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Bought years ago at a tea/cofee shop in Louvain (Belgium), I cannot be absolutely sure it´s the same brand name of tea, but it´s very similar by looking at the picture. I loved this tea from the start (before rating teas on steepster), and I rediscovered a bit of it in a tin today, and enjoyed a nice cup of it ths afternoon. Very floral, with a subtle hint of smoke, it´s an ideal afternoon tea. An added plus : even when the cup cools, it´s still a nice tea (it actually might make an enjoyable iced tea as well).

Opening the tin it might as well smell as the green variant of Kusmi´s St Petersburg, but that´s where it stops for me. This is gunpowder tea, which end up as an acceptable green tea, but most of the aroma´s (citrus fruits, especially vanilla and caramel) are gone! Need to drink it again, maybe changing the steeping parameters, because I cannot understand the good ratings by some people.

Another tea I wouldn´t have picked (but it was one of the tins of the “afternoon” series by Kusmi), but I must admit it scores way better than other teas – a priori – of my preference. It smells really nice, fruity, and not in an artificial way as is the case with many aromatised black teas. In the taste this is mainly a black tea, with subtle hints of red fruit blending in nicely, therefore making this tea a good afternoon tea.

Actually, I was quite afraid of how this tea would turn out, so the first sip was a “delicate” moment, but it tasted alright. Spicy (in the sense of the Xmas teas) whereas the chocolate blends everything well together, without giving it too much sweetness or bitterness. Very forgiving as well when leaving the cup to cool down a bit…

Wonderful green tea : the smell of the loose tea is pure nostalgy for me, and for once, this is only confirmed when drinking it! Normally green tea can be quite “boring” to me, but the almonds make it fun!

Although I prefer loose tea, I do own teabags, and they sure are practical when not having a lot of time or when inviting people with different preferences. This morning the first applied. It´s been a very long time since I bought these, and I couldn´t quite remember whether I just bought it for the elderflower (I “brew” my own elderflower cordial to make wonderful gin&tonics), or whether I truly liked it. Well, the elderflower made me buy it, but I do like this tea. Very floral, very soft, very subtle…wonderful when still waking up! And according to London tea company it helps to give your skin that youthful and supple appearance…great indeed!

In the past I experimented a lot in order to get a tasteful ice tea without having to add sugar to the final result. In general, I tend to prefer black teas aromatized with pieces of real fruit, but I cannot get this type of teas everywhere, and the aromatized black teas (with sirops) I prefer to avoid. Maybe I´m too much of a black tea fan to fully appreciate ice teas based on green tea, but the last couple of years, that seems to have changed. Last year´s green tea with banana was a success and this year´s Tibetan Secret is not bad at all either. Very refreshing, and light, I could drink it all day.

Another one of Kusmi´s “The Russians” range, and this one doesn´t do anything – not in the positive sense, not in the citrus fruits in the final drink (and they are surely present in the nose of the loose tea). More a floral touch really.

Bought as “Secreto tibetano” by internet from Tea shop “El rincón de los aromas” in Alcalá de Henares (near Madrid, Spain). In Summer I replace the water we drink with meals by home made ice tea, and this year I´m using this tea.

Not the best Earl Grey I´ve ever tried, but there´s nothing too much wrong with it either. To be honest, I forgot all about my tea when it was steeping, so it might have been too bitter, but it wasn´t : it was still quite bergamotty (although not in the degrees I love), and very floral. Enjoyed it. Next time I´ll make sure to steep it less time, and maybe it changes positively.