Two Guys' Tea

Parade of flavors
I add brown sugar with joy
Coconut truffle

Our fourth tasting tea, after a brief spat of playing dress up and going out to lunch.
This was a parade of flavors. First and foremost there was a definite black tea flavor followed by creamy cocoa, coconut, and the rest. Afterwards, a tea and husk flavor sits in the mouth with a breath of coconut. (And by breath of, I mean I taste it in my breath.) A bit of brown sugar added blends the flavors together so they’re a party instead of a parade. The molasses brings out the cocoa and coconut meat flavors. A bit of milk is a terrible idea, as it drowned everything out.

The second steep was drinkable, almost good. I wouldn’t try another. The liquor had a strong coconut scent, but none of the flavor. The sweetness of the honeybush was gone and there is a bitter edge that really brings out the tea flavor above the cocoa.

Decayed leaves with mint
As I steep again, again
Balance of taste shifts

Tea three of our tasting party. The dry mix had a strong chocolate and mint smell. The liquor smelled of wet leaves/tobacco with tinges of mint. It had a balanced taste with a nice refreshing mint finish. There wasn’t really any cocoa flavor. We tried adding milk, which was a terrible idea. It did bring out some cocoa, but mostly it tamped down the mint and strengthened the decaying leaf taste.

The second steep had more cocoa and less wet leaf/tobacco scent. We decided that the taste was no better or worse than the first cup, only different. The flavor profile changes matched the scent changes: The wet leaf/tobacco flavor was less, which allowed a sweetness through that was nicely balanced by the mint.

We tried a third steep. It was drinkable, but kind of meh. Not recommended. There were more notes of cocoa and a slight sweetness in the aftertaste, but only a mere breath of mint.
Added sugar brought out no extra flavors.

As warm, smells citrus
As cold, there is fruit
Both delightful—BUT
Steep two left us mute!

Tea two of our tasting party. The prominent smells of the dry mix were orange peel and lemongrass. The liquor was a dark rose color and had a strong lemon scent (and hibiscus, says my mother who knows what that smells like). The taste was “a hibiscus tart to start rounded by citrus and finished with a spice that Mom attributes to elderberries”. We drank half our cups, then decided to put them in the refrigerator to cool while we did a second steep.

Cold, the smell was much more fruit/rose-y and the taste had more hibiscus pucker. The citrus flavor pretty much disappeared. Overall, we decided that cold it wasn’t better, but it was more (and very) refreshing.

The second steep was horrendous. We did not get past a few sips. The color was a watery mauve and it basically tasted like warm rose & lemongrass water with an unpleasant astringency.

Fall scents—leaves and spice
A dark butterscotch liquor
Chased away my sleep

I took advantage of the closing sale and ended up with 6 tins of Two Guy’s Tea. So…I had a tasting party with my mother on my day off! It was the best day ever and took up way more time then we suspected it would— an average 1.25 hours per tea. xD This was our first one.

The dry tea itself was very spice-filled smelling. However, once we brewed it the suggested amount (3.5 mins), the smell was much more toned down. My mother decided that the exact color of the liquor was “caramelized sugar.” The taste was a little disappointing after how strong the dry tea had smelled, but after adding a little milk (which brought out the tea) and brown sugar (which brought out the spices) it was a fine cup. This makes sense, considering that it’s a chai and should have these things!
We steeped it again for 4.5 mins and got a stronger aroma with a spicier taste, which we both preferred.

I made this into a latte last night. I can see why others don’t like it, but as a sweet, milky latte it was pretty tasty. Lowering my rating a bit, but still finding this one easy to drink. Lots of froth was nice.

3tsp, 96C, 12oz.

Mmm, this is a nice chai.

The dry leave is small and twisted, with lots of cloves, chunks of ginger and cinnamon, with the occasional bit of green cardamom pod visible. The dominant notes on the nose are ginger, clove and vanilla.

I steeped 1.5tsp in 8oz of boiling water for 4 minutes. This yielded a really strong, bitter brew with a tart note of orange peel. Not something I would drink straight, but that’s okay, because milk and sugar were my plan anyway.

A teaspoon of sugar and a good amount of milk mellowed the bitterness very nicely, transforming this into a warm and gentle tasting chai. There’s no real kick to this – no heat or throat burn from the cinnamon or ginger, though the cinnamon flavour is definitely present. The clove and vanilla take a front seat, giving this a nice round taste and creaminess that’s separate from the added milk.

Not my favourite chai – I tend to like them bolder and spicier, with some cooling spices like fennel and coriander – but this is different from the other chais I have and it’s good.

This smells so good…just like Andes Candies! But once I brewed it, the chocolate disappeared and all I could smell or taste was the peppermint. It was a nice smooth, cool mint flavor, but I really wanted to be able to taste the chocolate. Also, I know rooibos tends to be very fine, but this stuff is like powder! I used an infuser with very fine holes, but still ended up with a ton of residue in my cup. A disappointment overall. But since I have a whole tin to finish, I’m thinking about adding extra chocolate to it and seeing if I can salvage it that way.

This tea is a pleasantly smooth oolong with a silky mouth feel and just a hint of mild peach flavor. I wish the peach were a bit stronger, but I’m really enjoying this one overall!

It’s a special tea that gets me drinking it twice in one day (and not resteeping the same leaves.)

I had this again last night, this time with no sugar. The cucumber notes stood out a lot more this time around, so it was less like a mojito and more like cucumber water with a sprig of mint and a lime wedge. Which was awesome.

Hrrm, my tin says Two Guys Tea, but most of the listings and tasting notes for this company seem to be under Tea Guys. Did they change the company name at some point?

Anyway, holy crap this is delicious. Like, glad I bought a 3oz tin, delicious. It’s really well balanced mint, lime and cucumber. Both the lime and cucumber tartness are present but not over powering. I’m not getting a lot of the green tea base, at least not in any distinctive way.

This was great straight, but I added a bit of sugar, just to get that mojito sweetness.

It’s very refreshing hot and I could see drinking this all summer long iced. Mmm so good!

Had this in a travel mug the other day while looking at houses, and oh my god, so delicious. Rich, thick, sweet, chocolatey and incredibly creamy. It felt like drinking a latte even though I had it straight. So much coconut creaminess. Amazing.

Oh my this was amazing tonight. 2tsp in probably 12oz of water for 2.5 min. Super creamy, with lots of toasty coconut and rich chocolate notes. This tasted like it had cream in it. Amazing dessert tea, and no sugar needed. Bumping my rating up.

Oi, this morning. We overslept and my sweetie had to run out the door without breakfast or lunch.

This smells absolutely fantastic. Really intense coconut and chocolate – very rich, like a chocolate bar.

The taste is quite nice. The chocolate and coconut notes are well balanced, and the coconut provides some of the heft and richness that chocolate teas often lack. I don’t know if I can really taste the honeybush at all. There is a very subtly sour note on the finish that reminds me a bit of the finish on coffee, which I’m not crazy about, but it is pretty subtle.

This is quite good. Probably not something I need 128g of (almost nothing falls into that category), but well worth drinking, and will probably make a delicious latte.

Such a disappointment! This smelled delicious, like a strawberry kiwi fruit salad, and there are chunks of real dried fruit in the tin. It brews up to a pretty red color and still smells pretty good. But the hibiscus completely overwhelms all the other flavors! If I concentrate really hard, I can detect a tiny bit of strawberry, but no kiwi at all. It is also unpleasantly tart. Maybe it would be better sweetened? I’ll have to try that, since I have an entire 4oz tin!

Sipdown! And of an older tea, too. I think I’ve had this one for a year now?

I have a love/hate relationship with this tea. My favorite tea shop sells it and I very much enjoy it there when I get it as a to go cup. It’s smooth and lightly sweet, though a bit forgettable. A good tea to drink unconsciously and a very comforting cup. At home, however, it’s very woody. I want to use words like “harsh” or “abrasive” but they don’t really fit the taste. It’s not bad, but it’s also not sweet or comforting. Initially, I thought that this was because I steeped too long (5 minutes) but even reducing steep time (3 minutes) yielded similar results. The cup brewed for only 3 minutes, however, did sweeten up as it cooled down.

Not going to rate this as I feel too conflicted on what an appropriate rating would be. Maybe this will just be something I enjoy in-store.

This tea smells just like freshly-chopped walnuts and walnut is definitely the predominant flavor when you steep it. I really don’t taste the green tea base of this one at all. There is, however, just a hint of coconut which compliments the walnut nicely and keeps it from being bitter. Overall, a nice warm, nutty brew. Not sure I’d re-purchase this one, but I’ll certainly finish what I have.

This tea smells AMAZING when it is brewing and tastes almost as good as it smells: rich and creamy. The coconut flavor really comes through, but there is also a definite hint of dark chocolate; both mingle beautifully with the black tea base. I like it both black and with milk. It’s a great dessert substitute…I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself at all if I drink a mug of this instead of eating a piece of candy. Highly recommended!

I’m still not sure how I feel about Chai. For that reason, I am likely not an adequate person to be reviewing this tea. I had this hot a while ago and it was overbearing. I made it last night and let it sit in the fridge until now, which may be too long (I still don’t know what I’m doing). It definitely has that kick I’m looking for in a morning tea but I don’t think this blend lends itself well to being drank cold. This could just be me of course.

After really enjoying the sample I got from Just Organic I really wanted to enjoy this.

Comparably it was OK. It didn’t have the creamyness, sweetness, or the smooth finish of the Just Organic sample. It was a decent tea, but I don’t know if I would reach for it. The leaves when unfurled where long and skinny, and they had been curled dry, which was substantially different from the Just Organic White Peony, which dry was flat and wet was flat. I do still have a whole tin of this, but I think it’ll take me a while to go through. The owner had said this was his favorite out of the bunch, so maybe I haven’t found this tea’s brewing sweet spot yet.

yesterday i proudly made tea lattes with this one for myself and for my son…and he promptly rejected it as tasting of “water with a little coconut added”. on the upside, i got to drink two coconut truffle tea lattes!

ok i am officially upping my rating, my description, and my method for brewing. i mostly kinda followed the latte instructions on the tin, and here’s what i did that came out SO NOM NOM:

2 tsp ish of dry tea
12 oz boiling water

steep for 2 min-ish

meanwhile, microwave 1/3 cup of milk and 1 tsp sugar for 30 seconds in a very large mug

decant steeped tea into hot milk, stir, and enjoy!

OMG SO GOOD

and IIRC, this company is out of business, so when i run out, that’s it. argh. savoring every last bit of this for as long as i can!

Man i was really hoping i would adore this. It is quite tasty, black and also with a bit of sugar, but it is lacking a certain….something…that i was hoping to find. Perhaps if i followed those tea latte instructions…if only i had a cappuccino maker! Ah well. I have a whole tin, so i have plenty of time and tea for experimentation. (As i type this, it occurs to me that this tea would make an awesome baking addition…if i could figure out how to accomplish this…)

I cold brewed this one – about four heaping tablespoons to 2L pitcher overnight. That’s already a good hunk of the tin I got, hopefully this tea is stronger hot brewed.

The hibiscus lends a pretty red color to the tea, and a touch of tartness. I’d told that it’s a little bitter and it tastes nothing like actual sangria. I wouldn’t know about the comparison to actual sangria, but the little bitterness I hardly noticed. I didn’t sweeten and certainly didn’t use carbonated water. The instructions on the tin are a bit confusing – I THINK that it’s telling me to cold brew in seltzer water or ginger ale, but with the flavor level on that LONG cold brew in normal water, I feel like the flavor might not be able to stand up against carbonation. I might try it one day though, I do have a sodastream.