Epi Tea

The only tea I had yesterday for St Patrick’s day was a bagged Wegmans green – shocker! I was at my roommate’s for the weekend, and that’s all they have in they have. Not that I’m a tea snot or anything :)

So I’m making up for it today. My trip to Ireland in April 2010 was what started me drinking tea, and there’s a special place in my heart for IBs. I need to wake up because (1) I’m about to drive 300 miles home, and (2) I just had breakfast and it’s 1:30 PM. Whoof.

Just tossing this sachet in and hitting the road. Doesn’t get bitter. YAY.

A little milk, doesn’t get bitter. Not bad.

Woohoo, I like this one. Maybe I’m also in a super good mood. Both of those are true.

I’m sitting here, and I’m supposed to be doing photo work, but instead I’m chairdancing to uptempo Billy Joel.

Yayyy.

But a really good cup! Dark and malty without being too strong. It tastes authentic to me. Ireland was where I first started drinking tea seriously, and I know I’ll get back there one day. But for now I feel like I’m sitting in a tiny little pub in Doolin, a tiny little drop of a town that has as many pubs as houses and is basically comprised of farms and cows and sheep. (bo and caora in Irish!)

Finally getting a chance to taste one of the teas from Epi Tea. This is a really good Irish Breakfast. It is smoother and a bit milder than I’d expect from a traditional Irish Breakfast tea, but, I like that it’s not bitter and that it has a very pleasing caramel-y undertone. Nice and malty, and invigorating too.

Tasty!

Thanks to Epi Tea for this sample!

Personally, I found this tea to be very smooth and only a small amount of bitterness towards the end of the sip. The boldness that I expected, really wasn’t present with this tea. That’s not saying it was weak, it was only more subdued than anticipated.

The leaves were very dark and had plenty of room to infuse in the pyramid sachet. It seemed the leaves turn more golden during the infusion and the liquid color seemed to mirror this slightly parched honey wheat tone.

I must say, this was more of a treat than expected. Plenty of sweetness and malty thickness – nice and mellow.

Lance drank this one for me because I saw hibiscus on the ingredient list, He liked it said it was pretty good, he drank it up pretty quick so it must have been tasty :)

Epitea is SHADY, they remove comments about their teas from facebook if they don’t agree with, thats kinda kills the honest feedback if ya ask me, oh well the teas they sent me were NOT that good at all. negative feedback is still feedback.

http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/

I just now tried this one, not very good at all.

Thanks sent out to Epi Tea for this sample! I love free samples, I sign up for free stuff all the time, including cat food samples even though I don’t have a cat. Stuff I can’t use I give away. But free tea? ohhhh yeah!

I assumed that this should be a boiling water temperature, wasn’t stated on the packaging.

STEEPED: Lavender with soft breezes of black tea. Clear dark brown tea.

TASTE: Black tea with a twang of lavender. No bitterness. I can’t really taste the bergamont… is it supposed to be in this tea? It isn’t listed specifically in the ingredients.

WHO’D LIKE THIS TEA: Black tea drinkers, someone wanting to try lavender tea.

COMMENTS: Good use of lavender – I’ve had a few lavender teas (but not a lavender earl grey) and they remind me of soap. Epi tea’s LEG has a good amount of lavender in it to be noticeable but not overpowering.

I don’t notice the bergamont whereas others who tea logged LEG noticed it. Maybe the lavender took over? Or it could be that I’m one of those freaks that drink double bergamont EG so I need a lot of beragmont to notice it? I dunno.

Overall, not bad and a nice relaxing tea.

So with the infamous samples do i dare begin with this one. hmmmmmmm….seriously that was the first reaction to smell and taste! thought not a big “breakfast” tea fan, i found this one quite enjoyable and most avoidable of the dreded “punch” aftertaste most breakfast teas leave you hurting like you had one too many at the pub :P . there was no aftertaste, but just blissed joy of good creme overtones that made you want to dye your hair red and wait for your William Wallace to come! :D . i enjoyed my cup with two raw sugars and skim milk. My also interesting joy was that the tea sachets of pyramid style were cute as they would float in the centre as a triangle and dance around the mug until it semi sunk in…which to me it’s a neat way to know the steep is good and done! This has been a GREAT first tea taste of EPI TEA…make one your own…go GET IT!! :)

A wonderful example of a fruity rooibos blend made right. Thanks again Kyle of EPI Tea.

Full Review:
http://iheartteas.teatra.de/2012/08/tea-review-berry-rooibos-from-epi-tea/

The smell is true orange peel, not fake! I steeped the bag for 25 minutes in 180 water, and the doubled steeping time worked! A real blood orange flavor emerged, slightly sweet and pungent, like the blood orange soda my blood sugar can’t handle!
I’m very disappointed this was discontinued. This is the first rooibos I could enjoy unenhanced, and the first truly blood orange flavored tea I’ve had.
Full Review here:
http://sabiisphere.teatra.de/?p=65

Mild in flavor. Not your typical bold Irish Breakfast but could work for some. A full review on my blog…

http://iheartteas.teatra.de/2012/08/review-organic-irish-breakfast-from-epi-tea/

Of the four samples sent to me from EPI Tea this is the only one I would have personally chosen for myself and I really have to be in the mood for Chai. Luckily today was an Autumn like day outside (LOVE IT) so I had to give this a go.
I am not partial to bagged teas as they all tend to be fairly fanning like but at least this had some lovely peppercorns and such.
The first aroma (before steep) that hit me was cinnamon.
I like cinnamon well enough but it takes more than cinnamon to make a good chai.
I will say upon sipping this the peppercorn does come out nicely with a slight bite but not too much. I do love teas with peppercorn in it!
The mouthfeel is very weak, watery, I would like more depth in my chai especially since often I want to make lattes with them or even more ice them or blend them so with this being so light I don’t feel I could do this unless I used two or three times the amount of leaf.
I do pick up a slightly vanilla flavor or more so an aroma than flavor even though the heavily cinnamon aroma.
I would agree though as their statement says – it is a GENTLE Chai and I am sure there is a good market for this!
I just feel it is a bit too heavy on the cinnamon for the ginger to really sparkle here.
Overall not a bad tea whatsoever just a little something missing.
Thank you to EPI Tea for sending me these samples!

The last of the Tea samples. I can’t wait till they open so I can buy some!

This made a nice brownish liquor and it smelled like a good chai tea. The bag has a lot of spices and ginger bits mixed in……YAY! The taste is a really smooth, and not overpowering spicy flavors. The ginger was the most pronounced in my opinion; coarse I did steep for a long period. I like the ginger taste though, it tasted kinda like spicy ginger hard candy.

I think out of all the samples, this one and the lavender Earl Grey are my favorites. I diffidently will buy some when they come out.

Overall I would recommend this tea to someone who likes lighter chais or Ginger Chais.

P.S. I mixed this with the Irish breakfast and got another decent steeping out of it.

Ingredients: Organic Black Tea, Organic Lavender Flowers, Organic Flavorings

I had bittersweet feelings about trying this last tea sample from Epi Tea.I felt nervous about trying this sample because I have yet to find a floral tea that I have enjoyed, however I am always excited to try a new tea.
I brewed the Lavender Earl Grey to boiling temperature. I steeped it for approximately five minutes.The tea came in a pyramid sachet that is biodegradable.
When I was drinking the tea, I noticed that I could barely taste any bergamot compared to what I usually taste in Earl Grey blends. The taste of lavender is definitely noticeable but not completely overpowering.The aroma has a fragrance of lavender and subtle hints of citrus from the bergamot.The liquor is a dark brown.
I would say that I would love this tea blend if they added a bit more of bergamot. I know that some tea drinkers love this because it’s different from the usual Earl Grey blends,but I believe that without more of a balance of the lavender and bergamot, I feel like it loses the essence of what I consider “Earl Grey” to be.

I love English and Irish breakfast teas, especially on the strong side. This had a nice smoky flavor and a bit of maltiness, but I didn’t get the POW from it that I love in an Irish breakfast tea. The flavor was delicate, not strong.

Ingredients: Organic Black tea, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Ginger, Organic Cardamom, Organic Red Pepper & Natural Vanilla,Cinnamon and Ginger Flavorings.

I brewed it at boiling temperature and steeped it for approximately five minutes. While pouring my tea, I noticed the aroma of spices, including the red pepper. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant to take a sip and I’m glad I tried it. The liquor was a dark brown/black.
Well I must say that surprisingly, I kind of like this tea. I wouldn’t say that this was a taste that I would normally associate with chai tea but it’s interesting. I would say that the first sip, it tasted weird. The more that I drank the tea, I guess that it grew on me slightly.
I would say that when I looked at the ingredients on the label, I wasn’t sure if this blend would work. I personally think that maybe it should be renamed because I’m not sure that it would be considered to capture the essence of what most people consider to be a “chai tea”. I’m glad that I was able to have a new experience,which I would like to thank Epi Tea once again.

I would like to once again thank Epi Tea the opportunity to sample their pre-launched tea blends. I think that it is great that they are launching their company in a few weeks and that they value the opinions of tea drinkers, including our community at Steepster.
First and foremost, I would like to say that I love drinking English Breakfast blends, so I was excited about trying their Irish Breakfast.
The Irish Breakfast came in a biodegradable pyramid sachet. I brewed it to boiling temperature and it was steeped for approximately five minutes. The liquor was reddish-brown.
I personally believe that this blend makes an adequate cup of tea, however it lacks a “wow” factor. I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but it’s missing something that would make this blend fantastic.

Berry Rooibos
Ingredients: Organic Rooibos, Organic Hibiscus, Organic Rosehips, Organic elderberries, Organic Black Currants, Organic Cranberries and Organic Flavorings.

I brewed the Berry Rooibos to boiling temperature. I steeped it for ten minutes as it specified on the sample label. First and first foremost I would like to say that when I have the opportunity to eat/drink organic foods or drinks,I love it. I with that I could do it more often.The tea came in a pyramid sachet that is biodegradable.
Honestly, this is my time drinking rooibos so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m definitely still learning.
Personally, I didn’t really enjoy drinking this one. I’m sorry. I’m a bit disappointed. I’m not sure if I’m biased because I’m not really a fan of black currants of raspberries or maybe the blend of these berries don’t particularly work great together.

I really appreciate that Epi Tea has sent me a few samples to try. Thank you.

Thank you Epi Tea for the samples! I am so excited to try the rest of them after this.

This was a beautiful steep, the leaves began to unfold and the water turned color as soon as I put in the pyramid tea bag. The flavor is mellow, a hint of cream, lavender, and bergamot. This is a delicious and smooth earl grey!

This sample was generously provided to me by Epi Tea. Thank you Kyle and the whole Epi Tea Team.

Dry Leaf:Had a soft lavender aroma.
Wet Leaf: Had a natural lavender aroma with just a splash of citrus which I associate with bergamot.
Liquor: Was dark in color.
Taste: Had a smooth and soft bergamot & lavender flavor with the lavender staying in the after taste.
Overall Opinion: I give this a 84 which is an average rating for me.
My personal opinion is the black tea needs to be amp up in this tea for a better base in this tea. My second opinion is it would have been nice to see this company do something different like add some lapsang souchong for a slight smokey taste and a deeper and richer flavor to this tea.
Vessel: SAMA DOYO Gongfu/ Kungfu teapot. 1 sachet in 220ml or 7oz. of water in the inner cup.

This sample was generously provide to me by Epi Tea. Thank you Kyle and the whole Epi Tea Team.

Dry Leaf: Had some kind of a musty type of aroma with a spicy aroma maybe cardamom.
Wet Leaf: Had a nice spicy cardamom aroma as expected from the dry leaf.
Liquor: Is dark in color.
Taste: Has a smooth and mild taste of cinnamon and cardamom flavor.I was also able to detect a very faint peppery flavor in the after taste.
Overall Opinion: I give this tea a 87 on my ratings. My personal opinion of this tea is one of the better offering from this company. My advise to the company add more assam black tea which I assume they are using to make the base stronger and amp up the spice a notch and lets not forget the beautiful clove that is such a nice spice in chai teas.
Vessel: SAMA DOYO Gongfu/ Kungfu teapot. 1 sachet in 220ml or 7oz. of water in the inner cup.