sarai Send Message

I found that I really liked this tea – it was a little close to a Darjeeling, but not too much.
I was looking for a nice mild black and I definitely found it in this one. Very mild but not watery, there is not one flavour that stands out strongly which is nice. It did steep up a little sweet as well. A great simple black for mellow afternoons, though I think this would be good any time of the day, really. I’ll be returning to get some of this for my tea shelves.

I had such high hopes for this one, it sounds fantastic, and it smells fantastic in dry leaf form… but I don’t know whether it was the water temp or the steep time or the lack of sweetener… but sadly this one fell very very flat for me.

It wasn’t so terrible when it was really hot, but the moment it started to cool down it turned bitter and changed in flavour. While I love the scent of rose… I’m not entirely sure I love the taste, and there is a lot of rose in this one. I didn’t notice at all any of the calming effects of this one either which was dissappointing.

I might give it another go as a cup to-go… but I won’t be looking for any of this for my tea shelves!

I got a few cups worth of this tea from a friend coming back from Christmas break. I’m not normally a super huge fruit tea fan but this really works for me. I love the mint – its prominent but not super potent. The raspberry isn’t super tart either, instead its very well balanced with the rest of the blend. I don’t get too much of the lemongrass in the steeped up tea, which makes me wonder if I just didn’t really get any in the bit that I was given, or if it is just there as a lower base note. I drank this clear with some agave and it was beautiful as a hot tea. I feel like it would be fantastic iced as a nice fruity summer drink. I’ll definitely be looking for this one again!

Tried this one in-store as a cup of tea. I was quite pleased with it. The dry leaves smell delicious – sweet, but not overly so. When it steeped up, the tea was nice and fruity, I could definitely taste the cherries AND the white tea base which was nice. It did not turn acidic or bitter either which was a definite plus. I drank this one with a little bit of honey because of a sore throat. This tea will definitely make a repeat performance on the cut of tea roster, but I’ll likely wait till summer to buy any amount of dry leaf.

Genmaicha is a tea that I return to again and again; I love the roasted flavours of the rice with the delicious green. I’ve had some really good Genmaichas, and I’ve had some … not so good ones. This though… beats all. The tea does not turn bitter at all, or at least it didn’t for me – and I played around quite a bit with my water temps and steep times.

Very well balanced, and a great quality of green tea with this one. The roasted rice flavours didn’t dissappear either wich made me happy. Initially, I was slightly saddened when I saw this is my steepster selects box as I already have two other kinds of Genmaicha on the go right now. But I steeped it up anyways – and it blew me away. So glad to try this one, and will likely be on the lookout for more when my stash runs out.

Thanks Steepster!

Another from my Steepster Selects box!

I was hesitant with this one because of the smokiness. I’ve smelled a few off-puttingly strong smoky black teas before and didn’t like that at all, so I was wary of a smoky Houjicha. I really shouldn’t have been. This is delicious. Absolutely delicious. It is perfect on a dreary cold afternoon (we get a lot of those in Halifax this time of year), and the roasting takes the caffeine out so that makes it great in the evenings as well. It steeps up beautifully and with no bitterness that can sometimes happen with other greens. The smoky flavors are muted in the steeped tea, but are still there in a sweet delicious way.

I think this one might be one of my new favourite greens. SUPER glad to have received this one since I know I would have by-passed it simply because of the smoky roast if I had come across it in a tea shop.

I received this one in my Steepster Selects box – So Excited to get that in the mail!

Sencha is one of my favourite green teas so I was especially looking forward to this one. The dry leaf has that wonderful and quintessential sencha smell – very ‘green’ and comforting. It steeps up beautifully; more body than a regular sencha – it seemed like the finer leaves stayed in the steeped tea a little like matcha powder. Definitely delicious. I’ve had some time to play around with steep times and while a shorter steep is generally my favourite, a bit of magic happens with the right temperature and a longer steep.

definitely one of my new favourite senchas! So glad I got this in the mail!

Haha this is me to a T. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this one as soon as it’s released on the tenth! I’ve been happy with the other vata ayurvedic tea I’ve had from David’s so I’m sure this one will be excellent as well!

I was surprised with this one. In quite a wonderful way.
I was apprehensive when the salesperson brought this one down in the store as I’m not generally a fan of the citrusy teas, but it smelled wonderful. The lemonyness doesn’t stand up and kick you in the face, but instead is slightly earthy. I had this as a tea to go in the store – it took the super hot water and the much longer than usual steep time very very well. I took it with a bit of agave because I knew it would be steeping for so long, but you could easily do without. It tasted a little like lemon lozenges but not so strong. While I don’t think this will become one of my go-to teas, I think I’ll definitely be getting myself a small bag for an early winter morning tea. It would also be great with honey for a cold or sore throat.