I wanted something unusual to try before I head on down to warmer weather. Although, I was told North Carolina is a mess with the recent tornadoes. My mother-in-law wants us to come on down, and spend the weekend with her and the family. She is also expecting me to bring some teas down, but I won’t have the time to review them. So, this is my last one for the weekend.

It’s “fresh” for a bagged tea. What I mean by that is that it tastes nothing like a pu-erh, but tastes more like a freshly picked basil leaf, with a touch of fresh mint. And if you’re not familiar with those flavors, you should make a note to grow some in your garden this year.

Anyway, I’m sorry this is short. I’m going to finish this off and go pack. I’ll review this again when I have more time!

I think it’s a decent introductory tea. It held up well to steeping for about 2 hours while I had a training session this morning and didn’t go off in any way. A smooth cup of tea. Earthy, but not overpowering. Convenient form for travel. 2 yea bags for 15oz. 74.

Reviewing this tea again because this time I drank it I really got a citrus/lemon vibe that was really unexpected, after I steeped it for way too long (was doing yoga again.)

I drank this in the morning before yoga class (I’m very fortunate to go to a studio where they serve tea!) It’s really nice to have green tea in a yoga studio, but this one just isn’t my favorite. The color is dark and slightly brown (teacup it was in may have influence my perception of the color though) and it just tastes like green tea. Nothing you wouldn’t expect, just perhaps slightly stronger flavor.

I’m pretty sure that it was not steeped at a high enough temperature, being in a yoga studio, so it probably had an influence on my judgment!

Didn’t like it. Bland with a slight medicinal / mushroom odour. It wasn’t totally undrinkable, but I can’t think of a time when I would actually crave this tea. I wish they would make this more like a soup broth. It could potentially be pretty good with more umami in general… but I have tried adding salt and pepper and it was disgusting and I had to throw it out.

Trying to finish up some teabags I have around. I always like rooibos, and this is one of the best teabag versions I’ve had. Always relaxing. Perfect for a snowy afternoon of writing.

Aroma is very rich and powerful. Distinct pu-erh notes perfectly blend with cocoa beans, nutmeg and subtle zesty notes.
The taste is even more complex. Cinnamon and nutmeg intertwine each other, then come the basic pu-erh taste with rich cocoa.
Drinking it is like eating gingerbred cookies with chocolate chips. Perfect. :)

As far as rooibos teabags go, it’s hard to imagine doing better than this. It has that very same “honey” scent and flavor that seems to be standard for all rooibos, and my mug last night was sweet and soothing, just what I want from an evening tea. I can get better loose leaf from other places, so this won’t be a pantry staple for me, but I enjoyed this just fine.

I bought a pound of this tea and it’s currently my daily tea with which I fill my work thermos. I was looking for an organic, fair trade, loose-leaf tea and this was one of the best values I could find. It’s a zesty, bright, Earl Grey – very nice.

It can be challenging to get a good brew out of a bagged green tea, but this one is hard to go wrong with. Neither the jasmine scent or tea base itself are overly imposing, and they come together nicely for a pleasant, if mild, blend. Refreshing on warm days and especially busy afternoons.

(I’m back after a hectic few months of career changes and other things to keep me busy. It’s nice to be on Steepster again and see that everyone is still enjoying the community and sharing a cup. I haven’t had time to be very adventurous with tea-drinking for a while. But now that I’m more settled down, hopefully that will change!)

Grr. Steepster ate my note.

This is a tea from the Numi Sampler collection I picked up a while ago. I drank it while playing World War IV with my husband and two of his brothers. It was only the second time we’ve played, and the first time we’ve finished. After playing for several hours over the course of two days the game ended in a draw. None of us were playing nearly aggressively enough. Now we know for next time, which will probably not be until we go on vacation this summer. It’s hard to find time to play such a long game with young kids.

This tea was a solid jasmine green, but pretty unremarkable. I added a couple splashes of cold water to the boiling water, and then added the teabag. The green tea was present and smooth, but doesn’t add anything special. The jasmine flavor is present, but not quite as strong as I prefer. I would definitely drink this if it was offered to me, but won’t go out of my way to buy it.

Another tea I picked up for travel. At first, it has a nice malt scent. Once brewed, it is very… bold. There are a few different teas in this blend, but I mostly get Assam flavours. Which is normally something I like, but comes across a little too strong here.

I have liked several of the rose teas I’ve tried, but this was a bit disappointing. It was a little on the bland side, and I didn’t feel like the white tea they chose complemented the rose very well. Maybe it would work better cold brewed, but I don’t think it’s worth buying again to find out.

Thanks to LuckyMe for this one! This is the loose leaf.

It has some power. I had never had a gunpowder green before and was looking forward to trying one. It really reminds me of most bagged teas that I have had.

It is ashy, a bit bitter, astringent, and vegetal like a sauteed spinach. It’s the boldest green that I have had and definitely not the sweetest, though my first steep was maybe a little fruity because I steeped it light.

I wouldn’t buy it in bulk like numi usually sells it, but I would maybe buy an ounce or two in the future for drinking maybe once a month. Glad I got to try this because I had seen it on amazon for really cheap and was thinking about buying some.

Just can’t get over the seaweed taste I got from it. Steeped it 2-3 times now, as it’s available at the cafe I usually grab breakfast from on campus, and get the same ocean flavor every time. I do like gunpowder teas but have to pass on this one.

My pallet is not that sophisticated, so I am only giving this an 80. This, however, is really good black tea. It is deep and rich, with notes I barely notice in supermarket brands. It definitely has an oaky note. It’s astringent, but not sharp.. even after sitting out a bit.

This might be the mildest chai I’ve ever had that still tastes good. The dominant flavor is clove which blends into a mild flavor of cinnamon, with a hint of smooth woodiness from the rooibos in the background. It’s good on its own if you’re in the mood for a mild chai, but there’s no way it would stand up to milk. I’ll have to think about whether or not I want more of this. It might make a decent everyday sort of tea, but it doesn’t wow me.

I’m currently looking for more variety in pregnancy-safe bagged teas that won’t trigger heartburn and actually appeal to me despite my numerous pregnancy induced food aversions. It’s not an especially long list. I haven’t had too many bagged honeybush teas, but I’ve tried several loose varieties. This one is quite good. It’s smooth and woody and just a bit sweet. It doesn’t seem astringent or sour like some honeybush teas I’ve tried. So far I’m quite impressed by Numi’s teas. I have their rooibos chai yet to try and the rest of the sampler pack will be saved until after the baby comes.

This was probably one of the best rooibos teas I’ve tasted. It was earthy and smooth, with a bit of woodiness and hay. It had none of the cough syrup or cigarette smoke flavors that you sometimes get. I may decide to buy more of this. A good first taste of Numi’s teas. This one is rated surprisingly low on Steepster, but it looks like that’s mostly because it was the reviewers first experience with rooibos, and it just isn’t really for them.

Chai with a hint of cocoa. I’d really rather be drinking hot chocolate or chai. I should try this with milk. It’s not blending well for me. Though I think I’m not using enough tea for my water volume.