The Republic of Tea

I’m really just not a fan of the vanilla in this. It tastes very weak and not as sweet as I might want it. However, it is a pretty decent bagged rooibos, especially for the price. Definitely not my favorite RoT tea. I could really take it or leave it with this tea.

See my full review here:
http://fullysteeped.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-republic-of-tea-good-hope-vanilla.html

Smells like the name, ginger is very strong.
Taste not as strong as the smell.
I get sweet orange, ginger, then mint. I had to check the ingredients list because it was very sweet. I was was surprised that there was no stevia or other sweetener added to this tea. Just naturally sweet. It’s nice I like it.

My sister, fellow tea lover that she is, served this after the Thanksgiving meal. It was warm and very tasty, I liked it a lot. A good accompaniment to Pumpkin Pie, to be sure.

I have tried a few different rooibos blends, and, so far, I feel like vanilla works best with rooibos. The vanilla flavor smooths out the rooibos without dominating or completely masking the rooibos, like a lot of fruit or chai rooibos blends. I would put this slightly above the Celestial Seasonings vanilla rooibos, and pretty much on par with a loose French vanilla rooibos I purchased from a local tea store in Fredericksburg, VA (they didn’t mention the brand, maybe Simpson and Vail?). This is the first time I have tried anything from Republic of Tea. Their teas seem kind of overpriced, but they were 40% off at World Market today. I’m starting to bring rooibos teas back…tons of antioxidants, basically impossible to oversteep, and caffeine-free, making them great for evenings! I will definitely purchase this one again when I run out…if it’s on sale. :P

I’m surprised I liked this tea. Vanilla, almonds, rooibos, and the chicory are the most dominant though the color is a deep, robust red and the taste is naturally creamy and sweet. At the same time, I can see why people tasted cardboard since the red tea has a tobacco, woodsy flavor alone, and somehow the creaminess of the vanilla also resembles aged packing material…if that’s possible. Anyway, I do taste the red clover and the dandelion which adds to the nuttiness and herbal sweetness. I’m probably biased to this tea because I like those ingredients. Obviously, this appeals to newer tea drinkers or those in a mood for something to pair with almond cookies. The ingredients are also fairly solid like the milk thistle which is commonly used for hangovers. Clearly, this is a health nut’s tea and really is enjoyed for the health benefits of the ingredients.

This isn’t bad, but it’s not incredible either. It has a nutty flavor and I can taste the rooibos above all else.

Sweet, refreshing, and slightly minty. Nice cup of herbal tea. 80

I agree with takgoti that I would probably like this tea if I was sick. Mostly tastes of honey with a bitter taste. Overall, not a terrible tea, just not something I enjoyed, though it seems plenty of people in the reviews did.

I broke down and bought a sample of Republic of Tea’s Hi-Caf Cinnamon Toast tea and this came with it as a free sample. Along with a sample of their Pumpkin Spice, I should add.

As I’ve said probably a dozen times before, I do not like rooibos. But! I was won over by Tazo’s caramel apple rooibos, so I knew I had to give this a try.

The rooibos aftertaste that I hate so much is completely muted by the flavors of apple and caramel. Apple is the strongest taste, sort of realistic also sort of not. Kind of like those green apple lolipops with the caramel marbled into them. The caramel aspect follows, and it’s a very creamy caramel. Not a toasty caramel. I definitely taste some vanilla, too. This is definitely a dessert-like treat, but because I am biased toward things with caffeine, I probably wouldn’t buy this.

…Though it would be nice to have on chilly winter nights.

Oversteeped this one and for whatever reason it tasted like a Darjeeling instead of an oolong. I wouldn’t be surprised if the leaves were fermented slightly darker since Darjeeling is the bridge to black from oolong. Pleasant and more like a fresher Darjeeling, just not happy it was not oolong tasting. Looks like I’ll keep my eyes on this one and see how it changes, or how my mess ups change it.

Wow. The reviews on here were right. This is oolong is as good as a loose leaf. It definitely has some of the smoother nutty notes of a Shui Xian or a Phoenix Yancha, a little bit more malty like a black tea but without astringency. Some wood is present, but little. There’s some peach and apricot notes too, though very subtle as a hidden sweetness. So it’s really your standard solid quality oolong, but with a few complex notes that really seperates this bagged tea from others. Also, drink it as it steeps-the notes do change.

Sipdown (127)!

From Scheherazade!

I drank this ages ago, and last night when I was adding teas from OMGsrsly into my cupboard I noticed this was still in my cupboard and I hadn’t written a note for it so I guess I just didn’t log this when I drank it. Definitely need to correct that!

From what I recall, this was drank in a travel mug on my way to work on a particularly miserable morning. Gross weather, and all that jazz. It was pretty much exactly what the name says: a coconut flavoured hot chocolate. Except, the coconut while being quite present wasn’t actually incredibly strong. It’s weird how you can have a flavour that just really stands out without, you know, slapping you in the face.

Hmm… Other ingredients…

Uhh, I do think there was an extra “toastyness” from the barley. And to me, barley has a kind of chocolate-y note to it too so I’m sure that also added to the richness of the chocolate notes. I didn’t really notice the dates or other ingredients at all. Ultimately, I enjoyed this tea more than I thought I would and it was perfect for the dreary day but in the long run once was probably enough of a taste for me.

I don’t usually go for oolongs, but this one came in the swap box I got today. After totally oversteeping another (flavored black) tea earlier, I decided to try this one in increments to see if the flavors change/become more pronounced.

After 3 minutes: very light, vegetal flavor
After 5 minutes: starting to taste the cream, milky/buttery flavor
6 minutes: creamy flavor is much more pronounced
8 minutes: starts to lose flavor and become sharp and bitter
10 minutes: Suddenly tastes floral… strange.

I’m really really trying to get into more sophisticated teas and I think drinking this one incrementally helped.

Sample from QueenOfTarts. Thankk you!

The dry leaf smelled like juicy pina colada, but a little bit artificial. The flavor after it brews is pretty similar. It does have a pleasantly creamy mouthfeel. I’m still on the fence about this one. I think I’ll probably enjoy the sample I have, but I don’t know if I’ll be interested in buying more.

I’m glad I ordered a sampler pack from Repuplic of Tea because I really don’t like many of the ones I’ve tried. This is no exception. I did oversteep it, so the anise flavor is quite strong. I wasn’t expecting that, and am not really in the mood for anise at the moment. It’s also a weird mishmash of other flavors. It just doesn’t blend into a complementary whole. Disappointing, but another one to strike off the list.

Sipdown (129)!

I definitely wasn’t a fan of the “tea pop” version of this tea from Scheherazade but this cold brew version tastes like a nearly completely different tea to me. Instead of whatever funky flavour I was experiencing with the former this has a robust, sweet honeydew flavour that miraculously manages to still taste at least halfway natural and still not be cloying. I mean; I’m no where near impressed enough to go out and buy it or anything but as someone who’s kind of been dreading this sipdown because of how bad I thought this would be based on that first impression I have to admit I probably could have easily gotten this out of the way a while ago.

Thank you TeaNTees for the sample!

I made this one into a tea soda yesterday to be shared with my family:

- Two(2) teabags steeped in approx. 4 oz. of boiling water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. of sugar dissolved into the concentrated tea
- Added to a liter of soda water made using our SodaStream

I normally love melon teas, and a white base? I’m so on board for that. However, something about this particular tea tasted really ‘off’ to me. It had a funny sour note, and was so incredibly artificial and fake tasting. And also maybe weirdly floral? I’m in the minority though because both my brother and mother absolutely ADORED this tea soda. Frankly, I just don’t get it. I was more than content with just drinking my little half cup of soda and letting them finish off the rest.

The question now becomes do I take the remaining teabags and make another liter of soda for them to enjoy or do I experiment and try to make it better tasting for myself? Just how selfish am I…

This is the tea that got me into tea, though I grew up drinking Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger, this is the one that introduced me to the world of caffeinated teas so there’s a lot of “homeyness” in this for me.
The mango in this cuppa was much more mellow than usual and the ceylon was weaker (I probably understeeped it, patience is a virtue that I do not have) but it was still good. There are some sweet notes but they’re quieter, like a slight drizzle of honey. The cup is “dry” not the driest tea I’ve had by far, but my mouth feels “cleaner” which for me is something I enjoy for tea. In the past, the ceylon has never been tannic for me and the mango is not by any means overdone compared to a few other mango blends I’ve tried so this was the perfect cuppa for the first storm of the season :)

So yum and easy to make. I quite enjoy the unbleached tea satchels.

This still remains as one of my favorite Rooibos blends. Only few have compared to how refreshing this can be.