The Republic of Tea

One word. NASTY. Tastes like shampoo. Hot shampoo.

Love the savory flavor (Umami-ness?) from the toasted rice. First steep was a little weak at 2 minutes but very enjoyable. I steeped the bags a second time for 3 minutes. Both 16 ounce mugs were drained in record time.

12/04/12 Steeped 2.5 minutes. Perfect for me, so yummy and satisfying. Nom, nom, nom.

Got this as a free sample in the mail. All I can say is I won’t be buying this tea. It is very bland. I was quite surprised because when I think of holiday teas I think spice and flavor; both of which I did not get from this tea.

Drank this today with milk. The subtle vanilla flavor together with its earthy taste blends well.

I like the subtle taste of vanilla on this tea, but it lacks the fruity flavor I was expecting on the tasting notes.

This tea is nice alone, or with some honey.

I had very high expectations with this tea, but I’m not really happy with the taste. The chocolate flavor feels very artificial for me.

I drink it with milk and sugar to make it more tasty.

This tea is okay, not that bad but not something you’ll look forward to. I usually drink it with honey and lemons to make it more tasty.

Drank this tea today with milk and honey, and it tastes perfect! Lovely berry makes my morning lively.

A really tasty tea. One of my best berry tea blends, just the right amount of berry to make drinking it unforgettable and not too artificial. Perfect during the day with its fruity and playful flavor. Love this sweetened with honey.

My favorite tea. Subtle orange taste, while being very aromatic. This can be steeped in a long time since it won’t make the tea taste bitter, it make it more flavorful.

Best with honey, I usually add lemons/calamansi which enhances the orange flavor. I usually drink this during the morning or afternoon.

One of my favorite teas. It’s subtle fruity flavor is not overwhelming, good even for first time tea drinkers. Something that is quite playful in flavor and can be served nicely as an iced fruity tea when added with honey.

This tea would be best for kids. They’ll love the strawberry and cherry hints and cream flavor.

I find it best with milk and sugar.

One of the best teas I’ve ever had. I love the fruity smell. It is quite strong, so you have to steep it faster or else the tea will be bitter.

I usually add honey to enhance the fruity nature of this tea.

This tea is very aromatic in a floral scent. For me, it smells quite feminine and makes me think I’m walking in a garden filled with flowers when I drink it.

I usually don’t like floral teas, but this one is an exception.

A strong earthy/grass tasting tea that doesn’t really compliment the honey aroma. Not one of my favorite teas, I usually put some honey and calamansi/lemon to make it taste better.

This is my husbands favorite green tea. He usually hates green tea, but I make him drink it for its health benefits and of all the green teas in the cupboard, this one he drinks up by the canister. When I am able to get a bag of it before they run out, I like to drink it out of a white mug so that I can see the green powder flow from the bag better. I even mush it up against the mug with a spoon just to squeeze out more of the green cloud that is matcha. I’ve also made matcha green tea muffins with this tea and my husband absolutely LOVED them.

As green teas go, this one is very flavorful. I originally purchased it because I found a matcha green tea muffin recipe on Emilie Autumn’s forum that sounded yummy back in my vegan days. The muffins were yummy and so was the tea. I found that mushing the pouch against the mug with a spoon really brings out the flavor. You can actually see the powder spreading through the water when you do it that way. Of course, if you don’t like strong tea then you may want to just steep it normally without mushing it.

This is the only lapsang souchong I’ve tried, and if this is indicative of general flavor profile… blegh. I felt like I was drinking liquid smoke flavoring.

Okay, putting this tea to the test right now. I’ve been having trouble getting good sleep this past week. I’m having a lot of dreams (more than normal) and I’m waking up at lot too. Not sure why though, because I can’t really think of anything that’s changed with my habits.

Anyway, with all these sleep issues this week, today was a test. I work nights, and I had to come off a night shift to work days 24 hours later. I don’t know about anyone else but I can’t make my body work like that. What I’ve noticed is I usually sleep worse the more tired I am. If I’m too sleepy I can’t get to sleep and once I finally do fall asleep I wake up two hours later, can’t go back to sleep and I feel so groggy. But, back on my night schedule (24 hours later) again tomorrow and still exhausted, but can’t sleep.

Considering I haven’t finished the cup (too hot still) I can’t review the effects of the tea as far as sleep goes, but I will say I am starting to feel a little relaxed. I’m thinking it’s because of the warm sensation. It also leaves a nice aftertaste on your tongue. Has a nice sweet touch to it that’s not overpowering at all. It’s nicely sweetened without it making me feel like I’m drinking a cup of sugar that’s going to keep me awake. I also taste a little minty flavor in this tea…which I love because minty teas are one of my favorites.

Well, I guess I’ll leave it at this; I love the taste of this tea and will be buying more just for the flavor if it doesn’t work tonight. Other than that, I’ll leave another note tomorrow on how it helped my sleep issues. Wish me luck tea lovers!!!

Republic of Tea’s version stands out from the rest, because they use peppermint instead of spearmint. I wager you’ll not find a tastier mint tea outside Morocco.

Fantastic to smell as it is to drink, this tea is berry nice. ;) Lots o’ dried blackberries mixed in, too.

Perfect for the fall and winter months, this tea brings the campfire to your cup!

Enjoyable, but a wee bit heavy on the nutmeg. Careful not to over-sweeten!

Having this tea again, and still loving it. Since my first taste I’ve tried it cold…not bad, but I prefer this tea hot much more. It tastes good without any sweeteners, but I’m a honey in my tea kind of gal, so I’m sticking with my tsp of honey.

I find one perfect tea spoon of this stuff at 2.5 min steeping does the trick, not too strong, but not bland at all. The mint flavor really pops from this tea, and the aroma is really nice too.