The Republic of Tea

Yummy, this is one of my favorite teas on a cold day. Very nice balance and sweet tangy apple and the spices.

Very disappointing tea! I found out that the Republic of Tea makes Panera’s green tea which I love… So, I called them and asked if they sold it, they said no it was exclusive to Panera. The person then went on to tell me that this abomination was the closest to the Panera green tea… This tea taste NOTHING like tropical anything. It also says it is naturally sweetened. I find that to be laughable as well.

This was another freebee bag sample sent to me by Republic Of Tea. I thought I’d give it a try. Why not?!

When I opened the single bag package, I had to go, “WHOOOAA!” An extremely overpowering hazelnut smell smacked me upside my head…and nose!

I plopped the bag into boiling water for five minutes. The bag was a round satchel without attachments. It worked, but it was also a little inconvenient since there was no string and tag bound to it to help pull the hot dripping sack from the cup. The tea bag is one of the few gifts in life that is desirable to have with strings attached.

The brewed color was a bright orange-gold. The aroma was again loaded with hazelnut, but fortunately it was toned down from its unsteeped state.

The taste was disappointing and not what I expected. I had rallied my taste buds for a symphony of vanilla and caramel orchestrated in expert harmony. That fantasy came crashing down with a diluted hazelnut taste aimlessly drifting on a life raft in an ocean of tangy tea.

When the journey through my cup was about 4/5 completed, I started to pick up some sweetness in the taste and MAYBE some caramel. At that point, though, it might have just been my brain trying to fill in the gaps for the anticipated flavors. That being said, not even my imagination was wild enough to conjure up some vanilla flavor. The tanginess was still present. I won’t say that it was astringency but it was misplaced and didn’t add value to the taste. The aftertaste lingered for quite a while but it was the tangy tea flavor, more than the hazelnut/caramel, that hung around.

Here’s how I would summarize this tea. If I were attending a meeting and someone handed me a cup of it during a break, I would courteously drink it. However, if I were at the same meeting and I saw several rows of tea bags laid out on a buffet table, this would not be my first choice.

My can of Republic of Tea Spring Cherry Tea is of unknown age and provenance, so I’m not going to attach a number but only report here that sencha does get old and turn brown eventually. The brew was potable but it reminded me of middling grocery store green.

I might try this again in the summer iced. It was just okay hot, but the liquor is brown and the dried leaves are brownish, too, so I do believe that it is past its prime!

Great Canadian TTB

This is a very muted version of gingerbread. There is nothing that jumps out as being distinctly that flavor but there is also nothing offensive. Also, I am shocked that this is a rooibos tea because I am getting no rooibos flavor at all. Definitely a pleasant cup so thank you Jeweled Thumb for the chance to try it.

Great Canadian TTB

This one sounded very interesting however my experiences with Republic of Tea have not been all that great. Luckily, I was able to grab a teabag from the box and give it a try.

This is actually much better than the other RoTs I have had but still nothing mind blowing. I am finding the blackberry comes through more in smell than taste and the sage is only noticeable if I search for it. However, it is pleasant enough that I am enjoying the cup. I doubt I would have it again though. Thank you Jeweled Thumb for the chance to try this tea.

Sipdown! It seems to be a rooibos kind of morning for me, and when I told my mom the name she said it seemed like a “dream by the fire” kind of morning, too (so I made her a cup). I’m still not wowed by this but it’s a nice vanilla/cinnamon mix, better at a lower temperature because the rooibos is very assertive.

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating today!

I got a few bags of this from TeaTiff in our swap; thank you! This one is fine, not wonderful but not offensive. I taste rooibos and vanilla and cinnamon, and they all blend together pleasantly. It actually reminds me a little of their Hot Apple Cider, enough that I thought it had apple in it before I read the description. I’ll have no problem getting through what I have but I don’t think I’ll buy it.

Any time I’m feeling puffy I go to this tea! It is a very odd tasting tea: somewhere between a classic medicinal tea and a cheap flavored tea. But I don’t drink this one for its flavor.

Not as robust as I would like. I know it’s a green tea, but it still felt as though it needed something else. What flavor does come through is quite yummy. It’s clean, lightly fruity and good by itself.

i started off the day with an invigorating cup of stone ground matcha. it really is the green tea equivalent of a hearty English breakfast or Kenyan CTC. my teaspoon wasn’t exactly heaping, but more than level, so i added more matcha this time and less water. the result was a dark, creamy-looking sage green. i added a tbsp and 1/2 of brown sugar, which totally cut the minerality & canceled out the bitterness. the aroma was ‘caramelly’ sweet & smelled of brown sugar enveloped in green tea! in other words, i could smell the brown sugar, but it was really nice with the matcha base! then i added soy milk, which gave this a creamy depth and more body with an extra touch of nutty sweetness. needless to say, i totally don’t have a craving for a strong black or dessert tea (not even my usual Nutcracker Sweet!)….this really hit the spot! i’m beside myself.

to think, this is essentially a shot of chlorophyll!! thank god for additives.

so i just had a cup of this- but i made it latte style!!

i’ve been drinking matcha for a while now, and i of course love the fact that it is chlorophyll-rich and nutrient-dense, so i am willing to overlook (rather, tolerate) the slightly bitter chalkiness to this very grassy green tea powder.

prepare to be in commune with Mother Earth! yes, it’s grassy, but i’m not sure this is the finest grade of matcha. the color is not as bright as Red Leaf’s or Teavana’s. i’ve heard it said that truly fine matcha should have a nice, verdant color. this one’s a muted olive green. not that i mind, so long as it’s drinkable. although a compromise in color could indicate a compromise in nutrients (i presume?)

straight, this is an exercise in tolerance, unless you’re going for that raw grass experience. as a latte (in my case, soy milk & brown sugar, no frothing) it’s quite yummy! it’s a vanillary grass that is creamy and pleasant. after adding the brown sugar, the aroma improved dramatically! the initial tinge of sweetness of the grassy minerality seemed to have transformed to something, well….sweeter! it was nice, although i should probably add the disclaimer that it takes a lot to make me run in the face of vegetation. i like my greens any which way, and i will tolerate earthy or bitter notes (not that i actively seek them out!)- especially for the sake of health benefits.

i’ve had this by itself many times, and i must say, dressed up with milk & sugar (like the Starbucks matcha latte, which is yummy!) it is much better. on its own, you get a ‘wet stone’, earthy kind of spinach. as this is ground, and hence, more potent than the leaf, it is bitter, which i imagine is par for the course. or is it? should matcha have any bitterness to it whatsoever?

i’m glad to cut my teeth on this one, but hope to move onto greener pastures. ;)

look forward to exploring Red Leaf & beyond!

I’ve continued to drink this fairly frequently, when I’ve over-eaten or just feel blah. I use a little vanilla stevia. Awesome! Today I made 5 cups in my Breville and drank one hot. The rest I put in the refrigerator to chill. Made a great iced tea. I could drink this a lot this summer! Finally our weather has gotten spring/summer like and it is very nice. What a terrible winter we had!

I’ve been drinking this tea quite a bit lately. It’s not one of the more exciting teas but it is a good basic for me. I’m not sure how much it “cleans” me, I don’t really sense any diuretic qualities but if it helps flush toxins, well okay. The taste is slightly vanilla and nutty. No astringency. Rooibos is not upfront. It’s a nice laid back kind of tea. Resteeps well.

I’ve been using this about once a week for a while. Tomorrow is my weigh-in at Weight Watchers, so I’m pretending this will make a difference. ;-) I like the flavor. The rooibos is understated. Slightly sweetened with vanilla stevia brings out a nice nutty flavor. I don’t know if there is much cleansing since I am adding a sugar substitute. Doesn’t taste like the “detox” teas I’ve had before. Nice calm cup of tea! I put his at 4 tsp since they don’t have tea bags as an option on amount. I used 4 teabags in 4 cups of water.

GCTTB another from yesterday and the travelling tea box. This one was better than the gingerbread one, from the perspective of being more drinkable to me…however caramel vanilla this is not? It’s more like a slightly sweet average boring black red rose type tea. Happy to have tried it, but that’s where that stays.

I’m going to go with a starting count of 158 for March 1, though Feb i DID achieve my goal of getting to 150. :) Goal for this month… 140.

GCTTB i’m gradually working through some of the teas from the travelling tea box and yesterday i managed to get through a couple. I’m still behind with everything this week as work has been incredibly insane. I have been a fan of a number of ROT’s teas so i was happy enough to try this one. Sadly there’s something too sweet about this one, and it doesn’t quite remind me of gingerbread. It’s decent enough but not a teabag i’d g out of my way to get.

I have a can of filter bags from The Republic of Tea which match this description: China green tea, honey and ginseng. Mine is a special edition, it appears, but this seems to be the very same tea.

I have had ginseng blend teas in the past, and this one strikes me as a bit heavy on the ginseng. The smell of the dried tea in the filter bags is much more richly redolent of honey than is the brewed liquor, but the taste is certainly not unpleasant. It’s not really a green tea experience for me, but hopefully it is therapeutic.

This tea tastes much better than I expected! I like my chocolate teas iced, so I steeped two tea bags in one cup of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Then, I poured it over ice and added some some fat free coffee creamer. It ended up tasting like caramel and coconut..no chocolate taste at all. Even without the chocolate, it is delicious…I actually don’t even want the chocolate. One of my new favorite teas!

TTB Tea 1: I got this box yesterday, in between my classes. I thought I would just open it and grab one to take with me to class. I underestimated just how much could be in one box. This one stood out so I went with it.

As soon as the water hit the tea bag, a strong cherry candy medicine scent escaped. It was REALLY strong. However, when I went to drink it, I didn’t taste much. I could get a bit of the tart cherryness, but that was it. I saw other reviewers say that using two bags works a lot better. Unfortunately, with all this tea I don’t have time to try it again, so I will take their word for it.

black tea, but vanilla and chai-ish.

use milk and sugar

gingery, peachey, kinda sweet on its own.

good for iced tea or warm sipping tea

This has always been a favorite of mine. While some drinkers lament the soft mango hints and would prefer a more robust fruit flavor, I find its subtlety to be its best feature. A cup of Mango Ceylon is always delightful and smooth on its own merits. I have convinced many non-tea drinkers to give tea another look after serving a cup of Mango Ceylon.

I approached this tea with the usual amount of cynicism I reserve for this company. I have a love/hate relationship with Republic of Tea. This smelled really good, though, in the bag AND in the hot water. It had a lovely sweet cherry scent. When I took the tea bag out after a three minute steep it smelled really good—like cherries and tea. Impressed, I immediately set up a second tea bag in a quart jar as a cold brew for iced tea.

I like it hot. It’s a mild, pleasant green tea with a nice sweet cherry scent. Not at all koolaid-ish, it actually reminds me of dried cherries and it isn’t one of those tart fruit flavors that leaves me craving sweeteners either. It’s more of a scent than a flavor but it’s a pleasant one that mingles well with the tea. It is actually rather elegant for a snowy winter day and I kind of wish I had it in a fancier tea cup. Ah well, it is still lovely. Thanks to my big sis who sent it to me. Too bad it’s only a sample but I should be able to find more locally. I’ll probably pick some up this time next year—It seems really appropriate for February.

Postscript: Cold brewed the flavor was good at first but seemed a bit harsh soon afterwards and bothered my tummy. I like it better hot. Your mileage may vary.