Bulk Barn

This is my favorite tea. It helps me to wake up every morning, i’m wondering is there are any other teas like this?

Not bad at all, especially for the price

I forgot Bulk Barn sold loose leaf tea. This is one of four that I picked up and it was the one I was most looking forward to trying. I was very saddened to see that it was the lowest rated of the four on Steepster though!!
Well, I’ve since tried it and it’s not bad. The orange tastes a little artificial and the taste isn’t as orangey as the scent was, but I wouldn’t kick it out of bed for trying. ;)
Still very drinkable, I just wouldn’t steep it too long in case it becomes bitter or too astringent.

the black tea taste is strong because I steeped for longer than recommended. It is a very pleasant tea. The pomegranate comes through well, which you can taste just as you finish your drink. the aftertaste isn’t bitter, and honestly, I find helps each continued drink taste better. I like it unsweetened, there’s no bitterness at all. I imagine it would only enhance the natural sweetness of the pomegranate, but might become overwhelming.

I really like this, though I have way too much and it’s getting old. It still has good flavour, a nice green tea that I think was a bit roasty and a bit vegetal, with a hint of ginger at the back of the throat but no real burn. I drank this cup down fast, so no detailed tasting notes, I mostly just remember that I enjoyed it lots and it was a good accompaniment to food.

Bought this at the Bulk Barn because the smell is very enticing. The taste on the other hand is pretty bland. It tastes mainly of black tea, and a little sweet because of the stevia. I ended up adding two teaspoons of splenda to finish this cup of tea.

In the dry leaf I can see lots of lavender and other petals, but all I smell is the pomegranate. But once steeped, the fragrance of the lavender comes out in full force. It beautifully compliments the smell of the fruit and green tea.

The taste of this is very pleasant and balanced. The green tea isn’t really distinctive, but there’s some vegetal notes that I lends to the blend, and the lavender and pomegranate are in harmony – a bit tart, floral and fruity.

On the finish the fruit fades out first, the lavender lingers a bit longer and then departs and eventually there’s just the vegetal umami notes of the green tea with a hint of the cooling sensation from the lavender.

It’s been ages since I’ve had this, and it’s been sitting in my cupboard for far too long, but it’s still really good.

This is another tea that’s been in my cupboard for ages and stored poorly.

It’s not a bad tea. Fairly delicate white tea flavour with just a hint of apricot sweetness. Nice tangy, vegetal finish. At 2 min it was a bit weak. At 2:30, there’s hints of astringency creeping in, but it’s still very drinkable.

All in all, not bad for what it is.

I’m hesitant about this, because it’s been in my cupboard a long time, mate is hit or miss for me, and I’m not sure about stevia either. But here goes.

This smells excellent. Very rich and chocolatey. On the palate the chocolate is pretty subtle. There’s a slight tingle that makes me think mint but isn’t mint, and some earthiness and sweetness. The stevia and mate are surprisingly well balanced and don’t taste unpleasant at all.

I could easily drink this straight but I’m going to finish my cup with a bit of milk and sugar, because I always feel like chocolatey teas are well complimented by those.

Not a favourite but not bad at all.

Another revisit of a tea that’s been sitting in my cupboard for far too long.

This is nice. There’s lots of mint on the nose and also a great sweet, chocolately note. It smells like a peppermint patty.

The flavour doesn’t have the same sweet, chocolate notes as the nose. It’s a dry mint with a balanced black tea base. Better with a bit of sugar that brings out the candy cane qualities of this.

I’m a little unsure about sampling this tea, as I’ve had it for quite a while and it definitely wasn’t stored properly. Still, it’s there, and I might as well give it a shot.

It’s all pretty light smelling. Some vegetal notes in the steeped tea leaf, and fruity brown sugar notes in the scent of the liquor, a bit like a berry crumble.

The flavour is pretty light as well. A slight creamy note, a hint of dried fruit. No bitterness or astringency.

Definitely need to try out more Darjeelings.

Mmmm, the smell of this is nice and soothing. Citrusy, earth and an herbal smell that reminds me a tiny bit of chamomile.

The taste is very similar to the smell. Not a lot of citrus flavour, mostly earthy and herbal. Almost medicinal, like something you would drink when you’re not feeling well.

It’s kind of a perfect autumn evening, sitting on the couch in your robe kind of cup.

I’ve had this in my cupboard forever, in an unsealed bag. It’s picked up a bit of fruitiness from from other teas but it’s still pretty good. Lots of toasted rice and a pretty smooth green tea. Very easy to drink.

I haven’t had this one in ages. The dry leaf is very coconutty smelling, and when steeped a strong fruity fragrance comes out as well.

The liquor is a greenish gold and has a slightly perfumey nose in addition to the notes from the leaf. The sip is a bit earthy with a lot of vegetal notes. There’s a nice bit of coconut and lots of sweetness, and then this really intense peach that extends to an extremely long finish, with a bit of grassiness. There might be mango flavour in this, but the more I sip, the more the peachy finish coats my mouth. I really like that the grassy tang gives the peach a fresher edge, like biting into a peach with the slight tartness of the skin, vs canned peaches or peach juice.

The body is a little on the creamy side, but not too thick. Very mild hints of astringency.

Really quite nice.

Wow, pathetic. Nothing ruins tea like keeping it in the plastic bags you buy it in at Bulk Barn.

I picked up a three cup sample of this two months ago, and it was juicy and delicious. Since I only had two teaspoons left, I didn’t bother rebagging it. Well, having another cup today, most of the flavour is already gone. There’s black tea base and a hint of currant, but I’m unimpressed.

This tea is absolutely worth drinking when it’s fresh, and hopefully worth drinking when it’s stored properly, but damn, how quickly this got boring.

If you buy teas at Bulk Barn, move them to a better storage container right away. They have a lot of good teas that just don’t hold up well in their little plastic bread tab bags.

I’m glad I’m giving this tea another chance, with fresh leaf. The last cup I had was bordering on undrinkable, but it hadn’t been stored well at all. This one, this one is lovely.

The flavour profile is simple, and it tastes the way it smells – lots of juicy black currant, with the dimension and complexity I love about black currant but that often doesn’t quite make it into black currant flavoured things. There’s a bit of malt from the black tea base, but it’s mostly just really fruity and juicy tasting. No bitterness or astringency.

Very, very nice. I wish Bulk Barn had bags that were appropriate for storing tea in. Their stuff is good, but just doesn’t hold up well in those self-serve plastic bags with the bread tab closures.

Okay, so I kind of feel like an ass, because I just realized that I posted this tasting note on the wrong black currant tea. I’d had some Cornelia Bean black currant and then when I finished that, I moved my Bulk Barn tea into the same package, since the plastic bag it was in was terrible. And then I forgot.

Small brown leaves that don’t unfurl much, deep brown cup. There’s both a fruity and astringent fragrance that’s slightly off-putting and reminds me of cheap lychee black tea bags.

I think this tea might be a bit too old, since I remember it being better than this cup. The currant flavour is subtle and the tea tastes a bit flat, none of that full mouth flavour or delicate notes that I look for in a good cup.

I may need to pick up some fresh tea leaves and give this a shot again, because I’m disappointed in this.

So I think I went and picked up a fresh sample of this, but I’m not entirely sure…

This is a middle of the road Earl Grey. A good amount of bergamot but not overpowering, and an okay but not great black tea base. It has some fruity notes that I’m not wild about and this flatness in the middle of the tongue and what I can only think of as brassiness at the back of the mouth that I associate with mediocre tea.

I’ll probably drink up the rest of this with milk and sugar, which I tend to like in my Earl Greys, and which should help the meh qualities of the base.

I sent my sweeties to work today without lunches, so this morning I’m in the kitchen, prepping some stuff for lunch delivery. And I think my wisdom for the day is, don’t pan-fry stuff in your underwear. No matter how warm it is in the kitchen. Just don’t do it.

Last time I had this tea it was made with really old leaf that had been stored in a crappy plastic bag. So I picked up a couple of cups worth of fresh leaf when I went to Bulk Barn, since other teas of theirs have been much better fresh.

But fresh or no, it’s still not that great. There’s a kind of generic berry flavour, and then some hints of vanilla come in as it cools, but the black base is pretty boring, and I just want it to be more distinctive.

Ah well, it was worth a shot.

Meh. I feel bad saying too much about the Bulk Barn teas in my cupboard, because I’ve had them stored for quite a long time in very poor containers.

When this was hot all I was getting from my sip was sweetness. Now that it’s cooled down, I’m getting some tea maltiness, fruit and floral notes and a bit of vanilla and caramel on the finish. This might be quite nice iced, and that might be the way to finish off my old leaf.

I used to drink this tea all the time and then I got distracted by all kinds of other lovely tastes. I’ve had this tea sitting in a not very air tight bag for quite a long time, so I think it may have lost some of its complexity, but even still, it’s lovely.

Earthy, nutty, a bit vegetal, and fresh, distinct orange notes, that give it a tiny bit of tang without it being tart at all. Not at all bitter or astringent.

I missed you old friend. I’m glad we’re back.

Part of my morning of chai/find a replacement for Bollywood Chai line up.

Today I’m getting some coconut and chocolate on the nose that I haven’t detected before. I think this might be my first time sipping it without milk. Cinnamony and caramel. Milk enhances these notes, and pulls some of the coconut, chocolate nose into the sip.

Very different from Bollywood Chai. Less naturally sweet, with more warm flavours, less ginger and fennel, and not at all spicy.