The Republic of Tea

Many thanks to Jaime for this tea!!!!

FINALLY a pumpkin tea that does not taste as if I am drinking a Yankee Candle. The spices (including the ginger) are subtle, authentic, and delicious, and I taste pumpkin. Actual! Pumpkin! The tea is second fiddle to all this, but I like it that way. It plays a good supporting role to the cozy, nostalgic, and sweet pumpkin and spices. A little sugar and a splash of milk make it the world’s best treat on a long holiday weekend.

Thank you once again Jaime!!! I don’t have a World Market near me, so you truly gave me a special experience :) :) :) I am looking forward to another huge mug of this from your generous sample :)

I think my tea died. Honestly, this tin is about two years old and it just tastes like meh. I have heard that some oolongs age well, like puerh, but this isn’t one of them. I don’t know if my tastes have evolved that much or if I made it badly today or if it is just too old to have much flavor left, but there really isn’t a whole lot going on here. I don’t taste any fruitiness or the stone flavor that grabs you with a hard hug that I get from good, dark oolongs. There really isnt a nutty taste anymore. This is so light in flavor.

I guess if I wanted something really subtle this would be fine, but we are doing geometry for Pete’s sake and I need something stronger!

Teavivre’s Monkey Picked would be heavenly right about now.

I brewed this one for a little over three minutes today. The tin says to go five to seven so I may try that next time, but as it is, this is a very good oolong. It has a clean, nutty taste on the first infusion.

Very nice oolong! One of the best I have tried so far – it is light and interesting, with a fruity but not too sweet tone. Others describe it as peachy. I am drinking it plain and it is quite good. Honestly, most oolongs I buy and try and leave them be, but one or two have engaged me and this is definitely one of them!

I personal don’t alter my tea with and sugar, honey, milk…etc. and found this tea refreshing. Like others have mentioned it is better as an ice tea

I had two bags of this and a half teaspoon of Chocolate Monkey from the Art of Tea left, and I said, “Why not?” :) It’s delicious. Chocolatey with a hint of banana. I’m still not tasting 100%, so I’m not picking up “cake!” but still, very enjoyable. Thanks once again Jaime!

Thank you Jaime for the most wonderful package, which included this tisane (my cupboard went from 74 to 92 teas OVERNIGHT! O-M-G!)

I really enjoyed the flavor of this tea! There was definitely a chocolate cake like flavor. CAKE!! They really did the cake part!!! (neat!) I was shocked and pleased at the red velvet cake color (must be the beets!)

I took this with a touch of sugar crystals and a splash of milk, and I’m not sure if it weakened it a bit or what, but next time I would use a little less water and maybe a minute more on the steep to get a little more strength. I would also like to try it sans additions. I have two more bags left, but I need to go to Wegman’s tonight – if they have it I would pick up a tin FOR SURE! It would be a great addition to my tisane arsenal!

CAKE!

I have tried to like this tea, honestly I have. It is just too weak in the tea department and too tart in the strawberry department for me. That said, I DO know this is a decaf intended for children, and I served it today to two little girls aged 4 and 6 who LOVED it. Their mom tried it and she liked it. I am delighted to have a tea for children that is well-liked and that the mommies don’t mind them drinking since it won’t make them hyperactive or keep them up! But give me Marco Polo for my tea and strawberry fix!

When I first tried this tea I thought that it was a little… well… odd, I guess. But you know what? Now I really like it! It’s not an everyday tea for me, but sometimes I will randomly just crave it. It is tart, tangy, a little sweet, and it brews up into a very pretty pinky/purpley color.

I purchased this tea in one of those mini traveler tins because even though I liked the idea of it (the health benefits of both acai and green tea, etc.) I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. However, tonight I just finished off the last teabag in the travel tin and I think that this will definitely be a full-size canister purchase in the future!

I picked up a canister of this tea last fall. The ingredients looked really good (it was an herbal tea!), it was caffeine free (I could have it before bed), and it smelled SO good when I opened up the canister (just like apple cider!).

However, after trying to steep it several different times, for various lengths of time, etc. I was not impressed. It just seemed to be very weak to me, even after trying to steep it with two tea bags. It just seemed like… something was missing from the taste.

Then I got the idea to try and steep this in some warm apple juice. I stuck a mug full of juice in the microwave for a few minutes, then added two teabags and let them steep for ten minutes and continued to let them steep as I was drinking the tea. Mmmm… Fall and apple cider-y deliciousness in a mug. I found this to be a much better way to drink this tea.

I don’t think that I would purchase this tea again for the sole purpose of making apple cider with it, but I will probably finish up what I have because it is a nice fall treat.

This makes ridiculously good iced tea! I mix 4-6 teabags of this and four of Trader Joe’s English Breakfast packets into one of those big sun tea jugs and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. It is delicious! Everyone that has tried it also seems to love it. If I have friends over they will keep “sneaking” over to the fridge to get a refill – the tea is gone really fast every time. I think that it is “just ok” hot, but iced it is fruity, tropical, and refreshing. Sometimes I just open the tea canister to smell it! One of my favorite teas!

I was excited to try this tea but unsure of how I would like it as I am not normally a rooibos fan. I am going to try another cup before I make any rash decisions but the cup I had did not remind me of red velvet anything! It had some berry taste to it??!!! And something else was coming through but I am not exactly sure what it was… going to try it again.

At Cinderella Russian Bakery & Cafe. This was their house iced tea, at least for today. Didn’t see the bag, but all their other teas were Republic so I’m assuming this is it (also since it seems to be one of the more widely available hibiscus tisanes.) even my husband liked it since it wasnt sweetened. He suggested it might be good hot. Maybe I’ll try that with the sample I have at home.

I need to work on the brewing temps for this tea. I used 165 for 2 minutes and the pineapple is great, but there is an almost peppery taste that hits the tongue two seconds after the sip that wants me to dump this cup. It smells so good, I’ll just have to play around with the next cup more.

I won’t rate this tea for now.

Watched the temp more on this cup and got a mildly sweet green tea with a light tartness to the aftertaste. There might be the tiniest hint of apple. Glad to have tried this tea. Thank you Jaime for sending me some.