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Just trying this today after getting the sampler in the male. I drank a cup of the matcha that I order with this shipment, and now I’m drinking this. It was a lot easier to pack on the go. After expressing a bias toward Oi Ocha, I realized I had not tried enough of Teas’ Tea to assert such a preference. So I spent more money than I needed to for these samples and free shipping. xD My parents were not impressed. More teas? Yes. So, this is my second tea that I have opened. I couldn’t resist the enticement of the rose.

It is quite light, and the rose is fairly obvious. It’s nice that the tea is mild, because I really wanted the rose to be the focal point of the tea. It is very floral, and reminds me of perfume, but not in an overpowering way. It really is quite refreshing, but I do love rose. I feel that the lightness of the tea and the soft taste of the rose make for a balanced finish without any flavor competing with the other. Its not at all herbacious, at least to the extent that you’re reminded of grass. I could buy a case of this flavor.

Since I can’t find any faults in this, I’m giving it a very biased 100.

I haven’t been on this site in ages. I would like to say I have drunk tea diligently, but I have always put it off, to the point that I was forced to buy a new batch of hojicha because my first purchase was too stale to brew a proper cup. I’m oversteeping a cup of the new tea now…

I spend a lot of time on campus these days, and sitting in Starbucks is the most convenient since they offer wifi and functional wall outlets. I noticed a new advertisement for an iced white tea. It sounded delicious, and the other iced teas are pretty good. So I ordered a cup of the white tea unsweetened and undiluted… it tasted like watered down black tea.

So I asked if I had the right tea. They assured me that I did. There was nothing light or floral about this tea. I’m not a white tea connoisseur, but I expected something closer to their green tea and ended up with something bitter. :(

I couldn’t discern much from the tea bags they use, and apparently the iced teas are all brewed at the same temperature. Anyway, I was disappointed by the tea and felt like I wasn’t given what I paid for. This only added to the disappointment at finding out the sugar content of their matcha the day before.

I haven’t logged in for a while, but I received my order of Lupicia in the mail, so I thought I would write about that. I ordered a bag of this, Carol, and Rose Royal just to be redundant, but I also ordered the New Year’s Happy Bag ($30), because I like Lupicia teas and this seemed like a nice opportunity to try more. I hadn’t realized that it would be so nice.

First to my tasting note. I had a cup of the Oolong last night, because it was what I was looking forward to the most. I planned to steep it for three minutes, but ended up getting distracted and oversteeped it. I also ended up drinking a majority of it cold, but luckily this tea tastes pretty good at any temperature.

I added a bit too much stevia, but it brought out the peach flavor, and luckily this tea isn’t too bitter oversteeped. I think I like it better when it’s cold.

Now I can talk about the box. The Happy Bag actually was a box, which makes sense. It came with 9 different teas in the 1.7 oz bags, and the variety was nice. I don’t know if the selection is random, but I received another bag of Momo Oolong Super Grade, which was nice. The other teas in the box were Cookie (a flavored black tea), Sakurambo (flavored black tea), Strawberry and Vanilla (flavored green tea), Muscat (flavored black tea), Tikuanyin (Oolong), Afternoon Tea (blended black tea), Matcha Black Soybean Rice Tea (genmaicha), and Darjeeling The Second Flush (blended black tea). Of these, the only one I think I have tried is the Muscat and the Momo.

I don’t know if Lupicia still has any bags (boxes) left since I purchased this the day they became available, but if there are any left, it’s a good deal. If I bought the teas in this box individually, I would have paid over twice the amount for it.

If you ordered a Happy Bag, what did you get in your box?

I opened this just now, and it does smell pretty nice. I thought it smelled like peach and tutti fruiti gum at first, but now it’s reminding me more of fig and these forest berry pastilles that I used to buy from the Fresh Market, so perhaps close to a sweet red wine. It’s quite interesting to look at with the oddly shaped sugar rocks, the flower petals, and the red peppercorn.

Brewed, it smells like apricots. The flavor itself is mild and sweet, with a fruit flavor that’s hard to place. I might need to brew more of the tea leaves to get a stronger fruit taste. It is nice. I was worried about this tea, given it’s mixed reviews, but I think it’s good.

I’m glad I bought the Christmas teas when they were on sale, because these teas are delicious and good for any time of the year.

I oversteeped this, so it was a bit bitter, but it reminds me of orange juice. I haven’t drunk any orange juice in a while, however. I think I would rather drink this than orange juice, though the flavor is a bit off, and not at all what I expect from something Blood Orange flavored. I will have to try this again later.

I was worried that this would be too similar to Vanille, but I find this actually has a more balanced flavor. The hazelnut flavor is a nice touch. I’m drinking it at room temperature now, which is probably not the best way to drink it for a tea review, but I like it now. I think it would be good at any temperature, hot, iced, or room temperature. I would serve this to friends.

This does have quite a powerful vanilla aroma. It doesn’t smell like a whiff out of a vanilla extract bottle, but it is close. At first, before I opened the bag, I could smell the vanilla. It reminded me of vanilla milk – but that was before I opened the bag. The tea is actually much stronger than that. I brewed it for a long time the first time I tried it, because I was brewing a large to-go cup of it. It didn’t get bitter, and the vanilla was still quite strong. I think it could hold up to milk and sugar with no problems.

I also drank this at Panera Bread. I didn’t sweeten it, but it had a subdued taste that reminded me of the mystery flavor in Tea Forte flavored black teas that turned me off to that brand. Perhaps it is the tea leaves. It was alright for drinking mindlessly, but it has grown worse over time. I don’t taste mango. It’s just the indistinct aftertaste of disappointment.

I really enjoyed this tea, and I’m glad that I bought the Christmas sampler despite the name, because these teas would be good for any occasion. I think even young children would enjoy it with no complaints. The subtle hints of white chocolate and nut blended with the mild flavor of the tea makes for a soothing cup of tea. It is reminiscent of cookies, and the white chocolate is a nice alternative to vanilla.

So, I was working on my review of this when my phone decided to refresh the page for me. It’s not at all easy to type on here, especially when the touch screen refuses to cooperate. I was thinking about the other teas that I tried from Lupicia that were also grape flavored.

The three teas all smell like Kasugai gummies, which I like. It’s slighly artificial in that it reminds me more of the candy than the fruit. The black tea base makes it more subtle, but it isn’t a very bitter tea. The grape is more of a hint than a full flavor.