The Republic of Tea

I got this from JustJames a looong time ago – thank you for the sample!

It wasn’t bad. The taste kind of reminded me of this European rosehip tea that my dad used to drink. It was pleasantly tangy. The coconut wasn’t evident to me, but maybe it was playing the role of toning down the hibiscus.

This was ok.

Teabag sipdown take 5, the last of my free RoT samples that have been sitting around.

Of all of my RoT samples I was most curious about this one, but it left me disappointed by not even tasting like a holiday tea. This actually tastes like orange spice, which is funny because orange isn’t even an ingredient. I wish I knew where the orange was coming from.

Teabag sipdown take 4… This also came as a free sample with the RoT catalogue, although I can’t remember how long ago.

This tastes like a red hot with a hint of vanilla. I can’t taste the rooibos at all through the other two flavors. I’m not really a fan, but this is a tea my mother would love. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve bought it for her before, as a Christmas gift.

Teabag sipdown take 3… This also came as a free sample with the RoT catalogue, although I can’t remember how long ago, but I’m pretty sure this is 2-3 years old.

Four years ago I drank the heck out of this tea at work, although it took me a long time to acquire a taste for it. I loved it because it was pretty much impossible to over-steep which is great for when I got caught on the phone and forgot about my tea. I generally understeep it a bit so the vanilla flavor stays strong and I don’t taste as much of the rooibos. Just a personal preference, I’m still trying to acquire a taste for rooibos, even all these years later. Even when steeped properly this is heavy on the vanilla and really sweet.

This does remain one of my favorites from RoT, but isn’t one I’ve had in a long time. It was nice to revisit an old favorite and see just how my tastes have changed over the years.

And the teabag sipdown continues… Pretty sure this also came as a free sample with the RoT catalogue although this came fairly recently, so it’s less than six months old. It just sat around because I don’t like orange.

The scent of this tea is a little odd, almost medicinal. I noticed a huge change in the scent after about 3 minutes of steeping, so if I had more of this I would have understeeped and stopped before the 3m mark. This actually isn’t horrible, which is high praise from me since this is an orange tea (I really really hate orange.) Surprisingly, the black base really stands out more than the fruit flavors. The sweet orange and tart cranberry balance eachother out fairly well. This really is a tea well suited to fall weather, although not one I would order for myself.

Since I placed an order with Verdant, I need to make some quick progress in the sipdown department before my order arrives. I’ve decided that the rest of the day is teabag sipdown time. I’ve got a bunch of single teabags just floating around that have been in my stash forever. I probably should note that I think this tea bag is about 3 years old. Pretty sure it came as a free sample with the RoT catalogue.

I really liked the smell of this when it first started steeping, it was very sweet and heavy on the vanilla. I had hoped that would carry over to the brewed tea, but unfortunately the pomegranate is what really stood out. I think the two are a bit of an odd combination.

Tea #2 Great Canadian Traveling Tea Box

Continuing on with the adventure, I chose another fruit with herb tea. This is definitely blackberry in black tea base. Like the other one tonight, I’m having problems finding the herbal component in this one too. There is just a hint of sage way in the back, but not enough for it to make the title of the tea. I think these companies want to make unusual blends but don’t want to scare off the general public. It’s like they just can’t commit to take it all the way.
This is nice blackberry tea, I’m enjoying it, wish it had more sage.
These are tea bags, I used 2 bags in 16oz just under boiling for 4 min.

Edit to add: I made a second steep from these bags and then put it in the fridge. Had it tonight. I added quite a bit of sweetener to it, but that really brought out both the blackberry and the sage. I many need to snag another couple of bags of this and cold steep them.

Republic of Tea sent me a sample of this in the mail today…Random….but cool. So I thought I would brew a cup and have it before dinner.

Surprisingly good. I mean I opened it and dry it smells really delicious. But lately I haven’t been real thrilled with RoT and I’m not sure why…Maybe because I’m too engrossed delving into the boutique tea companies….but it is good. Like all RoT teas I find I have to watch the steep. It has a tendency to get bitter on me when I steep the full 5. No exception on this one either. Steeped it the full 5 and it was just a smidge on the end of bitter…but I tried to see past it to get to the flavor of the tea itseld. It has a pumpkin flavor which surprised me because most pumpkin teas I have had are just teas that taste like pumpkin spice. I almost expected it to be sweet but it was not. Not even a little. But it isn’t heavy on the spices which is a nice change too. It makes me want a chai tea really bad tho…just smelling the spices…

I also tried it iced and it isn’t too bad that way either. But I’m thinking a splash of milk…little sugar…could be a good holiday treat.

I think of this as a tea that I’ll drink if I want something with nocaf, if it’s around. But forever going forward I will think of it as THE TEA THAT HOOKED MY CHILD ON TEA! Over the weekend he saw me drinking tea as always, and asked for a sip. I let him have the tiniest amount and he said he really liked it. So I asked if he wanted his own cup and made this instead. With half a teaspoon of sugar (so much less than comes in juice or the almond milk he normally drinks), he kept saying “I LOVE tea!” and asking for more as soon as it was out. So now, there are two tea drinkers in my house. Me and my three year old. :)

I useally ;like mixing this tea with coco or chocolate chai or another chai flavor to give it a kick. but it is also good bye itself when craving something sugary sweet

It has been so long since I tried this tea that I didn’t want to move too far forward in the Battle of the Earl Greys without giving it another shot. Now that I have, I remember why it wasn’t on my shelf already. It wasn’t quite to my tastes, and produced a faint yet slightly bitter flavor with high astringency. I think a different blend of black tea and bergamot is going to win my heart, but thank you, Lariel, for the opportunity to try this one out!

So, my mom gave me a few teabags of this when I was over last. Originally, we were thinking to split a tin, since there are like 50 bags in there, but then it took awhile to find it this year, and by then I had bought way too many other pumpkin teas. ;) I had a cup of this using one teabag and it was kind of thin, and then I remembered someone suggesting two teabags, so I went for it. Two teabags in a 16 oz. mug for 3 minutes, with some brown sugar and soy milk = delicious!! Good way to use up the teabags faster too!

Felt like having a cup of this one today. I’m gearing up for fall tea! Can’t wait to pick up some of the new ones from DavidsTea, but that’ll have to wait until next week. I didn’t try the DavidsTea pumpkin chai last year since I had a bunch of this tea around, but I’m definitely going to give it a try this year! This tea is a solid pumpkin pie tea, but we’ll have to see how it compares to the DavidsTea version!

First off, I love this tea. It’s a staple in my stash at work. However, if you’re looking for a rich chocolate flavor or a super spicy chai, this isn’t it. It’s very mild so I’m able to taste the black tea more. I like it even though I usually prefer a much spicier chai.

Edit: I tried using two teabags, and found this tea so much more to my liking. It’s full bodied, has a good flavor, and just overall better with two teabags. I don’t like the excessive amount of “settlement” at the bottom of my cup, but I can deal with that.

Getting rid of some more bags!

This is toasty roasty morning goodness! It is mostly the roasty flavor of the rice, but there is just enough flavor from the grassy, mildly sweet green tea to let me know it’s not just rice

Another nice tea from the catalog sample. The sweetness goes well with the green tea, but it still gives me an artificial sweetener feel. It’s not bad, and definitely much better than sugar water aka sweet tea, but I probably wouldn’t buy it for myself.

Thanks, Shelley_Lorraine!

Cloves and Licorice? Yes, please! I love both and would never think of putting them together. The licorice smooths out the cloves and makes the mouthfeel deep and cool. The cinnamon was just right and the apple was light, but natural tasting from what I could tell. I need to get some of this around the holidays. Yum!

This is currently my go-to Earl Grey, so much so that I’ve ordered it in bulk from Republic of Tea and start every morning with a cup. The best way I can describe it is as a more Earl Grey Earl Grey. It smells and tastes like comfort, especially when I dress it up with a generous splash of cream (okay, half and half to be precise) and bit of sugar.

I’ve cleaned the house, took care of the animals, did laundry, and sent the fiancee off to an out-of-town soccer tournament. I have a nice clean and quiet house all to myself this weekend!

I was really excited about trying this tea. I love coconut and I love chocolate. We got frozen yogurt this afternoon, and I had the sweet coconut flavor – it was delicious! I decided to keep the coconut theme going with my afternoon tea. The teabag smelled really strongly of dates with just a hint of coconut. The steeped cup had a fresh coconut aroma with just a hint of chocolate. The flavor is a little odd, because you can taste a grainy pasta-like flavor up front. It almost reminds me of the way some beers taste. There’s a bit of chocolate in the flavor also. The aftertaste is of nutty and sweet coconut with a hint of sugary caramel. I think the carob, barley and chicory in this blend work to make the coconut taste very fresh and natural. I like this tea, but I don’t know if I would purchase a whole tin of it. It kind of makes me crave pasta!

-Round unbleached teabag.
-Teabag smells richly of dates with a hint of nutty coconut. Tea liquor aroma is of fresh coconut with a hint of chocolate.
-Tea liquor is a thick medium brown color.
-Grainy chocolatey flavor and finish. Nutty and sweet coconut aftertaste with a hint of caramel.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Unique grain-like taste. Very sweet coconut and cocoa flavor.

I survived my first week of nursing school. It was actually a lot less stressful than I had been expecting. And my schedule isn’t terribly horrible – class/clinic 4 days a week and then 3 days off. I’m sure I’ll have so much work to do that those days off won’t really be days off, but that’s ok. I’ve been drinking tea non-stop all week, and it’s helped me with my new schedule of waking up at 5 am. I’ve gone through a ton of tea, but that’s ok because now I have an excuse to order more!

I’m trying to get through my box of teabags on the days that I have time to add to my tealog, and this one was on the top of the pile this morning. I was a little sad to see so many negative reviews about this one, but it’s not surprising to me since I didn’t care for TRoT’s Holiday Spiced Plum blend. Maybe their holiday blends just aren’t my thing. This one smells strongly of cinnamon and sweet cloves, and the tea liquor has a nice tart apple aroma. Unfortunately the flavor doesn’t match at all. The flavor is a very bland apple with a spicy cinnamon finish. There is a strong spicy aftertaste, but it is really artificial tasting. Adding a little milk and sugar tones down the spiciness and artificialness from the spices, but it is still a very weak cup.

-Round unbleached teabag.
-Teabag smells strongly of cinnamon and sweet cloves. Tea liquor aroma is of tart and spicy apple cider.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium orange brown color.
-Bland apple flavor with a spicy cinnamon finish. Strong aftertaste of artificial spices.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Poor tea. Very weak apple flavored tea with a note of artificial spices.

I have what I assume is the same thing, but packaged/sold by Crate & Barrel. Smells pretty good! but the taste is kind of flat, mostly I just get the rooibos