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Whoa!! What is this delicious devil juice?

ETA

I know I should qualify this tasting note, and have been thinking about it, but the thing is I’m not entirely sure what to say, specifically.

When I was drinking it, I was trying really hard to notice all the flavors that supposedly come out to say hello, but as per usual my tastes are just not that refined.

So you might be wondering why I liked it so much. Reason is, it is a straight up tea, but it tastes like a flavored tea. Even though I cannot discern what the flavors are, exactly. I’ve tried a few of those along the way, so my basis for comparison is limited. It reminded me of a more subtle and less roasty version of Laoshan Black, which I realize isn’t the same type of tea at all, but that’s also a straight tea that magically has a bunch of flavour.

It’s sweet and multifaceted and would be a great tea to start the day with.

I would totally order this, so it’s going on my Butiki wishlist.
Steepster, you may just make a refined tea drinker out of me yet!

Thank you to the awesome Sil for sending me this to try. Win!

Thank you Sil for the sample of this!

I quite liked it. Made some tonight, was impressed with the color of it and that the flavours successfully camouflaged the rooibos taste. I didn’t feel like I was drinking rooibos!

Interestingly enough, I found the chocolate really jumped out at me with this one, and it was a nice chocolate taste. The mint was not overly powerful, just right.

Verdict: Yummy! Would consider buying a small amount to have around as a caffeine free option. Makes me want to try the Davidstea version to compare!

I’ve drank so much tea today. I was trying to have some smaller cups but didn’t really succeed. Also, only one was caffeine free and two were matchas. The other 4 were not caffeine free. heeeeeh.

Ok, maybe I’m losing my mind.

I received this from Ellyn awhile ago and haven’t logged it until now. I had a cup of it when I first got it, but I guess I forgot to really take note of the details.

I made some more tonight, and my mind was blown because it tasted exactly like a version of Monk’s Blend to me. (The two Monk’s Blend I’ve tried so far were from different brands and had slightly different tastes). Is that what this is? I haven’t skimmed down for the earlier reviews of this particular tea but this info was irrelevant to me the first time I drank it, now I feel it really compares to those other two teas, since I’ve gotten a taste.

Anyway, it’s creamy and fruity but there’s something unique about it. I am telling you it tastes like Monk’s Blend. I love Monk’s Blend!

Thanks for the sample, Ellyn!

I’ve been drinking tea like a mad woman today!

Trying to get through my samples received in swaps. I have also, however, kind of developed an addiction (at least it’s a healthy one!) to Red Leaf Teas flavored matchas, and so I managed to have a couple hot matcha lattes throughout the day, in between my random sipdowns.

Today’s selection was the French Vanilla, do yourself a favour and grab some here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

This is the second flavour I purchased, the other one being Caramel. I have tried a few random swap samples of other flavours in the past but I feel with this quantity on hand I can more accurately review my purchases, having been able to try each a couple times.

Of the two I ordered this round, I think I preferred the caramel one. Because although I chose the Classic/Delicate options for both, I found the Caramel flavour to be more noticeable, while the French Vanilla, though definitely tasty, was a bit more subtle. I’d be interested in trying the Distinctive option to see how they compare!

Nevertheless the vanilla added a lovely sweetness, not overwhelmingly so, with no weird chemical taste that I could notice. Just yummy vanilla matcha. Takes the edge of the vegetalness of the matcha alone. Yup, I said “vegetalness”. I also find the powder to be very smooth, no graininess at the bottom of my cup, it really is good to the last drop.

I can’t believe a month ago (before receiving my first Red Leaf matcha samples in the mail thanks to some friendly swappers), I was a matcha virgin. I don’t think I’m much of a fan of regular straight matcha, but so far I am in love with anything I have had the pleasure of trying from Red Leaf.

I’m very pleased with my first order of Caramel and French Vanilla, and have a definite idea of what I would like to try next.

What did I do before I discovered these amazing matchas? And more importantly, what valuable belongings do I have kicking around my house that I can hock to get more money for more flavors?!

I want to try so many!!
As I said before, a dangerous addiction has been formed. I have decided not to share my matchas with anyone I know. That seems greedy but they’re all for me. No sharesies.

Thank you Josie Jade for sharing some of this with me!
I brewed some this morning, and it was pretty decent. The dry leaves look and smell good, I like the marigold petals. Nice touch, though I have no idea if they greatly add to the taste.

I did taste it before adding anything, it was pretty subtle so I decided to sweeten it a bit. That made the caramel flavor come out. I am still on the hunt for a ‘perfect for me’ caramel tea, but am glad to try this and will enjoy the rest of my sample for sure!

(85 degrees, 3-4 min)

I’m the first? Weird! Well unfortunately this isn’t going to be very groundbreaking!

This is the second Monk’s Blend I’ve tried, the first being from English Tea Store and received in a swap. This one came from Tastybrew after seeing how much I enjoyed the first.

This one was also very good! I ended up making some in my travel mug to take to see Evil Dead last night. I do that all the time. Last night my brother was there and he was all like “Is that TEA?!”

Uh, yeah…

“OMG you’re such an old lady!”

Whatever, I love it.

It seemed much fruitier than the ETS one. I can smell a big difference but my ETS is just a few remnants in a ziploc bag that has been sitting in a box with other baggies received in swaps so the smell isn’t very obvious at this point.

I will do a comparison tasting later!

Either way. I had no idea that Monk’s Blend existed until I found Steepster so just colour me happy to have a new yummy tea in my stash and in my heart!

Thank you Tastybrew for letting me adopt your unwanted Monk’s Blend! It’s right up my alley :)

(Boiling for about 3 min)

Got a sample of this from Starfevre, thank you!

I made it right after work, with hot milk and my frother.

I think the mint sample sent along with it may have contaminated it, because I was getting a definite minty flavor and scent from the powder. I will reserve judgement for now, the vanilla flavor was barely there so I will have to try some later to determine!

How did I forget to review this? I did a sipdown of it last week just to say I did, get rid of it and log it. Forgot.

So when I smell the dry leaves I’m all like “blech.” I only brewed it because there was barely enough left for one cup, not worth swapping, and I didn’t want to chuck it out. So I figured what the hey.

I was actually surprised it tasted better than it smelled, to me.

I have to give you a weird comparison here, though I’m not sure if you’re going to get it or not. It makes perfect sense to me though.

You know how there are basically two obviously different types of BBQ flavored chips? I mean the flavoring, not the brand. There’s the “mesquite” type, like the (Lays black bag) and the less spicy ones, my fave, like the Humpty Dumpty brand or the Lays (orange bag I think). I don’t like the mesquite ones. I like the orangey ones.

Likewise for caramel, there’s the creamy, buttery kind, and the burnt toffee sort. I like the creamy ones.

I find this tea is more the burnt toffee sort of caramel. If it were potato chips it would be Mesquite BBQ.

The smell is worse than the taste though. And it’s definitely not overly salty, but I’m cool with that because I just want a good black caramel tea! Kusmi isn’t quite flavorful enough for what I’m searching for, and it’s not creamy enough (though definitely good!) I’m still searching.

I am hoping to find a creamy NON rooibos caramel tea. Della Terra has one but it was out of stock when I placed my last order.

Anyway, this wasn’t as off putting as I remember but it’s not like those little Kraft caramel candy squares, and that’s what I’m searching for.

Thank you so much to Teavivre for the ridiculously generous sample pack.

I am still a novice to these straight, quality teas, so I have to write my review of this on a comparison basis.

I have recently come to realize I am a fan of oolongs, though as with most teas I prefer the flavored to the unflavored. I did enjoy the milk oolongs I’ve tried so far, which I don’t think were flavored but yet still creamy and buttery and a bit sweet, which is definitely what I want in an oolong.

An example of an oolong I didn’t like was the Tung Ting Vietnam from Davidstea, as it was super spinach tasting to me. I do not like spinachy tea, so that is to say that I prefer the less vegetal teas.

This one was somewhere in between. So far I’ve only had one steep, I followed the directions and went 2 minutes at boiling, I think 1 minute would have been fine to allow for a stronger second steep. I will give that a try later on.

Steep one at 2 minutes was pretty flavorful. This is not a very sweet or creamy oolong, it was a bit vegetal but not so much so that I was turned off. I am not sure I would order it, however.

I did get samples of the milk oolong (both flavored and unflavored) and I am very excited to try them.
As of now I am incredibly impressed with this company just based on their customer service.

I know they have quality teas, and if I rate my samples in a mediocre way it has nothing to do with the tea and everything to do with my own tastes at this point on my little tea journey. I like that I am slowly broadening my horizons – baby steps!

Glad to try this and looking forward to steeps 2 and maybe 3 :)

I decided to not bother with a numerical rating as I don’t want to bring down the score, as I said I don’t feel I am qualified at this point given my own tastes. Teavivre has a great rep so when I want some good straight teas I know where to go! Thanks again!

I’ve been trying to make my all time Butiki faves (this and Maple Pecan Oolong) last, which I guess is the opposite of what I should be doing with them, but anyhow. I made some of this at work and it’s just perfect, exactly what I wanted. I’m pretty sure the water was too hot but it didn’t even matter. This is so good. It might also be my favourite SMELLING tea. If there’s any tea I’m going to get caught by a coworker inhaling repeatedly like a huge weirdo, this would be it. I hope it wasn’t just a Christmas tea because this is definitely a ‘keep on hand at all times’ tea for me!!