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A sipdown from last week of a sampler I think I received in an advent swap. My cupboard is so out of order ’m not sure any more!

Anyway, this is an average black tea. The strawberry flavour is chemically and fake like a candy. However, it is also creamy which is a very nice addition. Not bad by any means, but not excellent either. I appreciate that it is decaf. Slight malt but nothing else remarkable about the base.

I got a horrible stomach ache from drinking this. I think it might have stevia in it, but my package does not list stevia on the ingredients. I wonder if there could be blackberry leaf as a sweetener? It tastes very sweet, anyway. I get painful stomach aches every time I consume stevia, which is why I’m suspicious but I don’t think DT would make such a big labelling error.

Some nice herbs (basil and pepper) and vegetal notes. I taste the hibiscus but it is overwhelmed by the sweetness. There are some minor fruity notes from theh ibiscus and also something that tastes like berry and dried cranberries.

This is a tasty sweet latte when made with vanilla soy milk. I’ve had it plain, in cold milk, and in hot milk. All of them are very tasty. I like the sweetness, the spices are nice (generic chai), and there is a creamy vanilla note too.

I think I perfected the brewing conditions of this tea (on the last bit of looseleaf I had, so I now don’t have any)

To cut the licorice-ness, steep for a short length of time (2-3 minutes). The peppermint steeps faster than the other ingredients so you get a peppermint blend with some other after-notes. I really wish I could taste the clove, but so far I’ve never tasted it.The larger clove pieces probably got used up first because big pieces will gather at the top of the bag while the tiny mint dust bits end up at the bottom.

Anyway, I’m happy to use it up but I did end up liking this more without the licorice metallic notes. I’ve upped the rating because normal people don’t forget about a tea for as long as I did last time and today’s steep most accurately reflects a typical steep.

I feel like I might have a cold someing on. Either that or asthma. Either way, a mint herbal seems like a good choice. I believe t6his is from the last TTB about two years ago.

I couldn’t be bothered to boil water, so this is probably steeping at 80-85 degrees C (ish), which is the hottest temperature that cmes out of my tap (too hot to hold your hands under, but not boiling). I’m using half of the pouch I’ve got, so about 2 tbs or 3g of leaf.

This tea has an herby mint flavour but is overwhelmed by sickly sweet licorice root. There are notes of minerals/metallic and soil from the licorice, but it isn’t as fresh as some other herbals I’ve had so it wasn’t as bad. It would still be better with something like spearmint, lemon mint, or lemon grass.

This tea is very, very good for a mass produced tea. The sachets are also compostable and made from plant fibre, so no microplastics.

The intensity of the black tea base really comes through. It tastes very fresh and potent with strong notes of tannin and malt. The bergamot is lovely and not bitter. Paired with a splash of vanilla soy milk this makes a really nice London Fog. By itself, it is quite smooth for a high intensity black.

This is one of several teas I picked up last time I was at Granville Island Market. This one smelled amazing so I got it for autumn mornings. I was not disappointed!

This is your classic herbal chai but with pieces of pumpkin, apple, and carrot. Despite this, it is not savoury at all. The cinnamon and cardamom (it is heavy on the cardamom) give it a natural sweetness. When steeped it has a lovely light pink hue due to the beet pieces (you cannot taste the beet, luckily).

I like to brew it strong (5-8 minutes in boiling water) and then add a dash of vanilla soy milk to create a warming latte. There is a nice hint of nutmeg and caramel in the aftertaste. The vanilla in the soy milk really makes this desserty. I wouldn’t have liked some pecan or nutty notes being stronger in the blend, but it’s still very tasty.

87/100 plain
92/100 with 15 mL vanilla soy milk

This sample came from my friend who buys their winter teas every year.

This is better than I anticipated! I typically don’t like peppermint teas with any actual tea in it (I like pure peppermint leaf) but I think the Ceylon adds to the flavour here. I added a splash of vanilla soy milk and it cut the tannin bitterness. The black base has a lot of malty flavour, which makes this a great breakfast tea. The peppermint is quite strong, despite having very little peppermint leaf in the looseleaf mix.

While it is not something I would keep in my cupboard, I enjoyed this cup and would drink it again.