Teajo Teas

Sample thanks to Sil! I’ve delayed tasting some of the wonderful teas in Sil’s generous swap because the ideal time for me to try them (afternoon) is usually eaten up in caring duties. (I’ll go so far as to bring some tea with me, but nothing special or hard to obtain!) Today should have been a day I didn’t have to spend the afternoon there but ended up having to, so I decided to try one before going up – but one that Sil didn’t much like, so as not to waste it by rushing. There’s method to my apparent irrationality! I think?

Was a bit surprised this didn’t get boiling water, but followed the instructions, not expecting too much. And at first I thought the tea wasn’t good, but it grew on me as I sipped on (possibly as it cooled). The black base is quite nice, and the mango flavour is being held against Yumchaa’s Mango Sunrise and a mango tea I got around here, both of which are very superior mango teas indeed. Teajo website says it’s natural flavour, and I think the slightly artificial whiff I was getting at first was in fact the orange peel, which was giving a slightly bitter note. (Orange peel has its place, most definitely, but I don’t think this is it.) It’s not going to surpass either of my other mango teas (both greens, admittedly!), but I’m glad to have got to find that out, and will also try it cold. Thanks again to Sil for the chance to try it!

I finished the rest of this off tonight as a cold brew. The juicy mango flavour really shines when it’s iced.

I think iced tea is my new temporary favourite thing.

Also, I hope everyone had an awesome St. Patrick’s Day!

Thank you Piccolo and Teajo Teas for this generous sample!

There was enough here to make around half a dozen cups in the pouch I was sent, but I didn’t try it iced until the very end. That’s a shame because the fruity mango flavours really come to the surface in the colder brew. I get fruity notes of mango, peach, and raisins and a smooth sweeping of something floral (it’s starting to bug me that I don’t know my flowers), sweetness, and a brisk, somewhat sour, finish that makes my mouth pucker a bit.

The hot mugs I made up were a little more muddled and brisk, and maybe that’s my fault. It was more flowery and scented hot, whereas the cold brew allows for more syrupy mango, which is what I was looking for.

I don’t think I would pick up this particular blend again but I did enjoy drinking a mug before trying out the elliptical trainer in the evenings. Black teas, even fruity ones like this, tend to make me feel more energized and ready to move than green teas do. I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to only bring two fruity greens and one fruity black tea. I failed at tea packing and traveling.

Edit: As it sits longer and the dust sinks to the bottom the briskness is swapped for a creaminess that reminds me of sour yogurt and fruit. This is the best this tea has ever tasted for me. Really slapping myself in the face right now for not trying it iced sooner.

Resteeped mine from yesterday. I had done 2 tsp tea in ~15 oz water for 3 mins. Today I did the tea in about 8 oz water for 4 minutes. It’s actually really good. All the strong (bitter or astringent) flavour that one might get from one of these teas in the first steep is gone, and it’s a lot smoother and more floral and sweet.

Yum!

This is a tea I’ll need to remember to resteep. I don’t often resteep teas, but I feel like I should start exploring it more since I’m looking for work. :)

Miscommunicating with friends, cleaning the house, forgetting to eat… I wanted a nice strong cup of black tea with some sugar and plenty of milky substance.

Oh yeah, this is good.

And now I think my brother is coming over, because I’m cranky and don’t want to go out. I’ll be making him dinner for my birthday… what?

Edit: oh yeah. 200 tasting notes.

I received this generous sample from Teajo Teas (whee!).

This tea is very strong and hearty, and very different from the other Assams in my cupboard. Sticking my nose into the package and taking a big whiff, this is the smell I associate with a strong black tea! The Hathikuli Estate Assam I have from Steam Tea House is more floral and sweeter, while the Assam Mangalam from Zen Tea doesn’t smell nearly as strong as either.

Brewed, I immediately added 1/4 tsp sugar to my 16 oz mug, as well as a splash of soy creamer. The tea is strong with a very mild dryness and no bitterness. This is a breakfast tea for me, rather than an afternoon tea. I hope it does well in a travel mug!

I think my favourite is still the Hathikuli Estate Assam, but the Black Manas is a close second in my sampling of 3 Assam teas! Not really representative, so that must mean I need to try more teas.

(I definitely want to try some flavoured teas now. From what I understand, their flavoured teas have this base. Wow! That is definitely up my alley.)

Thank you to Teajo teas for this sample!

This one hurts my nose. There’s a floral and cinnamoney, spicey scent going on. I can’t entirely say with any accuracy that i’m smelling mango. In sipping this, i don’t taste mango whatsoever. I suspect that this might be a better cold brew than hot, but hot is how i tried it. I do really like the tea base for this one. But in terms of the flavouring, it’s just not what i was hoping for.

First off, thanks for the generous sample!
I really enjoyed this tea – mango is one of my favourite fruits so I am always on the lookout for anything featuring it! I haven’t tried it hot yet and to be honest I may not, because it is really good iced! I found the mango flavour authentic and the base was definitely still present. A tea-loving coworker smelled it and guessed correctly that it was mango, which I think it pretty impressive!

I’ll definitely be taking a second look at this company because I was very happy with this sample :)

I was excited to get the chance to try this Earl Grey because Assams, or an Assam rich blend are my favourite bases for this type of tea, mainly because of the chocolate, or biscuity tones that they often have that nicely support the citrus notes and secondly because they usually have a thicker body to them that I feel better supports the Strong Bergamot Earl Greys which are most often my favourites.

In Silky Earl Grey, Teajo comes close to creating my ideal earl grey. It has a really lovely Assam Base, paired with a heavier sweeter bergamot. I would like just a bit more of a spicier bergamot to create my ideal Earl grey.

Dry Smell
- fairly strong , spicy and sweet bergamot, hint of lemon rind and cocoa.

Brew Colour
– nice, clear, classic amber colour.

Texture
- Tastes quite smooth at first, finishing with a drying effect at the front of the mouth. The tea has a medium bodied mouth feel.

Flavour – A nice balance between a sweet bergamot baked goods taste, sweet red fruit in the tea base, and chocolate undertones. The base tea has enough depth to support the strong flavouring. The re-steep contains a flavour consistent to the first steep, with just a little bit more malty, chocolate tones shining through the lemon pound cake with custard smell and taste. The third steep was sweeter with less citrus notes but still a rich flavour.

Aftertaste – lemon(the taste you get when you drink lemon in hot water), lavender, with bitter sweet chocolate notes and a hint of malt.

This is a really nice strong and fruity Earl Grey with a great deal of flavour and a natural sweetness.

Thanks Piccolo for the chance to try your tea! It has a really lovely base and I look forward to trying some more once I make some room in my cupboard.

Thank you for the generous sample, Teajo Teas!

Although black teas aren’t my favorite, there are a few fruit-flavored black tea blends that I really enjoy. I was very excited to try this tea – Tropical Mango with an Assam base. Sounds promising!

As soon as I opened the sample, I was greeted with a strong but pleasant fruity smell. I don’t know what mangoes smell like, but I thought this tea smelled like a peach.

After brewing, this tea still smells very strong and fruity. It’s a strongly flavored fruit tea with a smooth and malty black tea base. I could easily taste the black tea through the flavoring.

This is a high-quality tea, but unfortunately it’s not for me. I would prefer it more if the flavoring and black tea base were more subtle. It’s possible this tea would be more to my taste as an iced tea. I’ll try it that way next month!

This was a free sample from Teajo!

This makes a nice and balanced Chai that I’m really enjoying. I’ve had a few lately that had too much cardamom or something, but I have no complaints here! When I was choosing my sample, I noticed that the prices were pretty reasonable – I might have to place an order.

I wish I could just smell this tea all day…

Firstly, thanks Teajo teas for the huge sample!!!!
When I got this tea home I just wanted to open it up and try it. Upon opening the sample the smell is very powerful….but not too overwhelming. You can actually smell the tea and the mango quite clearly. I am in no way a huge fruity tea fan, but this smelled very appealing.
It steeped to a nice darkish liquor(followed directions on sample). And it tasted really good. Very mango/fruity as well as the assam came through very nicely. Even my wife who was sitting beside me had to have a taste because it smelled so great.

A tasty tea for sure and one of only a few fruity teas I like.

I had to have another cup of this one because it won WheezyBee’s Battle of the Earl Greys and I just happened to suggest it since I didn’t see it on her list of Earl Greys. I had no idea it would win! I just love this one — a nice bold bergamot to go with a bold assam. For the true Earl Grey fan – or to make you an Earl Grey fan!

thank you so much Teajo for a sample of this one! There is enough here for many cups. The dry leaves are as black as they could be. I always thought cream was what made me love an earl grey. But this one is so smooth, it is almost like there is cream here (though there isn’t.) This is a very different earl grey somehow. It’s unique… I guess all earl greys are different. This one is citrusy and bright but very smooth. It kind of reminds me of Fruity Pebbles cereal (awesome, in my opinion!) The second steep reminded me of the lemon part of a firecracker popsicle (awesome again). The black tea base is an assam. I don’t think earl greys usually have an assam base.. I’m not sure. But the base here is perfect for an earl grey flavor. It doesn’t disappear behind the earl grey but it doesn’t overpower it either. I didn’t see how there was safflower or cacao in this though. But I do agree that it is silky! I really really like this one. This one tells me that earl grey creams aren’t the only earl greys I love! This is a straight earl grey I could easily buy a ton of!

Sip down!

Iced, of course – this mango tea makes for a great iced tea! Nice base and lovely mango flavor.

Uggg, hopefully now I can get the motivation to go to the post office to mail hot pink squids.

Been having a long day. My husband got in a minor car accident yesterday (just cosmetic car damage) and dealing with that – plus he got like 2 hours notice he has to do a 3 hour drive to help out his friend, who’s quite sick. I was almost done my review, but I had to stop and start making food for his drive, as well as treats for his friend.

Finally, onto Tropical Mango! This tea is best iced! It has that “classic iced tea” flavor, but with juicy mango. Much better than store bought mango iced tea!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/tropical-mango-from-teajo-tea-review/

Made this one as a cold brew. Brewed for only about 4 hours because I forgot to put it in the fridge last night, and put it in this morning, then I couldn’t wait to try it.

This is BY FAR the most DELICIOUS cold brew earl grey I have tried. It is bold but smooth. The bergamot is strong but not overpowering, it has a natural sweetness. I am getting a sweet taste that I can’t quite place. I want to say it is like when you caramelize shredded coconut, like for a dessert, that sweet sticky stuff that sits on top of the coconut shavings, that is what I am tasting but without the coconut taste. There is definitely a citrous taste to it, like a spicey pink grapefruit, or the rind of a navel orange. It is all very subtle and blends well together.

This was the last of my free sample that came from Teajo but I think this one is going on the shopping list.

Thanks Teajo Tea for this generous free sample.

The dry tea smells very strongly of bergamot, which I like. Already off to a good start.

The tea tastes like a very smooth Earl Grey. There is a strong bergamot taste but it is not bitter, its very smooth and creamy. I also feel like I am getting notes of vanilla and caramel.

I also would like to say I am happy that Teajo labelled the tea package with the ingredients and the preparation details, so I did not have to look anything up. I wish more tea companies did this.

Drank some of this earlier with breakfast. I either put too much milk or too few leaves because it was super weak and unsatisfying. Not that this is surprisingly lately. I am perpetually dissatisfied. With tea :(

I realize it must sound mental when I say stuff like that, the former 5 cup a day lady not being able to stomach even a cup a day half the time, or even one per week, so I will just come right out with it….
I’m about 14 weeks preggers and the baby is probably a demon that has turned me off my beloved tea. I kid, well about the demon part. Obviously!!

It’s an incredibly ironic forehead slapping twist of fate, though. I’ve stocked up on so much tea over the last few months (right up until about 2 months ago when I had the harsh realization that the smell of my flavoured teas was turning my stomach and totally repelling me)… Now I have zero urge to drink it.
Even now when I have a random cup it’s more out of a sense of obligation than an actual enjoyable experience. So sad!!! I hope it comes back six months from now!!!

I’m sticking to the unflavoured or mildly flavoured teas at this point, that’s for sure!!

Right now all I want to drink is chocolate milk and apple juice, two things I maybe had two-three times a year previously.

Got this as a sample from Teajo Teas, thank you very much!!
Drank it for breakfast this morning.

I LOVE Earl Grey. If I have to go somewhere without tea (unlikely) I will seek out Earl Grey at a gas station or whatever. It’s comforting and flavorful and adding milk just makes it more creamy and delicious.

That’s what I did with this one – I added milk. I did two steeps of it and both were good. About 3 min for the first one.

It’s definitely more of the lemony type, but the citrus flavor doesn’t overwhelm the tea, which I appreciate. I don’t like SUPER lemony teas unless they are balanced off by some cookie or pie taste (Lemon Chiffon!).

So I enjoyed this, it was creamy with the milk, so the word “Silky” is not misused here. I would definitely order it!

Me and Earl Grey go together like Jean-Luc Picard and… Earl Grey.

Thanks to Piccolo at Teajo Teas for such a generous sample of this tea!

I’m still not super familiar with the flavours of different black tea types, but assam seems to be one that I lean towards a bit more than others, so I was interested to try another version of it to train my palate a bit! I have to say that the tea tastes pretty much how I would expect. It’s malty and only just slightly astringent, with a bit of a raisiny finish (that part was unexpected and lovely!) I think I will try my next cup of it with additions, as I think it will hold up well.

Generally, I’m not the biggest fan of straight black teas to begin with, so it’s pretty tough to crack the ranks of teas I’d like to drink on a regular basis, and this one doesn’t make the cut for me, although I’m sure that any assam lover would be quite delighted with it!

Sipdown! Thanks to Sil (and indirectly, Piccolo at Teajo Teas) for a sample of this tea. I opted to request a sample of the straight assam (which is brewed up and ready to review beside me), so it was great to be able to swap samples and try two teas instead of one!

The aroma of this tea was strangely rather floral, to me. I was expecting a stronger fruity/mango aroma, but it was more floral/fruity… and unfortunately I like my fruits to be juicy and verging on tart, not so floral. I was hoping that the flavour wouldn’t be the same, but it appears it is. I’m getting a floral, mangoey flavour (it does taste somewhat like mango, I’ll agree) paired with what I’ve have to say is a great black base, which is smooth and malty. I’m just not really a big fan of the flavouring, and that kind of ruins the tea for me :( I’d love to try the base paired with other fruits, so maybe sometime in the future when we inevitably make a Teajo order, I will get to try some of that!

ETA: I oversteeped (and therefore threw out) my re-infusion, but the leaves definitely had enough flavour for 1-2 more infusions. Just a bit too much on the floral side for me.

And another free sample I got in my PO box over spring break. Thanks Teajo Teas~ Samples are always appreciated, especially big ones.

Now does anyone else on here have the adagio ingeniTEA? Its the only teapot I have, but I find that it has a tendency to spill my tea all over the place if I accidentally place it at an unfortunate angle, even on level surfaces. Its a useful thing so I can forgive the occasional mishap, but if anyone has any tips I’d appreciate it.

So yeah, I did make two cups of this, but I lost about half of that to unfortunate angling. Alas and forsooth.

Anyways, this is a pretty good tea~ Dry, it almost smells sort of alcoholic. Which is weird, but goes away when steeped. This reminds me a bit of the Pom Tango in that its got a very strong, juicy mango flavor. Like drinking warm mango juice. The black tea base is also pretty good here. I’ve said it before, normally I don’t like black tea, but this is some quality stuff. I’ll definitely be ordering this some time in the future.

So I tried this tea for the first time today. I put it in my travel cup I got from work and used the precise temp that was reccomended. I steeped it for three minutes but IMO I don’t think that is long enough for this tea (even though it’s a mixture).

I ended up taking my first sip in the car on my way to work and burnt my togue…then spit it out (cause it was SO HOT) onto my legs and ended up burning my legs a little too. Suffice to say, I didn’t attempt another sip on the trip.

It’s not too bad…IMO it was kind of weak…the fruit flavors (orange) were kind of faint and it wasn’t that mind blowingly amazing. I think with a longer steep time I can coax out the flavor…if that comprises the green tea in this blend then so be it, lol!