SerendipiTea

Yet another from “Another Tiny Tea Box” – reading past reviews, I think this tea is well traveled! Initially it wasn’t so bad, just a really apple-y chamomile. But the more I drank the more thirsty I felt, and it wasn’t because the tea was astringent. It was really odd. I ended up not finishing it and chugging a lot of milk straight from the jug. Yeah, I’m that girl.

’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #15
Steep #1 // just boiled // 5 min
The description of this one sounded not too bad, but looking at the blend, it seemed like all orange peels and rooibos. The first sip wasn’t bad though! I always think orange and chocolate aren’t my favorite combination, but then I remember that the Terry’s chocolate orange earlier this year convinced me otherwise. To be fair, the taste of this one reminds me more of a creamsicle type ice cream, rather than chocolate. Maybe a orange/vanilla/light chocolate swirl? The cup turns out pretty dark, even though there doesn’t seem to be much black tea in my scoop. The flavor is a bit tangy with hints of orange, chocolate and rooibos.

Tea #4 from Traveling Tea Box C Round 2
This was to make up for the bleh that I got from the s’mores genmatcha. It smells fruity enough though I’m a bit daunted by the hibiscus in the blend. I’m not sure if the tea that I’m trying is different, or they just don’t list the entire ingredients list. The ones listed for this tea here are certaintly different from the ones listed on the package. I’m not entirely sure if I should edit the list here or not since the one on Steepster is what it says on SerendipiTea’s website.
Not too bad of a brew, though the hibiscus makes it tart like I was worried about, but it thankfully doesn’t take over. Mostly I get nice blueberry smell and taste with a tart hibiscus poke. I had to add a bit more Truvia than I usually do to get it drinkable though. I’m not sure if the slight mouth puckering that I’m getting after a sip it astringency on the part of the tea, or a side effect of the hibiscus. I tend to avoid blends with hibiscus since I don’t have very good experience with them. I enjoyed this, but not really enough to want to have it again or even order it.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

Nope. This tea is not for me. It has a strange sour note that I don’t enjoy at all. I’m not sure if it’s from the orange peel or the yogurt, but blah. I ended up dumping the last few sips because I just couldn’t drink anymore.

I originally purchased the Organic Lavender from SerendipiTea with the intention of making lavender-flavored and scented ice cream. I was really into experimental ice creams, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. After a while, I stopped making homemade ice cream for some reason. It may have coincided with my purchase of a bread machine. I guess that I only focus on one genre of culinary gadget-produced creation at a time!

Tonight I decided to brew up some of the buds to see whether I actually enjoy drinking straight lavender. It’s definitely a different experience. To get into the spirit, I donned some lavender perfume. I do love the scent of the infusion, but I don’t like the taste as much as that of straight chamomile. To be honest, I have always found Herbes de Provence to be a bit heavy on the lavender. It’s an extremely potent flower, so next time I might use less or else mix it with some loose leaf chamomile to make my very own Yellow & Blue!

Sipdown No. 88, from Sil, who got it from Cavo. Thanks girls!
There is something about this tea that I just really don’t like, at least not today. I guess it’s the Jasmine, which I do tend to enjoy, but there is a mintiness, perhaps a camphor like taste from the Puerh, or somethings, that just isn’t working for me.

This is one of my three finalists for the milk oolong spot in the collection. I guess I need to retaste them all in quick succession. If memory serves – and it may well not – I think the scent of the dry leaves is a little less impressive than Mandala’s but the flavor is a touch better? And then I remember liking Capital’s version even a bit better than this one? For reference, my gold standard would be ‘punch me in the face with milky oolong flavor.’ Subtle, I am not. UPDATE: Having a little oolong-off here this morning, and the Mandala milk oolong is a bit more flavorful.

Yesterday I had this tea hot (without sugar), and it was pretty good. It was very smooth for a black tea (it had none of the bitter smokiness that I don’t like about many black teas). The pear flavor was light but good.

I read another review recommending this tea iced, so I used the rest of my sample to make a container of iced tea last night. This time I added rock sugar while it was steeping. I’m drinking it now (I left it in the fridge overnight) and it is quite tasty as an iced tea. The pear flavor is enhanced nicely by the rock sugar. Pretty good. Not crazy good, but it’s something to keep in mind if I’m looking for good iced teas next summer.

(Sample from silentrequiem. Thanks!)

Tea #34 from the Here’s Hoping TTB

When I first started drinking loose leaf again serendipiTEA was one of the brands I started with because they were selling their teas on Amazon. That meant if I ordered some tea with my books every semester my parents would never notice… not that I would have done that mind you. My dishonesty aside, their teas got me through some long nights studying and they have a number of blends that I really enjoy.

This isn’t one of them, sadly.

Everything started out ok, but then the medicinal flavor from the rooibos seeped in and soured my feelings a bit. There is also quite a bit more chocolate in this than I expected, because now I’m not feeling very well. I try to only drink chocolate in small doses, it makes me pretty ill, and this blend has Cacao Beans, Chocolate Bits, Chocolate Flavor (Natural), and, White Chocolate Bits. No wonder I don’t feel good. I’ve really got to be better about reading ingredient lists before make myself a cup of tea. With all of the chocolate in this tea I’m really surprised that I can’t really taste it. The primary flavor from this tea comes from the black currant, giving it a somewhat tart flavor.

for not focusing on sipdowns, i’m still managing to get a few in. I don’t have high hopes for meeting my goal at the end of the year but every cup made is a step closer! Not to mention that i have a few days of working from home next week that will help.

Cavocorax gave me this one…i didn’t realise it had jasmine in it. I had a sip but that’s about all i could manage since the smell was overpoweringly jasmine…eau de fleur is not my most favourite. Still though, it’s one off the list of all the teas! hahaha

My mom gave me 4 ounces of this (through my own suggestion) to me for Christmas. It’s hardish to find online, and my parents frequent an awesome coffee shop that sells it, so I thought I’d request she purchase it through the local business. I love this tea. I remember it from when before I drank tea, and from when I didn’t find rooibos disappointing, so I was worried I would like it less now. I do not. This tea is fantastic. It’s light and vanilla and chocolate with the addition of the mint. It’s probably the best rooibos tea I’ve ever had. I’m a huge fan and have been for years.

nice smoky aroma. aftertaste is very pleasant. the actual tea itself is delicate, subtle, very mild. the common tea drinker would find this boring, and even i don’t find it memorable. it’s not a tea i would crave, or reach for when its lined up with others. but i don’t mind drinking the tea, i do enjoy it. so there you go.

This was absolutely delightful. The color is a breathtakingly beautiful hue – bright fuchsia – and it just smells so good. It’s fruity and sweet at first, with a mild bitter aftertaste. I put a smidge of honey in it, and it cut the bitterness a bit, but not so much that it didn’t have a zing to it. Very grateful I received this as a gift from one of my tea loving friends.

Tea #52 from HHTTB2

It looks like there’s red rooibos in here (and I’m 99% sure that’s what it is), settled at the botton of the baggie, but the ingredients say nothing of the sort. I didn’t get in my teaspoon, but just as a head’s up for the fellow anti-rooibos guild members.

Once steeped up, this smells strongly of berry and cocoa. And the taste is very much currant. The chocolate isn’t really pronounced, but does add an overall depth to the cup. There is definitely rooibos in this blend, because the medicinal taste is absolutely coming through in the latter part of the sip.

I don’t know if the rooibos in this sample baggie from SerendipiTea was a mistake or actually a part of the blend, but to me, it would be so much better without.

I didn’t realize I still had this tea, it wasn’t in my dedicated tea cupboard, instead I found it hidden behind my surplus flour while I was doing inventory on the kitchen. It may be due to age, but I wasn’t able to taste any of the apple or mango flavors that are suppose to be in this blend. It has been over a year since I’ve had any of this, so I can’t really remember how it originally tasted, but seeing as it was shoved to the back of a cabinet and forgotten I likely wasn’t overly impressed by it the last time I tried it.

I’m not going to rate this one, I’m pretty sure this tea is well over a year old, if not closer to two.

there are a lot of boring green teas out there. this is one of the good ones. no, it won’t blow you away, but it’s far above average. a lot of flavored green teas don’t have enough flavoring, and don’t use a high quality green tea. in this one, the apple and mango flavor is strong enough to enjoy it, and the green tea is sweet and grassy. it’s really interesting and enjoyable hot, and it’s really refreshing iced, so there you go!

any tea with chamomile, i expect to taste like chamomile and drink at bedtime. at bedtime, i want something sweet. the hibiscus in this is very tart! i also find it strange to drink a chamomile tea that is red in color, but that’s a very minor complaint. i think i would have liked the apple/mango/chamomile blend, without the hibiscus. tart chamomile is not a good thing. added sugar, but it just doesn’t work as a bedtime tea, and i don’t want chamomile in the morning, so there you go.

This is by far one of my favorite teas around. I got it in a subscription box and couldn’t wait to try it. The blend of chocolate, mint and vanilla were cozy and creamy. It was a wonderful dessert tea, but not so sweet that I didn’t want a second cup. This is definitely one I plan to keep around!!

This is a delightfully aromatic blend of Jasmine petals and Chinese Pouchong Green tea. I add a bit of Lemon, alongside a small amount of Agave Nectar and it’s a cup of pure heaven.