The Republic of Tea

All I have to say is. . .I’m glad this was a free sample from the catalog. . . .

I’ve been wanting to try this tea forever and finally got a couple bags in a swap. I’m not totally blown away by this tea, but it is pretty good. It has a good berry flavor mixed with some chocolate cake-iness. The mouthfeel seems very juicy and refreshing. The rooibos does come through quite a bit, but for me that’s a good thing. As much as I enjoyed this tea, I’m probably not going to buy it since it is only available in bags. If this was offered in a loose version, I would purchase it in a heartbeat. Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

Hmmm… this has to be the strangest smelling tea ever. While steeping, it smells kind of like fried food (apparently from the barley in the mix). The tea is a bit savory and buttery tasting. It is quite thick and chocolaty with a bit of coconut. This is definitely a unique tasting tea. I’m not sure whether I would purchase this or not (maybe if it was available loose rather than just in bags). Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

I received this as a free sample with the Republic of Tea catalog. This is a decent vanilla flavored rooibos, but I’m not tasting any cream flavor in it. It’s not any better or worse than other vanilla rooibos teas that I’ve had. I’ll probably stick with Adagio’s Vanilla Rooibos, since it’s very similar and cheaper. Prepared with stevia.

This, with a (gluten free!) chocolate orange cupcake. Totally decadent!

Feeling a bit stuffy and draggy (is that a word?) this am, so I added a dash of cayenne to get the blood flowing. It’s kinda not bad. More for medicinal purposes than pure drinking pleasure, but at least it’s helping me build a tolerance to spice/heat too.