The Republic of Tea

Had this one earlier today…Made for a decent cup. For some reason, the almond/coconut combo, I just can’t drink tons of this tea in one sitting. It’s just too strong.
It’s a nice tea that I do enjoy, but I don’t know, I just couldn’t get myself to make another cup.

Mmmm!! This tea is perfect! ^^
So sweet and strong. Perfect for relaxing too.
Glad I ordered two tins of this one with the Cost Plus half off sale! Thanks again for the generous sample, Rosehips! :D

Okay…this tea….
It tastes incredibly similar to Georgia Tea Co’s Snowflake, which i adore. Except it’s caffeine free-which always is good for me.
But it’s still a wonderful dessert tea! I really like this one!
It smells a lot like coconut, and the taste is a good mixture of both almond and coconut. It’s definitely not as strong and flavorful as Snowflake, but it’s another good caffeine free option for me! So I’m excited!!
Thanks so much to Rosehips for this sample!! Going to enjoy the rest of this!!

I should note beforehand that I traditionally use my Keurig to heat my water for tea, so YMMV depending on temperature.

I found a container of Blueberry Bundt at Whole Foods for 50% off, and as someone who loves blueberry tea, I had to try it out. The scent isn’t much, but once I started to drink the tea, I was in love.

The flavor is a sweet, natural blueberry with this amazing cakey flavor that isn’t necessarily vanilla, but tastes “baked”. It’s an excellent dessert tea, especially on a warm night.

I’m so glad I grabbed this from Ost when she was selling it because it has definitely found my favor more than it did hers! Perhaps this is because I have yet to try Lupicia’s famed Golden Honey Dew. For now, I am quite happy with this. I had it hot and probably would continue to have it hot. It reminded me of this wedding I went to in San Francisco. They had their reception at an Asian restaurant that served tempura-fried honeydew pieces. Oh man. That was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever eaten, and yet I’ve never again seen it on any menu anywhere. Someone needs to get on that! Anyway, because this tea reminds me of that, I will greatly enjoy drinking each and every bag I can!

I got a sample of this in a swap with TeaBrat because I’d been wanting to try a lemon dessert tea. I’m really glad I did! This was a nice, sweet, creamy lemon flavor. No tartness here and just the right blend of vanilla to really hit the spot for me. Not to mention how good it smelled when brewed! I personally don’t have a problem with the lighter flavor I get from using one bag of this, but I know many other prefer to use two bags when having tea from RoT. I could see how that would be tasty with this particular flavor. I’ll be picking some of this up when I order from them again.

Used two bags for a 16oz cup.

This isn’t bad, but I don’t think I’ll go out and buy it. Has a nice spice to it but I think I’d prefer a heavier/more flavorful black base.

This sample came from albertocanfly. I’m finding that I actually really like a lot of these Republic of Tea teas even though they’re tea bags and probably not the best quality leaf. They’re definitely nailing the niche of combining convenience with pretty good teas, especially with their caffeine-free options. Anyway! Dry, this actually smells a little bit sour which is odd. I used two bags in about 10 ounces of water.

This is a fairly accurate tea representation of apple cider! Granted, it’s quite a bit milder in flavor, but it has that same sweet and tart full apple flavor. The spices are very mild, which makes me very happy as it lets the apple flavor shine. There’s just the lightest touch of cinnamon that gives it a nice, warm holiday feel. I think I may have to pick up a tin of this one the next time I go to my local retailer!

I picked up this and one other Republic of Tea holiday tea at a small local market that carries a lot of RoT teas. Since I’d been browsing these online, I was very happy to find them without having to pay shipping! This is a green rooibos blend with peppermint, cocoa extract, and vanilla. Dry, it mostly smells like mint with a little teensy bit of a sweet edge. I used two bags in about 10 ounces of boiling water.

I was surprised by how dark the liquid is! It’s a medium brown and almost looks like a lighter black tea. The smell is quite lovely, still heavily peppermint but it’s softened by sweet vanilla now, and perhaps a hint of cocoa. Unfortunately, I had already put a little bit of raw sugar in my cup before I noticed that this one is pre-sweetened with stevia, so it’s quite a bit too sweet for me now. However, I will say, this does remind me of white chocolate peppermint bark, which is a win in my book. Hopefully it’s not too sweet with just the stevia…

So, the boyfriend and I went to this local little store called Putnam Market to grab sandwiches for lunch (they have a bunch of assorted deli stuff and they sell a lot of condiments, bakery goods, etc). They carry a lot of Republic of Tea items and I was very happy to find several of their holiday teas! I’ve been perusing them casually on RoT’s website and hoping I could find them in a store somewhere. Hooray! I picked up this one along with Peppermint Bark, and I’ll probably go back for a couple more later. Anyway, this tea! For some reason, it’s loose leaf while all the others are in bags. Visually, it’s a mix of dark chocolate brown leaves, dried orange peel, rose petals, and various dried berries (cranberry, juniper, black currant). Dry scent is a lovely mix of fruity, spicy, sweet, and piney.

Once the tea is steeped, I can smell a lot more sweet and creamy vanilla/almond aromas, along with citrus and spice. Hmm… The flavor is quite light, maybe next time I’ll try a longer steep. I can taste light sweet orange and vanilla flavors, as well as a touch of spice (mostly clove). I wish there was a bit more berry presence here, though I do get a hint of pine from the juniper. I’m actually tasting a hint of bitterness here, possibly because I used almost two teaspoons of leaf for my 8 ounce cup.

Overall, this is a tasty cup that definitely reminds me of the holidays. Next time I’ll try a bit less tea and a longer steep.

Pass the Stash TTB #11

I had been intrigued by various red velvet rooibos teas but never enough to buy it. So I was happy to try this in the TTB. Sadly I found it rather weak. I saw someone else who reviewed it used three bags per cup which seems like the flavor would be better – but honestly, if you make single-serve bags, flavor the things well enough that one bag is sufficient.

I get dark chocolate, but I wish it was stronger. Mainly, I get the sugar I added to the tea to get any flavor other than rooibos.

Glad I tried it, though I doubt I’ll ever buy any myself.

Some nights, when you schlep home exhausted from work and have a buy-one, get-one coupon from Denny’s, dinner plans are much easier.

As we needed to order two beverages, I did hot tea, ignored the Lipton bags they brought me, and fished this out of my purse…had been toting this sample bag so long the paper was getting crumpled.

The last tea with turmeric I tried (Rishi, I think), you got nothing but burn. This was a pleasant surprise, very subtly sweet, not bitter, not hot; just warming. More of an Asian ginger feel to it instead of gingerbread. I can certainly see it as a cold-weather decaf option.

Decent nose, full of cinammon and holiday spices. Lighter taste, apple, pear. Underwhelming

This tea smells quite yummy.. it reminds me of an artificial vanilla cupcake or cookie. It’s certainly tempting, but has me worried that it might be a little too fake. I think that I might have to add milk to it even though I like trying all of my teas plain. This tea just calls for it.

Sipping… weird. This tastes almost like a scented candle. It’s like a caramel vanilla candle dunked in a weak black tea. I’m disappointed because I thought this would be rich and tasty. Yuck.. I can’t seem to sip any longer and I don’t think adding milk would bring this cup back. Down the drain it goes!

This is a staple for me. It’s my favorite peach-flavored tea by far, and one that I always have on hand. If I stand in front of all my teas debating what kind to have and getting nowhere, this is what I usually settle on.

Whew, but I’ve been busy over the last week and a bit, which means no tasting notes. And I’m also just off a course of meds that I was instructed not to drink too much caffine during. So, that limited my tea drinking, I’m afraid.
And I’m back with a vengeance!
I’ve been drinking this at work, as it meets all my best criteria, of bagged, boring, and ignorable. And I have finally killed it!
I will not be buying this again, it was a huge disappointment.

The newest tea to be brought to the office, to be aggressively drunk until it is gone, is this guy.
This tea is so disappointing! It smells so wonderful, and it tastes so bland. Come on, where is my apple cider tea at?
I tried double bagging it today, and it, or the lenth I let it brew, made it all rather sour, which is unfortunate.
I shall try to drink a great deal of it, and then never bring it back!

The tour of my bagged teas continues!
When I opened the tin up and inhaled I wondered why I had left this one alone so long. It smells perfectly like apple cider, and as its a tea the sugar in the apple cider would be practically eliminated. Perfect! Just the thing for autumn!
Then I brewed it up, and I remembered why it has just sat there for so long.
It brews up very, very weak. There is a faint echo of cider spices, and maybe a nod in the direction of apple, but mostly I am disappointed with this.
I still have bunches of this, so I’ll try double bagging it the next time I have it, and see what that does.

I can’t get the balance of this right. I had two tea bags today, which helps, but I think I steeped it too long, and it was missing something “cider-y” about it all.
Arh. Oh well.

I have doubled the tea bags for this, however I also doubled the size of my mug, so that could have an effect. Heh.
This is not quite actual cider, but I’m enjoying it as a autumn herbal. Pleasant enough for my purposes!
I may or may not have bought 4 new books today. Ha! I love books, and gulp them down nearly as fast as I gulp tea. So I’m sure these won’t be unread books for long (and several are books that I am desperate to read).
My only regret is that I have an actual life to live, which cuts into the ol reading time.

And I said to myself, “its autumn. Why not try that apple cider tea you bought?” And so I did.
It smells fantastic, ooey, gooey apple goodness. Cider with a pinch of something extra.
It does not taste quite as it good as it smells, but its alright. I think I’ll be able to manage it.

Pulled this one from the cupboard. I really like their Ginger Peach Black so should like is one. I used one bag for about 10oz and it tastes good, but weak.

Before I give this a number I’m going to make a second cup and use two bags.