The Republic of Tea

I was quite surprised by this tea. Taste pretty good although I think the best thing about it is its wonderful color.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: lactose-free fat-free milk 6 ounces, 180 degrees
Steep Time: a little over 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: dark chocolate bar, nutty
Steeped Tea Smell: Hershey’s chocolate milk
Flavor: Hershey’s chocolate milk, but with not enough chocolate
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: none
Liquor: light milk chocolate colored

So last time this tea was kinda weak watery chocolate, and now it was creamy weak chocolate milk. Disappointing. Next time 2 bags per 6 ounces of milk.

Post-Steep Additives: none, and none needed

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 teabags
Additives: none
Water: 12 ounces filtered boiling water (my pottery friends mug is 12 ounces)
Steep Time: a little over 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: dark chocolate bar, nutty
Steeped Tea Smell: mate, chocolate, nutty
Flavor: weak watery chocolate
Body: Light
Aftertaste: chocolate
Liquor: dark brown, you can’t see to the bottom of the mug

When I opened the canister I wanted to eat the bags right there and then! I have gotten used to The Republic of Tea’s “powdery on purpose” tins, so the cloud of coco dust didn’t surprise me and I certainly don’t mind chocolate wafting through the kitchen.

I was very excited for this tea, I had been expecting so much from it. What I got was a weak coco, like when you make the “prepare with milk” coco packets and accidentally make them with water.

I added the bags back in per some other reviews.

Next time, 3 bags, and maybe some milk.

Post-Steep Additives: none

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/republic-of-tea-teabag-mate-tea-double.html

Solid, yet mellow flavour.
This tea serves well this afternoon as I sit, sip and finish my correcting. I let this one steep a little too long but it’s not overpowering.

This is one of my decaf favorites, both hot and iced. Because of the blackberries, the iced >tastes< like summer. This tea can be re-steeped several times because it is quite strong. #tea

Although I tried this many times, People’s Green was too grassy for me (as in I went to my yard & mowed some for tea). I have a couple of traveler’s tins of this and when stuck away from home and mistakenly taking only these, haven’t been able to find the taste that I can enjoy in this tea.
I’ll try it with some of my stronger teas to see if it can be moderated; otherwise it’s going in my swap pile. #tea

i love putting this herbal tea in my yerba mate. really adds a sweetness to the mate, and doesn’t inhibit the qualities of mate. Plus, good for colds too.

When I smelled the bag I thought I would hate it (I notice this becoming a trend with fruit teas, I should learn) Anyway, this is a nice tea, the tea really is smooth and there’s just enough mango flavor. I like how it’s naturally sweet but not too sweet.

a good try at earl grey. don’t over-brew, and I find I get tea drunk really quickly on this (that kind of ‘too full’ feeling). good for afternoons instead of coffee.

wow. really amazing tea. multiple brews make sure you get equal parts fruit and green tea taste. I cut it up after it is finished to get even more out of it. I’ve even taken it out, put it in the fridge and brewed it two days later, and it still tasted great. well worth the cost.

This is one of my favorites as well. I love the cardamon & cinnamon scents and flavors. Unfortunately, I find this is one I cannot re-steep for the same taste as the first cup. Still love the first though.

I find this delicate white tea a great pick-me-up in the morning, if I have enough time to enjoy rather than toss back a mug and run. #tea

Drink this straight all day when working. Can taste the cardamon & other flavor notes clearly. One of my favorites. #tea

Mmmm, I’ve discovered that this tea goes remarkably well with a spoonful of hot chocolate mix added to it. ;D

The tea is more chocolately-tasting after a longer steep – or rather, caroby-tasting as I can usually pick up a slight difference in the taste of the two – though I’m a big fan of both.

I added milk, which I’m not usually wont to do with herbal-based teas, but this one is definitely complimented by it; I think it’s the carob and the malt in the blend.

This tea gets richer and sweeter with a longer steeping time. It still makes me think of coconut-flavoured Ovaltine though – more malty than chocolatey

Finally a coconut tea that actually has more than a token association with the actual thing (I’m looking at YOU Coconut Chai!). It’s very coconuty-smelling but there’s a sort of malty note that’s almost cocoa…but not quite. It took me awhile to realize what it made me think of – hot Ovaltine. And when I tasted it – yep, Ovaltine tea with a bit of coconut added to it – which isn’t all that bad since I like Ovaltine.

Where do I even start? This tea is absolutely amazing. The key note is chocolate (and lots of it) with just a hint of strawberry. It’s naturally sweet so it doesn’t need sugar. Just Wow.

Received this as a sample. I was expecting a lot from this — as soon as I saw the ingredients combo. It sounded good but the flavor is very mild. I don’t think it tastes like chocolate or strawberry.. or rooibos for that matter.

Reminded me of a Mocha/Latte, but watered down. Very aromatic, rich color, and pleasant taste, Good way to fool the coffee club that your in.

YAY OMG TEA.

It is the weekend and my Finum Brewing Basket came in the mail so there will be TEA at the workplace mmmhmmm. So excited about this development it’s freaky. Tea! Workplace! Yay! Because I’ve seriously missed my tea like a crazy person.

Anyway, I wanted to calm down with some tea from someone other than me. My Rishi order came in, so I’m really excited to try it. However, I really want to be alert and at full tasting capacity to dig into that stuff, so I figured I’d dive into some of this Auggy-sent tea.

I have to say, I’m not a huge fan. The leaves smell very prettily and strongly of almond and vanilla. They’re the normal black size, perhaps a bit more broken, but the little bits of almond in there really spruce up the look of things.

Anyway, the infusion is a very vivid red-orange color, and the smell coming off of it is very, very similar to Almond Cookie! I took this to be an awesomely awesome sign, because Almond Cookie is the bee’s knees. So yeah, very cinnamon-almond-pastry-like. Awesome smell.

The taste however… okay, bizarrely enough, on the first few sips, I didn’t taste anything at all. No tea taste, the tiniest hint of almond. Just… a void. But then the flavor kicked in, and it kicked in hard. The black tea base here is very rough and borderline bitter. There’s a bit of astringency, but the problem is really the bitterness. It just doesn’t pair well with the delicacy of flavors like vanilla and almonds.

I’m not really tasting vanilla all that much, and when I do, it’s more like those fake-tasting vanilla hard candies than actual vanilla bean or vanilla extract. The almond is almost chemical-like. It tastes like someone dumped rubbing alcohol in my tea. It’s got that really rough, almond extract taste that tastes awesome in baked goods, but it absolutely horrible to drink.

There’s a bit of pleasing sweetness at the end, which is probably the saving grace of the entire thing. But it’s really not enough to make up for the rest of it. Overwhelmingly robust and bitter black, accented by very mediocre flavoring.

I haven’t been drinking too much hot tea lately because of the hot weather, but today was just a little bit cooler. I wanted a tea without caffeine as I have an early morning tomorrow and this one seemed like a good choice. I think that this is my favorite basic vanilla rooibos tea. It’s very easy to find at the store and I don’t have to pay any expensive shipping as a result. A good cup!