615 Tasting Notes

79

Other than the Almond Milk, I’ve really enjoyed all the SBT’s I’ve tried and this one isn’t an exception.

I ended up cold steeping this for around 8-10 hours in my 2 quart pitcher. No sweetener or anything added, as usual. This ended up tasting sweet and feels just a little creamy. It’s heaviest on the strawberry, then the vanilla, and not quite as much as the chocolate. I definitely get a milk chocolate tastiness at the tail of a big sip though. This is definitely Neapolitan through and through.

Yum!

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more

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74
drank After Dinner Mints by Clipper
615 tasting notes

So, I totally thought I’d be safe drinking tea with my seafood allergy, so I usually don’t make a huge point to mention it in swaps. I know there are fishy pu-er out there, but it’s not actually because there is fish in it (duh). Because seriously, who puts fish in tea?

Bigelow, that’s who.

I did a tea swap (off of Steepster) and received 3 bags of Pomegranate Blueberry Herb Plus tea, which has added Omega 3. The Omega 3 is from a natural blend of oils, including tuna oil.

So, after very nearly brewing myself up a cup of potentially dangerous tea, I decided to have this. I know better than to not mention that allergy now, though.

In any case, this tea is definitely very minty, and the spearmint/peppermint blend is a satisfying cooling menthol sensation. The fennel adds a bit of licorice-like sweetness, that I thought really complimented the blend.

This is definitely not as offensive (read: toothpaste-like) as a lot of other bagged mint blends I’ve had.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Stephanie

Wow…creepy!

moraiwe

Yes! Definitely kind of a scary incident

Dustin

Whoa! I had a Teavana tea that tasted fishy yesterday. Now I wonder if they added omega to it. It is kind of baffling that anyone would want to add fish to tea. Glad you escaped the cup o death! How did you figure out it was in there? Did it smell funny?

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58

The chai/spiced element of this is the strongest, with cinnamon and ginger at the forefront of that.

I don’t really get much in the way of chocolate, and the berry flavor is kind of a subtle and more in the tail of the sip. I’m really finding the spiced-element overwhelming and I wanted more berry!

I need to try this again made with milk and sugar, I think.

Thanks Shadowfall!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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66

I do quite this tea late in the afternoon or after dinner. Peppermint makes my tummy happy.

The flavor is dominantly peppermint, with the roundness of the darjeeling kind of comes out at the end. It feels a bit more substantial than a normal peppermint, but there isn’t much flavor past that.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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72

Lots of burnt sugar and caramel flavors here, with a lot of depth to the cup. The caramel just gets deeper and richer as the cup cools. There’s a touch of a creaminess of the mouthfeel.

The rooibos adds a bit of woodsiness that, while I don’t care for it, it doesn’t seem to be present in each sip. It almost seems to disappear completely as the cup cools.

This is a really decadent and desserty cup.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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45
drank Chai Spiced Apple by Twinings
615 tasting notes

This is a little like drinking a cup of warm cinnamon water. It’s not really the sweet, candy-like cinnamon flavor I like, either. More of like a cinnamon challenge dissolved in water kind of flavor.

A pinch of sweetener coaxes our some apple and it becomes more like drinking watery apple cider.

Overall, not terribly good, but not bad enough to not finish the cup.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec
Fjellrev

Ugh, cinnamon water. Makes you wonder what people who tested it out thought of it, or if they even tested the tea before packaging and selling it.

CHAroma

I have owned this tea since 2011 and I still have 6 out of 20 bags left. I’m pretty sure I’ve given it away too, but I just can’t seem to completely rid myself of it. LOL! One should not feel this way about tea. It makes me sad. :(

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65
drank Kiwi Black Tea by EnjoyingTea.com
615 tasting notes

Hmmm. This is good, but not great. And it’s far better than the last kiwi tea I tried.

The base is inoffensive, and unremarkable. It doesn’t overwhelm the flavors, or really compliment it either.

There’s a sweet-tart fruit here, but it doesn’t immediately strike me as kiwi. Sugar coaxes out a definite kiwiness, though. And cooling does so even more. I would imagine this is at it’s best iced.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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73

This smells delightful. A bit like strawberries or another sweet berry with cream or covered in sweet yogurt.

It brews up tasting sweet and smooth from the vanilla, and the hazelnut flavor adds a warming nutty element. The hibiscus in the Wild Strawberry offers a sharp counterpoint to the richness of the initial flavors.

I wasn’t initially sure about this blend, but I really think this captures the dynamic of the character’s relationship as it comes out in the course of the FFXIII games and tastes pretty good to boot!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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71

The dry and steeping leaf smell so amazing! Just like a freshly unwrapped Terry’s orange, or maybe like the dark chocolate covered candied orange rind a local chocolate company does (Seriously, though. They’re so amazing. Kind of turned me into a chocolate/ornage candy snob though).

I’m finding the liquor itself has a quite strong base. Almost too much so while hot. The orange only really comes out in the aftertaste and the chocolate isn’t really present. I could believe this was unflavored if it weren’t for that sweet ornage-y aftertaste.

As the tea cools the flavors come together in the sip a lot better. The chocolate still isn’t incredibly forward, but what’s there tastes like a more natural chocolate than a lot of others I’ve tried. It also doesn’t leave an oily film or anything of that sort, so those are definitely points in its favor.

Thanks for the large sample Dustin. I look forward to trying this one as a latte.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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91

My weekend was far more exciting than it had any right to be.

I learned I’m still extremely allergic to Wild Cherry Pepsi. We’re talking angioedema, anaphylaxis, the whole thing. But I can drink Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. I think I took five years off Fiance’s life in the process of accidentally rediscovering this, though.

So! This tea is my current iced tea obsession. When it’s cold steeped, it tastes just like dried apricots (which I love, but get tummy aches from). There’s a very small amount of black tea flavor, but really it’s all apricots all the time and better for it. It also tastes really good half-and-half with lemonade.

Fiance has dictated we need a large bag of this for summer (yay!)

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 9 tsp 64 OZ / 1892 ML
Stephanie

Oh scary! Glad you are ok!

JustJames

you don’t do allergies small style, do you? geez! be careful =0\

moraiwe

I figure go bog or go home :p But really, I’m usually very good about it. I just had a (huge) lapse in judgment.

Thanks for the concern, guys :)

__Morgana__

Wow, glad you’re ok!

boychik

I know how scary it is. My son is allergic to almost everything. I think it’s easier to say what he can eat than what’s no-no. Plus environmental allergies on a top. When in doubt don’t. Take care of yourself!

ifjuly

i adore this cold too! and eeek, i’m glad you’re ok.

caile

Glad you’re ok!

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Profile

Bio

Intro:

Name: Lauren
Location: Wisconsin (previously a Chicago girl)
Occupation: Student by day and super hero by night
Super Hero? Yep!
Which One? I can’t tell you that! Secret identities and such. Just know I’m not the hero they want, but the hero they need.
Sidekicks: Fiance and two budgies, Skitter and Gandalf

Hobbies:

Reading, writing, cooking, video games, computers, drawing, crafting, papercraft. Oh and tea.

A brief history:

I grew up in a family where the only working coffee maker was in my dad’s office. So the name of the game for my mother and I quickly became (bagged) tea. In 2004/2005, I discovered Adagio Teas. I don’t remember how it happened, or why I decided to pursue a purchase but here we are. I haven’t looked back.

My tea tastes have changed over time and I’ve moved from liking solely flavored teas (mostly black and white) to enjoying Darjeelings primarily, though malty unflavored blacks, fresh tasting greens, and lightly oxidized oolongs come in pretty high on my list, too. Of course, I still enjoy a good cup of flavored tea. I prefer caffeinated teas, as I have a horrible caffeine addiction that I don’t plan on kicking any time soon.

Red rooibos and lapsang souchong (or other strongly smoky teas) are my arch nemeses and I will see them defeated and removed by force from my cupboard. Like all thing, there are exceptions, but I assume they’re guilty until proven innocent.

I really don’t like negatively rating things, because I feel like if you don’t have something nice to say, you probably shouldn’t say it. But in the interest of non-biased tea reviews I’m going to give it a shot. I view every tea as a potential adventure so I’ll try most things at least once.

I love trading and swaps are always welcome! Please note, though, what it in my cupboard includes amounts ranging from a couple cups to 4 ounces or more, so please PM me to find out if what you’re seeking is available in that trade amount.

According to my spreadsheet, I also have about 100 other 1-4 cup samples that are not in my cupboard.. Feel free to message if you’re interested in see the spreadsheet for possible swap options as well.

Tea Ratings:

100-95 Nectar of the teagods that has been bestowed upon my unworthy tongue. I will never let this tin run empty.

86-94 These are the teas I would like to keep regularly stocked, but sometimes life gets in the way. Lovely teas, but not quite god tier. I still get cravings for these.

74-85 Good teas, but not amazing. I enjoy these, but may or may not restock once they run out. I would still recommend these to others.

60-73 Not bad. I’ll gladly keep drinking my cup, and wouldn’t say no if someone offered me this tea. I probably won’t rebuy these as there is likely something else that is comparable and better.

47-59 Certainly drinkable and might even have some characteristics that I enjoy, but I won’t pick it up again

30-46 I’ll probably finish my cup, but this tea isn’t to my taste OR it’s just overwhemingly mediocre. Life’s too short for bad tea.

11-29 This cup is in the sink now and I will never willingly consume this again. If you see a tea rated this way, I probably followed it with mouthwash.

0-10 Please say a prayer for the cup I destroyed in the process of disposing of this tea in the quickest manner possible. I may need tea therapy before I drink a similar tea again.

Location

Wisconsin, US

Website

http://atinyteapot.tumblr.com/

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