Tea Sparrow

This one was just kinda creamy and sweet. I didn’t get much in the way of ginger or orange. Kinda finding the tea sparrow teas to be pretty “meh” on the whole. Don’t get me wrong, happy to try new things, but nothing yet has made me want to go get more or try any others.

not a fan. This is kinda like a slightly sweet green tea, flavoured with a bit of fruitiness that comes through. I’m not really picking up any coconut and there’s none of that creamy colada goodness. I’ll still to my herbal version. thanks VariaTEA!

I’ve finally been let out of quarantine aka my bedroom as I’ve been on antibiotics for strep throat for a couple of days now. That meant I got to make myself a cup of tea. Knowing that (a) I need to stay hydrated and (b) I probably won’t really taste the tea, I grabbed this because I have a fair bit of it and the nutty orange/ginger profile doesn’t call to me that much otherwise. I ended up adding a peach honey straw to this to soothe my throat since it is still a bit sore and my voice is still missing.

Surprisingly, I did actually get some orange flavors and some nut flavors from this. It was also much more sweet than I would like but that could be the straw full of honey that I added. No rating for now because my tastebuds are still a mess but it did help my throat so yay for that!

I coldbrewed this over the weekend and brought it to work yesterday. Then I forgot to drink it and only now opened it to give it a taste. It smelled awesome but it tasted terrible. Whereas the smell was that of tart and fresh berries or even tart berry flavored candies, the taste was that of a sweet wine that had gone bad but was still very sweet. So yeah, not my thing…st least when cold brewed.

One of my favorite honeybush teas. The honeybush flavor works really well with the vanilla. I just wish I had more!

Cold Brew (460)!

Actually a little sad to be out of this one; one less pear tea on hand! It was a nice enough cold brew; very smooth dewy pear notes but quite a bit of grassy undertone too. I’d have liked just a little bit more sweetness but it was a nice representation of both the added flavour and the base tea.

Thanks again VariaTEA for the subscription that I got this one in!

Tea Press!

To be completely honest, I had kind of forgotten about this tea. However, I was looking for something I could make in the tea press to bring with to work and I found the sample bag of this one and figured, why not?

It tasted really nice, but was quite light as well. I think this might just be one of those teas that’s a little too delicate overall to really be well executed in the tea press. However, I appreciated the mild, gentle smoothness of the grassy green tea, and the nuanced floral and dewy pear notes! I really, really like pear teas and this one feels like pear tea that’s been stripped down to the bare minimum. Not in a bad way, but it’s just a very light/pure ‘essence of pear’ kind of flavour.

Good for quite, peaceful tea drinking and reflection.

Iced tea.

Very light, fresh and dewy pear flavour with the same hints of creaminess you’d get in the flesh of a Bartlett pear. There was some floral notes, probably a combination of the pear itself and the green tea matched with it. Sadly, all of these brilliant tasting notes were masked by a very choppy, grassy green tea with an astringent edge to it.

This could be so good if the base was better; but as is it’s just pretty average.

Thanks for it regardless, VariaTea! I’m always up for a pear tea.

Cold Brew Sipdown (527)!

Finished this one off on my morning conference call with work. It started off a little sharp and grassy with a strong taste of the green tea and a slight bitter edge. Very piercing, in terms of flavour. However, as it warmed up a little/got closer to room temp it seemed to mellow out a little bit and I was able to better enjoy the strong grape notes and floral undertones.

Not a bad tea overall; but not an exceptional one either.

Notes of grapes, lychee, and jasmine.

I wanted to like this one again; I remember being pretty impressed with it overall the first time I tried it. I think I must have over steeped it though because in addition to those lovely fruit notes and florals it was also super bitter AND astringent.

Yuck.

Cold Brew.

Admittedly, I was pretty fascinated by this tea despite the green base. I’ve actually been finding myself craving DAVIDsTEA’s “Grape Freeze” blend from a few years back, and this sounds pretty similar. Also, any tea that tastes particularly grapey is pretty good in my books, regardless of whether it’s candy grape or natural grape.

I think this brews up with a really strong, solid grape flavour which is definitely the most important aspect of it. I’m confidant, that even if I hadn’t read the tea description prior to drinking it that I’d know this is intended to be grape. As well, I taste the currant as secondary fruit flavours too; they’re a TINY little bit medicinal, but not overwhelmingly or to a point where I feel it detracts from the blend.

The green base is pretty present and grassy; it reminds me a bit of lawn clippings or the smell of grass on a really hot day. Do other people notice that too? That there’s definitely a distinct smell to hot grass, that is? It’s not exactly fresh smelling, but it doesn’t smell bad either. The finish comes through a bit floral, as well. Not in any sort of way that reminds me of a particular flower though.

Also, just a touch artificial as an entire brew.

I still liked it overall, though.

I really enjoyed this one. I got this in my tea sparrow subscription box but decided to order more. It’s a light tasting tea with the pear very much present. I have done this hot and also cold brewed. Both were very good for me it just depends on my mood which I do. It’s a perfect simple light and beautiful tea.

Does contain grape flavoring and you can smell it. It doesn’t at all overwhelm the tea it’s actually a really tasty combo. I prefer it brewed straight. I tried just a hint of cream and it didn’t come across well. Made it taste more astringent. I would purchase more.

I didn’t get creamy from this tea but it was tasty. I would have liked more strawberry but it is present. More so then most so called strawberry flavored teas. And its not fake strawberry tasting either. Overall a juicy berry/strawberry tasting tea.

Sipdown (334)!

So, the boyfriend nailed his interview! I knew he would; but I’m incredibly happy for him regardless. He had a bad start to his week, so this was the perfect mood boost for him! Plus, I got to be the incredibly proud, supportive girlfriend.

This one wasn’t bad – I finished it off as a hot cup, which did make for a more tart flavour but despite there being some really obvious hibiscus flavours and a pretty sour top note it was still really good, and sweet. It definitely channeled some of DAVIDsTEA’s Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait notes, both in creaminess and juicy strawberry flavour. No rhubarb. I was surprised by the cream though; normally I don’t find this one to be a creamy tasting tea.

Anyway; glad this was a sipdown! It’s not a bad tea, but nothing to hold onto either.

Another cold brew.

Basically, I just want to echo my initial impression and reinforce the fact that this has been very consistent across multiple brews: the flavour of this tea is really sweet and smooth and borderline juice like. It’s got a great, well defined strawberry flavour however lacks a lot in the cream department.

Also, just a personal pet peeve but I hate when companies use the word cream in the name of the blend but use ingredients that prevent me from actually adding cream. Like, I could never add milk to this because it would curdle so badly. DT’s Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait is another that bugs me: a parfait is a yogurt dish, but if I added dairy to that tea it would curdle SOOOO badly. If I can’t add dairy, don’t name the tea after dairy…

End rant.

Cold Brew!

I was a little nervous about this one if I’m being honest – so more tisanes have promised to deliver me creamy berry flavours: strawberry cream, blueberry cream, raspberry cream, and you get the point. However, time and time again they just end up tart and soured by the hibiscus in the blend. Since this blend also has hibiscus (as the first ingredient, even!) I was sure that was the route we were going to be taking…

However, this is pretty enjoyable. I mean, point blank it’s not exactly creamy. However, it is pretty juicy and has a really nice realistic strawberry flavour that’s not muddled by other ingredients or overly sour/tart. In fact, I hardly taste the hibiscus at all! Through and through, this is a straight up pleasant strawberry tea. It’s even almost sort of juice like! Yeah, I wish it had creamyness to it like the name says it should but at least it’s not sour and gross and that does distinguish it from all the other “generic berry and cream” teas of the past.

I’ll take that compromise.

My first tea from my first Tea Sparrow subscription!

(Also, I made this entry since it wasn’t in yet, and it wouldn’t let me add “natural grape flavor” as an ingredient. It’s an ingredient!)

This kind of reminds me of the grape wulong Teavana had forever ago, but doesn’t smell like cough syrup as much. The leaves smell really pleasant.

Steeped for three minutes, per package instructions. This is tasty, and definitely less grapey than the Teavana one. I’d consider buying this.

I didn’t really get blueberry from this but it is fruity. I was leery because of the hibiscus, it can quickly take over the tea but it didn’t in this blend. It was a nice mixture. I only was able to get one steep from this though. The second steeping was wayyyyyy weaker. Definitely a juicy tasting tea. Overall one that I liked but not one that I think I will purchase more it.

Cold Brew Sipdown (625)!

Well, after having this tea for what feels like forever I’m finally finishing it off. I mean it’s honestly not a bad tea but there’s just SO MUCH going on with it and it has a kind of average flavour overall. This cold brew is so savory and herbaceous though; in particular it reminds me of a super over seasoned Italian style tomato sauce!? Which is a weird thing to experience in a cold brewed tea.

Kind of a busy tea overall, but this last cup clicked for me in a way that was really soothing/peaceful – strong notes of tulsi, which I find incredibly relaxing overall, and hints of floral lavender. It was nice for right before bed, despite the fact that there’s yerba mate in this one – something I had forgotten whilst drinking it.

It also felt good to get closer to a sipdown with this one. Soon.

I still think this is a really weird combination of ingredients, and that there’s a lot going on in general with this tea – but that said, when I picked it out to sip on while I had a nice soak in the tub I actually found the strong combination of tulsi and lavender to be really peaceful and relaxing. I also greatly enjoyed the earthy undertones from the mix of different tea types in this one – particularly the Pu’erh and the rooibos.

This tea is… weird.

It’s the last one from the first Tea Sparrow box that VariaTEA sent my way, and I have to admit that I messed up here. Since that March box was honey themed I’ve been drinking the teas from it with honey, but I forgot to do that with this tea. So my bad.

The flavour for this is so all over the place! I mean, there are A LOT of ingredients and they’re all very clearly competing here for what’s most noticeable. I think in the end the lavender and the rosemary win out: very floral, very savory/herbaceous. I don’t taste the pu’erh a lot or most of the other ingredients in more than a ‘muddled’ background note kind of sense. I wonder if the honey would have changed that a bit?

I need to try this again before I can come to any sort of overall consensus. Just based on this mug of it, though. I didn’t love or hate it. The rosemary was a nice touch; but the lavender was a bit much for me.

Sipdown (242)!

Iced.

Very tart, with lots of juicy but slightly sour/hibiscus saturated blueberry flavour. Something about it was a little off though and it took a while to place, but finally I was able to put my finger on the fact that this was giving off herbaceous vibes? I think it was just one of those weird palate days because where would a herby flavour even be coming from in this tea? Like jeezus, I don’t ever know…

Regardless, it was really refreshing/satisfying.