TeBella

Sipdown July theme: a mango tea

I spilled probably a cups worth of this one on floor just right after i opened the bag. Stupid exertion based clumsiness. :( I really liked it too.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: I sipped this one down pretty quick after first trying it. Its pretty much like orange mango juice but that is really nice. No stevia or caffeine so a nice afternoon drink (if you need to stop drinkint caffeine at a certain point that is.) I will probably order this one again at some point.

Enjoying this one in the AC in the basement… in sweater when it is 90F outside. I am feeling indulgent. Lol.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: So the dry blend does have tiny meringues in it and I definitely pick them out and eat them before steeping the tea. There isn’t alot but it’s worth it when you find one. I don’t typically see a lot of lime blends on the market so it is nice that this one uses dried lime pieces in the blend. To taste it is tangy and tinsy bit creamy and sweet kinda like a really tart key lime pie(like the ones in key west florida). (It probably would be sweeter if I stopped eatting all the meringues out before the steep). Anyways, yum! Would buy again.

Sipdown theme: Oceanic flavored tea
Sipdowns and tasting notes have been much slower and less lately. The packages are larger and I have been drinking an older matcha and the nozomi a lot lately. For herbals, I have been enjoying this one, Peach Parfait, Keylime Sublime from TeBella and a couple 52teas. All have been nice so far and are lasting longer than expected especially the herbals. (Maybe because John isnt asking for tea as frequently?)

Anyways, I chose this one for the sea buckthorn in it. I don’t really know if it is a Oceanic flavor but it has sea in the name so the reminds me of an ocean… haha :)

Prep: Western
Tasting Note: Hot this one has that sour taste of chokeberry. Not as intense but definitely there. I think all the other ingredients work to mellow it out. The package reccommends this tea as iced but I have yet to try it like thst. I kind of like this sourness, it reminds me of a sour soup and that it soothing somehow.

When I bought this tea though, I thought it would taste more like P.O.G. which is heavy on the sweet pineapple orange which it definitely does not taste like that. I think I have come to terms that the ingredients are definitely doing something different.

This is the last tea from my November TeBella order. It’s been a pretty awesome batch, and I saved this one because I suspected I’d like it a lot. The flavor is quite desserty and sweet. There are coffee beans in it, but it doesn’t really taste like coffee, which is a relief for me. Maybe just a hint of it. Not sure I would order it again, but it’s quite a nice dessert tea. A very sweet rooibos for sure, though I wouldn’t say the name is necessarily accurate.

The grapefruit flavor is strong and sour and sweet in just the right combination. The tea is also given depth through the herbaceous ingredients, my favorite definitely being the eucalyptus. In some cups it all works really well together. Sometimes I find it to be a bit too much. I definitely give it points for creativity and freshness of flavor. It’s best cold.

I see prickly pears every time I go hiking, but I’ve never tried cooking with them. Based on how tasty this tea is, I might need to change that! Hot, it’s a bit sour, but cold with sugar, this tea really, really shines. The flavor is so bright and interesting. It’s sweet, tart, fruity, and refreshing. I’ve been drinking it every day. Green rooibos fruit blends are a particular love of mine.

With a name like this, I had to order some. It’s like many other peachy teas. It smells very strongly of peach rings. The flavor is like peach candy, not ripe peaches. It’s pleasant warm or cold, though I feel like when it’s cold I can sense a little bit of dessert/parfait flavor creeping in there with the peaches. It’s not my favorite peach tea, but perfectly sweet and nice.

The scent of this tea is just intoxicating. It actually brews up rather pale orange. The flavor is light and refreshing. It’s quite a nice blend of cherry and coconut. You definitely get both flavors, and it’s done really well! I’m not noticing any kiwi, but I’m okay with that since the other flavors are pretty tasty. I know I won’t have any problems finishing my 2 oz of this one.

The pictures of this tea looked so enticing that I had to buy it. Fig pieces and actual meringue?! I’m happy to say that it’s rather delicious – definitely the best lime tea I’ve had in recent memory. The flavor is mostly lime, but sort of lime desserts rather than pure lime. Since it’s leaning a little desserty, I find myself wishing it would lean even harder, but it’s definitely enjoyable.

Got this during the Tebella Cyber Monday sale. The flavor is quite nice! It’s light and fruity, but more like orange than pineapple. I really enjoy the light citrus of this one. Maybe not enough to order again, but I liked having the small amount that I had.

TeBella doesn’t list ingredients on the website, which is a bit frustrating. The scent here is totally ripe pear. Hot, it tastes a bit like alcohol. As it cools to room temperature, the pear flavor makes an appearance. This has turned out to be the most authentic pear tea I’ve ever had! Pear isn’t a super strong flavor, but this tea is pulling it off quite well. It’s like nice brown cooked pears.

I’m terrible at logging teas…

Anyway, my boyfriend and I went to Tampa yesterday to do literally ONE thing. We had to drive an hour for something that took 20 minutes and he wanted to go home. I told him that we should swing by the Oxford Exchange to get coffee or tea to at least make our Tampa trip worth it!

We ended up spending almost 2 hours at OE, him with coffee and me with tea, and catching up with one of our best friends who lives out in the area! I had just a matcha latte but ended up taking 2oz of their Jasmine home. Surprisingly enough, the Tebella at OE only has the Jasmine Silver Needle on their tea menu, no green Jasmine! Jasmine is my absolute fave and I can never go wrong with it!

At first I was a bit skeptical of this tea in particular because the more I smell it, the more artificial it seemed. I ended up steeping it at 160* for about 5 min and all the artificial flavor that I initially smelled went away! It’s a beautiful Jasmine tea, very delicate with what you’d expect a white tea to taste like. Does have more of a flavor compared to other Jasmine White Teas I had.

Thanks so much for the tea swap, AJ Rimmer! I love being able to try teas like this one, from tea shops I’ve never heard of! The black tea doesn’t result in too dark a mug. It’s more of a lighter cup, but I think the base pairs well with the flavors that are going on. I’m not entirely convinced the ‘shortbread’ is noticeable in the flavor (which is interesting because AJ Rimmer totally notices the shortbread), but I was enjoying this cherry or light grape flavor that was most present in the cup. I’m not sure if the cherry/grape is from the black tea itself or was part of the flavoring. Sometimes I can get a cherry note from a marzipan flavoring, I guess? But there was definitely some marzipan. I’m not sure if I noticed the rose or pistachio. I liked the experience of this tea overall. It’s certainly something unique that I don’t have in the cupboard. The closest thing might be some of those Dammann Freres teas that sometimes seem to be cherry.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
2019 Sipdowns: 62 (one of my pouches of Zen’s lovely Phoenix Pearls)

I bought this one when I was still obsessively buying every almond tea I could find. I’m happy to report, though, that this one is pretty great. It needs to cool to room temperature in order to fully appreciate the flavor. If you have it hot, it’s mostly just a fake marzipan flavor. Cooled, it’s pleasantly bready and so true to its name. I was falling asleep watching Netflix, so I drank some of this to stay awake and ended up talking a 2.5 hour nap, so it’s possibly not the most caffeinated tea ever, but I prefer low caffeine anyway (or maybe this was just a fluke, who knows). Anyway, this tea is very tasty. I love bready teas.

As soon as I smelled this tea, I knew I would be a fan. I love carrot cake teas. The flavor is sweet, savory, and spicy in a wonderful combination. This one is different from the Simpson & Vail version, but I like it almost as much. And you can rebrew the leaves for a really nice second steep. I’m not sure I can taste the carrot too clearly, but it is like drinking dessert – love it!

The chunks in here are a lot bigger than I expected! It looks like it’s mostly orange slices, which was surprising considering the name. I drank this warm with lots of sugar and was happily reminded of Teavana’s mandarin mimosa, which is one of my favorites. So the flavor is a very refreshing orange with no mango to be seen, but I don’t mind since it tastes like one of my favorites. This is one I would order again if I ever make another order from TeBella.

I finished Adagio’s green rooibos bonita and wanted another fruity green rooibos, so I opened this. You definitely have to overleaf this one or else it turns out pretty weak. The flavor is quite light, but it’s pleasant. I expected more of a sour citrus flavor. The fruit is light and pleasant, kind of tastes like a creamy orange. Doesn’t really work for a rebrew. So I like this, but I prefer Adagio or Simpson & Vail green rooibos blends.

In the bag, this tea smelled just amazing. Brewed, it smelled more like wine. Hot, it tastes kind of like tart nothingness. I put it in the fridge, hoping for a better experience the next day. Happily, when I had it cold this morning, it was really nice! I did have to put sugar in to battle the tartness. I’m not sure it really tastes like blackberry specifically, more like just general berry. So anyway, I’m happy to finally have a TeBella tea that I’ll actually be able to finish my 2 oz of without too much struggle. I’ll keep pitchers of it in the fridge to take to work, and it’ll disappear in no time (:

Hot, the flavor tastes like rather plain rooibos. I added milk, and that ended up tasting a little strange. I had almost given up on this tea, but I tried it cooled with milk and sugar, and…it isn’t bad? There’s a flavor in there that I’m not a fan of that I can’t quite pinpoint. The berry flavor is super light. I wish it had been stronger, so next time, I’ll mix in a blueberry herbal tea that I have. To sum up, this tastes like a strangely flavored rooibos, which is a shame because I really like the idea of this tea.

I love a good melon tea, but this one is a bit weak. It was light and generically fruity, but I wish I could taste a distinct melon flavor. It was just kind of eh. I’ll see if I can do anything to make my next cup of this more exciting. I really wish this had been great! I’m still looking for a truly satisfying melon tea.

The smell of this tea is heavenly – zesty and sweet and the almonds really come through. I was a little worried that it would taste artificial or overpowering, and that was not the case at all. It’s a bright, white tea with zesty notes from the orange and a hint of spice from the peppercorns. The almonds give it a smooth finish and the flavor get’s strong as it cools.