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When you open the tea tin to these mesh teabags, you get a wonderful vanilla wave of scent!!! I cut open the sachet and put into my own infuser. I saw that the tea inside was not a typical teabag powder and dust but rather real loose leaf tea with lots of tiny vanilla bean seeds and pieces of vanilla bean.
The liquor is a rose brown color with very vanilla scent.
Flavor is very vanilla with an orange zest in the background. This Ceylon black tea base can take a little milk so I added just a touch and it created a creamy yummy vanilla cream treat!
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7/3/14
Having a cup of this with milk in it this afternoon as a snack. It is hot outside in the desert but I’m in the air conditioning so hot tea with milk it is!!

I first tasted this tea in Seattle at Vital Tea Leaf. They have a wonderful sit-down tasting complete with gong fu and you get to try lots of different teas. This one stood out among all the ones I was tasting. I started getting a warmth and a serious high off of it. It is so sweet and fantastic. The qi alone is worth drinking this tea but it is also a fabulous high mountain Oolong that is super sweet. It is blended with high quality ginseng powder.
The lady told me there are different qualities and types of ginseng so you can get different effects from them. I bought some of this to take home and am super pleased that it is brewing up to taste just like her brew did. I love it.
Dry Leaf: smells so good, it is little rolled Oolong nuggets coated in a moss green colored ginseng powder.
Method: 195F – 10 oz ceramic Gong Fu pot 45" steep 1 tsp tea per 8 oz water Steeped 3 times but can go up to 8
Wet Leaf: Large dark green leaves that some have been cut and would appear some have been leaf bitten which might be contributing to the sweet scent and flavor.
Liquor: Light golden color with a sweet scent.
Flavor: Sweet and delicious Oolong. This tea affects you with qi. It has a sweet aftertaste—all the while you are really focusing and getting a bit high lol. I really feel it in my eye area and Crown Chakra area which is really cool.
Definitely going into my cupboard.
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7/17/14
Having some of this today and I needed it after a bad sleepless night!!!! It’s helping big time!!!

I got this box of teabags on my vacation to the Seattle, Washington area. MarketSpice store originated in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and since 1911, Huckleberry Tea has been a part of the collection.
It contains no sugar; but has black tea, natural and artificial flavors.
When you open this package of tea bags,,,,,it is very berrylicious scented!!! It smells like a purple grape juice, blackberry, and blueberry combo. Must be what a huckleberry smells and tastes like. Would love to have had a huckleberry to know for sure.
I brewed 8 ounces in a Pyrex measuring cup with just boiling water and 1 tea bag. Steeped for 3 minutes.
The liquor is dark purple-brown and has the scent of grapes and berries.
The flavor is mostly in the nose. It has lots of scent of purple grape juice and berries but the flavor on the tongue is a bit less sweet and has a touch of wild bitter grass flavor to it.
I will have to play with this one, it might need less of a steep time to bring out some sweetness. It definitely has a sweet scent.
Nonetheless, very fun and unique tea bag that I will always remember from my visits to Seattle’s Pike Place Market!!!!

Origin: Cederberg, South Africa
Dry Leaf: Looks and actually smells like sweet sawdust (in a good way). Very fine auburn and orange sticks.
Method: 1 tsp herb to 12 oz water ; Western style- classic oval teapot; 212F for 4 minute steep.
Wet Leaf: Tiny little sticks that are a deeper auburn now. Scents of honey and raw rhubarb.
Liquor: Deep auburn color and clear. Also with scents of honey and the raw rhubarb. The sawdust scent is subtle but steps back in.
Flavor: Sweet, woody, rhubarb. Interesting flavor. I have not had straight Rooibos before and it’s pretty good. Wouldn’t favor it over tea but I like a caffeine free herbal option for night time.
It is good with a cookie, it brings out its sweetness. Now I know what straight Rooibos tastes like so I can distinguish it in herbal blends.

From the Steepster Select Box; June, 2014

Origin: Sri Lanka
Dry Leaf: Pretty dark dark brown twisted tea with bright orange flower pieces mixed in. Really smells like fresh apricot and dried peaches!
Method: 1 tsp tea 12 oz water 212F 3 minutes steep
Wet Leaf: Very fruity scented and the orange flowers have remained fairly orange and pretty. Tea is still fairly twisted but unfurls to be cut then twisted.
Liquor: Deep clear orange with apricot/peach scent
Flavor: Very unique tasting. It isn’t dominant in the peach/apricot flavor, it lets the tea come thru as well. Doesn’t need milk but I added a splash to create a creamy apricot dessert a la mode flavor!!
Very enjoyable flavored tea.

From the Steepster Select Box; June, 2014

Origin: Uji, Japan
Dry Leaf: Lovely Sencha tea bathed in Matcha tea. This is cool looking and it smells like creamy Matcha. Very Green!!
Method: 2 tsp tea for 16 oz water in a classic oval teapot, Western style. 175F and steeped for 1.5 minutes.
Wet Leaf: Gorgeous, delicate classic green and chopped. Looks like fresh cooked chopped spinach or herbs.
Liquor: Beautiful After Dinner Mint green color. Scents of fresh cooked spinach and matcha.
Flavor: Light spinach and creamy mouthfeel. VERY delicious and satisfying green tea!! Absolutely no bitterness or astringency even when I brewed it Western style!! I usually brew delicate green teas like Sencha in a Kyusu with very short steeps to keep from burning them so I LOVE that this one seems to be protected by the Matcha and you can brew a nice big easy pot of this. I am enjoying a large pot with my little green tea type white cup so I am getting the convenience of Western brew but the beauty of my little Japanese drinking cup.
This is definitely a great tea that I would drink everyday at lunch time!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select Box; June, 2014

Origin: Fujian, China
Dry Leaf: This is a very fresh, herbal and sweet- scented white peony! Nice mix of green leaves and lots of silver needles mixed in too.
Method: I weighed this tea because white peony is so light as a feather that I wanted to get the Steepster parameters in grams bc they always have great brewing instructions. By weighing it (total of 6 grams), I ended up using the whole package in my infuser for a two cup (16oz) pot, Western style. 190F and steeped for 2 minutes.
Wet Leaf: Smell like pumpernickel bread, green leaves and fresh.
Liquor: Pretty pink champagne color, sweet honey scent. As it cools, the scent of butter shortbread or biscuits is very inviting!!
Flavor: Rich, creamy, sweet, very full-bodied white peony!! There is a tiny tiny hint of a vegetal flavor which I will compare to water chestnut or sunchoke,,it is very subtle. This is one of the better white peonies I have tried and I have tried a few because I love white tea!! Wow!!! Steepster is not playin’ around,,they have sourced some really good teas for their new store!!!! Love it!!

Re steeped these leaves and the flavor is still delicious and full, no bitterness or astringency in the second steeping either. Very good quality tea.
Paired some fresh figs from my tree with this tea and that is a perfect pairing bc they have similar notes. Two pots of this on a desert July afternoon,,I am tea drunk now lol!! Good stuff!!

From the Steepster Select Box; June, 2014

This is my first proper cup of Earl Grey tea. I went straight from Lipton and Teavana to Yunnan blacks, Oolongs, etc. so I was very intrigued by the scent of real Earl Grey!! I also got a proper British style bone china teacup and saucer (bc all I had was Asian style tea ware) which I absolutely think is gorgeous and adds to the experience.
Origin: Sri Lanka
Dry Leaf: Black and twisted leaves with the scent of the Bergamot Orange oil
Method: 212F 1 tsp tea for 12 oz water steeped for 3 minutes
Wet Leaf: Cut with scents of the essential oil
Liquor: Smells of some light smoke and has a beautiful light orange color. Very clear.
Flavor: Light with touches of the Bergamot Orange oil that gives the tea a subtle citrus taste. This tea is meant to have milk and sugar if you like. I don’t ever add sugar but I added a splash of milk. How delicious when you do that bc this makes the citrus notes come to the forefront and blend into a creamy citrus tea. There is no astringency or bitterness in this tea so I am very pleased with my first experience with a true Earl Grey. Thank you Steepster!!!

From the Steepster Select Box; June, 2014

Just got back from Seattle and Northwest Washington state. We even crossed the border into Canada for a bit. It was so nice and cool and it’s tea and coffee country so I had a blast!!!!
Here are my tea notes from the week!!

6/22 classic chai tea latte hot Starbucks/Teavana PHX Sky Harbor airport
Nice tea and spice blend…not too spicy but very sweet additives so I would like less sweet

6/22 Vital Tea Leaf in Pike Place Market- Seattle- sit down tasting —http://www.vitaltealeafseattle.com
They have tastings complete with bamboo tray and gong fu style brewing. Everyone gets a little cup and you get to experience some of their most popular teas. We tried a sheng that had been aged in bamboo, a five year old shu, jasmine green tea, and a ginseng oolong. I loved all of the teas and I bought some of the ginseng oolong to take home. It had a sweet flavor and the energy and focus that it gave you was crazy awesome!!
They have cool apothecary jars filled with teas, osmanthus, giant tea pearls, flowering teas, Chinese medicine herbals for health, and so much more. They also have a wonderful selection of yixing pots, cups, bamboo gong fu trays, tea pets, and tools.
It was so fun and will definitely go to this tea room every time I am in Seattle.

6/22 – they have a big Dutch section in the grocery store in Lynden Washington,, I found a fun Fruits of the Forest tea by Pickwick that I can’t wait to try at home. I brought an infuser with me for morning tea and I have been drinking Rishi White Peony and saving the teas I buy for when I get home so I don’t open all the packages and make a travel mess in my suitcase lol.
6/22 Hotel evening- Farmer Brothers herbal tea Enchanting Moments- teabag with ingredients: chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, and orange blossoms. For a tea bag from a commercial delivery coffee co.. This was really really good.. Very good balance with no overpowering from any of the ingredients. Had a natural sweetness and a plum hue from the hibiscus.

6/23
Wood’s Coffee right by Canadian border in Lynden, Washington- iced blueberry white tea – delicious, refreshing, and you can taste the white tea with a sweet accent of blueberry. Very yummmm! Woods coffee is so nice too..staff so nice and interior is like a Cabin in the woods with dim lighting; huge, comfy leather chairs, evergreen tree, moose, and rock fireplace decor.

6/23 Hotel Farmer Brother’s herbal tea Lively Lemon teabag with ingredients: rose hips, lemongrass, lemon peel, lemon Verbena, natural flavors, hibiscus, peppermint, citric acid.
The scent is definitely lemongrass and the hue is light pink punch color from the hibiscus. Flavor is not a fruit lemon but rather a lemon more close to citronella. But hey,,this is a tea bag from a commercial delivery coffee co and I’m on vacay so it’s still pretty darn good !
Later the citronella note steps back and allows sweetness from the rose hips and hibiscus to step up. There was a refreshing feeling (but not flavor-which was good) from the peppermint so it develops into an enjoyable cup:)

6/23 Hotel Farmer Brothers herbal tea Misty Mint tea bag with ingredients: peppermint, lemongrass, spearmint. Dark golden color. Nice creamy spearmint flavor with a tiny tiny bit of a lemon accent. Nice cleansing after dinner tisane.

6/26 Starbucks Teavana shaken iced tea
ParTea!! They had half off their new shaken iced teas today and I tried the shaken green Blackberry Mojito iced tea w/o lemonade. Very good blackberry flavor and the green tea had an herbal quality to it with the mint Mojito flavor.
Then I tried the green tea iced peach lemonade . Very good peach and lemonade flavors , sweet but not too sweet. Third flavor will have to try next time, it is a Black tea lemonade

6/26 found fun teas at the local Haagen grocery store which are nice. I found Huckleberry tea from the Northwest and Harney and Sons Vanilla Comoro
Fun can’t wait to try at home

6/27
Camano Island coffee and tea shop
Apricot Black tea. I could smell the apricot but by this part of the trip,, I had caught a bit of a cold and the type cold where u can’t taste which is my big hate in life. I hate not being able to taste. lol We are flying back tonight so luckily I didn’t catch this until last day lol. This tea is a dark black tea with apricot scent. It has a creamy texture and hint in the taste. I can detect a touch of bitter but my cold is not making tastes come thru correctly :( Very good even though I can’t taste it completely like I want :). The tea is making my cold feel better tho so yay! The decor in the shop is red crabs and it is close to the Skagit Bay and Puget Sound,, very cute. It is drizzly & nicely chilly outside too which, being from the desert,,, that’s what I’m here for!!!!!!!! It’s awesome!!!!!!!!
Then I tried English Breakfast w/milk. Got my two cups for the day and my cold sort of started going away. I feel lots better. yay! Attached gift shop so cute too with sea and crab items plus garden stuff,,love!

This is one of three Mighty Leaf teas that they offer at this little bakery and café that we have near our house. It is also an Organic tea that they sell at Whole Foods so I love that this little café serves this.
This tea was super refreshing and delicious as an iced tea today for lunch!! It has a great, not too harsh, strong, or any bitter flavor. It is very smooth and just right as iced tea.