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So I stopped into Teaopia to get a new strainer as I suspect the cats have appropriated mine for some scheme, and ended up picking up some of this tea.

Honestly, wow almonds. The scent is nearly overpowering. I get a bit of the cherry undernote but I think it’s because i’m looking for it, the boyfriend says it just smells like almond to him. It comes through as slightly cough drop in the dry tea, but seems to mellow out after steeping.

First sip was slightly disappointing I will admit, I expected an almond style kick in the pants and found… black tea. The scent was still very much almond so I did a lot of deep inhaling while sipping to get the flavour to come through more. However, as my first cup cooled the cherry started to come forward, as well as the almond, causing the tea to balance quite wonderfully.

I’m wishing I had a larger bag of this now, as it’s really a treat to drink. The heavy scent mellows into a lovely cup of tea that’s not too sweet. I find I can enjoy this all day without it feeling too dessertish.

Picked this one up on a whim while doing some birthday shopping (Hey, it’ll be my birthday too eventually!) I’m rather glad I did.

As an ex-coffee drinker I miss being riddled with caffiene. There’s just something about that energetic, tingly, watch the boyfriend evaluate my crazy eyes and get out of the house as fast as he can, feeling that a nice cup of green or black can’t quite match. This comes the closest yet though.

Honestly, in the store I wasn’t much of a fan of the dry smell. Slightly fruity, very smooth and earthy, but not something I would pick up and sigh over. Since I had decided to buy it before even entering the store to cut down on “sampling” other teas, I just bought and ran.

As this one is an herbal I wasn’t as picky about brewing as usual. Went with 6 minutes but also didn’t strain the teapot so my second cup was a 20 minute infusion, which caused it to darken a lot and gave a touch of a bitter edge.

I agree that it’s smooth, baby bottom smooth, creamy without the cream smooth. Flavour reminded me of when I was young and we’d try to make wheat gum out of green wheat, earthy and heavier though. There was a touch of fruit from the papaya, but more towards the end of the sip.

I’m willing to try this one cold, even though I don’t tend to enjoy my teas chilled. And that caffiene kick I was looking for was very much there, but still not as much as that first cup of coffee used to be.

As far as Teopia’s green teas go, this is one of my favorites.

The scent is very coconut, with a surprising amount of sweetness to it. I poked around in my little travel tin looking for white chocolate, but to no avail. Could be they’re hiding from me, or they may have crumbled and now are just a sweet coating.

After brewing the scent has dulled some, mellowed. The green tea base is much more prominent with only top notes of coconut remaining. I’m not getting much in the way of almond from it, but that touch of sweetness is still there.

I wouldn’t classify this as a dessert tea so much. While the scent is sweet and there are hints of sweetness to the tea, I don’t feel this would really hit the spot if you were having a sugar craving. I feel this works much better as an afternoon tea, out on a porch in the sunshine. Maybe with a little paper umbrella in your mug.

I enjoy this rooibos very much. A nice blend that’s not too overpowering as long as I use a little less leaf than reccomended. I find if I brew a heaping teaspoons worth it’s just too strong, and takes on a nearly oily flavour from the bergamont. Some may enjoy this, myself not so much. I usually go with a level teaspoon or a little less.

That said, this is my new late morning, early afternoon treat. To keep me from getting too giddy. Usually until my caffiene rush starts to wear off and I switch back to a black or green to get me through those last three hours.

Originally when I walked into Teaopia I was looking to purchase their plum Oolong, but as soon as I asked the salesgirl she pulled down the Creamy Nut cannister and hooked me with this sweet smelling nutty tea.

Dry, this tea has a smoky, sweet, nutty scent that is actually quite heady. I don’t get much of the floral but this isn’t surprising.

First cup – I’m almost always disappointed with my first cup. Flavours aren’t really complex, and that smoky nutty taste is almost offputting. As a rule I end up pouring the first cup out. Possibly use of more leaves would solve this problem, but I think that would alter later infusions too much.

Second Cup – There’s that flavour to match the scent, but nicely diminished to managable levels. My second cup tends to be cloudier, and by far the darkest. If you have one of the toffee bits this is the cup it will dissolve in, bringing more of a creamy sweet. It also appears to be the cause of the cloudiness, as any of my second brewings without a toffee chunk are clear.

Third Cup and Beyond- This is it! The smokier flavours have mellowed and blend with the nuttiness. Hints of the floral notes are there, hiding below the other flavours. Usually at this point I can look forward to two or three more cups before it’s just too weak.

Overall this is my comfort tea for when I’ve had a bad day. The ritual of the first washing, and looking forward to that third infusion while reading a good book always helps to smooth out my considerable temper. Plus it’s much nicer to my thighs than a slice of cheesecake, but just as satisfying.

I recently pulled this one out of my cupboard where it had been hiding at the back and after experimenting with it all day at work. I wish I had left it in the cupboard.

The dry scent is less blueberry and much more floral. As far as blueberries go I’ve only seen one lonely looking one at the bottom of my cup, and this is 5-6 cups into the day here. After much experimentation with steep times best I’ve found for this is a shortened steep time with a little more tea than I would usually use. I’ve found this helps to keep the floral notes from overpowering the green tea.

Flavour itself is quite light, very floral. I pick up the mallow more than anything, but that could be because I’m looking for it. I don’t get much if any vanilla from it.

All in all I regret purchasing a largish bag and I guess I’ll just have to hope it’ll grow on me since I’m determined to use it up before I go on another tea spree.