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I was very lucky and won one of the Steepster Select boxes for October and this was included as one of the selections.

The dry tea had a light herbaceous quality that I found interesting as I couldn’t quite pinpoint the aroma. I steeped this in boiling water for 3 minutes (directions on the Steepster package) and the leaves produced a very bright (almost florescent) yellow with a beautiful floral aroma.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when tasting this tea, but oh was I ever surprised. I love this tea – it was soft and smooth with a beautiful floral taste and finish. (Norbu’s website describes it as lilac or orchid and I definitely get the orchid flavor). There’s also a hint of greenness, but it’s faint so it didn’t compete with the floral. I can’t stop drinking it and the second, third and fourth (!) steepings I’ve done of this tea have been just as wonderful, though obviously the strength of the tea decreases with each brewing. For me, it’s one of those teas that just wraps you up and hugs you and makes you wish you could just stay inside all day drinking it. I’ll definitely be ordering this tea again!

Phew, I’m so backlogged in tea reviews/adding teas to my tea cupboard it’s not even funny. Since it’s a long weekend here, I’m going to try and get through all of my backlogged reviews…

I was very lucky and won one of the Steepster Select boxes for October and this was included as one of the selections.

I steeped this in boiling water for 3 minutes (directions on the Steepster package, which is different than the directions on Naivetea’s website) and the leaves produced a beautiful light-amber tea with a toasted aroma with a slight herbaceous quality.

The taste was much softer and smoother than I had been expecting due to the aroma and there was a slight caramelized sugar and (very slight) floral finish. The roasting of the tea definitely comes through when I drink this tea and like LissaMarie commented, it reminds me quite a bit of genmaicha.

Though I enjoyed being able to try this tea, I don’t think the roasted oolongs are for me, so I really appreciate being able to try a bit of it without having to commit to a 50 or 100g purchase. My rating of 80 is due to the fact that it really is a lovely tea, just not my cup of tea (sorry, had to! :-P).

This was my first tea from 52teas and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The dry tea leaves smelled very cherry-like and not a fake cherry smell either. I brewed for 5 minutes and the aroma of the tea reminded me of juicy cherries.

However, upon tasting the cherry wasn’t overwhelming and instead really complimented the white tea. I didn’t get the vanilla notes that other tasters got, but I did get a bit of an almond/amaretto flavor (unfortunately I wasn’t a big fan of those notes in this tea). Though I do like this tea, the almond/amaretto flavor was enough that I wouldn’t order it again (though my husband wholeheartedly disagrees with me and says that he would definitely order this tea again).

Backlogging this from a week ago (I had written it down, but then ended up at the hospital and had a baby).

I can’t remember having a pure assam before (or even a blend with assam in it), so this is one of my first (if not first) forays into the assam world.

I brewed according to the directions on the tin (boiling water, 5 minute steep) and the resulting liquid was so dark it almost looked like a poorly brewed cup of coffee.

The first sip is smooth, with a hint of malt and a dry finish. I didn’t find it overly tannic, but there’s definitely some tannins in there. I also bought a tin of Harney & Sons Organic Assam, so it will be interesting for me to compare the two. I like this tea, but it’s a little strong for me right off the bat. I think I’ll end up tinkering with amounts/brewing time, etc to get it just right, but it’s a great everyday tea for sure.

Disclaimer – this review is only reviewing the tisane iced as I doubt I’d enjoy it hot.

The aroma of this tisane was amazing as soon as I opened the tin – I’m a huge fan of peach and the aroma made my mouth water.

I followed the brewing instructions on the tin (boiling, 8 minutes), but used double the amount of tisane, waited a bit, then poured over ice.

While I definitely tasted the peach, I would have liked it a bit more peachy (but then again, I’d probably just be drinking juice). There’s definitely a touch of hibiscus flavour (and tartness from the hibiscus/rosehips), but I really like hibiscus tisanes, so it didn’t bother me. It’s a juicy tisane and on a whim I decided to sweeten it a touch (I usually don’t sweeten my iced tea) – that really brought out the peach flavour and juiciness. I think that because of the fruitiness, I expected it to be sweet (like juice), but since it’s a tisane, it’s obviously not. I have to keep reminding myself to have different expectations!

Would I buy it again? I’m on the fence about this one – while it was delicious and I’ll definitely finish the tin, we’ll see if it grows on me even more – enough to purchase again.

I tried this tea twice – once in store at David’s Tea and then here at home. Both times were cold as I’m thinking that watermelon would not be very great hot.

At David’s Tea, they did a hot brew over ice for me and I have to say that I found this tea different then I originally thought it would be. It’s not as watermelony as I had hoped – instead, I have an almost banana flavour (I’m thinking it’s perhaps green melon flavour though). There is a note of apple aftertaste, which I actually liked, but I didn’t get any of the berry flavour that other reviewers got (sad!). I was hoping it would be more like the Bubbalicious Watermelon gum (remember that?), but less of a fake flavor. No dice though.

At home, I did a cold brew for 24 hours in the fridge before tasting. The cold brew was MUCH better in my opinion – though it still isn’t very watermelony, the weird green melon taste is definitely lessened. I definitely get the slight berry and apple flavors now. While I enjoyed it more cold brewed at home, it’s still not a tea I’d seek out again. That being said, I think that’s more of my palate and what I’m wanting in a tea, rather than the actual tea itself. If you’re looking for a fun juicy tea, then this is definitely an option.

I’m not a big drinker of oolong teas – but I have a feeling that might be changing.

Picked this up at David’s Tea and brewed for 6 minutes (I like my tea pretty strong). The fruity aroma of the brewed tea was muted from the dry tea (which had a bit of a fake smell), but still delicious smelling (peaches, apricots and the slightest hint of almond).

I was very pleasantly surprised by this tea – the fruitiness of the peach and apricot nicely compliment the earthiness of the oolong and there’s a creaminess to the tea that is really enjoyable. It truly slides down your throat like buttah (as Paula Deen would say).

I also ended up trying it iced as well as I didn’t finish my cup before I had to leave the house, so I put it in the fridge. I really enjoyed this tea iced as well – I felt that creaminess really shone through and the hint of peach, apricot and almond were perfect iced.

Love this tea both hot and iced and I’m thinking if you like your tea sweet, the sweetness wouldn’t take away from the tea. Though I won’t be drinking this everyday, it will definitely be staying in my tea cupboard and regular rotation.

And I also feel that I should give it extra points for the Star Trek reference in the description (but I didn’t).

I tried this tea in the bagged form as it was part of a set of THE O DOR teas that I had purchased. When I opened the outer plastic bag, the first thing I smelled was bergamot – which while I like a hint of it, I’m not a huge fan of overall (I leave the strong Earl Grey drinking to my husband – Gteppel – who likes Earl Grey the stronger the better). Then there was a slight aroma of sweet vanilla and florals that I couldn’t put my finger on (the box says marigold and jasmine).

After 4 minutes of brewing (I usually like THE O DOR teas brewed up to their upper suggested time), the bergamot aroma was substantially subdued and the vanilla in the tea came out much more.

Upon tasting, the bergamot was definitely still there, but was as subdued as the aroma suggested. Soft but slightly sweet vanilla rounds out the flavour and the finish of the tea leaves just the slightest hint of jasmine. I didn’t find this tea bitter at all (though it does have a dry tannic quality), I’m not sure if that’s because I brewed the tea longer than previous reviewers or because of some other reason. If you’re looking for a softly bergamot-flavored tea, then this would be a great introduction to that family of flavored teas for sure. It most definitely would also hold up to cream and a neutral flavoured sweetener (sugar).

Overall, this is a delicious tea and I would stock it in my cupboard, but it’s no longer being carried locally, so would have to be shipped in from France (though I may still look into that option if it’s not crazy expensive). Until then, I’ll savour the bags I have left!

When I first opened the package, the aroma seemed really boozy to me – though I love amaretto, I usually like it mixed in with things, so I was apprehensive about trying this tea. Edited to add: In all fairness, I haven’t been drinking the last nine months, so it smelling especially boozy to me may be because of that.

After brewing, aroma was still pretty boozy, but luckily, upon tasting the “amaretto” flavour wasn’t overpowering. I would have liked a bit more of an apricot flavour, but overall this is an enjoyable tea.

On a whim, I ended up trying it over ice and I have to say, I enjoy it MUCH more iced. It wasn’t really up my alley hot and I also think this tea would probably be lovely sweetened if you like your iced tea that way (though I’d probably stick with sugar, not honey). I think I’ll probably end up buying this tea again to have it iced, but I doubt it will be in my usual rotation. Thanks for the sample Tea Forte!

I tried this tea as part of the Tea Forte Herbal Retreat Single Steeps Sampler. The aroma of tea was very spearminty (which I appreciate, I love spearmint, but not a big peppermint fan – weird I know) with a back note of sweet orange. I was enthralled by the aroma!

Upon tasting, the tea was much more minty than I thought it would be – I thought that the orange flavour would come through a bit more after steeping. That being said, as I drank the cup, the tea grew on me more and more and I found myself really enjoying the cup. I would have liked a bit more orange flavour, but overall it was a really good herbal tea – perfect for relaxing after a long day. I’ll most likely purchase this for my tea cupboard in the future but it won’t be a daily tea for me.