RiverTea

This was one of my samples in my most recent order with RiverTea, thanks to winning their Valentine’s Day contest! I wish i had a bit of justea’s kenyan black to compare against this one, but maybe Cavocorax will indulge me when she gets the other half of this sample :)
I’m not sure how i feel about this one…there’s a strangely malty?sweet? taste hanging out that seems weird to me. It’s not a bad tea..but it perplexes me. I’l probably get this again as another sample just to try out again sometime haha

Finally I am getting around to this tea! the loose leaf smells absolutely knock-me-off-my-feet delicious! So does the steep that turned out to be of a very dark color.

The flavor is milder than the aroma. Which, I think, is good. I was afraid this tea might be too spicy, but it’s not. There’s a subtle note of citrus and a harmonious bouquet of spices that doesn’t bite your tongue. There were some lovely rose petals in it too, but I fail to detect them in the taste.

The base tea is slightly astringent and strong, which I like. I don’t like how with some flavored teas under the fancy flavors you discover… nothing. But it’s definitely not the case with this one. I might actually steep it for a little shorter next time, so the base is a bit less bitter.

Very enjoyable dessert tea!

Did I not review this last time I drank it? Because this is definitely the second time I’ve drunk this since we got our big RiverTea order.

I love this tea! Green blends not based on sencha are my happy place. The dried cranberries look gigantic and like if you don’t get one, you won’t get any berry flavour, but that is definitely not the case. This is just delicious. Light and fruity with a nice smoky base.

mmmm thanks for sending this my way cavo! I was happy to have another cup of this to sample, solidifying that i do really like this. I’ve been quite happy with a lot of the RiverTeas, that I’ve tried, though i’m coming to understand that their herbals/fruit blends are my happy place followed, funnily enough by their fruity greens/whites. their black teas don’t seem to cut if for me…at least not the flavoured ones. I have a few more straight black from them to try still before i finalise my verdict on those :)

i understand why a lot of ppl really like this one. it’s funny to me hat RiverTea seems to be hitting the sweet spot with me, with teas that aren’t typically things i enjoy (greens, whites etc..) and missing more often when it comes to the black teas and puerhs. Well, maybe not missing, but not being as awesome as the others. This is a creamy, dreamy sort of delicious tea. Not even sure what the heck mulberries taste like but this is an enjoyable cup of yum! I’ll have to look at picking some up when I place my next RiverTea order. Thanks for sharing this one with me Cavocorax! Love it!

This is my face saying no. not going to happen. Sample from Cavocorax, which i’m SUPER grateful for, since this is likely one i would have picked up on my own. It smells lovely, but upon brewing it..it’s more medicinal than i can handle. I’ll pass the small bit of this that i have left off to someone else to try, just in case it’s their cup of tea since cavo enjoyed it. but this is not the tea for me :)

lost my tasting note on this one, but it was another sample from the lovely cavocorax. I’m actually glad to have the chance to try the puerh straight from RiverTea. It’s not a bad little puerh. Earthy and musty, but not overly harsh. A pretty decent average puerh. Having this straight will help with the couple of flavoured puerhs i’ve picked up form River Tea to try :) thanks cavo!

Had a nice big hot cup of this for breakfast. I got a lot of pineapple from the dry leaf but when it brewed up it was a nice big cup of ginger and licorice. Much closer to a chai or the flavours I associated with Tibetan herbal blends or ayurvedics. There’s still a bit of juicy sweetness from the pineapple, but it’s got that spicy burn at the back of it.

It’s the kind of tea that makes me want to keep drinking it, because I feel like every cup is going to be a little different.

Thank you Cavocorax for sending this my way. Another fine sample from RiverTea that she was kind enough to share with me. This isn’t one that i would have picked up myself if only because ive been a little tired of mint lately. However, this is a pretty interesting tea if you’re into that whole mint thing. What i like is that the addition of the orange makes it not the same as other mint teas. is this a tea for me? no…but for mint fans, i would recommend this since it’s got a smooth finish to it and it’s not overbearing. the orange helping to offset the mint a bit without making it a strange cup of tea. thanks cavo!

wheeee! Cavocorax sent me a sample of this one in part because she’s awesome but also because she’s evil and is trying to prevent me from reaching my goal this month! heh

I actually like this one a bunch. It reminds me a little of green caramel from the persimmontree tea, but different. Smoother and more milky? nougatty? What is nice about this one too is that it feels…like a mouthful. This isn’t a wimpy watery feeling tea. Thanks for letting me try this out cavo!

oh this IS yummy! i was afraid it would be too perfume-y rose-y, or even just mostly artificial tasting, but no it was not at all! the roses make this tea look just gorgeous when dry, and taste simply delightful as tea. quite flowery without being overwhelming, and the earl grey is just so complemented by the addition of the rose petals. just perfect. (although i feel a strange compulsion to throw a tea party as soon as possible..crumpet? scone? TEACAKES!!!)

Yummy yum!

thought i did a review of this! silly steepster app! at any rate, i’ll do up a better one next go-round, but YUM YUM YUM!

Full disclosure: We asked to sample this one simply because it is named Toronto Nights and we live in Toronto. So again, no rating because this isn’t a tea I’d reach for normally.

But, as has become the usual for RiverTeas, I am pleasantly surprised! It’s a creamy, nutty orange almond flavor. I’m not entirely sure I’d order again, but it’s certainly going to be a pleasure to finish off the rest of the sample. Which was rather large, by the way. There’s more than enough for both my wife and I to make a cup, and then for me to cold-steep in my mason jar.

This accompanied me back to Etobicoke to pick up my bestie and bring her back to show her the new place. The cold brew was amazing. It’s like Tropicalia with an edge. Definitely going on my wishlist to restock, but for now it’s out of my cupboard!

The scent of the dry leaf for this tea is the juiciest pineapple you could ever imagine. Like you just cut in to a fresh pineapple and can’t wait to eat it. Lordy, the scent alone is amazing.

Brewed, the scent carries over, which is killing me. I don’t drink my teas super hot, I usually wait until they’re on the edge of lukewarm, but I might risk burning my mouth on this one.

Oddly enough, I wasn’t that interested in this tea, it’s one my wife picked out to sample. Ginger and lemon usually aren’t my bag, nor are greens, but I’ll be damned if this one isn’t calling my name. If the taste lives up to the scent, this would make a gorgeous sangria in the summer.

Okay! Okay, so this is good. Not as juicy as the scent, but that would be just about impossible. It’s still juicy as hell, but the ginger and lemongrass round out the sip a little. The pineapple is definitely present, but it’s playing well with the others in this jungle. This is definitely a hit for me and I think my wife will like it even more than I do.

So around 3 pm yesterday, I put a big batch of this in the fridge to cold brew. When I told my wife, her immediate response was “WILL IT BE READY WHEN I GET HOME??”

She gets home at 6 >.<

I strained out the tea this morning before we headed out to see my bestie back in Etobicoke. I poured a thermos for me to take on the road, a glass for my wife to enjoy right then, and a bottle for my bestie…and then it was all gone, ha!!

When my bestie tried it, her eyes went wide. “THIS IS SO GOOD! You always have the best tea…” Heeeee! Made me so happy, I love sharing tea with people. This is definitely on the repurchase list, and I promised I’d get some for her too. Heck, my wife was excited about the cold brew, and she doesn’t like cold tea. All in all, this tea is just a huge win.

Oh my God.

Oh

My

God.

This is so good. So. Good. At the beginning it’s raspberry with a hint of lemon, but as the sip fades it’s creamy vanilla. It definitely needs sugar to tone down the hibiscus, but with the sugar this is amazing.

Ooooh, maybe I should add a splash of Vanilla Schnapps…

Edit: Very, very good call on the Vanilla Schnapps. OMG yum

So full disclosure, I don’t like cherry. I like fresh bing cherries, but that about it. I also do not like chocolate…can you tell this is one my wife picked out? So I will not be rating this, as it’s just not fair.

This tea is okay. It’s the closest to a big cherry I’ve ever tasted, and I don’t taste a lot of chocolate, so it was no hardship to finish this tea. If you like cherry tea, I would definitely recommend this. It’s slightly artificial, but yummy. My wife loves it.

Stole another cup of this before packaging it up for a swap. The green is more prominent in this cup, but I still get a hint of orange and spearmint.

I love the way the orange and the mint mix in this. Oh, it’s lovely. I’m already dreaming of this cold steeped. And the flavor of the tea is in no way overshadowed by the flavors of the mint and the orange. This is wonderful. This is one of the teas I asked for as a sample and I very much need to order more. So yummy.

Well, last time I had this tea, I was all Throw Moma From The Train, but now I can’t get “Jump!” by Kriss Kross out of my head. Hmm.

Anyhoo, this is my other coldbrew for the day and it makes me sad because it’s so tasty and River Teas is no more. I think I’m still in mourning. They were so unique! I just wish I knew what happened there.

Anyway, the tea is lovely. It’s a lighter green than the Pomegranate Dragonfruit I had earlier today and I like it a lot better. I don’t just taste random fruitiness, I definitely taste pineapple and cranberry, but they don’t overwhelm the green tea either. It’s just a perfectly balanced blend.

RIVER TEAS COME BACK I MISS YOU.