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This is one of the strongest smelling tisanes I’ve ever come across, and the roll top bag that it came in is powerless to stop it from smelling up my whole hotel room. Which is kind of okay, because this smells amazing. A very intense, juicy smell of fresh grapefruit, with the sweet, sour and bitter notes.

The dry leaf is red rooibos, green flakes of mint, curls of citrus peel and some large citrus wedges.

As it steeps, the sweet mint fragrance comes out, mellowing the intensity of the grapefruit. On the palate, this is much milder than the smell would suggest. There’s definitely grapefruit and mint, with a bit of rooibos woodiness and a touch of a drying mouth feel. The grapefruit and mint are well balanced, but I wish that both were punchier. I want this to taste as intense as it smells.

Still, it’s delicious, and I’m glad I got a big bag. I did a sloppy job of making this cup, as I’m in a hotel room, so no measuring or timing anything, and no way to know how hot the water was. And even though this doesn’t taste as amazing as the smell, the smell is good enough to just enjoy on its own.

Flavors: Grapefruit, Mint, Sweet, Wood

Ubacat

Sounds delicious! Looks like you’re really enjoying your Toronto tea shopping!

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Ubacat

Sounds delicious! Looks like you’re really enjoying your Toronto tea shopping!

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Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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