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This is one of those times where I’m not quite sure what this tastes likes because, as I realize only after having brewed it, I have no idea what chamomile tastes like on its own. I assume floral, but this doesn’t really taste floral to me. I think I taste citrus and the tartness of hibiscus. And that’s kind of it except at the end where I get a very light minty coolness on my tongue. The more sips I take right now, the more I begin to like it. I wasn’t so sure at first. And, by the way, what the heck happened here? I was so sure at the beginning of my tea journey that I 100% did not like lemon or orange flavors….and then I found out that bergamot is a variety of citrus and everything has gone downhill since then. I feel like I’ve been lied to….by my own self….for like a really long time.

What?!?!? My dearest Ost….how is it that you somehow were able to send me so many samples that genuinely surprised me? I did not at all expect to like this. But lo and behold…I did! Now, I will definitely do things a tad differently next time I have this, but I actually liked so much more than I thought I would. I will put less tea with more water next time to combat the slightly overwhelming sweetness I got on the first steep. The second steep was amazing. Like…I really didn’t want it to end. It was so relaxing.

And seriously…I don’t like cotton candy. At all.

But this was so good!

PANCAKES!!! That was the first and, let’s be honest here, most important thing I tasted! It was nice that there was good maple flavor without really tasting sweet. And it was very smooth. Lovely. Thanks Beorhthraefn for the sample! It was right up my alley!

I got to sample this at Cost Plus World Market today and, since I had a gift card, I purchased a tin of this and a couple of decorative storage tins for some other teas that have been making my kitchen smell like berries and cream recently :) I got these two:
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/woodland+bird+tea+tin.do?&refType=&from=Search
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/coral+treetop+tea+tin.do?&refType=&from=Search

And I can already tell I will soon be grabbing these two:
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/kyoto+garden+tea+tin.do?&refType=&from=Search
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/sahara+bloom+tea+tin.do?&refType=&from=Search

They’ve got great seals, too. Love them so much!

On to the tea! This was a very enjoyable black tea. I can’t say I tasted much maple, but I could taste the nutty pecan and was quite happy with that. This will be a lovely cold-morning tea, I think :)

I drank this a while back but, it seems, never wrote a note? (Or, as I hear, Steepster may have eaten it?) Anyway, this wasn’t bad. But, for me, this wasn’t good enough to ever buy again. I admit…I really only bought it for the tin. My main problem is that this didn’t really taste like pomegranate, unless the insane astringency I got after leaving the bag in my room temp water for like 45 minutes counts as pomegranate? Maybe I just need to sweeten it and have it hot. I’ll try that next time.

I have thus far been unimpressed with Adagio’s white teas because they never seem to taste like what I want them to taste like…that could be MY problem, but it definitely makes me less keen on trying out more white teas from them. This just wasn’t very strawberry-ish. It’s very light. I tried it both hot and let it cool to room temp. Not much difference for me. The white tea is probably good on its own, but I wanted a strawberry white tea.

I bought this not realizing the giant letters announcing that it was a chai. I mean, I expect pumpkin SPICE to be spicy, but just seeing the word chai made me think it would be too intense. As a few people suggested to me, I brewed this in half water and half unsweetened coconut milk. This was the first time I have brewed a tea IN milk instead of just adding it after brewing.

First of all, oh my goodness. The smell is exactly pumpkin pie (not just pumpkin….crust…cinnamon…even whipped cream!) using this method. The taste….I’m not sold. I think I will try this with unsweetened vanilla almond milk next time because the coconut flavor either overpowered the pumpkin flavor or there was simply none to be found. That’s not to say that it wasn’t good, and the amount of spice was tolerable. I just wouldn’t think of this if I was craving pumpkin. I’d think of it on a cold night.

Am I really expecting too much when wishing for actual pumpkin flavor in a pumpkin spice tea?

I could have sworn I wrote a note about this one already…I had it early last week, I believe. I think I was expecting a more identifiable floral flavor, but all I really got was white tea. I enjoyed the cup (and the two more I was able to resteep), but it wasn’t what I’d thought it would be. I’m surprised to read some reviews stating that this had too strong of a flower taste for them. I probably need to drink this again with a more discerning palate before I rate it.

So I got a little tangy and a little creamy…but mostly orange. I felt like this had to steep for quite a while to be anything more than a sweet-ish honeybush (not that I’d necessarily be complaining about drinking that). I feel like this could be Anytime Smoothie Honeybush because it isn’t so fruity that it screams morning. I definitely wouldn’t buy this again but I don’t mind drinking it.

I definitely like strawberry in my teas because I think I’ve liked every strawberry variation I’ve had so far. This was nice because it had good strawberry flavor with just the right amount of cinnamon to make it feel desserty. I would have gone more with something along the lines of muffin than pie, but I’ll take it either way.