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A sad sipdown. I read TeaTiff’s recent note about this one and remembered that I had one more cup of this left from my swap with her. It sounded extra delicious this morning. I’m also trying to work my way back to having multiple cups in a day, and I think if I go with teas I think of as “lighter” it’ll work better. This one is technically a black but there are enough other things in it that it doesn’t feel like one.

This smells so good. It’s in my top five smell-wise for sure. Cinnamon pastry with nuts and raisins, with lots of extra cinnamon glaze. The taste is great too, citrusy in warm way instead of being bitter. The vanilla and cinnamon flavors keep that pastry feeling going, and between the smell and the flavor I could almost swear I’m drinking a bear claw. Bumping the rating up just a little and adding this to my list to buy.

This one is interesting. I haven’t had tulsi before, but it adds a green, herbal flavor to the cup. It’s a little like mint and a little like mate in flavor, and I like it. The base is smooth and compliments the tulsi well. This isn’t a tea I can see myself reaching for all the time, but I’m glad I got to try it.

I have to warn everyone in advance that this review is a little biased—I can’t help but compare this to GM’s Coconut Pouchong. It feels like that natural coconut flavor is what the tea is trying for, but it doesn’t quite make it there.

It’s a nice mellow green with some fresh coconut flavor up front, but the aftertaste falls flat for me; it’s like sugared, dry coconut you’d find on a cake or pie instead of the fresh stuff. The taste comes close to GM’s version, but in the end it’s no contest for me. I guess that’s a misleading statement because there’s nothing offensive about this at all and I’ll have no problem getting through it, but it’s definitely not a restock when it’s gone.

This is a delicious medium-roasted oolong. I’d actually say it’s more like a light-medium mix, because it’s the lightest medium I’ve had yet. That means that some of the lighter fruity and floral notes you’d find in a green oolong come through, but there’s also a delicious roasty, almost bready flavor to it too. The floral taste is a lot like what most companies describe as “orchid” flavor, but this time it tastes much richer than I’m used to. There’s also just a little bit of a honey aftertaste to it that I love. I’m glad I have several more cups of this left! This is one I’d definitely consider buying.

This is my first black tea in five days! Sadly it’s a little lackluster for me. There’s a honeylike sweetness to it, but it leaves my mouth feeling powdery. The taste is also weaker than I’d like. Maybe it could be saved by overleafing, but I only have enough for one cup. Oh, well.

Cold-brewed some of this up and then couldn’t drink it for three days. That means it’s a little oversteeped but it’s still okay. I prefer it hot—it’s actually grassier this way—but cold it tastes a little more like gummy grape. There’s an extra-sweet aftertaste to this this way and it might be good steeped for less time, but I think I’ll drink the rest hot.

Hmm. There’s barely any tea in this—I think I got about two leaves in my cup—but it is a good cup regardless. I’ve never had a mulberry on its own, but I like it in this mix. It starts out very creamy and ends on a slightly tart note, almost like vanilla yogurt with fruit mixed in. There’s a slight sharpness to this that I don’t like, so I wouldn’t buy it, but I’m enjoying this cup and I’ll have no trouble getting through the other cup of it I have waiting.

ETA: The more this cools the more the coconut flavor comes out. I think it must be the mulberries that aren’t to my taste, because I love coconut teas.

Another EG from my box. I don’t know that it’s all that true to the EG flavor profile (I get no bergamot from this), but that’s what it’s called anyway. I’m on a strict no-caffeine diet for a few days thanks to an infection so I’ll be drinking herbals for a while.

This is a nice raspberry tea, tart without being too much and just sweet enough. I don’t have much experience with green rooibos but the whole sip is nice and smooth. There’s no rooibos flavor to it to speak of. There’s also no bergamot, but so it goes.

Sipdown! This has hibiscus and rosehip in it, so I was a little wary, but the description sounded so good I had to try it.

It brews up the dark reddish-pink I’ve come to dread, but it actually smells more like ginger than anything else. Sadly, the taste is hibiscus. After one sip of it hot I iced the cup and it’s much better this way. There’s a strong ginger flavor (but not too much), although I’m getting mostly hibiscus other than that. There’s some peach but not nearly enough to call it as such, in my opinion. It’s not bad but I’m really not a hibiscus fan so this won’t be a restock.

I love tropical teas. There’s something very refreshing about pineapple flavorings in tea. I also love oolongs more with each day—they’re very hard to mis-steep, and no matter how you mistreat them (wrong temperature, too long steep time, etc. etc.) they almost never taste bad. We all have those moments when we’re too tired to make a perfect cup!

This is a very natural “tropical” taste. There’s definitely pineapple, along with some papaya, maybe? It’s a nice mixture and goes well with the green oolong base. It’s definitely identifiable as an oolong but the fruit is also present. Neither is overshadowed by the other. I’m liking this blend! Maybe not a must-have, but it’s a good fruity oolong.