199 Tasting Notes

65

Chocolate cake. Just chocolate. Maybe a touch of vanilla in there but not enough to even come close to red velvet. This was my first mate! It’s definitely something I could drink a lot of, but I wish it had a more suitable name.

Flavors: Cake, Chocolate

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I’m not going to rate this yet because I feel like I need to experiment a bit. But, having said that, I have only tried this hot without any additives and am not impressed. The honeybush tastes good, and I definitely get green apple. No caramel whatsoever, though. And it smells quite sour, which comes through with the apple. So, maybe sweetened with a little milk?

Flavors: Green Apple

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80

Well, hello there, surprisingly delicious tea! This was the very first tea I decided I wanted to try when I looked at the Teavana website because I thought, for one, that champagne sounded bizarre and, for two, that strawberry and rose sounded like they would be enjoyable together.

I wasn’t able to pick out the rose on its own, but the strawberry tasted…fancier (?) than normal. So, maybe that’s where the rose came in. Most surprising was the champagne part. It felt…sparkly. Not quite tingly. It was kind of like the taste you get in those carbonated flavored waters. I actually really liked it because it brightened the berry flavor and made it feel both relaxing and refreshing at the same time. I enjoyed it both hot and cold without any additives.

Even though I’m beginning to think I may outgrow Teavana rather quickly in pursuit of other fine tea brands, I do believe this might be a tea worth keeping around.

Flavors: Berry, Champagne

Nxtdoor

I hated this one! It tasted like I was chewing on rose bushes. I was so happy to see it go. I’m glad at least someone out there thinks this tea is good.

The Cookie Lady

How funny that I didn’t even taste the one thing that was all you could taste! Ha! But, I also happen to really like rose in my tea and perhaps you aren’t such a fan. You know, it always seems like you can taste the thing you like least.

Nxtdoor

Absolutely right, you are! Hate something and it’s all you’ll taste.

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59

So….I’m confused. While I thought this tea was pretty good, it would never in a million have named it “nut” anything. The first taste I got was pineapple tang. Then apple. Then cinnamon. Then apple apple apple apple apple OH SNAP THERE’S A NUT! Like right at the end I could taste the nuttiness….like…if I paused for a while….and thought about it really hard…Also, brulee? There was no roasty sugaryness in this for me. I thought maybe adding a little sugar might bring out the roasty sugaryness (for the record, I kinda don’t think I know what I’m doing when it comes to sugar…like at all). Yeah, no. It really just made the pineapple and nuttiness disappear and made the apple seem stronger. Hmm. Well, I’ll enjoy drinking this….I just won’t look at the package when I do.

Flavors: Apple, Cinnamon, Nuts, Pineapple

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80

OH MY GOSH!!! I TASTE THE BREAD!!!

It’s only my first sample from the lovely Ost (and my first taste of anything from Whispering Pines) and I am already being enlightened. I’ve been reading “baked bread” in a lot of reviews lately and kind of had that “hmph…yeah right…” reaction every time. Like…I can’t believe that tea can taste like bread (don’t judge me for my newbie-ness). It just boggles my mind in an I-totally-love-this kind of way.

And to be honest, I’m so taken aback by the bread part that I don’t know that I can pick up on anything else. Certainly suitable for breakfast! It feels like I would enjoy this right around afternoon snack time, as well.

Flavors: Bread, Grain

Preparation
3 min, 0 sec
Ost

Hehe-I’m so glad you liked it! :D

CHAroma

You should try Verdant Tea’s Laoshan Black. It’s incredibly popular and exhibits the bread/grain note better than most teas. Teavivre also offers some great (and much more affordable) bready tea options like Yunnan Dian Hong. Although I have to say that my favorite teas from these vendors are Verdant’s Zhu Rong Yunnan Black and Teavivre’s White Peony (aka Bai Mu Dan).

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75

I do believe I’ve come to the conclusion that I like flowers. At least, I like them in my tea. I tend to kill them in my backyard, but I very much enjoy them in my tea. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, the smell and taste of this made me feel happy and productive. Not exactly energized, but more like “yeah…okay…I guess I could do stuff right now.” I’m definitely okay with having more teas like this in my life. This is my second tea from my Numi sampler box and I’m thinking there is more Numi in my future.

Flavors: Jasmine

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70

I’ve tried this hot before (although I’m pretty sure I wrote a tasting note on another entry for this tea), but I have to say that it really only makes sense to me cold. It’s super weak when brewed hot, in my opinion. All I really taste is rooibos. But, cold? That’s when the prettier flavors come out (because…you know…flavors can be pretty, right?). It’s kind of funny, too, because I put way more water with this when I brewed it cold than I did when I brewed it hot, and yet I got way more flavor. Hmmm. Anyway, this makes for a nice all-day iced tea.

Flavors: Berry, Rooibos

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77

The first green rooibos I’ve tried…didn’t actually know such a thing existed. The rooibos itself was very light. In fact, the first thing I both smelled and tasted was the plantain (which tasted like a more natural banana flavor). I personally couldn’t taste any coconut really, but my co-worker said she could. I will absolutely be trying more of their green rooibos flavors after this!

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90

Love this so much! What a delicious Earl Grey. Right up my alley. But, forget about the winter part because this will be greatly enjoyed year round.

Flavors: Bergamot

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80

I was pleasantly surprised again by a chocolate blend. This smelled exactly like when you bite into a chocolate-covered strawberry and get the mix of those two scents. The chocolate flavor was a tad weaker than I would have liked, and I could see myself brewing this with two bags maybe. Also, as someone else suggested, I imagine this would have been even better with a black tea base. But, I’m always greatful for a tasty rooibos blend that I can drink at night, which is probably the time of day I’d want chocolate-covered strawberries anyway.

Flavors: Chocolate, Rooibos, Strawberry

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Profile

Bio

I am a teacher for an after school tutoring program serving grades 1-12 and the Assistant Director of an English language program. Dealing with people who are just learning how to communicate can be stressful. Since I’ve never been (and never want to be) a coffee drinker, I was happy to have found a tea I liked when I started college. Bigelow French Vanilla was my first ever favorite tea. I am just learning to love loose leaf. I drink tea both hot and cold every single day.

I’m not too much of a fancy-pants when it comes to tea drinking. As long as it tastes good and doesn’t take up my whole paycheck, I’m happy. I find I am mostly enjoying flavored blacks and oolongs, as well as whites and the occasional green tea. I’m struggling with plain greens. I take to fruit-flavored greens much more readily. The only reason I ever sweeten a tea is if I hear it brings out a particular flavor in that tea. Otherwise, I don’t usually add sweeteners. When it comes to milk, I again don’t usually add any. But, when I do, I only use almond milk or coconut milk (the thin kind that comes in a carton from Trader Joe’s…not the thick canned kind).

Love: Floral (especially jasmine and rose), caramel, maple, nuts, cream, cake/cookie flavors, chocolate, and fruit (especially peach, pineapple, berries, raisins, and coconut)

Loathe: Peppermint, licorice, really strong vegetable flavors, mint/chocolate combo, heavily spiced teas

Aside from tea, I also really REALLY enjoy reading.

NOTE: I haven’t been putting my one to two cup samples in my cupboard because that’s really only enough for tasting and experimenting. If it’s in my cupboard, it means I have enough to go back to it if I’m craving it (or if somebody wants to swap).

Location

Southern California

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