Paul Tracy

This is a tea for which I have a love/hate relationship. As a hot tea, it's mediocre at best. It's a fair-rate green tea, but the accent essences of rhubarb, raspberry and vanilla are lost. Now, put this over ice and it's completely different! This makes an incredible iced tea. Cold, the fruit flavors really stand out. This is a perfect refreshment for 115 degree desert summer days.

This is one of my all-time favorite green teas. It's excellent both hot and iced. This blend has a pleasant yin/yang quality to it in the mixing of the hot, spicy ginger with the cooling and somewhat creamy coconut. The fragrance is enticing and reminds me of some of my favorite Thai dishes.

Most either love or hate Lapsang Souchong tea. I love Lapsang, but absolutely hated Adagio's rendition. Instead of a pleasant smokey fragrance, the tea had an acrid almost chemical aroma. When brewed, it was sour and tasted (as I would imagine it to taste) like turpentine. It's possible that the tea was dried too close to the pine or some of the resin made its way into the tea. Maybe I received a bad batch, but I've had a lot of really good Lapsang from other merchants so I'll stick with them.

I received a box of this tea as a gift. I don't usually buy bagged teas, but I never look a gift leaf in the mouth. (Or whatever the tea equivalent of that saying would be.) Upon opening the inner lining, the first thing I noticed was that the bags were very slightly moist. I was surprised because the seal was airtight. The room immediately filled with an aroma similar to a cross between blackberries and blueberries. The richness of the fruit flavoring carried through to the brewed tea. It was naturally sweet, but the black tea balanced this well so it wasn't cloying. If you like "fruity" teas and don't mind using a tea bag, this is a winner.

This is one of my favorite morning teas. Words I would use to describe it are earthy, nourishing and grounding. Upon brewing, the tea has a mild toasted-cereal-in-a-meadow fragrance which carries through to the flavor. This makes for a rich (almost hearty) drink. The color, which is slightly turbid, is a pleasant green that approaches neon. The cup is cheerful and is a great way to welcome the day.

It's funny that the merchant's description includes the line "the perfect tea to help kick your coffee habit" because this IS the tea that sent me on my way to starting a tea habit. This brews up dark and bold and can easily satisfy a coffee drinker. You know you're drinking tea, but there's enough body and kick that you don't care. It will stand up to any amount of doctoring that a new tea drinker may need to apply and won't suffer for it. There is a subtle chocolate note, but this is simply a great uncomplicated "starter" black.

I love jasmine tea and I'm on a quest to find the best moderately priced oolong available. From my experience, I would think that there may be better than Adagio's. From their description, the leaves "majestically unfurl." I've tried every sensible brewing time and temperature combination possible and I can only get the pearls to open about half the time. The fragrance only carries an inch or so from the cup and the tea always seems "watered down." My experience with Adagio in general has been that their teas seem "tired" when they arrive. They're simply not very robust and just don't brew up as expected.

In fairness to 52teas, I probably shouldn't have ordered this tea in the middle of the summer when I live in the desert and it's 116 degrees outside in the shade. Opening the bag, you could see the big, chunky bits of raisin. Unfortunately, all of the chocolate bits had melted and pooled on one side of the bag. When I pulled the tea for my first cup, I made sure to include some of the chocolate, but the proportions were probably off. The fragrance of the tea was just like a box of chocolate covered raisins and there wasn't even a hint of tea. As I left my nose in the bag for a bit, it was more like a fine pipe tobacco. Once brewed, the tea was a decent black but none of the chocolate or raisin flavors came through at first. As the cup cooled, it developed more character. The milk chocolate presented itself in fragrance and the flavor became sweet/tart from the raisin. I think I expected a dessert tea and this was more of a black with some personality. I've heard a lot about 52teas and this is my first try of their offerings. I have three other bags I'm looking forward to brewing over the next few days.

Upon waking, I ran out to the kitchen like a little kid on Christmas morning. I just received a bag of this tea in the mail yesterday and I was looking forward to having it with breakfast. Based on the merchant's description and other tasting notes here, I had expected the tea to be slightly smokey (not to lapsang level, but something discernible) and slightly sweet from the maple. What I got is a bag of black tea with what looks like red plastic chips. (these are the fake-on bits) Opening the bag, there was nothing that set this aside from any non-flavored black tea. Upon brewing, again, nothing different; no smokiness, no mapley goodness. From a flavor standpoint, this was simply a so-so black tea. For a guy, I have pretty well developed taste-buds and I couldn't pick up even the most subtle enhancement to the tea. One other note regarding appearance; prior to decanting into my cup, the product was fairly disgusting looking. The bacon bits had softened and returned to their mushy, pink flesh-like appearance and floated at the top. I was disappointed. (Sort of like the kid with the favorite toy that broke after 20 minutes on Christmas morning.)

I had to recover from two fairly poor tasting experiences, so I pulled something out of the cupboard that I was sure would set everything right in tea-world again. This tea has all of the classic lapsang qualities; of course it's "smokey," "piney," etc. What I love about it is that it LACKS any of the sourness or off-notes that I've found in a few other specimens of similar type. It's actually difficult to explain the flavor of lapsang because you really can't taste "smoke." The closest I've been able to verbalize is a very faint tartness with a hint of rosemary. The black tea behind it is always bold. This tea brews to a pleasant rust color and it literally makes my mouth water each time I drink it. The flavor and aroma hold to the very end. This is a really satisfying and consistent tea that I keep on hand for rainy days or wiping out bad tea memories.

I don't have a lot of experience with white teas. The preparation is just a little too fussy and the final product a bit too delicate. I followed the brewing recommendations carefully to give this tea a fair shot. I'm glad I did because I think it turned out perfectly. I really like this tea! I've eaten black currants both raw and in all sorts of recipes. They presented rather strangely, but pleasantly, in this tea. Instead of a tart blueberry/cranberry, this tea has notes of grape and (wait for it) sake. Yes, I definitely taste and smell sake! This is a really light and mild tea that you could drink all day. Its natural sweetness gets more prominent as the cup cools and you do begin to pick up a subtle aftertaste of the currant.

I just opened my bag of this tea and I'm already on my second cup. There's all sorts of interesting alchemy happening in there. Opening the bag, you're first hit with smoke and cinnamon. The smokiness quickly dissipates and you have a pleasantly scented cinnamon tea. Keeping my nose in the bag, I next picked up on the raisin and, I have no idea how they do it, there is a very subtle note of toast! There's something else too. There's a slight heaviness, for lack of something more descriptive, that my brain translated to "butter." If I was unaware of the tea's name, however, I'd never make this connection in a million years. Visually, this is a really appealing tea. In the prepared tea, the cinnamon wins out on each sip but it's not overpowering. You get an occasional tart fruitiness from the raisin and everything else just hangs out in the backgroud to support the main characters. I tried adding a touch of sweetener on the second steep to see if I could bring out more of the raisin. I used agave and its maltiness actually enhanced the toast flavor and brightened the fruit as well. The second cup is as far as I would push this tea. There are too many subtle flavors that would be washed out after this point. To strain a metaphor, there was "magic" in this cup. It's a really odd combination but it simply works.

It being so hot here in the desert, I drink a lot of iced tea. It breaks up the monotony of just water and it's an excuse to drink more tea! This is one of my favorites for iced tea. It's uncomplicated, consistent and very smooth. The vanilla in this tea holds up very well in both fragrance and taste. There's just enough to round off any lingering bitterness that may have snuck into the green tea through imperfect brewing. If the glass gets watered down a bit, the tea flavor dissipates and you're left with something that resembles a watery cream soda. However, a glass rarely lasts long enough to reach this point. An important iced prep note- make it stronger by using more tea leaves. Keep the steep time short and water temperature low.

This is a staple in my tea bar. The tin contains curled black and yellow tea leaves. They're not quite pearls but more like tiny nuggets. (Snails per the merchant) The fragrance they impart is what I would describe as “aqueous”- like clean, fresh water. When brewed, the leaves unfurl to partial and full leaves and produce a bourbon* colored tea. This is one of the smoothest, most mild black teas I’ve tasted. It's mildly vegetative with no bitterness and is quite sweet for an unflavored black tea. *Steep responsibly and remember- friends don't let friends drink bad tea.

It's a bit unusual that this tisane is offered by a cosmetics company, but I suppose it fits with the tranquil spa aura their products are intended to evoke. This is packaged in a large brown glass pharmaceutical looking bottle. Upon opening, you find what appears to be the leavings from a wood shop floor or possibly the material you use at the bottom of a hamster's cage. It's very woody and you need to mix the top few inches fairly well to bring up the finer herbs that have settled. When I prepared this, I used twice the recommended amount because I wanted to be REALLY comforted. The infusion smelled strongly of peppermint overlaying wood and dirt. All the snarky adjectives aside, this is actually a really good tisane! I was surprised by the intense natural sweetness which is enhanced by the licorice. If you typically sweeten herbals, try this straight up first. There's a pleasant cooling effect from the mint and the overall combination of herbs truly is calming. This infusion proves that looks can be deceiving. I really enjoyed this and will keep the big medicinal looking bottle around. (Hidden in the pantry, but it will be used.) One important note, you MUST like licorice if you're going to drink this as it's very "up front."

I'm a sucker for a great name and cool packaging. While not a huge fan of bagged tea, this one hooked me with both. Opening the tin, you find that the tea is packaged in bleached, round wafer style tea bags. The fragrance is a dusty chocolate with a very faint note of mushroom. From the name and description, this green tea should have some indications of a chocolate-cherry flavor component. After steeping for 4 minutes as recommended, you're left with a straw colored liquid with very little character. In fragrance, you can barely sense some cocoa but the flavor is merely that of a very light, mild green. Once the cup cooled, the chocolate presented itself, but very faintly. Goji completely missed its curtain call. I'm a marketing manager's dream in that I'll drop $10 on a tin of tea because of the packaging. However, I'm also their nightmare because I'm vocal when I don't like something. This tea was the epitome of all that fails in a bagged tea.

When I first read the description of this tisane, I thought ICED! I went to Souvia and the two very friendly and helpful ladies working there were patient enough to brew up a batch and ice it down for me to try before I purchased a bag. It was everything I expected and more. This tisane was visually appealing. It was vibrant, full of color and had readily recognizable ingredients. The fragrance is of a chai with faint hints of lemon and an underlying mellowness most likely from the apple and chicory. This is such a complex mixture that it will probably taste a little different every time I make a cup. In the iced preparation, the spices pop to the top and are really refreshing. The apple and chamomile cool down and take the edge off the "hotter" components. The cardamom provides a bit of mouth-tingle and makes you feel clean and fresh. The tea finishes off on subtle notes of lemongrass and berry. What is truly remarkable is that if you concentrate, you can mentally pick this apart into the most subtle notes of black pepper and even the rose hip. This blend obviously had a lot of time put into its design and it shows the craftsmanship behind its maker. I'm looking forward visiting Souvia regularly!

I have to admit that I only had a small sample of this tea, but it was so good I wanted to make sure I at least recorded my initial impression. Pear is one of those delicate flavors that's really difficult to get into a tea without resorting to artificial flavors. This green tea does an excellent job of highlighting the flavor. The tea itself is (for lack of a more masculine way to describe it) pretty. It's a vibrant green with flecks of yellow and gold and contains small nuggets that look like gemstones. These are the candied pear bits. Prepared, this is a smooth green but maintains some of its pleasant grassiness. You can taste the pear and it's a clean, crisp version. It's not artificial or overly pronounced.

I'm in another Russian Lit phase. (I'm currently reading Turgenev.) In keeping with the theme, I wanted to pick up a really good Russian Caravan. Usually I drink Lapsang with my Russian tomes (War and Peace required over 100 grams) but I don't need to feel like I'm in front of a campfire when it's 110 degrees outside. Russian Caravan should be a mix of Oolong, Keemun and Lapsang Souchong. When I first opened this bag, it was so smoke laden that I thought they had mispackaged their Lapsang into this bag. Once brewed, however, it mellowed and the plumy and vegetative qualities took precedence and there was just a faint smoke finish to the tea. There was also a lingering sweet aftertaste. This is by far the best RC I've had. It was balanced, flavorful and had no bitterness. The tannins were virtually nonexistent. If Lapsang is a bit too strong for you and Keemun is too simple, this might be a good compromise.

You definitely get your money's worth out of this tea as it holds up to multiple infusions. In the tin, the tea has a strong melon (honeydew and cantaloupe) fragrance. The leaves are tightly rolled and are gravel-like in appearance and they have a very bright green color. After the first infusion, the tea had not completely unfurled. In taste and smell, the fruit characteristics of the tea hold up. There was, however, a very slight astringency, almost like vinegar, in the first few sips. This diminished over time. The tea leaves a lingering sweetness like a light, floral honey. On the second pass, the tea had completely unfurled. This resulted in leavings of mainly partial leaves and approximately 25-30% stem material. It's possible that this was the cause of the very subtle initial bitter spike. As the number of infusions increased, the fruit profile began to wane. You do reach a point where that bitterness returns and the cups are no longer enjoyable. This was somewhere between the fifth and sixth for me.

I bought this tisane for my wife but I thought I'd do some quality control before I gave it to her. As the name indicates, this is full of the best the islands have to offer- ripe, juicy tropical fruits and fragrant, exotic blossoms. I can't sufficiently describe the appearance of this so I have to let a picture be my 1000 words. This is simply a work of art. http://twitpic.com/29b5mc The fragrance is incredible. You're first hit with lemon and banana then the rest of the tropicals (pineapple and papaya) work their way up. At the bottom, you can just make out the hibiscus, chamomile and rose. Towards the end of the cup, I thought of bubble gum. Initially, the lemongrass seemed to overpower everything else in flavor. Let the cup cool a bit before you dive in (and you may literally want to dive into this cup) and all the fruit flavors start to mingle together. You'll picture yourself in one of the small Hawaiian roadside markets sampling the produce while surrounded by native blossoms. This is another winner from Souvia. I know my wife is going to love this- almost as much as she loves the massage by the same name.

I found this hiding in the back of the pantry and thought I'd give it a shot. The fragrance of this blend is vanilla, chicory and (I don't know where these come from sometimes, possibly the almonds here?) slightly stale Lorna Doone shortbreads. While not an ugly mix, there's not a lot to please the eye other than the occasional yellow or blue speck of florals. Upon brewing, it produces a fairly dense reddish-brown liquid. The fragrance of both the vanilla and shortbread remains. From a taste standpoint, the flavor is of vanilla with a subtle note of brandy and carries a pastry aftertaste. As it approaches room temperature, it begins to pick up a very slight sourness. I was surprised that, for the number of cocoa components it contains, I didn't pick up any chocolate in either flavor or fragrance. I'm not a huge Rooibos or Honeybush fan, so this may be why this moved to the back of the shelf. It's OK, but not a favorite.

My first experience with Pu-erh was a bit frightening. The tea was fishy and had an odd color and was simply a turn off. My wife has since taken to calling all of these teas Poo-air. Since then, I've had much better experiences with Pu-erh and this is the best so far. This was my first time using the tuocha form, but it was fairly intuitive. It's a small pressed capsule that looks like a plug of used chewing tobacco. It's soft enough that you can crumble off what you need with your fingers. This tea brews to almost black with a very faint "slick." I describe the fragrance as "oceanic." Unlike what the name would lead you to believe, I really picked up less camel territory and more shark. There's a definite kelp and seaweed presence and, as CTG's tasting notes mention, it's definitely briny. As it matures, you begin to pick up faint notes of clean hay and a sweet, peat-like earthiness. What was unusual (and somewhat pleasant) about this tea is that there seemed to be a constant play between sweet and salty. One sip might start out sweet and move towards salty and the next is the reverse. On the second and subsequent infusions, the tea leaves the ocean for land. It does become more mossy and sweetens even further. When I first saw the size of the tuocha (slightly smaller than a quarter) I didn't think it would go far. However, this was made for multiple infusions and you have to go past four or five to experience the entire taste range.

This tuocha was a little different from camel (shark) breath. It was much harder and portions needed to be flaked off using a sharp knife. So, a little prep work was required but it was nothing too onerous. Everyone has been raving about the initial fragrance but I have to admit that, for me, there was none in the dry tea. There was maybe a hint of grass and pasture, but that's about it. The prepared tea, however, was full of fragrance and flavor. The tea smelled like clean hay with cooked sushi rice. A rice flavor, however, dominates and has underpinnings of honey, oats and a very slight floral finish. From second infusion on, this tea took on greater honey-and-oat qualities. I'm beginning to understand how pu-erh, even through its quirkiness, can build such a strong following. Each one truly does have a unique character and it even offers a varied experience during one extended sitting.

When you first open this bag, the fragrance of the pineapple and mango are REALLY strong. It's not artificial or unpleasant, just very up front. If you asked someone to smell this with their eyes closed, they'd have no idea they were smelling a tea. It's closer to a bag of candy. Once brewed, the fruit fragrance is still powerful but you can just start to pick up the sweet, plumy, floral smell of the tea underneath. While this is fruited, the tea is highlighted and provides the predominant flavor. I haven't been into tea long enough to really pinpoint the origin of "black tea," but I'd guess there's at least some fairly high quality Keemun in here. The fruit flavors help brighten and sweeten the tea and bring out its natural fruity-floral qualities. While I prefer green teas and herbals iced, this black tea rocks on-the-rocks. Typically icing a tea enhances the fruit notes, which it does here as well, but the tea is of such good quality that it stands up to the treatment and you can still taste it as well.

This is my first try of a Canton Tea Co product and it's also my first time using a gaiwan. (I already love the thing. How much easier is that?!) This tea is comprised of tiny pearls. Obviously the fragrance is floral, but this tea goes one step beyond. I would say it's more of a sugary perfume. It's quite exotic, but still not quite the level of fragrance that would make this my "perfect" jasmine. The prepared tea has a pale honey color and has an incredibly delicate flavor. It's faintly sweet but the floral taste just very slightly overpowers the complexity of the tea base. I get a slight bitter tingle on the edge of my tongue that lingers. I guess I want the best of both worlds; more jasmine fragrance but less flowery flavor. Overall, this is really good but not perfect. It's a pleasant tea but, especially given the shipping costs from the UK, I'll continue to look for that "perfect" jasmine.

I really like Tea Spot teas because they are simple and unpretentious but of a good quality. Their large tins provide a great value for a decent quality tea. The Green Roasted Mint is a bit unusual. In fragrance, you have the obvious mint (which is very clean with no artificial qualities) but there's a note I liken to aged paper which is probably from the roasting. Once brewed, the fragrance is a faintly smokey. In flavor, the mint and the tea are well balanced. This is one tea that I will occasionally sweeten to bring out more of the mint. I've made this iced as well and it's pretty decent.

The appearance of this tea is impressive. The leaves are very loosely packed in the tin as they are quit long and "fluffy" as others have described. The tiny orange-yellow osmanthus blossoms are sprinkled throughout, but you need to shake the tin as they tend to settle to the bottom during shipping. The fragrance is hay>grass>pineapple in that order of predominance. I was surprised by the color of the brewed tea. The natural coloring of the blossoms turns the pale honey colored silver needle to an interesting gold-orange. The coloration was almost swirled as opposed to uniform. In taste, you get a faint grassiness, then honey then just a touch of peach-pear. I know osmanthus is supposed to have an apricot flavor profile, but this wasn't quite that sweet. On my first infusion, the tea got bitter very quickly as the cup cooled to the point where the last sip wasn't drinkable. (I had followed the merchant's recommended brewing instructions.) On the second infusion, I decreased the steep time and that seemed to help. Per Samovar, I stopped after two. I can sum this tea up as "complicated." It was enjoyable, but it's sort of like trying to drive a high performance sports car when you're used to a Chevy. You might enjoy the ride, but probably won't get the most out of it until you learn how to shift better. I'll need to come back to this one after I've built up more tea experience.

This is really unique from presentation to the tea itself. Once you cut into the shrink-wrap around the dehydrated clementine, you get a brief whiff of earthiness and a quick flash of ocean- OK, it's briefly fishy. I have a friend that describes pu-erh as smelling and tasting like basement. This isn't that bad, but it's definitely mossy. Once brewed, the fish dissipates quickly. The taste is smooth and slightly sweet. I pick up a lot of "veggies" but this isn't what I'd call vegetative. It's more like very dull impressions of carrot, potato and mushroom in that order. While the clementine packaging is a nice novelty, I couldn't sense any involvement in the fragrance or flavor. This isn't a citrus flavored pu-erh by any means. It is, however, a solid example of a nicely aged tea.

This took me by surprise; it's so unlike any other pu-erh I've had. This tea is very loosely packed and the leaves are long and twisted. I'm glad it was handled gently so they weren't crumbled. The fragrance is of a freshly mowed lawn. This isn't unusual for say a green tea, but pu-erhs are usually more earthy. This was fresh and clean. When brewed, you have a rust to almost cranberry colored tea. The fragrance is slightly mossy, but young. Here I picture a vibrant patch of newly sprouted green moss after a rain as opposed to something older. This is a really sweet pu-erh. It's an odd flavor profile, but what comes to mind first is cucumber with a touch of white grape juice. This was totally unexpected for a pu-erh and was an enjoyable discovery.

The twisted gold and black leaves are fairly short. The fragrance of the packaged leaves is slightly floral with a note of tomato. Prepared, the tea is vegetal and incredibly mild. There's the faintest impression of tannin bitterness but far less than most blacks. This was a pleasant, simple black tea. However, it doesn't really stand above teas that are more readily available in the US so I can't say I'd go out of my way to purchase this one again.

The leaves on this are large, vibrant green and mostly whole. The fragrance is clean and very sweet. When brewed, the fragrance is grass and hops, but there was also an unpleasant very slight bleach-like note. I even did a "do over" on this and had the same result the second time. In taste, this was light and sweet with a mild and lingering fruit and honey aftertaste. I would have scored this higher if it wasn't so difficult getting past that off-note on the fragrance. (Yes, my prep gear was clean and has never been in contact with anything resembling bleach.)

This offered some pleasant surprises. The tea starts as very bright green "nuggets" with a literally sweet, mouthwatering fragrance of honeydew, cucumber and very subtle sweet hay. After brewing, the leaves were completely unfurled and had expanded to fairly impressive proportions. (My gaiwan runneth over.) The tea was more golden than I've seen in other oolongs and was subtly floral and grassy in fragrance. In taste, it was very light and I picked up buttered squash and a touch of vanilla. The first infusion had a slight tartness, but I think I went too long. Next time, I'd probably start with only a minute or so and work back up. I liked this one. It had a lot to offer and was really enjoyable. I seem to be building quite an affinity for Taiwanese teas as I haven't really found a bad one yet.

I haven't been a fan of white teas in the past because they're simply too delicate. From past notes, you can gather that I'm big on bold flavors. However, this white tea had a lot going for it. First, the leaves were an incredibly uniform pale green with the typical silver needle white hairs. It was as if they had been hand picked and matched for size, shape and color. White teas don't typically present a lot of fragrance, but this was hearty with notes of cereal, malt and alfalfa. Once prepared, the tea was a pale gold and the rich fragrance remained. The taste is of malt and honey and there's a very slight floral essence. This tea kept my attention and it will stay on my shelf until gone-which won't be long.

I had to go with decaf because of the late hour, but I didn't want to compromise on flavor. Next to lapsang, Earl Grey might be my favorite style of tea. This one is nicely balanced in fragrance. The citrusy bergamot doesn't overpower the tea base. From a visual perspective, it could use a little more peel and cornflower petal but this doesn't impact the flavor. Even though this is a decaf version, it is full bodied and brews to a hearty black with a lot of flavor. I don't do additives, but I imagine a bit of cream and sugar probably wouldn't hurt. If you have to do decaf, this one is worthwhile.

The dried, dark leaves are quite long (1 to 2 inches) so it would have been easier to prepare this by weight versus spoon. The tea has a really unique fragrance- cereal and fruity, like graham crackers and stone fruit. The prepared tea is on the darker side for an oolong with a slight red tint. The malty cereal notes are prominent in both fragrance and flavor. This is subtly sweet, leaning more towards fruit than honey. As the cup cooled, it developed a very slight tannic quality making it similar to a very weak black tea. I really like the fragrance on this one. As soon as I opened the bag, I had the imagery of Teddy Grahams holding peaches. I like when there's an immediate connection. The flavor was enjoyable, but there wasn't anything that set this apart for me.

This tea looks like shiny green orzo in the bag and smells of green veggies; something close to fresh peas. I've never made a yellow tea before and the merchant didn't provide any brewing suggestions, so I had to guess on preparation. I decided yellow was half-way between white and green, so I split the difference and used water around 180 degrees. The final product was a very nice champagne color but the taste was slightly bitter over a light cereal and sweetgrass flavor. Experts, help me out here. What's the proper way to make yellow teas?

This isn't too bad when you want something warm with no caffeine. The raw herbal is bright with reds and yellows flecked with the light brown cocoa nibs. It smells strongly of chocolate and berries with a touch of chili. When you prepare this, the chocolate fragrance in almost overpowering. The appearance is the one great downfall of this tisane; it looks like dirty dish water. The taste is a nice combination of chocolate and berry and the heat of the chili sneaks up on the aftertaste. As the cup cools, the berry flavor starts to take over and gets just a little tart. One thing I don't like about this blend is that I find it to be a bit wasteful. You have to use a lot of the mix to get a decent flavor profile. It takes three times the amount recommended by the merchant and you're left discarding a hefty pile of mushy fruit bits.

A small shot of caffeine before and an iced herbal after has become a workout routine for me. I decided to try this one because what guy doesn't want to feel like Zeus after a hard workout? Out of the package, there's a strong fragrance of ginger and cinnamon and a slight citrusy note. Before it even brewed, this just seemed like it was going to be "hot." Once prepared, you have a bright yellow liquid (it's almost fluorescent) that continues to smell strongly of ginger. In flavor, this proved to be much more mellow than expected. The chicory and mate help tame this down a bit, but the aftertaste is warm. The proportion of spice to herb must be fairly high because this really does result in quite a zesty concoction. I brewed some double strength and put it over ice and it was a great pick-me-up. Now I just need a reason to throw lightning bolts to give it a full test.

The fragrance of this tisane is immediately calming and soothing. My first impression was "Grandma's House;" not in a bad Ben-gay way, but instead her garden, kitchen and little mint candies all rolled into one. What I really like about this blend is that the mint isn't overpowering. Actually, the chamomile (with a lot of big, fluffy blooms present) takes center stage. This may be the first time that I could truly discern the chamomile from the other components in a tisane. Once brewed, this takes on a completely different fragrance character. The citrus notes rise to the top and and the mint is very subtle. As the cup cools, it takes on a bit of a bubblegum appeal. I was really surprised by the taste. This is one of those masterful blends where there's just the right amount of each piece coming together to make a better whole. The chamomile is prominent and there's the slightest cooling from the mint. Next, the citrus sneaks in and the finish is just a very slight warmth from the cinnamon. The aftertaste of chamomile and anise is very pleasant. Yep, this one goes on the reorder list!

This was my first experience with guayusa. The blend is made of uniformly cut plant material of varying shades of green. The fragrance is very subtle and is close to a mix of spearmint and oregano. Once brewed, the aroma is of caramel with an impression of sugary-mint underneath. The prepared drink is surprisingly sweet but in a light, mellow way. It tastes like a weak cola with a hint of mint. There's also a slight woodiness. As the cup cools, it develops a suggestion of malt. There isn't any lingering aftertaste, but instead a continuing sense of sweetness. Shui Tea includes a caffeine meter on each package (kind of cool feature) and their Swagger line shows 5+ bars. This indicates that the caffeine content is higher than that of coffee. This probably leads to more of a bounce than a swagger, but it works!

This tisane was visually similar to plain guayusa but also contained large pieces of raw cinnamon and strands of lemongrass. Sometimes lemongrass is like lemon scented hay, but this was close to freshly cut lemons. This blend smelled strongly of lemon. I'm not a big fan of lemongrass, but what was used in this blend is either a better quality or a different species from what I've had in the past. It presented as a very clean lemon scent and flavor. This was very strongly flavored of lemon at first but it does mellow. As the cup sat, everything began blending together and I started to enjoy this drink. I didn't like this one as much as Amazon Swagger, but that's because I'm not partial to lemon in hot drinks. I'm going to try this one iced sometime.

I admit I was taking a risk with this purchase. Etsy isn't the first place I would typically go to make a tea or tisane purchase but the description of this one intrigued me. The package says it's a "Men's Tea." It's actually a tisane but we'll overlook that for now. So, why is this a "tea" for guys? 1) The product looks like it was swept off the garage floor. 2) When prepared, it looks like used motor oil. 3) It smells like sweaty armpits. 4) It tastes like I would imagine all of the above to taste. (And it made my tongue numb.) So, it's obvious why this is a "tea" for men. This has to be one of the worst things I've ever experienced packaged as an edible item. I would say this goes straight in the trash, but I think this may require special hazardous waste handling. (And I actually bought one more tea from this same place- %#@$)

After my near poisoning with Soul Robber, I needed something to redeem the day. I've been looking forward to trying this rooibos blend for some time. This is what initially drew me to the Shui Tea website which is turning out to be a favorite. Opening the package, you could tell this was made from quality ingredients. Everything was brightly (and rightly) colored. I pulled out a dried peony petal that had to be 2 inches long. The fragrance was incredible! I don't mean this in any negative way, but the closest representation I can think of is cherry flavored cough syrup. This has some super cherry power and you can sense some underlying bite. This brews to a bright red. The fragrance is a sweet-tart, rose-cherry-carrot mix. I was surprised by how much the rose stood out. I don't typically care for rose or rosehips in my food, but this just worked for me. The taste? Awesome! There's a mild cherry-rooibos flavor, then you get a subtle flowery palate then BOOM! HOT chili. Finally, the carrot tries to quench the flame a bit until the next sip. Not only was this a tasty beverage but it was actually fun to prepare and drink!

This tea isn't super fragrant in the pouch; there was just a subtle toasted-grassiness. Prepared, the reddish-gold tea is slightly vegetal with a touch of smoke. It's smooth, well-rounded and has a nice maltiness. It finishes with a taste of plum. Good stuff!

I love the fragrance of this tea; it has notes of black pepper and just a bit of citrus. Brewed, the tea is bold, bright and crisp. The peppery fragrance remains but there's also a subtle perfume about it. I like black tea really strong. Subsequent infusions were more mellow and had a sweeter profile so this is a use-it-once tea for me.

The leaves are extremely long, twisty and adhesive so this might be better prepared by weight. The dry fragrance is sweet and dusty with a touch of anise. Prepared, the fragrance is caramel and vegetative. The taste is full and malty. There was a brief sour "snap" at the end of the first few sips, but that subsided as the cup cooled (or my taste buds were finally awake.) Subsequent infusions of this were pretty good for a black tea. It picked up a mellow, biscuity character.

I had this over ice after a workout. This is similar to another one of my favorites by Souvia called Regeneration, but this one doesn't have all the fruit. When you first open the bag, it smells like you've walked into a great Indian restaurant. This is full of exotic spices, but none of them carry too much heat. There are so many different directions this can take that everyone's palate will probably pick up different flavors. For me, this was heavy on ginger, fennel and cardamom. The cinnamon and clove were used sparingly, so they nicely rounded out the flavor. Finally, I had a licorice aftertaste. This makes a sweet drink by use of the licorice. It's not overpowering here though. This is a great blend with just the right amount of everything. The word "Amrit" comes to mind.

The leaves are green and gold and smell a bit "pastoral" (grass, hay, etc.) with a hint of white pepper. Prepared, this has a strong malty caramel fragrance. From a flavor perspective, it's simply an uncomplicated, smooth and rich black tea. While described as strong and intense, I found this tea to be fairly mild; especially compared to some of Shui Tea's other black teas. This doesn't mean that it isn't enjoyable, it's just not as bold as I would have preferred.

I didn't think I was going to like this at first. The tiny, multi-colored leaves didn't offer much fragrance. What was present, I would describe as a faint, sour licorice smell. That fragrance carried over to the brewed tea. On my first sip, the thought that went through my mind was "Wow, not what I expected." It has a light citrusy, tart flavor like a mild Earl Gray. Next, there's a fruity-floral taste that ends in a subtle drying of the mouth. This was really refreshing. While not "bold" in flavor, the complexity and the crisp finish make this a good cup of tea.

This one is more mellow than its older sibling First. The tea brews darker, richer and is more full-bodied than First Darjeeling. This tea is malty and sweet and lacks the citrusy snap I found in First. This wasn't bad, but I really enjoyed the fresh, crisp quality of First Darjeeling a little more.

The components of this tea are very small compared to other Genmaicha I've had. The fragrance is clean and aqueous; think of cucumber or watermelon rind. Once prepared, the aroma of toasty-goodness fills the room. Genmaicha always makes my mouth water. This one sets up as a nice honey color and the flavor of the toasted rice predominates over the green tea base. I prefer a little more of a green tea profile. One of my favorite teas is Ryokucha by Samovar. However, that one also has Matcha powder which I believe technically makes it a Maccha-iri genmaicha? For a true Genmaicha, I'm thinking this is quite good.

This tea is made of green (the Stevia?) and black leaves and has a strong berry fragrance. Once brewed, it appears as a weak black tea and smells very sweet and plummy. Sipping the hot tea, the initial taste was overpoweringly sweet. There was a very subtle fruit flavor, but the level of sweetness was too great for me. Drinking this hot again, I might mix it with a plain, strong black tea. I took the rest of the cup and put it over ice. Now, this was really good! The sweetness seemed to have mellowed and I was left with a fruity rendition of a Southern Sweet Tea. The plum was very distinct, so it was as if I had sweetened the tea with a bit of jam. It appears that revenge truly is best served cold.

I received a sample of this with my most recent order in bag (sorry, “silken sachet”) form. Out of the package, it was very fragrant of bergamot but it also had a strong, clean classic tea fragrance with a subtle underlying sweetness. After brewing, I had an orange-gold liquid and the bergamot fragrance had subsided substantially. The taste was a sour-citrus, not the same as other Earl Grays I’ve had, this was distinctly more sour. The tea flavor was extremely weak. This also lacked the classic "snap," almost effervescence, that I've come to expect from good Earl Grays. As a few others have noted, my poor experience may be because this was in a "sachet" but I didn't think this was very good in the broad spectrum Earl Gray teas.

The following is a true account with absolutely no exaggeration or hyperbole. I got home from work and pulled my car into the garage. When I got out of my car, I smelled something sweet and decadent; I thought a neighbor was baking. I walked out of the garage towards my front door and the chocolaty smell became stronger. I saw there was a sealed cardboard box sitting there. Inside this sealed box was a sealed tin of this tea. I had smelled the awesome fragrance of this tea through metal, cardboard and from approximately 30 feet away! Upon opening the tin, the tea was black as night and smelled strongly of chocolate, caramel and creamy-nutiness. It brewed very dark and the fragrance held fairly well. The taste was very mild but had a lot of body with a silky cream mouth feel. As with most nut or chocolate enhanced teas, I felt the flavor was at its peak after cooling just a bit. It wasn't as pungent as the initial fragrance would lead you to believe, but it was a good representation of the flavor characters it's intended to present.

This was really fragrant; full of cherry, blackberry and vanilla with a faint underlying citrus note. There was also a mellow aged paper quality. The leaves were very dark and crumbly. This tea brewed fairly dark. The flavor was similar to a mild Earl Gray with a touch of vanilla and it was somewhat astringent. So far in my H&S world tour, Florence wins and Paris is a close second.

This is a very unusual green tea. The fragrance is a cross between raisins, figs and dates and a little cereal. This brewed to a champagne color. The flavor was close to a genmaicha with a full body and a bit of a cereal taste, but was much lighter and sweeter. The difference between toasted rice and sesame seeds is obvious. I didn't really pick up any caramel in the flavor, but in a green tea, that would actually be my preference.

This is a surprise final stop on my current world destination tea tour after hitting Florence, Paris and Tokyo. This tea is still in development, but Shui Tea sent me a sample with my recent order. The raw tea is dark with specks of red safflower petals. The fragrance is subtly smokey, but there's also the presence of a fine, exotic perfume. I know this is the citrusy bergamot and florals, but they combine to make something unique to this tea. The brewed tea is utterly dark and rich. There's some great body here and neither the lapsang nor the bergamot overpowers; they compliment each other well. This would be similar to having a citrus glazed food grilled on an open fire. With my two favorite tea styles of all times blended, Lapsang Souchong and Earl Gray, this scores high with me.

My brain hurts. I've never had to concentrate so hard while drinking a tisane to decide whether or not I like it. One minute I was thinking "ewe, medicinal," the next it was, "mmm, something you might get at a high-end spa." I could almost feel the neurons shorting out. So, I'm not going to say if I liked this; I'll simply give an objective description and you can make up your own mind. (I'd like to hear what others have to say after they've tried a sample for themselves.) Upon opening the package, there's a strong fragrance of eucalyptus. Once past that, there's a citrusy-sweetness. The product is very colorful and has a lot of different sizes and shapes; it's very nice to look at. Once brewed, the fragrance mellows. You pick up a lot of the citrus, particularly the tangerine, but the eucalyptus periodically wafts in. The tisane is a light pink similar to watermelon juice. The taste leans towards citrus. The apple, berry and beetroot provide a little sweetness. The flavor then ends with a tart pucker and a slight aftertaste from the eucalyptus.

I've been enjoying my Shui Teas so much that I haven't had anything new to log for a while. I was feeling a little disconnected from Steepster so, in honor of Fall (even though it's still 106 degrees here) I thought I'd give this one a try. This tea (in silken sachets) has a bright fruity fragrance that deepens to an almost bitter citrus. This is true before and after brewing. Once brewed, you're left with a garnet colored tea. The taste is mildly flavored. From the fragrance, I expected a high level of bitterness or tartness but there's just a subtle pucker after a slight fruit flavor. I would prefer that the tea base be presented a bit stronger, but overall this wasn't bad.

I've been going through all of my Shui Tea samples trying to decide on my re-orders. I'm agonizing over this because it's like trying to pick your favorite child. After tasting, re-tasting, ordering and categorizing, I've decided this is my favorite (only slightly ahead of Black Ruby) of their unflavored black teas. What I like most is the complexity and the crisp "snap" of this tea. I'm upping the rating on this so it stands out from the pack.

When I read the "buttery" part of the description I thought, "yeah, right- this has come off horribly in so many other teas." I don't know how Shui Tea did it, but it's dead on here! When you open the package, you get a strong fragrance of sweet lemon butter. This was really close to lemon bars or a lemony custard. This holds up well through brewing. Once brewed, the tea is initially astringent then presents the lemon and you finish with a rich, buttery mouth feel. I had this tea with breakfast but it would be truly awesome with a pastry- ooooh, like a lemon bar! Time to make a trip to the bakery!

Where else can you tell your friends that you had a taste for Camel's Breath and not get an odd look? This has quickly become a favorite. Tonight, I experimented with it and ignored the recommended steeping guidelines. Instead of short periods, I let this sit for a good four minutes. It turned out great, but completely different from past preparations. It was rich and earthy. It was a bit like a mild coffee and the brine that has become characteristic of this pu-erh (for me) was gone. It's nice to know that this is so forgiving that it's enjoyable even if you're a bit outside of ideal parameters.

Even though there aren't any tropical flavors, my first impression of this was "Hawaiian Punch." It's bright, fruity and somehow playful. I'm not much of a decaf black tea person. When I want something without caffeine, I go for herbals. That said, I think this one will be a favorite of people that do like the option of a decaffeinated black tea. If you're OK with sweeteners, try just a touch to make the fruit flavors really stand out.

I received a surprise sample of this in my recent order from Shui Tea. (Thanks Jim!) When you first open the package, you get a full-force fruity fragrance. (OK, how often does an alliteration actually work out?) It's completely true to its name. The pear isn't readily discernible, but the kiwi is definitely there. Together, it's almost like a mild strawberry. From a taste perspective, I think what took me by surprise is that the white tea flavor actually predominates and the fruit notes are in the background. Bai Mu Dan (at least to me) is so mildly flavored that any additions often shadow the tea. Either this white tea is of superior quality or Shui Tea got the blending just right here. From my tasting notes, you can tell that I'm really into big, bold flavors. However, I really liked the true tea flavor of this blend. This would be really good with a light dessert.

I'm a mint fan, but I prefer spearmint over peppermint or wintergreen. That gave this tea an advantage. When you open the package, you're hit with a fragrance of clean and slightly sweet mint- like opening a new pack of Wrigley's. The chamomile has the same large, fluffy buds I've come to expect from Shui Tea. Prepared, I was surprised by the taste and how much the mint took a back seat to the chamomile. Also, I'd say this is more a herbal tea with green tea as one component as opposed to a flavored green tea. This is actually a rather interesting combination. It's calming from the homey herbals, but the mint perks it up making this great for a relaxing afternoon. Also, the ingredients list includes licorice. I can tell it's there but more by feel than taste. I would maybe amp that up just a tad so you get more of a sweet, cooling finish.

This deceivingly simple tea with large, dusty black leaves results in a complex final product. The fragrance is slightly musky and earthy but with a creamy, mocha-caramel base. This brews to something approximating a coffee color. The taste has the sweet, mossy flavor of pu-erh along with subtle coffee and caramel notes and a strong vanilla finish. As the cup cools, you simply have COFFEE. (Yes, you can smell and taste the capital letters!) I was pleasantly surprised by this tea. I was drawn by the appealing description and it was an honest representation of the tea. I think this would be a great choice for anyone that wants to ease their way into pu-erhs.

There's an incredible fragrance to this tea; sweet, malty and fruity. The appearance is very uniform with somewhat short segments. The taste has a strong green tea base (which I think is required for a good flavored green tea) with notes of caramel and stone fruit. There's also a sort of slick, creamy mouth feel to the tea which enhances the sense that it contains caramel. On a later cup, I thought I'd try adding some agave sweetener. I thought its natural malt and toast flavor might really bring out the caramel. I was wrong. The sweetener totally ruined the cup. This tea is great by itself so leave a good thing alone :-)

This was a free sample I received in a recent order. The tea has a sweet, clean, traditional “tea” fragrance. For a majority of Americans, this is probably what they imagine when you say “tea.” Prepared, it's slightly sweet and vegetative with a moderate amount of astringency. This would be a good everyday and all-day-long tea. If I get a chance to make another purchase from DavidsTea, I'd probably throw a bag of this in as a staple item.

I just received a huge, generous batch of samples from *LiberTEAS* (thanks again!!) and this one jumped right out as being special. I've never seen a tea so green and uniform. I imagined the harvester using tiny nail clippers to individually collect just the smallest tip of each leaf. The fragrance is clean, slightly grassy and briny. I even picked up subtle notes of sesame. Once prepared, the sesame rises to the top and this acquires a toasted oat background. The tea brews to be relatively pale but has a substantial heartiness. It's slightly vegetative with a bit of kelp and finishes with a mildly sweet toasted sesame. The cooling cup works towards a honey finish. What was really unexpected was the overall body of the tea. For a green tea, it has a very rich, almost buttery mouth feel. In just a few cups, this has moved into the top tier of my green tea list.

I don't have a lot of experience with lavender as a flavoring component so I was going into this one blind. The fragrance is strong of coconut and very subtly minty. Since mint isn't listed as an ingredient, I'm guessing that's how I was interpreting the lavender. When prepared, there was a faint slick at the top of the cup which I'm guessing was coconut oil. There was a creaminess to this and the coconut flavor was very strong. I picked up a very faint wintergreen or peppermint note and a tart-floral finish. There's a lingering coconut aftertaste. I received a sample of this with my recent order. It definitely isn't something I would have selected on my own but I was pleasantly surprised by how good this turned out.

This doesn't even really qualify as a tisane- it's trail mix! It's made of huge pieces of dates, raisins, dried banana chips and nut bits. This may also be one of the most expensive products I've rated here on Steepster so far. A 25g pouch was only enough for 2 modest cups. The fragrance was sweet and nutty. There was only one banana chip in the pouch, so that didn't contribute much. The dates really stood out. Once prepared, this made a drink that was essentially a fruit soup. The liquid was a light muddy brown. With the nuts floating in it, you don't want to look at it too long. The taste wasn't too bad. The dates were sweet and the slight oil from the nuts gave it a bit of creaminess. There was a very faint note of banana, but I would have liked it much stronger. Overall, I was a little disappointed with this one. The flavor wasn't as balanced or deep as I would like and it _was_ a bit expensive. I guess it was fun to try it once but I won't be reordering.

I received a sample of this from *LiberTEAS* and I'm really appreciative. From the name, I thought this would be predominantly floral in character. Upon opening the packet, my first impressions was "wow, not what I expected." The fragrance is strong of peach, almonds, apricots and dates with very subtle chocolate notes. The leaves are tightly curled. Upon steeping, the leaves unfurled fairly well and yielded a deep gold tea. The fragrance became more coconut and date and that sense of chocolate was still there. In flavor, I picked up date, coconut, apricot and honey. Oolongs continue to surprise me with how varied they can be in flavor and overall complexity. This is a great example.

When I first opened the bag, I was surprised by the size and quantity of the dried orange peel and chocolate nuggets. The fragrance of both the orange and chocolate was really strong. Once prepared, everything mellowed and blended really well. You could taste the underlying rooibos and the orange was prominent. The chocolate became more noticeable as the cup cooled. I actually liked this best right before it reached room temperature. As an added benefit, the pot was left sitting in the kitchen for a few hours prior to being washed and now most of the house smells like orange and chocolate!

I opened the pouch, stuck my nose in and took a big whiff. Oh, mistake...singed my nose hairs. The cinnamon in this is bordering on atomic! OK, let the bag sit open a bit and try again. Ahhhh, sweet apples, berries and spicy cinnamon! This tisane brewed to a really festive cranberry color. The fragrance mellowed out and became fruity with a hint of cinnamon. While drinking, the taste kept shifting between tart, sweet and spicy. This really keeps your attention! What I liked best was the lingering apple-cinnamon taste. The apple in this was exceptionally good. It seemed really fresh and had a very clean apple flavor. There was a creaminess to this too so it was like hot apple pie a la mode. Maybe Shui Tea can come up with a second name for this and keep it year round?!

This is one of Shui Tea's best sellers so I had to try it. The fragrance is very mellow, woody and vanillin. The appearance is "earthy" but there was a bit of color which surprised me. The taste was a bit unusual. As expected from the name, there were notes of caramel and vanilla. However, I got a strong impression of toasted bread and it was also slightly peppery. All of the flavors are very subtle which made me think at first that this wasn't very flavorful. However, the lingering caramel aftertaste which seems to become progressively more pronounced was pleasant. If you like mate, I can see how this would be a great variation. The roasting gives it a smooth flavor and the touch of caramel adds a hint of sweetness.

Ho Ho Ho-my-gosh! I bet this is what the kitchens at the North Pole smell like! When you first open the bag, there's a really complex fragrance that's a mix of butter, sugar, lemon and underlying spice. I imagined just a touch of cherry as well. These blend together to be reminiscent of sugar cookies and ginger snaps. Once brewed, the fragrance takes on a totally different profile. There's still a subtle sugar-savory play, but the vegetative and malty fragrance of the tea itself actually comes through. Nice! The flavor is an initial combination of butter and spices. This fades quickly so you can pick up the malt and mossy taste of the tea. There's a final warmth left behind by the spice. As the cup cools, the initial baked goods aroma returns. This is the last of three limited holiday edition teas that I recently purchased from Shui Tea. I'm glad I decided on a larger bag of this one! (I wish I had also bought a larger bag of Cinnamerry Christmas- aka apple pie a la mode. Maybe Santa will remember?)

This tea smells great. When you open the bag, there's a heavy almond presence then roasted coffee. There are huge pieces of each mixed into the tea. The tea brews to almost black. The initial fragrance was "burnt" and the first sip was extremely bitter. I almost threw the whole cup out. However, I let it sit a minute and it started to behave. None of the almond ever came through, but the coffee and chicory made this pretty bold. So bold, that you could never tell there was any tea in the cup. As the cup sat, the bitterness returned so there's a finite window in which this tea is enjoyable.

This is another tea from this purveyor that has an incredible fragrance but the flavor is a off. It smells sweet and strongly of berries, cinnamon and a touch of brown sugar. Once prepared, this takes on more of a tart, green fragrance. The initial flavor was sour and tart. It eventually developed a bit of spiciness from the cinnamon and there was a subtle, lingering strawberry aftertaste. The tea in this, however, was completely obliterated. The lack of any tea presence and the initial sourness made this a mediocre cup for me.

This had a creamy, sweet, buttery fragrance. Overlying the more subtle notes was a strong, zesty lemon. Once prepared, the fragrance lost some definition and just the lemon remained. This was true of the flavor as well. The lemon in this was not only strong, but it tended towards tart. It was like drinking hot lemon juice. This would be perfect with some honey for soothing a cough or taking the edge off a cold so I might keep some of this around just for medicinal purposes.

The tea smells great in the bag; it's heavy of pineapple and coconut and there's a subtle quality of baked goods. None of the green tea is discernible. It's an attractive tea. The leaves are bright green and uniform, there are whole pieces of walnuts and flecks of coconut and pineapple uniformly distributed throughout. When prepared, it looks similar to chicken broth both in color and density. There's even a faint oil slick from the coconut and walnut oils. The brewed tea really didn't have much fragrance to note. I haven't been having great success with DavidsTeas in regards to flavor recently. This one turned out tart and grassy. The lingering coconut aftertaste is nice, but this wasn't the easiest cup to make my way through.

This has a great fragrance that's subtle, yet well defined. It's nutty and peppery with a bit of citrus and honey. Prepared, this is a really well balanced darjeeling. It's nutty and slightly astringent but is far more mellow than others I've had in the same category. Waking up to this tea is more like a small bell as opposed to the gong of a darjeeling I normally drink. Thanks *LiberTEAS* for the sample!

I received an industrial sized box of this as a Christmas gift so I was really hoping to like it-and I did! Using the individually packaged traditional tea bag (not the sachet) the tea didn't have much fragrance. There was a subtle orange-cinnamon presence but it wasn't overpowering. The prepared tea is incredibly sweet. So much so that I had to reread the package to make sure it didn't contain a sweetener. The cinnamon really stands out and it is a bit warm. The orange is subtle and helps round out the flavor. You can make out a bit of the underlying tea, but it's the sweetness that's prominent throughout. If you have a sweet-tooth, this would be a great dessert replacement.

I've never tried a blooming tea before but having received a new glass teapot as a gift, I thought this would be a good way to show it off. The description says it's "awe-inspiring." This brings to mind the scene in _National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation_ where Clark is making a big deal about the house lights, plugs them in...then nothing. The tight tea pod opens to unveil a small, pink clover blossom at the top of some scrawny black tea leaves. There wasn't much fragrance of note. The flavor wasn't too bad. There was a slight cereal quality and it was very light. Overall, I wasn't really impressed.

The fragrance on this out of the package is nutty and fruity (similar to pineapple, but not quite as sweet) and the tea is in very tight nuggets. It brews to a champagne color that darkens to honey over multiple steeps. I steeped this tea a number of times, but didn't make it to the suggested 8. At first, the tea smelled and tasted like nuts and honey. Subsequent steeps transitioned to more of a toasted cereal. What was surprising was the lingering sweet note. It wasn't really an aftertaste, it was closer to an impression left on your taste buds. Thanks to *Jim @ Shui Tea* who suggested this to a family member as a gift for me. It's a keeper, Jim!

I don't know if "cute" is a word often used for a tea but it fits this one. Opening the bag, you see a dark tea with little fluorescent orange flecks. Upon closer inspection, you see that they are tiny pumpkins. Hence the "cute." These worried me at first because I thought they might be candies that would make the tea too sweet but they didn't. The tea also smells great. It's slightly spicy and vegetative with an underlying presence of classic tea fragrance. Prepared, this tea smells like freshly baked gingerbread with a touch of yam. It wasn't discernibly "pumpkin" but you could tell there was definitely something from the veggie aisle. The flavor was slightly astringent and there was a great finish to the cup with a lingering squash/pumpkin flavor. There wasn't much of a classic chai taste but there was just enough spice to make this interesting.

Tart, juicy then sweet in both fragrance and taste. The green tea is of good quality and rich flavor and the apple was fairly defined. I would have liked this to be more plummy, but it's such a subtle flavor that it's difficult to get a strong plum taste without making it seem fake. Overall, not bad.

I received a bit of this to try from *LiberTEAS* and it was quite unusual. The initial fragrance was strong of licorice and berry. Once brewed, it became slightly citrusy and sweet. The taste isn't what I expected. From the name, I thought this would be sweet and fruity. Instead, it had the citrusy, astringent "snap" of a good darjeeling (+ points) and a slightly bitter and herbal taste from the anise. I didn't detect much in the way of blackberry but you could sense the fig as a mellow, lingering subtly sweet fruit aftertaste. Overall, I really liked this as it has an excellent base. However, the product doesn't seem to match its name well.

The leaves of this tea are large, adhesive and dusty with a sweet berry scent. Once prepared, this tea becomes very complex. The brewed fragrance was slightly fruity, but had notes of warm squash and a slight salinity. The flavor was very delicate with a slight tartness, a bit of caramel, honeydew and corn. The berry didn't become discernible for me until long into the aftertaste. This is another tea that I received from *LiberTEAS* and it was, once again, an excellent choice.

I just received a sample of each of the six tisanes of Davidson's Tulsi herbal line. Tulsi, or holy basil, is highlighted in each and is accompanied by a different group of complimentary herbs. Signature Blend smells strongly of ginger and mint out of the package, but once steeped, lemon from the myrtle becomes prominent. The flavor is really interesting. Up front, there's a bit of a battle between the mint and the lemon. The finish is warm from the ginger and cinnamon with a final burst from the black pepper. This is another great one for fighting cold; either outside or in your own head. I don't have a lot of experience with holy basil so I can't speak to the quality. I'm hoping that I'll come to recognize this component more as I work my way through the rest of the samples.

It's a nice surprise when you find something at the back of the tea cabinet you forgot about. (I guess I can start hiding my own Easter eggs soon.) The initial fragrance on this is smoky and very slightly acrid but with no pine or resinous aspects. The clean smokiness is retained when brewed. The flavor is astringent yet this tea possesses a subtle sweetness in a lingering aftertaste. The important mouth-watering smoke quality is present but it doesn't overpower the tea as a whole. This is actually on the light side for a lapsang. I had forgotten how much I like this one. I'll have to move it towards the front of the cabinet so I don't lose it again.

This Tulsi tisane by Davidson's is an unadulterated blend of the three varieties of holy basil that make up their Tulsi line. The fragrance is a minty oregano that takes on a subtle lemon essence once steeped. The flavor is similar to a mint and lemongrass blend but there's an underlying herbal and pepper base. The flavor quickly dissipates with no lingering aftertaste. This was OK, but I think the Tulsi provides a better foundation for the addition of more full-flavored spices.

This tisane smells faintly of mint and cinnamon and introduces a bit of citrus upon steeping. The taste was, frankly, very thin. There was a slight mint-citrus flavor and a tangy finish, but overall it was very weak and not very flavorful.

The tulsi and chamomile were an odd pair here. At first, it started out slightly bitter and sour and there was a strong grassiness. The subtle flavor of the chamomile was lost. As the cup cooled, it took on a more mellow and slightly sweet flavor. The fragrance of the chamomile was never very strong, but over time you could at least tell it was there. This was OK for a bagged tisane, but I've had some really good chamomile lately so I'm biased.

I received a small sample of this from *LiberTEAS* (thanks once again!) The initial fragrance was a bit musty in the package but, once allowed to breathe, it became cleaner and moss-like. I "over cooked" this a bit, but it still turned out pretty awesome. (I love a forgiving tea.) The color is copper but approaching garnet. The fragrance mellowed to something that was earthy and I also detected a slight salinity. Finally, the flavor was very mellow and even. Sometimes pu erhs have a mushroom (fungal) taste but this had notes of vanilla and caramel with just a faint metallic after taste. There are simply too many great pu erhs to try that I don't see myself repeating a purchase of any single one. However, if you like finding and sticking with a few of choice, give this one a try.

I just received my first order ever from ESP Emporium. It happened to include two different varieties of Darjeeling; *Margaret’s Hope (SF)* and *Marybong Organic (FF)*. I thought it would be a fun experiment to prepare them side-by-side and compare and contrast them in my reviews. The text of my reviews for both teas will be the same but the score reflects how I feel about this particular tea. First, let’s talk about initial fragrance. Margaret was clean and crisp with notes of pepper and grapefruit. (This is a second flush?) Marybong leaned towards being sweet and biscuity. Margaret’s leaves were dark and crumbly while Marybong’s were a mix of older and newer, bright green leaves. _Both teas were prepared at the same time using the same steeping parameters._ The fragrance of Margaret was bright, crisp and citrusy while Marybong wasn’t very fragrant at all. I detected a bit of hops but not much else. Finally, the taste. Margaret was initially very smooth but then you get this final punchy astringency. Quite a pucker! This has a really complex profile. Marybong, on the other hand, was more even tempered. It was mellow and was a consistent drink to the bottom of the cup. Up until now, I had always considered myself a first flush kind of guy. Margaret has changed my mind. I really enjoyed the fragrance and complexity of flavor it offered over Marybong. However, Margaret might be too aggressive for some. For them, the consistency of Marybong would be a better choice.

I just received my first order ever from ESP Emporium. It happened to include two different varieties of Darjeeling; *Margaret’s Hope (SF)* and *Marybong Organic (FF)*. I thought it would be a fun experiment to prepare them side-by-side and compare and contrast them in my reviews. The text of my reviews for both teas will be the same but the score reflects how I feel about this particular tea. First, let’s talk about initial fragrance. Margaret was clean and crisp with notes of pepper and grapefruit. (This is a second flush?) Marybong leaned towards being sweet and biscuity. Margaret’s leaves were dark and crumbly while Marybong’s were a mix of older and newer, bright green leaves. _Both teas were prepared at the same time using the same steeping parameters._ The fragrance of Margaret was bright, crisp and citrusy while Marybong wasn’t very fragrant at all. I detected a bit of hops but not much else. Finally, the taste. Margaret was initially very smooth but then you get this final punchy astringency. Quite a pucker! This has a really complex profile. Marybong, on the other hand, was more even tempered. It was mellow and was a consistent drink to the bottom of the cup. Up until now, I had always considered myself a first flush kind of guy. Margaret has changed my mind. I really enjoyed the fragrance and complexity of flavor it offered over Marybong. However, Margaret might be too aggressive for some. For them, the consistency of Marybong would be a better choice.

The twisty, medium-green leaves smelled of black cherry. There was also a strong presence of pipe tobacco. This created images of old English estates. The brewed tea was a light copper color and it had a strong, sweet and creamy fragrance. The flavor had an initial bite then became what I can only describe as a “classic tea flavor.” When you think of what tea in general tastes like, this is a great example. That’s not to say that this tea is boring- just consider it friendly and predictable. I really liked this and see it becoming a staple.

The description of this tea caught my attention. It has a lot of elements I really enjoy like vanilla and bergamot but it also had a few I've never tried like grenadine and tea flowers. The fragrance was a strong berry-and-bergamot. The leaves were dark and crumbly and the add-ins appeared shriveled and faded versus just dried. It wasn't as vibrant as pictured. Once prepared, the tea had a strong candy-like smell; think candied apple without the apple. The taste was vaguely tart and subtly fruity with a lingering vanilla aftertaste. There was also something completely unidentifiable-possibly the tea flowers? This was an odd one but it grew on me. I really liked the flavor and fragrance but it could have looked a little better. I'll probably try another bag later in the year to see if there's any difference in that regard.

This tea appears a bit dull and flat. There just isn't much color or vibrance to it. The fragrance is both tart and sweet with a discernable white grape note. The ingredients list includes "flavoring" and I'm hoping it's at least natural since the grape fragrance is so strong. This tea brews very light; similar to a white tea. The fruit fragrance remains fairly bold but the flavor is really mild. There isn't much to the tea body and there are only hints of the grape and currants. If you like very subtly flavored green teas, then give this one a try. If you prefer more oomph then I'd pass.

The initial fragrance leaned towards cream and berries with little indication of chocolate. Prepared, there was a subtly sweet, baked-goods aroma. The taste was disappointing. While the tea base was of a fair body and the slight slick of coconut oil gave it a creaminess, there wasn't much flavor. The ingredients list includes both cocoa bits and chocolate chips but I couldn't detect these in the slightest. This was part of a chocolate sampler pack that I purchased. I hope I have better luck with the remaining teas.

This is another not-so-chocolatey entry from the ESP Emporium chocolate sampler. The picture shows chocolate chips but I don't think this bag has been within 10 miles of a cocoa bean. The fragrance of the blend, both in the bag and prepared, is of caramel and rose. While not unpleasant, it's not what I would expect from something called "chocolate cake." The flavor is a strong caramel (there are actually mini caramel chews in the mix) and there is a lingering tart, floral aftertaste. Again, the flavor isn't bad but I really wanted something with an obvious chocolate note.

Thanks to *ashmanra* for sending me a sample of this so I could face my fear of roses in tea. Since this was in a sachet, I can't say much about the tea prior to steeping. Once prepared, the fragrance was of vanilla, carrot and banana, with the faintest floral note. I may be carrying the wedding metaphor too far, but the overall aroma can be summarized as clean linen. The tea was pale amber in color. The taste was on the grassy, vegetative side with a slight astringency- but no rose. (Yeah!) While it’s a blend, everything is so well balanced that it doesn’t come off as noticeably “flavored.” The ingredients list includes coconut and almond, but these didn't present themselves until the cup cooled. However, they lingered providing a pleasant aftertaste. This may turn out to be one of my favorite H & S teas. (Which would figure since I just placed a large order and didn't include this one.) I hope they keep it around past the Royal Wedding this weekend!

I'm not sure how this one has escaped tasting for so long. I was looking for something appropriate to try out my new cast-iron tetsubin and this was perfect. The leaves were tightly curled and bright jade colored. Unfortunately, they were somewhat cramped by the pot's steeping basket so I didn’t get the full unfurling effect. The tea was very pale green with a vegetative, buttery and nutty fragrance. The flavor was very light and delicate; it's possible that my sample may be aging. However, subsequent steeps were for longer periods and the flavor deepened. It's buttery, slightly saline and finished very sweet. I don't drink a lot of oolongs but every time I do, I really enjoy them. I drank an entire pot of this one. (And the tetsubin is awesome. However, I need to build up calluses to use the iron cups- ouch!)

You work with what the Universe gives you. I was stuck in an auto service waiting room and needed a caffeine fix. Luckily, since I have a MINI and they're very "British" there, they had quite a bit of tea available. It was all in traditional bags however. I picked this one because I thought it would have the most flavor even if the bag was stale or the water wasn't quite hot enough. It was a good choice. The tea brewed very dark and the chai spices were very pungent. I wish the tea base was a little stronger but, given the minimal room available in a traditional tea bag, it wasn't too bad. Fortunately, they finished my car early (love MINI service!) so I didn't have to move on to the Earl Grey. (I like EG but didn't want to be disappointed by a bag.)

Based on some major detective work, *LiberTEAS* and I discovered that this tea is also served as "Desert Grapefruit Green" at the Tohono Chul Park Tearoom in Tucson. The fragrance of this tea is incredible. The green tea base is strong with a clean, grassy, nutty, and sweet foundation. On top is a strong grapefruit that is very natural. Living in Arizona, I'm surrounded by citrus and this is just like driving past an orchard in the Spring. The tea brews to an opaque, turbid, fluorescent green. The flavor of the green tea is rich and sweet and the grapefruit adds a perfect balance of bittersweet tartness. The steeping instructions took me by surprise as they said to use boiling water instead of the 175 degrees I usually use for green teas. I followed Lupicia's instructions and it turned out fine. I put this over ice and it was perfect!

I received a sample of this in silken sachet form with my most recent order from Harney & Sons. (I didn’t realize how much I had ordered until I started unpacking the box. It was like a circus car full of clowns.) When you first open the packet, there’s a burst of a bright and fruity fragrance with a bit of tang. This was a perfect representation of pomegranate at its most ripe state. The sachet was full of bright green rolled oolong nuggets. Upon steeping, the leaves plumped so that the bag was almost bursting. The fruity and nutty fragrance was strong and wafted from my desk; no need to get your nose into this tea. The tea brews to a very pale champagne color and the fragrance in the cup is even more nutty.The tanginess of the pomegranate compliments the butter and nut oolong very well. The lingering aftertaste of the fruit was a little surprising since it wasn’t overly prominent in the tea. Usually the free samples from H&S don't do much for me but this one goes on the reorder list!

The leaves are dark and crumbly. The fragrance was unexpected. My initial thought was raisin bread. As I tried to dissect that further, I realized it was malty, yeasty and had notes of fig. After steeping, the fragrance simplifies. The flavor is malty, slightly sweet and had a high level of salinity. I’m not getting much of the smokiness that has been mentioned quite a bit with this tea. I can see how this tea would take very well to lemon or light cream and sugar. It has a bit of a weak finish. However, as the cup cools, it develops more body and character. Overall, it's not a bad tea but it’s also not at the top of my list.

This is another sample I received with my recent H&S order. I don't typically enjoy bagged tea and unflavored decaf teas always seem bland. This tea, however, was different. The fragrance of the tea is somewhat biscuity and peppery. The flavor is clean and crisp with a fair level of astringency but then has a subtle, lingering sweetness. It's a nice contrast. This now makes three decent bagged teas I've had recently from Harney and they're starting to change my mind that all bagged tea is awful.

The short, twisty, multi-colored leaves have the same sweet, biscuit fragrance I’ve been getting from a lot of H&S teas. This one is dead-on for a Lorna Doone cookie. The dark copper colored tea has a clean tea fragrance that’s sweet but also has a slight burnt paper quality. The flavor is very mild; it's light in body and has little to no astringency. There’s a subtle lingering sweetness. I had this first thing in the morning but I need something bolder to kick me into gear. This would, however, make for an excellent afternoon tea.

I'm officially no longer prejudiced against bagged tea. I drank two cups of this one to make sure it wasn't a fluke before I wrote this note. The sachet smells strongly of peach and apricot and it *oozes* honey. This steeps to produce a very dark cup of tea that smells strongly of fruit and honey. The cup is incredibly smooth and has a lot of body but the crisp bergamot provides a nice balance to the overall fullness of this tea. Even though flavored, the tea base remains strong. This is going to become a favorite first-cup-of-the-morning tea.

Vanilla. Yep, that pretty much says it all. From first opening the tin, to initial steeping through final sip it's all about the vanilla. What I really like about this tea is that the vanilla was more creamy, somehow more genuine, than your typical vanilla flavored food. It also develops a completely different character as it cools. My final sip was from a cold cup and I picked up a distinct bourbon note which has me thinking about including this in an iced tea mix or possibly infusing a bag or two into some gin. Not bad for a bag tea.

I made this one iced again and it turned out very differently. I may have steeped it a little too long. It was still very refreshing and fruit-filled but it finished a little peppery. It also had a distinct horseradish aftertaste. This may sound a bit unappetizing at first but I had this with a cold salad containing slices of beef and it was actually a perfect compliment to the meal.

The multicolored short, choppy leaves are slightly smokey with an underlying sweet grassy note. Steeping produces a dark cup. The spent leaves have a somewhat unpleasant acrid smell. The tea itself, however, is a smokey vanilla caramel. Many of the reviews here mention chocolate notes. I didn’t get that and the flavor of this tea is new to me; it was like a mild lapsang with a touch of vanilla. It’s of medium body with a slight astringency. This is a bold tea and I like this one a little more than Queen Catherine. The more I got into the cup the more I enjoyed it.

The tea leaves are long, adhesive and a mix of dusty gray and gold. This smells strongly of apricot with a slight mossy note. The leaves plump to three times their volume so save enough room for them to swim. This brews to a pale gold and still has a strong fragrance of stone fruit. The taste is clean, snappy and the fruit and floral notes hold up well. Unlike others that present themselves to be somewhat buttery, it appears this oo-longs to be more of a darjeeling. I loved this tea! Darn you H&S, I see myself now regularly spending a small fortune with you.

This is very similar to my favorite green tea, Rogue Wave from White August. Bangkok has very large, bright green leaves and huge pieces of dried coconut. However, it lacks the intensity of spice of Rogue Wave. The leaves smell fresh and the coconut is readily apparent and somewhat creamy. The lemongrass is very subtle which I appreciate. I'm not a huge lemongrass fan. I can take it as an accent but not a main component. The tea brews to a grassy, spicy, coconut blend. Just like Rogue Wave, the fragrance and taste are very similar to those found in many Thai dishes. This is another tea that is great iced.

This is an even mix of bright green mint and dark choppy tea leaves. It smells just like a York Peppermint Patty but slightly heavier on the mint side. The light copper colored tea smells of mint but no chocolate. In flavor, the mint is initially subdued. I can’t fully describe the initial taste but it’s not chocolate; instead, it’s just a flatness. The lingering mint aftertaste is typical of any other mint brew. H&S does so well with the chocolate flavor in Florence that I would have expected a greater presence in this tea. It was really just a mint tea with a little something extra.

Let me start by saying that I've enjoyed a number of the teas/tisanes I received in my first order from ESP Emporium. (Their Ceylon Blackwood, Darjeelings and Monk's blend were all very good.) However, they don't appear to do chocolate flavors well. This rooibos smells strongly of orange peel and that carries over to the brewed product. You can see small chocolate chips but they are simply not potent enough to impart flavor to the beverage. I will say that this particular rooibos was fairly good. It didn't have the menthol-like breakdown product that is present in some cheaper stock. This was OK. It didn't elicit a negative reaction but it won't make it on the reorder list either.

I was really excited when a friend in the UK sent me a tin of this tea. It's been on my wish list for a while. The leaves are highly mechanically processed. The leaf fragments are very uniform and almost appear to be ground. There's an even mix between dark and light leaf particles. The fragrance is clean and crisp; almost citrusy. Once steeped, this tea produces a very dark, almost black cup. The fragrance takes on a more malty and caramel character. In flavor, this has a medium body and astringency and is well balanced, but the finish leans more towards a darjeeling. I don't dress my teas, but this could take some additives. It also stands up to multiple infusions. Pick some up if you make it to the other side of the pond.

When I first opened the bag, I was hit with a very sweet, almost fake tea fragrance. The contents also didn't look like tea leaves. Instead, the bag contained small dried particles similar to instant coffee. This brewed to a deep black cup of tea. OMG, this stuff is strong! I'm not a cream and sugar guy, but this one almost needs it- it packs a wallop! The tea is of medium body and the astringency is moderate but it becomes more pronounced in a lingering aftertaste. While it's one of the oddest looking teas I've ever had, it's really not bad. It's a good first cup as it literally kicks you into gear but some may prefer to add a sweetener.

A co-worker of mine is originally from Ireland and she brought me a few bags of this to try. This tea is packaged in the traditional white, circular filter-paper teabag. The fragrance is light but definitely creamy with notes of pepper. Upon adding the boiling water, it was immediately black which foreshadowed the strength of this tea. It was highly astringent with an underlying malt. I don’t normally add anything to my tea, but this one needed a little sweetener and cream to get through. The power of this tea took me off guard at first, but it grew on me. If anything, it *will* wake you up!

This tisane is composed of large, colorful pieces of dried fruits. The fragrance is tart and citrusy and there's a subtle dusty or aged quality. This steeped to a deep red so it might contain some hibiscus. There were visible pieces of cranberry but this was far deeper than what could be imparted by just that fruit. The flavor was very tart but also had a clean citrus base. It wasn't very complicated being mainly bitter-orange and apple. I took half of a cooled cup and poured it over ice. I find that a colder temperature makes the fruit stand out more. The chilling gave this more character so I think I prefer this blend iced.

OK, this has "coffee" in the name but technically it's no different from some of the tisanes that have been reviewed here on Steepster as it's really just a herbal blend. I wanted to share this here because of how freaking good it is! I prepared this using a steeping basket and it turned out awesome. The fragrance is rich and chocolaty and there's an indescribable depth. The flavor is bold, malty, full of body and the chocolate is very pronounced. There's also a subtle heat from the chili peppers which enhance the chocolate flavor. This is the best caffeine free chocolate beverage I've ever tasted. It's a little pricey, but I'll be keeping this in the pantry for the winter ahead.

The fragrance is sweet and biscuity with a faint note of smoke. Once steeped, there's a slight stone fruit presence. The flavor is both malty and astringent which makes for a great morning tea. This is a well balanced and artfully blended tea.

Don't stick your nose straight into a new bag. The amines/amides had really built up from the pu-erh and the initial whiff was strongly fishy. After letting the package breathe, it had a mellow, creamy, nutty cocoa fragrance. The tea brewed to a bright rust. I've only tried a few flavored pu-erh teas and they were disappointing but this is pretty good. The cocoa and coconut are discernable but they don't overtake the subtle flavors of the earthy pu-erh. [From some other notes, it appears this blend is no longer available? I've had this for a little while and just discovered I hadn't posted a tasting note for it when I was cleaning out the tea bins.]

This tisane has really chunky pieces of dried fruit and nuts but this blend doesn't go far because of the bulk. A 25g pouch only makes three cups and that's pushing it. The recommendation is 2tsp per cup, but when a single teaspoon contains one banana chip and an almond, you have to use more. The fragrance is great. Because you only have dried fruit and nuts with no artificial flavoring, it's very clean and fruity. The brew results in what is essentially trail mix soup. It's tasty but you could get the same effect from throwing some dried fruit into a teapot and it would cost much less.

In doing my semi-annual tea bin reorg, I came across a sample of this sent to me by @ashmanra that I had misplaced. Fortunately it was packaged well enough that it held up after all these months. It was sent to me to compare to a tea that I liked from Shui Tea. Unfortunately, Jimmy recently closed the doors on that endeavor and I now need to find replacements for his blends. (Some, like his Moscow After Hours, can never be replaced I'm afraid. Sorry, I'm still in the denial phase of mourning.) Ruby #18 is a mild yet flavorful black tea. It has a fragrance of dried raisins and vanilla and steeps to a mild, well balanced, and moderately astringent tea. While it's not quite Black Ruby from Shui Tea, it does come awfully close.

Some blenders throw in a handful of cinnamon and call it "chai." This one is a powerful blend of traditional chai spices with a heavy hand given to the ginger and cardamom. Visually, the tea appeared to be less than 20% of the mix. I was surprised by how well the assam presented itself after steeping. The tea made a considerable contribution to both fragrance and taste, speaking well for the quality of the black tea used. The gingery heat has some staying power making this a great choice for a cold night.

I picked up a matcha set that Teavana had on 50% discount and it included a can of their Imperial Grade Matcha. I've had adulterated matcha in drinks and I drink a lot of matcha-iri genmaicha, but this was my first try of the straight stuff. I used the bamboo whisk and bowl provided in the kit. The powder mixed very well but I couldn't build much froth. I'm guessing that's a skill built over time. The flavor was strong, grassy, clean and somewhat creamy. The powder suspended very well so there wasn't any grit to ruin the flavor. I'm sure I'll discover better matcha over time but this was really quite good for an introduction.

This had a light fragrance of coconut and pipe tobacco. This is a bulky blend so I used 3 tsp to ensure I had a representative mix of all components. This brewed to a very light champagne color with a faint slick from the coconut oil. This tea has been compared to chocolate a lot but I didn't get that at all. I found the flavor to be simply coconut with a slight tart, grassiness from the teas. This was really mild and would pair well with a light dessert but would be lost in traditional American or English breakfast fare.

This is a fringe post for Steepster since this requires no steeping but it does have tea so it wins a place here. I just discovered Wild Root a few weeks ago. All the health benefits of kombucha aside, this stuff tastes great! It's a combination of an old time sarsaparilla and root beer but there's no sugar and the flavors are very subtle. I stick to a gluten-free diet which means no beer for me. I've found that this drink, with its carbonation and spicy-bitter flavor, is actually a passable substitute for ale.

This has a strong pineapple and coconut fragrance and taste. It's really sweet and fruity and very easy to drink. While H&S Bangkok tends more towards the coconut side, this one leans heavily towards the pineapple and guava. It's listed as a black and green blend but I've found that it tastes better if you treat it like a green tea and use a mild temperature and shorter steeping time.

I'm not a rooibos fan. I've found the methyl salicylate in "red tea" can be too pronounced for me and adds a mint flavor to everything. This one was different. The fragrance was a soft, spicy coconut and it held through to the flavor. This was a warm, not hot, chai and the spices balanced with the coconut well. This is decaf so it's a nice selection for fall or winter evenings.

If you look at some of my past tasting notes, you'll see I've been underwhelmed by what many tea blenders have done with chocolate. This is an exception! When you open the pouch, you get a blast of orange-chocolate fragrance with just a hint of the dusty earthiness of the pu-erh. The tea contains HUGE chocolate shavings; an indication that this is going to be better than most "flavored" teas. When you prepare this tea, make sure you use a method that allows the water to envelop and wash the tea so the chocolate fully dissolves. In other words, no "tea balls" or steeping baskets on this one; get it right in the water. This brews to a red-gold and is full of chocolate and orange flavor. Unlike many flavored pu-erh's, the tea holds up well in this blend and adds body and richness. This one goes on the (very) short list of teas containing chocolate that I'd drink again.

The Teavana used car salesmanship really irks me but I have to admit that I've been really impressed with a few blends I recently received as a gift. This "red tea" may quickly become a favorite. This is really fragrant. In fact, you can smell the ginger and cardamom through the sealed pouch. There's a nice balance between the spices and coconut. Prepared, this takes on a really unusual character. I expected it to be hot and spicy like a chai. What you first notice is the creamy fullness of the coconut oil, then a brief flash of heat from the ginger but then this ends with an interesting, lingering apple and cardamom flavor. It's really cooling and calming.