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This is a pretty tasty blend. I wasn’t sure of the ingredients (until I read the steepster page), but there is a very distinct spearmint and jasmine combo. I enjoy both of these flavours and I think they work with each other.

There is an undertone of pottery (the smell of china tea cups, minerals) even though I’m drinking from a starbucks mug that is not made of any of the typical teacup materials. The vegetal qualities are interesting because I cannot distinguish the source. They might be the white tea or the mint. Either way, I enjoyed this cup. The astringency is light, but present. The spearmint counters this slightly by being a bit sweet.

The oolong itself isn’t my favourite (or maybe this tea is just old) but I enjoy ginseng tea once in a while. It has such a nice peppery, biting, gingery sort of flavour. It tastes herbal but in a good way. It does have bitterness to it, but the oolong balances that slightly. I think this one is best not brewed too long and possibly with some soy milk to counter the bitterness. I wouldn’t mind the bitterness except that it stays with you for a long time after each sip.

I like this spiced rooibos chai. Lots of peppercorn, cinnamon, and anise (licorice? fennel? something like that but very faint). It is pouring rain (and has been for several days now), it has been cloudy with no sun for weeks, and it is quite chilly outside. My province has finally put in a lockdown/mandatory mask order and is it feels cozier than ever to stay indoors in my home. I made this one hot and left the paper teabag in for the hour that I forgot about it. It also has a splash of vanilla soy milk. Overall, I tasty cup. It isn’t as creamy or peppery as coco chai rooibos, but it is still solid.

STTB tea

I took out a tiny (1 tsp) sample to try. I brewed it up with only ~225 mL hot water and added a touch of unsweetened soymilk to bring out the sweetness and malt. It was quite smooth with an obvious honey taste. The bergamot was nice. I was expecting smoke, but I didn’t find anything smokey in the base or the flavouring. I thought this was a solid cup (and a decent Earl Grey) with a light but sweet base that reminds me of a Darjeeling.

TTB Tea

I took a teabag (~1 tsp) of tea before I sent off the TTB. I dislike the bergamot in this – not citrusy enough, more like metallic/musty and minerally. It reminds me of the smell of car grease. I also found the base a bit “meh”, not offering any malt or cocoa notes to bring out the vanilla. I also feel like I missed out on a wonderful notes typical of Darjeeling. I would have never guessed this was a Darjeeling.

I thought I would like this tea more. Herbal AND bubblegum flavoured? What isn’t to like!. Unfortunately I have fallen victim to treachery of hibiscus (again). Just when you thought your herbal was safe, BAM! There it is to slap you in the face and ruin your cup. Very soup, nothing like candy or bubblegum. There is a mixed berry and artificial bubblegum flavour going on, but I’ve never had tart bubblegum before. It just doesn’t work. It reminds me more of DT’s “Sweet tart” than any bubblegum blend I’ve had before. I can almost make out raspberry and cherry but then it is just sour again.

1.5 tsp dry leaf in ~600mL cold water + ice. I just left the teabag in while I drank a large glass of it so it coldbrewed while I drank.

This is a nice floral tea that is mostly herbal. I didn’t find the hibiscus overpowering at all (quite surprising!), the rose is strong. It reminds me of a rose flavoured Turkish Delight. A bit perfumy but also natural. The tulsi is nice in the base, it gives a lightly herbal flavour and something almost minty. I wouldn’t have expected any mint in this because it is so faint. Overall, well rounded and makes for a good iced blend.

I decently come into half a box of this

Still as delicious as ever. Surprisingly, the coconut is still creamy and smooth. There is a nice muttiness and butteriness that could be either the coconut or the macadamia. The rooibos is a pleasant base (if you like rooibos). I added a touch of soy creamer and it really brought out the dessert notes (butter/cream).

STTB Tea

I took a few cups worth of this out of the box before I mailed it off.

I’m not too impressed with this blend, but I’m glad I could try it before I order from S&V (which will be a long time from now…why do I end up with more teas that I started with every time I do a sipdown challenge?) I like rooibos, but I find most fruity rooibos blends are overpowered by the rooibos and there isn’t much in the way of realistic fruit flavour to come through. This blend has some little cubes of dried fruit (maybe mango, it is lightly yellow, almost clear) but the fresh fruit flavour just isn’t there. I couldn’t make out the papaya, but I did get some fruity (generic) and some mango notes. I had to concentrate to distinguish it as mango.

Oddly enough, the hot cup had more distinct fruit flavours while the coldbrew was mostly rooibos. This is the opposite of what usually happens for me with rooibos blends.

Overall, not a bad cup but nothing that stands out from the many other fruity rooibos blends in my cabinet. The fruit flavours aren’t strong enough (or perhaps the red rooibos wasn’t a great choice for the base – I could see this working out with a green rooibos)

This is a typical red rooibos base with the usual rooibosy notes (minerals, wood, rooibos. honey) and something I would describe as cinnamon apple. It is a basic blend, but it makes a fine caffeine free latte for my lazy evening. I always like a good rooibos in the evenings. The cinnamon has started to fade a little bit, however it has aged pretty well since it was opened a few years ago.