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This one was taken out of the HH teabox a while back since I happen to love 52Teas banana blends. This is actually one big tea bag for a pitcher of iced tea, so I just busted the bag open to have one teaspoon hot. Even though the leaves are tiny, the taste isn’t bitter right after boiling, but that’s because I only steeped for two minutes. The banana flavor is nice as usual, but on its own without the extra ingredients that usually make up a nice 52Teas blend, I can see how this might be considered artificial tasting. But this is a long way from being unbearably artificial, it tastes fine to me! Thanks monkey! I love the bakey bready black tea base… tastes like I’m eating banana bread!

BrewTEAlly Sweet graciously sent her last teaspoon (and a half) of this one, even though she loves it! I really appreciate it! I really wanted to try this one! I was thinking of an apricot tea when I woke up this morning, so I went with this one. Like I said, 1&1/2 teaspoons!

Steep #1 // a few mins after boiling // 2 1/2 min steep
Sadly, I didn’t see any actual chunks of apricot in my small sample, but a bit of the flavor is still there! There is also a sweetness that adds to the cake or glaze icing that would be on this sort of treat. The usual awesome honeybush base. Really a nice balance to seem kind of like what this blend is actually supposed to be!

Steep #2 // just boiled // few minutes
Another nice cup! The flavor might be more muted this time around. Though I don’t think an extra half teaspoon makes a difference in flavor.

Another sample from my order a while back! So many teas to try I’m just now getting to it, no matter how eager I’ve been to try it! I LOVE Butiki’s Guayusa. It’s one of my favorite bases from them, since not many tea companies make blends with it. I also love how much the flavors change with guayusa, depending on how you brew it, and it’s even a completely different cup once it has cooled down. I went with Butiki’s suggestion of a teaspoon and a half:

Steep #1 // 30 mins after boiling // 3 min
There is a giant apple sliver in my infuser! Nice! Also some cinnamon pieces. I didn’t want to overdue the guayusa flavor on this one and overpower the other flavors, so I went with a low temp/time. The guayusa really pairs well with the apple – it adds a sweetness. It’s like a naturally sweet cider. Subtle yet natural apple and hints of cinnamon (probably because the hotter the water the better the cinnamon.) Very nice!

Steep #2 // 20 mins after boiling // 6-7 min
The guayusa still isn’t super earthy/strong, which is fine if it’s a plain guayusa but not if it’s a well thought out Butiki blend. So it’s the perfect guayusa blend. It’s so tasty – and when it cools there is a different flavor that is really nice.

Steep #3 // just boiled // few minutes steep // half mug of water
I went for a half cup since this has so nice. I’m surprised the guayusa didn’t get more bitter. But it was very nice, even at boiled, just less apple & cinnamon somehow. This is a perfect blend though!

This is another blend from MissB! Thanks so much! I tried the other Tardis blend last week. This one is black tea rather than a mix of black and white. Both have berry. This one is supposed to be blackberry but it really just seems like hints of blueberry. I went with a really low steep time. I’ve had a similar blend from Adagio in the past – Jane Austen Mafia and the blackberry leaves ruin the tea if steeped too long. So a two minute steep it is. I don’t want to risk ruining this lovely sample! The flavor is very good, but I feel like it could be better. Mild bergamot, a little bit of berry, slight creaminess. Somehow it still seems a little bitter boiled at two minutes with one teaspoon. Honestly, surprisingly, if I had to pick between the two, I’d go with the other Tardis blend. Somehow the white tea of that one balances out the flavors and allows the berry to shine. The second steep wasn’t that great. Maybe it’s just not the blend for me. Maybe it’s for those who like lighter bergamot. Jane Austen Mafia is actually much tastier too.

Thank you Shadowfall for selling a bit of this one! I felt like I needed a bit of (any) keemun in my collection. I really like this one!

Steep #1 // a few minutes after boiling // 4 min
I steeped a teaspoon and half. The dry leaves have the fragrance of dry grass. The steep color is a dark copper. The flavor is very nice: a bit of that dry grass, maltiness at the top of the cup, hints of dark chocolate but not as much as Teavivre’s keemun. ISlight briskness that is perfect for the morning (golden sunrise?) t doesn’t seem that smoky to me, and I thought keemun was generally supposed to be smoky, just not as much as lapsang souchong. Though I haven’t had too much experience with keemun. It’s just really a perfect cup and was gone in no time.

Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 min
This cup was a tad bit less amazing than the first cup, but still really really good. If I made a purchase at Whispering Pines, I’d definitely order some of this one… but it looks like it isn’t on the site (I swear I saw it a week ago). It seems like WP’s plain teas are as nice as their creative blends!

KittyLovesTea sent over a sample of this one! I really appreciate it – thank you! This turned into yet another blend I LOVE from Bluebird… another one I can’t resist ordering ONE day. This one actually tastes like pumpkin even though it’s actually carrot! But Bluebird does get an E for Effort, since most tea companies would just throw some spices and call it pumpkin. But yes, somehow it actually does taste like pumpkin. The adorable sprinkles give it a bit of sweetness (like the sweetness in pie). The spices are the perfect amount to balance the flavors to the amount that would even be in a pumpkin pie! It’s a wonderful balance and Bluebird are definitely good at what they do. Also, I could be recalling it wrong, but this also seems like a tougher black tea base than usual and I like it! The flavor is a bit stronger anyway! A very nice blend here! The second steep was nice too. One of my favorite pumpkin blends. (Della Terra’s Pumpkin Pie would still top this one though, but not by much!)

Another from Dexter3657! THANK YOU! I actually wanted to try this one when I saw the tasting note! The leaves are dark and twisty.A little over one teaspoon went into the infuser. I went with Dex’s suggestion and waited for the water to cool and then steep for longer than usual! Unfortunately, I went to do dishes and the wait accidentally went for 32 minutes! A steep of six minutes and I wouldn’t really call the flavor chocolate. But I definitely see where the CONGOU flavor is happening. (I think I’ve only tried one other Congou from Butiki.) The fragrance of the leaves seems like cherry to me, and there are hints in the brew. But it’s also plum. Definitely not astringent at all, of course with that 32 minute wait. But there is a juicy/watery quality to it, if that makes sense, that seems like it’s the flavor of congou.

The second cup was boiled at four minutes, but I think I much preferred the first cup… as the leaves were getting that “overbrewed” flavor. Not bad though! And still no astringency. A nice one and I think I needed a tea to represent Congou in my collection!

From the Amoda box! I had to get the Butiki Amoda box! They must be good even if they are random surprises. They are Butiki. BUTIKI! This Amoda box took forever to get here… I don’t know what happened. I’m not even sure if this is the first box or the second replacement box they were supposed to send (well I definitely didn’t get one of the boxes then.. and I think this was delivered to the wrong address for a while or something. Anyway, upon opening this lovely box, the three blends sounded good… maybe not as lovely as some of the Butiki blends in the past, but we shall see! First for review is the black tea blend, since I tend to like those the best…

Steep #1 // just boiled // 3 min
This has a black tea base of a few different black teas that Butiki carries. The only one I’ve had is the Sourenee. Overall, the bases here combine to make a nice flavor… medium bodied – the cup color is light reddish copper. The flavor has the perfect amount of briskness to it – tastes a little like raisins and malt. There is plenty of nutmeg here!! Though I though I shook the bag up more, it seems all the nutmeg is on the bottom anyway. A nice creamy flavor too. This blend does seem fitting for the holidays, as I think I’ve only had nutmeg in eggnog and pumpkin pie. The super strong nutmeg fragrance is reminding me of something that could only be eggnog… though eggnog does NOT have this much nutmeg! Very tasty!

Steep#2 // just boiled // 5 min
Oversteeped this one, so the cup wasn’t as nice (if it has the Sourenee in it, then it can get pretty astringent quickly anyway.) Still plenty of nutmeg though. Less cream this time around. This is a nutmeg explosion! Another great blend from Butiki!

Cup #1 // hot latte
Thank you so much, Red Leaf Tea for offering these samples! I love trying the flavors. I went with a hot latte today to go with my banana walnut muffin. I heated enough milk for my mug for one minute in the microwave – not too warm to mess up the matcha. I slowly pour the measuring cup filled with milk into a mug with matcha in the bottom while stirring with a spoon. The bright green matcha smells lovely… tons of fancy French vanilla. The taste is nice – sweet and definitely vanilla. Of course it pairs perfectly with the milk…. a creamy sweet flavorful cup! I can never get my cups of matcha to last very long! This is a good way to get my calcium.. I don’t really drink milk any other time.

Cup #2 // hot water
This cup was just with water cooled for a half hour so the matcha didn’t burn. I really like it. I think the sweet French vanilla flavor actually tames the matcha a bit (not like this lovely matcha needs taming but the sweet vanilla makes the flavor smoother somehow. This is like eating ground up tea leaves, after all.) It’s quite a nice balance. But I’ve always loved vanilla. Another good one from Red Leaf! I REALLY appreciate these samples! I wonder if Red Leaf ever thought of individual servings of matcha… seeing as how it would stay fresher and it can get kind of messy sometimes. The mess is worth it though!
redleaftea.com

This one is another from Dexter3657! Thanks again for that lovely tea package that I will be trying teas from for a while. :D I’ve loved the majority of teas I’ve tried from Tealux, so I was happy to see three new (to me) Tealux blends in the tea package! I’m surprised I don’t see Tealux around Steepster more often as they have a billion blends and nice prices. The dry blend here is mostly rooibos with a few cherry pieces. There is a sweetness and decent amount of cherry flavor. I’m not sure what the heather blossoms add (didn’t see those anyway in the blend) but it seems like cherry just goes well with rooibos. I like it! I’m not sure if it’s my teabag that I fill with rooibos or the tea itself, but this blend is actually very smooth. Also, I must say that whether you are a rooibos fan or not, these teabags for rooibos are a MUST, to keep in the cupboard just for rooibos… no other infuser will work for rooibos. They just keep the tiny woodchips out of your cup. I use the ‘T-Sac Tea Filters’ and I’ve seen them for sale at a few sites.