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Like so many other herbals, it smells sweet and fruity but tastes tart. I don’t know why I continue to buy herbals and teas with hibiscus when I know what is in store tastewise. Nonetheless, their sweet smells always sucker me in. This is not as bad as other herbals because the mango/papaya flavors provide a nice contrast but in the end it is just not for me. Perhaps it will serve better in the summertime as an iced tea.

Once I was rummaging through my swap package from Dexter3657 for the Pineapple Bacon Rooibos, this caught my eye. It was creamy and delicious smelling and a good contrast to the smokiness of the bacon tea. Tastewise there is a slight tartness from the rhubarb but it is coupled with a deliciously sweet creaminess which I suppose is meant to be the custard. All in all, it is definitely making for a nice treat tonight so thank you Dexter for sharing yet another tea with me.

Sipdown! (180)

So I have now finished up the sample Dexter3657 sent over and though it was an interesting tea to try, I am not too heartbroken that it is gone. This tea is sweet and pineapple-y but ends off with a smoky bacon note. Unique to try but not something I will really crave. Thank you Dexter for sharing with me. It was fun while it lasted :)

Second tea from my Hanukkah present from my roommate and so far she is two for two! This tea smells like a candy and tastes like one too. I can’t quite put my finger on which candy but it is a delicious cherry hard candy. Luckily, it manages to avoid tasting like cough syrup so it is a delightfully sweet hard candy in a cup with some hints of floral to round out the flavors.

I got back last night from visiting my family late so my roommate has already gone to sleep. Today when we finally saw each other she presented me with my Hanukkah present – FOUR NEW CAMELLIA SINENSIS TEAS!!! They all smelled so fruity and delicious and I could not wait to test them out. So I brewed up this tea for the both of us to try. It is really good. It is not as delicate as most teas are but still a light, citrus-y and fruity tea. Delicious!!

I have been reading review after review about this tea and so I decided to break into my tea box from Cavocorax and try it out. I have been hesitant as it is not a dessert, over-the-top flavor tea I am used to and I was worried I would not be a fan. At the same time, I have noticed my tastes changing towards simpler teas on occasion so I thought I might finally be ready. Unfortunately, I don’t think I am quite at that point in my tea love where I can truly appreciate a nice, straight black tea as I am not finding the appeal of this cup no matter how hard I look for the flavors that everyone loves. Maybe in the future my tastes will evolve more and this will become a favorite but for now it is just not for me. Thank you Cavorcorax for sending me a sample but alas I think it was wasted on me.

The only milk we had in our apartment today was Vanilla Almond milk and given the snow storm outside, I did not feel like venturing out to get some regular milk so today I used almond milk to make my matcha. Apparently that was the key to finding the vanilla flavoring (granted I am not sure how strong the vanilla flavor is in the plain milk) because this cup is vanilla overload. It is like drinking a creamy, liquefied vanilla bean and I have not determined if that is a good or bad thing in this case. Nonetheless, thank you Sil for sharing this sample with me! I think in the near future I will be placing a Red Leaf Order and getting some French Vanilla so it will be interesting to finally get to compare the two.

When I smelled the coconut in the bag, it was almost cloyingly sweet but I am happy to say that the sweetness in the cup is no where near as strong and that is a good thing. The cup has cooled quite a bit so this might not be the most accurate review of the hot tea flavor but when the tea is warm, I get a pastry-type mouthfeel that is definitely reminiscent of pie. There is a distinct sweetness throughout the sip but the coconut really shines at the end and lingers in the aftertaste. I am not getting the cream but that could be due to the tea having cooled already. Nevertheless, this is still a delicious cup of tea. And with this tried, I just have one more tea from the bestsellers sampler to try out!

Try as I may, I cannot seem to pull out the Irish Cream flavor. No matter what I do, I feel as though I am just drinking an exceptionally creamy cup of milk. Today I got a particular thick and creamy mouth feel but still lacked the flavor. Oh well, it was still a tasty treat.

Well Cavocorax, it might just be the water. Or it is me. Having this cup today, it didn’t taste like the amazing chocolate coconut treat I had the first time back in Montreal. Instead, it almost had a fake banana quality to it (which is super strange given there is no banana in this whatsoever). I suppose it could have just been an artificial sweetness that I associate with fake banana. Either way, I was not a huge fan. I guess I will have to get through the 4 oz I ordered while still in Montreal because whatever happened to the cup here was not something I enjoyed.

On a happier note, I learned today that I am spreading the tea love. After sharing the TARDIS tea with a friend on Wednesday, he decided to branch out from the Orange Pekoe he usually drinks. He has since gone to DAVIDs to pick up some new flavors to test out.