Vintage TeaWorks

Backlog:

I’ve had this chai a few times since I’ve written my original review of it: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/02/13/bourbon-chai-blend-vintage-teaworks/ and I really enjoy this chai.

The “dry” leaf looks wet – as though it has been marinated in honey. The tea smells like bourbon to me (even though there’s no actual bourbon in the tea), perhaps the combination of ingredients evokes thoughts of bourbon.

Sweet and warmly spiced. It’s “spicy” but it’s not a hot type of spice. It’s more like a sweet-spicy kind of spice. The spices are very harmonious in this blend.

A very satisfying chai!

I wasn’t sure what to drink today, so a sipdown of this it is. It’s delightfully citrusy, with a touch of cinnamon and some hay flavors. I can see the comparison to chardonnay, and it’s very nice to drink slowly on a lazy afternoon. Not sure I’ll rebuy, but it was fun to drink!

Thank you, LiberTEAS! This is almost certainly one I wouldn’t have found on my own. I’m glad I’ve tried it now, because I really like it.

This brews up the color of a dark white wine and tastes, if not exactly like wine, at least similar enough that the name fits. It’s one where I can’t really identify individual flavors; it blends into one harmonious one that I like. There is undoubtedly some fruitiness and a tang to it, and a floral note that must come from the rose petals. I’ll have to decide whether I want to buy it as I work my way through the rest of the sample.

From the LiberTEAS sampler I bought a while back

Dry, this one actually smelled a lot like potpourrii…and not in a good way. :/

Once steeped, though, it opened up into a deeply coloured and delightful smelling brew. I’m definitely picking up the papaya and cinnamon with a bit of the orange-citrus-rose notes…the oolong base was an amazing choice and really complemented the multi-layered flavours beautifully. It’s damn tasty.

I’m so crap at describing this tea right now – I’m too busy trying to fit my whole face in the mug and just wrap myself up in the smell. :)

…the only complaint I can really come up with is that it gets a little astringent and bitter as it cools. You may want to hustle and drink this one hot.

Thank you to Darby for sharing a bit of this with me! I opened my little sample pouch and went “mmmmmmm”. The dry leaf is also beautiful. The aroma is kind of fruity with light notes of chai. Cherry is very present in this blend and blends very well with the earthy pu erh. There is light cinnamon\clove notes . The vanilla is in the aftertaste and smooths things over. I really liked this blend. Very unique and tasty. Thanks again Darby!

There were comments yesterday (?) about how wonderful swaps are because you get to try teas that you normally wouldn’t choose for yourself. Sometimes you find these amazing teas, because someone else chose it. This is one of those teas.
I don’t drink wine – I’ve had a couple of other “wine” teas and didn’t really care for them. I would never have bought this, asked for a sample of this, I was actually a little hesitant to try it.
WOW this is FANTASTIC. To me it’s not really wine, but it’s sweet and a little grape esque – maybe a little cherry – hint of vanilla – strange, but in a good way. I really really like this. I would order more of this if I had the opportunity – it’s going on the shopping list.
Thank you so much ifjuly for pushing me outside my comfort zone, into an amazing tea.

Yay! I can finally review this! For the longest time, Steepster kept sending me back to the dashboard whenever I tried to log this. So woo!

This tea is fabulous. The flavors are balanced with the white base so I get both (which I really appreciate). And the fruity flavors are lovely! Apricot (and very much apricot and not peach) is in the forefront, but honeysuckle and jasmine also seep through. It’s a very bright combination of flavors, while still being mellow enough to remind me of drinking wine. I definitely get their ‘light and playful’ tag on this one though! In the aftertaste, there the apricot again and then a creamy lemony flavor.

I really like this one, but the price point is mildly offputting. Thanks so much for the chance to taste this, though, momo!

Sil Sample Sipdown
I’ve been hanging on to the last bit of this for awhile, & today was the day. This is my after breakfast tea, kind of a morning dessert, if you will, & I’m enjoying it, to be sure.

The dry leaf is lovely, with little flowers & kind of a purple-red cast to the leaf. Steeped, it is a nice fruity tasting blend. I’ve never drank Merlot, so I have no idea what it tastes like, but this makes for a tasty cup.

This is the first tea I’ve tried from Vintage TeaWorks, & if it is representative of their other teas, I hope to give them a try someday too. Thanks Sil :)

I’ve never drank Merlot. Actually I haven’t had a drink of any alcoholic beverage (or other substance other than tea) in 29 years. So I have no idea what merlot tastes like, but I will say that this is a very tasty fruity tea & doesn’t taste at all like wine to me, which is probably a good thing! :)
Thanks Sil, for sharing this!

Tried once more, just not a fan of this one.

Thanks for the sample, Azzrian! Forgot that before.

I think I am just weird about plum flavors. Though I believe I steeped this for less time today, so I am actually kind of getting black currant too, but the plum and grape is not suitable for my tastes.

I’m not really a fan of Merlot, so while this was a good tea, it didn’t wow me. I definitely got plum and grape from it. I love the purple flower petals, too.

Definitely would have no idea just by drinking this that it has black currant and licorice.

I was able to steep this for 4 minutes with no astringency or bitterness, impressive. It was a very smooth, full bodied tea that went along well with the fruity notes. But it’s just not a wine I go for at all.

So far the Puerh Cabernet has been my favorite, I still have the rooibos pinot noir to try and I do not have any of the green tea one, but maybe I’ll feel compelled to buy it sometime.

Sipdown! What a blah cold, rainy day. No fun.

I said last time I don’t care for chardonnay. I actually had the most fantastic chardonnay at the Ritz Carlton. Probably because it was the Ritz Carlton. When she said it was chardonnay I wanted to be like GET OUT but I didn’t want to get cut off from that wine. I like the description on here: “Chardonnay has a richness and structure that can be world class….when you grab the right bottle.” They did in fact grab the right bottle. And it turns out it’s super cheap. Well then.

So I was glad I had just enough of this to give it one last try.

I was about to say there is flavor contamination, but no, cinnamon is actually in here. It’s kind of overpowering everything else. As it cools, ripe melon is becoming more apparent. It’s more wine reminiscent this time around compared to the first time I drank it.

But it just doesn’t do it for me like a couple of the others. Was still worth trying, and that’s one less row in my spreadsheet, woo!

PS: I’m sorry to everyone about the tea boxes going around, or not so much going around right now. I hate not being able to be in control about things going wrong and it gets to me to have people waiting this soon after they started. I hope they’re found/moving again soon.

I apologize if this is a bunch of nonsense because after I drank it I went out to a bar just to get out and there was the most amazing IPA.

This really tasted more like a papaya rose oolong to me. Then again I try to avoid Chardonnay as much as possible, though I have a general idea of how it tastes. This to me tasted far better than Chardonnay and it was very delicious with the pumpkin cheesecake bars I made. I ended up also making a maple apple pie because my mom accidentally baked her pecan pie’s crust, and if any had been left when we got back, I would have drank it with a small slice of that pie.

I would definitely have avoided this tea just based on how I associate Chardonnay with this horrible oak taste, but this is far better than any Chardonnay I’ve had. Like I said, strongly papaya and rose, with a little vanilla. Not bad, but not my favorite so far of the Vintage Teaworks teas. Again though not the kind of wine I normally go for so don’t take my word on it.

Tea down! I decided this had to be cold brewed, but when trying to put the lid back on, it wouldn’t stay down. Next thing I know, I’m giving it one more try held in my hand when pop! goes the bottom. Tea falls. I wonder what on earth just happened. Not to fear, most of the tea was saved, and Vintage TeaWorks is so awesome they are sending me a new tube. They changed them too, mine has a plastic lens bottom and they are now metal like the inside of the top. Yay! And they answered really quickly. I feel silly now that I remember it chipped my nail polish the first time. It’s actually one of my favorite tins to have on display even if it apparently doesn’t get along with me.

So…onto cold brewing. I guess it was in there for 15 hours? It’s very, very apricot scented. It does smell like Riesling but more exciting.

I was not too big of a fan of this when I first tried it, which I believe was hot. This cold brew is fantastic. It’s fruity and floral. I like how the honeysuckle has most definitely come out too, becoming stronger as it warms back up from the fridge.

Only problem is I am slightly finding the lemongrass to still be really strong, at least when I have a refilled, cold glass. It starts off really apricot flavored but gets into the strong lemongrass territory where it tastes like fruit loops.

Still tasty anyway!

This tea smells SO GOOD.

On the other hand (hurr hurr, literally?) I am not a fan of the packaging. Chipped my nail polish on three nails trying to get it open. It’s okay because I need to change it up but it was still sad.

Riesling is my favorite wine…at least if it’s on the dry side. Though if it’s a tea I don’t care!

This is very apricot with nice floral notes too. It seems actually really more flavorful then I was imagining it was going to be.

I’m glad this is a small amount because I’m not sure I like it too much, which pains me to say because this was pretty pricey for me compared to other teas I’ve bought lately, coming in at nearly a dollar a cup.

Maybe if I resteep it later, it will taste more like I was expecting. We shall see!

Second steep is very heavy on the lemongrass in that fruit loopy way. I may next time only steep the first cup for 2 minutes instead of the recommended 3.

Thank you so much for the generous samples of these teas, Azzrian! Though I already bought the riesling one because I was sent a free shipping code for leaving it sitting in my cart. So much for the no more buying thing.

Out of the 6 wines Vintage TeaWorks used as inspiration, Cabernet is my favorite. Out of the 6 teas Vintage TeaWorks used in these blends, puerh is my least favorite for flavored tea.

It smells really good…rich and spicy.

And the taste? It’s quite the hybrid between tea and the flavor of wine. And my problem has always been that it seems like low quality puerh ends up in blends, and then brings out fishiness and whatever else that doesn’t match. Not here. I can barely even taste it. There’s a slight earthiness still present but it blends in with everything else beautifully.

The flavor is mostly blackberry and cherry, with a hint of vanilla, cinnamon, and clove. Pretty much just like an awesome cabernet, but far more mellow.

Definitely going for a second steep as soon as I finish this one, this is fantastic.

Second steep just slightly different from the first. It kind of loses the berry. Still, it’s not bad, just more obviously tea and more subtle in the wine flavor.

This is a sample sipdown, and I’m kind of sad to see it go!

If this were a Chardonnay, I would probably review it like:

“Fragrant, delicate, hint of spice. Touch of melon and citrus. Pure and fresh and delicate. Creamy and pleasantly warming on the palate. ‘Happy wine’. Very aromatic for Chardonnay. So supple”

but it’s not, so I’ll review it like:

“Fragrant, delicate, hint of spice. Touch of melon and citrus. Pure and fresh and delicate. Creamy and pleasantly warming on the palate. ‘Happy tea’. Very aromatic for a wine inspired tea. So supple”

And thank you so much QueenOfTarts! This is really an outstanding tea.

This is really, really nice. The wine notes are bold but not overwhelming, and the green tea clearly shines through. There’s a remarkable floral quality to the dry tea that reminds me strongly of grape must. It’s also present in the liquor, but more subtly. A really nice blend.

Sipdown, 222. Ok, so this one is Verdant, but I cold steeped it last night and drank it with lunch. Thanks to Azzrian for this sample!

After my experience with the Pink Sonoma wine-flavored tea (basically, hot white wine does not fly), I decided to cold steep this one. I have to say I was kind of shocked by the result. Let me first say that this in no way reminds me of any Chardonnay I’ve ever had. So lets just take that out of the mix and go with fruity oolong instead, ok? Because it’s better if you don’t expect Chardonnay. The Pink Sonoma was successful in recreating a wine-like feeling even when hot, but nothing about this tea reminds me of any wine.

So yeah, I was surprised when I took a sip of this and got spice, fruit and caramel from the flavors of this. Heavily in all of those areas, especially spice and caramel, which must have come from the cinnamon and vanilla bean. I feel like it really reminded me of some other tea but I could never place it. Pretty tasty overall, but not what it advertised.

Thank you Azzrian for including this in my special Christmas package last month!

My goodness it is blended pu-erfection yesIjustsaidthat.

It really does taste like a spiced or mulled wine. Sweet deep berry notes that taste like they will stain your lips. How decadent. Thank you so much for sharing!

Sweet, fruity (not overly). Lemongrass comes through pretty faithfully.

Wow.. you know those teas that explode and blossom on your tongue? This is absolutely one of those teas. I really wasn’t expecting to get such an intense flavor.. but I’m really enjoying it!

Wow.. you know those teas that explode and blossom on your tongue? This is absolutely one of those teas. I really wasn’t expecting to get such an intense flavor.. but I’m really enjoying it!The smell of the brewed tea is of cinnamon with oolong and a light dusting of fruit, a bit like a raisin. If I judged a tea based alone on its smell, this one probably wouldn’t one of my favorites. It’s just a little bit bizarre and very musky… on the verge of being like smelly feet?

Sipping… there are so many layers to this tea! What I notice first is the vanilla bean and the fruit, followed closely by a very warming cinnamon note. Cinnamon and I don’t typically mix, but I can handle it in this tea because it’s not explicitly cinnamon, more of a warm feeling on the tongue.

The more I drink this tea, the more I think it tastes almost like a fruity shortbread cookie. I say shortbread because it’s a little drying in the same way a lightly sweetened shortbread cookie dries out the mouth, not because it’s buttery. While I don’t think this cup is too sweet, it does satisfy any craving I have for cookies or candies. The musky smell does find its way into the aftertaste… and I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s kind of funky tasting.

I really love the layers that are present in the tea, as strange they might be together. I wish that the musk could be removed from this blend as I think everything else works very well together.

Thank you so much, Azzrian, for sharing some of this blend with me! What a nice treat!

This is probably my favorite Vintage Teaworks tea. Nice and smooth, a hint of licorice, and just slightly sweet.

This is pretty interesting. It’s very cherry (and maybe cinnamon?) and slightly pu-erh. Pretty good. I’d even suggest it to people who aren’t fans of pu-erh, just to give it a try.