Tea Squared

Nice, tart and fruity

I received a sample of Roasted Apple Chai with an order from Tea Squared (just one of the reasons I love the company!). Although I’m always grateful for free tea, it sometimes takes more than two or three cups to make an impression on me.

All I can say is that I liked it but probably not enough to buy it.

The flavours don’t seem to blend nicely. I probably won’t get this again.

Too earthy for my taste.

A nice “twist” on a classic flavour. I like Earl Grey, but much prefer variations like this one. It’s citrusy but not overpowering.

TeaTiff Traveling Tea Box | No. 2

I haven’t been able to drink any tea the last few days which has been driving me wild since I have this huge box of teas to go through. Finally getting a chance to go through it this weekend. I try not to drink caffeine after 3pm, but I’m making an exception since 1) it’s the weekend and 2) I only have a limited time with this enormous box of tea. I love spearmint and, though I’m not typically a fan of green teas generally, tend to enjoy Moroccan mint tea. This one is no exception. While I can’t say that any green tea will every be an absolute favorite, this blend is very nice both hot and over ice. It’s very refreshing.

Update: Iced is definitely the way to go with this one!

I received a free sample with a recent tea order, and I definitely want more! A nice mild tea, not too strong in any particular flavour.

I like green tea, and I feel good knowing it’s got health benefits. I especially like flavoured (or scented) green tea, and since I also like mint tea, I didn’t hesitate to order 100 grams of Marrakesh Mint – a risk I don’t usually take on new-to-me flavours – when placing my first order from Tea Squared. I’m glad I did, because I can see myself drinking it often!

There used to be a shop next door to me, called Serenity Coffee & Tea. Their specialty was the individual coffee pods, and you could purchase individual pods in order to try different flavours, unlike most stores where you have to buy a whole box. I don’t buy coffee that way though – I went there for the tea, and that’s where I discovered Tea Squared. Unfortunately, they couldn’t compete with the big box stores and they closed a while back.

I recently remembered enjoying Tea Squared, so I found their website and placed my first order. Along with the several flavours I selected, they sent me three samples, including Uncle Grey. They refer to it as “the smoother cousin of the pretentious Earl” which I find quite amusing, but I did enjoy it more than regular Earl Grey or any of the other variations I’ve tried to date. Another one to remember for later!

When I became a daily tea drinker in 2015, one of the first flavours I was introduced to was Forever Nuts from DAVIDsTEA, which is amazing. Shortly afterwards I tried Toasted Almond Brittle and found it to be almost the same, but I haven’t had it since.

Forever Nuts has become a staple for me, so when I ran out while the stores were closed due to COVID-19, I needed to place an online order. I’ve ordered from DAVIDs a few times with no problem, but I remembered one time they shipped via Purolator, whose drivers have a nasty habit of leaving an “attempted delivery” notice and driving away without actually buzzing to see if anyone is home. As a result, I had to pick it up at their shipping centre, which is a further drive than if I’d just gone to the store in the first place. I really didn’t want to risk that happening this time, but I remembered having this similar tea before and with the help of my old spreadsheet, I was able to track it down.

I was super excited to receive my order but as soon as I opened the package, I knew from the fragrance that it wasn’t the same, and my first cup confirmed it. The ingredients are similar, but Forever Nuts has “Artificial sweet roasted almond flavouring” whereas as Toasted Almond Brittle has natural flavour, and it makes me sad to realize that it’s the artificial flavouring that makes Forever Nuts so magical. I can only assume that because I hadn’t been drinking it very long when I tried Toasted Almond Brittle the first time, I didn’t realize how different they actually are.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll admit that I do like Toasted Almond Brittle, but I don’t love it. I don’t know whether I would bother getting it again, simply because there are so many other flavours I like better, including others from Tea Squared.

This was the second sample I received from Tea Squared, the first being Moroccan Mate. I enjoyed both of them but it’s hard to say which one I liked better. May have to try them both again.

This tea is refreshing and relaxing. It seems to have the perfect blend of lavender with the other ingredients, as you can definitely taste it, but it’s never overpowering. I would probably buy it again.

This was one of the flavours I tried and liked when we had a tea shop next door, and the first oolong I ever tried. I was happy to find it again and to be enjoying it just as much this time around.

I don’t know much about Kombucha except that it’s supposed to be good for you and it looks slimy and disgusting. For that reason, I avoided until last month when I had lunch at Poke CO with my friend Susanna. As she was deciding which flavour of Kombucha she’d have, I saw that Blueberry Lemon was one of the choices, so I decided to have some too. I loved it at first but by the time I reached the second half of the bottle, it did seem slimy and weird-tasting (though it’s possible that I didn’t shake it so it wasn’t properly blended).

Not long afterwards, I received a sample of Kombucha Detox with my order from Tea Squared, and my reaction is similar to the cold drink I tried last month. Some cups just taste pleasantly sweet, but others have the weird taste and almost slimy feel to them. I’m very curious and just might try this or another Kombucha tea again some day.

TTB Review #8: I’ve tried both good and bad mint teas, and this one falls somewhere in the middle. Very run-of-the-mill, nothing noteworthy. Very subtle notes of spearmint.

From a Sips by box. The mint isn’t that fresh and delicious. This is all right, but the green tea and mint are both just pretty average.

A friend gave this to me for Christmas. It smells like perfume, though not in an unpleasant way. Kindof intense. so much that the fruit seems to be overtaken by the floral aspect. Sadly, I’m not a big fan of the way the floral translates into taste. I might try underleafing it next time. Or steeping for less time. Witholding a rating for now. I have a ton of this. As well, over time I know the scent will dissipate so I’m sure it will mellow out!

GCTTB DAY 5

Another tasty tea I brought with me to work today. I brewed this in the afternoon after my lunch break. Honestly, I had a lot of onions in my lunch and I think it might have messed with my tasting of the tea (onion breath, eugh) but I was still able to enjoy it.

I remember smelling a tin of this at Bed Bath and Beyond a few times, but they never seemed to have this one in stock! It was the only one of their Tea Squared products that I was interested in purchasing, too. So I’m really happy I had the chance to try it now.

The green tea base was quite nice – smooth and very slightly vegetal, none of that weird fishiness or seaweed taste. Honestly this tea smells so good, but it lacks a little bit of that greatness in the flavour. It is still pretty enjoyable, but loses “wow power” in the flavour profile. The aroma is dominated by the sweet candied mango note, and it smells absolutely delicious. It gets a little lost in the actual tea, but still comes through in a more mellow tone. I quite liked this tropical, fruity green tea blend. I remember thinking if one of the ingredients was kombucha, because the blend produced an overall flavour that tasted like there might have been some kombucha added to this. Not that I’m complaining, I think it would make a great addition here. Nonetheless, I was pretty impressed.

Food tasting for the wedding and this is the tea that accompanied my dessert testers. This smelled awesome and I worried about the bergamot but I think it’s growing on me. It actually pairs really nicely with the caramel in this blend. It’s a bit more brisk than I’d like given the bergamot but it really complimented my treats.

I cold brewed this for about 6 hours.

It is pretty tasty and refreshing. The green base isn’t overpowering or too vegetal which is nice. The mango is sweet but it tastes a little artificial.

I was browsing through Sobeys when I saw that they had a bunch of tea on sale. $8 for 80g…sure I’ll try it. I bought this fully expecting that it wouldn’t be on Steepster. So I was surprised to see it here!

I was pleasantly surprised twitch this blend. I saw that there was roses in it, so I picked most of those out. The fig is something I have never seen in a fruit tisane before. I enjoyed it as a cold brew and I found the hibiscus wasn’t too overpowering here. It was sweet enough with no added sweetener. Not too bad!

Now I will have to cold brew the other tea I bought from Tea Squared—a flavoured green.

We sell this tea at our store. it’s awesome. www.serenitycoffeetea@gmail.com

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @85C, steeped five minutes.

The packet suggests using water at 100C, but I find that scalds mate and certainly makes the dried fruit a bit harsh. 85C works much better.

A fresh and bright green mate with lots of candied fruit. Sweet and sunny, with good but not overpowering or sickly ago flavour. Good mate buzz from it, too.

I find Tea Squared in my favourite supermarket. The re-sealable bags hold about 80 grams of tea or tisane, and retail around 8 to 9 dollars Canadian. Worth it, I think.