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This sample came from ashmanra, who was kind enough to send me samples of some of her French teas. Apparently a charlotte is the same thing as an icebox cake, yum. The base tea here looks unusual for DF, the leaves are super small and super thin, and almost jet black in color. According to the description, it’s a Keemun. There are also some dried flower petals mixed in, which doesn’t really make sense given the flavors here.

The steeped tea smells quite earthy, which makes sense given the Keemun base. Whoa, for some reason this came out quite bitter. And other than that, I’m not a huge fan of this tea base. It’s very earthy with strong mineral notes and an almost smoky thing going on. I don’t really taste chocolate much, I think it’s somewhat lost among the similarly bitter base tea. I guess this one needed a shorter steep time, I’m used to DF teas being able to handle a 4-minute steep without getting bitter.

I actually have two samples of this tea – one from Stephanie and one from ashmanra. Sorry ladies, I dunno how that happened. I’m not the hugest puerh fan, but I find some flavored puerhs can be quite tasty. The loose puerh here is a dark chocolate brown color. Dry scent is earthy but sweet with a touch of cinnamon?

Hmm… I’m actually not getting a lot of additional flavor here besides the puerh itself. And I will say, this puerh is earthy but it’s extremely smooth and there’s no fishy taste at all. I can perhaps taste a tiny touch of caramel? I think the vanilla may be hidden by the fact that the puerh is pretty woody and vanilla is sometimes woody as well. It’s not bad, but it tastes like a straight puerh to me.

Another sample from miss Stephanie. I love figs, so I’m always interested in fig teas. I’m really hoping the coconut in here doesn’t ruin this one, I try to avoid teas with actual coconut in them because it ages so poorly. I can already smell the soapiness through the plastic baggie. :( This is a fairly chunky tea, there are large chunks of fruit along with the coconut shreds and some crushed spices.

The steeped cup smells mostly of soapy coconut. I can definitely taste the soapy flavor in the taste as well, aww… Otherwise this tastes quite mellow for a puerh base, and it’s mildly sweet and spicy. Withholding rating. :(

This tea came from Stephanie. She was talking about it in Steepster chat and it sounded amazing! Luckily she was sweet enough to send me a sample in my holiday package. I’ve been pretty impressed with Dammann’s teas, especially after doing their advent calendar this past year. This one has small black leaves and there are pieces of dried fruit and some flowers included.

Steeped tea smells of dried fruit and a touch of booze. Flavor-wise, it’s pretty subtle. I can taste the prune, and it’s dark and rich and yummy. There’s also a little bit of a booze note from the vodka. Perhaps a little bit of almost-bitter cocoa? Overall, it’s yummy, especially for a dried fruit lover like me.

This one also came from the December Amoda box. I have to say, for some reason it seems like blueberry teas get the brunt of the hibiscus abuse. And that makes me sad, because I love blueberry, but I hate hibiscus. Hopefully it plays a small role here. The dry tea reminds me of a very specific blueberry-flavored something, unfortunately I can’t think of what it is. It’s a very sweet and jammy blueberry smell.

Unfortunately, I can already smell the hibiscus tartness in the steeped cup. Why must they do this to me? This has a much milder flavor than I expected. And the flavor is actually quite lovely, mostly (fresh) blueberry with no real tartness. However, it’s a teeny bit bitter even though I only steeped for 3 minutes, and other than that the base doesn’t taste like much. Also, a touch of astringency is showing itself already. I do enjoy the depth that the elderberries and currants add to the blueberry.

Time for some lazy notes! I have a lot of untried flavored tea samples from various sources, and since I haven’t been enjoying flavored teas much lately, I thought it best to get them all over with in one sitting. So this one is first up, and it came from the December Amoda box. Dry, it actually smells almost boozy? Must be the vanilla flavoring. I can also smell a bit of ginger.

The steeped tea smells much more gingery, but I can also smell the vanilla still. The taste is actually less gingery than I expected, which is a pleasant surprise. And it does taste creamy and vanilla-y. Still, never going to be a favorite since I don’t like ginger.

My last Yezi black tea sample! I’ve enjoyed all their teas so far, though they tend to be a bit expensive for my tastes. This is actually one of their cheaper black teas, so hopefully I enjoy it as much as the pricier ones. The leaves are medium-sized and while they’re long and slender, they’re not wiry-looking. The color is a medium to dark brown with some golden tips included. Dry scent is hay and potatoes.

The steeped tea… smells exactly like French fries to me. Excuse me while I sit here and sniff it for a few minutes… Wow, it tastes very potato-y as well! Totally French fries. There’s also a light sort of green vegetable flavor as well as a slightly sweet and rich caramel/molasses touch. Mostly though, I taste French fries. There is perhaps a touch of fruit near the end, some kind of dried fruit, perhaps prune? Overall, this is a nice mostly savory and thick tea. It’s almost bitter, but not quite there.

Finally getting around to try this one, which I chose as my free sample with my TeaVivre Black Friday order. Oddly enough, this doesn’t seem to be on the website anymore, and I know for a fact that it was a new tea when I ordered it. I wonder what happened there. Anyway, the leaves are very thin and wiry, and they have a very dark chocolate brown color. Dry scent is a yummy combination of chocolate, honey, hay, and perhaps a touch of rich dried fruits.

The fruit aroma has become much stronger in the steeped tea, and there’s also a strong, sweet honey scent. That sweet honey is also present in the tea itself, which makes me happy since honey is one of my favorite notes in tea. There’s also a thick bready flavor and texture that works well with the honey, as well as plenty of sweet potato. I can taste a slight amount of molasses along with rich and syrupy dried fruits such as prune or raisin. The only thing I wish there was more of is the cocoa, which is present near the end of the sip in a very unsweetened manner. Super tasty and satisfying, and of course, perfectly smooth!

This one came from miss cookies. She sent me several Tao of Tea samples, which made me very happy since I was curious about the company. Thanks cookies! This one has somewhat broken leaves, and they’re a dark greyish brown with a few golden tips. Dry scent is mostly dry hay with a lot of sweetness, almost as if there’s honey involved.

The steeped tea smells somewhat smoky, which I was not expecting. Hmm, I think this tea is not for me. It’s not horrible or anything, but it’s definitely quite earthy. There’s also a touch of wood, along with mineral and slightly smoky notes. Not my favorite flavor profile… Maybe there’s a touch of malt? On a positive note, there’s no bitterness or astringency here, which is appreciated. :)

This is the other tea from my Yunomi order. It was the next flavor I wanted to try after tasting and liking Creha’s grape-flavored black tea. I love these cute little tins! Each flavor has its own unique art on the front. The tea itself is extremely dark brown, almost black, and the stems have a lovely red hue. Mm, it smells so good! Creamy and rich, like that chestnut cream spread/filling that you can buy in jars or tubes. I also smell a touch of chocolate and vanilla.

The aroma of the steeped tea reminds me of good vanilla extract – creamy and sweet with a strong wood note. This tea has an amazingly creamy texture and flavor. The chestnut flavor reminds me of sweet pastries filled with cream and chestnut paste, possibly topped with sliced almonds. The base tea itself is quite mild, somewhat woody with a touch of musty hay. There’s a touch of mild bitterness near the end of the sip, but I think that’s actually a good thing, it helps cut through all the richness in the flavoring. This would be fantastic with milk and sugar or as a latte.

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