The Republic of Tea

This was a ok tea. It did not have as strong of a flavor as I was expecting but it was good. Good cold and hot.

I got this as a sampler and it was great. It did not have the Chai kick witch is great no hart burn. I did not have to add as much splenda and the flavor was strong even after 2 brewings.

It was reduced by 75% at Bristol Farms ($20 orig.) so I had to try it. I had high hopes because of RoT’s Orchid Oolong, but this tea isn’t the same thing. It doesn’t have as distinct a flavor. It’s still a good oolong and refreshing, but no cigar. Maybe if I had a variable temperature kettle, I could get a better taste because of closer temperature accuracy. I’ll keep experimenting with brewing and see if I change my mind.

my fiance’s mom gave me a few bags of this to try today, and I might have to go get my very own tin of it. It’s so different, and I love coconut!
next time maybe i’ll try some honey

This tea brews up a rich red hue and smells absolutely heavenly. The mint flavor comes through quite strongly, but there are still some nice chocolatey tones in it, too. A very lovely tea indeed. As an added bonus, it’s caffeine free. Yippee!

Like Dinosara, I picked this up at Panera with my chicken caesar salad for lunch. Salads are cold, and I wanted something warm to go with it. So this seemed to be a safe choice. I drank it straight.

In the end, the tea was fairly weak but the flavor that was there was good. It definitely needs a lot more mango in my opinion. I didn’t taste much mango or fruitiness in general. I suppose the tea was slightly sweeter than if the mango flavoring had not been added. I think if I had added milk or sugar, then that’s all I would have tasted.

Overall, it warmed me up and was pleasant enough. It’s one of those teas that I’d rather have than no tea at all. But if presented with a lot of other tea choices (especially loose leaf), I’d go with something else.

Thanks to momo for the sample.

This isn’t bad. Brewed up pure I was getting chocolate but wasn’t getting any red velvet. So I splashed some soy milk into this and it definitely helped bring out that cake creaminess. This is on par with the peppermint chocolate I tried the other night.

This was in the Travelling Tea box and I believe it came from CupofTree. I’ve heard of these chocolate blends and I’m excited to try them (I have another sample I need to get to as well)

This was VERY minty and had a nice chocolate smell. I do agree with the other that the mint comes through more than the chocolate. Knowing how RoT is, I made sure to not use too much water since the bags are small. This is a nice herbal blend, and I would highly recommend this for anyone who loves mint.

I just let this steep forever and ever in the mug so it got pretty strong.

I also just realized this is a rooibos blend, so I have to give RoT points because I didn’t even taste the rooibos (which is usually pretty strong).

ok so after class i decided to finally go to the tea shop and buy myself some Matcha since i was so curious and never had it. the second i got back to my apartment i made a matcha tea smoothie, which was magnificent with 1 teaspoon of match. then right before my last class i made a regular hot cup to go and it was decent except for the over powering chalky taste. i recommend using it for lattes or smoothies.

Made two mugs of this for breakfast along with a slice of Matcha cake with cream cheese frosting.

Had again today.
brewed 30 sec-1 min first infusion at 130* F
brewed 1 min second infusion at 135* f.

very very interesting. both were strong but sweet. odd, i always thought i had to brew this one for like four minutes… guess I was wrong!

Ahhhhhh… Delicious. I forgot how good and simple this is to brew. Soft almost sweet taste. Subtle hint of bitter and umami.

Brewed four minutes at 140 f

Not as good as real matcha but 1000X better than the other “green teas” i have had from the supermarket. would highly recommend for those wanting to try something with a more complex flavor than standard run of the mill teas. Def. recommend as a stepping stone tea to straight matcha. it gets you used to the flavor. Makes a great everyday tea without the hassle that comes with making a good cuppa matcha.
It does better with water that is less than 180*F. I usually use between 140 and 165.

I don’t know if this one is available anymore. I give it the honor of being my favorite tea that I’ve ever bought. I’ve long sought an oolong to replace this one. It is very buttery, as the other reviewer said. I’m terrible at describing flavors unfortunately, so I can’t illuminate this too much.

Huh. Interesting. A friend of mine gave me a couple of bags of this tea to try and it’s okay. I definitely get the chocolate and just a tad of fruitiness and, yes, cake. Definitely red velvet. Not something I’d want to drink every day, but a tasty little experiment nonetheless! Had mine with a bit of milk and honey.

Giving this a try iced, since even through we’re halfway through October, it’s still pretty warm here in Atlanta.

It makes a pretty refreshing iced tea, I have to say. The caramelly flavor I described previously really comes out when it’s chilled. Same with the creamy pumpkin. Also, I can somehow taste the tea base better this way, too. Not sure why. I think next time I make this iced, it’s going to get a splash of milk, too. Should be a nice treat!

Why did I wait so long to taste this tea?! Maybe I was waiting for fall? Anyway, I got in a trade with QueenOfTarts almost a year ago.

This is great stuff! Much, much better than the Pumpkin Spice Adagio sells. The most prevalent spice in it seems to be cinnamon, as the ginger is more subtle. The pumpkin flavor is surprisingly realistic! Like pumpkin pie filling, especially with the touch of nutmeg. It really makes me think of Thanksgiving. Also, there’s a taste of caramel, to me at least, though it could be my imagination. I can’t really taste the actual tea in it, as it’s buried beneath layers of delicious spices. I’m going to have this as my breakfast tea until I run out.

Best pumpkin tea I’ve tried so far!

I needed some bagged tea for work. I’ve been trying to cut down on coffee and drink more green tea for health benefits, but I really don’t like the taste of plain green tea, blech. Grassy. So I saw this on sale at my local grocery store and picked some up.

It’s PERFECT for what I bought it for. Republic of Tea seems to do a decent bagged tea. No, it’s not fresh loose. But at work loose leaf just isn’t practical. There are notes of berry in this, but I don’t find it cough syrupy or artificial tasting. It’s not grassy. Pleasant flavor, and exactly what I needed. Good hot. (I usually don’t try greens cold, due to the aforementioned grass flavor).

This tea is fairly weak with only one teabag. May require 2-4 bags and perhaps a dash of cinnamon to obtain your desired flavor if you prefer a stronger, cider-like tea.

I received a single sample bag of this. Steeped 2.5 minutes with water just under boiling. I was able to get 2 really good steeps.

This is a really nicely flavored black tea. The pumpkin spice flavoring is soft and creamy. The tea is subdued and in the background. This is probably the best pumpkin tea I’ve had.

Okay, this is surprisingly good. I was at the grocery store the other day and poked around to see what offerings RoT had in the Chinese green department. Chicago Tea Garden made me like them (with their lovely Wuyu and Bi Luo Chun). I just ran out of the BLC and since it’s not like I can buy any more, I’ve been kind of hoping (but not expecting) to find something that could replace it.

This isn’t quite there, but maybe with some tweaking it could be a good contender. It’s got the nice sweetness that CTG’s BLC has and a good nuttiness. It does have a prickle of saltiness and astringency and a bit more sharpness to it than CTG’S BLC, but it’s not so strong that it is unpleasant. I wonder if, with a shorter steep time or less leaf, I could get that astringency to back of. If I could get it to do that without losing the sweeter notes, I’d be a happy camper.

I will say, I’m pretty sure this stuff is fairly fresh as the store didn’t offer this in their bulk section the week or so before I bought it. I’m starting to think that the fresher a Chinese green is, the more sweetness this is. Can anyone confirm or deny that thought?

It seems like I am one of the few who like hibiscus on steepster. HOWEVER, I like them in a good blend. I do not think this is a good blend. It tastes like cough syrup or…bad cheap red zinger herbal tea. I can’t taste the green tea base. It makes my face move into a pursed lip expression of disgust. No thanks, not for me.

I love this tea. It’s sweet, but not overly-so. It doesn’t taste very artificial, though from the smell, you might think it would taste artificial. It’s far superior to orange flavored teas by Celestial seasonings, for sure.

All in all, I enjoy it very much.

I absolutely tore through my first order of this tea and am now pacing myself through the second. The first time I prepared this, I prepared it all wrong and wasn’t too impressed (though I didn’t think it was bad), it was just much more like a green tea than a white tea.

The next go around I was more careful in my preparation. I poured very warm water just enough to cover the bag and let it sit about a half minute before adding the rest of the water, and I used water that wasn’t at boiling. I also shortened my steeping time from 4 minutes to 2 minutes. The cup came out absolutely perfect.

The aroma is amazing and the flavor was sweet, slightly creamy, and very pure. The aftertaste came out as the slightly earthy aftertaste of drinking a clean green tea, which was very pleasant. I really enjoy this tea in the summer (hot or cold) because of how delicate it is.