Kally Tea

Since this hardly looks like a green tea, I steeped it like I usually do for a fruit tisane. I made iced tea with it since you know, it is watermelon. No problems with any sort of bitterness but I think all the sweet dried fruit bits help with that.

The first sip was probably the best. It was super juicy watermelon, it almost tasted better than Luscious Watermelon. But after that, it’s just not as strong. At the same time though it tastes natural, just more like a watermelon that isn’t at its ripest, juicy potential. I think the lime juice also kind of takes away from the melony flavor, because it seems oddly strong.

I can’t decide if I want more of this or not given how much LW I do have It reminds me of the watermelon mojito I had at the movies yesterday (best part of the movie to be honest) and I’m curious what it’d be like if I muddled some fresh mint in it now.

Thanks, Azzrian!

I was hoping for something wow-ing this morning in this assam and it failed to deliver. it’s not a bad cup of tea but it’s lacking the strength that i like in a good assam as well as that bold flavour that keeps on delivering. I’ll likely finish off the rest of this and possibly share it with a few others so they can cross it off their black tea list, but it’s not a GREAT! cup of assam…and i don’t need to keep less tan great assams around :)

Finishing up this tea – the rest of it is going in to the swap box. I’m done with drinking teas that i don’t love! Not that this is a bad tea, but there are so many others that i’d rather spend my time drinking :) Plus i happen to know a few other people in the area that enjoyed this more than i did :)

Finally got around to trying this one today while i try and get packed and organised for my overnight of work and my flight that leaves first thing tomorrow morning after the overnight. Yes…i should be sleeping still. But i’m not, so i’m drinking tea and organizing tea and then working on work and packing. This is a pretty tasty peach tea. I’m not sure why i’ve been so hesitant about trying it – i think it’s because it never registered that this was a peachish black. I’m pretty sure i’ll be making this into a cold brew to drink later on as well as the peach taste is pretty decent and not overly sweet, cloying or otherwise.

Backlog.

I have little recollection of drinking this one, except that it tasted as expected – a tropical/fruity black. Not bad, but not a flavour combination I care for. Thanks Sil :)

Flowery, slightly fruity; not for me. One serving left and this should be gone (I should have just brewed a larger mug today).

Thanks to Sil for a sample of this tea! It’s super-massively perfumey/floral/fruity… woah! Almost a bit too much to handle. I ended up chilling it and drinking it iced as it’s been crazy hot here, and it was still pretty perfumey. I didn’t pay enough attention to be able to pick out any of the flavours, so I’ll have to do that next time (or try with the re-steep). It’s not bad, but the perfume was a bit much for me, to be honest.

i got this sample from whatshesaid, and i think she got her sample from Sil. cuz it was in Sil’s baggies when i got it in my swap box. :) we are incestuous. or, our tea is incestuous. hah. in a cute way i swear.
speaking of which have you seen the movie cement garden? it’s pretty good from what i remember.
i need to see Catfish and Melancholia soon. and finish watching Top of the Lake. and probably watch teh most recent Mad men season too. oh and Holy Motors, i wanna see that too.
and catch up on my Inspector Lewis episodes.
oh. but really. really really. i recommend watching Red Riding. it’s 3 movies. but if you wanna just watch the first one you can do that too i guess.
i don’t really taste much of the flavors in the this tea. it’s fairly subtle. not bad, just mild is all.

It’s roasty!

Also, green. And the swirls of cocoa and caramel are present without being obvious. They’re sitting in the back, chatting about the rooibos.

This is very good! I’ve been happy with all the Kally Tea samples I’ve tried. Thank you Sil!

I think the only other champagne tea that I’ve tried is The Republic of Tea’s Anniversary Blend, which I loved. I was excited to try this one, since it includes red raspberry in the flavor as well as the champagne. The dry leaves smell deliciously of sweet champagne. The tea liquor’s aroma is very vegetal with a soft hint of sweet berries. There is a nice sugary sweet berry flavor with an aftertaste of fresh grapes, but there is also a very strong earthy flavor that overshadows the other flavors at first. It does dimish as the tea cools, but it still a little noticeable even once it’s fully cooled. The sweet berry and grape flavors seem a little artificial to me. I am definitely getting more grape from the flavor than bubbly champagne. This tea isn’t terrible, but I’m not as fond of it as I am of the Republic of Tea champagne blend.

-Dry blend has large fluffy green tea leaves with small reddish orange petals.
-Dry leaves smell like sweet champagne. Tea liquor aroma is lightly vegetal with a soft hint of sweet berries.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium bright yellow color.
-Strong grassy flavor with a sugary sweet berry finish. Lingering aftertaste of fresh grapes.
-Best with sweetener.
-Fair tea. Nice grape and sweet berry flavor with an unfortunately strong earthy tone.

Sipdown, 831. Another tea courtesy of Azzrian :)

Brewed this the same as Wild Watermelon; gave it 2 minutes in boiling water, then chilled it (without leaving the fruit pieces in, since it has hibiscus). Similar result – cardboardy, not great tea. There is a bit of cherry flavour to it, but it’s very minimal. The tartness is quite tolerable, but overall it’s just not great. I much prefer tisanes without hibiscus as a major ingredient.

Thought this would be another nice evening blend. Thanks to Azzrian for the sample :)

I assumed there would be hibiscus in here, and I definitely assumed correctly. The liquid is a dark pinkish red, and the infuser smelled somewhat sour when I pulled it out. Oh no! I’m not even sure I want to taste it now; my stomach roiled a bit at the smell. But here goes…

Bleh, I’m having trouble getting this into my mouth because it smells a bit reminiscent of vomit. The little taste I did get actually didn’t seem bad (I tasted fruity banana), but I’m having trouble with the smell. Will try again once it has cooled. I might also need to dilute it.

ETA: Cooled it’s no better; the smell is still sour + cherries. The taste isn’t bad, but I cannot handle the aroma. Diluted it in half and still got the sour aroma, albeit reduced. Bleh. I’ll rate this when I try it again…

Sipdown, 832. Thanks Azzrian!

Damn. I forgot to check the brewing instructions again. My bad.

Anyways, brewed this (again) as a fruit tisane (e.g. boiling water), but for a shorter time (2 min), then chilled it. Pretty meh. It was certainly more drinkable than my first attempt, which was overwhelmingly hibiscusy and disgusting, but it wasn’t terribly tasty. I don’t even think it’s because I oversteeped the green tea or anything like that, I just don’t think I care for the blend. I was getting almost a cardboard taste from the tea, which was kind of strange. Ended up sweetening it with maple syrup (I was desperate for iced tea) and drinking it anyways.

Whoops! I thought this one was a fruit tisane! Therefore made some really silly mistakes. My bad! Thanks for the sample, Azzrian, and I’m glad you sent me enough to try again! Original review (minus the part about it being caffeine-free) follows!

Anyways, brewing this up, I could have sworn I was brewing up DavidsTea’s Goji Pop! Yes, another tea very similar to one I’ve previously tried! Although the ingredients here are completely different (ok, not completely, I think melon is the similar ingredient, but the blends look quite different). The aroma is hibiscus-tart-tangy, which doesn’t bother me likely because my tastebuds are anticipating a cup full of Goji Pop! We’ll see what they get…

Holy. Reminiscent of, but definitely not, Goji Pop. Also, I oversteeped this one; it is a bit bitter and overly sour from the hibiscus. I’m finding it difficult to distinguish anything else because of those two things. To be honest… I definitely prefer Goji Pop (which does not have an oversteeping problem). But I will have to give this one another shot with a) less tea and b) a shorter infusion time! Given my recent decision not to drink icky tea, this one barely passes due to the sour/bitter, but I’m still going to drink it because it’s not that bad. Rating reserved until the next time :)

ETA: Second infusion unpleasant – some different flavours coming out. Will just have to try again.

The final sample from my swap with Sil. Judging from the colour, there’s a lot of my friend hibiscus in here. While the scent is orangey, it’s also quitge spicy to begin with, although it does take on a notable creaminess as the steep progresses.

To taste, this is surprisingly sweet and creamy. The spicy notes I got from the dry mix made me think this would be quite sharp and tart, but it’s not like that at all. It actually reminds me a bit of Refreshers. Given that there’s probably a considerable amount of hibiscus in here, this is actually one of the nicest fruit teas I’ve tried in a while. It lives up to its name perfectly, somehow managing to be sweet, definitely orangey and creamy despite all indications to the contrary. A really enjoyable tea that I’m glad to have had the opportunity to try. Thanks again to Sil for sharing it with me!

I’m down to the last few of my samples from Sil now, and this is one of the ones I’ve really been looking forward to. I’m a big fan of both white tea and berry tea, so this should be a good fit for me.

The dry leaf smells really lovely. Sweet, with definite notes of raspberry and maybe the merest hint of champagne. There are a good proportion of silver tips among the leaves and stems, and everything looks very fresh and green . I was drinking Adagio’s white peony yesterday, which is probably why the greenness stands out here. Although I love Adagio’s version, the leaves are much darker, almost black-brown in some cases, and just don’t have the look of freshness about them that these do.

Anyway, I waited patiently for the water to cool, and gave this about 2.5 to 3 minutes. The liquor is a beautiful golden colour, rather like champagne, and the champagne scent itself is more noticeable now it’s brewed.

To taste, this is wonderfully delicate. The champagne flavour actually comes across really well. I’m not sure what gives that effect – maybe it’s a slight grapeiness I’m picking up on? The floral nature of the white tea base helps a little too, I think. It could only really be improved if it was fizzy, let’s say that! The raspberry is more subtle, but it’s definitely there in the background. In terms description accuracy, this really is like drinking a glass of champagne with a couple of raspberries in it, only in tea form. I’m enjoying this as a warm drink (I’m not going to say hot, as I was good and waited for the water to cool, such that it can’t really be described as hot any more…). I’d love to try it iced, though. I have a feeling that’s how it would really shine. As flavoured white tea goes, though, this is a triumph. Hugely enjoyable. Thanks again to Sil for sharing it with me!

Got this is a swap from Sil.

The dry tea smells like creamy cherry. Not authentic cherry but candy cherry.

The brewed tea has a very strong metallic rooibos flavour. There is a creamy flavour and an artificial cherry taste. You can taste the rose underneath the cherry taste.

I find this to be an OK rooibos. It seems to be quite artificial tasting to me.

So, fruity cherry banana. Another sample from Sil, and part of my ongoing quest to find a fruit tea I can really love. The dry mix is pretty impressive – I can identify pieces of most of the things that are supposed to be there, including strawberry, banana, apple and orange, along with the seemingly ubiquitous hibiscus and rosehip. Cherry is notable by its absence, but possibly that’s just in the flavouring. It’s hard to say exactly what it smells like dry – generically fruity is the closest I can really get, and none of the flavours seem particularly dominant at this point.

Brewed, this is a different story. The liquor is a deep pink-red, and the scent is more decidedly of cherry and banana. There’s also a slight background nuttiness which is intriguing. After my first sip, I was concerned that this was going to be primarily a hibiscus tea. Initially, that’s the flavour that comes out most strongly. Fortunately, it’s quickly followed by really quite distinctive notes of cherry and banana. It’s curious, because it sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it definitely does! The cherry is quite tart, and marries well with the hibiscus and rosehip while tempering some of the sourness that those two ingredients on their own would contribute. The banana is sweet and creamy, and just seems to help bring the whole thing together. I know the taste is reminding me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is at the moment. Some dessert, probably! I’m really happy with this, though. For a hibiscus based fruit tea, it’s not half bad!

Thanks Nicole for the sample! This one is really good. It’s probably my favorite of the three teas you sent me. It is sweet, the base isn’t too bitter, and it is very inviting. There is a slight hint of flavor at the beginning of the sip that’s a bit interesting/don’t know if it’s my favorite; but it’s still very nice.

Thank you Sil for this tea.

I have tried one or two teas before from Kally and have been impressed, it’s a shame they don’t ship to UK. :(

Usually I don’t deal with Chai but there are times I make an exception to the rule and this is one of them. In dry form this smells like spicy cola cube sweets, it’s amazing! I have never heard of cola being mixed with Chai in a tea before. Also reminds me of a strong ginger beer.

Once steeped the tea is orange in colour with a thick cinnamon and cola essence. Yummy! The Rooibos is noticeable but down down slightly by the spice medley. It’s sweet and spicy with cola candy elements and a light, refreshing after taste. Luckily for me it’s not cardamom heavy :)

It might taste more like cola cubes and less like Rooibos if I were to add a sugar or two which I will try next time. The first cup is good though, I’m glad I gave this one a try. It goes to show that you can’t judge a tea by it’s ingredients alone.

Sipdown!!! I better work on getting my numbers down a bit further! I wonder if I can dedicate Sat and/or Sun to sipdowns, or if I have enough teas that are 1 cup away? :|

This was an enjoyable one. :D

Thanks to Sil for the sample!

This is pretty nice and delicate. I can definitely taste (and recognize!) the bai mu dan base, and the tangerine/spices just accent it. It’s a nice tea when you want something flavoured while still being fully aware you are drinking tea. :)

I prefer their Milford’s Grey over this one but this is pretty wonderful, too! It’s a stronger black tea overall with a medium strength bergamot and EG flavor to it. But that could be because I did a double shot of the Loose Leaf at half the time! I agree with Liberteas on the Drier astringency notes, too!

Tried this tea this morning, but realized I couldn’t taste anything except weak white tea (not exciting enough for me) … Maybe I didn’t steep it long enough or I underleafed, but I am trying to limit my caffeine intake and this one just wasn’t worth it for me. I wanted to make it count so I made some Caramel Matchaccino instead ;)

Thanks for the sample though, Sil!!!