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Okay. Last sample from The Tea Merchant! I feel like I’m sloshing. Between trying all these teas this weekend and rediscovering my love for raspberry creme Italian sodas I have been full of liquid! :)

This smells luscious. Like raspberry and pomegranate. Liqueur is slightly sweet and strongly flavored of those fruits. A very mild floral note hiding in the background. As it cools, an astringency creeps in at the end making me feel like I need water to wet my mouth.

A very nice tea. The green tea base seems to be fine. Nothing less or more than standard green tea, but I am not a normal green tea drinker, so perhaps others can comment on that with more authority. The tea is, however, just a conveyance for the fruit flavors in this blend. Nothing grassy or vegetal – just fruit!

Thank you to The Tea Merchant for the sample. Three down, one to go!

I do so love Nilgiri tea and this blend with Yunnan is very, very good. A nice, honest black tea that is somewhat peaty and malty. I can actually get the hints of cocoa when cooled. Not a sweet tea at all. I can see where it could become bitter if oversteeped. A good, classic tasting black tea.

Thanks again to The Tea Merchant for this sample!

Many more leaf colors than I am used to seeing in darjeelings. There are some leaves that are somewhat reddish, even. Very pretty.

I did forget about this while I was sorting laundry and it brewed for a few minutes longer than recommended. That said, I expected a huge hit of astringency at the end and it was only really a medium one. No bitter taste, either.

A bright, clean taste. Very nice. A not unpleasant bite to the scent of the steeped cup, but that may come from oversteeping.

Thanks, The Tea Merchant, for providing this sample!

Smells absolutely heavenly. Light yellow liquid that smells very vanilla-y. The vanilla is indeed strong in this tea, which is just fine – I love vanilla teas! I don’t notice a citrus to this at all, though. The oolong isn’t strong, either.

I do love how oolongs look when brewed. This one with the marigold petals looks almost like dragonflies. Perhaps “Silk Dragon” is a very apt name. :)

Oh, and I love the packaging. The sealing wax was a great touch!

The mint is indeed very intense. It actually cools my mouth, even with the tea being hot.

I cannot get over how huge the leaves are!!! Amazing. A very light brew and if you need to freshen your mouth after a meal, this is one to reach for. My only problem is that it is so minty (and I do love minty things) that it reminds me of the dentist. I won’t keep it on hand but I’m glad I got to try this sample. I think it is a quality tea, but not for me.

And now I am out of new teas to sample. Until my Harney order comes in, anyway… So much for clearing out the cupboard. I couldn’t help it. It looked so empty…

Yum! Creamy, definitely pistachio. Such interesting leaves – thin and long. Looks almost like rosemary rather than tea. More body than I’m used to finding in green tea. This could well make it into my regular rotation. Delicious.

Okay so I steeped for less time than previously. Very nice. Definitely assertive. I don’t notice as much astringency as before so perhaps I got the time down for this one finally. :) It’s almost a little peaty, which is good.

This is amazing. I rarely find greens I want to keep in my stash. This is one.

Smells of sweet, heavenly pineapple. Almost more like juice than the fresh fruit, which is just fine. The tea leaves are super huge when they unfold.

Pale, pale yellow with a taste that lives up to the smell. Such a rarity. :)

This goes on the list to buy more. I can see I’ll go through this pretty quickly. Plus, I have to have some to share!

I like this one quite a bit. I don’t think my palate is advanced enough to pick out the white tea, though, so to me it just tastes like a fruit tisane with more body than normal.

Smells amazing both dry and steeped. A lovely looking tea. Strong pineapple and coconut finally! The coconut is definitely present after the tea vanishes from my mouth. Pineapple taste is pretty strong in the liquid. There is a slight oiliness to the mouthfeel.

Mildly sweet but I can see how this could quickly become bitter without paying attention to the steeping. I could be wrong on that, though. After all, I didn’t know this was a white since it was thrown into my embarrassingly large purchase as a freebie. I thought it was a green and I probably used a higher temp water than generally advisable for a white? But it isn’t bitter.

This is going to be a nice dessert-y type of tea to keep on hand.

Again, I hope I got the right tea. I added updated info and picture from Tropical Tea Company’s site. Though there were no berries in my blend I could definitely smell them.

I get cranberries through and through. I didn’t expect to notice chocolate – white chocolate not usually having any cacao in it – but I thought maybe a bit of sweet. I don’t get any sweet that can’t be attributed to the berries. Oddly, adding sugar makes it just a bit more sour.

Won’t be getting this one again.