T2

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #9

Not normally a chai person (or a chocolate tea person, for that matter) but T2 is one of those companies that’s not convenient to get ahold of in Canada so I figured I best take the opportunity to try this blend our while I have it…

My initial thought was that I was surprised how little chocolate actually seems to carry through to the flavour! It’s definitely there amidst the murky and muddy liquor but it’s certainly not the flavour focal point of the blend, and I surprisingly found myself wanting more! What did stand out was how rich and intense both of the star anise and clove flavours were. They were complimented by other typical chai spices like cinnamon and ginger, but there two were really the stars of the blend. Coincidentally those are my favourite two chai spices so I was very pleased in that regard; it was a bit of a trade off with the chai delivering and the chocolate not.

The only thing I could really think of was that maybe the general sweetness of the star anise was supposed to lean into the “sweetness” of the chocolate chips? If that was the intention then I think it was a failure though; those flavours are not the same.

Overall… fine.

I woke up this morning half expecting the site to be down for maintenance or to log in to see an announcement about the official Adagio takeover, but everything seems pretty quiet and pretty much the same. In fact, the first email notification I received today was for a spam post, lol. I’m sure big changes take time, and I’m glad that Steepster is still accessible today (well, for some of us).

According to some of the other tasting notes for this tea, it’s meant to be like a pancake breakfast. I don’t taste pancakes or maple syrup or anything like that, but there is something that does remind me of pancakes. I can’t quite place it, maybe it’s something to do with the cinnamon. I’m probably only imagining it because of the description I read anyway. This didn’t quite hit the spot for me as a breakfast tea; I think I would have liked something a little bolder. I did enjoy it while I drank it though.

Thanks to amandastory516 for sharing! I’m very interested to see what some of the other T2 breakfast blends are about. I hear there’s a sampler.

Had it again this morning—- I got the season sample packs which came with individual bags of single serving of tea. I noticed there was more nutmeg in the batch I got today. It was slightly bitter to me because of the nutmeg

It was nice smooth black tea with a little kick from the ginger. It was oddly comforting and warming in the morning. There was a slight bit of artificial taste in the first steering for the first few sips but it disappeared .

This matcha reminds me Jaffa Cake. It is the liquid form of Jaffa cake but it is not matcha for sure. It has no matcha flavor. It doesn’t mix well and I would never use this product with my bamboo whisk. It is more of drink if you want it but it is nothing like matcha

This tea is definitely milder than I would guess based on the amount of nougat bits in the leaf. I wouldn’t really know what flavor it’s going for, but it’s decently tasty with milk and sugar. I probably wouldn’t want it often since it’s not very special or distinct. I would love a tea that tastes clearly of delicious toffee! This one is rather weak.

I put a ton of leaf in the cup, but even so, the brew turned out a bit weak, like murky dishwater. It’s better with milk. It mostly tastes like mild toastiness. The black tea is not very present. I love a toasty tea, but this is one of the weaker ones I’ve had. I haven’t loved any of the T2 teas I’ve tried. Yet I still made an order yesterday when they were having a sale. I am weak. Like this tea.

From the Samurai TTB.

Believe it or not, one of my favorite chai blends is a tea bag from Celestial Seasonings. Someone left a box of it at work and I found myself drinking it daily until I finished it off. I haven’t been able to find it since. Opening this bag of chai, the aroma took me back to that favorite tea and so I’m hopeful I’ve found a similar blend here.

This didn’t take milk as well as I would have liked, it’s a little thin, but the spices are solid. Just the right blend. I love a clove-heavy chai, which surprises even me. Curiously, I’m not tasting any chocolate. I don’t mind it really since the other flavors come through for a perfectly acceptable (delicious, really) chai, but with chocolate chips in the name I do think I should be able to taste it. I never would have guessed this had any chocolate at all if not for the name and description.

I’ve seen this one a lot on Steepster, so I’m glad tea-sipper put it in the box for us to try.

Another one from the tea box – thanks everyone for contributing! This chai is pretty tasty. It doesn’t even need milk! The black tea is pretty weak, but I don’t mind too much since the spice blend is strong and tasty – I feel like cloves and cardamom are the most prominent flavors. I did overleaf this one, so maybe that helped with the flavor. I had the second steep with milk, which was also quite tasty. I tasted the anise more in the second steep, but it worked well with the other spices. I don’t know that it’s special enough to choose over other chais, but I had a perfectly nice time drinking it. Also, I didn’t taste a single bit of chocolate in either steep. The spices definitely take over .

Powdered Sugar… and some artificial flavour. That’s it. That’s the tea. I worked at T2 for 5 years and it was recommended we never openly explained to customers what this was. It was also a coincidence that so many of the iced tea “combos” that we had on tasting were a combo with Turkish Apple or Cherry. Any fruit tisane tastes good with an entire pack of Turkish Apple (250g sugar) dumped in it.

Currently sipping this while on a very dry conference call…

I’m finding this a little over steeped because there’s a slight bitterness to the cup, but the flavour is still ultimately smooth and creamy vanilla with a bakey bread undertone so it’s still a nice classic and bold cup. Perfect for the day!

I’m slowly drinking through the breakfast assortment that I got during a post-holiday sale at T2, and this is one of the last flavors. It’s just okay. A mildly smokey black tea, but nothing really to write home about.

The flavor here is milder than I’d prefer. It’s a bit more herbaceous and minty, but not the clear, bright mint I love. Not really watermelon at all. Sometimes I get some light fruitiness. It requires a short brew in order to not get murky and weird. I’ve made it probably five times now, and it’s never delicious, just something I’m drinking because I need my four ounces of it to disappear.

A perfectly fine, but somewhat average earl grey. I haven’t been enjoying earl greys as much as I used to. I think I burned myself out on them during my first couple years of intense tea drinking. I found this one to not have enough bergamot, the base was a bit too strong for the flavor.

This was a perfectly fine tropical fruit black tea. I enjoyed my cup, but it was a generally average cup of black tea with fruit. The mango flavor wasn’t too prominent, and came across as more vaguely tropical than anything.

Dropping my rating a bit, as the artificial note came off as MUCH more strong this time around.

I’ve been really gravitating toward the simplicity of vanilla black teas lately. This one does have a bit of an artificial note, but not overwhelmingly so. I enjoyed this with some oat milk and sugar.

This always seems like it should be a full-on pure green tea, from the name, but it’s a total strawberry pudding. With milk it’s a bit like a strawberry blancmange, it’s also great with honey/sugar or just plain. If you’re green tea averse or find green teas bitter, give this a go.

Brilliant chai: warm, rich, sweet flavours. Great with honey or milk, or even by itself given the sweetness from the dates.

Superb! Very sweet and pancakey, with a hit of cinnamon, and I can drink this one black without milk or honey/sugar, as it’s really mellow and smooth. This was the standout for me in the Advent Calendar a couple of years ago, and I went on to buy a whole box of it (the teabags). Highly recommended.

This is a mega-popcorny genmaicha with coconut notes, and one of the few green teas I can drink without milk and unsweetened. I particularly enjoy this when fasting.