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I received a sample of this tea from Nicole. I’ve been meaning to try honeysuckle tea, but this is the first chance I’ve had to sample it. It has a lovely floral scent, and the taste itself is sweet like flowers with a hint of a grassiness. I haven’t had many white teas, but as it stands, I think this could be my favorite. I’ll have to consider buying this tea next time I buy more tea.

It reminds me of toasted green beans.

Right as I poured the water in I could smell a rose scent like potpourri, but that only lasted half a second. Then it was replaced with this overwhelming artificial rose flavor and something similar to chocolate, but only so loosely similar that you could mistake it for something else. It smells artificial, and not all that appetizing.

The tea tastes like soap in the worst way possible. I don’t even want to finish it, and I usually feel bad about wasting tea. This is so bad, I’m not giving this a number, but I’m not recommending this to anyone either.

So this is my second tea to sample. I didn’t have the best opinion of Tea Forte at first, but that was because of my first exposure to it. A gift shop sells Tea Forte loose tea and tea bag variety boxes. I’m not the biggest fan of flavored teas since companies started putting unnamed natural and artificial flavors in tea. What does that even mean? Anyway, the gift shop usually has tea samples sitting at the front of the store. I tried two teas that way, but I realized later that the teas were usually hours old since I would visit the store in the afternoon and the tea they sample is only brewed in the morning. The first tea I sampled was the Rum Raisin. I assumed I didn’t like it because I don’t like rum, but there’s this strong, medicinal taste that doesn’t seem natural in tea, which may or may not come from oversteeping or sitting for so long. I had the English Breakfast black tea and noticed the same cringe-worthy flavor. Though I couldn’t describe the taste, it’s not simply acidity or bitterness.

I’m not saying that the teas are inherently bad. The teas in the tea bags look nice, and the shape of the tea bag makes it so it brews as soon as I poor the tea in. I don’t think I’ve brewed it longer than a minute. At the same time, I worry about how the tea will taste if I leave the tea leaves in the hot water too long. I definitely prefer the flavor of the teas after a second steep. The first steep has a flavor almost reminiscent of that medicinal flavor in the tea samples at the gift shop, so I think any accidental oversteeping could make the tea unpalatable. It could just be how the tea is. Apparently someone came into the store about an hour earlier and enjoyed the English Breakfast tea, but I think heated cough syrup would be just as enjoyable.

I don’t really get that much of a caramel flavor from the tea. I’m not the biggest caramel fan, but I think that’s mostly because I hate the texture more than anything else. It kind of reminds me of some of the other flavored teas that I have, but it’s muted in comparison. It could probably use some cream and sugar, but I drink tea plan. It’s not the worst tea I’ve tasted.

In any case, I think I will finish the sample box, especially since it was $15 for 10 samples. I doubt I will buy any more of the teas. It’s nice to know that I can buy loose teas so close to home, but I don’t think I’ll be impressed by them. I have high hopes for the rose tea, though. I’m not too judgmental when it comes to rose, only because there aren’t many things rose flavored, so as long as I taste the rose, I might like it.

That wasn’t too informative… I like the tea bag design, and the fact that it’s a pretty nice. I’ll score it like this:
Tea Bag Functionality: 10 (It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to brew. I guess this adds to how many times you can steep it as well, so I think that’s good. I don’t know if I should rate tea bag functionality, but if anything, I think this should be available knowledge. The stem on the tea bag can also be shaped to the side of the mug, so that might be useful. I think that’s so it can hang on the side of the mug. I’m not actually sure, though.)
Presentation: 8 (It’s not elaborate. It’s rather minimalist actually, but it’s a pyramid cardboard box, and the tea bag itself has a tea leaf on it. It’s kind of cute.)
Amount of Tea: 7 (It seems to be a fair amount. Maybe one and a half tea spoons.)
Quality: 6 ( Whole leaf: automatic 5 points; some dust in the box -2; flavor: 3)
Uniqueness: 2 (Honestly, I don’t think a caramel flavored tea is such a new thing, especially with chocolate teas becoming more popular. It also doesn’t have anything to make it stand out. It could have at least been a salted caramel, but I don’t know much about caramel. I wasn’t that impressed, though.)
Would I drink it again?: 5 (I need five things to rate: Definitely Yes: 10; Sure, though it’s not my first choice: 8; Only to make room for other teas: 6; I don’t want to, but if you serve it, then I can’t refuse or it would be rude: 4; Can’t I just throw it away: 2; I regret this decision/ I think I’m going to vomit: 0)
Total: 28 × 2 = 56
Ok, fair enough. I’m going to work on my rating system later, but it works for this tasting note.

I opened this tea today. There’s quite a lot of tea here for 2 oz. It has a smoky, toasted seaweed smell with a hint of sweetness. After brewing it the suggested amount of time on the package, it has a more green, floral scent. In my white mug it doesn’t look much different from hot water, but it smells lovely. I don’t think a minute is enough time to brew the tea. It does have a grassy flavor like a green tea. I’m not sure I know what I think about this tea yet. I’ll brew it longer next time to see what happens.

I don’t own this tea, and I doubt I would have picked it up based on the name itself. I was in a store that sold Tea Forte teas exclusively, and I got a sample because who turns down a free sample of tea. I smelled it first, I think, but I can’t remember anything distinctive about it. When I tasted it, though, I was overwhelmed by an odd flavor that was almost medicinal, something vaguely similar to cough syrup. I thought that it might have been brewed too long, but I couldn’t pick up any flavor that tasted distinctly like tea. I think I could say it has a very strong rum flavor, but I’ve never tried anything rum raisin flavored. I had heard of some hot toddies made with tea, but you could probably get away with drinking this tea as a substitute. In any case, it tasted too much like alcohol for my taste.

I’m just going to write a short review for now. I didn’t do any precise measurements or steep it for a specific amount of time. I tend to have trouble telling when some green teas are finished brewing. This tea is a light green color, but it has a prominent flavor; I would say a mix of spinach, seaweed, and something more nutty, a bit reminiscent of kukicha but not as strong. I think this tea has a more well balanced flavor than some other sencha teas I have tried.

The tea itself is a mix of two different teas, like the name implies, but the matcha doesn’t seem to be a powder, but a shorter cut leaf. Anyway, I couldn’t distinguish the two teas or say what either added to the brew, but together they make a nice tea.

I will write a better review later when I have more time to enjoy the tea.

This is a great tea, though when you have a tea as “quintessentially British as you can get” as the base for this tea, you expect it. The description is quite humorous, as we find out that this tea is also quintessentially Italian, Sri Lankan, and ultimately Metropolitan.

There isn’t an actual ingredient list on the bag, so I can’t tell you what is in this blend. The description on the bag explains that they add fresh cream to the tea, though I don’t know if I’m supposed to take that literally or figuratively. Most cream earl grey blends are made with vanilla, and this tea has a strong aroma of vanilla and bergamot. It rebrews well, and the vanilla isn’t too overpowering or artificial. Still, if you want to try the tea and worry about what goes into your tea, you might consider the fact that it’s ingredient list is nonexistent as far as I can tell.

So, I need to figure out how to multi-task, because I only managed to write half of my thoughts before moving my attention elsewhere. This tea is better enjoyed when you’re not trying to do too many things at once.

I don’t know if the sample of jasmine green tea in the green tea sampler bag is the premium or the superfine, but I will put the review here for now. It looks like most other Jasmine Dragon Pearls, and it smells quite lovely. This one is particularly nice, because it has a strong scent that isn’t overpowering.

The leaf size is smaller, and if the sample I have is the one leaf:one bud ratio, then it does take more tea to get the same flavor. It has a more predominant floral taste, and the tea itself is lighter in color, though if you let it sit, its color deepens to amber.

The first time I brewed this, I only used 15 pearls, because I assumed that it would brew the same way. I set the temperature to 185 as recommended on the package, then steeped it for a little over two minutes. The result was rather flavorless, and because I kept the tea in the bag, the pearls didn’t really open. That was my mistake. I eventually emptied the tea into the pot and they unfurled, but it didn’t make a strong enough tea until I let it sit for a while. So, to brew this tea, you will need to use more of the pearls. That being said, this tea makes other lower quality dragon pearls look bitter, even after a rather long steeping period.

I wouldn’t recommend this tea for someone just trying Jasmine Dragon Pearls, simply because for the price I think it would take longer to find the best method for brewing it. That being said, I would definitely use this tea for entertaining guests. I like that it has a much more prominent jasmine flavor. Even the tea itself has a different profile, though I doubt I could describe it without drinking more of it.

I got this tea in the assorted green tea sampler. The first impression that I get from opening the tea is that it is a nice quality. The leaves are a dark green and intact. It smells like hemp protein powder, so stronger than spinach.

I brewed the tea for about three minutes at 176F. The color of the tea brewed is a light green. Very subtle, and it still has that vegetable smell, though now subdued. It has an interesting toasted flavor. That’s all I have now, but I’ll add more once I finish the tea.

This tea grows on you, or at least it did for me. After my last cup of my first brew, I could really taste the milk flavor, and I think I like it even better with my second pot. It does have that flavor as if you added just a hint of milk to it. It’s a flavor that I like in another one of my other teas as well, though in this tea it feels more natural. I think I will buy this again.