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This was another sample provided by the good folks at our local Provisions store. So far, I’ve enjoyed three other selections by this company and was anxious to see how this Pomegranate sencha (Japanese) green tea with rose petals matched up with the others. The word “sencha” means “simmered tea,” referring to the method that the tea beverage is made from the dried tea leaves (Wikipedia gets the credit for this definition).

When I opened the sample package, my nose was bombarded with a loud and very sweet fruity aroma. I didn’t detect any rose smells. Perhaps a rose by any other name WOULDN’T smell as sweet as this unbrewed tea.

I steeped the full green leaves and pink rose petals for four minutes at 175 degrees. The finished product was a light greenish yellow. A powerful fruity aroma burst up from the pot.

My first taste of this tea produced an extremely sweet and fruity flavor. I’m not a pomegranate connoisseur, but based on my limited experience with the fruit, the flavor of this tea was like the pomegranate that I remembered. I thought this was admirable since the ingredients listed on the package stated that it was “artificial pomegranate flavoring”. The fruity sweetness of this selection was too dominant for me to even notice any rose presence.

The very sweet fruity flavors remained strong and steady, but without bitterness, throughout my cup. If you like to add sweetener to your tea, I would recommend abstaining from it for this blend. I have a mouth full of sweet teeth and this tea tasted incredibly candy-coated straight-up.

The aftertaste was long-lasting but nicely subdued. I thought that was surprising considering the exceptionally robust flavors.

To sum it all up, this is another fine tea from Sandy Creek Herb Co. I enjoyed two cups of it very much. It even scratched my usual itch for something sugary like a donut or cookie to accompany my cups!

The folks at our local Provisions store kindly gave me some samples of Sandy Creek Herb Company’s teas to take for a spin. I had already purchased and reviewed two other tea products by this company. I was excited to try additional selections!

The unbrewed black tea leaves and yellowish calendula petals smelled both fruity and like tea. The combination produced a unique sweet smell.

I steeped the tea for five minutes at 212 degrees. The color was like honey. The aroma was fruity and recognizable as mango.

My first sip produced a sweet and faint mango taste. The tea flavor residing behind it appeared later and was largely overshadowed, but not regrettably so. I don’t know what calendula is supposed to taste like but I couldn’t distinguish any other familiar flavors.

All in all, the flavor was smooth, fruity, and medium-strength. I didn’t experience any bitterness. The aftertaste was light and pleasant.

Studies have shown that consumers wouldn’t buy quiet vacuum cleaners (even though the technology exists) because they equate loud noise with powerful cleaning power. Some tea drinkers may have a similar reaction to this tea and believe that a good black tea must have a strong and robust tea taste. I prefer the turbo-charged black teas in the morning myself, but this tea would be just fine for me in the afternoon.

You know you’re accumulating too many teas when you open your cabinet and find a big unopened package that was purchased almost two years ago. I can’t believe that I didn’t discover it before now, but better late than never. I’m not a big green tea drinker and prefer the blacks. That could be part of the reason why this tea was overlooked for so long.

Anyhow, I shook the cobwebs off of the package and opened the zip-locked seal. The olive green tea leaves still smelled very fresh. The aroma was sweet, grassy, and almost a little fruity.

I steeped the tea at 175 degrees for four minutes. The brewed color was a light gold with a slight greenish tint. The aroma was weak, grassy, and faintly sweet.

I don’t usually read other reviews about a tea before sampling it myself. I’m always concerned that I’ll let previous opinions influence my tasting note. I did read a few about this tea before brewing. Based on what others said, I wasn’t expecting to be wowed by this green selection.

Maybe I’m just an oddball with allergy-infused sinuses and taste buds, but I really liked this tea! I found the flavor to be fresh and grassy, with a tad of sweetness. The sweet attribute was almost like distant honeysuckle. I also thought the tea was smooth and very easy to drink. I wonder if I would have liked it even more if it hadn’t been sitting unopened in my cabinet for almost two years.

This selection had enough of a positive impact on me that I am now willing to re-examine my ambivalence toward the greens in general. I will be revisiting some more green teas in the near future!

When I was at the local Teavana store on Saturday, I let my nose pick the teas du jour. As the sales associate fanned this herbal blend my way, it immediately struck a nerve in my sweet tooth (teeth). I could be happy just snorting this one all day. It smelled like a delicious chocolate and caramel candy bar.

Several minutes after I opened the container to brew the tea this morning, I had to snap myself out of the aroma euphoria so I could steep it. I brewed the blend at 205 degrees (my tea maker doesn’t have a recommended 208 degrees setting) for six minutes.

The steeped aroma wasn’t nearly as impressive as the unbrewed odor but there was a faint caramel scent detectable in the cup when I plunged my nose into it. The color was a muddy gold.

I was initially disappointed after the first sip. The flavor did not have anything approaching the impact of the aroma. However, as I determinedly sipped more and more from my cup (I REALLY wanted to like this tea), a nice sweet caramel taste began to accumulate and linger on my taste buds.

After two cups of this herbal blend, I concluded that, although this tea is a slow starter, if you don’t give up on it, you will eventually be rewarded with a relatively full and defined sweet caramel flavor. The sea salt factor didn’t seem to identify itself for me.

This tea is smooth without bitterness. I enjoyed the second cup much more than the first, even though both cups were steeped in the same pot at the same time. If you are a patient tea drinker, you might like it too!

When my wife and I were out and about on Saturday, we couldn’t resist dropping in at the Teavana store in the mall. Some of our visits are spent by just partaking of the wonderful free tea samples, followed by running out of the store quickly, before we succumb to the great smells and tastes and spend a lot of money. However, every now and then they catch us at a weak moment and we open our wallets. Such was the case on Saturday.

After the Teavana sales associate fanned the aroma of dry Toasted Nut Brulee oolong tea up my nose, I was ready to buy that sucker just to smell if I couldn’t drink it. It had an incredible sweet and nutty odor.

I opened the container of tea this morning and snorted it for several minutes before I snapped out of it and remembered that my purpose of opening it was to drink it. I followed Teavana’s directions and steeped the tea at 195 degrees for three minutes. The brewed color was a bright gold. Although still very pleasant, I found it interesting that the brewed aroma of the tea was quite different from its unbrewed state. The smell was still slightly nutty, but it had a strong cinnamon and fruit accent, almost like apple cider.

My first sip tasted like the brewed smell: a little nutty and a lot fruity like apple cider. The brew passed through my gullet very smoothly. There was no bitterness and a very sweet yet subtle aftertaste floated on my palate. Subsequent sips retained all of the same qualities.

I did like this tea. The brewed flavor, in my mind (and palate), didn’t match the unbrewed aroma, but the taste was sweet, smooth, full, fruity, and nutty. Since I require stronger black teas to kick-start my brain in the morning, I won’t be adding this blend to my breakfast rotation. However, I will be pulling this nice oolong out when friends visit for lunch, dinner, or just dessert.

We made our first visit to the semi-new local Whole Foods store on Saturday. It was an interesting place with more “wholesome” food choices than your average major chain. However, if you are looking for many varieties of the good stuff, i.e., chips, cookies, and other wonderful junk food (like I ALWAYS am), Whole Foods will disappoint you.

What I liked most about Whole Foods was that they had a modest selection of loose leaf teas that I hadn’t tried yet. For this trip, I decided to purchase Rishi’s Pu-erh Classic.

My only exposure to Rishi teas up to that point was with Rishi’s Earl Grey, which is my absolute favorite Earl Grey. I was therefore quite excited to try their pu-erh selection.

When I opened the sealed freshness bag, a rich and familiar leathery aroma was released from inside. Side note: Rishi nicely provides a piece of strong tape to reseal the bag after opening.

Following Rishi’s instructions, I steeped the brown earth-colored leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The brewed liquor was a deep chocolate brown. There was no obvious aroma emanating from the brew.

My first sip produced an earthy, leathery, and wood-like flavor in my taste buds. The taste was smooth and defined but not strong. I did not detect any bitterness or unpleasant lingering artifacts. I also did not experience the presence of cocoa in this tea. The flavor remained at this level throughout two cups.

This is a nice pu-erh tea with good flavor. The less than robust strength of taste in my first try was my fault. I steeped my usual one TEASPOON of leaves per eight-ounce cup of water and I just noticed that Rishi’s instructions called for one TABLESPOON of leaves per eight-ounce cup of water. (I must have still been asleep at the tea maker.) I have no doubt that the flavor I experienced times three will be more than sufficient for me next time. If I remember (and that’s a HUGE if), I’ll update this tasting note after I boost the amount of leaves in my next brewing of Rishi’s Pu-erh Classic tea.

I hate to admit it but I’ve become a tea snob. I tend to look down my nose at bagged teas now as I don’t feel that they have the same complexity, freshness, and full flavors possessed by loose leaf teas. To me, bagged teas are like the McDonald’s of the tea world. I enjoy a fast food burger from time to time. But, if I have a choice, I’m going for a thick, medium-rare, juicy, steak burger at a fine restaurant.

My sister-in-law was nice enough to buy this Vail Breakfast Tea for me. So, the least I can do is try it and write a tasting note about it.

The white tea bag appeared to be smaller than the average bag. This isn’t a complaint, just an observation (I’m not THAT much of a snob). The amount of crushed leaves packed into the bag did seem to be normal for a cup of tea.

I microwaved a cup of cold filtered water for six minutes on high. The cup looked like a bubbling cauldron after that much time. I immediately dropped the tea bag into the boiling water and let it steep for five minutes.

The brewed color was a deep reddish gold. No discernible aroma emerged from the cup.

My first sip produced a complete and pretty standard Ceylon tea taste. The flavor was pleasant and full. My taste buds didn’t detect any astringency, which I felt was better than average for bagged Ceylon teas. The aftertaste was also benign without bitterness. Subsequent sips throughout the cup remained consistent without offensive or unidentified artifacts in the flavor.

I can’t say that the tea “wowed” me, but I did not find anything to criticize either. I can report that I found it to be an amiable experience. I would have no problem drinking this tea again when I’m in the office with no access to loose leaf and infusers.

Although I do not prefer bagged teas (for my reasons stated above), I want to prove that I can be objective and unbiased against them. I’ve therefore rated this tea NOT as a bagged tea, but by following the same criteria that I use for all teas (loose leaf, bagged, black, green, oolong, etc.). My rating is nothing more (or less) than an analysis of its flavor, consistency, complexity, bitterness/astringency, and aftertaste.

To summarize my evaluation of this tea:

o This is a better than average bagged tea.
o The flavor is full and consistent without bitterness.
o You may not be “wowed” by the flavor but you won’t be disappointed either.

This is my final The Spice and Tea Exchange (TSTE) entry in the trilogy purchased by my thoughtful wife last weekend. I hate to see these selections come to an end. The first two that I tried, Black Chocolate and Lapsang Souchong, were simply amazing. Let’s see if TSTE can keep the run alive!

When I opened the zip-lock pouch of black leaves with blue, yellow, and brown specks, a very strong fruity/blueberry aroma was instantly revealed. It was a natural smell, not fake or chemical.

I steeped the leaves at 212 degrees for four minutes as recommended in the instructions on the pouch. The brewed color was a deep amber. A robust blueberry odor gushed from the pot.

My first sip produced a sweet, smooth, and very blueberry taste in my mouth. The flavor was much like the smell: sweet, full, and very natural, without any artificial inclinations. The taste was like fresh blueberries had just been picked and squeezed over the tea. The black tea attribute was in the back of the bus at no disadvantage to the great flavor.

The taste remained delightfully unchanged with all subsequent sips (and then gulps). Bitterness was nowhere to be found. The aftertaste was sweet and fruity. It reminded me of the glass of natural blueberry juice I drank a while back.

I wasn’t that fond of fruity teas as most of the ones I tried seem to have a chemical or perfume-like taste. However, the flavor of this tea was excellent. It was wonderful at breakfast and I’m sure it would be equally terrific at lunch, dinner, or iced. This blend was great enough to make me give the fruity tea category another chance!

To say that I am extremely impressed by the quality and flavor of TSTE’s teas would be a gross understatement. As I mentioned in an earlier tasting note, their selections are somewhat pricey at about $5.50 per ounce. Having said that, I also feel that the quality matched the price. All three of the selections that I tried were absolutely incredible. I may need to send my wife on another trip to the Washington, D.C., area soon! :-)

After sweet black teas, I believe my next favorite category is smoky black teas. I’ve tried a few Lapsang Souchong teas in the past and liked them all. I was looking forward to trying The Spice and Tea Exchange’s (TSTE) entry in this arena. Their black chocolate tea showed me that they know how to load a tea with flavor.

As I opened the zip-lock pouch of thin black tea leaves, my nostrils were instantly slapped soundly by a potent campfire aroma. It was a deep rich odor that almost smelled like burning hickory wood.

I brewed the leaves at 212 degrees for four minutes (my choice as TSTE does not include steeping instructions). The finished liquor was a deep amber color. A strong smoky smell that reminded me of my Boy Scout campout days erupted from the tea pot and filled my kitchen.

The initial sip shot strong smoky signals to my taste buds at the speed of light. Although quite potent, the taste was also smooth and complete. The smoky flavor of this tea was so well defined and complex that I kept trying to identify the components that comprised it. (I’m still leaning toward hickory wood.) There was no bitterness whatsoever. The flavor of each sip was as full and detailed as the one before. The aftertaste delightfully echoed the great flavor. The black tea taste took a backseat as it usually does with good smoky teas.

This is a fantastic Lapsang Souchong tea with all of the elements that you would want in this blend and more. I will be reaching for this selection in the morning again soon. TSTE’s teas are pricey but I don’t feel cheated.

My sweet wife took a trip to the Washington, D.C., area this weekend and I was unable to go. To make me feel better and missed, she picked up some teas by The Spice and Tea Exchange for me while she was in Annapolis, Maryland. Due to my insatiable sweet teeth (a whole mouth full of them), I naturally reached first for the Black Chocolate tea pouch this morning.

The moment I opened the small zip-lock pouch, a powerful and sweet dark chocolate aroma drifted from it. It smelled so good that I was ready to munch on the short black tea leaves without brewing them!

Finding some restraint, I steeped the leaves at 212 degrees for four minutes (no brewing instructions were on the pouch). A dark amber-colored brew was the result. A strong and inviting chocolate aroma floated from the tea pot.

The very first sip produced a full, sweet, and rich dark chocolate flavor. There was no need to search for the chocolate flavor. It exploded against my taste buds like Fourth of July fireworks.

All sips (and then gulps) after the first one remained consistent, smooth, and steady. The flavor was always sweet, chocolate, and delightful. There was no bitterness lurking in the taste, not even a hint of it in the dark chocolate. The black tea flavor was quiet and in the background. Chocolate was the indisputable star of the show.

The hot chocolate flavor of this tea was so luscious that I was tempted to drop a few marshmallows into it. I thoroughly enjoyed this selection at breakfast, but this blend must also be incredible at lunch or dinner for dessert.

This was my first experience with The Spice and Tea Exchange and it was a terrifically memorable one. If you love chocolate (and who doesn’t?) and are a sweet-a-holic like I am, you won’t be able to drink this tea fast enough…or just enough!