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First cup of the day. I’m going to try to have a true Sipdown Saturday today and get through almost all of the rest of the teas in my cupboard. That’s my goal, anyway. This tea is my kind of chai – it’s lightly spicy, but more of a sweet spiciness rather than a peppery spiciness. I also like that you can taste the maltiness of the black tea along with the spices. It is wonderful with a little sugar and milk.

-Dry blend has a mixture of small black pieces of tea leaves with small pieces of spices.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of spicy cinnamon. Tea liquor aroma is of sweet spices.
-Tea liquor is a thick dark brown color.
-Robust malty flavor and finish. Spicy aftertaste with hints of cinnamon.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A nice chai with a robust and sweet flavor.

I actually had this tea a few mornings ago, but haven’t been able to log it until today. The pear flavor is fresh tasting and authentic, but it is just overall very faint. This is a nice tea, although a little too softly flavored for my preference. It is a light, refreshing cup every once in a while!

-Dry blend has medium and large green and brown tea leaves with pieces of dried fruit.
-Dry leaves smell faintly of pear. Tea liquor aroma is of pear.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow brown color.
-Light fresh pear flavor and finish. Soft fruity aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Good tea. Very light flavor of pear.

I put this tea in the fiancee’s stocking for Christmas, since he loves root beer and rooibos. It has a lot of large pieces of orange rind and spices in the dry blend, and smells like a really strong, syrupy sweet root beer. The tea itself has more of a spicy sweet root beer aroma. The initial flavor is a little odd – it has the root beer spiciness, but also a strange sourness to it. The aftertaste has a tingling licorice note. I added a little milk and sweetener, which took away the sourness but seemed to enhance the licorice flavor. I like licorice, so I’m fine with that. :)

Right in the middle of steeping this tea the doorbell rang and my books arrived for nursing school. I need to order a lunchbox, nametag holder, and Timolino and I will officially be ready for nursing school!

-Dry blend has red rooibos with large pieces of dried orange peel and spices.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of a syrupy root beer. Tea liquor aroma is of spicy sweet root beer.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish brown color.
-Spicy and almost sour flavor and finish. Lightly numbing licorice aftertaste that lingers.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Spicy sweet and sour root beer flavor with a heavy licorice note.

I don’t love coffee or Teavana at all, but I was still excited to try this one for some reason. Probably because this tea smell so good! There is a wonderful smell of chocolate from the dry blend, and the tea has a hazelnut and cocoa aroma. The flavor is richly chocolate and nuts, with a strong coffee aftertaste. As it cools, it becomes less coffee-like and more hazelnut hot chocolate. It is like a mix between hot chocolate, coffee and tea. I like this despite the surprising similarity to coffee flavor, but I probably wouldn’t reach for it every day.

-Dry blend has a mixture of cocoa kernels, mate and rooibos with pieces of flavoring and long yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of chocolate. Tea liquor aroma is of hazelnut and cocoa.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium brown color with an oily sheen on top.
-Rich chocolate and nutty flavor and finish. Strong coffee aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A smooth cup of nut, chocolate and coffee-like flavors.

I don’t know that I’ve ever had just a plain cardamom tea. I usually see it in blends, so I’m not quite sure what it tastes like by itself. The tea has a malty aroma with a faint hint of spiciness. The flavor is really bitter and spicy with a lingering bitter perfumey aftertaste. This one is just not for me. Thank you, TeaRunner, for this sample!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of black tea. Tea liquor aroma is malty with a faint hint of spiciness.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Bitter and spicy flavor and finish. Lingering bitter and perfumey aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Poor tea. A bitter cup with an odd spicy perfumey note.

I landscaped our small front yard all day yesterday and can barely move this morning! I think every muscle in my body is sore, and not the good sore that comes from a long run, but the bad sore that says, “Don’t you dare move, just lay very still in bed all day!” At least the front yard looks oh so much better now and I am hoping and praying that all of the new plants don’t die!

First cup of the day, and I think I picked the right one when I groggily reached into my tea drawer. I needed something soothing and refreshing, and this one seems to be doing the trick! The tea has a grassy and faint apricot aroma, so I was prepared for a grassy tea with just a little fruitiness. My first sip was actually all apricot. Not quite as flavorful as a fresh or dried apricot, but very lightly flavored and with a true apricot flavor. There’s a lingering sweet fruit aftertaste that makes me feel like I just had some dried apricots. Maybe not a tea that I would reach for every morning, but on this morning it’s perfect. Thank you, Serenity, for this sample.

-Dry blend has medium and large green tea leaves with yellow marigold petals and pieces of dried fruit.
-Dry leaves smell lightly fruity. Tea liquor aroma is grassy with a faint hint of sweet apricot.
-Tea liquor is a clear light yellow color.
-Very light apricot flavor and finish. Lingering sweet fruit aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Good tea. A very delicately flavored tea. Soft and refreshing pure apricot flavor. Reminiscent of dried apricots.

Today has been a productive day, so I am rewarding myself with a cup of Vanilla Comoro. I’ve wanted to try this tea since forever, and have heard so many good things about it. I was certainly impressed when I opened the bag and noticed a sugary vanilla icing scent from the dry leaves. While steeping, the tea filled the kitchen with a wonderful sweet aroma. The brewed tea reminds me of the way warm iced sugar cookies smell. I already love this tea for the aroma alone!

The flavor is even better than expected! Finally a tea that lives up to it’s scent! There is a smooth vanilla flavor and a creamy finish. The aftertaste is pure vanilla icing – perfect! This is one of those rare teas that for me, would be fine to stand alone without any added sweetener or milk. Of course I added some of both just to check, and it makes for a creamier cup, but is wonderful either way. Next time I am going to try added some vanilla-infused sugar that I have. Very happy that I am finally trying this tea, and that it is even better than expected. Now to curl up in bed with my book and a cup of this tea, ahhhhhh.

-Dry blend has medium and large black and brown tea leaves and twigs with small light brown specks throughout.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of sugary vanilla. Tea liquor aroma is of warm iced sugar cookies.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Smooth vanilla flavor with a creamy finish. Rich vanilla icing aftertaste.
-Milk and sweetener optional.
-Excellent tea. Perfect vanilla flavor. Reminiscent of vanilla icing.

I’ve had this little sample since forever and am just now trying it. I’m not crazy about coffee. I used to always think my mom’s cappuccino’s smelled SO good when I was little and would beg for a sip, and then was always disappointed. It’s like the way that vanilla extract smells . . . and then you taste it, ha! But I tried to keep an open mind about this one, because the dry leaves do smell very yummily of sweet caramel. The cup itself has more of a cappuccino aroma, but I can also detect a little of the rooibos. The flavor is nice enough. I can taste the rooibos up front, and there’s a caramel finish. The aftertaste is lightly sweet and strongly of rooibos. I wish the rooibos flavor was a little less intense and I would probably like this one a whole lot more. I’m saving the rest of this sample for my fiancee, who loves cappuccinos and coffee and doesn’t despise rooibos nearly as much as me. :) Thank you, KittyLovesTea for this sample!

-Dry blend has red rooibos with long yellow petals and pieces of flavoring.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of sweet caramel. Tea liquor aroma is of cappuccino with a faint hint of rooibos.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish orange color.
-Soft rooibos flavor with a caramel finish. Lightly sweet and strong rooibos aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Fair tea. Sweet caramel flavor. Strong rooibos aftertaste.

Oh, this one is wonderful! Plain teas usually aren’t what I reach for, but I was happy to see a sample of this from Sophie and Laurent in the mail nonetheless. My expectations were that it would be a somewhat standard black tea. It is so much more than that! There is a sweetness to it, and pops of fresh fruit. The maltiness comes through in the aftertaste and it is nice and strong. There is a smoothness to it also. This tea reminds me a little of Kusmi’s St. Petersburg, with all of the sweet, malty and fruity flavors. Very big thank you to Sophie and Laurent for this wonderful little sample! Onto the wish list it goes!

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell lightly earthy and malty. Tea liquor aroma is malty with sweet fruit notes.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Smooth and sweet flavor and finish with fruity notes. Deep malty aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Sweet flavor with a deep maltiness and hints of fruit.

First tea of the morning and it’s not good. I’ve had this Royal Grey blend for a while, and I believe that it’s been discontinued. I think I had one cup when I first purchased it, and then it slowly moved towards the bottom of my tea drawer. The dry leaves smell heavenly of very strong bergamot. The tea itself has a grassy aroma with just a hint of bergamot. It has a very odd flavor of grassiness with a light bergamot finish. The aftertaste is really too bitter and just doesn’t go well with the bergamot at all. Adding a little sugar did help, but the bitterness is still there. This just isn’t the tea for me. :)

-Dry blend has a mixture of medium and large green tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell heavily of bergamot. Tea liquor aroma is of green tea with a faint hint of bergamot.
-Tea liquor is a clear bright medium yellow color.
-Fresh grassy flavor with a light bergamot finish. Slightly bitter and strong bergamot aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Poor tea. Unfavorable bitter note with a strong bergamot flavor.