The Republic of Tea

This time of year means another sample of this one, and I still don’t know how I feel about it. There’s some potential there—I love chocolate/peppermint combos and it’s about the only way I can stand peppermint. This is very minty, and while there might be some white chocolate flavor I wish it was more prominent or switched out for a darker chocolate. The stevia continues to be one of my least favorite ingredients, especially since I don’t usually sweeten my tea. This could be vastly improved with a darker chocolate flavor and less (or no) stevia.

This was my sample for the month, and since I’m reaching for rooibos this morning I decided to try it. Dry it smells exactly like peppermint bark, but brewed it mostly smells like mint. I didn’t realize it had stevia in it until I looked at this page, but it’s very obvious from the taste. It’s not bad, exactly, but the stevia taste is strong and overpowers the chocolate. The mint is still present, but I wish this one would have been left unsweetened.

This tea isn’t too bad. I had it while killing an hour waiting for work to start. I found the chocolate subtle, and the peppermint was just right. I still had a bit of rooibos flavour come through, but it wasn’t too much.
It help up well to milk and a tiny bit of sugar. I didn’t drink the whole cup, but I did enjoy what I had.
Now to just get our furnace working…

It smelled like the real deal dry, all white chocolate creaminess; steeped, the stevia took over. Had to dump it. If you like heavily pre-sweetened dessert teas, this might be OK; if you want the freedom to sweeten lightly on your own, not so much.

For some reason, this season I’m really enjoying the creamy peppermint teas. This one sounded so delicious, so I picked this for my evening cup. Well, this one is definitely not for me. The first sip made me cringe! I thought to myself, “WHAT is that flavor? Licorice?” — then it finally came to me… stevia. Normally I don’t mind stevia and actually like it in certain drinks, but its presence in this tea made it beyond sweet. It contributes an awful, tongue-coating flavor and paired with the peppermint, it becomes liquid medicine. Ew.

My friend took me out for Sweet Tomatoes for my birthday and they had this tea (among others from RoT that I hadn’t tried before. Then we went to watch Big Hero 6, which I would totally recommend.

Even with cooler water this tea turned bitter on me. It did smell amazing, but it most certainly did not taste amazing. The peach scent on this tea was quite juicy and the ginger… what ginger? But that all means nothing when it bitter so quickly. I thought I had overbrewed it at first, but I tried again… and even just cold steeping the bag it turned out yucky.

Why didn’t I love this? I was supposed to love this!!!?!???!?!?

It was the rooibos, I think. Maybe I steeped it too long? It smelled like blueberry cake when the water first hit it, but within the couple of minutes it was steeping it began to get that sort of medicinal smell. Perhaps that influenced my impression of that taste, as well. It just tasted like weak blueberry cough drops or something like that. I didn’t even finish the cup. It’s just not for me :(

Another Downton tea! All four of us tried this tea at the same time. We all agreed that it wasn’t our favorite. I actually loved the ginger in it, paired well with the food. I served pumpkin walnut scones, crackers with sundries tomato cheese, chicken and mushroom tartlet like things and finished with cream puffs.

What I disliked about this tea was the black base, which says its Assam. I’ve never been unhappy with an Assam before. Makes me wonder what black base/combination they used for the other two we tried because they were good!

So, I think I’ll share this one or try cold brewing it to use it up.

I spent the day with Downton Abbey! I’m in the process of planning a tea party for next May. We have our entertainment which is a vintage fashion show. It was perfect to pair with my idea for a Downton Abbey tea. The others hadn’t seen the show so I invited them over for a tea party and to watch an episode.

Two of us started off with this tea and two started with the Bates tea. This one was my favorite out of the three I tried. It has a nice smooth, flavorful black base with caramel and vanilla notes. I think I had about three cups of it! Lol

Since the Downton teas were a hit, I ordered a set for our party…could have about 100 people attend.

Sooo I got one of the most amazing packages in the world today from The Cookie Lady! I’m having a miserable week and getting this package seriously just made my entire month. I feel so loved and cared about, and I really needed that to cheer me up this weekend. Like I really don’t understand how on earth the most caring and thoughtful people happen to be tea people, like I really don’t understand. xD
I don’t know that many thoughtful people in person, my family is like pretty far from that for the most part, and I don’t have many friends in person anymore because the ones I did have ended up being pretty terrible. But the people I have known on here have just blown me away. Some of you guys are seriously so generous and kind, it’s just amazing! I don’t think I can really get over it ever-it just always blows me away!
Like just look, this seriously made my day:

http://instagram.com/p/xakmN2KHP_/?modal=true

And now I am drinking Blueberry Bundt, because The Cookie Lady had originally sent me a sample of it, and I kept telling her how much I loved this tea, and she sent me a whole tin! I’m so excited-like this…ugh, I can’t even explain. xD This just really makes me happy!
As for how the tea tastes. Fresh. Sweet. Fruity. And like pastries!
Delicious as always!
Thank you soo much The Cookie Lady! You are amazing!

Quite enjoyed this one earlier today! ^^ It’s not overly fruity, but it’s just enough to hit the spot! Plus! Decaf! :D

Okay…first off..WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON YOU GUYS!?!?!
Literally have seen like 8 different people reviewing WP’s North Winds today-like did I not get the memo that it was official North Winds day? Or like is this a trippy twilight zone moment? I’m so confused…
Was this planned even? This just is weird….
Anyway. XD
Haven’t been able to drink much tea today because I had a nerve block shot at UCLA, so was out most of the day. By the time I got home, I felt so horrible that all I wanted was a rooibos tea, and this one seemed perfect.
Last time I oversteeped this one, but this time it was spot on! So happy to have this one in my stash finally! Definitely a keeper!:D

First tea of the day, and I oversteeped it a little. xD Still good. Sweet, Fruity, pastry-y.
I’m glad I got more of this one (:

Oh my goodness!
Already craving this tea again! Glad that The Cookie Lady gave me two of these tea bags. Really enjoying it again! :D
Can’t wait to buy this myself! Plus it won’t make me feel awake since it’s a rooibos! Yah! :D

This is probably one of the best teas I’ve had today! XD
At least one of the best from my swap with The Cookie Lady!
I am not the biggest blueberry fan, but I’ve enjoyed a few blueberry teas in the past. I had a feeling this one was gonna be more like a sour blueberry, but I was totally wrong!
It’s like a soft blueberry pastry with a lot of vanilla. It’s really sweet.
And just…wow. I really wasn’t expecting it to be this good, to be honest!
I’m really impressed!
It tastes like a blueberry pastry. It’s not sour or tart. It’s really sweet and smooth. If you’re a fan of blueberries, you should definitely try this tea! I’m really impressed with this one! Might have to pick some of this up in the future if DTT doesn’t bring back Blueberry Crumble!
Thank you so much for the sample, The Cookie Lady!! Really happy to have gotten to try this one! :D

Had the pleasure of sampling this at the SF tea festival and it was the best herbal tea I sampled all day. It’s light and yet full-bodied, the vanilla adding an elegant and exotic sweetness that perfectly enhances the rather tangy and grassy taste of the dandelion.

Pleasing color red
Matches the bag it came in
Pleasant enough taste.

It smells pretty delicious with the creamy vanilla scents coming out strong. The liquor is a dark reddish color. Maybe it’s because it’s still hot, but when I drink it, I mostly taste generic “hot liquid” flavor with a chaser of sweet vanilla. xD What I find interesting is that the decaying leaves smell/flavor I have thus far associated with rooibos is not present. Though, I am hard pressed to describe what it is I /do/ taste. Maybe….earthy.

This is likely my favorite Republic of Tea offering. What I love about it is that the fruit flavors aren’t bogged down by spices. Too many times I’ve tried cranberry orange things that started off as orange spice with cranberry tossed in on top, and the spice tends to overwhelm. I also appreciate the fact that the cranberry and orange are balanced against each other, so I equally taste both, and not just one or the other. Sugar makes the fruit shine on this one. I could easily drink it any time of day.

Not a huge fan. I think there was too much dust rather than leaf. I taste the pecan somewhat but hardly any maple. Sometimes I wonder how long a tea like this might sit on a shelf in the warehouse and then the store especially since it is a somewhat seasonal tea.

My boyfriend and I went by our local small market again today to pick up sandwiches for lunch. I also picked up a tin of this tea and a few single serving packets of fancy hot chocolate (amaretti cookie and crème brûlée flavors among others!). I’ve found that I really enjoy Republic of Tea’s rooibos and herbal teas, so I figured this one was worth a try. I was very pleasantly surprised by the mellowness of the scent when I opened the canister – I half expected it to smell like cinnamon candy tea. Instead, I can actually smell the rooibos tea as well as the cinnamon and vanilla. I used two bags in about 11 ounces of water.

Once steeped, the cinnamon is a tad bit stronger, but thankfully not overwhelming. Hm… This one is a bit off. There’s barely any cinnamon or vanilla flavor, and the base tea tastes quite odd. It’s not woody like I normally find rooibos, and it has a taste that’s almost like wet rags (ick). Definitely a no for me. :(

Not as much of a fan of this one. It smells strongly of vanilla, and the taste is nearly the same. Not getting much almond in this one, which is disappointing. But that’s okay. One less tea to buy in my next RoT order. xD
I’ve really wanted to try this one, so I’m glad I finally did. And didn’t waste my money on buying it. Thanks to Rosehips for this one! (:

This came out of the Great Canadian Traveling Teabox, it’s in bagged form so it was nice and convenient for a morning like this when I didn’t feel like doing anything complicated. It has a pleasant spiced-orange flavour and yes, there’s licorice present but honestly I didn’t find it to be very strong – unlike in some teas where it overwhelms everything else, this was content to remain a faintly sweet background note.

Reading the reviews of this tea is amusing because people seem to either love it or absolutely loath it. I…sit somewhere in the middle, it’s not bad at all for bagged tea but it’s nothing fantastic.