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Another sample from Dexter! Yyz was kind enough to explain the source of this tea’s name in Steepster chat – it comes from this French children’s song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrBIhEfSBE. Cute, right? :) The leaves are small and black, and somewhat broken. Dry scent is mild candy-like cherry that is both sweet and tart.

Steeped up, this tea smells like cherry pie filling, which makes me very happy. There’s also a pastry cream note for me. Yum, this is a very tasty cherry tea! I would describe the flavor as being closer to dried cherries than fresh, it has that concentrated deep cherry flavor. I added a touch of sugar to mine and it’s lovely cherry pie tea! Definitely put this one on your wishlist if you’re a cherry lover like me.

Hello again, Steepster! I’ve been absent for the last couple of days, and I’ve missed you. I did Tough Mudder over the weekend, and between getting ready for it and lying about like a dead person afterward, I didn’t have much time to drink tea or read notes. Luckily, I’m now caught up on all the reading I missed while I was away! And since my cupboard is now overflowing with swap samples (Dexter pushed it over the edge with her generous care package…) I’m going to try to write notes that are less formal and shorter so I can pump them out faster! So, here we go!

This sample came from Dexter’s ridiculously large box of samples. It’s a mixture of darker sencha leaves with lighter crumbled leaves (“salted cherry leaves”). It smells a little bit like vinegar, but there’s also a powdered sugar note.

Steeped, it smells much more like sencha with a little bit of a salty note. Wow, this is definitely an interesting one! It starts out quite salty and grassy/spinachy from the sencha, but the tastes changes a lot by the end. It grows sweeter and there’s an almost grain-like flavor in the aftertaste, and possibly some floral (thinking cherry blossom here). Not at all bitter for me, but I did use the lower end of the time because the leaves are so broken. Quite yummy, and unique!

This is one of the teas from my Palais des Thés samplers from MyHabit. Visually, it’s very pretty – there are thin, twisted green leaves mixed with lots of yellow flower petals and a few pieces of dried pear. Unfortunately mine seems to have been contaminated from being packaged next to the Glacial Mint… There’s a distinct and strong peppermint smell that’s mostly covering the sweet pear. This makes me somewhat angry, since it’s the company’s fault and not mine, and they’re in metal tins but there was somehow still contamination… I can only hope this doesn’t extend to the taste. I steeped a heaping teaspoon of leaf for 3 minutes at 175 degrees.

Well… The tea liquid itself doesn’t really smell minty, it smells like sweet pears. Ugh. The taste is rather weak for some reason, even though I slightly overleafed. Unfortunately, I can taste a bit of peppermint, and it’s definitely distracting. The pear flavor seems to be fairly nice and authentic. The base get slightly bitter near the end of the sip and it’s also slightly astringent.

I guess I shouldn’t rate this since clearly my sample is not representative of the tea as a whole… :(

This one came from my $5 September Steepster Select box. The leaves are thin and wiry and twisty, and their color is a myriad of greens and silvers. Dry scent is a mild and sweet combination of vegetal, grass, and hay scents. I steeped a heaping teaspoon for 2 minutes at 175 degrees.

Once steeped, the liquid smells sweet, creamy, and mildly vegetal. The taste is mild and vegetal, but there’s also a lot of grassiness here as well. It’s almost a bit sharp, which is nice my favorite, however there’s no astringency here. I could do with a little more sweetness. I do enjoy the touch of roasted nut flavor that comes out strongly at the end.

Hello Steepster! This tea came from albertocanfly in my recent tea rehoming swaps. I’m not sure why, but I’ve had a weird fascination with these Cuppa Cake teas for a while… I’m very happy I finally get to try a couple of them! (if anyone else has Blueberry Bundt or Gingerbread, I would love to swap for those too!) Republic of Teas recommends 6 ounces of water per teabag (what…?) so I used two and filled my mug up almost to the top (so about 10 or 11 ounces). Hopefully it comes out okay! It’s hard to judge the leaf itself by looking at these bags, but it looks quite broken and very dark. It smells like some kind of amazing vanilla butter pound cake with caramel sauce, yum. I let the bags steep for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

Mmm, once steeped, this tea smells like pure butter… Somewhat similar to those Butter Rum Lifesavers. There’s definitely a dessert element here. I added some raw sugar to my cup because, come on, cake is sweet. ;) I’m going to use Marzipan’s excuse and say, “Hey, I’m from the South!” Midwest counts as South, right? Right?! Sorry, sometimes I get pretty distracted typing while I’m waiting for my tea to cool… :P Okay, I may have overdone it a touch on the sugar, but it’s super delicious! Just like a cake tea should be. It tastes very vanilla-y and buttery, and there is caramel but it’s more of a light caramel – like a caramel drizzle. The base tea is super mellow and mild, and there’s the teensiest bit of astringency, but it’s next to nothing. Very tasty and decadent cake tea!

Miss Marzipan was nice enough to send me several Nina’s Paris samples from her order. This is the first to be tried! The leaves themselves are quite small and very dark, and there are a few yellow flower petals mixed in. Dry scent is a tart combination of fresh orange and grapefruit juices. I steeped 1.5 teaspoons of leaf for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

Once steeped, the aroma is an interesting sweet yet tangy mix of grapefruit, orange, and lemon scents. I added a touch of raw sugar to my cup because I can! This is a rather tart-tasting tea, so I think the sugar works nicely to balance it a bit. The grapefruit flavor is actually very accurate to the real fruit, and there is a touch of fresh-squeezed orange here as well. I am not generally a fan of orange juice, but it’s rather nice in this tea. The base is smooth and generally unobtrusive, which I find to be common among French brands. Tasty!

This is my second free “press” sample from Yunomi.us last month (I just got an email telling me that my free samples for this month shipped, yay). I’m just going to say it, I don’t have much experience with gyokuro and the last one I tried was a bit too much for me. But onward we go, for science! The leaves of this tea are quite thin and lightweight, and almost needle-like in shape. Their color is a rich jewel-tone evergreen. Dry scent is strongly sweet and vegetal, and almost fruity (pineapple?). I steeped a level teaspoon at 160 degrees for 2 minutes.

Once steeped, the tea has a strong and intense vegetal aroma, with a lovely mixture of sweet and savory tones and a touch of seaweed. Oh wow, I was blown away at first sip! This tea is so amazingly sweet and smooth, and super creamy in texture. Drinking this reminds me of eating a nice hearty, thick soup. The vegetal flavor is deep and luscious, and a mixture of mild steamed greens and silky butternut squash or sweet potato puree. There’s also a lovely rich nutty flavor here, definitely with a touch of roast. It’s a decadent nut, like macadamia or cashew. So delicious and satisfying!

Wow, I’ve been neglecting these generous Héritage Gourmand samples from boychik (and originally CharlotteZero). To be fair, I’ve amassed a giant mound of flavored tea samples, especially since I started doing my tea rehoming. I was sorting through them today and this sounded amazing, so I had to try it. The black leaves are small and very dark, and there’s a generous amount of cacao nibs mixed in. Dry scent is sweet chocolate heaven, a mixture of milk and dark varieties. I let a heaping teaspoon steep for 3 minutes at 200 degrees. I think I might let it go longer next time.

Mm, the aroma is intoxicating! Creamy milk chocolate combined with the richness of dark chocolate. And the taste is spot-on as well! The texture is somewhat thick and luscious, almost like actual Mousse au Chocolat. I added a teensy bit of raw sugar to mine. I would say it’s mostly milk chocolate here, but there’s a touch of rich dark chocolate mixed in to give depth. It’s creamy and delicious and chocolate heaven! I can’t even imagine how amazing this would be with milk added.

Another free sample from Good Life Tea’s decaf sampler. It has the same small, quite broken black tea base, and there are pieces of citrus peel and various spices (ginger root among others). I did a 3 minute steep at 200 degrees.

I can smell a lot of clove and some ginger in the steeped tea. I added a small amount of raw sugar to my cup. This is definitely a mildly spiced black tea, which is nice. I suppose it would also be stronger with a longer steep, but I like to keep the steep short with broken leaf teas to prevent bitterness. I can definitely taste cinnamon and clove the most, but there’s also ginger in there and a touch of orange. A little bit astringent for me, but nothing too crazy. Pleasant. :)

Got this one in the free caffeine-free sampler pack that Good Life Tea was offering a week or two ago. I got an email reminding me to review these teas, so I guess they’re impatient. :P Anyway, this one is small black tea leaves with a couple pieces of mango. I steeped it for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

It’s actually not too bad for a decaf tea. The leaves were mostly in small pieces, so I was worried about bitterness, but it’s actually not bitter at all. The mango flavor is more of a vague sweet fruit flavor, but it’s tasty enough. I added a little bit of raw sugar to mine. My only complaint is there is a bit of astringency here. I could see this one making a nice iced tea in the summer.