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Well, this is new. I reviewed this a day or two ago and wondered where to put it. Mine is a round sachet, not a teabag as pictured in the image here. Another reviewer said it tasted like artificial strawberry banana candy but mine isn’t tasting like that. So maybe it wasn’t the same thing? This came in a big set. But the pattern on the box is the same as the teabag one.

I still like it a lot, it is still very rose flavored but not too heavily so, with a somewhat brisk black tea base. Martin Bednar mentioned that the loose has rose petals in it, so I decided to tear open the sachet!

I found more confusion. This is really fine textured tea – as in bigger than dust but not by much. There are lots of tiny round white pellets in it as well. It looks like that potting soil with perlite or whatever in it, but in miniature. If you do dollhouses and want some realistic looking potting soil, here you go!

I assumed it was bits of sugar but surely they would have to label that? The ingredient list says only black tea and flavoring. I should have tasted one of those tiny spheres before steeping and may do so later.

I steeped it and looked for the spheres. Gone. So I tore open an extra sachet that was also in the pot and had been steeped. There were only two of the little spheres, super tiny, and I managed to separate one. I bit it, thinking it would be a crunchy sugar bit. It was soft.

Clearly there were more of these and they dissolved. This one tasted like nothing, not sugar and no explosion of rose to indicate it had somehow carried the flavoring. I bit one of the little pellets of tea (if we can call that tiny thing a pellet) and it was the same texture as the white sphere. So I still don’t know what it is. It must be the rose flavor delivery system. LOL

Weird as all that is, I stand by the fact that I like this tea. I think I will stick with buying Harney and Sons Rose Scented, though, which is a better quality base and is more accessible.

One person drinking it with me loved it, the other who mostly just likes plain black tea said she didn’t like its aftertaste, and I guess she meant the rose.

It was paired with homemade shortbread and made a decent companion for it.

I really struggled trying to decide where to review this. This came in the Tea Discovery Collection which was a Christmas gift, and was found at Home Goods for half the online price. Bargain!

The description on one of the Steepster pages for this tea appears to be for a different tea, because it mentions tropical fruit and rose, and this tea is pure black tea with rose. Period.
These are sachets and not loose tea so I didn’t want to review under the loose leaf version.

I like floral tea as long as it doesn’t taste artificial. This one has a lovely, just strong enough but not too strong rose flavor. I find rose oily, in a good way, like puerh can be oily. The base is mildly drying but not unpleasant and to me the dryness is mitigated by the oiliness of rose. The rose is definitely more delicate than Harney’s Rose Scented (which I LOVE) but still strong enough to be unmistakeable. This was paired with a plate of homemade shortbread and white chocolate chip cookies. It held up well to competing flavors and the rose still came through.

I am very happy with this particular offering in the collection of black teas and look forward enjoying many more cups.

It was perfect with no milk or sugar for me. It could probably handle a tiny touch of both if that’s what you like.

This tea came to me from derk! Thank you!

I saved this to drink with my youngest who has just returned from five months abroad. She has always been food adventurous and loved all the beets (is there any borscht left in Eastern Europe or did she eat it all?) and the flavored milk drinks, but she really fell in love with green apple juice.

She LOVED this tea. The description says it is bright black tea with green apple and fennel. It also has caraway and clove, but the dominant flavors are indeed green apple wedded in a beautiful balance with the fennel. The “bright” is just that. You taste the tea without it being buried in flavorings but it doesn’t have that sometimes annoyed harsh and tart brightness of high grown Ceylons.

It was the perfect tea to share with her on our belated Christmas celebration!

I was really looking forward to this one, but it has let me down. It may not be the tea’s fault.

This was a gift to my daughter, and the box looked somewhat banged up. It was taped shut. When I opened it, there were fourteen sachets instead of fifteen. I checked the expiry date and it said 12-31-19. That was just a few days ago but I am thinking this tea has been sitting on a close out shelf or in a cabinet for a while.

The sachet honestly smelled very promising. I just wanted a decent cup of black tea to go with some shortbread while I write a letter. I supposed it did the job, but it is the most amazingly forgettable tea ever.

The sachet was pretty big so I used a generous mug. I think I may try it again with much less water, and if that doesn’t do it, farewell to thee thou disappointing tea!

The shortbread was pretty good, though!

The ever generous derk sent me a sample of this because I got the tea drunkest I have ever been tea drunk off of a white Ruby Jade that she sent me a while back.

I have always loved – and been fascinated by – Ruby 18 black tea and I am now in love with its white counterpart.

We settled in for a cross-legged gong fu floor session with the King Of Dogs. Same pairing as last night: garden herb Triscuits with warmed cheddar and topped with apricot preserves and tiny pecan tartlets. This is why the King of Dogs stayed so close. (His name is Sam.)

It is here that an unfortunate accident happened. While rinsing, the new gooseneck kettle to which I am not yet fully accustomed made a sideways splash in the gaiwan lid and a tiny bit of hot water went on his paw! Though he scampered behind me, it did not deter him from staying as close to the cheese as possible. Needless to say, he received many kisses and hugs and cheese and pecan tart. He now stays close but leans back when I pour, which is good but also will be awkward to explain when guests come.

On to the tea. The liquor is golden amber. Body is medium light. The first steeps have very fruity wine notes. There is a light, passing savory base note. Very light. First impression as I swished was of rich, high fruit notes, not sharp like citrus but perhaps a little berry tartness laid over a baked fruit flavor. As we keep going, there is a hint of raisin.

We have steeped this so many times that I have lost count. Each steep grows progressively more brisk, pleasantly so for me but my husband preferred the first steeps. The color is undiminished, still the rich golden amber, reflecting beautifully in a silver lined cup. (Small Crimson Lotus one. Thank you to husband for that! It was a gift from him.)

This was very good tea and a fun gong fu session. Between this and the What-Cha, I like the What Cha one best. But this one is intended for aging, and I think it would be marvelous to see what it does in a few years time.

Thank you, derk! I am smiling and content as I head off to bed.

I really should “add to cupboard” because the sample derk sent was so generous. I suspect that I am going to drink it so fast that it makes more sense not to add to cupboard because I will be taking it off very soon!

Out of a box of super interesting looking teas, I picked this one to go first. I loved the name, and when it comes to Darjeeling I have found that I often prefer Autumn Flush.

Some Darjeeling is quite light, but this one has a nice, copper color. I steeped at 203F as recommended on the website, using a gaiwan.

The leaves are medium brown and have unfolded to reveal whole leaves about one and a half inches long, with lovely little serrations.

I am rewarded with a wonderful aroma and lots of flavor. I smell deeply toasted – but not at all burned – bread, a hint of molasses, and over and over again I think of caramel. I make a pound cake with caramel frosting and this comes to mind as I drink the tea. The tea has medium body and is sweet and smooth.

I made five steeps. By the fifth, a bit of briskness has developed, mostly noticeable in the lingering aftertaste. The color is still gorgeous.

This was paired with one single Godiva White Chocolate Birthday Truffle. Ha ha!

How have I not ordered from What-Cha yet? I must remedy this soon.

Thank you, derk! I can hardly wait to try the others, but I am being nice and waiting for my husband to get to try them with me!

I asked for a gooseneck Bonavita kettle for Christmas especially for our gong fu sessions, and this is my first time trying it. I like it, and it works very well for this.

Since I knew I wanted to gong fu, and since I am trying to get old tea out of the house, I took a chance on this sample. It is quite old – this company is no longer in business – but I wanted to give it a shot. I am glad I did because it was very good. I suppose it really helped that it was a small, individually sealed pack and some oolongs age very well anyway.

I warmed the gaiwan and put the leaves in. After a minute we gave the leaves a sniff and found that they still had good aroma and were on the savory side, but with creamy, almost vanilla frosting notes.

The liquor was not as strong as a TGY, but was full of flavor and very tasty. It was smooth, slightly savory, with sweet dessert notes and a bit of floral. I got five solid steeps,before it was weak enough that it wasn’t worth continuing.

Pairing: Since my husband hasn’t been feeling well he didn’t want supper, so I was actually using this as an excuse to get a little food in him as well as tea. I warmed some cheddar on Garden Herb Triscuits, and then topped each one with a tiny bit of apricot jam. There were also a few pecan tartlets because we are swimming in leftover Christmas dainties. Ha ha!

He really, really enjoyed this tea. I am sorry to see that Nuvola is gone, but I will probably order some Alishan pretty soon from either Teavivre or Harney. (Since Teaave ALSO seems to be gone…)

I was so excited a few weeks ago when I saw a gift pack of Whittard tea at Home Goods. It was beautifully packaged and although it is sachets and not loose tea, there is quite an assortment of tea for a very low price, with twenty sachets of each.

I was in the mood for a solid black tea this morning with my bagel and eager to try the English Breakfast…only to come here and discover that I have already had three of these teas in an assortment my eldest daughter bought in London years ago for me!

That’s okay! I am going to enjoy having them again! As for this EB, it was a solid black tea, good for morning, and just smooth enough to escape me wanting milk and sugar with it. (I generally avoid teas that have to have it, or I find a way to make them smoother so I don’t need it.)

I notice that last time I had this tea, I was having it with gingerbread biscotti. Guess what I have in the cabinet right now? :)

I picked this tea tonight because I am feeling sentimental this Christmas Eve. My husband has been sick for several days, mostly tired and achey and a bit of a sore throat with some upper respiratory issues. We hardly ever have chai and almost never have lattes, but I made him one a few weeks ago and he liked it, so I thought it would be a nice treat tonight.

The reason this is so special is because it is from the last samples ever sent to me by our Steepster friend, K S, before he passed on. You see, he could read between the lines and when he sent me a “you okay?” message, he didn’t believe my “I’m fine!” (I wasn’t.) So he mailed me some tea and an encouraging note.

I wanted it to be extra rich and comforting, so I heated some milk on the stove with a bit of sugar and put in the whole sample pouch of tea and spices. I know true chai is usually half milk and half water, but I am going for Christmas Eve level comfort here!

I strained it into mugs and we drank it while we listened to an old radio broadcast of It’s A Wonderful Life. It was very good, and I see more chai lattes in our future this winter, especially when we have cold spells, something we don’t see an awful lot.

I checked to make sure this company was still in business before posting. They are, and this tea is available on amazon. I like the Justea business model, providing sustainable jobs in Kenya. I hope they do well.

Merry Christmas, everyone!