TeaGschwendner

So very good!!! I like the decaf version as well.

Just delightful!

When I bought this the only way it was described to me was smooth, and after drinking it for a while that seems to fight perfectly. It has an earthy smooth taste that can quickly become bitter (like all green teas) if over steeped.

I was dead set against all white tea until I tried this one. It is on the opposite side of the spectrum compared to teas like Sliver needle. I enjoyed the strong earthy taste of this a lot more than the light taste of most white teas.

GASP Steepster ate my review of this! Bad, bad Steepster! It sort of poofed when I clicked the button. BOOOOOO.

Okay, um… let’s see. Dried blood, strawberry strawberry strawberry, ice… where did I even start? I doubt I can type that all out again, so I’m going to summarize.

1. PRETTY LEAVES: They’re red and green and caramel-bits and yeah. Look at the picture. I’m lazy now.

2. DARK INFUSION: Steeped it up for around 8 minutes and it’s the color of dried blood. Also, there are bits at the bottom that are positively black, and I’m sort of scared of them, so I’m using my spoon to stir it up. Also, note: afraid that tea might stain teeth, spoon, mug. Brush teeth after!

3. SMELL: Burnt sugar and heavy strawberry in the infusion, completely strawberry in the dry leaves, medicinal in the wet.

4. TASTE: “Oh hai, I’m a strawberry, if you’d like to become one, just drink Smooth Strawberry Dream!” Seriously, tart-strawberry mixed with the slightest hint of caramel and finished with a sweet honeybush note. Sometimes a bit too tart at points, and the strawberry gets overwhelming. As is cools, the caramel peeps out a bit more. Just a tad more.

5. VERDICT: If strawberries are your fruit of passion, drink this and you’ll be happy. I tend to prefer strawberry paired with heavier stuff (like black tea, like Mariage Freres and their Marco Polo and now I’m craving that instead of this). Might be good iced?

6. SADDED: Note disappeared! Pout. I’m so copying this one so it doesn’t eat this one as well!

Dude, what happened? The first time I had this tea, it was seriously awesome. It must have hit my happy spot or something because it made me almost euphoric. The second time was a total let down. So I’ve been hesitant to try this one again. But in my desire to de-cupboard more tea, I figured I’d bust this one out.

This third tasting isn’t starting very promisingly – I overbrewed it. Oops. The chocolate taste is still not really there except as an afterthought, but I’m okay with that. The chili taste is nice and tingly – on the border of a bit too spicy but nice. It’s a fairly thin bodied tea, feeling a bit like a second steep from a regular tea. The oversteeping has made it a little rough but a dash of half & half has fixed that and given it a slightly more luxe feel.

While not as enjoyable as my first perfect cup, this is a likeable tea. It’s different and, oddly enough, makes me think of gourmet hot chocolate – the kind that doesn’t taste actually like chocolate but you probably paid nine dollars for it. At the hoity-toity ski lodge. In the middle of winter. Even though you don’t ski.

I’m not back to being in love with this tea, but I’m giving it a slight point bump. It’s different and is fairly successful in its different-ness. This isn’t a tea I’d need to have on hand but I could see the occasional (if rare) desire to have a cup.

Perhaps this wasn’t the best choice for my morning tea – I have a feeling my tongue will be tingling for a good portion of today.

I’m still surprised by how mild tasting this tea is. To me, it is a mild, thin, lightly vanilla-ish tea that has a sweet warmth to the smell and a nice tingle on the tongue from the taste. Actually, it seems a bit spicier than the last time I had it. Potentially because there was more chili in the bottom of my sample and/or the fact that my mouth and throat tends to be more sensitive to spice when I have a cold (which is almost fully gone – YAY!).

I do think this tea would be better if I could find some actual chocolate taste in it. I’m a little tempted to dissolve a bit of chocolate into it, but that might be a little too thick for the tea. Something to contemplate. Ironically, though, I shared this with the husband thinking he would like it due to the chili. I didn’t tell him what it was and asked him how he liked it. His response, " I’m not really a fan." Why not? “It tastes likes there is chocolate and I don’t like chocolate in my tea.” Huh.

I was pretty excited to see this one in the box o’ teas teaplz sent me. Not so much because I think it will taste fantastic or anything. Just because it seems funky and fun. And oh yeah, hopefully good.

The dry leaves smell nice. It doesn’t scream chocolate to me but that’s probably because I’m looking for a more cocoa powder smell when it comes to tea and chocolate notes. It reminds me more of… vanilla bean. Of which I don’t think there is any in the tea so I might be insane. The smell of the dry leaf carries across pretty faithfully to the tea. But it smells… richer, a little deeper. It brews up pretty light for such a powerful smelling tea. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem overpowering or too unnatural of a flavor. It just smells like strong tea.

Now on to the taste. This tea is different and it’s going to be hard to explain this right. Based on the smell, I expected a POW of flavor and I didn’t get that. The flavor seems to be more in the feel of the tea. The smell and the taste it leaves on my tongue after I swallow. The warmth of the chili that seems to build as I sip. It’s a soft flavor. It’s truly tea with the flavor of chili and chocolate, not a flavored tea. Does that distinction make sense? Okay, okay, my brain still reads that chocolate taste as vanilla bean. But the point stands that the main thing is that this is a tea. And oh yeah, it’s flavored.

It’s totally not what I was expecting especially based on the smell but it is pretty fantastic. Subtle and soft but obviously there. It’s simultaneously energizing (hello chili!) and mellowing.

It makes me want to drink this sitting by the fire in a nice lodge after a long day of skiing. Which actually, any day including skiing is going to be long because I can’t do it. At all. I can only snowboard moderately well but this tea isn’t a in-the-lodge-post-snowboarding tea. It actually makes me think of gourmet hot chocolate. Or as a gourmet hot chocolate substitute. And it makes my tongue burn a bit – it a good way. Yay chili! So yeah, this tea is funky and I really like it!

My initial view of this tea may be a bit skewed since I just downed a chipotle chocolate chip cookie. The tea makes me sad that it isn’t rhubarb season any longer. The rhubarb is the champion when you first smell this tea with the raspberry creeping up faintly behind it. The color is that of a traditional green tea and once the steeping has finished the wonderful sweet smell is nearly gone. Though while you sip the smell slightly charges and reminds you of whats to come. Once again the rhubarb rules this tea as you drink it. At first you get that slight earthy green tea tone quickly followed by the slightly bitter sweetness of the rhubarb. Overall a very enjoyable tea, though I suspect that once the heated treat I just recently consumed fades away the teas flavor will stand out even more.

A wonderful cup of toasted rice aroma and pleasant earthy taste.

Delicious creamy daytime tea.

The smell of these tea leaves remind me of some of my walks into work while I lived in northern Michigan. A subtle sweet smell in the air as maple syrup season was in full swing. These leaves send off an equally pleasant smell when you open the container they are in. Fantastic start! The tea upon steeping adds a very faint coloration to the water. The taste is a wonderfully cared for green tea. A soft calm drink with a very light touch of sweetness at the end of each sip. This is one beautiful green tea all around!

Wow, I don’t believe I did anything correctly with this tea yesterday (though it was still very tasty). The smell as the tea steeped today filled my office area with a fantastic strawberry scent, it was even easy to pick up on the caramel in the air! The color was spot on with some of the most beautiful crimson fall leaves. As I was leaning into the cup for my first sip and had to close my eyes and just savor the air around my warmed face. The taste, as it was the last time I had a cup, was smooth and subtle. Which is perfect considering how pronounced everything is leading up to that point. I am quickly falling in love with this tea as a great way to start any morning.
*WARNING (Cheesy line time!)* “This tea must be the joyful tears of Merlin ‘cause it’s damn magical.” :p

The smell of this tea after steeping is, like the name, of a smooth strawberry scent. I expected the taste to be similar to that of flash frozen strawberries that all the cereal companies use these days. Thankfully I was wrong! This Honeybush tea is naturally sweet, yet the flavors of strawberry and caramel add perfectly a dash more sweet in a warm and subtle way. This was a great tea to start a chilly Monday morning with!

I picked this tea up while wandering around Chicago on a mini vacation I took to see the fantastic band, Mates of State. Not only did I get to enjoy an awesome town and a great band, I also got to enjoy several tea shops. This tea has a very strong sweet and wood like smell. A smell I would gladly have wafting around at any time of day. Though it seems most of the smell is lost through steeping. All that remains is a very faint honey like smell. The taste of this tea doesn’t have much for sweetness, but as the description says it does send off notes of wood and a slight peppery finish. Occasionally I noticed an aftertaste of the sweetness I was smelling earlier. This tea is such a wonderful and warm treat to enjoy!

Delicious green tea taste with a powerful peppermint aroma that is able to clear up the stuffiest of noses. Great tea for a chilly night.

Up’ed the score! Went to the Tea Haus and bought a few new teas as well as got my free cup of tea (Frequent Buyers Card)! I got, of course, the Banana Walnut. The reason I moved the score up is because as they made my cup the entire shop filled with the smell of this tea and it put the biggest smile on my face. Just in case I haven’t mentioned it…….this tea is amazing!

So good! The perfect tea for this 7 degree day. I feel that I may need to make a dessert drink flavored with this tea tonight while I am curled around my heater.

From the moment you open the bag and smell the tea it is a treat! The taste has more of the nutty side while the smell is reminiscent of a banana split. A great dessert tea all around….and the perfect evening treat for your sweet tooth!

A blend of the finest Black Teas heavy with first-rate natural bergamot oil. Even the Earl himself would be smitten by the bold character of this classic.
Wonderfully aromatic, dark cup

World Tea Champion 2009