Handmade Tea

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #6

Another that I requested from Shae – once upon a time I gifted my tea twin VariaTEA a Handmade Tea subscription, but aside from the teas from that subscription I’ve had a limited experience with them. Are they even still operating!?

I liked the sound of this blend though! Steeped up, it’s not everything I’d imagined based on the description but it is nice – smooth black tea, and hints of pineapple and citrus (I guess grapefruit) but there’s nothing bold or striking about it. However, I do get some of that spice in the back of my throat – I’m actually very thankful for it because it adds dimension to what would otherwise possibly be a pretty flat tasting tea.

It was a nice experience, but I’m glad I’m only sampling.

Sipdown (610)!

This cup wasn’t really any different than the first one I had; very muted flavour profile and what flavour was present was underwhelming. I’m happy for the sipdown though, and appreciative of VariaTEA sharing this one – even if I didn’t like it.

This one was a share from VariaTEA – and I believe it was actually one of the teas she received in her subscription box from Handmade tea that I got her as a present one year…

The concept of this tea sounded really, really nice to me and the dry leaf was aesthetically stunning to me despite the very broken up white tea leaf. However, it was practically flavorless – just the tiniest hint of strawberry, with a slightly oily mouthfeel? I found the cup really disappointing – which hurt even more because I wanted to love it, and I wanted it to be something that she’d love, since it was a gift.

Last year or perhaps the year before, Roswell Strange sent me a three month subscription to Handmade Tea. That means each month a package arrived with a large packet of tea and a wax envelope with the tea’s description. When it came to this tea, I decided to do a blind test and see how my tastes compared to what the company describes.

When I drank it, the tea tasted like a plain assam to me, as opposed to a flavored one. It was malty and smooth until the finish where it got a bit pithy and astringent. My guess was that was because of the “lime” element that I could not detect elsewhere. I also got notes of raisin and stonefruit with a drizzle of honey. I thought I detected creaminess which would have come from coconut but I didn’t get much in the way of coconut flavor.

See how my tastes compared to the company’s description and check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/02/26/coconut-lime-from-handmade-tea/

Thank you Roswell Strange for the subscription!

GCTTB

I am so very grateful that the brief rainfall cleared the humidity and kept the neighbour children off that cursed trampoline. Those would be the other neighbours: not the ones with the shrieking baby and the at dawn exercise routine.

Yeah, I know—I must have done something truly horrible in a previous life.

I quite like this one though I was expecting a completely different set of flavours than those which arrived in my cup. The black base is pretty frisky. I had steeped it as per VariaTEA’s instructions at 4 minutes instead of my usual 2 minute black tea quickie. The lime here is earthy rather than bright. The coconut is missing altogether. Nice cup. If I tried it again, I would likely do a shorter steep.

Thanks, VariaTEA!

thank you VariaTEA! this was a really interesting tea to try. Sweet, fruity with a hint of spice/clove. I wouldn’t drink this every day but it’s really neat.

Sample from VariaTEA. This was a whole lot of subdued strawberry. I didn’t get much cacao. Not sure how old this one is but i feel like given the other reviews here, that it should be way more intense :)

Sample from VariaTEA. This one is more lime than coconut lime. The base is smooth, hangs out in the background. this would probably be really nice iced in the summer with a little sweetness. thanks variatea!

I tried this both as a plain hot tea and as a chocolate milk latte. Of the two, the plain tea was far superior as it allowed for flavors other than cocoa to come through. However, despite the copious amount of strawberry in the dry leaf, this fell flat. What should have been a chocolate covered strawberry was ultimately more just a chocolatey/fruity white tea. Still it was fun to try and experiment with so thank you Roswell Strange for sending this my way.

Check out the full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/11/28/murmur-from-handmade-tea/

Sipdown (216)!

Thank you VariaTEA for kindly sharing a sample of this one! It’s not my first tea from Handmade tea, but definitely one of few I’ve tried. Something like three or so in total? I’ve always been really fascinated by this company/their subscription service and they don’t seem to get a lot of love/attention here on Steepster so I’m happy I could share them with you and scratch that curiosity itch myself too. I also really enjoy that their December tea was obviously Christmas inspired but not in a played out/over done way.

Anyway, I loved this. I wasn’t sure if I would to be honest but the clove notes in it were so sweet and rich and holy shit do I love cloves. Like, Chai tea? Nope. But if I could drink a pot of just steeped up cloves every day I totally would. The clove also really complimented the soft, subtle smoke and nuttyness of the Gunpowder base. Plus, gunpowder is normally relatively vegetal/artichoke like and I thought the combo of clove and that note was also really pleasant. The cinnamon? Pretty light compared to the clove but still present.

All of this would have made for a tasty tea on its own, but the addition of cherry here really pulled it all together for me and added the perfect addition layer of flavour to really make this feel full of life. The sweetness in the top of the sip from the cherry was actually surprising; I didn’t think it’d be as noticeable as it was. Really though, it was just sweet and fruity and very fresh. Also a good contrasting flavour compared to an otherwise relatively spicy/savory combo.

And eating the cherries from the steeped leaf? I highly recommend it.

Thank you Roswell Strange! http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/02/03/krampus-brew-from-handmade-tea/

Made this as an eggnog latte and it helped to bring out the cherry flavor slightly that was missing from the plain brew. I think it is because it toned down the base tea leaving just a touch of smokiness. Thank you for signing me up to this fun subscription, Roswell Strange!!

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Check out my full review HERE at Sororitea Sisters:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/08/22/add-tea-title-2/

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This one was soooo good!!! Crisp clean flavors that really make you happy. The white tea base kind of sat back and let the cucumber and mint do their thing. Tasty as a hot tea, iced tea, or as a cold brew. I’ll be sad when this one is gone.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/09/21/cucumber-mint-tea-from-handmade-tea/

And in other fun tea news-I’m doing my first tea giveaway on the blog. Think Great Pumpkin! (There will be Halloween fun teas involved!)

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/09/19/random-acts-of-fandom-a-giveaway-cuppageek-style/

This one sounded so interesting, a sweet and savory black tea. But I just didn’t care for it. Unfortunately the savory part was too much for me but I think this would make an excellent marinade for fish or steak.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/08/04/my-new-handmade-cup-with-junes-handmade-tea-herbs-de-provence/

Sipdown! You will be missed my friend. I’m hoping June’s blend is as great as May’s.

Was super excited when my first month’s teas arrived on Saturday from Handmade Tea. I ripped open the pkg and was a little puzzled by the tea. Roasted Chocolate Pineapple Tea Mate. Yeah. . I wasn’t so sure. But the packaging was fantastic! A wax sealed envelope. So fun!

Brewed up the tea and was insanely impressed. This tasted just like a robust coffee with dark chocolate notes. I never picked up any of the pineapple but that may be just because I need to shake up the bag. Super impressed with this. So is the boyfriend. I am going to have to hide this one if I want to keep any of it for myself.

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/05/18/tea-of-the-day-roasted-chocolate-pineapple/

It’s a sit around at home due to the weather kind of day, so I wanted something sweet and hot. I thought the corn bits and strawberry would be strange, but the flavor blend is very nice and sweet. It does taste like sweet cornbread mixed with green tea. This one’s a keeper.

Ever made apple pie bread?

It’s pretty much an apple quick bread with a cinnamon streusal ribbon running through it. It’s freaking good, and I try not to make it because I can down the whole thing in about 48 hours.

This tea is that bread.

It’s super sweet apple with a cinnamon sugar like note running through it. The base is malty and just a touch…buttery almost.

The base is fickle, though. Quickly bitter and astringent if not coddled. I’ve found 2:45-3 min at about 200 to be a sweet spot for this one.

I really don’t like licorice that much, so I was hesitant with this tea. Brewed up, it had a very strong licorice scent coming from it. However, when I sipped it, I got sweet, almost bread-like notes instead and didn’t get much of the licorice at all. I’m pleasantly surprised with this one!

While cleaning out my tea cupboard I found this stashed in the back of the shelf unopened. So I opened it and brewed a cup.

It’s nice. Very light and cinnamony. It smells like it should be spicy and full of “Christmas” spices, but only cinnamon really comes through.

I got zero apple flavor at all, which isn’t terribly surprising since I don’t think bits of fruit add much to how a tea tastes.