Teaopia

A wonderful delight! No added sweetner required. This would be wonderful as a latte! Yummy!

Another wonderful tea to enjoy as a dessert tea or in place of dessert! Again, no sweetner added to mine!

I had no idea what the Jasmine would taste like and normally I don’t drink a lot of green tea but this was LOVELY. Upon smelling it was just like the one you are served at a Chinese restaurant. Upon tasting it was even nicer.

Well the scent is very nice, both of the dry leaves and the steeped tea. It smells fruity. But the taste is very different. Hmmm, first I thought, very sweet… then pow something kind of bitter and dull and vegetal emerges! I’ve never eaten cactus, but this tea does somehow make me think of one. At least this is certainly something I’ve never tasted before. Very strange but not something I would buy again. Maybe for summer though.
Okay… I just poured a second cup and this time put agave in it. It’s much better! The weird bitterness is gone and it’s transformed into a nice sort of melony taste. Maybe there is hope for this tea after all.

2nd note! Lots of creamy earl greys have strong notes of vanilla, but this one doesn’t have that at all. The creaminess comes out almost entirely in the finish. It smells soooo nice but tastes a lot different. Not that it’s bad, but I find it very astringent/mouth-drying. Still an enjoyable earl grey though.

My first tea from Teaopia. When I went in the store they were talking about how much they hate Davids Tea, but a lot of their products/advertising etc looks very similar…

Anyway, about the tea. If I were to do a blind test on this I’d probably say it’s just a straight up earl, but a very nice one. It’s not like the Davids version which is much creamier. If I really try I can kind of taste the creaminess cutting the bergamot a little. Mehh, this one is okay. It’s a good tea but not what I was expecting.

Oh boo!! I had a bad tea tasting day. The other tea I had this morning was not great either, and it was my standard toasty Triple Leaf Oolong… previously tasty, now less so!
so I won’t rate it now.
This reminded me very much of a basic Asian black tea. Almost like the Teavana tea I bought awhile back.
Except… well it tasted somewhat soft. Like there was something missing. Picture the “flavour” made into a pie, and then someone removing a third of the ingredients. It’s not dampened or bad tasting, but simply missing.
Anyhow, I didn’t taste anything spicy at all so I suspect that’s the piece I need to find!
Doc app on Wednesday so hopefully I will get a lead on how to fix this. It’s driving me batty!
That said, I did find this tea to be mild, but rather sweet as well. Almost overpowering in that aspect

I see the only two ratings on this tea both being 8. And Steepster thinks that averages out to 50!

At least the tea tastes better than it smells. There is something in it that makes me question the ingredients. However, it tastes wonderfully light. Best enjoyed hot, or iced with some honey.

I smell more honey and vanilla than I taste it, and that’s saying a lot because I actually used a spoonful of local raw honey! I have a very mild but slightly sweet brew. I don’t know if it is still a sour tongue/taste bud issue or not. The tea is not unpleasant, and the smell of it is utterly fantastic. I’m going to hold off on rating til a later date though, as I’m unsure whether I’d be giving it a fair rating at this time.

Possibly over-steeped or too much leaf, but not catching the berry flavour at all, but theres is a very fragrant oolong. This preparation was sweetened with a small spoon of local raw honey instead of sugar, and no milk. It’s probably more naked than I usually drink my tea, but as I am low on both sugar and honey, I used less than normal. I am also trying to reduce how much sugar I use, as I am having more tea lately, and going through the sugar far faster than I used to.

I’m not sure how to rate this tea, as it is fine as an oolong, but I catch no berry, so, points knocked off for that? I may need to revise the rating anyway, as it is possible that this less sweet infusion is leading to less berry, or perhaps my headache coming back is affecting my taste and perceptions of foods and smells.

I think for now, I will leave this unrated. Once I make the final batch from the sample pouch, I will be able to give this a proper rating.

Going to take some more meds and go lay down again. Perhaps a bath later.

Hooray, another well-executed fruit-flavoured Oolong! I may be coming around to them. The plum blends really well with the light, clean Oolong and tastes sweet but fresh. Unfortunately I forgot about this after one steep so I will have to give it a better go soon and see how it holds up.

I’m having issues with the tasting notes box. I didn’t steep it for 7.5 minutes; I steeped it for 6 minutes.

The smell of the tea is quite nice. Real chocolate-banana smell. Kind of like a banana split from DQ if you got it with no strawberries, no pineapple and no ice cream.
I’m trying this one milk-and-sugar because I’m feeling poorly and want an extra treat.
Steeped and in my mug it has more of a baked goods smell. I baked banana chocolate chip mini muffins using a coffee cake recipe i found online for a road trip and this smell reminds me quite a bit of that one. It’s amazing how heat can change a smell.
I don’t like the taste at all. The banana bits taste alcoholic and the chocolate comes through more as a slime on the roof of my mouth than it does as a taste. The smell is lovely; the taste leaves a lot to be desired. And oddly it doesn’t seem to pair well with the milk and sugar that I added, a problem with rooibos that I’ve never had.
I haven’t been on Steepster in months (moved to a new town, been busy, been summer, got pregnant), and it makes me a little sad that this tea marks my return to reviewing teas. I mean, it’s drinkable, but I won’t be reaching for this orange bag of tea to satisfy my tea cravings until my other flavoured rooibos are gone. Le sad.

Sitting: at my desk in the kitchen (taking a break from work) with the window wide open to let the cool air in.
Wearing: slippers and a zip-up sweater.
Listening to: Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin’ Man by The Tragically Hip – http://www.thehip.com/albums/index.html?CheckIT=21_2033&SongID=2033&AlbumID=21&LyricID=2033#21_2033

“I guess I’m too slow. But you said any time of the day was fine; you said any time of the night was also fine.” – The Tragically Hip

agh when will I ever learn? :(
—am I the only one who tastes remnants of past teas in their tea masters? I tasted hardly any almond here, and then when the cup cooled, I swear I got their Monks Blend.
Maybe I’ll give this another try. maybe not.
that’s twice in one day I struck out! arg.

well, three if you count the fact that I was reaching for a new tea from my sample pile and got my white peony instead, without realizing it til after it was made. I never thought the day would come when I’d regret my white peony!!
this was a bad bad tea day. hmph.