The Republic of Tea

I was looking for a nice herbal tea that I can drink at night that wouldn’t keep me awake, but I’m just not a Chamomile fan. Although having other herbs mixed in with the chamomile does make it more enjoyable. I will drink this tea occasionally and continue my quest.

Received a sample in this in a package from AmazonV today.

Steeped 2 bags in boiling water for about 6 minutes (MIL called while steeping and couldn’t get back to the tea).

Tried first few sips with out additives, tasted pretty watery with a slight note of spice and a bit of citrus tang at the end. I added a splash of cold cream which gave the tea more body and spice upfront, after notes of citrus. (Maybe the apple is the tarty citrus?) Not sure where it is from the ingredients, but definitely there.

This tea is alright, but I like something with more oomph.

Finished this up earlier. It was good, I will be looking into other green chais to replace this one.

I was indecisive this morning and this sounded good. I think I prefer Green chais rather than black chais….hmm. Never thought I would like a green more than my beloved black tea.

I was feeling a bit lazy with making chai this morning so I just steeped the tea for 4.5 minutes and warmed up half a mug of milk to which I added sugar. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a noticeable quality difference between the traditional method and my method this morning. I will probably be making chai a bit more often.

I have the loose leaf version of this. I made this in a traditional chai preparation with brown sugar and skim milk. I am pleasantly surprised. The last tea I prepared this way was not great (Bengal Spice), which was obviously due to the tea I used. It was a bit labor intensive, but SO worth it. I suspect this would be good iced also.

Meh. The smell was heavenly, but I wasn’t blown away by the chocolate-y mate-y goodness I was expecting. (And tea snob that I am, I was already unimpressed because I thought this would’ve been a loose-leaf tea and not a bag tea.) I drank a HUGE pot of this stuff (maybe 2-3 large mugs full), and an hour later, I didn’t feel that usual snap of energy I do when drinking a loose-leaf mate. Instead, it was the exact opposite — I was sleepy! I might try it again (maybe with cream), but it just didn’t do it for me overall.

I’m finishing the last of this sample today. It is alright, nothing amazing about it though. If I ever buy another almond tea it would Teavana’s Almond Biscotti over this any day.

I think that I may have to put Teavana’s Almond Biscotti on my shopping list. I didn’t initially think that I would ever crave it, but I have been and drinking this just reminds me how inferior RoT’s Vanilla Almond is compared to Almond Biscotti. I’ve adjusted this tea’s rating down a little bit.

I forgot to log this from earlier. It was a bit astringent, more than usual. It just isn’t as good as Teavana’s Almond Biscotti.

This tea is even better with a little sweetener added. Starting to taste a lot more like Teavana’s Almond Biscotti. This is also a pretty good 3rd infusion.

I have the loose leaf version of this tea. It is has pretty leaves with little nutty pieces throughout. I was excited as soon as I smelled this tea – it is almost identical to my beloved Almond Biscotti that I recently finished. The taste is pretty similar also, also Almond Biscotti is a bit more complex. I bet this would be great with milk and sweetener, just like Almond Biscotti was. Overall, this rating does not earn the spot of Almond Biscotti, but is a good substitute.

Pretty good tea, borrowed from a fellow tea sipping coworker. I can’t find this online, so I wonder where she picked it up. I love the vintage all-American design of this label. The plain bag smell is not so inspiring but a brewed cup is actually quite refreshing. The dark color of the black tea is very strange in comparison to the more light watermelon flavor. I would like to experience this iced, because warm watermelon flavor is a little unfamiliar.

Meh. I’ve had better tea; which is sad because I do enjoy Blackberries and Sage. Apparently, my love for blackberries is eating them, while my love for sage is burning it.

Republic of Tea: it’s not you, it’s me.

I’m enjoying a cup of hojicha this evening. I have to go back out to an artist’s reception at work this evening and am relaxing with a nice cup of tea.

I love this tea. I always find it very grounding whenever I drink it.

Not crazy about this matcha, now that I have others and am somewhat proficient at making it correctly. Not recommend buying. The color as you can see is a yellowish-greenish-tan, NOT A GOOD COLOR for matcha! It should be a bright, vibrant, Jade-Kelly green with an aroma to fresh spinach and grass. It did not foam all that well, then again, I was new at whisking it and the taste was just plain dull and boring, it did not have that WOW! factor. After a couple of weeks, because I didn’t finish it, I went back to it and it had lost all of it’s taste…you can’t keep matcha fresh for long, but that was ridiculous.

Overall a solid green tea, although it seems to be too finely ground. I hope they’re not re purposing matcha grounds.

Republic’s Darjeeling is surprisingly decent, but not up to par as far as all the other Darjeelings I’ve tasted. It’s a blend, which rarely sits well with me. It’s rounded, which is good for most drinkers, but lacks the punch I look for in most Darjeelings. It’s the only Darjeeling I’ve considered putting honey in; all others I drink straight.

Obtained in a (non steepster) tea swap. This is a loose tea, not the bagged tea pictured.

I think the recommended 5 minute steep time is too long, it was bitter. I didn’t taste any mango, just bitter black tea. I’m going to try again later with a shorter steep time and see how that does.

Not my favorite as far as flavor goes (it tastes like hot water even with honey), but I love the smell. I keep this more for aroma therapy than I do for drinking. Not a bad tea, though; I’ve definitely had worse.

It smells very chocolaty, but I had to add a teaspoon of honey to bring out the flavor. I think that’s just me, though, and not the tea; I have to add honey to most of my teas for me to taste something other than water. Otherwise, it’s a nice, smooth tea that’s good for a mild chocolate craving or a little mood therapy.

At first taste this tea is definitely more pomegranate than green tea. However, with consecutive cups, it definitely is more balanced (i don’t know if that’s just the tongue assimilating to the citrus of the blend). I also had this with a cilantro chicken salad and it was an awesome pairing. The tea goes down very smooth and has a slight tinge of cherry (like that weird zing… stop me if i sound crazy).

I had this tea iced and enjoyed it very much unsweetened, but i feel that the addition of the sugar would help bring out the sweetness of the pomegranate and override the cherry-esque-ness.