The Republic of Tea

From “Another travelling tea box?!?!”

Nice ice tea! Very natural tasting watermelon and mint. Nice black base that really works well with the watermelon.

I purchased this at Whole Foods from the serve-yourself bins. It smelled really heavy in the store, which is something I love with cinnamon teas. I have to comment that this is much better as a mixer than by itself. I’m trying it with all of my heavier flavored blacks and finding really great results. It is very cinnamon forward, with notes of anise as well. I made sure to get some larger pods in here. It’s a pretty great tea if you are looking for something really heavy on the cinnamon, but isn’t really a big standout or anything special.

I had this at Panera today and it was fine. Pretty plain, simple black tea. Did fine for the circumstances, but I don’t think I’m gonna be buying a bunch for myself.

I got a sample of this from JustJames quite some time ago. I am really surprised at how much I like their tea’s despite being pre-bagged.

This I drank as a hot brew and added some rock sugar, and was surprised at how delicious this is!

The brewed colour was purple, which was also a surprise, considering the name of the tea.

The flavour was sweet, tangy apple with a hint of vanilla. I wish I had more of this! Thank you JustJames for this sample!!

This is nowhere as good as the hand blended turmeric tea I had yesterday which should come as no surprise to anyone! I might try two teabags next time. I only got a sample tin so I can make myself finish it!

Normally I’m not a big fan of Republic of Tea but I figured I’d try this, occasionally I have aches and pains and while yoga helps a lot with those, I figured a nice herbal tisane couldn’t hurt. :)

I got the traveler’s tin which is 5 teabags so at least I’m not spending lots of money. The turmeric gives it a very yellow color and is definitely a strong element in this blend, followed by the ginger and then the orange. I’m not even sure what Cat’s Claw is supposed to taste like, or if it has a flavor.

This isn’t quite as stong as the Ginger turmeric tea from Rishi which reminded me of a straight up liquid curry. Still, I should try to get used to the flavor since it has so many health benefits.

p.s. – I did get a 2nd steep out of it that is still gingery but lighter in turmeric flavor.

I got a sample of this from JustJames in our first swap, and have finally tried it. Thank you JustJames!

When I opened the packet I got an immediate sweet blueberry note wafting towards me, and thought, this is going to be really good.

I cold brewed it overnight, and added a little rock sugar. The overall flavour was ok. It tasted just like it’s aroma – sweet blueberries, but just a little weak. Perhaps my error by adding to much water.

I can’t give a numerical rating for this, because it was on the weak side, and possibly/probably my fault. I don’t have another packet to try again. I think if it had less water or 2 bags, it would be have just fine.

First cup of the day. I am trying to hydrate with water in between all of my tea drinking. My running group starts back tonight after a 3 week break. I haven’t done much running during the break, since I’ve been so busy with house stuff and vacations and getting ready to start school. Whoops. I hope I don’t fall over during the run tonight, how embarrassing!

I’ve finally moved on to the big box of teabags that I have to get through in the pantry. I only have 3 loose leaf teas left to rate and either put in tins or in the swap pile. Those 3 are all decaf, so I was happy this little fully caffeinated teabag was lying right on top of the box this morning when I looked. I’ve always enjoyed The Republic of Teas’s blends, and the little round teabags are so cute. This teabag smells a little artificial, but not terribly so. I can’t smell any of the sage in the dry teabag, and only a little hint of it in the brewed tea. The flavor is nice, with a fruity blackberry flavor and finish. The only sage that I can detect in the flavor is a small bit of it in the aftertaste. This tea is definitely more blackberry than sage. The blackberry is also not really quite ripe blackberry flavor, more of an almost candy-like, artificial blackberry. With that being said, it is still a nice tea and I am enjoying this cup.

-Round unbleached teabag.
-Teabag smells of artificial blackberries. Tea liquor aroma is lightly of blackberries with an herb note.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Fruity blackberry flavor and finish. Light berry aftertaste with a very faint hint of sage.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Somewhat artificial soft blackberry flavor. Very subtle hint of sage.

Free sample with catalog! I like this tea, but I don’t love it. It’s fruitiness reminds me of the Mango Ceylon – enough to provide some sweetness but not where I could actually figure out the type of fruit in the cup just by tasting it. Very pleasant to drink, but I probably wouldn’t buy an entire tin.

Sipdown! 155/365!

I’m obviously trying to get in a few more sipdowns before the end of the month! ;) It’s convenient that the box I found contained a bunch of interesting sipdown-ready teas, as I’m totally over most of what I have out in the sipdown box right now. (This is why I doubt I’ll ever have a cupboard smaller than a few hundred teas – I get bored of things too quickly).

Couldn’t remember ever trying this before, but I apparently did, and thought it was just okay. Pretty much the same response today – it’s rooibos, which I figured out as soon as the teabag got wet, and the chocolate flavour is fairly artificial, although is is chocolatey. So it’s not terrible, but I don’t care for the base (even though it’s not medicinal or anything), and I prefer a more realistic chocolate flavour.

Thanks to momo for sending me a few bags of this tea! I don’t have some love affair with red velvet cake like it seems many other people do, but I think DT’s version came out around the same time as I was swapping, and so I was curious as to how they compared. I definitely prefer DT’s version, perhaps partially because this one is rooibos, which I didn’t realize until after I brewed it. Anyhow, this version isn’t too bad – sweet and chocolatey, with minimal rooibos flavour marring the chocolate. I used two teabags for a ~10-12 ounce cup, which probably worked out well. It’s strong, the way I prefer it, though I’d probably opt out of drinking this tea again given a choice.

This is one of my favorite fruit-flavored greens, and my favorite blend from Republic of Tea. I’ve been drinking it for a few years but haven’t attempted to review it until just now. I’m struggling to put the flavor into words – I don’t know that I’ve ever actually tasted a black raspberry, so I can’t say how this tea measures up on that front. I can say that it’s almost more floral than fruity, in the way that fresh red raspberries sometimes are. It’s deep, but also delicate. It’s very, very slightly sweet; there’s no tartness whatsoever. The tea base is, thankfully, not at all vegetal; when slightly over-steeped it develops a faint hint of smokiness that complements the black raspberry flavoring surprisingly well.

I went through a big RoT phase several years back and tried most of their fruity green offerings. This was, by far, my favorite. Many of their flavors were disappointingly weak and/or loaded with hibiscus (which I don’t actually dislike as an ingredient; I just find it a poor stand-in for raspberry or pomegranate or whatever else – it only ever really tastes like itself, I think).

I’ve only ever had this one iced (brewed hot, then chilled), as that’s how I tend to prefer most fruit-flavored greens. Now that I’m thinking of it, this also seems like a good candidate for cold-steeping…

This is a great Genmaicha for people on the go. I was a little skeptical of this at first but so far I’ve enjoyed pretty much every cup. I would agree that they need about 2-3 minutes steeping time in order to really absorb the flavors. It is a bit lighter than other Genmaicha steeped through the traditional method but don’t let that stop you from trying it. Also, while it is good hot, I do think it is better lukewarm. I kinda feel like I say that in all my posts but I just don’t like to drink tea too hot.

This is one of those “English breakfast” type blends that doesn’t stand up to milk. I don’t know, maybe some companies figure they’re selling to people who don’t generally add milk to tea. And I generally don’t, but when I want English Breakfast I want it strong and milky.

Once I tried it without the milk, it was a perfectly cromulent tea. Nice enough but nothing special.

I only got a light hint of mango, there’s more of a flowery taste, but not overpoweringly so, and very pleasant. It doesn’t knock my socks off, but it’s very nice to drink.

I think this is my favorite oolong so far. And it is, for me at least, an excellent “starter” oolong since the floral, fruity flavors are so up front that I’m better able to notice them in more subtle teas.

I love this tea so much. I wouldn’t have predicted I’d like it, I just tried it because I generally will try something I’ve never had before. Nice, smooth black tea, very strong rose flavor. Delicious.

Sipdown! Wahoo!
Sipping on the last of this while I work on todays Nanowrimo word count. A good way to kill this off. Goodbye, Peppermint cuppa chocolate.

Chocolate. Well, chocolate ish.
I have plenty of chocolate tea left, but I’m going to probably stop buying anymore chocolate flavors, mostly. I find that they’re almost always disapointing, with a couple of exceptions (hello read my lips).
But as I say, its going to take a while to sip all of this down.

Today was not a good day at work. I bumbled and felt stupid, and made mistakes.
Tea! And a cup of chocolate-ish tea as well. A much healthier alternitave than to eating a chocolate bar, which is what I want to do.

Long steep. Loooooooooong steep is the secret with this. Not nearly as chocolate like as I would wish (I am sensing a theme with chocolate teas), but its perfectly fine.

Two teabags and a very long steep is the secret to this. Not in the relm of Kiss my Lips, of course, but, under these perameters, its a decent enough tea.
My ongoing quest for good caffine free, dessert style teas continues. This will do for now.

My nightly cup of eh. This is never as chocolatty as I want, and while the peppermint is not at the forfront of the taste, it does make a pleasant enough after taste.