A Quarter to Tea

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

80

A spicy chocolate tea! I love hot food and this tea has firey bite at the end. The flavor is chocolate with cinnamon over a light malty roasty base. The spice peaks at the end for a nice chili finish. It’s a medium hot tea, a good one for heat lovers or people who want more kick to their chai. If I had more I would of made it as a latte, I think this tea would of been even better!

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/spumoni-green-tea-and-mexican-hot-chocolate-from-a-quarter-to-tea-tea-review/

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

Finally a Spumoni tea! I’ve been waiting for one and suggesting it for years and finally we have one!

This green is was very heavy on the pistachio flavor, then cherry, followed by a hint of chocolate. The blend was nice and creamy and the cherry tasted pretty natural. Very good, especially if you love pistachio!

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/spumoni-green-tea-and-mexican-hot-chocolate-from-a-quarter-to-tea-tea-review/

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Cold Brew Sipdown (456)!

I’ve had this one a few times now – but I don’t think I’ve ever actually ordered it. It just kind of likes to show up in my AQTT orders. This time around, I decided to cold brew it though and see what that would do the the flavour.

I think this is the most rich and full bodied form I’ve ever drank this one in; it’s so potent and thick with a mouthfeel that’s incredibly velvety! The flavours are mighty intense too; really strong bergamot notes and a really jammy, sweet black currant undertone. I think bergamot and currant are actually a really nice pairing together because it’s two different sort of fruit flavours/elements (citrus and berries) coming together to create a single, almost elegant feeling fruit profile. Like, not to get snobby but neither bergamot or currant are exactly “common” sort of fruits. Like, you go to the grocery store and you get like apple, bananas, and oranges but if you were to walk out with a small carton of currants that would be like a fancy treat, right? Does that make sense!? At all!? The point is, they work really nicely together and come together to create this bold, sweet rich flavour that feels a lot classier/fancier than your common Earl Grey or just fruit tea in general.

Other note worthy things: it’s gonna a hella lingering aftertaste of bergamot that really sticks around after the finish, and there are some floral undertones of things like lavender as well that contribute to the overall profile in soft ways. Also, it’s a little Acai like too? But I think that’s just from the currant as well.

Once again, this was a pleasant revisit of this tea!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Cold Brew Sipdown (120)!

Exact same flavour profile as the delightful hot mug I enjoyed earlier in the week but, well, cold. I’d drink this again but if I’m being honest it’s more impressive served hot.

Flavors: Black Currant, Citrus, Red Fruits, Vanilla

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

So, it was Lala’s review of this tea that made me take notice of it, and my interest in this tea in particular was the tipping point for my placing that last sample order…

Originally, when I was looking at Lauren’s blends I skipped over this one preciously because it was an Earl Grey and I hadn’t realized what was “special” about it. I don’t personally drink a lot of Earl Grey so I’m at a point where, unless there’s something unique to an EG, I’m not interested in trying it. But currants!? I had to try that. Especially since Lala hadn’t described it as tasting medicinal, which is my biggest fear when it comes to currant blends. I still cringe when I think of DT’s Currant Affairs rooibos blend. That is one of the worst teas I’ve ever had.

This was so delightful though! I thought it was pleasantly light, fresh, sweet, and fruity but not in a way where the flavours came off as delicate. I tasted enough bergamot to know I was tasting bergamot and enough red currant to know I was tasting currant. The rosehip flavour was very light to me, any stronger and I think I would have disliked it but in this dosage I thought it provided the perfect amount of perky, sweet fruit flavour to the jammy currants. The whisp of vanilla was a lovely sweet note as well that blended the citrusy bergamot and jammy currants really smoothly. In fact, the whole cup was smooth: no bitterness or astringency throughout. Assam was a lovely base choice, as well.

Overall this is kind of the perfect breakfast EG in my opinion. Pair it was a scone with a little butter? I’d probably just melt. The flavours would be so good. This is definitely in my “Top Three” from A Quarter to Tea. Not totally sure if I like it more than Cherry Chocolate Latte Oolong. The two are just so different. But both are my favourites, so far, that’s for sure! If I find another two or three I like as much I’ll probably buy more of this one. Next year though…

When I’m off haitus.

Marzipan

Big fan of this company!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

72

Finishing this one off today. I’m having a better time with it than I’ve had previously. I can get a chocolate flavor, some creamy sweetness, and a tangy aftertaste but I definitely wouldn’t place the flavors as pumpkin or cheesecake. This is an enjoyable tea, but I just don’t think it lives up to the name

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

72

I had this one last night, and was extremely excited for it. However, I was really let down. I just got tea flavor, and not really any flavorings at all. I thought maybe it just needed to cool down, but that didn’t really help any. Judging from the other reviews, it looks like I probably just did something weird when brewing this, so I will definitely tinker with that and see what I can do

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

Thin mints! This absolutely tastes like a tea version of the perennial Girl Scouts favorite. A splash of rice milk adds creaminess that really takes the blend over the top, but it’s not necessary. Thank you to Quarter to Tea for the review sample! I am way behind on tasting notes because I am moving, but I wanted to get this up before the Black Friday sale goes live so I can tell everyone how impressed I am with the blends I’ve tried so far from Quarter. I am limiting my tea orders this week to no more than four companies and this is one of them (TeaVivre is another, the rest are still TBD).

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Pumpkin Spice by A Quarter to Tea
694 tasting notes

This is pretty delicious. I really like the pumpkin in this and the spice works. It isn’t over the top spice. It is light and in the background. The black base works really well with this blend as well. I picked up only a sample of this one because I was a little scare of the base, but it works. A hit.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

This one is my morning cup, and my second A Quarter to Tea blend. I love banana nut bread, and my dad used to make me banana nut pancakes all the time, but in the past few years I found out that I can’t really have wheat so I haven’t really had those treats recently. So this tea is perfect!

Brewed up, this tea smells intensely sweet and buttery. It’s making my whole office smell good. The flavor is very buttery and walnuty, without having that bitter flavor some teas get from walnuts. The banana flavor isn’t very strong, but the flavor I do get is great. It doesn’t taste like fake sweet banana, but tastes like you had some overripe bananas that you mushed up and added to some batter. The buttery flavor really helps to create the idea of pancakes. The base tea takes a back seat and just seems to be there to support the other flavors, which to me really works in a blend like this. Overall I’m really loving this one, but I would love it even more with more banana.

Flavors: Butter, Walnut

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

My order from A Quarter To Tea came in yesterday, and by the time I got home it was definitely too late for any of the caffeinated blends I got, but this one sounded perfect for an after dinner tea!

I can be iffy about rooibos but this sounded so good I took the chance anyway. The woodsy rooibos flavor is there in the background, but not too much. To me, it’s just enough to add a little extra substance to the tea as a whole. There is a sweetness, but I’m not getting specifics, like vanilla, strawberry, etc. I want to try steeping this longer to try to get more of those flavors out, since I did go for the shorter end of the suggested steep time (right at 8 minutes), and I also want to try this with just a bit of milk to see if that changes anything.

Flavors: Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

Must try all the spicy fruity teas! Yet another sample from A Quarter to Tea. I must be honest: I’m attempting to try all my samples ASAP since they are in thinner baggies. That would be my only complaint about A Quarter to Tea: the packaging. I don’t like thin baggies for the samples or the pouches that just fold over. (I had the same problem with Butiki’s packaging – also my only complaint with Butiki.) I love the resealable pouches I put all of my teas in — completely scent proof as well. Anyway, I HAD to try this one! I love spicy fruity anything. (My favorite Pizza Hut combination is ham, pineapple and sriracha.) What is interesting here is this is JALAPENO PEPPER and not cayenne or chili. I haven’t seen that before in a tea! I made sure to get a big piece of strawberry in the infuser and there is also something lime in the blend! Sadly, however I steeped this one, it wasn’t the awesome balance of flavors that I was hoping for, that Lauren is usually so good at getting done! I get plenty of spicy from the jalapeno and it’s really the perfect kick (yet somehow doesn’t seem all that different from cayenne or chili to me). But I think the jalapeno might drown all of the strawberry or lime flavors. That’s too bad, as this one sounded pretty unique. I’d buy it as a delicious spicy green tea, though this might not be accurate on the overall flavors it’s supposed to represent. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AQuarterToTea
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Dustin

I just ordered a bunch of samples from this company (this tea included) and I’m feeling the same rush to get the teas out of the plastic baggies and into my cup quickly! :/

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

Another sample from my sampler. This uses the same two bases as the Chocolate Cherry Latte, though maybe with different proportions: the dark oolong and hojicha. A caramel apple tea sounded amazing. I tried to steep it the same way that resulted in magic with the Chocolate Cherry. The base tastes the same as that, but the apple and caramel isn’t as magical of a combination. But that is tough to beat. I made sure to get a big chunk of apple in my infuser. There were only slight hints of apple, caramel and cinnamon in the blend. I mostly tasted hojicha in the base. A nice roasted flavor that would pair nicely with a caramel apple. But sipping this just made me crave the Chocolate Cherry Latte more. Maybe tomorrow! The Black Friday sale for A Quarter to Tea looks AMAZING.
Steep #1 // 2 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 17 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep
Steep #3 // couple minutes after boiling // 8 minute steep
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AQuarterToTea

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Sipdown (127)!

Lauren thoughtfully included this as an extra sample in my Quarter to Tea sample order!

We’re a long way from summer now, so a tropical themed tea feels a little out of place but just because this might not be the ideal season to drink it doesn’t mean it’s not going to be super tasty! So, when I cold brewed this tea I did my absolute best to be open minded about it. And honestly, it wasn’t hard: the coconut in the blend smells super fresh and yummy and I could see lots of goji berries which are a fruit I’ve really tried to learn more about this year. Both are things for me to get excited about.

Like I said, this was cold brewed because Lauren from A Quarter to Tea specifically said on the tea’s page that it’s great iced. I don’t normally ice teas, but I do cold brew them! I find, if a company is going to specifically point out a way to try their tea I want to take that into consideration.

Mostly; I thought this was just a really nice smooth, vegetal and grassy cold brewed green tea that demonstrated characteristics of both the Chinese and Japanese style greens in the blend. On top of the really enjoyable base, the coconut was quite a dominant flavour. It tastes insanely fresh! It’s a nice balance between tropical “Pina Colada” type coconut and a more confectionery type coconut. It reminds me of DT’s Coconut Grove which is something I haven’t gotten to say in a LONG time since that delightful blend has been discontinued for a while now.

Sadly, none of the fruit really seems to contribute much flavour. I certainly don’t taste the goji and I just barely taste the faintest citrus flavour on the finish of the cup. I’d never be able to identify it as tangerine is I wasn’t reading an ingredients list. I don’t mind the absence of fruit because I get to enjoy the coconut, but I doubt that’s entirely what was intended and if you’re looking for fruit flavour you may be disappointed with this blend.

Regardless, it was a good experience for me.

Flavors: Coconut

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Yum, this is good! When I placed a second order with QTT after my initial batch of samples I opted for a sample of this instead of the oz b/c thus far I had been on the fence about the black base teas. Oh well.

This tea is creamy, sweet. The dry leaf screams maple syrup. There are little orange candies or something in here that make it fun to look at. I think my next cup will be doctored up a bit. A fun fall treat.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

This was my free sample from my order! A lovely and unique blend of cranberry, tangerine/orange, cinnamon and cloves with a white base. I can definitely taste equal parts cranberry and tangerine/orange. It’s refreshing from the fruit but also like a holiday blend with the cinnamon notes. I’d say the fruit notes aren’t too strong, but much stronger than the cinnamon. The cinnamon is much more noticeable during the second (much hotter) steep and there is still plenty of the tangy yet sweet cranberry and tangerine. But Lauren does really well with flavor proportions! I think the white tea lends a creamy citrus flavor as well. Delicious! http://www.etsy.com/shop/AQuarterToTea
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug// 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

76

Sipdown (128)!

I took good notes for this one, so just going to copy and paste them…

- Pot of tea w. mom
- Definitely apple notes, richer than Caramel Baked Apple = Good
- Cheesecake is subtle but there’s definite creaminess throughout
- Which is more exaggerated in the finish
- Slight roasty/toastyness from the base combo
- Definitely a fruityness outside of just apple as well: brandy?
- Very tasty; perfect level of sweetness and medium body

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

98

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – July Tea #7 -A tea flavored like your favorite ice cream

Another sipdown I have been dreading.  I have never had spumoni, so it can’t be a favorite ice cream, but this tea WAS a favorite. I miss this shop! Of course I don’t know if this tasted like spumoni, but the flavors here mingled amazingly.  Even steeping it up this final time.  The flavors are still very nuanced and balanced, and I completely forgot there was even coconut here, as it isn’t ruining this.  Three glorious steeps to send this to tea heaven.  Yesterday while thinking of this prompt, I DID drink 52Teas Chocolate Marshmallow Spicier chai.  I would say most ice cream is my favorite, I don’t really have a preference,  but Chocolate Marshmallow might just slightly edge out the other flavors IMO.  But the chocolate marshmallow tea itself was not close to a sipdown, so I’m counting this spumoni tea, simply because it is an actual ice cream flavor.  I bet I’d love spumoni if I had it anyway!
2022 sipdowns:  87

Cameron B.

Tea heaven… T.T

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

98

This was the one I ordered an ounce of, other than the Chocolate Cherry Latte because I knew I’d love it. Even if I’ve never had spumoni before, these ingredients sounded perfect. AND I definitely believe in A Quarter To Tea’s cherry teas! I made sure my teaspoon and a half had a big pistachio and a big cherry chunk…. and plenty of big coconut flakes! It tastes pretty much like I was hoping! Delicious sweet cherry, hints of pistachio, lesser hints of the cocoa nibs on a lovely sencha base. Surprisingly not as coconut flavor as I would think, but I wouldn’t want the other flavors to be masked anyway. It’s so delicious, especially as it cools. The balance in the flavors is amazing. The second steep somehow tasted almost exactly the same. Love it love it. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AQuarterToTea
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 25 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

Sipdown (130)!

Yay, more teas from A Quarter to Tea!!!

So, I picked up the seven tea sampler but only six teas really stood out to me so for the seventh I just asked Lauren to surprise me. This is the surprise tea! I have to say, I’m not totally sure why it didn’t catch my eye given that I’m a fan of everything in it. Especially the cranberry and cloves!!! It’s a stinky, stanky tea though – not in a bad way but in a “you’d probably need to triple bag it to keep the intense aroma in” sort of way. My entire package smelled super strongly of this bad boy, so I thought I’d best finish it off quickly so as to not let the aroma contaminate the other teas.

Of course I cold brewed it: it was really lovely! The cranberry could have maybe been just a touch stronger, but I’m also totally a cranberry fiend when it comes to my teas so for someone who only likes cranberry and doesn’t love it I imagine the proportions were probably reasonable. I felt like I could taste a bit of everything though; and that’s exactly what you want out of a tea: proportional representation of all ingredients! It was lively and fruity (the tangerine was a super nice touch), but with a perfectly balanced spice backdrop that made it seasonally appropriate for the Autumn/Winter transition. This is exactly what I wanted, but didn’t get, out of DAVIDsTEA’s Cranberry Orange Muffin tisane. So good!

And God Bless Lauren for not including ginger.

Marzipan

Ooh I have this, need to try it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Being off of my medicine is an interesting experience, and really having me re-evaluate things about my life. Like how in the name of all things holy did I tolerate the terrible-ness that is the mattress? I know Fibromyalgia (coupled with Aspbergers) makes things more extreme (it is so 90s) especially pain, but wow, that mattress is so uncomfortable. Even though yeah, I am in a lot of pain and I am having to take it easier than I did previously, I am glad to be off the stuff. Since being freed from my medicinal servitude I have only had one splitting headache, instead of the many splitting headaches a day, and the best thing is I have a lot more mental clarity. I consider this a win…though I really need a new mattress.

Today’s tea is from A Quarter To Tea, specifically their Mexican Hot Chocolate blend, because I am a hardcore chocoholic, though alas, I am slowly outgrowing my ability to just gorge on huge piles of chocolate…slowly…I can still eat a whole bag in one sitting, just not two bags, tis the price of growing old. To help ease the transition I seek out chocolaty teas, this one being a blend of Organic Quinlan Oolong Tea, Ceylon Black Tea, Cinnamon, Star Anise, Freeze-dried Marshmallows, Dried Red Chile Flakes, Natural Flavorings. I admit, I have had several spicy chocolate teas, but this is the only one that uses Star Anise, and I have a serious Star Anise addiction, so yummy! The aroma of the dry tea is super sweet, definitely can smell the sugary joy of the marshmallows and chocolate. There is also a good bit of spice, a blend of cinnamon and anise and this distinct chili pepper bite that grows into a nice nose burner. My sinuses are pleased by the tingly warmth.

Into my steeping apparatus the leaves and such go for the steeping, I watch as the marshmallows dissolve away into nothingness. The aroma of the wet leaves is sweet and spicy, notes of chocolate and marshmallows, with cinnamon and peppery warmth, it is a very warm smelling tea. The liquid is sweet and creamy, with notes of malt and a decent punch of cinnamon and pepper, a lingering finish of chocolate wafts from my cup.

Tasting time! I got a couple of good sips of this tea before I gave it to Ben to have a taste…and promptly lost the rest of my cup…he really liked this tea. The first thing I noticed was it has a nice bite to it, the perfect amount of heat…just enough to warm the cold cockles of my mouth but not enough to make me run screaming for a glass of milk. There is also a nice burst of chocolate, sweet spices and marshmallows, and a finish of malt. I liked (what I tasted) of this tea, but mostly loved how Ben just wandered off with it, he is an immensely picky tea drinker, so I am happy when he finds teas he likes. I will have to get more, so he can have the majority of it…and so I can have a whole cup!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-quarter-to-tea-mexican-hot-chocolate.html

OMGsrsly

That tea sounds really good!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

100

I love this time of the year. Some people are bothered by all the Christmas already out to see, not me. I listen to Christmas music from Nov. 1 on and enjoy walking down the decoration and candy isles. Chocolate covered cherries are a weakness.

I think I found a low calorie substitution in this incredible blend. YUM!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Tasty but not my favorite offering from A Quarter to Tea ( hands down that title belongs to the Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong) but its still a decent offering, just not one I would be rushing out to restock (unlike the Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong which I had to have more of IMMEDIATELY!!). This tea delivers on its promise of maple and pecan and my dry leaf was seriously overflowing with pecan pieces however something about it just didn’t ‘wow’ me… don’t get me wrong, its tasty, and I’m sure some people will absolutely love it, but for some reason it was reasonably forgettable for me, maybe because maple and pecan aren’t my usual go to?

I am however SUPER excited about trying the Vanilla Cider Panna Cotta Oolong and the Frosted Carrot Cake Genmaicha that I couldn’t resist ordering this afternoon!!!! Which means I’m cheating on my tea buying hiatus again with A Quarter to Tea but how could I resist? Those teas are deff my sort of flavors!!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.