BrutaliTeas

Strange VariaTea TTB #1

I haven’t done a TTB in ages, so it was so fun to dig into this one!

I love smoky teas and I love marshmallows, so this was an obvious first pick for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much of either flavor in this cup…it was just a smooth, slightly sweet black tea with the tiniest hint of smoke coming through in the aftertaste. A pleasant enough cup, but not quite what I was hoping for.

Sampled from the Strange VariaTea Traveling Tea Box

There is a particular nut flavoring frequently used in tea that is VERY specific, yet I can’t really describe it. I just know it when I smell/taste it. And this blend has it! It’s not bad or anything, just very… specific.

I didn’t really get crepes (or anything bready/baked) from this one. And I can’t decide whether I liked it overall! But I was glad to have tried it.

Cold Brew!

I expected this tea to taste a lot more intense since the dry leaf aroma is pretty potently red apple and cinnamon, but steeped I was pleasantly surprised to find a more gentle touch. Not muted/weak, but just restrained in the right kind of ways. Light to medium bodied and still pretty white tea forward, which does always make for a crisp, cool and refreshing chilled drink. The cinnamon and apple are present, but it doesn’t make this feel Autumnal which was kind of a fear of mine. The cranberry might be adding to the more “red” notes of the apple – it’s not especially tart, which is what I’d expected. I like this, overall! Still gonna have to try it hot to really get a proper read though – my instinct is that this might be one of those teas that morphs a lot depending on the steep method.

Not sure if it is a keeper yet or not but I enjoyed this one. Been having the best of luck with all these samplers lately! It is a bit more candy than other but I think it’s a good tea with a nice blend of tastes that work together well.

Another one I like! I’m hitting gold lately with all these samples. I love almond if done right, and that’s the predominate with this one. It’s better when piping hot rather than cooled. Do like enough to buy more of it. And of course the name rocks.

This tea is not a bad tea, but it’s not to my taste. It is tannin heavy and becomes a bit more brisk and drying the more I sipped. The sage is interesting and they did a great job with balanced fruits as backnotes – but it flirts with borderline bitterness and it’s not something I find desirable to drink again. Not a keeper, but not an awful tea – some enjoy heavy tannins compared to me.

I’m having such luck with my samplers this week!

This tea has mini marshmallows, adorable, roobios with black tea, cocoa and almond with natural chocolate. It turned out to be a very fun chocolate black tea. I have a hate relationship with Roobios but all of this blends together. Delish and will be another keeper!

What a pleasant surprise!

I have had some bad luck at times with ginger/clove/chai like mixes, and Rooibios in general, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. A good thing too as the name is wicked cool. I brewed a heaping spoonful in a mini pot with some sugar and downed it all. Could not stop drinking. None of the flavoring overwhelms another which is unusual for this type of mix. All just complement to make a good taste. Very cozy and comforting tea experience. I brewed four minutes so will continue to do so with future brewing and hope I enjoy as well.

A definite keeper.

I guess it’s official that one of my favorite tea pots is somehow leaking when I pour. It’s a triangle small brown one and I had assumed last night was a coincidence spill, but today some tea ends on the counter with both cup pours. Oh no. :(

With work tea break today chopped up a roma tomato with some seasoning and some more Havarti cheese. All I ate before sipping the tea while it brewed.

This tea is perfectly servicable but not memorable. I would think, considering Brutalitea’s usual strength and that I went a bit over five minutes, and with the espresso beans, that it would have more oomph. It does not. It is fine and not bad but not a favorite. I have a tin to drink so will see on future thoughts with future steepings.

There are more beans and I only grabbed one in this particular tea bag, so that could have made the coffee more of a backround. I will try to steep longer later.

I enjoyed the rich, strong taste of this and if I am able to get this again I will be trying it with chocolate oat milk. But a decent wake up in the morning tea

#SVTTB Round Two – Tea 10/???

This one was interesting and I’m not yet sure where I’ve landed on it. I think my biggest hang up is that I found the flavour more light than I would have thought this profile would be, even for BrutaliTeas which often has a more understated blending/flavouring style. I kept comparing it to ButterBotch which is similar but, IMO, better executes those sweeter caramel-y “brown/maillard” type of flavours. That said, the sweetness level overall was nice and I thought the mix of black tea and rooibos achieved a smooth, medium body that was pleasant.

I just wanted a little more, y’know? Since there’s not much of this sample left in the TTB anyway, I think I’m holding on to this one to see if I can push it to be a little more flavourful…

Pulled this from the #svttb and while I want to like these Brutalitea blends, I have to say I’m personally disappointed. They all have a lot of ingredients but nothing stands out as unique or particularly flavourful. This is nutty but not much else and seeing as it has cinnamon, apple, banana, etc. that is underwhelming.

This one is unique and almost grassy – well, grassy isn’t the right word, can’t put my finger on it. Balanced and gets better the more I sipped it. Have plenty left to keep trying and seeing if I can find the other flavor profiles it mentioned. Not sure yet if it’s a keeper, though.

Hm, didn’t notice was a “white” tea when brewed it as I would a black tea. Oops.

Didn’t hurt it though. Was very fruit punchy and a deep purple-red “bloody” color. And of course any tribute to Jaws gets bonus brownie points on its own merit.

May be good iced, not sure. Reminds me a little of Harney and Sons Ice Tea Indigo type. The hibiscus is not overwhelming so, while there is a touch of sour buried below these waters, its’ not overwhelming.

This isn’t a tea I’d drink daily or anything but it’s nice for those moments.

One of my favorites from Brutaliteas, it’s sweet and rich with a touch of creamy toffee.

It seems somehow appropriate that this ended with another rooibos. I plan to spent January on the Bird & Blend advents & samples, but I am thrilled by the idea of a February where I don’t taste a single drop of wood chip tea.

There’s sweetness to this one as well as the rooibos, but it mostly seemed like a vanilla with some unknown light spices. I can’t say I’ve ever had eggnog or would know how it compares. This was a miss for me.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 24

In all, I enjoyed this calendar and exploring some new teas from an interesting brand. It surprised me that the calendar only duplicated one tea from my original sampler order of 18 varieties, and I still didn’t get to taste a few that I’m very curious about, so there’s a lot to explore!

I was excited for this tea both because of the candy cane flavor and because of the name joke. I’m not clear from the ingredient list what wasn’t working for me here, because there’s nothing inherently wrong with candy cane and peppermint and black tea. I love the combination, actually. But this one had a strange artificial sweetness to it with a flavor that didn’t quite work with the candy cane. My partner said it was like a butterscotch. I didn’t get that, but I definitely didn’t get just candy cane, and I couldn’t finish it.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 23

This tea was fine? If anything, it struck me as an odd choice next to The Chai Ning in the advent, because there were a lot of similar flavors happening except that this one was weaker and not toasty. I got a lot more cinnamon and vanilla from this than ginger, which I suppose makes some sense for a gingerbread blend, but I don’t need more.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 22

This was a lovely chai with a distinctly toasty flavor, and it somehow reminded me of the chewy molasses cookies I get several times a year from our grocery store. I drink most of my teas straight, but my partner insisted I try adding milk to this one, and it somehow brought out more of the sweetness and baked goods quality. This made the cut as one of 5 teas I reordered from the advent calendar.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 21

Last tasting notes for this particular advent.

Between a dislike of lavender and of chamomile, I’m not much a “sleepy” tea person. The spearmint in this one helps a lot, and I don’t feel overwhelmed by either of the disliked ingredients. If I really felt inclined to own a tea of this sort, I’d probably pick this one – but I’d rather just find other blends without caffeine.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 20

I cold brewed this tea and it was not my thing… I can only describe it as vague flower water.