The Republic of Tea

When it’s hot, I don’t think it tastes much like cranberry or blood orange, but it has a wonderful fruitiness reminiscent of gummi bears. It’s got a bitterness that complements the gummi bearness perfectly.

As it begins to cool, the gummibearness fades and the orange comes through. It’s so delicious!

It was probably a bad idea to drink something caffeinated when it’s close to 2pm. Oops.

Anyways, I don’t watch this series nor plan on it. I initially picked this up for my mom since she wanted to try it, especially since she’s OBSESSED with ginger.

I noticed that the ginger smell was really potent opening the tin. It wasn’t nearly as strong when I brewed it, however.

I brewed it for 4 minutes since 5 minutes tends to make black tea too bitter for my tastes. Straight up, it was sill bitter. After trying it straight, I added a splash of milk to the tea as it recommended (I did 2%). Ok, the milk made it a lot better! I pretty much get very little bitterness with the milk and the ginger flavor was enhanced. I don’t think it even needs a sweetener, which was what the tea recommended too. Though I could try it sometime with a little bit of honey and see how that is.

I love this. I think this will probably be a new favorite of mine.

I am thinking rooibos may not be for me.
The chocolate in this is not rich…so flat and just blech…
Sickeningly sweet… I added the recommended splash of milk
And it made it just tolerable

Very fruity. It actually has a nice ruby color thanks to the hibiscus. The stevia also helps to make it naturally sweet. I do feel refreshed after drinking this, and the electrolytes and antioxidants in it are probably to blame. I should try this iced sometime, as I’m sure it’d be delicious iced. I’d imagine that this would probably be a good alternative sports drink for those that are active. My mom apparently drank half the tin by the time I got home from school, so I’m assuming she loves it. My best bet is that she’s drinking it for the potassium in it from the dates, since she needs to increase her intake.

I’m definitely getting the orange taste, but for this brew it’s being overpowered by the bitterness of the black tea. I’ll probably lower the amount of time to brew it next time and see how it is then. And maybe I’ll try this with a little bit of sugar, either Sugar in the Raw or the Perfectea Rock Sugar from Teavana.

As it stands it’s kinda “meh” to me.

Thank you 221Tea! I actually quite adore this one and I don’t care that it’s just a ‘bagged tea’.

The coconut adds a buttery quality to the blend, while the cocoa, dates and chicory add to the flavour. It’s quite amazing. The barley adds a bit of weight to it. It almost makes me think of chocolate macaroons! And the fact that this is an herbal makes it more interesting.

Sipdown (195!)

ROT freebie, and I’m always happy to get free tea.
Not one I would have bought on my own, though it sounds generally like something I’d like (fruity).
I can smell the blackberry more than I can taste it, but I do get a reasonably strong sage flavor. It was fun to try, but I’m not going to be buying this. It served it purpose as an afternoon cup of caffine, though!

I don’t think I prepared this correctly. . . it’s so mild it’s almost not there at all. I pick up a vague vegetalness that clings to the tongue a bit after I’ve swallowed. I do adore the currrrrrly little leaves, though!

I’m gonna hafta make another cup before I decide whether or not I like it; indeed, or if there’s even anything to like.

Sipdown.
I’ve killed this at work. It was not memorable, so I won’t bring it back.
But it was nice to have something warm to drink while I’m fighting this dratted cold.

It is pouring, and windy, and when I got home from work the power was out. It turned back on long enough for me to heat up dinner and toast an english muffin, before it winked out again. And I had no flashlights. This is an oversight for anyone in a house by herself, so I ran to the store to grab some flashlights. During this trip the power company helpfully called me to tell me the power was out.
I had just managed to assemble the batteries in my new flashlights when the power came back on, and the power company helpfully texted me to let me know the power was back up and running.
Sigh.
I’ve brought this to work as the new work tea, where it is performing like a champion. I don’t need to pay attention to it, its sweet and generally pleasant, and I don’t feel sad if I’ve not been swept away by flavor, as I’m busy.
Gosh, what a night. I think some more tea is called for.

Steepster is busy eating all my notes today, so who knows if this will ever see the light of day.
I’m ready for fall. So, so very ready. I wish it was happening right now. I was walking around in the miserable summer weather thinking about my sweaters, and how much I wanted to wear them!
Ah well.

I had to pry myself out of my book to go to work today, and now I’m going to settle back in. (reading Old Man’s War, but John Scalzi). So tea, the beverage of readers everywhere, is needed.
This will do. I’m not going to buy more of this, but its not going to be a problem to drink it down.

I should go to bed early tonight, as I did not sleep well last night, and I have an early day tomorrow.
So noncaff is called for.
This is decent, for a summer tea, but I when I am done I shall never get more of this, I think.

My evening cup. This is an excelent tea when you have other things to do, as you dont need to pay a great deal of attention to it.
It does what its supposed to.

Post fencing cuppa tea!
This is a mildly lemon tea. Almost lemon balm ish. Faintly, I dunno, waxy? That doesnt sound good, does it? Well, its pleasant and light, and good to have on a hot evening.

Ah. A long day. Satisfying, mostly, but long.
Cup of tea post fencing, while I cool down enough to take a shower.
Two tea bags is the right amount for me of this blend. Its pleasant, and indeed lemony, but if it steeps too long there is a faintly chemical aftertaste.
Ah well, nothing for it, but to watch the steep time.
Still, its light and refreshing tonight.

Ooof, I’m going to be sore tomorrow. Lots of lunges in fencing tonight. I’ll stretch before I go to bed.
A cup of citrus is just what my tastebuds ordered, especially as I sit down to watch some Once Upon a Time (just started, and am obsessed and devouring it in big chunks. I love a fairytale).
Tea and tv. Not a bad evening!

What a frustrating day. Have you even spent time trying, as simply as possible, to explain something to someone, who just cant or wont understand. I kept trying to explain, that from the evidence, X needed to be true. The person I was talking to, who used a less logical method to get their results would nod and agree, but then said “but because of Y, the answer is Z.”
Argh! No, no no!
Sigh.
Fencing tonight helped, though, and now a cup of tea.
I double bagged this, which improves the lemony quality. Not bad.

I am powerless when faced with a baked goods themed tea. I’d tried there Caramel Cuppa Cake, which I did not care for at all, but I found myself putting this in my basket at the store today.
I love lemon. Love love love. Lemon is the best. And this brews up to a very lemony color.
I can taste the lemon too, but its rather mild, the rooibos being the more forward of the flavors.
Its not destined to be a favorite, thats for sure, but I dont think I’ll have trouble drinking it, especially when its getting so hot around here. A cup of light lemon might just be the thing.

This is from the Travelling Tea Box round 2 and this is the first tea that i decided to drink from this round. I chose to drink this tea because I really enjoyed the caffeinated version that was in the box during the last round. I was excited to compare how it tasted and everything. I have not finished tasting teas from the first round, but I just to try at least one tea from the second round to wet my appetite.

I had this tea on March 27/2014

Dry leaf: As the tea is bagged, I could not see the leaves, but this tea had the same sweet scent that the caf version had. Very berry-licious was my reaction :)

Steeped: The water is dark and amber just like the caf version was and the berry-licious scent has remained after pouring the hot water on the bag. And the taste was also very berry, much like the caf version. This tea is good in my books decaf or not, basically I can enjoy this tea at any moment in the day.

ZOMG. This tea. Yes. The coconut and the barley are at the forefront with the cocoa really rounding out each sip. It tastes like a mounds bar and a chocolate rice crispie treat had a tea love child. In other words, wonderful. Chocolate and coconut are always a winning combination for me and this tea does it in a new, delicious way.

Great aroma. The taste leaves a little to be desired for me.