1368 Tasting Notes
TTB 2025. Yay, another tea company I’m getting to try for the first time! This blend is extremely hibiscus heavy, to the point where I’d actually suggest a two-minute steep rather than the recommended 3 minutes. As it is, I’m just getting tart and sweet that’s reading as “hibiscus” and not much else. If I didn’t have other teas in this box that I still want to get to, I might play around with this some more, but it just doesn’t seem worth the time/caffeine at this point. I hope someone down the line likes it more, though, and does play with it!
TTB 2025. Have I ever tried anything from necessiteas before? Not sure. I’m not a big fan of blueberries but this looked interesting enough to give it a try. Made as an oat milk latte. Mostly I’m just getting maple syrup, with just a faint whiff of blueberry that I might not have noticed at all if I didn’t know it was there. I enjoyed this more than I expected to, but someone who likes blueberries might be disappointed.
TTB 2025. I’ve gotten on my soapbox about this company before, so I’ll spare y’all the screed this time. Suffice to say, I find their framing extremely pretentious and disrespectful to the history and tradition of tea as well as other companies that have been innovating in the fun-flavored-tea realm long before August was even an idea. I’ve had some good blends from them, so I’m not opposed to trying one that’s new-to-me, but I have no interest in giving them my money or space in my cupboard.
That said, this blend is pretty tasty! The strawberry note hits first, followed quickly by an apple-y chamomile. Some gentle tartness at the end of the sip. I don’t know what kind of bubblegum they’re chewing, but I’m not getting anything bubblegum-like. I also can’t really pick out anything about the base green tea here. A very easy drinker.
I also find their marketing to be a bit much, but also I think there are only 2 or 3 teas that I’ve ever liked enough to reorder from them, and plenty that I’ve really disliked ha ha.
There seem to be a lot of newer companies now that actively try to distance themselves from existing tea norms because they want to attract young and hip people by “reinventing” tea. Not necessarily a bad thing if it gets more people into tea, but they never fail to elicit an eyeroll from me… :P
TTB 2025. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I got. I literally grimaced after taking my first sip. Then I made my poor partner try it; he grimaced and asked why I subjected him to this. Safe to say that this blend is not a winner in this household.
The spice combo itself is fine, it’s just that it doesn’t really work as a tea. This could be good as a broth base or for cooking grains with. Just not on its own as a beverage – the flavors are just TOO savory and strong for that.
TTB 2025. We have replenished our oat milk supplies, so I decided to give this blend a proper try. Unsurprisingly, I like it even better as a latte. The brisk base and tart bergamot are still very present, but smoothed out a bit by the oat milk. And the “glazed” part is amplified. Yummy.
Sipdown of a blend I’ve been hoarding for about 6 or 7 years. A Canadian friend shared this with me. Saskatoon berries are not a super common blend ingredient so I’ve been careful with it. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to try fresh Saskatoon berries!
There are a LOT of berries in here – Saskatoon berries, cranberries, raspberry pieces, strawberry pieces, and cherry pieces. It makes for a melded “red berry” flavor: tart, sweet, and almost syrupy. Probably better hot than cold, but not terrible cold. Thanks Canada!
Saskatoon berries are so lovely :). We keep a a frozen stash to add into baked goods!
Ooo, thank you for pointing me to this company. They sell a 27oz Henley teapot for a very reasonable price, which is wonderful because those are weirdly hard to come by these days. I’m very tempted to order a teapot for my Dad and maybe this and a few other teas for myself. :)
Saskatoon berries are the best! Super tasty in pies and jams.
Why yes, I did think that The Jasmine Pearl Tea Co. might be a store that specializes in jasmine-based blends. It is not! It’s a generalist store that makes their own blends.
I’m really torn about this one. I don’t hate it but I do think that the balance is a bit off. It’s extremely lavender-heavy, almost to a soapy extent. Somewhere under all that lavender is a floral jasmine, with a hint of lemon at the end of the sip. I’m not picking up on the hojicha at all. If this blend wasn’t so heavy-handed with the lavender I’d probably keep it. Alas.
2025 TTB. Somehow, this is reading more fully “cherry” than “sakura leaf” to me. I don’t really know how to explain the difference, but I know that it tastes more like black cherry soda than like sakura mochi or a straight sakura leaf herbal. The base isn’t really impressing me either. It’s drying in a way that I don’t really expect from green teas. I can’t seem to find an ingredients list anywhere, which is also annoying me – people might have allergies, etc. Maybe this would be better as a cold brew? Thankfully I only made a small cup because I’m trying to taste my way through the TTB.
