English Tea Store

Thanks again for the swap, AJRimmer!  I’ve wanted to try this, but again with the mysterious ingredients, ETS.  So it’s hard to parcel out the ingredients here without knowing what they are.  Looking at the ingredients after steeping, it looks like actual lime?  Or some sort of citrus.  As well as rosehips which don’t really do much for the color of the mug/ flavor… I can’t really tell what else is in there. I guess the flavor is slightly lime, but it’s a very earthy lime, and by earthy I mean bordering on dirt flavor.  I’ve never had gelato but I doubt it tastes like this.
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 10 minutes after boiling  // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  6-7 min
2020 Sipdowns: 27 (David’s Rhubarb Cream Soda)

Yesterday I drank so much homemade Thai bubble tea that the caffeine kept me awake well past 6 AM. Whoops.

This tea smells like chocolate, but the flavor isn’t there at all. It’s just a mildly flavored black tea where you can’t tell what flavor it’s going for. The DavidsTea version is more accurate.

I guess I pictured blueberry with a name like this, but the flavor was definitely mostly hibiscus/red fruits. I had it warm, which probably wasn’t optimal, but it was all right. Nothing revolutionary, just another fruity tea.

Thanks so much for the swap, AJRimmer!  So many teas I get to try. :D I’ve already had this once, so this time it’s a sipdown.  A pleasant enough strawberry flavor on a rooibos base.  The strawberry is really just sweetness with a hint of alcohol.  Looks like blackberry leaves in the blend?  If so, there is only a hint in the flavor.  ETS is almost always vague on their ingredients.  The second cup was full of sweetness.  I would say it was more of a sweet rooibos blend than anything resembling strawberry. Not the best, but appreciate trying it.  Why are strawberry teas so tough to accomplish?
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 15 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 min
2020 Sipdowns: 25

I should probably stop buying lime teas because I almost never like the lime flavoring they use. It’s just so strong, fake, and weird. This one wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t pleasant either. But if you usually like lime flavored things, maybe you’ll enjoy this one. I just wish the flavor were more authentic.

Sadly, this one didn’t taste special to me. It mostly just tasted like black tea with maybe a bit of flavor, but it wasn’t distinct enough to say what it should have been. I wouldn’t recommend this one because if I’m going to have a plainish black tea, there are so many other choices of better quality.

Pretty good. It is worth the extra money for the pai mu tan white tea, though. If I hadn’t experienced the pai mu tan white tea beforehand, I suppose could have been one of my staple teas.

I didn’t love the scent of this one, but the flavor is pretty nice! It’s like a blueberry pineapple mixture. It’s a bit fake tasting, but decent, especially when compared to many of their other fruit blends. Still not great compared with other brands, but decent for ETS.

Although the chocolate flavor isn’t too deep, this is tasty enough. Chocolate and rooibos combine to create a decent flavor. It’s not very exciting, but it’s okay. I like the rooibos they use. If you’re looking for a chocolate tea though, this really isn’t the one.

I didn’t love this one at first, but I left it in the fridge and took it to work in the morning, which seemed to help mellow any weird flavors it had. It turned into a pretty generic fruit tea. Couldn’t really say what fruit it’s supposed to be. It’s not too sour, just not too special either.

The ingredients in this are so fun looking – cucumber/zucchini?! They don’t list the ingredients, so I’m not sure. The result is a flavor that’s light and interesting, however it’s also interrupted with a bit of mildly distracting tartness from the other ingredients. I wish it could have had only that light, fresh flavor, but it does all combine to produce quite the satisfying brew.

After my billionth cup of Earl Grey this month, I needed something different. (No, I’m not knocking the EG, I just realized that my selection as of late has been rather one dimensional.)

Anyway, in pouch, this smells extremely medicinal. I’m getting straight-up Robutussin scent from this. It’s worrisome, but we shall see how much of that translates.

The bag lists the brewing instructions as “190-212F, 3 minutes”… which, for something being billed as a breed of jasmine green, seemed like a horrible life decision in the making. So this was brewed at 165F, 2min.

Flavor is… different. There is a strong punch of sweetness that gets right in your face. I’m guessing that’s the Lichee (I don’t think I’ve ever had Lichee tea before?) I’m happy to say it doesn’t taste like robutussin. There’s a decent amount of warm grass flavor to this, as the green tea base is happily present. However, the jasmine seems lacking. I think the lichee is drowning out the jasmine, which is unfortunate. It also tastes pretty artificial, which is something I have noticed in several of these English Tea Store teas. I mean, it’s drinkable, but it’s not great. I would love to try some different, more natural lichee teas from a different company. Something that doesn’t have a lingering flavor of Hawaiian Punch (like this does).

Overall: It’s ok. Not good. Definitely not great. But it’s average. I’ll give it a C-

There’s an alcohol flavor in here that can be pretty strong. To my tastes at least. The strawberry is there as well, and I like the rooibos, but I think, due to the off-putting background flavor, I wouldn’t have this again. There are much better strawberry options.

Ok, So I’m not writing this review while drinking it. I drank this last night but didn’t write it up. As such, this is going to be short.

Basically, if this is supposed to be pumpkin spice… well, they missed pumpkin spice by a very long way. However, what it DOES taste like is caramel corn. You know, like that caramel crusted popcorn you get in the tins for Christmas. That is exactly what this managed to hit on the nose. I’m really not sure how you aim for pumpkin spice and hit caramel corn instead, but it’s a delicious tea. I love the sweetness and creaminess. It makes a great dessert tea.

Basically, it’s a pretty tasty tea… if you were looking for caramel corn and not pumpkin spice.

Ok, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of this one. It smells so dang strong in the bag that I was sure it would be overpowering.

Nope. This is wonderful. It is very clearly cucumber melon, with a pronounced natural sweetness, and a good balance of the cukes and the melons. It’s just so delish. The flavor also lingers so it doesn’t just fill you with flavor on the sip, but afterward, the flavor dances on your tongue and sticks around for a while. This is just… wow. Great stuff. This may be a permanent addition to my collection.

Absolutely glorious tea. A+

Ok, attempt #2 at my first ever Darjeeling!

So, quick note, when I pulled this out of my drawer, I didn’t realize it was a Darjeeling. I know the title of the tea is “Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling” but the label simply reads “Margaret’s Hope” which, until now, I didn’t realize was a type of Darjeeling. I now remember buying this specifically to try as my first ever Darjeeling tea, but since last month, I had forgotten about that and mistook it for a black tea. So, the first cup I had of this was prepared as a standard black tea. Big surprise, it wasn’t that good. This is a review of the tea prepped as it was meant to be made.

Taste this time is… delightful. I’m getting fruity notes right away, with a touch of sweetness. I’m also getting notes of leather as well, and a hint of tobacco. There is noticeable astringency (I believe that’s what it is) that results in a drying sensation in the mouth post sip. However, it isn’t at all unpleasant. No need to add anything to this, it’s lovely on its own. By the way, the aroma of the liquor has a strong grape-like scent. I’m not noticing it as much in the flavor, however.

Honestly, I’m certain I’m getting everything wrong on this. I’ve never had darjeeling before and therefore, I’m a newbie at trying to describe it. At least with the Earl Grey’s I’ve been reviewing I have something to go by. This here is uncharted territory. That said, I do enjoy this tea, and I think I may well try to branch out into other darjeelings in the future.

Well, time for yet another Earl Grey!

This time, it’s the English Tea Store’s “Earl Grey Cream”. It’s important to note that this is the loose leaf, non-organic blend. Apparently there are three different types of Earl Grey Cream that ETS sells, and this is the one I have.

Examination of the loose leave I see plenty of those lovely blue strands I love so much. You can smell the bergamot, but that’s about it.
I brewed this western (of course) for the first steep of 2:30. I can’t give exact measurements because currently, my tea-spoon is missing, so I’ve been trying to eyeball it. (I tend not to use the scale for smaller leaf teas, it gets everywhere, including INSIDE the scale!) Also, one of these days I’m going to invest in a water thermometer and temp test my Keurig, but that day isn’t today. So, for a ballpark estimate, say 2:30/205F/2tsp/16oz.

Taste unaltered is nice enough. You get a lovely bit of zesty citrus, accompanied by the usual floral note, but it seems balanced. Surprisingly, I can’t taste any cream flavor specifically. I’m searching for it, but the only difference between this and my usual earl greys is that the bergamot isn’t as bitey. Let’s add a Splenda.

Ok, so adding a Splenda, and I can almost taste the cream. It’s very subtle. Mostly, the creaminess just serves to temper most of the bite from the bergamot. It makes for a lovely mellow cup. It isn’t the most mellow I’ve had yet, and certainly not the creamiest, but it’s really decent. Actually, considering some of the ones I’ve tried lately, I’d even call it a touch above decent. It’s good, but not great. Somewhere in the range of a B-Minus. It’s easily a passing grade, but it’s only a tick or two above average. It’s somewhat disappointing considering how awesome the Lavender Earl Grey was. That one was a home run for me, while this one is more like a double. But, I am determined to try as many of these Earl Grey teas as I can get my hands on, so this is just another one for the list.

Bottom line: It’s good, but not great. It’s a solid Earl Grey, but somewhat lacking for an Earl Grey Cream. If you’re looking for that quintessential EGC, look elsewhere. This one is only slightly above average; no Holy Grail here. Sorry.

Ok, so another new tea!

I’ve made my point very clear about wanting to try all the Earl Grey I can acquire, so when I saw this on ETS, I had to get some. I only got a sample, but I’m happy to say that English Tea Store samples are fairly decent sized! So yay!

Right off the bat, you can smell a heavy floral from this in the dry leaf. I mean SERIOUS floral! The brewing instructions on the bag are pretty vague, so I made it like a normal Earl Grey, 205F/2:30/2tsp/16oz

The aroma of tea is also floral. I’m eager to try this once it cools a bit, I love a floral tea. Taste without sweetener is… mmm, that’s good. The black tea base is present, but not powerful or overwhelming, and certainly not bitter. The bergamot is lovely, without being biting. And that lavender! The balance of flavors is nice here, and I really don’t want to add my usual sweetener to this, I’m loving it that much. It’s not sweet, mind you. Not by a long shot. But the lovely blend of florals is so delicious.

So what’s the final word? This is extremely floral. I know I keep using that word, but I cannot emphasize this enough. It’s not floral like the last one I tried (Kyoto Cherry Rose) which tasted like perfume. This is a balanced floral, strong, but not fake tasting. However, if you aren’t a fan of strong floral flavor, avoid this. You probably won’t like it. But if you are like me and have a need to ‘eat a bouquet’ now and then, go for it. It’s lovely and I think once the sample runs out, I will have to get a full-sized packet of this.

Good stuff.

Bath and Body Works

That is immediately what this tea makes me think of. There’s a good possibility I oversteeped AND overleafed (for some reason I didn’t really measure either, no idea why), but the bottom line is this tastes exactly like if Bath and Body Works made a green tea.

That said, I am a BnBW ADDICT, and oops, I’m loving this. I use their products on a daily basis from soaps to body wash to body spray etc, and I’d be lying if I said I never considered what they might taste like. Now I know. So I’m telling you now, this tea is definitely not for everyone, heck it’s probably not for most. It’s a mild sencha green flavor with the cherry and rose both turned up to 11. Y’all know how I love my Splenda, and I’m drinking this straight no problem. It’s that pleasing to me.

I feel as though this review will turn more people off this tea than not, but I wanted to be honest, so here you go. I recommend it, but only to weirdos like me.

Made a cup of this at work this morning. I enjoy the added stuff to the blend, but I’m not big on the tea base. I noted “malted cinnamon fireball candies,” but left it at that. It was early, so I didn’t really sit too long on taking notes.

This one was a wild card when I bought a box of teas to sample from ETS. I thought either I will feel like I’m drinking a hot soupy bath & body works type of fake cucumber or it will be the more epic version of cucumber water. Lucky for me, I found it to be the later. Of course I made this iced. Of course I also made it more watery than probably intended, but, the cucumber flavoring still pack a punch. It’s my new favorite iced tea.

I bought a sampler and this was included. The delightful aroma was apparent immediately. After brewing, it was beautiful in color. I added my usual sweetener and cream. It’s a perfect tea to start my day of teaching 8 year olds. Delicious. I’ll be ordering a larger bag next time.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Thursday, June 17th: National Eat Your Vegetables Day Tea #1

additional notes:  Seemed like a go-to tea for veggie day and a good excuse to have this favorite the first time this year.  What took so long?   $4.95 for four ounces on the site right now!  You can’t beat that price.  However, melon flavor is fading MUCH quicker than the last sample I had (from Mastress Alita) and I consider this tea new enough.

So I technically had Shakespeare’s version of this tea thanks to Mastress Alita (thanks again!). But I love it so much I had to stock up and English Tea Store has the same blend. It’s on sale for the month at an already amazing price. I’m also happy to report that the tea still tastes the same! CUCUMBER. MELON. I’m always happy when different harvests are similar. So many cucumber slices, whoa! Also, 52Teas had a blend similar to this one (the general idea anyway) that I also love.
I’ve been eating a ton of actual cucumber from the garden lately, as I’m the only one around here that can tolerate cucumber…. and the garden will give about… FORTY or so cucumbers this year. So I made a cucumber dip today. And I’ll be making little tea sandwiches at some point. I also just like dunking some cucumber pieces in a dip of cream cheese, sour cream, and a bit of olive oil. Nothing too fancy. Also, one blueberry bush in the yard (spindly in my opinion) had about three pints of blueberries over the course of a month. I absolutely appreciate that blueberries don’t all turn blue at once… it’s gradual so you can enjoy blueberries for about a month even with one plant, if you’re willing to look every 2-3 days.