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I think this is the first Mlesna tea I’ve tried that hasn’t been too bitter. Finally!

The Ceylon tea base is smooth, plain and quite light. The cinnamon is gentle but definitely detectable. It’s pleasant and is great for washing down biscuits and cakes and sweet things.

There’s actually some natural sweetness to this tea, I think. Maybe it’s the lightness of the cinnamon, but it instantly makes me think of cinnamon spiced treats, rather than a heavy chai.

Besides that, there’s not much else to say about this tea. It’s plain yet pleasant.

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/mlesna-cinnamon-tea-review/

Good tea, very refreshing. Perfect for when you order pizza, massively over-eat, and can barely waddle to the kettle. AKA, my Saturday evening.

Peppermint and nettle go well together. It’s very minty, sweet and bright, but the nettle earthiness adds a little depth and contrast. It’s well balanced. It doesn’t add to my extremely full stomach, it just freshens things up a bit. I don’t feel so greasy now.

I was sent this tea by Bion. I don’t usually pick out “detox” teas myself, as frankly… it’s hogwash. But the description of this tea from the company doesn’t describe it as a way to detox your body in the modern sense. It talks more about helping/strengthening/clearing your digestive system and immune system. I think there is some evidence or at least old folk tales that say mint and nettle do that.

Any way, I don’t feel misled by this tea at all.

Blog review from last year (Bion sent me 2 boxes and I’m still working through them https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/bion-detox-tea-review/

Summer Sun, described as “Pineapple Mango Taste”.

Pineapple, ready-to-eat apricots and peaches dominate the aroma, and even though I can’t exactly pull out the mango aroma that I was expecting, this combination of ingredients sort of come together to create it anyway.

In that sense, it’s a clever tea before you even take that first sip.

Herbaceous lemon notes are the first flavour to emerge. Lemon verbena and lemongrass kicking in before anything else.

And I am getting the warmth in the back of my throat from the chili in this blend. Though I can’t rule out a placebo here. I was really focusing on my throat sensations while drinking this.

Taking a few more sips, there’s a slight tropical note building in the body of this tea. Lemon herbs still dominate though. It’s a shame because fresh pineapple and mango are delicious.

Halfway through the cup, passionfruit and apple start to emerge. Nice, but subtle.

The texture of this tea seems smooth at first but now it’s catching in my throat. It feels slightly fibrous, like lemongrass.

Overall it’s pleasant and definitely reminiscent of ‘summer sun’ but it is very subtle in flavour and pineapple/mango notes are severely lacking.

On the other hand, the chili effect is pleasant and it’s refreshing to find a fruit tea for summer that doesn’t contain hibiscus.

This is the most complex-tasting fruit tea I’ve ever tried. 15 minutes of slowly brewing a whole 5g of tea in just 200ml of water is so worth it.

It’s described as blood orange pomegranate flavour, but I get more passion fruit from it than pomegranate. Sweet tropical fruits and citrus swirl in the aroma, tart blood orange sweetness dominates the flavour.

Notes of raspberries and passionfruit create that exotic berry twist, but it’s the hints of fig, pomegranate and apple that give this tea depth and complexity.

I was gifted this tea to review on Instagram, but I don’t think that has biased me. I was expecting the tea to be mediocre (as it was free) but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

My only complaint is that it is very dusty. That last 1/4 of the tea in my cup where the dust settles is undrinkable.

Pic: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKy7YtqH2eq/

Starting my day with a cup of this. I’ve been desperately trying to sipdown Adagio’s Candy Apple black tea the past few days (the bottom of the tea tin is in sight) but I really need a break from it.

This Sencha tea came in a selection box, so I don’t have much of it to drink. It’s still as good as when I first reviewed it though.

It’s fresh and grassy in aroma, with a hint of astringency and sourness that you get from lemon juice.

Once brewed, hay-like notes emerge and the sweetness intensifies. Sugar snap peas and dew-damp morning grass.

As I pointed out in my review, this is not the only Sencha tea that T2 offer. This one is labelled “Sencha” while another is labelled “Japanese Sencha” which kinda suggests that this one isn’t actually from Japan. So, is it still Sencha? It’s something I ponder as I sip this cup.

Initial blog review for this tea was in early December: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/t2-sencha-tea-review/

I did not get on too well with this tea.

Initially, the teabag smells malty and brisk with a sweetness that reminds of me sticky ginger loaf cake. But that’s gone by the time you’ve brewed it and there’s nothing left but a generic, plain black tea aroma.

Slightly malty and brisk, but mostly just tannins.

The flavour was unbelievably bitter with a weird sweetness sweeping in at the last second as you swallow. That sweet bitter combination reminds of orange pith. And the body of the tea is quite light and watery too, I found.

Definitely one to drink with milk and honey!

https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/mlesna-sabaragamuwa-tea-review/

Martin got around to reviewing this tea before I did – and I completely agree with his note. This is an okay tea but nothing special, and definitely reminiscent of an English Breakfast blend.

It’s smooth, pleasant and bright, although I found that the tannin notes and malt are dominating the aroma more than the flavour. But then, I only brewed for 3 minutes to drink it without milk.

I also found some bitterness on the back of my tongue at the end of each sip. It’s subtle though and doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

Taking pictures for the blog in winter is hard. I’m out of fresh flowers from the garden, so I made do with a little fox pot plant and matching face mask: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/mlesna-kandy-tea-review/

Trying to get this tea sipped down quickly as the Whittard mini tea tins aren’t stackable. They take up sooo much shelf space when you have too many.

This is a rich and extravagant chocolate tea. The aroma is just like dark cocoa powder with notes of dried ginger root. It brews into a fairly watery tea (at least, it seems watery because you can’t help but compare it to thick milky hot chocolate) that takes a few sips to really build up.

Once the flavour has fully saturated your taste buds, it’s rich and intensely chocolatey. Like Bourneville dark chocolate – slightly bitter, very rich, too much to eat more than a few squares at a time.

I’m glad that it’s not artificial tasting though!

The orange is subtler but it does come into play for a little while at the beginning of the cup. Once you’re over halfway down, the ginger and chocolate overtakes everything. This tea has got some fire in it.

I’ve tried brewing with 1tsp plain black tea and 1tsp of this tea, instead of the recommended 2tsp. But it was still no match for the chocolate ginger combo.

Next up, I’m going to try simmering it with milk on the stove, like a chai.

Pre-Christmas photos on the blog: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/whittard-spiced-chocolate-orange-tea-review/

I know it’s an afternoon tea, but today I’m drinking it with breakfast.

I really like this tea – it surprised me by being far better than I expected. It just refuses to brew too dark or strong, no matter what. The aroma is quite bright, slightly citrusy but still a strong black tea. Tannins and malt make an appearance too.

I’m drinking it from a mug today, but really, this is a fancy teacup kind of tea in my mind.

The flavour is light, smooth and slightly citrusy but without bitterness. I remarked in my initial blog review that it lacks complexity. While it still does, I think I can appreciate it more now that I’ve been drinking it for several months. The simplicity is the charm of it.

This is a good tea to have with a slice of lemon.

Blog review images: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/boh-garden-palas-afternoon-tea-review/

Also, there’s a Steepster note on this tea from years ago by LaFleurBleue who bought it directly from the plantation in the Cameron Highlands. When covid is over (eventually) I’d like to visit there too.

My morning cup of tea today is Basilur’s Radella green tea. I’ve got the teabag version, rather than the loose leaf.

It’s a pretty basic, simple green tea. Grassy hay notes swirl around in the aroma and the flavour is light and slightly sweet like freshly mowed grass. It’s smooth too, with no bitterness. Refreshing.

An inoffensive cup of green tea. It’s not something I’d go out of my way to buy, but it’s still pleasant. It makes a great mixer with fruit tisanes.

Blog review with images: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/basilur-radella-tea-review/