Rare Tea Republic

An average tea meant for the normal tea consumer and not a connoisseur. Flat flavour and dull taste.

Charlotte Zero, who I haven’t seen for awhile, sent this to me several months back. This is the 2nd time I’ve tried it, & I’m just not really into it. I made sure the temp was right this time, but it’s just not working for me, it’s very bitter. Maybe I’ll try the last bit as a cold brew during my up & coming Sipdown Extravaganza. I haven’t set a date for that yet, I’m thinking I’ll start it on xmas day though, simply because all of my xmas gigs will be over with & I’ll have a few weeks off. What better time to sip your way crazily through 100 or so sip downs? In preparation, I’m amassing a pretty good collect, & it will be glorious!

terri sent this one my way the other day so i thought i’d try this out especially given all the rave reviews. I’m not sure if i did something wrong with brewing this but this really isn’t a tea i enjoy. I know i struggle with darjeelings on good days but yea. sooo not rating this because i think people who enjoy darjeelings would like this, but it’s not for me. something in the taste is just a little weird.

I ordered a lot of tea from The Republic of Tea because they had a BOGO promotion for their Rare Tea Republic teas, which I suppose they’re discontinuing. :-( I really like these teas to brew a big pot of. This one is very tannic and bitter when you first sip it, but once you adjust to that it is wonderfully brisk and refreshing. This was the perfect tea to help settle my stomach after eating a big Ethiopian meal.

A very memorable and tasty tea. If you enjoy Darjeeling tea, then you really should give this one a try. My first taste of the product of Temi Tea Gardens, but definitely will not be my last. Full review at RateTea.com: http://ratetea.com/review/2838/

El mejor Indio negro que he probado hasta ahora…

Darjeeling oolong is something that I have a soft spot for. This one was full of fruit and florals, a really enjoyable cup.

Kangra variety is the BEST green tea. I had some brought by relatives from Dharamshala, but that is exhausted and I am struglling with other varieties and not at all happy. Can anyone suggest an online website from which I can buy?

A FF Darjeeling sample I bought several weeks ago.

The short, tightly-rolled dry leaf is various shades of medium to dark green and smells sweet and somewhat floral. The brewed leaf smells rather nondescript. I get traditional FF darjeeling notes that smell more weedy than floral to me. Liquor is a clear amber.

The flavor is pretty nice. I taste a little bit of the lemony notes, but nothing else I can identify. No idea what Lily of the Valley would smell or taste like, so maybe it’s there. This cup is not too fruity or floral and I enjoyed it. It does start to get bitter as it cools.

The second steep didn’t taste as nice. I probably waited 3-5 minutes after brewing before I tasted it and it was already fairly bitter.

So, one good steep and one not. I haven’t been real crazy about any FF Darjeelings and I probably wouldn’t buy this in the future.

This is my first tea from Nepal. I was more than a little nervous learning that this is grown under similar conditions right across the border from Darjeeling-as I don’t care for 2nd flush Darjeelings at all.

Anyhow, the leaves are dark brown and tightly rolled with a liberal amount of golden buds mixed in. Dry leaf aroma is hard to describe-perhaps a faint note of licorice. The brewed aroma is that of what to me is typical 2nd flush Darjeeling-probably what others call “muscatel”, but to me it smell like some kind of corn liquor (as in corn alcohol).

The flavor is pretty much all the corn liquor-especially on the finish. It does get a bitter aftertaste as the tea cools. I CAN drink this-in fact I drank 4 ounces of a Rishi 2nd Flush Darjeeling (mainly because it was so expensive)-but I prefer not to.

I’m not giving this a numerical rating because I’ve never liked a 2nd flush darjeeling, so it doesn’t seem fair. It has all the characteristics of a quality tea, but it’s just not my preference. I would drink a cup of this if offered, but I would hope my host wouldn’t have a giant pot to share with me.

Yet another sample from Rare Tea Republic that I am attempting to purge from my cupboard… like Azzrian at first I was under the impression that this was a black tea and I also had to look up where Bihar is (Northern India – it borders on Nepal).

I tried to follow the RtR steeping parameters which said 5 minutes at 205 F.

I definitely am getting a butternut squash/pumpkin sort of flavor here in the aroma as well as the flavor of this tea, which is a clear light orange. This is a nice mellow brew, pleasantly sweet, and yes I’m getting some apricot as well.

Very enjoyable although it wouldn’t be a “must have” item for me, which is probably just as well since RTR is no longer around.

R.I.P. Rare Tea Republic…

I brought a bunch of their samples from last year to work to see if I could focus on finishing them off this week. I really don’t think I can justify buying any more FF darjeeling until I finish off last year’s supply, of which I have PLENTY. Well, maybe just a few samples when Upton Tea comes out with theirs. :)

This tea steeps up to be a light amber/yellowish color and has an intense floral/nutty aroma. It still seems wonderful to me – the plucking date was April 11, 2012 according to the bag they gave me. I am picking up notes of tropical fruit with a slight palette cleansing astringency in the finish. Still seems really fresh and flavorful, just like springtime. These ff darjeelings can be a total sensory experience!

Awesome thanks to moraiwe for sending me this sample!

This is a really good green tea. The sort of green that reminds me why green tea is the one that led me into the tea world. I have had one other Nepal green that I found to be too citrusy. This one smells of citrus just after brewing, but the dominant flavor is definitely asparagus. yummy!

Dear Evergreen,

I am falling in love with you. Each sip of delicious buttery asparagus brings me closer to you. Your lemony finish makes my heart beat a little faster and my tongue dance in ecstasy. Your delicious creamy, smooth mouthfeel makes me feel like a teenager in lust and I get all twitterpatted when I think about it. My tastebuds adore you and I think this is really meant to be. So please, please never leave me.

This tea was okay. It lacks that refreshing, almost minty quality of a Darjeeling, has none of those thicker muscatel notes, nor strong savoriness in the finish. The woodsy tannins were also pretty weak. (Unfortunately, these are all the things I love in a Darjeeling!)

It absolutely did have the light floral scent of Lily of the Valley and an amazing sweet lemon meringue note. This might be a good tea to have with some lemon butter cookies, but I don’t think I like it enough to want to drink it alone.

EDIT: I tried another steeping with slightly more leaf this time, and now I am picking up a buttered spinach vegetal note and a lemon flavor. I don’t know what to think of this tea. I don’t really like the taste of it as I am drinking it, but both the aroma and aftertaste are wonderful. Yuck…Also getting a grassiness now.

This is pretty good. It is smooth and very sweet- highly drinkable. It is kind of malty, muscatel, and a bit musky. It isn’t a super-crisp and refreshing Darjeeling. I keep hoping to find another Darjeeling that will stand up to the super-spicy food that I like to eat. This is good, but this isn’t it.

I brewed a big pot of this in the morning, but I didn’t get to drink nearly enough of it before it got cold. Still enjoying it tonight, but it’s not as good as when it’s freshly brewed.

I think I am reviewing the same tea as the others. This is from the 2012 harvest, and was purchased from the Republic of Tea website, as the Rare Tea Republic site no longer exists.

I wrote a nice long review of this, and then Steepster had one of its issues. I’m not going to rewrite it all. I will say that this is a good tea for sitting back and watching the wheels…

Sipdown #2 of the day. This has been an enjoyable tea but I’ve probably had it for 3 years now so it’s a good thing I was able to finish it off today while I was doing my physical therapy exercises, aka physical torture. ;-)

It’s been far too long since I have had this. Today I brewed some up with the intention of making it into an iced tea to have with lunch. It has a nice honey type of after taste which I hadn’t noticed before. Could it be improving with age? he he

Tea of the afternoon here — it’s a bummer that Rare Tea Republic is no longer in business but I can get Mist Valley teas elsewhere. This is a beautiful reddish-brown cuppa that is extra tasty with about 1/2 tsp of turbinado sugar.

I found a tin of this tea in the back of my tea cabinet and thought I’d drink it for a mid-afternoon tea boost. Evidently I’ve never reviewed this before. It is a bummer that RtR has folded their business already.

Anyway, I find this to be a delightful brew. I steeped mine for 4 minutes and it is definitely darjeeling-esque. I am picking up the walnut notes with a tiny bit of bitterness. There’s a slght fruitiness but I don’t know that I’d call it muscatel. Might have to steep this at a slightly lower temp. to see if I can bring out those grape notes. This was really good with some coconut sugar which made the flavors pop a bit.

TGIF Steepster! :D

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this tea. I went to the RTR website and it seems it has been assimilated into the “Parent” company of The Republic of Tea, and this tea does not appear to be available.

This is a pleasant tea, quite good actually. I find that I enjoy it more as it cools, when it is hot, it has a stronger, slightly bitter vegetative tone and as it cools these flavors tend to subside and I notice sweeter, fruitier notes, as well as the sweeter notes of the vegetal notes.

It’s a good tea, but I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed it enough to want more of it, and I guess that it’s a good thing that I don’t since it’s not available on the website anyway!

Wow what a surprise! I grabbed this thinking it was a black tea. It was so delicious I decided to do a review on it for http://sororiteasisters.com/
As I looked into this tea further I realized its an OOLONG!
I never would have thought that!
It has such a black tea flavor!
Perfect notes such as ripe juicy apricot, butternut squash, syrup, malt, omgoodness.
What a wonderful way to wake up on this cool crisp leafy autumn day!
Full review on November 4th on http://sororiteasisters.com/
What a treat! Going on my shopping list as I unfortunately only got a sample size when I ordered.