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Way, way back when I was small, I only drank tea in two places: my grandmother’s house, and the Chinese restaurant down the street from my grandmother’s house, because the jasmine tea they served “tastes like flowers!” (And, being the strange child I was, I actually spoke from experience on that one.)

Since then, I’ve tried a few different jasmine teas, most of which have fallen short of memory. This one doesn’t! It has that sweet floral taste that sits on the back of your tongue, and it’s good and strong without being overwhelming. Definitely one of the better jasmines I’ve had.

Oh my gosh, this tea.

First off, I don’t even know how to describe the incredible scent. In addition to the yummy tea, there are fruity notes and, to me at least, an undercurrent of really, really good milk chocolate. I would buy it again even if it was awful, just to smell it. No lie.

Luckily, it’s pretty much the exact opposite of awful. The scents aren’t as strong in the flavor, but in this case, I think it’s a good thing. It’s very … I’m not sure how to describe it other than a smooth and lovely tea flavor. There is a touch of fruit — not a strong, acidy citrus, but a sweeter hint of it — and maybe a teeny, tiny bit of vanilla, but not enough to put me off (and it takes very little vanilla to put me off). Mostly it’s just delicious.

I’ve gone through my sample in three days, and I’m about to order more. I wish every tea was this wonderful of a surprise.

I was very underwhelmed by this one. The flavor just wasn’t there; even the spices were too bland for me. To be fair, I’m really not fond of rooibos and really picky about chai, and I probably would never have tried this if it hadn’t come with the sample pack.

This tea smells deliciously like ripe peaches, first off. The scent fades a bit once it’s brewed, but even then, it smells like summer to me. And it tastes pretty peachy, too, and not in an overwhelming way like most peach teas. You can still taste the tea, and the peach isn’t at all artificial or overly sweet. It’s pretty great.

That said, I wanted it for the ginger — I love ginger more than just about anything — and the flavor’s just not there. The effects are; it balances the peach, I think, and there’s a bit of a tingle with each sip. But you can’t really taste the ginger itself, or smell it, which is a little disappointing.

It’s still pretty tasty, though. Great way to wake up on a summer morning.

I love this tea. Quite a bit. Unsurprising, given my love of peppermint, but I just thought I’d get that out there.

That said, the green tea is a bit underwhelming (or maybe the mint is just overwhelming). I think this might be even yummier with a better tea to mint ratio or a better tea to begin with. It is refreshing, though, and it would probably be delicious iced.

I don’t know why I am on this chai kick lately. I’m so picky about it, I don’t know why I even bother trying new ones except what if they’re amazing? Anyway.

This one is not bad, but it’s not really anything to write home about. It smells fantastic, of course. Even terrible chai smells fantastic. And it’s definitely not terrible, but it’s very, very mild.

On the other hand, aside from the mildness, this really isn’t bad. It’s a little sweeter than I expected, with some muted spicy notes, mostly cinnamon. I just expected a bit more flavor, especially from the ginger and cloves, which are not really evident. I like my tea strong like ox, though, so I can’t see this becoming a regular in my kitchen.

I spotted the bagged version of this and bought some as I was between chai and feeling impulsive. I really need to stop doing that; it’s turned up a couple of decent bagged teas, but a lot more often it’s something I just don’t like.

This is one of the latter. I’m not sure what it is about this tea, but it tastes sort of dusty. Not tea dusty, but like dusty furniture. The chai flavor is there, it’s just not very strong at all, and definitely not strong enough to overpower the sense that I’m doing housework by drinking it.

Maybe the box I got had been sitting on the shelf for a while? I really don’t know. It smells lovely, at least. Maybe I’ll try it again with some almond milk like others have tried.

I’ve been trying the teas in my “dislike” pile as iced tea so as not to waste them, and this one actually comes out pretty okay. A lot of the artificiality of the flavor is more muted when it’s cold and over ice, and it’s great mixed with lemonade. I might actually grab another box for the next family function.

I like this one. Like the other World Market teas I’ve tried, it’s pretty much as advertised: silky and smooth and slightly plummy, although I don’t really find any pine. There are some other flavors here I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s one of those teas that linger at the back of your mouth in a pleasant way.

It also seems forgiving of oversteeping; I accidentally let one pot go for eight or nine minutes — oops — and it was still drinkable.

So busy lately, ugh. Anyway, I didn’t want to waste what I had left of this, so I made a pitcher of iced tea. Still pretty gross plain. It’s drinkable with peach-flavored Crystal Light mixed in, but it still tastes really, really artificial, both before and after adding the flavoring.