The Republic of Tea

2nd tea testing today! lol. I got this along with the Twinings Pumpkin Chai.

1st smell: Peach! Some tanginess which I assume is the ginger.
1st taste: Again peach. I had to add plenty of sugar, and even then this tea is quite dry. It isn’t bad and a fair tea to have on hand. I think I might make a few pitchers of ice tea with this, so I will use up more….I am afraid I won’t drink enough of it before it gets stale. I wish ROT had smaller canisters of like 25, I know they do of some flavors, and I wish it were possible to buy them in the stores, or at least the stores that I frequent.

I had this last night. Despite the fact that it says caffeine free, it does have chocolate in it, and I think that plus the sugar is what kept me up pretty late last night….though being a terrible night owl it could of been anything.
1st smell: Sweet and strawberryish.
1st taste: Pretty sweet. Not overkill though.

While I’ll be ok finishing off the canister…I am not sure I will get this one again. It wasn’t terrible….but not really inspiring either. I think I agree with another person that posted a review for this tea. They said that they think it would taste better with a black tea base then a rooibos. I have liked most of the rooibos teas I have had, but I don’t know…..who knows maybe it would taste just as uninspiring with a black tea base. I think I am going to try writing to ROT and see what they think. Some companies appreciate that kind of thing…others don’t.

This was my favorite bagged tea from years ago. I used to love going up to Borders, collecting a bunch of books then sitting down for a couple of hours to flip thru them to see if I want to buy them. (This is also when I was making more $$.) Anyways, this flavor is what I got most of the time there. But for whatever reason I stopped drinking it and the canister of tea ended up getting really stale in the cupboard….and I forgot what brand of tea it was, til I happened to look up “Blackberry Sage” and there it was on the ROT website. I recognized the logo and everything. And then! I found that my local favorite fruit market carries this brand. Yippeeee!!!! jumps up and down Ok…down to the review:

1st smell: Mmm. Never been a huge fan of eating blackberries because of the food stains. I have always been big so self conscious to being judged about pigging out. But, this smelled just as sweet as I remembered.
1st taste: I added some of my german rock sugar…and some apriva. rolls eyes I really shouldn’t need to add so much sweetener.

IMHO this is much better then the bagged version. There is no having to contend with the slight papery taste to the tea. And the black tea base is perfect for this. As for the sage. lol…not being very acquainted with sage so I am not sure how much of that plays a part.

Citrus. I don’t get lemon, or peach…more of an orange. I LOVE the smell of this tea. For me, that’s where the “happy” comes from.

Sipping it, I get that same “scratchy” feeling in my throat as I get when I drink chamomile, but it’s not very bothersome.

With this tea, I just let the teabag sit in the cup, and drink it without additives.

This is the last tin I’ll be able to find locally. I used to purchase RoT’s teas all the time years ago, but they have just become too pricey, imo. I found this one on clearance, which is why I picked it up. I like this tea a lot, and now I won’t be able to buy it again. I’m always doing that to myself. Must stop buying limited edition or discontinued items!!!

I bought this on a whim because i was low on cash and didn’t have the gas to get to the nearest place that sells my usual tea, so I swung into a local food market and picked this up to get my irish breakfast fix. I was a bit sad to find that it wasn’t quite as robust a tea as I’d have liked, but still a decent tea, not quite the most flavorful, but not as bad as your typical grocery-store tea bag. (oh, also I tend to lean more towards loose-leaf teas, so this is a somewhat unusual choice for me). Recommendable, but not recommended.

The Republic of tea and I go way back. All the way back to the year my son Leif was born (1992). Back then I was just drinking herbal blends & medicinal brews. Furthermore, I’d been free of caffeine, chocolate, sugar, and a melange of (mostly illegal) substances for about 12 years.

I saw their display and was hooked. I stood there (with my children complaining), reading the canisters, and went home with “Tea of Inquiry”, & thus began the reintroduction of caffeine into my life. (You don’t want to know how much coffee I used to drink, and it was so long ago anyway). For a number of years ROT was the company I loved, the only company I knew about (not counting lipton), and I gradually built a collection of quite a few of their green teas, and a few black ones, and even some oolongs. I didn’t care much for their blends, but they were my tea education, and I even dedicated my song, TeaMind (Zen Breakfast CD) to them. (you can hear it at www.harpsinger.net).

Then I discovered on the internet that they weren’t the only company around, and started expanding my horizons, something I continue to do to this day. I love tea and the exploration of it all!!

I received this sample with a their catalog yesterday, and it was my ‘bubble bath’ cup of the day. Opening the package, the aroma is intense! It took me a few minutes to place it, and then there it was: it smells like mincemeat pie! I brewed as directed, and of course plain…so-so. I added stevia and it wasn’t bad! A little heavy on the cloves, in my opinion, but off to the bubble bath we went. Not something I’ll probably purchase, but I’ve been thinking I need some holiday varieties to get me in the mood for all the xmas gigs & concerts I have coming up. I’m open to suggestions.

Speaking of which (shameless self-promotion blurb), if you like xmas music & you’re looking for an inexpensive gift, my xmas CD, “MidWinter’s Canon” is available on my website www.harpsinger.net. It’s an hour of holiday medleys with influences of jazz, folk, classical, and new age stylings. (And any CDs you purchase contribute to my PlayPal account, so that I can buy more tea!)

My mom was holding on to sachets of this stuff that had an expiration date on the bottom of the tin of 2008 LOL

She made the final sachets into iced tea and I had some today and it wasn’t bad at all for its age. Not very blueberry tasting anymore but just slightly berry in the mix of the green tea.

But I am not letting her make any old tea anymore, I of course finished it and then saw the date on the tin!

The first time I made this tea, I found the pu-erh flavor was too strong and I couldn’t taste the coconut. There was an overwhelming bitterness. This time, I tried steeping for a shorter time (2 and a half minutes), and result is much more enjoyable. The earthy pu-erh is balanced by the subtle sweetness of the coconut. The flavors come through best after the tea has cooled a bit, and I suspect this would make a great iced tea.

One of my favourites, I like drinking this in the afternoon.

This tea is alright. To me, it tastes like a spicier version of peppermint tea with hints of licorice. I prefer my pure peppermint blend.

Yeah! I am a ROT fan again! The last ROT tea that I had was the Pink Lemonade (Sip for the Cure.) over the summer and because of the negative feeling I had from that tea I’ve had a hard time convincing myself to get ROT again. However, I was at Whole Foods (Which is fast becoming one of my favorite non common stores, common referring to Kroger and Meijer where I do the bulk of my grocery shopping.) And of course could NOT keep myself out of the tea aisle, (Was pleased to see they did have a few tins of loose tea, though I didn’t get any.) I love the idea of sweet and spicy. Contrast and Balance, 2 favorite words in my vocabulary, though with tea…balance is the more important one.
Mango Chili-lightly spicy, enough that you notice it, but not intense. So I think that even people who have problems with spicy foods and drinks would not have a problem with this one. (I cannot take alot of spice, though it really depends on what it is. Like for instance, the few times I have tried Chai, it is mostly ok. A lot of Indian food (That I’ve tried so far.) I cannot handle. Anyways, the tea, like most of the bagged tea that I’ve had isn’t as thick as loose leaf tea, but if you just want something that is kind of funky, sweet with just a touch of spice….give this one a shot. Also, I would definitely use this tea as a evening perk. It doesn’t have caffeine (rooibos base.) but it did perk me up a bit this evening.

So yes will be having fun sipping this tea during the Winter Months….I’ve been slowly stocking up, though more on bagged tea (for various reasons it is more convenient for me to get bagged.) Since I do not like driving much in the Winter.

Drank this yesterday while sitting at my desk at work…I really like the smell it is sweetly pomegranate…the taste is fruity and delicate….once the liquid cooled I did taste some of the vanilla. I am not going to rate it as I was drinking mostly on autopilot while typing on my computer…

This VP debate is hilarious. Pretty sure the moderator wins.

I haven’t seen this one around Atlanta so I had to grab it in Florida last week.

Since RoT’s bags tend to produce an underwhelming cup, I put two in a mug and added milk. I’m just going to leave the bags in there to steep while I drink.

This one is actually really good this way. It’s creamy and chocolatey. I can taste banana, and it’s not bad but just kind of fake.

I accidentally forgot about it and now it’s cold and it tastes like banana chocolate milk! So this is good either way when it’s with milk I would think. I was kind of iffy about picking it up but I’m glad I did it in the end!

I really do enjoy this tea. It is caffeine free, which is good for this time of day, & naturally sweet. And it’s a sipdown!
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This tea gives the initial impression that it might have bergamot in it, but it doesn’t. It has orange bergamot mint, a variety of mint that I’d like to add to my garden (in a pot, because all mints can be terribly invasive!). This tea also has Anise Hyssop, which I’ve wanted to add to my garden for awhile, & there are a few other herbs, & Ginger, which I always love in anything. I think this was the first tea I ever purchased from Republic of Tea, back when they were THE company for interesting teas. I don’t drink it as often as I used to, but it is a lovely & naturally sweet cup, especially nice in the evening after a meal, & good for tummy aches too. I use 2 bags.

My first student of the day requested something “orangey”, so I brewed some of this. It is an herbal tea that I used to really love, back when I wasn’t drinking anything with caffeine in it, & I still enjoy it’s mild herbaliness once in awhile, usually with students who don’t want caffeine.

My morning session of students has ended, & after four back to back steepings of Jin Jun Mei, it’s time for something light!

This tea is a pleasant one. Opening the canister I get a tingly whiff of ginger, then a mild citrus & bergamot, & a hint of anise. It brews up a pale orange liquor, naturally sweet & juicy. It’s nice counter balance of flavor to the deep dark chocolatey brew I had earlier, & will cleanse my palate for what is to come.

I had a bit of this around from a few weeks ago (I’d bought it to make iced tea for a day in the park) and I need to come up for a bit of air from my endless days of yixing bliss, so I decided to polish this off with a nice big cozy pot.

This is a tea I associate with cold, New England days, so I can’t say as I ever crave it here in Houston. But, the citrus oil is fantastic iced and produces a brew which doesn’t need sweetening to be thirst quenching on a hot day. Bright and crisp and that’s all you need.

Brewed hot, this produces a dark, brooding cup. Still with that strong citrus edge, but a bit astringent and cloudy, too.

A good change of pace from cup after cup of yunnan golden and sweet shu pu-erh.

This smells so interesting – sweet and… something else. Savory? Worcestershire sauce? Soy Sauce? Something really bizarre… maybe it just reminds me of a meat spice rub. I’m not against savory teas, I really like New Delhi Delight from Davidsteas.
Flavor-wise, I can taste the rooibos which I like. Otherwise… I’m not sure. It’s kind of a weird savory tea. There is a hint of something minty which I think must be the holy basil.
Again… not bad, just VERY different!