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My older brother and sister-in-law came by last night with a bag of this, wanting me to make a pitcher of iced tea for everyone. I haven’t tried this herbal tea before, but I am always excited to try new teas.

I mixed eight tablespoons of leaves with about two tablespoons of rock sugar, steeped for around ten minutes and left it in the fridge for a good four to five hours. Mind you, I’ve only made iced tea this way twice before, so there is a reason to my general approximations.

My first initial reaction was how surprisingly dark it is lukewarm, I would assume the sunflower petals and rosehip peels are to blame for that, but the sweet and fruity flavors quickly overwhelm, not so much overtake or suffocate, but at the very lease harmonize the overall taste.

It is an unusual color, a reddish blonde tone. And, because it is herbal, very cloudy.

My second helping, about twenty hours later, gives less a dark flavor and more a sweetly juicy body. The fruit really balance each other out. As well, the colder it is, the more delicious it gets.

I wish I made some of this near the end of summer. We’d probably be constantly making it, as the juicy flavor sure could quench a summer night’s thirst.

There is a strong potpourri scent when opening the bag of leaves, followed by a sweet hint of coconut. The potpourri is a little annoying, as it can give me headaches, so I can briefly take this scent.

The leaves are a nice mixture of bright and dark greens with deep red petals. There is a very detailed texture, with full leaves, curled and uncurled, and stems.

Steeping gives a deep and clean golden color, with a better sweeter coconut aroma.

The flavor is all white tea. The coconut is a subtle touch, the safflower very difficult to detect. But, it all blends extremely well with the white tea, which is beautifully dark and clean, with a slight astringency.

The aroma of the dry leaves left me worried this would be wholly floral, but upon brewing, the coconut scent had assured me that this is a quality white tea blend.

I’ve owned a tin of this tea before, but for some reason, never tried it. Fortunately, grocery stores stock it quite regularly, so it was pretty easy to get another tin.

The leaves are quite detailed and twisted, with a distinct steely cool gunpowder scent.

Steeping gives the leaves a warmer and very surprising aroma, very fine quality and greatly enjoyable to just take in.

The brew is a very deep earthy green color, with an equally earthy green tea scent.

The flavor is extremely earthy, with a nice strong toasted green tea taste and little astringency. It isn’t too strong, a nice stable straight flavor.

The strength is enough to make you aware, but overall mellow enough to keep you relaxed. Although the leaves were more interesting, the brew was more than enjoyable.

This is very much a proper coffee alternative. I am reminded of the hazelnut coffee sweetener, with a nice sweet nutty aroma.

Steeping lessens the sweetness, but gives a more full coffee-like scent with hazelnut highlights.

The flavor is a very rounded nutty chocolate, with subtle hints of the hazelnut and coconut. I like that it works unsweetened, with a very mellow characteristic.

Not bad, it would probably be better as an early afternoon pick-me-up, with a bit of rock sugar.

This will be the first tea to try in my new Kati tea brewing system from Tea Forte.

The leaves remind me of Tea Forte’s Sweet Orange Spice, which is also very cinnamon-y and festive.

Because the tumbler is smaller than my Starbucks/Bodum double-walled glass, I used only 1 teaspoon of leaves instead of my typical 1.5 – 2 teaspoons.

Steeping gives off a slightly concerning pale cinnamon scent, akin to the pale character of typical teabags, which makes for a more slight disappointment.

The flavor is interesting; there is a very barky spice that tries to follow through, but you also have that underlying pale taste. There is also a dull sweetness, which somewhat improves the pale flavor, but not significantly.

This is not bad, better than your typical teabag, but not on par with how delicious the Sweet Orange Spice surprised me.

I had purchased this tea many times before, and with those many times never had gotten to actually trying it. I had tried Twinnings Gunpowder Green loose leaf, and can recall my impressions of an abnormally strong tea.

Upon opening the sealed tin, you are invited with a very strong citrus aroma. It is stronger and sweeter than what you would expect citrus to be, very bittersweet. Mixed in is a strong floral scent, but the citrus is prominent and potent.

Steeping brings out that strong floral scent, as the citrus becomes more subtle. The liquor is a deep topaz and very dark.

The flavor maintains a strong floral base, with the citrus appropriately subtle. There is a light astringency, and you feel the bottom of the black tea flavor.

What a rather perfectly affordable and accessible tea to wake up to. It has earned it’s place on my tea shelf as a morning tea at the office.

Teabag time!

The aroma is slightly smokey, slightly sweet, but very subtle and light. Annoyingly subtle and light, actually.

The flavor is very weak, with a slight astringency. It is a very subtle smokey green taste.

It is indeed delicate, but also leaves too little to the imagination. I would say it is stronger than most run of the mill teabag teas, but not strong enough for a proper oolong.

I don’t believe I’ve ever had mandarin orange tea before, much less a mandarin orange and spice tea.

The aroma is exactly what it says on the tin: sweet orange and spice. Very festive, and appropriately so, as it is mandarin oranges mixed with cinnamon.

I used one and a half teaspoons of leaves, which should give a significantly spicy brew. The color is a brilliant red, with a very cinnamon scent.

But, the flavor. Oh, the flavor. There is a nice slight biting of spice, followed by the warming sensation of sweet mandarins. It is close to a light Chai, with the cinnamon and cloves.

It surprises how sweet this tea is, with not too much a kick. Just enough spice to work with the very sweet oranges. In fact, I am a little suspicious on how this tea is so extremely sweet.

This is a wonderfully sweet surprise, and probably my favorite tea from this batch of Tea Forte tins I have recently bought.

The scent of the leaves is so alarmingly sweet, it sort of reminds me of biting into a chocolate covered cherry; such a decadently fruity aroma mixed with green tea and subtle nutty almonds.

The liquor is a light copper tone, and a little cloudy. But the aroma is still very cherry, with a stronger hint of almond and less of green tea. Very interesting.

Once it hits your lips, the flavor is a very subtle and smooth almond, with the strong cherry following. The green tea gives a nice slight astringency, but this is all cherry and almonds.

I am not sure why, but I have Grizzly Bear’s new album playing in my head as I am sipping this. I’m not complaining, it’s just a little strange.

This blend is very balanced and satisfying, but it is the aroma that is the star; very festive, lush and beautifully sweet.