The Republic of Tea

Wow this was pretty yummy! I really enjoys it…better note later family everywhere.

NOT impressed AT ALL!!!! I bought this tea thinking it might be a superior grade/quality than their other matcha offering but sadly I was wrong.

Aroma: A little vegetal, thin and watery.

Taste: Same as aroma, a very watery, Earthy-spinach taste. Very thin, watery no balance, sweetness, or even astringency and no umami. No mouth feel, no drying…absolutely nothing. A very watery, thin, paleness to the palate. The taste is somewhat palatable; it is very Earthy as if the spinach still possess the grit and dirt from the Earth, not dirty, gritty or awful, but an earthiness that is more prominent than the vegetal aspect. This matcha seemed stale and old…the color is of a dark green almost the olive hue other matcha connoisseurs will recommend staying away from but you won’t know until you open the sealed bag that comes inside the canister.

Aftertaste: None.

To be honest, I would not recommend wasting your money on this one, there are a whole plethora of other brands out there that are far superior than this one. Furthermore, I must defend my somewhat high rating considering such a dismal descriptive tasting note; The Republic of Tea’s matcha, this “newer” version, did have an interesting taste profile, albeit a weak one, but none-the-less, interesting. It was the earthiness that was it’s saving grace.

So, I’ve continued drinking this tea hoping that it may grow on me. Nope. I actually dislike it the more I drink it. I’m pouring the rest of the iced tea out because I’m done. DONE!

Today I have hangover. I’m not proud but I am dehydrated. I’ve been drinking green rooibos tea all day to replenish my stupid self, but then I rememberd that I purchased Meyer Lemon Black Tea from The Republic of Tea few days ago. I love, love, love Meyer lemons so the idea of trying this new tea really lifted my spirits.

First, I’m pissed off at myself for not noticing that this isn’t a loose leaf tea, but rather four large tea bags meant only for iced tea brewing. That aside, I love iced tea and it’s warm outside so I still had hope that I may love this tea.

Alas, I don’t love this tea. I was hoping for a clean, slightly sweet lemon flavor with a nice black tea finish. Nope. This tea has a slight lemon flavor with a perfumy (not floral) aftertaste. I don’t mind, and I actually expected, a slight floral essence like orange blossom for instance. However, this tea has an artifical perfume taste that I just don’t care for.

All of this being said, I don’t hate this tea either. I’m willing to drink the rest of the pitcher with the hope that it may grow on me. I prefer to love a tea from the first taste, but I’m just a romantic that way :)

I need a nap! Weekday drinking THE END.

I usually drink a few cups of this every day while at work. It has a delicious scent, and when it begins to steep, the peach overtones are extremely noticeable. It has a bit of a long steep time, and when left in too long, I’ve noticed that it does not seem to get bitter.

Although most of my coworkers are addicted to coffee, or other caffeinated drinks, many of them have tried this tea and enjoyed it greatly. You can taste the name-flavors (ginger, peach, red rooibos) without any of them completely overwhelming the others. Also, for thos wanting some of the health benefits of many green teas, minus the caffeine, this could be considered a fair alternative.

On the whole, this is an enjoyable tea to drink, although if you do not like peach or the red rooibos…you may want to go elsewhere.

It’s a very gloomy and rainy day today. And it’s cold! Well, LA cold anyway. I have the fireplace on and I’m craving a rich delicious comforting black tea for a bit of an afternoon pick-me-up.

I purchased this tea in November of last year and my tin is still nearly full. I couldn’t remember if there was some reason that I hadn’t been drinking this tea all winter long. This tea has two of my favorite flavor components, maple and nutty goodness.

Unfortunately, this tea isn’t great because there’s no real flavor to it at all. It’s a reasonably tasty black tea with a slight (very slight) touch of maple. Disappointing! I mixed a heaping tsp. of maple butter and lots of almond milk into the tea, and that made it taste okay. In reality, I’m really just drinking a warm cup of sweetened almond milk. Humph.

I have a tin of this to use up. So, of course I made this into iced tea. Cold brewed overnight. 4 teabags in about 40 oz of water (I do like my iced teas light.) I am really surprised with this one. I was expecting the green tea to be very present, but I mostly get the goji and raspberry. Very refreshing after working out on the patio, weeding and cleaning out the grill in preparation for many meals cooked outside this summer…starting with halibut tonight!

I first bought this tea a year ago and I now buy it in the bulk bag. It’s fantastic iced, and I can easily drink an entire pitcher of this tea a day in the summer.

This green rooibos tea has a light fresh flavor with a slight sweetness from the plantain, and there’s a lovely coconut finish. Plantain and coconut are an obvious winning combination. This may be my all time favorite iced tea.

So I finally figured out what this needed to reach a 100 rating….wine! I added a wine called Sweet Revenge from Catherine Valley Wineries. (Ok I added the whole bottle) The wine mixed with the Sangria tea blended perfectly together for a really delish and refreshing Spring/Summer cooler. Yum!

I tried this when I was finally able to escape home for lunch. Yum! Really refreshing and a nice mini trip to an island far, far away from reality! Tart flavors and a rich ruby color and a whole lot of yummy goodness. I might even add a little wine to it when I go home tonight to give it that real sangria taste.

Brewed a bag of this tonight to chill for tomorrow. It smells really tart and after a sample sip (that came after mopping up my spills as I moved the tea from one container to another), I can say this is going to be yummy. No rating until I enjoy some tomorrow.

To prepare:
Heat water to a rolling boil
Add one brew bag to 1 quart heat safe container
Fill said container with boiling water
Steep 5-7 minutes
Let cool a bit before moving it to a heat safe container

I got this as a sample with RoT’s latest catalog. I figured I’d try it before bed tonight. I’m smelling a LOT of cream and vanilla as this steeps. Added a little silk creamer to cool it down a little. It isn’t half bad. But I’m glad they gave me the sample. I don’t think it’s one I would buy on a regular basis. Mostly because I’m not tasting what I was smelling – I was really looking forward to that.

This is my morning cuppa. When I want to start the day right I turn to this tea. For this tea I don’t use any fancy porcelain or count my infusions. I just put some in a teaball (gasp!) plop it into a nice mug and pour boiling hot water over it and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then I add a splash of milk and some sugar (double gasp!) and the resulting brew is sweet, warm, with strong flavors of malty-carameliness. Then I can say that I am ready to start my day.

This tea is not overly exceptional on its own by any means and lacks a certain depth, which is why I am only giving it 85. But when it comes to my daily brew I don’t need an exceptionally perfect tea. I just need a good solid tea to mix with milk and sugar and this is it. I’ve tried others but I keep coming back to this one. A must have staple of any tea-head’s cupboard.

Wow when I opened the tin I thought this seemed more like something better suited to a bath soap/soak. Truth be told it also smells that way while I’m letting it infuse. On the upside it takes me back to my grandparents house and all the fun bath salts and other perfumed products my grandmother kept…which was always very comforting to me when I visited.

I’m getting a lot of lavender and not much rooibos with each sip. I am also getting the hint of rose that others have mentioned. In all a pretty good relaxing tea. Which I really need tonight (well morning as it is after midnight). I think this might end up being one of my “go to” chill out teas for the evening.

First off we’re not expecting just yet. But one of my friends who is a Doula and also expecting her third little one just after the new year. She recommended this to me as another pregnancy prep tool much like the prenatal vitamins and eating right, and so on. Anyway, I ordered some as she didn’t have any samples to share. (She drinks the stuff 2 times a day at the minimum!)

It smells like it would be a sweet tea from the aroma you get while steeping. But it isn’t all that sweet while drinking. In fact I may need to add some sweetener in a moment. I can taste a hint of the rooibus. But for the most part it is very plain. Which I would imagine is just what you want if you happen to be experiencing morning sickness and all the other joys I’ve been told about pregnancy. I’ll def. keep this on the shelf. Really not a go to tea for me.

It’s a chilly afternoon and the perfect time to enjoy this Red Velvet Chocolate tea. It’s a delicious rooibos and hebal blend that’s perfect with a dash of turbinado sugar and coconut cream. The chocolate flavor could be a bit stonger in my opinion, but perhaphs I need to let it steep a bit longer than I typically do.

I really love this stuff. But I stopped bringing it to work. At work, all we have is a hot water dispenser that is set to who knows what. Every time I make this at work (even when I try to add cold water), it comes out bad, but when I make it at home where I am able to set my Zoujiroshi water dispenser thingamabob to 195 degrees, it always comes out good.

Oh, I really like this one. Very smooth. I’ve steeped it 3 times and it’s still good. Haven’t steeped past that, though.

Either me or my boyfriend purchased a little sample baggie of this from Central Market about a year ago. Stumbled upon it unexpectedly and brewed some up for the two of us in a coffee press. I am wary about hibiscus and blends with a lot of citrusy ingredients because it is really easy to overdo the tartness, so I was conservative in the amount of tea and the steep time. I am also wary of hibiscus due to so many negative experiences with Tazo Passion tea at work. The smell of hibiscus alone can turn me off quickly. Not to mention my former love of making raspberry passion tea lemonades to take home with me until I spilled it all over the car on the drive home… twice.

Annnnyway, this stuff brews up a beautiful (and expected) shade of hot pink. It smells fruity and tart. It tastes… like hibiscus. I’m getting a pretty interesting kool-aid taste, but not particularly lychee-y or pineapple-y. It’s definitely a slightly different, and pleasant, flavor. Very juicy and begging to be iced.

This is one of those teas that is just likable because it’s sweet and tangy and fruity. Even people who don’t drink tea will probably enjoy this one. I’m sure it would play nice with different lemonades/limeades or mixed in a fruit juice or a fruit punch too. Maybe a lemon-lime soda? Good for a summer picnic by the lake.

That being said, I can appreciate this tea, but it’s just not my thing.

I had this tea for breakfast this morning, with cream and sugar, and was quite happy with it. The scent of the tea is strong out of the tin, but brewing it tends to produce a mellow blackberry taste — not tart, but more like the flavor and sweetness you’d get from a blackberry pie rather than a fresh blackberry. The sage is a really lovely addition to the blackberry flavor. I don’t get a strong black tea flavor — and that’s just as well, since it turns out I don’t really like most black teas.

In the past, I’ve experimented with a range of brewing times — everything from swirling the bag until the water takes on color (say 1 1/2 minutes) to letting the bag steep until I’m done cooking breakfast (at least 8 minutes, probably more). It definitely gets bitter with longer steep times; I think a good steep time for a stronger flavor without the bitterness is probably around 3-4 minutes. I try to keep it to that time if I’m adding anything like honey, cream, or sugar. If I’m drinking it straight, I keep it to 2 minutes. I’ve also tried this tea iced, and I enjoy it that way.

I’ll probably continue to stock this tea for a long time, because it’s a comfort tea — perfect for me on my groggy, slow mornings or when I just need to curl up in bed with a book during a rainy day. Like most comfort foods, it might not be the best quality or have the most robust, complex, delicate flavors — but sometimes you just need a reliable, homey stand-by.

Thanks LauraR!

In the bag, this smells suprisingly spicy but also quite musty, which worries me a bit. As I keep smelling it, I’m getting more apprehensive about trying it, due to the medicinal and liqourice scent. Brewed, this is so underwhelming I can’t believe it. There is just no taste until the aftertaste, which tastes like lemon cough drops. I didn’t even get halfway down this cup before tossing it.

On a more positive note, this is my 101st tasting note!

So I tried the Yerba Mate blend, which to my surprise was in tea bags, which isn’t really my style. This blend has Rooibos, cactus flowers, almonds, among other things. I waited to take a sip of the Yerba until I started driving as driving is one of the best ways to sip on some Mate. The first thing I noticed was the Vanilla flavor and its overall incredibly desserty smoothness to the drink.

I of course tried this drink in the morning and was taken aback by its nighttime smoothness and had some immediate nostalgia over last nights sleep. Republic of Tea markets this Yerba Mate blend as an all-night dance tea, but I feel like this should be a post-meal stay awake and talk near a fire drink. I enjoyed the drink immensely but will only be drinking this at night when I need to warm up and just chat.

A very nice drink, with a great look, and a great company behind it.

I adore this tea. I wish I had it in a perfume—every time I open the canister I inhale deeply. It has the most lovely aroma. I can drink it sweetened or plain and it is always nice. Like dessert. I should get another canister soon!

I’m ridiculously susceptible to suggestion, so honestly just looking at this bright yellow tin with its cheerful exhortation puts a smile on my face. Luckily on top of that it has a really pleasant flavor! It’s lemony without being at all overbearing about it – I think even without the name I’d probably describe the flavor as bright and cheerful. I don’t get much of the peach flavor, but it’s a nice cup even without, so I can’t complain.

I just put this one through a ridiculous steep time – as in I set two bags into a portable cup about forty-eight hours ago in anticipation of taking it out with me, and ended up leaving it steeping in my intermittently very warm car for two days straight. I just took it out now and it’s quite tasty. God bless rooibos, it can really take so much abuse.