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Made this one again. Used 1.5 tsp per 8 oz and steeped for 2 minutes at approx. 90C. I figured that was the best of both worlds. Definitely much more bergamot in this taste this time. It lost a bit of its sweetness but it is not bitter. The base tastes much more of a black tea, I am not getting any greeney flavours, but I think the green smooths the base out a little. The base is just bordering on woody tasting this time. Much better this way.

This tea smells so super delicious. It is deliciously bergamotty. The dry tea even has little shreds off orange peel in it, so it must be good.

I was a bit disappointed in the taste of the tea. It is still a great earl grey, but a bit of a let down considering the smell and that it is a Fauchon tea. It was definitely woody tasting. The bergamot is sweet but very light.

In writing this review, I just noticed this is a mix of black and green tea. In both times I tried this tea, I made it too hot. I will have to adjust my steeping parameters and try again.

This one was part of the SBT kickstarter way back in October 2013.

On first viewing, the tea bag is quite small as compared to the “older” SBT’s. I was not necessarily concerned about this, but it is just an observation. Both “new” and “old” packages list the same weight, so it is most likely the newer version is just more economical.

I am unsure if I have ever had cherry limeade. But I can imagine what it tastes like. Or what I think it should taste like.

Brewed this one up as per usual, 1 bag in 2 cups boiling water, white sugar added, brewed for 2 minutes, then filled the jug with cold water and chilled.

I was expecting a super tart cherry-lime-lemon-citrus flavour. But on first sip I was sadly disappointed. There are definite cherry and lime flavours but they are quite blunted and not tart or sour. Definitely artificial but not in a horrible way. I also felt it wasn’t sweet enough. But as I kept sipping, I thought, this is actually quite good. It is more along the lines of a real iced tea, vs a sugar crystal drink mix. (Duh!)

I can taste the black base a bit, it gives a smoothness and creaminess to the tea. No astringency or bitterness at all.

I have changed my mind, and I like this one now.

Well I am going to give this a try. I have been kind of MIA lately. About a week and a half ago I had to have eye surgery. I haven’t been able to really use a computer a whole lot since because of blurry vision and trouble concentrating. But it is getting better. So bear with me on this review.

I had been saving this one for last from my recent Red Leaf order. I am a total sucker for delayed gratification. This was the flavour I was most looking forward too. I love ginger. And the more gingery the better. I absolutely love drinks like Jamaican ginger beer.

I got this one as distinctive only for the reason that the order also contained some fruity flavours and I did not want to make the order complicated by getting some flavours distinct and some robust. But I would have liked to have gotten robust.

The smell of the dry matcha is very gingery. Not so much like a gingerale soda, but more like an alcoholic ginger beer. Delicious.

I mixed this one up cold, 1tsp per 8 oz water and a bit of white sugar. The taste was…ok. A bit different. I think I need to change my parameters a bit. There was a sweet ginger taste. But not really ginger spicey at all. It was almost as it the flavour was a bit floral and perfumey. Some bitterness that could be the matcha or could be the “ale” part. Not as strong as I would have liked but that may be due to the flavour distinctiveness I chose.

I think next time I make this, I am going to try a bit less matcha.

You can purchase it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/ginger-ale-matcha.html

And now my eyes are all blurry from looking at the screen :(

Edit: This one is slightly better with using a bit less matcha. More than 3/4 tsp but less than 1tsp.

Made this one iced.

It was ok. The anise was settled down a bit and the fennel was stronger but the flavour was still predominately black licorice. Surprisingly I had to add quite a bit of sugar to sweeten it up.

I initially thought this one would be better iced vs hot but I am not sure. Still need to try it as a cold brew though.

I am a bit disappointed in this one. I think it is my fault though. I love wuyi oolongs, they are so roasty and toasty and comfortable. But I think I failed to properly read the description of this one before I purchased it. I was tea-blind.

This one taste much more of a green oolong. It is greeny tasting with a lot of floral notes. Not terribly much roast or toast or comfort. It did brew up quite thick with a lot of honey notes.

It is still quite a delicious tea, just not what I was expecting. I would normally reserve a tea like this for the afternoon, not the first one of the morning. So I feel like I am not quite wakened up yet.

I hadn’t been avoiding this one. But I was in no hurry to try it. It seemed like it would be a chai to me, I don’t mind chai but it is definitely not my go to tea.

After opening the tin up, it smelled strongly of fennel. The brewed tea is very strongly anise (which smells like black licorice). It taste like a moderately bold black tea with sweet black licorice notes. The licorice is not overpowering, which is quite nice. There is definitely no need to add any sweetener to this one as it is fairly sweet on its own. I get a very quick, light salty fennel taste at the beginning of the sip but it is soon covered up by the licorice flavour. I am not getting much other spice out of this tea. There is a light “heat” to the aftertaste. It is definitely not a chai.

Due to the black licorice flavour, I definitely think this one would be better as an iced/cold brew.

This one is distinctive flavour.

The smell of the dry tea is citrus. Very similar to a vitamin c chewable tablet. I was a little worried due to the disaster of when I tried the orange matcha and it was so chemical flavoured. But I ordered this one at distinctive flavour for the purpose to tone down any chemical flavour there might be.

I made this cold shaken. 1tsp for 8oz water and about a 1/4 tsp white sugar.

It turned out ok. A little lacking on the citrus flavour but it is there. I can tell it is citrus but that is about it. It is not really distinctively orange, or lemon, or lime, etc. I am getting quite a dryness in the aftertaste. I would say it is similar to what you get after you suck on a lemon slice. I think this one would have been better at a robust level but I am still so scared if that chemical taste. Sigh. Ha ha.

I will play around with parameters a little and see if I can coax out some more flavour.

I think I figured this one out. Finally, when there is just one serving left. Ha ha, that is how it always works out.

1.5 tsp for a 8 oz mug, 3-4 pieces of brown rock sugar, 190F (definitely hotter than what would be recommended for a green), 1-1.5 minutes.

That is all.

It is so cold. I know I shouldn’t complain. I have lived in this darn country and province my entire life. I have made a conscious decision to continue living here. I actually quite like how we get four distinct seasons. I normally would not mind if it was this cold. But come on polar vortex, it is March 1. It is supposed to be like -5C, starting to melt a little every day.

It is currently -40C, feels like -52C. If you would like to know what that is in Fahrenheit, -40 is where the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales meet. That’s right! It is -40F feels like -61.6F. WHAT?!?! I am not even going to bother going outside, not because any exposed skin will freeze in 3 seconds, or because my nostril hairs will freeze on contact to the air, but I am scared my door will break off its hinges if I open it because it is so cold.

So I am drinking this to warm up. I brewed it a little extra time today so it is nice and thick. 7 pearls for 2 minutes (I usually do just 1 minute). It is thick and bold and malty. Some hints of cocoa, but a lot of sweet dark plum flavours. It is STRONG. And I need that today.

I declare today a tea day!