The Cookie Lady Send Message

This is one of my last few samples from Ost. I left it steeping for quite a while because I was working on a project. It definitely had some good chocolate-banana flavor going by that time. I was a little disappointed not to get the “foster” part of this. As a chocolate banana tea, it’s good. I’ve got quite a few banana teas at the moment, so I probably won’t buy any of this. But, it would be worth buying some after I run out of others later.

This was good, but it wasn’t what I’d call special or even memorable. I think it’s great if you’re just wanting tea. However, I pretty much never find myself with such vague cravings. This was the most plain chamomile tea I’ve tried so far, so at least now I have a truer sense of what chamomile is like. I’ve been wanting to try this one since the first time I perused the Harney & Sons website. Thanks, carol who, for giving me the opportunity to try it!

Ost sent me a sample of this, the first cup of which I burned the heck out of. I didn’t even write a note for it that time because it was so bitter that I couldn’t even drink it. I made it again today, using the last of my sample correctly, and was crossing my fingers that it wouldn’t be bitter this time. It was a success! I’m really impressed with how much I can taste the raspberry (and that it specifically tastes like raspberry…not just some generic, unidentifiable berry flavor). It’s rich and desserty and I really wish I had some vanilla almond milk for this one.

I’m really hoping Culinary Teas has an awesome Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal. I haven’t ordered from them yet because their shipping seems kind of high. But, after having this tea, seeing the other flavors they offer, and knowing they have 1 oz sample sizes, I really would like to order from them!

I tried this cold yesterday and found that, because of the strong hibiscus note, this is similar to Tazo’s Passion tea. This one replaces Passion’s passionflower flavor with a more dark fruit/jam flavor. I definitely prefer it cold because hint of earthy/dirt flavor I was sort of picking up on when warm is gone. I probably would continue buying Passion over this because it feels slightly more refreshing on hot days than I think this would.

I had a pot of this last night. Once again, as with all the other flavored oolongs I’ve tried from Teavana so far, I definitely don’t think there was even close to enough actual oolong in this to even bother having put it in the mix in the first place. This probably should have just been a flavored herbal tea in the end.

I do, however, think the flavor of this was quite nice. The chocolate in this mix sweetened it just enough to balance the spices. I still think there was too much cinnamon because it kind of made the back of my throat feel rough, which often happens when there is too much sweet cinnamon. This tasted better the longer I let it steep. I would consider buying some of this but maybe only if it were on sale.

Well, this was sad. No peach whatsoever, and even the cucumber was questionable. This basically tasted like a light green tea. I had it both hot and cold back to back just to see if the flavor would be much different, but I wasn’t impressed either way. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not a bad tea. I will still drink it, but I will drink it when I want a light, cold green tea. That’s it.

carol who sent me some of this to try in the swap package I got from her yesterday! I was excited to try this one tonight because I just had Harney and Sons’ Florence a couple of nights ago and wanted to see how a non-cocoa version would compare. I am surprised that I feel like I can actually taste a buttery kind of shortbread thing going on here. Maybe it’s just the hazelnut that is so buttery? I don’t know. You know those almond cookies you can sometimes get in Chinese restaurants? This tea is what I imagine a hazelnut version of that cookie would taste like. I don’t have any milk to add today, but I think it would be good in this.

Now for the real question: Which could I see myself reaching for more often when in a hazelnut mood, Florence from H&S or Hazelnut Cookie from the Spice & Tea Co.?……..I’d probably choose this because it seems more dessert-like.

One of my co-workers bought this at our local Sprouts and let me try it. I was proctoring a test when I had this, which unfortunately meant that I only got one sip around the correct brewing time before proceeding to get distracted by one of my test-takers. I left the bag in for about 5 extra minutes and came back to a very different experience. The first sip I took was sweet and tasted mostly like the flavoring. The next sip I got when I came back to my cup was almost entirely grassy green tea. I was surprised that it hadn’t gone bitter at all, which probably means my water wasn’t as hot as it should have been in the first place. I think this would be pretty good, if not a touch weak, when brewed correctly. I’m not going to rate this yet until I get a chance to have another cup without getting pulled away.

I don’t know why I keep brewing hibiscus blends hot when I already know I usually only like them cold….not rating this till I’ve given it a fair chance. I will say that I picked up cherry in this, which made me happy.

Well….this was weird. My co-worker and I got a box of this at Mother’s Market today and tried it when we got back to work. After the first sip, she looked up and said, “I think I just drank somebody’s grandma….” Now, that was clearly concerning. Turns out that the perfumey/floral aspect of this tea sort of smells like the quintessential grandmother’s house….like floral-scented sachets mixed with mustiness from the stuff that’s been sitting untouched all over the house. I don’t know. That makes it sound like a terrible tea and yet…there is something super comforting about it. I’m not sure which of the three main flowers gave me this whole impression. I know now that licorice root isn’t my favorite…that weird sweetness that just coats the back of your throat. Not a huge fan of that part. But, overall, I wouldn’t mind drinking a small cup of this on rainy days.