T2

173/365

This one smells so much like pastry it’s hard not to be impressed. I only hope it tastes as good. Fortunately, there doesn’t appear to be much/any hibiscus in the one, so perhaps the apple will be allowed to shine…

I’m used to being let down by this kind of tea, but I have to admit that I’m rather impressed by this one. The initial sip is super buttery and a little biscuitty; really reminiscent of crumble topping. The apple comes through in the mid-sip, and has a soft, baked flavour that’s still genuinely apple-y, rather than floury or floral. Pretty much exactly how I like my apple flavouring to be in tea! The two aspects of the flavour – buttery/biscuit and baked apple – work really well together, and do combine to create a convincing “apple crumble” flavour. It perhaps doesn’t taste quite as amazing as it smells, but it’s a close thing. I’m happy with that!

May Flowers! This is another chai sampler from my T2 sampler haul that I actually put off last month since it also includes rose and jasmine. This is an herbal chai, so it is just a blend of spices, with the addition of licorice root and the floral petals. I’ve actually been very curious to try this one!

I have to say, I was immediately let down by the leaf. In my little sampler, there was only one rose petal, and I couldn’t make out much (any?) jasmine either. So much for saving this chai with the expectations of a floral-touched flavor profile! So I already know going in this is pretty much just going to be a strong spice blend. Ah well. I do have one other chai in my collection that has floral additions (a black tea blend) so maybe it’ll work out better?

The brewed tea has a very strong cinnamon aroma. The flavor opens with hints of cinnamon and ginger, but the anise and licorice root are definitely the strongest flavors in the cup. I’m a big fan of both of those notes, but I know a lot of people aren’t, and if you fall in that category, then this is a chai blend you’ll want to stear clear from — the licorice notes really pack a wallop here! There is a little touch of cardamom right near the end of the sip, and I’d say the flavors of the spices do blend well, but there is certainly a dominance on the anise/licorice root element… and I was disappointed the floral element in my sampler was pretty much non-existant, because I was curious what that might have added to the blend in terms of giving it some sweetness balance.

Because I enjoy licorice flavors, I did enjoy this cuppa. But I most enjoy a chai that balances its spices well, and I was disappointed at the lack of the floral elements after I had been looking forward to that particular aspect of the tea.

This is another one I made a note to return to, since I drank it when I more or less had a cold. I love that it contains mini meringues – something about tea with meringue really gets me, even though more often than not they’re not a massive contributor in terms of flavour. I’m really looking forward to trying Bird & Blend’s (Bluebird, as was) Eton Mess from this year’s summer collection for exactly this reason, but that’s a tea for another day.

This one still smells like Christmas to me – heavy on the clove and cardomon, with a background of sweetness. It tastes quite a lot like Christmas, too. The orange zest is fairly prominent in the initial sip, and the background spice gives it a kind of “spiced clementine” vibe. The meringue adds a touch of sweetness, and then there’s a decent wallop of cardamom. So much, if I’m honest, that it makes my mouth feel a bit numb. I don’t really get any rose from this, and nothing but the most fleeting hint of raisin. It’s pretty true to its description, though; it is sweet and spicy simultaneously.

This isn’t really a summer tea for me, but it would make a nice warming winter cup. I might save the rest of my sample until later in the year, if I can resist the urge to keep my cupboard moving forward.

172/365

I chose this one today largely because of the name – sweet spice sounds like something that might be good for a cold. Turns out it has an unusual selection of ingredients, though – they’re not things I would have thought to put together. It’s an interesting one in terms of appearance, too – and, for a fruit blend, pretty impressive. It has literally huge whole rose buds, dried quarters of sliced orange, whole raisins, cloves, hibiscus petals, and mini meringues! Very pretty to look at.

It’s a slightly odd flavour, but perhaps that’s not entirely unexpected. It’s sweet, from the meringues, tart and a little sour from the hibiscus, with a background floral from the rose. There’s a splash of orange, which tastes more like fizzy vitamin C tablets than actual orange, and then a fairly significant kick of spice. The earthiness of clove is there, but I’m sure there’s also some chilli, and possibly cayenne. I can smell it.

It kind of works, but it’s a bit crazy. In some ways, it tastes like a Christmas tea, and I’m pretty sure the clove is responsible for that. The spice works well with the sweet-ish background, largely because the hibiscus helps to mediate between the two extremes of flavour. That tart sourness in the mid-sip really seems to help bring the two together, and it’s a rare day I say anything complementary about hibi. Mostly, though, I feel like this suffers from an excess of ingredients. There are things I can’t see the point of, and that just distract from what on the whole is a pleasant, if unusual, flavour. Raisins, for example. I also have my doubts about the rose.

I’d probably not buy this one again, just because I can’t see myself drinking it regularly. It’s a little confused for my liking, but it’s certainly been an experience! I think I can see what T2 were trying to achieve with this one, but I just don’t think they quite made it.

Tried this one again today, this time with a brown crystal sugar swizzle stick. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this one, the couple of times I’d tried it, although I’m not sure whether the extra sugar really adds anything. I thought it might amplify the dessert quality a little, but it really just adds a background sweetness that in the end isn’t particularly noticeable.

It’s good, but I still really want a raspberry version!

170/365

I picked up a sample pouch of this with my first T2 order – it came in a box with 4 other sample sizes, one of which was Creme Brulee. The others I can’t remember off the top of my head. It’s nice to be able to try a few sample sizes, because T2’s usual offering (at least in the UK…) is the 100g cube, and that’s a wasted investment if it turns out to be a blend I’m not super keen on.

This one, fortunately, doesn’t fall into the latter category. It’s chocolate coconut awesomeness, a bit like liquid bounty. The base is a little on the astringent side, but a splash of milk would probably help to smooth things out. A relatively conservative steep time is probably the key when drinking this one black.

On the whole, I’m impressed. It does capture the flavour of a lamington, although now I’ve tried this one I’d really like to see a raspberry lamington blend…

Thank you, Steepster, for proving that my suspicions yesterday WERE correct and I DO have another flavoured black tea hiding up the back! I couldn’t spot this for the life of me when I went looking yesterday, but I couldn’t even quite remember what it was I was looking for. Bless this website.
Very hazelnutty and warming with a splash of milk on a cold night.

Chai to Stay Dry! This was one of two different chais that was in my sampler haul from T2 I picked up in their after-Christmas clearance sale last January. The dry leaf smells very nice, with a spicy scent that isn’t coming off too strongly on any certain aroma; my nose can pick up cardamom, clove, and cinnamon quite clearly.

My brewed cup has a lovely gingerbread color to the liquor, and the scent wafting up from the cup is warm cinnamon. Mmm. The taste of the spice blend is very nice. It’s a very balanced taste, and has a stronger sweet cinnamon/ginger presense than most of the chais I’ve tried this month, which gives me a spice cookie impression. The close of the sip has a lovely mix of cardamom, clove, and anise, which gives the finish a deeper spice flavor and just a hint of a licorice sweetness from the anise. It also isn’t a really strongly spicy blend, so you can savor the individual flavors but they don’t leave lingering heat in the mouth too long; I’d say Reena’s Chai from TeaSource is a bit sweeter than this one, but this chai has a much naturally sweeter profile than Bengal Spice by Celestial Seasonings or Tali’s Masala Chai by Art of Tea.

The black tea base on this did brew up a lot weaker than I am used to with most chai blends, which is probably why the tea had such a lovely gingery color. It was a medium base (and on the lighter side of medium black teas) and since I don’t like my blacks on the astringent side, I really enjoyed whatever blend of black was used here. It really let the spices shine through, and this is the sort of chai that because of its composition, you wouldn’t really need to take it with milk and sugar. To be honest, because of the light color of the brew, the lack of astringency, and the balanced natural sweetness to the spices, I didn’t feel a need to even try it with milk! Depsite the fact the tea has instructions to take it like a traditional chai, just looking at the brew and from initial tasting, I have a feeling it wouldn’t be strong enough to take that way. But if you have been looking for a tasty chai that doesn’t require the extra effort of simmering up some milk, this is a nice one!

Decided to make another iced cuppa from my T2 sampler stash. Despite the name, this is far more of a fruity tea than a floral tea. The first flavor that hits me is a strong strawberry presence, which makes the tangy, punchy hibiscus/rosehip base come off a bit more sweeter and rounded. There is a bit of a deeper tart berry taste toward the end of the sip that must be the currant, and a very subtle floral touch right in the finish, almost as an afterthought.

Since I enjoy tart/tangy fruit flavors, I found it enjoyable enough. I think I would’ve liked it even more if the strawberry flavor remained dominant in the sip longer before the currant took over. Oddly named, though. Rose hip/rose may be in the blend, but they aren’t the show stealers here, so the name seems an odd choice and a little misleading to those that might be looking for a floral blend.

Decided to have another of my T2 samplers from the great discount sampler purchase from T2’s Christmas Clearance sale at the beginning of the year. I made this one iced, though only made half a quart due to the size of the sampler (I usually prepare my iced tea in a quart size). It basically makes one tall glass of iced tea or two cups of warm tea, but this is a flavor I definitely wanted to sip on chilled.

I actually love hibiscus and rose hips, so the base of this tea is that refreshing, slightly tart flavor that tastes somewhat like fruit punch to me, but it has a very strong floral note to the cup. The rose adds just a hint of overall sweetness, a nice rosey flavor, and since I’ve been drinking a lot of rose teas lately, I’ve noticed that it has a somewhat distinct peppery note on the tip of the tongue.

This is a really refreshing iced tea, I enjoy the blend of tart/tangy floral notes mixed with sweet and delicate floral notes. It is like a rosey punch, and gives me those pleasant sweet-tart notes that I love so much.

Green March! Spent most of my evening playing with my Kabusecha Saeakari Shaded Green Tea from Marushige Shimizu Tea Farm that I got from Yunomi — I’m mainly trying to find a preferred “casual” brewing method for it that I can use at work when I don’t have tea scales and an easy way to get the water cool enough, etc. Definitely had some failed cups (too astringent, too light, etc.) but I’ll keep working at it; I know the right combo is in there somewhere! Right now I have a cold brew set to steep overnight, since I’m curious about it’s iced tea potential. (Bringing an iced thermos to work may be the way to go for that tea if all else fails!)

While I was doing all that playing around in the kitchen, I fixed up my sampler-size serving of Geisha Getaway from T2 as a cold brew in the fridge. Now that it’s ready and strained, I’m excited to have this sipdown; it smells great!

I have to say, of the pineapple green teas I’ve tried so far this month, I think this has been my favorite so far, thanks to the coconut notes! This has a really refreshing, sweet, pina colada flavor. The pineapple flavor is noticable but a bit lighter (and personally, I prefer my fruity greens to not be too overbearing), and this allows the coconut notes to really shine, leaving a lovely sweet coconut taste on the tongue right in the finish. I can actually make out some very light, delicate grassy notes of the green tea beneath the pineapple and coconut. The pina colada notes are very complimenting, and the iced tea is very refreshing.

The pina colada combo is an easy win for me, and I like that the flavor isn’t too overbearing, so I’d say Geisha Getaway is my top pineapple-flavored green I sampled this month, followed by Pineapple Sorbet by Bluebird Tea Co., which had a nice pineapple-citrus combo, and finally Pineapple Paradise by Fusion Tea, which had a very strong pineapple flavor, which I felt overpowered the mango notes that were supposed to be present in the tea. If I have any more pineapple greens hiding in the ol’ sampler drawer I’ll have to update, hahaha!

Green March! I’ve been in a floral mood, so I grabbed this sampler of T2’s Green Rose out of my stash. The tea wasn’t quite what I was expecting, as it is a green tea fruit blend with some rosey floral notes, but it turned out quite nice!

The tea has a really nice aroma of mango and rose. There is a very distinct mango flavor, with some notes of peaches and apricots. It is very naturally sweet, with a floral finish that leaves a soft rosey flavor lingering softly on the tongue. I had been expecting a grassy, vegetal base with a fairly strong rose flavor from the name, but this tea is like a sweet, fruity mango-peach nectar with a kiss of rose petals; it is blended very nicely, with the floral notes managing to stand out just enough to the fruitiness to not be overwhelmed, which is what I had worried about when I saw all the fruit flavors listed on the packaging. To be honest, I think of all the T2 samplers from the big Christmas discounted sampler haul I picked up, this has been my favorite so far, and I certainly wouldn’t mind having this tea restocked in my cupboard! I’ll even forgive the fact that I can’t taste any of the base notes in this (I normally like a little of the green tea grassiness to shine through in my fruity green tea blends) because I’m just feeling this mango/rose combo. Mmm!

Top o’ the Mornin’ to ya! It’s my day off, it’s my birthday, and I’m pretty content to just sit on my butt and drink tea all day, quite honestly. And what better way that to start off the day than with some Irish Breakfast?

I don’t keep many Irish/English breakfast blends around because they aren’t my favorite, but last winter I picked up an amazing deal on a bunch of T2 samplers, so I decided to make the Irish Breakfast one this morning. The only other Irish Breakfast blend I’ve ever had is Twinings of London’s bagged blend, which I had to take with milk and sugar because it was that sort of black tea that was just a bit too strong and astringent for me otherwise. Surpringly, I am not having any troubles with this one; I’m not sure if my palate has simply adapted to blacks since then, or this blend, having only Ceylon teas and lacking Assams is just more to my palate’s liking. So far I haven’t felt the need to immediately go running for the milk to take some of the bite off. I did only steep at the lower end of the spectrum, for two minutes instead of four, so maybe that’s the secret for me when it comes to these stronger straight black teas.

It has a pleasantly malty taste and a thick mouthfeel, with a mild astringency in the finish that is not biting, bitter, or unpleasant. I’m picking up on some subtle flavor notes of baked bread and citrus. This tea could certainly take milk or sugar, but the fact it doesn’t need it for someone who typically has a hard time with straight blacks like me speaks volumes.

I’m quite enjoying this sampler sipdown with my sugary apple fritter. Tea and donut… a breakfast of champions!

Green March! I received this as a free sampler at some point when I ordered from T2, and I’ve been feeling very under the weather, and for whatever reason I’ve been craving green teas. As I was digging through my samplers, I realized that just a nice, plain sencha sounded lovely; just a simple green tea that will be warm and easy on the stomach. And it certainly fit the bill.

I was actually a bit impressed that for T2 brand the leaves had a very nice, full expansion. I’ve always thought of them as being more known for their flavored blends so I honestly wasn’t expecting much from one of their simple pure teas, but this was very nice. It had a very crisp, clean, light body with refreshing grassy vegetal notes and a mildly sweet finish.

The sampler had about two servings of leaf in it, so my first cup used just a teaspoon and was absolutely lovely. Wanting to finish the sampler up (the almighty sipdown!), I just dumped the remainder of the leaf into my infuser this morning and that may have been just a smidgeon too much leaf than I prefer for this kind of tea; the little bit of extra leaf left a slight astringent finish that I don’t care for much, so be careful not to overleaf this one! One teaspoon (and I wouldn’t heap it!) should be plenty. That produced a far nicer flavor in my opinion (or maybe I just prefer my greens on the lighter side?) Next time I may just have to let that last little bit of leaf at the bottom of the sampler bag be forfeit!

I wanted a light and simple tea to accompany my dinner tonight, so I decided to sipdown another of the T2 samplers I got from my massive T2 sampler sale haul. This is their genmaicha. I’ve actually only had one other genmaicha to date, so I haven’t exactly had a lot of tasting experience with them yet. I will say that when I tasted my first genmaicha (which I picked up at American Tea House in San Diego, which I’m going to guess is an average quality genmaicha at best), I really fell in love with that tea. It is probably one of my favorite kinds of green tea, and I find myself craving it often. I’m fairly certain that the genmaicha I’m used to is a standard blend using bancha leaf, so I was curious to try this one out, which uses sencha.

I guess I was expecting something different about the flavor, but I couldn’t really discern anything different in the taste from my other blend (perhaps it is using sencha leaf as well, or the difference is just too subtle for my under-developed palate to pick up on). The tea is tasty though, with the toasty, nutty, crisped rice flavors that made me such a fan of genmaicha tea. The green tea is very smooth and vegetal. The sampler had enough for two cups, and my first cup I made with my typical lighter steep (2 min) which was more subtle on the vegetal notes, which I enjoyed better than a darker steep (3 min) which I felt brought out some slight astringent qualities in the leaf, but also emphasized the vegetal flavors more. The tea held up to resteeping very well, and I managed to have several nice relaxing cups off only a two-serving sampler.

I have no doubt there are fancier genmaicha out there, but I found this tasty and enjoyable.

This is a nice chocolate coconut blend. Again, the black tea base isn’t really anything to write home about. I would’ve preferred that they’d left out the chocolate drops just because I don’t care for the oiliness that melted chocolate contributes to a tea. It’s got really lovely coconut flavor due to the large coconut flakes scattered throughout the blend. It takes milk well, and I’ve had it both hot and iced.

Not a tea I’d repurchase, but I’ll probably finish the rest of the 100g.

I don’t think I was expecting the nuttiness. Does it belong in a creme brulee tea? No, maybe not. But, I don’t hate it. The black tea base isn’t very robust, but it’s got good vanilla and caramel flavor. It takes milk well and it makes a nice iced latte too.

Again, shame about the packaging.

My second sipdown from the T2 herbal sampler. I actually woke up this morning with my stomach feeling a bit woozy, so I either have a headache coming on or ate something weird before bed that I no longer remember. With me, either is likely, heh.

This is a very minty tea, with a lot of sweet licorice root in the finish. To me it tastes just like TeaSource’s Margaret’s Soother tea, although it lacks the pizazz the clove adds to that blend. It is light and soothing and would work equally well on a sore throat with its combination of peppermint and licorice root, but for nausea, I think I’ll still reach for my peppermint/ginger blend. This blend tastes fine, but it doesn’t taste or do anything that I don’t already have covered by another tea blend, so ultimately it is a bit superfluous to me.

T2 had a big clearance sale at the beginning of this month, so I stocked up on all their sampler pack sets from their unneeded holiday stock. This tea was in their herbal set, and the sample holds two cuppa tea, so another sipdown for me! (Progress!)

The dominant flavor in this blend was definitely the spearmint, which I tend to not care for as much as peppermint but it was balanced out well by other flavor notes. The tea had a nice natural sweetness to it from the licorice, and there were some delicate citrus notes, but it didn’t have the sort of strong lemony flavor I come to expect whenever lemongrass is involved; the citrus was far more subtle than I was expecting. What really surprised me is I tasted that same sort of savory “vegetable soup broth” taste that I was picking up on from AmberFreda’s Detox blend, so I’m glad that I tried these two detox tea blends back-to-back: comparing the ingredients, what they appear to have in common is nettle, so now I know where to place that flavor. It seems stinging nettle is commonly described as tasting like spinach, and I’m not exactly getting a “spinach” flavor, but I don’t think that “vegetable broth” is that far off, either. Maybe it’s just how my palate is picking up on it?

I wouldn’t say the tea is the most aromatic, but the taste is pretty good. I think overall I like the other detox tea I tried just a bit better for having such a unique, savory flavor, but appreciate the lack of spicy ginger in this blend, which makes this blend a bit more of a relaxing nighttime sip.

Different and a lot smoother breakfast tea than others I have come across. Tea has a aromatic scent, slightly reminds me of baked apples. Vanilla and cinnamon really kick in at the end.

Perfect tisane for relaxing. Spearmint and Lemon balm suits nicely with lavender and chamomile.

Uh…

I need to start looking for more black tea blends that feature hibiscus, because the few that I’ve tried have been absolute winners. This tea is no exception. It’s excellent iced. The raspberry flavor combined with the tartness of the hibiscus is lovely. I’m happy the black tea base isn’t more assertive because it would really compete with the raspberry and hibiscus.

Yum.