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Thank you brandy3392 for sending me this generous sample!

Another EXCELLENT tea! The smell of this is intoxicating! It smells like creamy almond goodness, oh my god I can’t even handle it! I got so scared that I oversteeped this one, but in reality it only really went for an extra minute or so. It was still excellent!

This was so sweet with just the flavoring! I added no sweetening and still got WONDERFUL flavor! Gahhhh I love this one so much. It’s sweet and creamy and almondy and sweet and sososososososoososososososososososososososososososo good! I’m getting annoying, I can tell, so I’ll stop.

Just.

Soooo good.

NOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!

Thank you Angel and the Teavivre team for sending me this! It’s hard to believe that I haven’t even reviewed all of the teas they sent me….. I’m working on it!

So, I’m pretty sure that black teas are my favorite. Actually, scratch that, I am sure. I like how reliable they are and how hard they are (most of the time) to mess up. I just generally really like them (I’m going to make an order from Upton hopefully very soon to try some of their millions of blacks, I’m so excited!). This one is no exception.

The folks at Teavivre know their stuff. And they know it well. This one is super yummy. Not quite as good as the Bailin Gongfu, but still very yummy. Others have described this one perfectly, so I’m just going to basically back them up. This one has a very definite yam flavor base-slightly potato-y (in a not yucky way) but with that yam sweetness. Very good. As it cools more, the yam starts to turn more into a yam-mixed-with-a-regular-potato flavor. The potato note comes out more and the sweetness backs off. There’s also a bright, almost citrus, note in the front. Absolutely delicious. I also get kind of a honey sweetness stirring around, playing with your tastes. Also, a little bit of a malty hint, but just a nudge. Not a full-forced push. This one is so good. I love it!

Thank you again Teavivre and I can’t wait to finish this sample off!

Backlog!

This is one of the teabag selections from the selection that I ordered from LiberTEAS. I get kinda lazy at night, and so I go for a bagged tea sometimes. As I said, I’ve been on a spicy/chai kick and so I decided to finally try this one. It’s just okay. I would like to try again with the other teabag I got. This wasn’t nearly as strong or spicy as I’d like. It was okay, but it didn’t really scream chai to me.

Backlog!

Thanks Darby for sending me a very generous amount of this and others! Much appreciated! :)

I really like this one! I’ve been on a spicy tea/chai kick the past couple of days, especially at night, and I have no idea why because I’m not generally the biggest fan of chais or spicy teas, but I have been having cravings for them. This one is super yummy! It smells and tastes like mulled apple cider with the added benefit of tea! I don’t think I would repurchase it, but it is good!

Backlog!

Thank you Michelle! I actually really like this one. It’s nice and sweet so I don’t have to add anything. It’s not a spicy cinnamon but a sweet one, which compliments the apple nicely. I can’t really taste chamomile but that’s okay because I think if I could it would be funky. This is nice and smells WONDERFUL!

Another backlog! Thank you Amanda for letting me try this!

This one was rather unremarkable. Not bad, but definitely not excellent, either. I don’t hate it as much as other people do. I mean, it’s definitely not disgusting but it isn’t that horrible. If I was offered this, I wouldn’t refuse. It was tart and I got a definite fruity flavor, although I couldn’t really pick out any definite pomegranate, raspberry, OR green tea notes.

Thanks again Amanda!

Thank you Michelle for sending me this tea along with your host of others!

Please excuse me but I will have yet another set of backlogs, though some are more recent than others. This particular one is from Sunday. It’s been very stressful as AP Exams as well as the All State Music Festival for Vermont are next week and I’m stressin’! I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and review stuff but I do have a little time now so I’m going to catch up!

I actually really like this one. I have to be suuuuper careful because it can get really astringent and unpleasant really easily, but if you get it right this one is yummy. I generally lower the temp when I brew Adagio’s blacks because I find they are very finicky. It has a nice black tea flavor that really elevates the coconut, and the tea isn’t fighting the flavor-they work together! It’s really yummy and the coconut flavor is natural and doesn’t taste like fake shredded coconut, so that’s good! Thanks again Michelle!

In other news, I WAS ACCEPTED INTO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S SUMMER PRECOLLEGE PROGRAM IN NYC!!!!! I’m suuuuuuuuper happy, even though it’s looking doubtful of whether I can go or not due to financial reasons, I am super excited that I was accepted!

This one was sent to me forever and a half ago by Emilie and I’ve had it once before, but I never got around to reviewing it (this seems to be a common theme among the past few teas I’ve tried….)

I really like this one. It’s sweet and fruity and overall really tasty! I can’t wait to try it iced (Emilie was kind enough to send me a full retail sample bag of it so I have enough to make a few cups), because I feel like it will be even tastier! This one smells a lot like Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries (I had that same experience with another tea from Adagio…. and from Emilie, what a coincidence!). I really like it though. This one is good!

Thanks again Emilie!

This one is one of the many delicious looking samples sent to me by brandy3392. Thanks!

I thought this one was a rooibos because in the little baggie there was this red powder covering everything, making it look completely red, so I thought it was rooibos. However, it wasn’t until I measured it out into my strainer and came here to see if there was recommended steeping time that I learned that it was a black tea….. Oh well, too late now!

I like this one! I can definitely see how it could get bitter easily-I steeped with a lower temp for only 3 minutes and it is verging on the bitter side so next time I try this one I will make sure to only do it for 2.5 minutes. I really like how I can taste the black tea. The flavoring is definitely on the back side for me. I get a really nice and sweet mango flavor, a little artificial but that’s okay because I love EVERYTHING mango. There’s also a nice passion fruit flavor (side note: DID YOU KNOW THEY MAKE PASSION FRUIT GREEK YOGURT?! I got some at the store today and I’m so excited to try it!) that I get. As this one cools the flavor comes out a little more. I thinks some sweetening could help elevate the flavors a little more but I like it where it is right now!

This is yummy! Thanks again brandy3392!

I had this tea this morning, so I guess it’s a backlog? Maybe?

I got this one in the Steepster Select package that I won (the April box) and I’ve had it once before this but for some reason I haven’t reviewed it yet…….. Blame it on the laziness. Anyways, I really like this one a lot. I definitely like the stimulation effects of guayusa more than mate. I like mate a lot but it’s more comparable to coffee than guayusa, which gives more of a subtle energy rush than an energy hit. It’s slightly vegetal and grassy in flavor, with a little bit of a lemon taste in the background. It’s smooth and yet bold, and very enjoyable.

I really liked this but I feel like I will like flavored guayusas more (I’ve had the Earl Grey Guayusa from 52teas and it was just okay) and I look forward to trying more from Runa.