Featured & New Tasting Notes

Backlogged. I had this this morning. It’s what you get when you don’t really have enough of the white tea with kiwi and strawberry and you got inspired by a fellow Steeper the other day just add something else to it. So this is half white tea with kiwi and strawberry and half white tea with pomegranate.

The former was once quite nice but has faded a little. The latter have never been more than a bit better than mediocre and has never actually really tasted like pomegranate all that much. Obviously, what could I call this other than ‘fruit salad’?

It was nice enough, but heavily dominated by the strawberry/kiwi half. It’s not something that I’m heartbroken over not being able to make more of, but it was quite nice for the travel mug on the train.

Seriously…this must be the perfect amount of ginger I can handle…just there…not over powering…LOVE it! The Peach is more prominent but I like that!

Candy Cane Lane is an absolute favorite! I love that it’s green tea based, and it’s minty with a hint of vanilla. I think it’s the vanilla that makes it so soothing. The icy coolness of the mint and the warmness of the vanilla combine to make this a spectacular tea, all year round! I love it so much, that I stock up at the holidays so that I can enjoy this every month.

Also, as a bonus-check out JASON’s hand & body lotion infused with Candy Cane Lane. A very special treat.

First time that I’m trying this tea. It was OK, I was a little bit surprised by the lack of flavour, but it’s usually like that when I first try a tea. We’ll see next time.

Without sugar, the Creme of this still is enough to take away the acidity that can ruin Earl Grey on a bad day. Mmmmm.

To cut the sourness of the Very Berry I recently reviewed I thought I would pair with a black tea. It helps a lot but is still not very good…oh well…at least I tried. Looks like I will be throwing away the Very Berry from Teavana…

I’m a fan of this tea in the morning. It smells amazing and is very fruity.

Putting off work and back logging tea.
I had this last night and was only half way paying attention. From my recollection, it is very very vegetal. In fact, I felt like I got my daily serving. But, as a veggie person I wasn’t terribly bother by it.
As for being a sencha, my plate isn’t well rounded enough to say it was good or bad, but from my one prior experience with sencha (at Texlux now that I think of it) this is what I think of when I imagine sencha.
Again, I might have over steeped it and will aim for about only a minute next time round.

I don’t like the new style whites as much as the traditional silver needle, but it’s still mighty fine (how’s that for proper tea tasting language).

Not that many kids tonight so that means MOAR HALLOWEEN CANDY FOR ME, MWHAHAHA! XD

I’m drinking this to combat the sugar overdose, although it might be fighting a losing battle. Oh well, at least I can say that this is one chocolate that won’t go straight to my hips! ;)

This blend is so good… it smells like a flower bed after the rain. It’s fresh, flowery and with a tiny bit of tartness from hibiscus. Very smooth tea, none of the ingredients is overpowering, they all work together flawlessly.
Absolutely delicious and totally refreshing either hot or cold.

I was desperate and lonely. I was weak. It was bad.
I tried it as first with out any milk, and decided it needed it. Didn’t help. The smell of is milky and spicy/sweet and absolutely yum. The taste was the exact opposite. Its weak with a hint of spice and then bitter. A boon is that the spice is in fact well rounded and not just cinnamon, but I had to search for it.
Overall, unpleasant, but I could deal.

This is a delicious tea that manages to give off a truly tropical, summery vibe—impressive for a hot beverage! The sweet fruit flavors do mask the acerbic taste that is standard for non-blended white or green teas, reducing it to a tingling afterthought; whether this is good or bad depends largely on your personal preference and state of mind. But all in all, I think Lipton has done well with this blend, which is a definite mood-lifter.

This tea is definitely best if brewed less than I did today, but still amazingly good. It definitely gets pretty bitter if brewed too long, though, but still one of my favorites.

The best attempt of this tea yet! YAY!

I’m typing this up as I wait for the first trick-or-treaters to ring the doorbell and I figured I’d make myself something autumn-y to get in the spirit.

I love the strong, ‘real’ apple flavouring of this tea but the black tea base is just so flat that it takes away from the whole thing. Oh well.

Been a while since I’ve had this but remember it as a very fine oolong. Delicate but complex.

OMG! I just found out this tea is one that Teavana has discontinued! Figures! The last 4 teas I bought from them they have discontinued ALL Of them…I LOVE 3 out of the 4 teas I bought too! I was going to re-order – guess that won’t be happening. I do have a bit more of this left but am craving it…so I will be drinking more of it very soon!

This is a very full-flavoured, bright tisane. The hibiscus gives it a tang and combined with the fruits and lemongrass, it tastes almost berry-ish. I always make sure I have a container of this one around.

Again, I have no basis for comparison with this tisane. But, compared to its flavored counterparts, I muchly prefer my rooibos plain. And iced.
Though it’s somehow cold down here in Southern California, I still drink it cold. I mean, it’s nice warm, but it’s really spectacular iced. I know I’m going in circles here, but… iced. This is a tisane to have iced.
It’s absolutely refreshing – more thirst-quenching than water. If I could have a pitcher of this constantly in the refrigerator, I could give up soda easily. But, unfortunately, I’m just too lazy to keep brewing and icing the tea… I need a tea slave.
This is also the only drink I’ll pay for at Teavana bars. Even though it’s way over-priced. But, if you know the people who are managers, or just old cards, you can generally coerce a free drink out of them through negotiation – “I’ll buy four ounces of this, if you hook me up with a free drink”. The trick here is that Teavana employees work on commission, and only make money for the product they sell, but not on the drinks they make. Sometimes you can spend less money on the leaf than you’d be paying for the drink.

In any case, this is a great herbal to ice up if you haven’t tried it before, though you might want to wait until the warmer months. Or, if you want to get some now, it’s also great hot, or even room temperature -a very versatile drink.

Ok. Something must be addressed before I say anything else.

WAY TO ROCK HARD, STEEPSTER OVERLORDS.

I am FULLY digging the new update. It’s like opening a present, that is in a box, and inside the box is another box, and in that box is a key, which you use to open a chest… I’m sure I haven’t seen everything that has been tweaked yet, but MAN ALIVE, you guys have been working hard. It is MUCH APPRECIATED. And now that I can go back and adjustate and accuratize and other made up words all the stuff I’ve logged before you’ve given me quite a pile of stuff to keep me busy. AWESOME.

So yes. Eight at the Fort. I think I need to play around with the steeping time on this because it came out a bit bitter for me. It definitely is smooth, though.

The tin has that distinct dark, almost earthiness in the scent that I have come to associate with black teas, but with an almost fruity undertone. In the infusion, that sweetness is lost to me. Looking at the tea itself, it’s comprised mainly of the dark twisted leaves typical of black teas, but there are a few sprouts intermixed that are quite downy. There are also some lighter, near lighter brown, near golden leaves.

Eight at the Fort makes me wish I knew more about black tea, or tea in general really. I can’t even begin to pick out what the hell is in this because it’s very well blended and makes for a solid, singular taste. It’s certainly is going to have me jumping for a while trying to figure it out. I think that I’ve been drinking so much stuff that’s flavored lately that I’ve lost a semblance of what some teas taste like as a standalone. As it is right now, the tea doesn’t really taste like anything to me. Just…tea. It’s not an unpleasant taste by any means, I just don’t have anything to compare it to.

The aftertaste has an extremely pleasant, grounded sweetness to it that is reminiscent of some of the subtler dark chocolate I’ve had. It’s not obviously sweet like Hershey’s, you have to wait for it, and when it comes it’s not overwhelming. It’s just there, and it lingers in the recesses of your mouth before leaving as quietly as it arrived.

Right now, I like this tea. With some adjustment and attention, I think that I could REALLY like this tea. If anyone has any suggestions on steep times or temperature or whatnot, by all means send them my way. I didn’t steep it as long as the packaging suggests, but it’s already bitter for me at 4:30, so I’m thinking I don’t want to go much longer if any longer at all.

I tried this again, steeping it longer and at a lower temperature. This time, the spice is mellower, and the tea flavor shines through a bit better. It definitely upped the yummy factor a lot.

Dang. This is not making my next tea order any smaller.

My kinda ghetto fall back green. A bit weak, a bit bitter, but still tasty for a cup over orgo. Overall what I’d expect from 500g of tea for $3.

It’s official: Lena rocks! Why? Because she sent me this tea.

BEST. JASMINE. EVER.

Seriously. This is what I should have had last night when I was let down by the clunky, graceless jasmine oolong I brewed. This is light and delicate but yet has a substantial enough flavor that it doesn’t seem like flavored water.

Ugh, I don’t have a good enough command of language to express how lovely this jasmine is. Gorgeous. I love breathing in over the cup – the jasmine scent hits my tongue and is so sweet and yummy that I’m tasting the tea before any gets in my mouth.

Looks like I’m going to have to place an Adagio order soon!