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I seem to be on a chocolate/Valentines tea kick right now. This one smells incredibly good – it must be the chocolate liqueur, though the scent reminds me of Baileys almost. The tea brews up lighter than I normally care for in black teas, but it’s pretty standard for DT’s blends unfortunately. The first flavour that hits my tongue is the chocolate liqueur, sweet and decadent followed by the tang of the bergamot. The rose notes are quite subtle and most noticeable as an aftertaste.

A really enjoyable tea, despite some shortcomings, and it’s good for drinking in the afternoon when you want something a little lighter that will still give you a caffeine boost.

Hmm, there’s not really much that’s macaron-like about the flavour, it’s too robust for one. A proper macaron should be light and delicate with a hint of almond. This tea does have a very nice, toasty, slightly bitter, cocoa flavour that goes well with some milk. It actually makes a nice breakfast tea.

I tried a sample at my local DT and enjoyed it so much that I bought some right away. I haven’t been thrilled with many of their new flavoured teas, but this is an exception. For one the base is much more robust than what they usually use for their blends and I can actually add milk to it without it turning the colour and strength of dirty dishwater. The dry tea smells quite sweet and chocolatey but it’s the rose flavour that dominates, it’s a nice rose though, and it manages to avoid being too perfumy – I think the stronger base contributes to that. The white chocolate is more of an after-thought, coming in at the end of each sip. This was a lovely Valentines Day tea, I hope they bring it back next year.

I was very happy to see this tea get reblended by LiberTeas. I tend to prefer drinking assams with milk so I upped the steeping time a bit from what was recommended and added a generous splash of skim to my cup. The tea is robust and pleasantly malty with a nice, creamy marshmallow flavour. The marshmallow part could stand to be a bit stronger but other than that, this is a wonderful recreation.

Not a tea I would drink plain – the base is a very strong CTC with an astringent edge. The ginger and citrus notes are relatively mild in comparison.

I’ll have to try it with milk to see if that brings out the flavour better.

Trying the new and improved version. Nice cherry flavour in this blend and the gunpowder base is a good one. Sometimes cheaper gunpowder greens can be very grassy and astringent which this one manages to avoid. The almond flavour is the part that’s noticeably lacking, in my opinion. The original had a nice amaretto flavour that the newer version lacks; it’s the sunflower seeds again, I think, they give an impression of nuttiness but they just don’t taste like almonds no matter how you look at it.

Sipdown. This is probably one of my favourite classic earl grey teas due to its refined base and that the blender didn’t over-use the bergamot oil. It’s a versatile tea hat I enjoyed with or without milk.

Sadly I don’t know if I’ll be able to get more. The store I got it from originally – William-Sonoma doesn’t seem to carry Mariage Freres teas any longer; but I will definitely be on the lookout for it.

I’ve gotta say that as much as I love Butiki’s other blends I’m really not liking the base they used in their pu-erh blends. It has a bitter, very ‘dirty’ undertone no matter how well I rinse it. It’s a taste that strong enough to alter the flavourings added to the tea making the whole thing taste rather ‘off’. I think I won’t bother finishing off this blend or the Grasshopper Cheesecake. They can go in the garden come spring.

It’s nice having a decaf black tea for when I want a chai to drink in the evenings. There are some half-decent rooibos chais but it’s not the same and they aren’t much good with milk for the most part. Some decaf teas end up tasting thin and watery do to the decaffeination process but this one still has its flavour and robustness. The spice blend is nice and warm with a distinct nutmeg flavour and cinnamon scent dominating.

I was really excited to try this tea because I LOVE coconut desserts. It has a rich custardy flavor combined with sweet coconut and the toasted rice taste of the genmaicha also manages to give an approximation of a baked crust. The whole tea is smooth and it isn’t overly grassy nor does the rice have a burnt flavour like some cheaper genmaichas do. This definitely goes on my list of teas to rebuy if LiberTeas decides to blend it again.