The Republic of Tea

I got a tin of of this bagged for Christmas. My brother knows I like tea, and enjoy spicy teas especially. So he got me this and one called Cinnamon & Cardamom. So far, only made this one.

I see it has rather low ratings here. I thought it was good. Unremarkable, but good. I used about 9 ounces of water instead of the recommended six. I am a weirdo who prefers weaker tea. I let it steep about 4 minutes. I can’t really tell what it tastes like. but the spice was faint. That might be just because of my stupid sinuses, although I see a couple of other reviewers had a similar experience. The end of the sip had a slightly bitter edge. Just a hint. I don’t take milk in my tea, but a bit of milk or sugar might have evened that out. My brother said his cup was “okay” which I interpret as he did’t care for it much. :)

I think this tea will be a pleasant cup from time to time.

I taste the peppermint, but the chocolate is very subtle. It wasn’t what I was expecting and it was ultimately disappointing. Basically a smooth mint flavor. I may try doubling up the bags to see if it helps bring out more of the chocolate flavor.

I think this is my last tea from my swap with Mina. Thanks for everything!

I wonder what makes this ‘double’? I expected a strong rooibos based on the name, but really it’s no stronger than any other rooibos. The woody, almost floral at times, notes are perhaps stronger than I’ve experienced in other rooibos blends, but the tea itself isn’t stronger. I drank it with milk as I rarely drink plain rooibos any more, and it was a pleasant enough cup to sip on while not really thinking about it.

Sipdown 134/395

Sipdown 121/395

Another of my oldest teas from a Hapatite Tea Swap I did with Mina way way back in 2014. I can’t imagine these teabags have been too affected by time, though. It’s a very drinkable tea, though none of the flavours stand out in particular other than the metallic tang of the hibiscus. It has a hint of natural sweetness and when I add just a tiny bit of honey to it the citrus flavour comes out a little, though not much. Not a tea I would choose again for flavour, but I don’t think the flavour is really the main reason anyone would choose this tea. I can’t speak to any skin benefits, but that’s not something that really interests me in tea anyway.

Similar in taste to Republic of Tea Cuppa Caramel Cake, but has more of a fruity smell
Conflicting tastes and smells between fruity and rich, resulting in a 5/10 rating.
3-5min steep advisory. Tried 12.2018

You easily taste more pomegranate than you do green tea however I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Green tea does tend to be bitter anyway, so this tea is nice in that you can get the caffeine and cleansing benefits of a bit of green tea, but mostly taste a fruit instead. This is a good midday tea to give a small bump in energy levels while working on a project or some other kind of work. Personally I can usually get two steeps out of one tea bag before moving onto a new one. I highly enjoy this tea and would probably restock my cabinet with it if I were to run out.

This tea is able to curve some of the sharp ginger taste with the addition of a peach undertone. However the ginger still remains the center tasting point of this tea. I personally only make this tea hot as the cold temperature tends to make it a little more bitter.

Since it was a bit of a fruity tea I steeped it for 4 minutes to make sure the full flavor profile had a chance to steep before tasting it.

Ohhhh Republic of Tea. You got the scent game down in your harvest season blends. I wanna know where da flava at?

Dry bag smells just like mulled apple cider and even the aroma of the tea which is even more tart and pungent. It smells real. But there is so little flavor — a little tart watery apple and cinnamon — and no depth to this it’s ridiculous. This just makes me feel nostalgic for apple season in Ohio and upset that I can’t even come close to nursing my aroma-induced longing with a hot cup.

Boo.

Generic pumpkin spice tea. It smells delicious, yes, like creamy, sweet pumpkin pie filling, but in the mouth it’s rather flat. Neither creamy not sweet and no pumpkin flavor. It tastes mostly of pumpkin pie spice flavoring mixed with a floral black tea base that has a propensity toward bitterness, which I find an odd combination with the spice but not bad. Mix that flavor with some sweet Yunnan black and it’d be much better.

I got this as part of a 3-tin stack of seasonal blends including Hot Apple Cider and Pumpkin Spice. In the stack, this one is called Hibiscus Cranberry, but it’s the same tea as Cranberry Spice Hibiscus. Idk what’s up with that.

The dry bag smells like hibiscus and cranberry with spices. Aroma is strong cranberry spice, like Yankee Candle levels. One small cup permeates my entire living room. I do not object. The taste is exactly as advertised in the name – cranberry and hibiscus foremost with a light spice flavor underneath. I can’t pick out individual spices. The dark berry red tea is drying and very tart. I like hibiscus but this one is so tart it gives me reflux which I rarely get. Very glad there are only 12 bags per tin because this one is kind of brutal. Definitely won’t be looking for Hibiscus Cranberry next season.

Liked the sample enough provided at the 2018 SF Tea Fest to buy a tin last year when I saw it at a local market. Finished off the 36th bag this morning after hitting this herbal tea hard for the past few months.

I really like the way the grapefruit flavoring and orange peel are tempered by the thistle latex milkiness. It’s a very gentle drink that suits early mornings as well as it does late nights. Delicious hot if you’re into this type of herbaceous profile. I’ll probably buy another tin.

Had as a bedtime warm beverage, this was pretty satisfying.

There was a very small amount of material in the teabag, perhaps one teaspoon worth. Milk thistle is in the family Asteraceae and this tea smelled like what I would expect from a variety of Asters, though it’s difficult to describe. There was a slight milky note mixed with the citrus that gently blanketed the floral and herbal aspect. The aroma of the grapefruit flavoring was definitely more ruby red than pink or white, sweeter and rounder with less of a sharp edge and mixed well with the orange peel. The liquor was fairly clear with an almost silky body from the milk thistle. Tasted light, grainy and milky sweet with the citrus coming in nicely, not too harsh or bright. It seemed to be a ‘cooling’ tea and was nice to have before lying down. I actually quite enjoyed it and happy that it was a sample included in my tea fest bag.

Had more fruit than tea flavor. The kind I (actually, my mother lol) purchased was loose-leaf variety. Tasted more cranberry than orange (orange left an aftertaste on the contrary). It was different; I am not a huge fan of Fruit Tea but I found this enjoyable enough.

I like this tea for work. It’s sweet enough without added sugar, and it tastes equally good piping hot and room temperature (when I make tea and forget to take it to my morning meeting). It doesn’t have an overbearing blackberry flavor, but I definitely notice that it’s there. The sage flavor doesn’t really come out at all for me, but I don’t mind because the blackberry is plenty satisfying. I will have to remember to notice the sage next time I drink it.

I had recently tried the Orange Blossom White Tea at Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party and I enjoyed it a lot. I’m not a 100% sure if this is the right brand name though. Although white tea tends to be more subtle, I think the citrus flavor of the orange really Gabe it a strong flavor. Having this tea paired with a blueberry scone really made the experience even more pleasant. I added some honey, sugar cubes, and lemon after trying it in its normal state. Highly recommend this flavor if your a fan of fruity teas.

With fall setting in, I’m super into all things pumpkin. I saw this tin in my cupboard and a craving washed over me. I may have over steeped it a touch, but what I got was an underwhelming cup. The spices are a little warming, I’ll give it that. Other than that it just seems lacking. I’ve had this in my cupboard for a couple years so I know it’s not in it’s prime, but I don’t recall ever being impressed with it. I need to get over it and call it a fail in my journey of pumpkin exploration.

So I ran out of milk oolong awhile ago, which has been “my cup of tea” lately. Lame, I know but I got a chuckle of my intended pun nevertheless :P… And I bought this tea from Amazon to get a quick fix. I still have it in my cupboard so thought I’d have some today.

First off, it’s pretty good. No major complaints. It’s not really vegetal at all, compared to other milk oolongs. I like the vegetal aroma and taste but noticed that was one of the main differences between this one and other milk oolongs I’ve tried. I smell a strong coconut aroma, although it’s not in their product description. I do taste pineapple notes along with coconut. It “feels” flavored to me which puts me off a little but I still am enjoying this from time to time. It’s creamy, smooth, absolutely no bitter notes but I can’t get over the feeling that it’s more like a ‘instant coffee vs real brewed coffee’ feeling.

Will I buy it again? Probably if I run out of my normal milk oolong… And at least I have a quick 2-day shipping if I do.

It was a light tea. I was expecting something more intense and would next time increase the amount of tea I used so that next time it was stronger. I still enjoyed it, would just change how I made it next time.

I chose a seafoam green mug to enjoy this tea in, and I prepared it just before settling in to watch a baking show. As a tea snack, I paired it with a small slice of cheesecake. The vibrant red of the tea, the seafoam green of the mug, and cream color of the cheesecake all looked very nice together. Despite this pretty picture, I had a difficult time enjoying this tea. The overwhelming note was a super sweet hibiscus, which did not pair well with my tea snack. There was an underlying fruity strawberry flavor that added a nice contrast. I have not tried this tea cold and I think that would vastly improve it.

Very tasty. The aroma is fantastic and this is probably one of the best teas i’ve tried so far. It’s just a good mixture of everything and it really give that spiritual feeling when drinking in the morning. it’s a great booster to get your day started.

Not even worth a note for this one. To be honest, this was a really old tea bag. But wow, it seemed like the teabag was heavier than the amount of tea they included. I like my chai STRONG. This is definitely not a winter chai. The brew was the palest of brown and had hardly any spice or flavor. meh.

This is one of my favorite teas to drink iced! To me, the ginger is actually more prevalent than the peach flavor. Overall it’s very refreshing when iced!