The Republic of Tea

I bought this tea on a whim while I was at a local healthy grocery store. My boyfriend and I had to go to the DMV so I could register my car in NY and the DMV is in the mall (?!). The aforementioned grocery store is also in the mall (?!) so I stopped in to have a look at their tea selection as we were leaving. I don’t have any experience with Republic of Tea but I love blueberry and I recently finished the other blueberry tea I’d had. Blueberry and black tea is my favorite combination, as herbal blends are usually super tart and rooibos blends don’t have enough body. So I picked out this one to try! I opened the tin in the car and the smell was very encouragingly blueberry. :D

The instructions note that one teabag is intended for 6 ounces of water. Umm…what? Does that seem odd to anyone else? So I ended up using two bags and brewing a larger cup than I generally do. The tin recommends 3-5 minutes so I decided to try 3 first. I added a bit of sugar, as I generally do for flavored teas.

This tea is pretty good! The blueberry and the tea are roughly equal in strength, both are tasted at all times. I’m unsure what kind of tea the base is, the tin makes no mention of it and their website lists several countries for “Country of Origin”. India is one of them, and seems the most likely of the bunch. Anyway! The base itself is somewhat malty and there’s a pleasant, mild woody quality to it. The blueberry is somewhat of a “jammy” variety – deep and rich rather than tart and juicy. And I like it very much! There’s a bit of creaminess in here that reminds me of vanilla, although it’s not listed as a flavor. The one complaint I have about this is that when I was drinking it straight, I found it quite astringent. I added some milk (which I never do) and it really helped to tone that down. So this one is definitely best enjoyed with milk and sugar from what I can tell!

I will definitely try it with some other parameters to see if I can somehow eliminate that astringency. Luckily I have many bags to experiment with! Overall, this is a lovely and convenient blueberry black tea!

Got a bag from one of my husband’s coworkers who thought I’d like it. She was right. Nice smooth green base, on the sweet side without added sweetener. Only thing with ROT is you need to use an actual tea cup to get the right flavor. Definitely, not bad, but not sure it’s something I’d pick up.

SSTTB #12.

Yes, another chai. :)

This one had coriander seeds and orange or lemon peel in it. Not so great on its own, better with milk. Due to the coriander seeds, I would not buy this one (I didn’t notice them until I added water, and by that point I just wanted my tea!).

The flavour was interesting, though. Slightly different than the usual. I’m just not a fan of coriander. :)

I’ve had a good day enjoying this tea today. I sense the strawberry and the chocolate flavors both before and after steeping. I added a bit of Stevia which made it quite enjoyable. It is definitely a dessert type tea. The rooibos doesn’t bother me as it does some people.

After drinking 2 cups, I resteeped the tea with some Yogi Daily Detox. Helped cover up the boring flavor of the Detox and still enjoyable cup of the Strawberry Chocolate.

I love watermelon tea and I enjoyed this most when I cold brewed it. I’m the only one in the house who will drink it so I don’t think I will buy it again because one pitcher is a lot for me to drink on my own when I want more variety.

NOTE: If you drink this. USE TWO TEABAGS.

I know that I am drinking this out of season. However, it is a Monday, the world outside my office windows is looking cloudy and angry, and I wanted something comforting.

What is it about Mondays that are just so blaaa?

I used two teabags. If you are going to drink this USE TWO TEABAGS. (Sense a pattern here?) A single teabag is much to week and the flavors are muted and somewhat blechy. The addition of the second teabag is magical! It fixes this tea somehow. Republic of tea should just manufacturer the bag twice as strong!

(WIth the extra bag) this is a sweet tea that does not require any sugar. Its not an AMAZING tea, simple an okay one, but i t certainly hit the spot this afternoon!

I bought this tea when I was working at someone else’s office. I loved the first cups I had but then I found things I liked better. I like a nice flavored tea in the afternoon. Although ginger leads in the name its always tasted like peach to me. This can is pretty old so its now light beach and stronger just tea, perfect for breakfast with some avocado honey adding its own flavor. I will finish off the can this way, probably as my first of the day drink and I use the tea bags when I travel but otherwise I prefer many of my other loose leafs. The bags still smell of peach and some sort of generic lighter black tea (Ceylon perhaps), the liquor is a dark brown and theres some astringency that increases as it cools. I do enjoy it cold brewed and since its hot out, perhaps I should brew up a jar!

This tea is so delicious! It reminds me if chocolate macaroons and brings back memories of Passover. Mmm it smells just like that delicious chocolate tin. I want to try this again with milk. It is already super creamy but I still want to see what it’s like as a latte. I bet it would make an excellent dessert for after dinner.

Sample sipdown!

One teabag of this was sent to me as a swap by Jude, and since I’ve decided to try and sip down a bunch of teas lately, this was the perfect candidate.

I was a little surprised by the instructions on the Republic of Tea website saying to steep this tea in boiling water, but I complied. I even let it steep a little longer than recommended – probably about 6 minutes instead of the 3-5 minutes stated on the site – but it still turned out okay. The peach flavour is really strong, but doesn’t completely overshadow the oolong, and I liked that the oolong here was of the more roasted variety.

Not a bad mix, but considering where I live, not one I’d probably ever encounter again. Thanks, Jude!

yummy tea of the night. smells like raspberry jello. used 2 sachets of tea since i like to double up.
have been drinking this tea for years, though not as frequently as when i first got it. perhaps i’ll revisit this more seriously.
yes, there is a tart bite to this, not to mention lovely magenta color imparted by the hibiscus, but it’s not what i would call overwhelming. i went crazy on ‘raspberry-pomegranate’ or ‘red fruit/berry’ type green (and herbal) teas & hibiscus always makes an appearance, fret not lovers of this tropical objet d’art. in fact, we have a lovely hibiscus plant on our porch outside with yellow flowers that are simply gorgeous!

but back to the tea. i find this totally drinkable without sweetener, but a little honey couldn’t hurt. a nice superfruit green to have on hand. pleasant. raspberry is the most prominent note & is quite lovely, but then again i’m a lover of all things raspberry.

don’t want it to get bitter? throw 3 ice cubes into cup of boiling water (or water just short of boiling), let sit for 1 min, then add the tea. let steep 3-5 min and you should be good.

Samples-Only Small TTB

Huge plus – this is not flavored.

It’s okay. Somewhat creamy, but not as creamy as I wanted it to be. I was really hopeful for this one. It’s just okay. I’m glad it’s not flavored, and I can see drinking this one on occasion. I tried is specifically because it’s available at my grocery store for $11 for the 3.5oz container. That’s not a bad price. I just don’t know that I need 3.5oz. I think I’d rather spend more money and get something I really enjoy.

Lemon? Check. Cake? Check. Light airiness? Check. This is definitely a solid tea and one I would pick up if I saw it in store (though I wouldn’t go out of my way to look for it). Thank you Cavocorax!! (166)

I haven’t had much luck with RoT but this is a pretty solid cup. It is not the greatest thing I have ever tried and I would prefer DTT’s Lemon Chiffon but this is something I can easily grab when I am in Buffalo or Florida to enjoy in the evenings/at night. It has a slight lemon flavor that pairs well with green rooibos base. Plus, all the flavors are subtle and airy to wonderfully resemble chiffon cake. It really is good and it’s a tea bag which can be very convenient at times. I am glad I got to try it out. Thank you so much Cavocorax for the opportunity :)

First Sip Thought: “A seductive pair!”

Smell: At first scent, I can definitely get more chocolate than strawberry. After steep I can sense some strawberry while the liquid turns into a beautiful red shade.

Taste: These two flavours mingle well together and that’s my explanation for my First Sip Thought. The chocolate is more prevalent than the strawberry in the taste and smell but I think that’s how it’s supposed to be. A decadent chocolate covering the hint of strawberry. However, the rooibos is the higher of flavours in this tea. I’m glad it wasn’t overpowered by the added flavours. This tea was sent to me in unbleached tea bags. I was expecting loose leaf but I didn’t mind. When I was younger my first ever cup of tea was a strawberry tea bag that was, at the time for me, to die for! This tea brought back those memories, and made them even sweeter (because of the added chocolate!) With each smooth sip, this rooibos really grows on you. When I prepared it I added a dash of milk to make it extra creamy and more like a dessert.

www.theteacupoflife.blogspot.com

This Milk Oolong from Republic of Tea (new harvest, because the expiration is not until 2016) wins the award for most perfumey dried tea in my cupboard.

It’s really a very luscious scent. I’m not sure that I’d have identified pineapple and cream as the primary olfactory notes, but whatever they are, it’s undeniably delicious and entirely enticing!