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So the other night, chatting with friends online, the subject of tea comes up (as usual). More specifically, Earl Grey. Even more specifically, London Fogs. I held out for about three minutes before caving and going to make myself one. Only problem was, I couldn’t find any Earl Grey. Yes, in our huge tea stash, I had to hunt for my favourite tea. Because I’d taken them all to work. I eventually found some Earl’s Garden, a fruity Earl blend, and fixed the London Fog (two parts tea, one part steamy and frothy soy milk, two pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup). But it left me with a craving that Peach Earl, Raspberry Earl, and Earl’s Garden just couldn’t satisfy. SO here I am at work, with my modest work stash at my fingertips, and I crack the seal on this Royal Earl from Sahara Teas. I haven’t tried it before – I think I got it from a friend of a friend who doesn’t drink looseleaf or something. My hopes were not high, given that it was an Unknown, but dayum. This good tea. The cirtusy bergamot smell didn’t fade after steeping, and the flavour is rich and equally citrusy. It’s a little dry, as I find most Earls are, but delicious.

As I stared into the depths of my tea cupboard at work, I asked my (non-tea-drinking) coworker what I should make. She said “Uh . . . something berry-y.” Yogi Berry it is (despite the piles of other berry- and fruit-flavoured teas that I have at my disposal).

WHY DOES EVERYTHING TASTE LIKE LICORICE?

Bleh bleh bleh ptoo ptoo ptoo

I just want a tasty chai that doesn’t coat your throat in licorice. The apple and the beetroot gave this a bit of sweetness, but I didn’t taste any of the other chai spices. Only so much licorice.

Licorice. All I tasted was licorice. It coated the back of my throat – I can’t even tell you what else this tea tasted like because it was all that sickly sweet, cloying, gagging licorice.

Please kick in soon, please kick in soon, please kick in soon . . .

Finally got around to trying this last night. It was eminently . . . okay. It was a limey citrusy green tea, nothing really dramatic about it. All around I found that there wasn’t much flavour to it – either of the lime or the green – but the scent was deliciously mojito-y. All in all, I’m not regretting drinking it but I don’t really feel the need to have it again.

I must have burnt this, or oversteeped it, or both, because it was sadly not very great. Very dark, heavy taste – much more like a black or pu’erh than last time. I think I’ll stick to more traditional oolongs.

Still one of my favourite. Still don’t know why the sencha doesn’t bother me. Could be the overwhelming citrus burst. I do find that this tea, while delicious, totally dries me out at the same time, more so than other Earl or bergamot blends – but god, it’s so worth it.

Drank it again, yes. Again, I understeeped – maybe the flavour is just weaker than the dry leaf scent would lead one to believe? (be-LEAF, if you will). Will have to experiment with this one. Dragged me through the worst day I’ve had at work in a long time.

What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happenin’, what’s the buzz . . . The Buzz is ALL THE CAFFEINE EVER. Seriously. Look at the ingredient list. Maté, guarana, green tea, and then matcha for godssakes. And then ginger because why the hell not. This tea should taste like cough medicine, but it packs such a citrus punch that it’s deceptively sweet. Just make sure none of the maté leaves escape because those get stuck in your throat. Oh yeah, the flavour – definitely more citrus than ginger. Reminds me of various other citrus matés I’ve had, but covers up the medicinal taste of the base leaves entirely. Tastes like an herbal. DOES NOT KICK LIKE AN HERBAL. I was exhausted when I ordered this at DT, and then suddenly had the energy for two more hours of shopping and carrying all of our groceries at once. I’m so glad I picked up a bag to take to work, this will be just the mid-afternoon kick in the ass I need. Also – I actually could have let this one steep longer. Whenever I order tea to go, unless I’m really quick on the draw it gets easily oversteeped, but I pulled the bag after about five minutes and could have let it go for a few minutes more.