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I thought I’d withhold the rating until I tried it cold, so that’s what I did this morning. But, nope. Still totally missing the coffee flavor. Bummer :( It’s not a bad tea as I still enjoy the base matcha, but if you want coffee flavoring look elsewhere.

Hm, kind of bummed about this one. There is basically no coffee flavor noticeable in this matcha. If I concentrate really hard on it I can just make out a bit of coffee in the aftertaste, but I may just be tricking myself into it. I almost wonder if I got sent a plain matcha by mistake.

I appreciate that RedLeaf offers multiple customization options, but I feel like a few of their base options are much too light. It’s especially a bummer that the next flavor option costs $4 more, while after that it’s only $1. It makes me feel like they should maybe charge a dollar or two more and offer better flavoring in the base options. After all why buy flavored matcha if the flavor isn’t noticeable? I would really love a coffee matcha, but if I order from them again I think I’ll pick the espresso matcha.

I just placed an order with 3 Leaf Tea, so fingers-crossed that their flavors are better. It will be great having another option for flavored matcha.

Oh, this is yummy. I’m not as good at describing green tea as I am black, but this is super delightful. It’s quite savory. Not as grassy or seaweed-y as I find most other Japanese greens. But not floral like Chinese greens either. It tastes most similar to a Sencha but with heavy creamy spinach notes. It has a nice silky mouthfeel with no bitterness.
The leaves are gorgeous as well. I was assuming that it would be completely stems, but there is a pretty decent amount of leaves in there as well. Probably 50/50. It’s just as lovely to look at as it is to drink.

This one is okay. I often receive these sachets as free samples when ordering from Harney, and have been trying to sip them all down. It isn’t a remarkable tea by any means, but it’s still nice. Far better than most English Breakfast teas you’ll find in the supermarket. I don’t love Keemun on it’s own, but this seems a good quality Keemun. I can tell it’s the same used in Harney’s delightful Queen Catherine blend. But on its own it’s just a bit dull. Malty, sweet and a little grainy. If you take your tea with milk I bet you would be fond of this one.

This isn’t generally the type of tea I’d chose for myself, but I received this as a free sample with my order a few months ago, and thought it was time I finally gave it a try. I have to say it looks lovely. Smallish leaves, but peppered with lovely rose petals, lavender flowers, and green leaves that I think must be the lemon myrtle.
I brewed it on the low end of the recommendation. 190º for 3 minutes. It’s quite nice. The peppery white tea base is surprisingly noticeable, even with the cold I have. The lavender and rose meld well together and the lemon myrtle is bright. It’s light but still flavorful. Definitely not something I would pick up for myself, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to someone who enjoys this style of tea.

This an interesting tea. It doesn’t taste much like I expect a Keemun to taste. It’s very mineral-y and a bit sweet with some wood notes. But not as earthy I as I would have thought. I would be lovely, but the mineral notes are really overpowering everything else. The leaves are gorgeous. Quite curly and speckled with lots of gold. Overall, not a bad tea. I wouldn’t buy it again but it won’t be a hassle to go through the oz or so I have.

Out of all the A&D blends I’ve tried so far, this is my least favorite. It’s certainly not bad but I find it a little bland. Especially in comparison to the Oktoberfest blend I tried previously. It’s malty and a little sweet but there’s not too much else there. I know this is a Ceylon blend and I’ve never been super fond of them so take this review with a grain of salt. I do wish I liked it more because I absolutely love the tin. But it’s probably not worth $20 for just that :)

Thanks to Sil for this sample. I’m so happy to be able to try all these blends before springing for the full sizes.

I’m not usually a drinker of Darjeeling, but I’ve had this sample laying around for months now and thought it was finally time to test it out. I forgot to set my kettle to a low temp so I boiled my water and let it cool down to about 200º which is a bit higher than the recommended 185º.

Thankfully, it wasn’t at all bitter. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting it to be so smooth. It’s a bit fruity as I anticipated, surprisingly it’s also a bit malty. It tastes like a very light Assam. Really, it’s quite nice and completely different than I expect Darjeelings to be. I’ll have to get around to testing out some more as I quite enjoy this one.

Oh man, this is good! I don’t taste any smoke, but that’s okay. This is so malty and sweet and delicious I don’t miss it much at all. Maybe the smoke comes out as it cools, but I sipped this one so quickly I wouldn’t know :) Even steeped at around 3 minutes it’s incredibly bold and flavorful. So delightful. I hope they put this out again next year. I’m totally bummed I missed out on it.

Thanks for the sample Sil!

I don’t tend to like milk oolongs, but Berylleb sends a few of these (in sweet red satin pouches) with every order so I have quite a collection built up, and I thought it was time to try one. In my experience natural milk oolongs tend to be flowery, vegetal and just a hint buttery despite the name. Not my favorite. But this one, from the second you open the bag, is reminiscent mainly of peaches. The smell is incredibly strong, and while the taste is somewhat mellowed, peach is really quite prominent. I can slightly discern the oolong base and there’s a nice amount of creamy buttery flavor. Honestly, it tastes exactly like I remember Peaches ‘n Cream oatmeal tasting like. Is it really unflavored? I’ve never had anything like it.
I’m only on the first steep, but I’m interested in seeing how it progresses.