Pleasures of Tea

Today was exhausting and it’s only half way done. New tires on the car and several stops for various groceries. I hate the holidays time of year. Everything and everyone seems so much more frantic than normal until mid January. It makes me want to hide. Stay home. Drink tea!

This tea sample has held up better than the other one. It still has some flavor. Caramel scent greets me when I steep it. The sip is a little tart, but the finish has a decent coconut caramel flavor to it. I can’t seem to get the taste of the carrots I ate 30 minutes ago out of my mouth, so that is mingling with the tea a little. The cup seems to lack a little of the base notes I like in a well rounded tea. It’s more mid to high note. It feels like it could do more and become a fantastic tea.

Got a sample of this from a friend a few months ago. I had a cup before and I don’t recall it tasting as savory as this. It’s almost broth like. I get a hint of orange, but nothing to make me think creamsicle. I’m getting soup base without the salt. Maybe it got contaminated by being too close to some other tea? Strange.

The rooibos and the pumpkin spices complement each other very well. The creamy taste of the vanilla balances the spice of the rooibos and the spices. There is a subtle sweetness buried in the delicate flavors of this tea. It is warm and comforting and perfect for a chilly fall morning after a pre-dawn bike ride. (Gotta fit the exercise in somewhere.)

Just for fun, I cold brewed some iced tea and it was actually good. Interesting, but enjoyable enough that I did it more than once. The cream flavor and the natural sweetness of the tea are more pronounced.

I will probably buy this tea again next fall and I would certainly recommend it to someone who was looking for a pumpkin tea that had more balance than the normally heavy handed pumpkin spice sort of brews.

Like everything else I get from Pleasures Of Tea, this seems to be a high quality product. While I’m sure there are people that will love this tea, it’s not quite for me. The rooibos and the cinnamon combine to be very spicy. While the apple is certainly present, there is just too much cinnamon for my taste, but if spicy cinnamon apple tea is your thing, I’d bet you’d be happy drinking this offering.

And fair warning – a little goes a long way. I use probably about half as much of this tea as I would a normal rooibos, so maybe you can pump up the score a few points for value.

Just a wonderful bit of tanginess from the key limes, which is offset by a creamy vanilla flavor. It reminds me of key lime pie topped with meringue in every way. Any rooibos or other flavors are dominated by the lime and cream.

The only issue I have with this tea is it makes me want to eat an actual key lime pie, but that may just be operator error.

Received this tea as a sample right after the holidays. It tasted like a heavily spiced, boldy flavored Chai tea spiked with honey. While I’m sure this is a good tea many people would enjoy, it’s just not my thing.

I received this tea as a sample with an order and I will be buying it again.

The tea is a joy to look at. There’s nuts, fruit, things that kind of look like berries, the rooibos of course, and some other little shapes and sizes.

It tastes wonderful. There is a slight spicy taste that’s ginger-like, but it doesn’t really remind me of ginger bread. The nuts combined with the rooibos provide the anchor for the flavor, which is accented by the citrus. It’s a bold and yummy tea.

This tea does remind me of the holidays. It’s almost like a house full of holiday decorations in a cup. Tasteful ones, like pretty wreathes and big red and silver ornaments, not some inflatable Grinch out on the lawn.

This will be one of my go to winter teas next year.

I received this tea as a free sample. I am not really into that many vanilla teas, so that probably colors my opinion of this tea.

The almond and vanilla combine to form this interesting new flavor that completely overpowers any hint of green tea. It kind of reminds me of what I think hot vanilla flavored almond milk would taste like, if I ever did such a thing.

I get the feeling a lot of people that enjoy vanilla flavored teas would really dig this one. It’s just too bad that’s not me.

Both brewed and unbrewed, the tea smells strongly of walnuts in a completely wonderful way. The resulting tea is deep redish brown.

The natural spiciness of the rooibos tea is the perfect match for the maple walnut seasoning. It’s both spicy and sweet at the same time. (I did not add any sweetener, but there is some sugar from the maple, according to the website.) The flavor reminds me of a hot version of the maple walnut ice cream my grandmother used to serve us – that’s how close the flavor is. Maybe that’s why I like it so much also.

I would call this a desert tea to be sure, but it’s not as sweet as your typical chocolate or candy like tea. For those of us that don’t like our tea so sweet, this is a wonderful choice.

First of all, I know Ambrosia as the ’70’s and ’80’s band that recorded songs like “How Much I Feel” and “Biggest Part of Me,” so there are things I am supposed to get about this tea that I just don’t get. Having said that, I did enjoy this tea quite a bit. I’m pleased I got this as a sample.

Used about 1.5 tsp of tea to about 12 ounces of water.

I can taste the idea of the base white tea more than the tea maybe. It would be interesting to try the base by itself to see how close I am with that.

I detect far more fruit flavor than spice flavor. The apple and the papaya combine to form a unique flavor that’s completely different than they would taste alone. I don’t notice any citrus or nutty notes at all.

It almost makes me want to see what actual ambrosia would taste like, but that seems like far too much work for a rainy Monday morning.

This tea features the contrast of both the sweetness and tartness of the oranges and cranberries, with just a touch of hibiscus. (The hibiscus is nowhere near as heavy handed as in the Celestial Seasons Zingers, if that helps.)

Surprisingly, the combination of orange and cranberries do not remind me of the fall or Thanksgiving at all. I’m enjoying this tea quite a bit, both iced and hot, in the middle of the summer heat and it doesn’t seem out of place at all.

I expect this tea to find it’s way into my top 10 or so iced tea rotation.

A simple, medium body black tea with a hint of lemon when hot. It’s not bitter and it’s not sweet, all at the same time.

This tea really shines, however, as a cold brewed iced tea. I tend to think of it as the middle of the road, basic sort of iced tea that you would get at a restaurant, except much better. If you’re looking for a tea to serve to your friends that just want Lipton, but don’t want to go through the hassle of keeping a box of it in your kitchen, this is the tea for you.

I open the pouch and the leaves are curly and it smells somewhere between honey and caramel, both of which are typical of Golden Monkey teas I’ve had before.

The color after brewing is this wonderful coppery color. It’s a slightly malty and sweet tea. Honey seemed prominent with a slight almost raisin flavor in the background. The caramel I smell is nowhere to be found after brewing.

It’s considerably better than the Teavana version, which always seems to sweet for me. Golden Money style teas are typically not my favorite, but so far this is the best of the bunch I’ve had. I’m still not sure if I want any more of it, though.

If Golden Monkeys are your thing, this is one to try out.

A very gentle tasting rooibos creates a neutral backdrop for sweet oranges, tart cranberries and a hint of spice in this tea. Even though all three flavors are distinct and somewhat prominent, the tea seems almost perfectly balanced. It may be one of the most balanced things I have ever tasted.

Against my better judgement since I never like spicy iced tea, I decided to try this tea cold. Luckily I rarely listen to those warning bells in my head, because this tea was great after cold brewing it overnight. Somehow the cold really highlights the sweet and tart flavors and the spiciness complements them perfectly.

While certainly anything with cranberries, orange and spice invokes Thanksgiving celebrations, I can imagine myself enjoying this tea iced on a cool spring day at the beach, as well as enjoying it hot after a fall or winter morning bike ride.

Overall, a very enjoyable, balanced experience. I will be getting more of this tea.

Included as a sample with some other tea I’ve purchased, and I’m so glad it was.

I’ve held a pomegranate, cut one open, smelled it, ate the seeds and have had the juice, but I can’t remember exactly what it tastes like. I’ve never had a dragonfruit that I know of, so there’s that.

This tea smells tropical. Like being back at a BBQ on the beach in Aruba. It smells so good I don’t even want to put it in the water, but I do, because that’s how it works.

The aroma is significantly muted after I brew the tea, but that tropical taste is still there. I really don’t think it has anything to do with the pomegranate, but I could be wrong. There’s a small underlying taste that I associate with green tea that I think most people would call “burnt green tea.” I either don’t know how to brew green tea or I just plain don’t like unflavored green tea. I can’t taste any hint of the white tea.

So, what I’m trying to say is I like this tea quite a bit. I don’t think it tastes too much like pomegranates, if that’s what you’re looking for, but it’s a nice, tasty reminder of good weather and the beach when it’s cold and rainy out.

The base black tea is not too mild and not too strong. It has a slight malty flavor that I can’t quite place. Pumpkin is the primary flavor with background clove and cinnamon notes. A tasty treat for a cool morning that also pairs nicely with desserts.

It tastes more like pumpkin pie filling to me. There is no “crust or cookie” flavor, if that makes any sense.

I finally got brave enough to try this iced. Honestly, it came out better than I thought, but I’m not planning to make any more. I can understand why some people may enjoy it, but the iced tea doesn’t work with the spices for me.

This tea both smells and tastes strongly of apples. The currants and cloves combine to form a certain chai-like quality that I find distracts from the apples and cinnamon, which I feel should be the spotlight flavors. In the end, it is pleasant enough to enjoy, however, I would rather spend my time elsewhere enjoying a tea that highlighted the apples more.

I realize I’m probably trying to make this tea something it’s not meant to be.

The base tea is almost too mild, I feel like it doesn’t add anything.

Be very careful with steep times. This can turn into a big chai mess if left too long.

I really enjoy this tea as a winter warmer kind of tea. It helps me to feel warm and get through the last couple of months of winter after the holidays. The spiciness of the cinnamon is not overpowering at all. It perfectly adds to the flavor of the nuts and the tang of the citrus. Not too spicy and not too sweet. It’s a well balanced winter treat.

It disturbs me me how much I like this tea. It tastes like a warm day at the beach, just like summer to me. It has a note of honey like sweetness that perfectly balances the tangy citrus flavor. It’s great hot or iced. Simply one of my favorites.