Dolce Vita

I drank a cup of this tea yesterday, but found that adding sugar kinda ruins it for me. It was way too sweet, which I didn’t really think would ever be a problem for me, since I have quite the sweet tooth! ;) The only other time I had that problem was when I accidentally poured an avalanche of sugar into a cup of blueberry cream cheese danish tea by 52teas. I think with this tea, the little meringue hats provide more than enough sweetness, so today I’m enjoying a cup without sugar.

The raspberry in this tea reminds me very much of lipton’s raspberry iced tea, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. When eating out in years past I always went for that iced tea instead of soda, but now I pretty much only drink water.

I think overall. It’s an enjoyable raspberry tea. It might be a good candidate for iced tea also.

It’s raining, so we can’t go running. Glad it’s raining though, because we need it bad! Guess there’s more time for tea today!!

Holy cow, a raspberry tea without hibiscus! RiverTea, you are my hero!

I burnt the leaves, foolish me, but even with that, this is a yummy, yummy tea. Sweet and creamy and raspberry-y! It smells so good and the flavor lives up to the promise of the scent. With a touch lower temperature, this tea could be spectacular. It truly is the raspberry tea I’ve been searching for, and now I’m anxious to try their other fruit blends. If this is any indication, they’ll be off the charts!

I brewed up a cup of this one on Sunday afternoon, but I clearly haven’t got it quite down pat yet. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. It smells like raspberry straight out of the box, and even more so while brewing. It was suggested to me that this one could be a runner for the title of Best Raspberry Tea After 52 Teas Raspberry Cream, and because that’s what I’ll clearly be spending the rest of my life looking for, I can only imagine it’s a positive step in the right direction.

It’s good. The raspberry flavour is juicy, but very candy-like (not really fresh, tart raspberry at all). There’s an added sweetness from the meringue hats, which is enjoyable, although it doesn’t add much in terms of flavour. I wasn’t getting coconut at all. In an effort to bring out more creaminess, I added a splash of milk. That was the wrong decision; the base tea is too light to take milk without the whole thing becoming a washout. Mistake.

So, for my next cup I will leave out the milk. Probably. Unless I use a lot more leaf. I’m torn on the amount of leaf to use in order to get the best flavour. I think probably I’ll stick with 1 tsp, and maybe extend the brew time a little? If that doesn’t work, I’ll use a little more leaf. Clearly there is some experimentation to be done.

At the moment, what I can say is that I liked this one right up until I added the milk. I would like some more creaminess, and to taste the coconut, but the raspberry flavour is strong and delicious. I can see this being a tea I enjoy even if I can’t have anymore creaminess/coconut, just because a candy raspberry tea is a good thing in my book. And I like the meringue — it’s a cute touch. I’m willing to experiment a little bit yet, but for now I’m going to rate this 75, because it’s nice and I’ll guzzle it whatever happens. A positive introduction to River Tea!

Received this as a surprise sample from Courtney, and I had also ordered 50g from Rivertea, so I have a ton more.

I am withholding a rating right now because I’m really torn on this one. I’m not really getting the coconut, it’s just a really raspberry tea to me. But. Something in it is screaming bitter vomity taste. I’m not loving that, clearly. :/

I had brewed it at 98 degrees for 3 min (maybe slightly more), so I will have to play with the mass amount I have left.

I am hoping it will be a tastier cold brew.

I actually think I prefer Davidstea’s Fantasy Island to this one, I like the coconut note more. Maybe if I mix them together….

Thanks for the sample, Courtney!

I fantasized about trying this tea this morning, and after a wonderfully restful night, I did just that. And holy hell delicious raspberry tea! I can’t really taste coconut, but I honestly don’t care. This is probably the most authentic raspberry tea I’ve ever had (my expertise in this area is quite distinct, as this is I think the second raspberry tea I’ve had) and even still, I don’t care because it’s juicy and creamy and you can still taste the base but the raspberries taste as though they’re exploding in your mouth in a most exploding fashion. I had it with my breakfast of bacon and eggs, and it actually paired surprisingly well. This was my first River tea tea, and it was a great note to start on! Add me to the club, guys!

I have this from TheTeaFairy — it will be all Tea Fairy for the next little while because every tea in this box sounds delicious and I doubt I will be forcing myself to drink other things. I also am allowing myself to order some tea so these samples hopefully will help me narrow stuff down. I will have to try really hard not to binge. Usually the longer I go without buying the crazier I can get.

This tea is delicious raspberry. I’m not getting much of anything else in the way of flavour but that’s totally fine. I wanted raspberry. I added a tsp of sugar to 600 ml of tea just to lift it a little. I used the entire sample to make the pot because my partner wanted tea. I almost didn’t want to share! I reluctantly used up the entire sample pack. Mmmm…

Thanks Fairy!

Normally I would reach for Laoshan Black or Cream Irish Breakfast for the morning, but this morning this was speaking to me.

I can’t get over how delightful this tea is. The raspberry creaminess is great. The scent is so bold and tart. And it’s a black tea! The more I sip away, the more this reminds me of a hot raspberry lemonade. Is there lemon here? I think it’s the raspberry tartness tricking me. Regardless, I love it. Thanks so much for sharing Cavovorax!

Another one from Cavocorax it’s pretty much her, terri, variatea, shmiracles and missb for the next little while with all my tasting notes. I have a bunch to get through! I really liked this one. I should probably stop drinking tea now…or at least switch to herbals but i just can’t help myself. Finally nailed down vacation for April so it’s just a matter of working, saving money and getting through the next little while.
This won’t be my favourite tea from RiverTea, but i am a fan of the raspberry flavour in this. It makes me want to try a few more of their raspberry teas, without chocolate in it! Not that i mind the chocolate but i am not a an of white chocolate and i’m not sure it adds much. On the whole though, this is a creamy raspberry tasting cup that i enjoy…though i’m not sure if it would be a purchase for me.

Sipdown!! (198)

Thank you Roswell Strange (and also aisling of tea) for the opportunity to try this tea. This sort of reminds me of Vicki’s Sponge Cake which I really enjoyed. It is deliciously creamy thanks to the meringure while maintaining an amazing sweet-but-tart raspberry flavor. This would definitely be included in my RiverTea order if/when I place one.

Sipdown (200/202)!

Sample courtesy of aisling of tea.

I requested this one because it’s one of the more popular RiverTea blends, and I’ve read a bunch of good reviews on it. Plus, I like raspberries a lot and the meringue hats intrigued me. I also thought it might be interesting to compare with DT’s Fantasy Island.

There was more than one cups worth of this, but when I saw it was on VariaTEA’s wishlist I split my sample with her so she could try it too. And then, I ended up using a larger amount of leaf today because I did this one in a timolino.

Overall, I thought it was pretty good but really straight forward and simple; sweet raspberry and black tea. I kind of was left unsatisfied because I thought there should have been more depth to this. I didn’t pick up the coconut at all until the very end of the thermos, as well. Compared to Fantasy Island I think they’re pretty evenly matched though in slightly different ways; this was more raspberry than coconut and FI is more coconut than raspberry.

I’d drink it again – but I wouldn’t purchase it.

Also, I ate one of the meringue hats straight; it was pretty good! Crunchier/tougher than I expected it to be though – I was anticipating light and fluffy/chewy.