The Republic of Tea

This tea took me by quite a surprise. I find Republic of Teas rooibos varieties to be hit or miss (I’m looking at you Red Velvet Chocolate), and at first taste I thought this was a miss as I tasted mostly rooibos. I gave it a second chance and realized I hadn’t steeped it in hot enough water initially (almost boiling is best to bring out the vanilla). I now find this tea to be oddly addictive, and even think I prefer it to one of my fave vanilla flavored teas-ROT Vanilla Almond. It tastes as if you are sipping on vanilla pods with a slight earthiness from the rooibos, and I find it leaves me feeling all cozy and calm. What’s better than that? It leaves a very pleasant aftertaste on the tongue that is almost creamy in it’s sweetness. This tea is excellent both plain and as a tea latte, but either way I find it best steeped for 10+ minutes if you enjoy a strong vanilla flavor.

I have been looking for teas to enjoy at night time, and therefore I choose this decaf version of Vanilla Almond. I tend to love both nutty and vanilla flavors and therefore had high hopes. I detected a strong cherry almond smell at first dry sniff, and then while steeping it mellows out to a rounded vanilla/almond essence both in smell and taste. I find adding a bit of soy milk made it more dessert-like and brought out the cherry undertones. I really enjoyed this tea as it has a very natural taste and I find the aroma to be so relaxing. I would def re-buy this when I run out.

Admittedly not the most refined tea, and the flavors involved are overwhelming, but that’s why I like it. The aroma from the cup is fragrant and puts you in a holiday mood. Taste is very strongly of black licorice.

Not one of my most favorite earl greys, as it gets astringent quite quickly, so you need to steep it for a /very/ short time generally. The astringency is weird though, you can still taste the tea while the astringency tickles your tounge so I’m not going to say it’s unbearable by any means. I only ever really drink this with 2-3 pinches of sugar and a dash of creme, as it tones it all down a bit.

Subtle spiciness and strong hints of licorice (which I love, but isn’t really normal for chai).

Sometimes you just need a basic simple cup of tea. After a long adventure of shopping yesterday, it was nice to sit down at Panera with a cup of this. Perked me up for the drive home.

I’m addicted to this stuff! It’s got a soothing, citrus flavor that is refreshing without being astringent. The teabag design means that it sinks to the bottom of cup, making it progressively stronger as you drink more. This is a benefit since the brew time seems to last forever. I’m not sure what type of tea this is, but I enjoy it immensely.

Received this one from Darby in round 2 of the secret pumpkin swap.

This was in tea bag form. It smells super delicious. Like sweet pecan pie. You can definitely smell the maple.

This tea is so, so, so creamy without adding any type of creamer or milk. It tastes like maple butter. This tea reminds me of pecan pie or a pecan pastry. There is definitely a pastry type flavour. It is a heavy pastry, made of lard. Delicious. Ha ha. There is a pecan flavour as well as a definite maple syrup sweetness.

Finished off the last bit of my tin this morning by preparing a pitcher of this to keep in the fridge. Technically not a sipdown, but I’m happy to see this tin leave my collection. It’s certainly not bad by any means, but as the weather has gotten colder, my tastes have changed just a bit and I’m doing my best to keep my stash fresh. I may just buy another tin next summer.

Last cup! This one has to be absolutely boiling to taste best. I’ve realized this the last few cups I had, and I thought I had it hot enough before! When the water is as hot as I can possibly get it the cinnamon comes out much more and it’s a much better cup.

As of right now I’ve had this tea an entire year, so finishing it off feels like a big accomplishment. Bye, Hot Apple Cider.

Not a fan… fake fruit flavor and fake sweet flavor.

Republic of Tea makes some awesome products, like Plantain Coconut Green Rooibos, Mango Chili Green Roooibos, and Pomegranate Green Tea. I get their sample bags in the mail and some have been stellar like the Pumpkin Chai sample that comes at the beginning of fall. So, when I saw this new line of teas from them I jumped on it. I got the Lemon Chiffon and Blueberry Bundt since both are caffeine free. The Lemon Chiffon was clearly the better of the two.

This is a rooibos, so I use boiling water and let it steep upwards of 10 minutes. The first disappointing thing is that it really doesn’t taste anything like blueberry for me. There is a slightly cakey taste that leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. There is a woodiness from the rooibos, but it is mainly overpowered by some other taste I can’t really place. All in all, it was drinkable. I am just about finished with the whole tin, but I wouldn’t buy it again.

I got a sample of this tea just yesterday with the Republic of Tea catalogue. Usually, I let the Rep. of Tea samples sit around along time before possible sampling them, but usually I get rid of them. I’ve only ever had one teabag from them that was halfway decent.

But I’ve been feeling experimental lately, and brewed this one up last night.

It’s junior-mint-like, if you imagine what such a mint would taste like having sat under the sofa cushion for a month, squished and blended with other unidentifiable crumbs, possibly some bug guts. . . It certainly smells awful enough. I think it’s the rooibos adding a sort of rotten quality to it. The flavor almost has redeemable qualities, but not enough to make it drinkable. The mint releases a burst of extra minuteness on the way down that makes me think that it’s going to cover up the bad flavors, but it falls short of the goal. The chocolate, if I could pick it out from the rooibos and mint, almost seems authentic. . .almost, but still in a cheap-chocolate kind of way as is common for chocolate teas.

All in all, not a good cup of tea. I did not finish the cup.

This is the type of tea that you can drink at anytime of the day during just about anything. It has good flavors but they are mild. It would be nice if it actually did something for your skin but I drink too many other teas for this to be the case (as I am sure is the case with all of you who are on this site).

It’s good hot and lukewarm but I don’t like it much cold.

I got this in the mail (attached to a RoT catalouge) mid last week. And I can say this isn’t something I would have tried otherwise.

The apple element is a lot like a green apple Jolly Rancher and the caramel doesn’t really become prominent until it cools, and then it becomes a burnt sugar, caramel note. All in all, it reminds me a lot of those caramel apple suckers.

Unfortunately the rooibos is also a prominent note, which isn’t exactly my favorite flavor.

LOVE this tea! It’s amazing – I was introduced to it by a co-worker, and I haven’t stop drinking it since! Really good with some agave nectar!

And now it is a Sunday Sample Sipdown. Thanks again to Josie Jade for sending this to me.
Off you pop, Holiday Spiced Plum, you shall not be gracing my cupboard again!

What does this taste like? Like if you melted a plum candy in hot water, a little bit.
I, er, ordered more teas then I expected too from various black friday-cyber monday sales, so, while I have reached my black friday sipdown goal, the sheer amount of tea thats coming in has given me a great desire to sip down the teas that I’ve only got a little of.
So I’m going to try to finish this today. And it is December, after all. Holiday tea is now appropriate.

Aha, green tea. Thats why its not brewing up dark. I get ya.
Its very plummy, I’ll give it that, but its not exactly rich. I find this to be a little weak. Hmm. I had a couple of cups of this prior to logging it. Double bagged is the way to go with this.
Thanks to Josie Jade who sent this may way.

it taste on a good day like banana now or laters and other days like a banana chocolate tea….. the tea is sweet, so I have to be careful on when I drink it

Today is one of those days I am hurting so badly, I am unable to brew some tea.
Thank God for tea bags! It is just that kind of day.
This tea is starting to give a smile to my morning :-)
I have a terrible sinus infection which is giving my chronic pain a run for the money.
Back to this tea, I have previously done a legit tasting note on this tea,
But I just had to say, I REALLY like this tea…
I think I like it more each time I drink it.
Memories…
This tea reminds me of when myself and my late husband were married in Jamaica…
with the traditional wedding breakfast.
This is a sweet morning pick me up.

Thank you, Queen of Tarts, for sharing this with me.
I LOVE this tea !
Lovely green base with the flavor of bananas & coconut.
I love coconut, bananas not so much.
I cannot explain my love of this tea,but it is definitely a new fave of mine…very smooth!