95 Tasting Notes

72

This is my first from Frank and I was not disappointed. Got this on Friday when I came home from work and had to try it. Normally I stick to rooibos after work but I figured it was a Friday and a green so why not? Awesome tea! The marshmallow is subtle but there. I added some splenda to it and it was really good.

My only beef with the tea is that it didn’t come with brewing instructions. I rarely drink greens because I generally prefer bolder flavors so I had to look at the back of a Teavana blend for brewing instructions for green tea. As such, I’m not sure if I brewed it right, my marshmallows didn’t melt completely so I may have lost some flavor there.

Held up well for a second steep, probably could have done a third but I wanted to try my other new teas so I tossed it after the second.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Ashley Bain

I wish I could find some of this to try! I’m obsessed with anything marshmellow.

LefTea

Ashley, you may be able to talk me into a swap here. I haven’t had it since I posted this review (although after re-reading it, it makes me want to make it again). Thoughts?

Ashley Bain

That would be awesome! I was going to message you but realized I can’t. lol. I have several 52 Teas I can send you though.

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59
drank Hazelnut by Tea Licious
95 tasting notes

Got this from Tealicious as a sample via their discussion thread (Thanks again!). Smelled yummy when I opened the pouch so I decided to give it a whirl on this cold, snowy (yes, it’s April!) Monday. I’m pretty sure I really like it. I think all these teas that have coffee influence (this and Teavana’s JavaVana) are a bit confusing to my tongue. It thinks it’s getting tea and then there are hints of coffee flavor, and real coffee flavor, not the girly coffee drinks I normally get. The only downside to tea-coffee beverages is that while I expect there to be loads of sugar in the coffee versions, when I add too much brown sugar splenda mix to the tea ones all I taste is the brown sugar and it’s too sweet (by God, what’s happened to me?!?). Maybe I just need to explore alternative sweeteners. Maybe I’ll try a second steeping tomorrow with a little sweetened condensed milk.

It’s also possible that it got a tad overbrewed as my puppy didn’t think 3 minutes of cudde time was enough.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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78

Why must Teavana constantly add cardamom to its tea? I really loved the way this smelled in the package (very similar to my favorite – Cha Yen Thai) and after steeping it still smelled delish with fruity notes I hadn’t detected before. It tastes good too but the cardamom sticks out sometimes almost crushing the other flavors. I might pick some of it out so I can taste the rest of the ingredients.

Good, but would be better with a little more balance.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 8 min or more

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59
drank JavaVana Mate by Teavana
95 tasting notes

First time with this tea this morning and I’m just not sure what to think. On one hand, it does have a strong coffeeesque flavor, but I’m not sure that that’s what I wanted. I am missing the chocolate and vanilla notes but I wonder if I had the water too hot (boiling instead of 200 degrees which I normally use on Matevana). I think I’ll like it once I make a few tweaks.

I’m betting my coffee-loving husband would love it though.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
IllBeMother221B

Felt the same way when I had it the other morning. I was looking forward to the chocolate and vanilla and it just wasn’t there. I’ll keep you posted as I tweak it.

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52
drank Turkish Spice Mint by Zhi Tea
95 tasting notes

It’s been a long week so forgive me for being a little confused by the pouch from Foodzie (generously passed on from my babysitting family) and thought jasmine green turkish spice mint was all one tea. But seriously Zhi, help a girl out by labeling the bags, eh?

Tried this on a whim based on the combo smell coming from the package. Color me sad to discover I picked the turkish mint and got no jasmine green mixed in (I was seriously intrigued by the mix). Aside from that, it’s pretty good. Added a little generic splenda while brewing as I was too lazy to go back to the kitchen after brewing.

The labeling on this tea bugged me. Maybe it’s just because it was enclosed in the Foodzie box but it bugged me that they kept saying loose leaf satchel…um, which is it? Can’t be loose if it’s in a bag…duh.

Good mint tea, my first actually, but I probably wouldn’t buy it.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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34

I second the other reviewer’s fear of this tea due to smell. I was cleaning in the kitchen while I brewed this tea and had a dirty crock pot that had made pork a few days ago. I thought that was the source of the smell….but no, it was the tea. WTH?

So anyway, I took a deep breath (away from the tea) and took a sip. Phew! It doesn’t taste like it smells! I’m not bowled over by the flavor, it seemed kinda meh to me upon first brew, but it may grow on me (perhaps like a fine mold…).

Not sure on this kind of tea…and I can’t pronounce it anyway.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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46
drank Amaretti Cookie by Todd & Holland
95 tasting notes

I tried this one again today with a lower temp (200 degrees) and a 3ish minute steep time (I say ish because my husband was using both the oven timer and the microwave so I had to estimate). The dryness is gone, however, there’s something in the finish that I just don’t care for – it’s almost chemically (yes, that’s a technical term). I wonder if, in addition to the almonds, they used some sort of artificial almond flavoring and that’s what I’m tasting? It’s not terrible, but it’s not good either.

I did discover earlier in the week, however, that it’s excellent when added to Matevana (I had two sets of leaves that needed to be resteeped or tossed so I steeped them together to avoid wasting one of them).

I do have a cold so I’ll hold off complete judgement until after trying this one more time on it’s own minus the post-nasal drip, but I might finish this one off in a matevana blend.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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56
drank Rooibos Truffle by Todd & Holland
95 tasting notes

I was a bit surprised by the recommendation to brew at 185. Most rooiboses (rooibosi?) I make call for 200-boiling and a longer steep time (this called for 3-5 minutes but I went along with the brewing instructions. Now, I can’t say for sure how this tastes as I had it after eating a truffle flatbread pizza (Trader Joe’s and A-MAZING!) so I’m sure that was influencing my tastebuds a little. It just tasted kinda weak and flavorless. There was a pricing discrepancy and this isn’t part of their regular catalog (I added the description based on what I could recall from the bag) so I wonder if the steeping instructions weren’t a misprint too. I’ll try it again with hotter water and a longer steep time and see if that helps (couldn’t hurt since it’s a rooibos).

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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46
drank Amaretti Cookie by Todd & Holland
95 tasting notes

I don’t know why, but Todd and Holland black teas leave my mouth feeling like the Sahara but I may have figured it out. Their steeping instructions call for boiling water and a steep time of 3-5 minutes. My other black teas (primarily Teavana) call for a shorter steep and slightly lower temperatures. I think next time I’ll try a lower temp and shorter steep.

Otherwise, this tastes pretty good, albeit a little bitter (probably overbrewed). The almond notes are subtle but they are there. A nice addition to my tea cabinet.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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59

While this tea is good, do not expect it to taste anything like it’s name or it’s smell. The aroma from the canister seduced me into buying 2 oz of this but sadly, it tastes nothing like how it smells. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but compared to the aroma it’s a bit weak (even when I use more tea than directed). I wish it had a stronger nutty flavor.

I like to let it cool a little as I find it’s easier to taste all the notes after it’s cooled. I agree with the other poster who said it tasted a bit like apple cider. If I wanted apple cider though, it’s certainly cheaper.

Not sure if I’d order it again.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Ottawa Tea

That’s it! It tastes like the hot apple cider packs my mom used to buy. I definitely agree, nothing like the name. Which is odd, given how easy it is to add nut flavor ( I think they should have skip the cinnamon).

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Bio

Hello!
I’m Amanda, and I’m new to the world of tea. I got sucked in by a sample at Teavana and have been exploring ever since. I prefer loose tea but will slum it with the occasional, high quality bag.

I live just outside Chicago with my husband and our dog.

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