Kristal Send Message

A coworker of mine gave me a bunch of teas from Steepers, but only this one had not gone rancid or stale. It’s still old, but drinkable.

This tea brews up strong like all mates, and of course has a very herbaceous taste with a strong roasted/smoky flavor. I don’t drink mate/guayusa teas very often because of the caffeine, but my husband is not sensitive to caffeine and he loves this tea. He’ll probably get to drink up most of it ;)

Another tea from the sampler pack. Unfortunately, it seems like I received a lot of broken leaves and dust in my sample. Probably since it was a sample. Either way, when I scooped out tea to make my mug full I did get almost all whole leaves to try it out- nice.

This tea is one of my favourites from the sampler pack. It is not too prone to astringency, not too bold or weak, and very floral, sweet, and vegetal. I’m especially loving the vegetal aspect of this tea. Yum.

Unlike the Yunnan tea I just reviewed, this one is a re-purchase. The vegetal character does make it unique to me and this tea is good for multiple steepings. It is one of the most pricey teas from iHOT at $12.50/50g (only gyokuro and jasmine pearls are more expensive), but that’s the beauty of trying a sample first.

One of the teas from the sampler pack I got from iHOT. I’ve tried it several times now, actually just finishing up the last of the sample.

Let me just start off by saying how pretty this tea is. Because it’s tips all of the leaves are the same size and shape, almost reminding me of the look of fennel. The uniform look is really nice.

So with that being said, I did enjoy this tea, but I dunno if I would repurchase. The taste isn’t unique to me and the tea is really prone to astringency, yet it’s not that great for multiple resteepings. This tea is pretty inexpensive so I think there would be other greens I would prefer over this one in that price range.

I find with fruit flavoured teas, a lot of the time they’ll SAY it tastes like a particular tea, but when you drink it it’s just vaguely fruit or sweet but distinctive. This blueberry rooibos does a pretty good job with it’s blueberry flavour. I suppose that’s what happens when you use dehydrated blueberries in your tea! I did enjoy it straight up, but I’m wondering how it’ll tasted iced as well. We’ll have to see!

Mulberry Magic from DAVID’s tea is a staple for me. However, when I saw that iHOT sold mulberry leaves for $6.00/50g as opposed to about $10/50g for Mulberry Magic from DAVIDs, I knew I needed to try this out and be economical.

I noticed that the leaves are VERY long (some are about 2.5 inches!) and more straight than with mulberry magic. Even still, it brews up just like mulberry magic: dark, muddled green with a very floral, grass, and sweet flavour that has depth to it. Very nice. I always brew mulberry strong so I never noticed the macadamia nuts with Mulberry Magic, so this is a great substitute.

Good amount of bergamont flavouring in this rooibos blend. Yum. I think I like the Cream of Earl Grey rooibos blend better though. Still though- this tea is a good substitute for people like myself who cannot drink black tea but still like bergamot flavouring.

I currently have 3 genmaicha teas in my collection but haven’t been drinking genmaicha lately! Luckily this is just a sample.

Not much to say- a nice roasted rice + popcorn flavour with the taste of fresh grass in the background. Nice. I hope to get a move on with this genmaicha teas soon..

Not usually one for flavored greens, but since this is decaf I don’t really care. Made a pot of this for the hubs and I, then took some tea out of the pot for a cup (and brought some for a short evening shift too). A not too weak, not strong vanilla taste with the undertones of grass. Lovely. I find that straight, decaf green tea is not nearly as good as the straight, regular-caf stuff since the decaffeination process creates a strange taste, but adding the vanilla takes away that strange taste while still having the pleasant grassy undertones. I think this shall replace the straight decaf stuff I have!

Finally used up my $50 gift card my husband got me for my bday (dec 14, so it’s been 3 months!). I’m really impressed with how much tea I got for $50. iHOT’s prices are so much better than most companies I’ve ordered from (example: most of iHOT’s rooibos teas are $5.75/50g instead of the avg $7.00/50g from DAVIDs) and they have great quality. Not to mention, I watched them fill up the bags of tea and I noticed they were giving me 60-70g for the price of 50g (they sell in denominations of 50g). What a deal and great customer service!

Anywho, I brewed this tea up for prob 8min, 2tsp of tea in 10oz of 200F water. Earl Grey Cream indeed! Bergamot and vanilla flavours are more prominent than the rooibos- which is hard to find in flavoured rooibos blends (especially vanilla). I want to try this as a latte. It’s so creamy I’m sure it would wok wondrously. I’ll have no probably drinking this one down!

I’ve had this tea for a while, but never had to drink it up until now. I caught a little bit of a cold- although it has not progressed beyond a bit of a sore throat since I caught it three days go. My husband has more a cough along with a sore throat, but not so much for me.

In terms of taste, this is a very strong licorice tea. I don’t care for the taste, but it does provide some relief. So weighing taste vs medicinal properties, I’ll rate this one a 65. It’s not one I drink “for fun”, but it helps when I need it.