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This is a really nice tea. I am really sad it is only sold in sample sizes. I used the whole packet, which looks like a lot for 5g. It brews up a happy golden brown liquor with nice malty bread notes as well as some grapes on the vine.

From the Herbal TTB!

Oh, hibiscus. You always seem to appear when I least expect it nowadays. I must not have been paying attention when I parceled out my cup. I was interested by the nuts and the name and the mystery… but when I poured out the tea, I saw the rich maroon red ooze out of the teapot and I visibly cringed. But! I steeled myself and proudly brought it to work.
It did not taste as bad as I had previously thought. Yes, the tart, syrupy hibiscus still drowned out most anything in the blend, but there was a nice cinnamon-y spice in there. It was like I was sipping on the inside of a Michaels’ craft store. I did drink the whole cup, albeit iced. There was much improvement there.

From the Amoda Tea box February 2015!

I love(d) lavender Earl Greys. I went through a discovery point in my life where I hated everything about lavender buds in my cup. While I am still probably in that phase, something about the combination of bergamot and lavender still gets to me.

The cream in this tea smells almost coconutty. Like cream of coconut. Steeped in my travel mug, it is slightly reminiscent of vanilla yogurt. I can’t say if it is a good thing or not. The first two mugs I drank straight, and the third cup I thought I would try adding some cream to it. It brought out the cream and the early grey-ness. The lavender, thank goodness, was pushed to the back burner.

I am at this point in the winter where I am bored by the winter-y flavors and heavy scents. I am waiting impatiently for the newest crop of spring harvests to arrive and am itching for some fresh AF tea :P

Nope. I thought I was back on the Rooibos train. That was just a fluke.

From the uh, Herbal TTB!

So I was almost 100% sure this was an herbal. I did not see anything that looked remotely like a leaf from the camellia sinensis plant. There was only a tiny amount left in the box when I opened it up, less than I would use for a single pot, so I killed it.

It was pretty good. Like a chocolate covered marshmallow and some crumbly graham cracker. I didn’t like the chocolate bits or the sludge it left in the bottom. But I drank my whole mug nevertheless.

Looking into the infused basket I saw one single leaf and a chunk of stem. Hmm. All the package said was ’S’mores – Teavana.’
I think that just goes to show that Teavana should just go into the tisane business and give up tea altogether.

From my Steepster select box, December 2014!

I had almost forgotten about this one! The package it comes in is so stuffed. I was a little taken aback when I opened the package. Inside it looked like there was fresh sage stuffed into the package. The leaves were probably no picked within the last month or three, but they looked so fresh. The smell was interesting to say the least. It was peppery and herbaceous. The leaves produced a light green liquor with … well, peppery and herbaceous notes. It was pretty light. I even used over half the package. (4g+) the flavor was quite lacking, and very watered down.
Eh. It was a great experience. But I don’t think I would reach for it ever again.

Okay, I must have done something wrong. I have never had the same experience with a handful of black teas as some other users on Steepster where the only flavor is dirt. But. Now I can say I have.
All I taste is dirt.
Like, take a sweet potato, burn it in a fire on some dirt and ashes, and make me drink it. Physically impossible, but yes, that is the flavor profile I can narrow it down to.
I don’t want to think that it was a bad sample, I have and love all of the other Yezi blacks I own. But like, what the fuck? It must be on my end. Ah well, sorry Jin Pin. I will have to put you on my ‘get as a sample with next yezi order’ list.

I got this matcha from one of RLT’s ‘oops’ sales. I was initially drawn to it because a) I love popcorn, b) I have enjoyed their caramel matcha previously, and c) IT’S CARAMEL POPOCORN MATCHA ON SALE. Enough said. But, I did not realized until I had checked out that this was the red matcha that he sells. Which is powdered Rooibos.

Oops.

But I did not let that get in my way, since it is already halfway gone :P

I don’t mind the red base. It’s smooth, which I was not expecting, much sweeter than actual matcha, and I can drink it anytime of the day and not be lying awake at night, wired. I do use double the recommended amount for the red (1 tsp – 2 tsp per 6 – 8 oz)because of the delicate nature of the powder. It doesn’t turn chalky like I half expected it to. Even though the flavor profile is ‘robust,’ on the palate, it is fainter than I am used to. In the bag it is quite pungent. The popcorn flavoring is so spot on. This is coming from a popcorn fanatic. (I mean it. I will go to any movie as long as there is popcorn. I always have some form of it close by. I friggin LOVE this stuff!) the buttery popcorn is not overpowered by the caramel, and brings about a sense of hot caramel being drizzled over freshly popped and buttered popcorn.

I have put this on yogurt and ice cream, made it iced with almond milk, and even hot once with my chawan and chasen. I will be sad when it’s gone – which may be very soon – but I took a gamble and it paid off. I won’t be replenishing it exactly as is, but maybe as normal matcha. It’s a good indulgent nightcap!