The Republic of Tea

Strong, almost spicy, chocolate, combined with a weak mate in a teensy little pouch. This is not bad at all, but it fails entirely at being well-rounded, although that was probably never their intention. After all, this is double dark.

The scent is strong chocolate—think cocoa powder tin in the pantry when you open it too fast and get a poof of powder on your face. There’s mate in here, but there’s not enough to give it a full-bodied flavor or the usual mate mouthfeel.

So, just add some sweetener and cream and enjoy your cocoa. That’s not so bad, right?

I love this tea although it can come as strong and leafy bitter. I drink this whenever we have sweet tasting food served, like anything with cinnamon. It just gives it the perfect balance of sweet and bitter.

Hellen Deemer, Tea lover
http://www.chicagocomputerclasses.com/excel-classes/

This was the sample that came with Republic of Tea’s latest catalog. RoT tends to be pretty hit and miss with me and this one was definitely a miss. It wasn’t horrible, it just really didn’t taste like much of anything. I was hoping for a smooth, creamy vanilla/lemon blend; instead I got a weak, barely-there artificial lemony flavor. Still glad I got to sample it, though…at least I won’t be tempted to waste my money on this one!

I also drank this at Panera Bread. I didn’t sweeten it, but it had a subdued taste that reminded me of the mystery flavor in Tea Forte flavored black teas that turned me off to that brand. Perhaps it is the tea leaves. It was alright for drinking mindlessly, but it has grown worse over time. I don’t taste mango. It’s just the indistinct aftertaste of disappointment.

Herbal TTB.

Does this have an artificial sweetener? I did add some sweetener, but it shouldn’t taste so cloyingly sweet. I don’t taste the rose at all either, which is unfortunate. I’ve been looking for a good Hibiscus-Rose tea, but this is not it.

Herbal TTB.

I really liked this one! Chamomile is the primary flavor, and the lemony-herbal flavor is a lighter addition that mixes really well. I’m surprised this has so many negative reviews. To each their own, I guess.

Firstly, when you open the canister it comes in you get that huge whiff of a fruity scent, which smells like a mix of peach and starfruit in my opinion. I was reminded of my bubblegum-chewing days with the famous Juicy Fruit brand. It smells exactly like that, at least to me. Pleasant, but artificial. Surprisingly it tastes a bit more of a buttery lemon taste than anything else, though it does help whenever I’m in a foul mood or suffering from a bad day.

Monthly TTB Club.

I had this with some milk and a pinch of sweetener, but it seemed a bit too sweet for me. I seem to be very picky about my pumpkin teas.

Monthly TTB Club.

This is quite good. It’s definitely on the sweeter end, and just a touch artificial, but not unpleasantly so. It’s mostly a pleasantly creamy chocolate-coconut flavor. It’s not a super strong flavor, but I think it would be too sweet if I used two teabags, like I have for other RoT teas. I’ll bet this would be good with milk.

There are few fruity black tea blends that I truly like, those this is one of them! I love me some passionfruit, which is what initially attracted me to this blend. The taste is maybe a little too subtle to get a higher rating, but I will be sad when my stash of this runs out.

I like hibiscus enough to drink the tisane without sweetener. I’m interested in the antioxidant properties and the lack of caffeine for an evening tea. I enjoy additional flavors/ingredients added to round out the tartness but I hate to say it, I just pass this tea up in the cupboard all the time in favor of Dammann Freres Carcadet Samba. The aroma of the RofT is enticing once brewed. The color is not quite as deep as the DF. I’ve tried it iced. It just kind of sits in my fridge til I toss it. I do taste the pineapple and lychee, though. I can see how some people would really favor this blend. It reminds me of Hawaii.

The tea smelled very nice and sweet but I didn’t like the taste that much. The exact taste to me was an under ripe pineapple. It had a slight sour/tarteness to it with a subtle sweetness. Just like a pineapple that’s not ripe. You could taste a light pineapple aftertaste.

I usually avoid hibiscus teas like the plague, because the ingredient takes over the drink with a strong sharpness that I find terribly unpleasant. But I’m stuck at the office with not a teabag on me, so I decided to try this Republic of Tea blend someone left behind in the kitchen cupboard. I am pleasantly suprised. This is good.

It’s a lovely, sweet tea that is fabulous over ice. The flavors are fruity and tropical, with the taste of pineapple lingering on the tongue. The hibiscus is moderate, tamed, and actually works with the other ingredients instead of conquering them. I’m impressed.

This is one of my go-to green teas. It is really well balanced with both a good amount of matcha and green tea flavor.

I am getting over a cough, so I’m somewhat congested.

A friend purchased this and shared with me today.

The blackberry smell is very intense, like warmed up pie filling, adn you can catch a whiff at a distane, maybe within two feet… Definitely smells a lot more sweet than tangy. I can almost taste pie when I smell it, and it is distnctly blackberry, without a doubt. It smells completely natural, and it has no weird artificial smell to it. I think usually, sage is a strong olfactory spice, but I don’t smell any of it at all. Sage is kind of more of a poultry seasoning, very savory, so hopefully it’s not overpowering when I actually get around to the taste.

First taste, sans sugar. The hits are not very complex, and presently this takes like an extremely mellow black tea — not bitter, not strong. It’s very smooth, but the fruity smell doesn’t translate to a strong fruity taste… in fact I can hardly taste it at all (maybe it’s the congestion). Definitely am not getting a sage taste. I am hoping to bring out more flavor with a bit of Splenda.

I think I overdid the Splenda. Now it’s too sweet, and it’s obviously more of a splenda sweetness than a fruity sweetness. It does have a moderate blackberry flavor however. More like a pie filling than a fresh, tangier blackberry.

I would definitely drink this over ice!

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this with me. It actually reminds me of DAVIDs Blueberry Jam except the base is a little thicker/more astringent (which can happen with bagged teas). It’s not bad but I feel like rather than drinking this, I’d probably just go to DAVIDs and get Blueberry Jam.

World Market had this tea available to sample while we were there so I had a small cup while I was browsing the store. I would normally have a tea like this one with honey and cream, but they only had Sweet’N Low and powdered non-dairy creamer so I enjoyed this plain. The flavor reminded me of one of those all-natural cherry sodas, like Boylan or Virgil’s. I think it must have been the vanilla. I sipped it throughout the visit, and it was equally good both hot and at room temperature. I’m regretting not buying some so I think I’ll pick up a canister next time I go.

My husband and I both really enjoy this tea. With some added honey, it’s just slightly tart. The steeped tea isn’t as fragrant with coconut as the dry tea, but it’s still there kind of hiding behind the curtain. My husband wants to buy a few more of the hibiscus teas from the Republic of Tea. There are several other flavors – strawberry, raspberry rose, blueberry, natural hibiscus, hibiscus sangria, watermelon, vanilla apple, lychee pineapple, and key lime. It will be hard to decide which to try first since he says they all sound good. The only thing that’s a bit unappetizing about this current cup is that the liquid is a little foggy, but otherwise it’s a lovely berry color. This is a nice light tea for spring and I’m thinking it may really be refreshing on ice.

I’ve had a ton of black teas lately and am really in the mood for something lighter today so here we are. I’m really enjoying this – it’s light and fragrant with sweet coconut. I added a little honey and can really taste the coconut now. I think it may also be taming the usual tartness of the hibiscus.

This tea smells incredible right out of the canister – all sweet coconut. My husband picked this one up from the store last week and tried a cup as soon as he made it home. He loves fruity herbal teas and anything with hibiscus so this was a real winner for him. He wasn’t thrilled when he found out it contained stevia but still vouched for it on taste alone. I’m not always the biggest fan of the tartness that hibiscus brings, but if it tastes anything like it smells then I’m sold.

The liquid is a deep berry color, due to the hibiscus of course. It’s something like Merlot. It still smells of coconut but I’m also getting the scent of the hibiscus too. On its own, the tea is not too sweet yet still has that artificial quality from the sweetener. I added a little honey which helps, but it still tastes mostly like an astringent hibiscus tea with an essence of coconut (which I guess is what it’s supposed to be). It’s almost like it’s scented with coconut instead of actually having coconut pieces. There is a creaminess there too which I am enjoying, something like cream of coconut. Overall, this tastes a little dusty to me and a little fruity, but maybe I’m just associating the hibiscus with fruit since I usually drink it in fruity teas.

This sample was a part of the Republic of Tea catalog that I received..
First of all, I hate coffee. I don’t like the smell or the taste of it.. When I brewed this tea, I kept thinking that there’s something oddly familiar about this.. Almost breakfast-like in smell. I’ve decided that it smells like a vanilla and maple syrup coffee (if there is such a thing). It’s basically breakfast in a cup for a lot of people.
I started drinking it and it was okay, but eventually the coffee taste caught up to me and I just can’t drink it anymore. There is a slight grassy taste to it, presumably from the dandelion, but I just can’t get past the coffee.