Teapigs

Let me start this by saying: I don’t drink milk and I hardly ever put sugar on my tea, which means that I’ll never get the real taste of Chai tea. Still, I’ve tasted some Chai teas that were nice, and this spice blend from Tea Pigs is one of those. The taste doesn’t compare to the wonderful smell you get when you pick up the tea bag, but it’s a nice spice blend, perfect for wintery days (and sunny, warm fall afternoons like today). Paired with some lovely chocolate biscuits and the latest episode of Project Runway, it made for a good afternoon.

A one of sample I ordered just to log this one. (Temperature and length was taken from the official website).

Colour: Very pale yellowy green
Smell: Fresh Jasmine

Sips tea What a lovely and refreshing example of a nice jasmine green this is, especially for pre bagged. Very fresh tasting and very much jasmine tasting but without bitterness or being too over the top. Green tea is not very strong but I like the subtleness of it all.

Even after half of the cup has gone it still tastes subtle and fresh and it’s super duper relaxing. :) Bliss in a cup.

Is it just me or is Tung Ting Oolong Tea super fun to say? :)

Colour: Pale golden yellow
Smell: Subtly floral

I have to be in the right frame of mind to drink Oolong as it’s very subtle in flavour and I am usually a strong tasting tea kinda gal. A nice Oolong tea has enough flavour to be magical and this is one of those times. It tastes light, buttery, floral and gentle yet bitterly earthy (in the same way as a green tea). Each sip changes flavours as it goes down whilst leaving your thirst quenched and your mouth asking for more.

If you have not tried many/any Oolongs before then sometimes the extremely gentleness in flavour and body may be off putting at first but overtime you want a tea that will not be too heavy in your stomach and is as refreshing as drinking a cup of water. That’s where this little beauty comes in handy as that ‘something different’ that you have been craving. I would also say that this is a nice brand to start off trying so you can get a good idea of what a nice Oolong tastes like.

Overall: Refreshing, gentle, light, floral and oh so Tung Ting yummy.

I had one of these as a sample with a previous Teapigs order so it’s time to try it and make a little more space on my shelf (especially since I have gone crazy and ordered a lot of tea that I am still waiting to arrive).

Colour: Bright Red
Smell: Cranberry (sourish)

I can taste cranberry even though it’s not listed in the ingredients so I imagine it’s a mixture of the berries and the tartness of the hibiscus that’s created the melody. Not a fan of hibiscus at all but since this tastes fruity rather than outlandishly sour and tart for no reason so it does work.
Sweetness is there gently but could be sweetened to taste with additional sugar to take away some of the tartness.

Overall: Great to serve to friends and family if they want a fruit tea as it’s what they would expect, for me it’s not one of my favourites but still tasty and convenient.

I don’t like writing bad reviews however, I was really disapointed with this. It looks beautiful, as all Teapigs teas do however, it just doesn’t taste great. It’s Chamomile but a little bitter, a little dull, a little meh! I love Chamomile teas before bed however this version, which with whole flowers I feel shold taste better, sadly just doesn’t do it for me.

The last of my Teapigs tasting session for a while.

Colour: A wonderful golden red.
Smell: Spicy cinnamon with warming ginger.

This is one of the most subtle tasting Chai’s I have had, while noting the cinnamon and ginger flavours it’s very light and thin. It’s a pleasant every day chai and while it still has a nice flavour it’s just not as nice as other pre bagged chai’s on the market I have at home. The Assam is a little hard to detect as it usually leaves a bitter and rich after taste but the spices cover those up nicely.

I think I will stick with Teapigs chilli chai in the future.

This is a nice refreshing blend with the softness of the chamomile, the coolness of the mint and the sweetness of the lemongrass all competing to be your favourite flavour.

Perfect for those rare sunny days here in the UK. :)

The last tea from my Tea Pig tasting session today. This was a lovely golden colour when brewed and smelled very fresh.
It was a nice green tea but was rather bitter after a while and it just got stronger and stronger, perhaps next time I shall do a faster steeping to see if that fixes the problem.
Overall it’s an average green tea, perfect for every day use but not for those special moments. This tea just isn’t for me.

I woke up with an awful case of acid reflux and it’s stuck with me so far, unable to move much for fear of vomiting I’m relaxing on the sofa and playing a game of Civilization V. I chose completely random terms (maps, leader, etc) and it came out with continents and I’m Indonesia. Good game so far, takes my mind of my stomach. Mint tea may help settle it and this was the first one I could find in my kitchen which is fine, I haven’t had this tea in a while so it was perhaps time to revisit anyway. Smoother and a little sweeter than I remember but still very much the same. May end up sipping this one all afternoon.

Drinking a cup of this to settle my stomach after another day of being unwell. :(

A cup of this goes down well after a busy day. A blend of refreshing mint with gentle green tea with no bitterness or unnecessary/artificial sweetness from the mint.

Find my review including pictures here on my new blog.
http://kittylovestea.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/mad-about-mint-or-just-plain-mad/

This tea was chosen to relax with and get stuck into a book.

Firstly this tea smells earthy and minty that leaves a celestial feeling and leaves a smile on your face.
Wow this does pack a minty punch but with all the right minty notes in order. While being strong you still get the soft bitterness and freshness of the green tea and such a beautiful after taste.

This is not for the weak tea lovers so as long as you like a mouth full of tingling cleanliness that is mint then this is for you. It’s almost as strong as a pack of mints but with (of course) less sugar and calories. A great drinbk to freshen the breath and relax with as the taste will last for a while :)

Another Tea Pig from my mums tea cupboard. I just finished work and could really do with a chocolate bar right now and while my stomach agrees with me my head is saying “but think of the calories” so instead I chose this chocolate flake tea.

Colour: Reddy brown with a golden glow.
Smell: It actually reminds me of dog chocolate (chocolate that smells more powdery than sweet).

Taste: (Oh please take this chocolate craving away). I can taste cocoa which is again a powdery sort of taste but it’s very subtle. Not sweet or sickly like some chocolate tea’s can be but for me it’s not sweet enough. I don’t want to put more sugar into my tea because thats more calories I could do without. It is bitter as others have mentioned which is probably the black tea being a bit stronger than the cocoa taste. Granted that the more you drink of this tea the more cocoa you can taste and it starts to taste more like a cocoa powder drink just missing the milk rather than an actual tea.

It hasn’t taken my craving for chocolate away but honestly I don’t know if anything other than cocolate could. So instead I have some Diet Chef chocolate chip biscuits to dunk into this to A make it sweeter and B give me the chocolate I crave.

Oh well Tea Pigs, you can’t win us all.

I have been raiding my mothers tea cupboards today to see what new tea’s she has got in for me and I found this little beauty.
I need a kick up the bum today to get me going and with a little luck this chilli chai may be just the thing.

Colour: Red with a gold glow.
Smell: Spicy with whiffs of cinnamon and cardamom being the strongest.
Taste: A nice typical chai tasting mix for the first few sips, you have the cardamoms zestyness, the cinnamons mild spicyness and the Assam tea’s depth. As for the chilli there is a slight ‘tingle on the toungle’ which is pleasant and thankfully not too over powering. A nice mixture over all.

When I pulled the new tea bag out of it’s box I did enjoy seeing it’s contents before brewing. The pyramid bags are easily see through and I noted seeing 3 cardamom pods, a few small chilli seeds and the wonderful black Assam tea shredded into little soldiers.

Now to sit back and welcome my chilli boost.

I like this one very much! With my first couple of sips, I thought, hmm… this is pretty good, but, where is the chilli? But, after those first couple of sips, the heat began to develop on the back of the tongue and into the throat, providing a gentle burn. It isn’t TOO spicy, not so spicy that I find it overwhelming the other flavors of the chai. I especially like that I can taste the vanilla tones to this, which really adds a delicious contrast to the spicy heat of the chilli.

Very nicely done.

I’m a HUGE fan of chocolate. The richer the better, chocolate is my one addiction, something that I can’t really live without. Though there are some places where chocolate seems strange. Yogurt was the first one (stracciatella yogurt is really strange) and later tea. I had already tried a chocolate tea about 10 years ago that failed to impress me, but still I had to give this one a try. The verdict: well, if there’s chocolate in it, it’s very very mild, It just tastes like a regular black tea… no oomph to give it a push. That settles it: this is definitely not my cup of tea.

Good strong black tea, with more of a taste of vanilla than chocolate. Smells a bit strange with a sickly aftertaste. Not really for me, but can see why others may like it.

Okay…since I have been slacking on my chamomile themed teas and tisanes I figured I would bite the bullet and try a bunch of them today. I have also been slacking on my bagged teas…so…here’s to another! CHEERS!

smells and tastes fairly…FLAT…even for a chamomile. At least it doesn’t present that funky stale floral aftertaste that some tend to.

it’s so-so, I suppose…or a bit less than so-so

Very drinkable. It lacks the depth of some other green teas but is perfect for everyday drinking.