Talbott Teas

This really does smell like chocolate and dried strawberries! I wasn’t too impressed with the taste last time but I’m hopeful this time around since it smells SO good. The color of the steeped tea is a deep mahogany – very beautiful – and with cream and honey added the color changes to caramel. Unfortunately, the flavor of the tea isn’t quite as intoxicating as the aroma. It’s a little tart. Overall, it’s not enough to make me want to repurchase.

This tea really does smell like chocolate and strawberries. It especially reminds me of Harry and David chocolate-covered dried strawberries. Has anyone had those? So good. There are chocolate chunks in here along with a single large piece of strawberry. All of this is mixed in with small and mostly broken pieces of black tea.

I wasn’t paying attention as this was steeping so I’m pretty sure I botched this cup. I’m not tasting the chocolate here, but I do get a sense of the strawberry. There’s a bit of an artificial flavor too, but it may be due to over steeping.

Backlog from April 14, 2015:

This tea smells wonderful dry – all fruit. There is still a bit of that fragrance in the steeped tea. This is much better than I remember from the first cup. It has the slightest fruit flavor and a freshness that I was really wanting today. This still isn’t something I would purchase again, but it’s not bad. The last sip was a little bitter, but overall this was a good cup.

This tea was the main reason I bought my sampler of Talbott teas. Green tea and strawberries just sound like such a wonderful mix! The dry tea smells fruity, like strawberry candy. The tea leaves are large, broken pieces with flower petals and stems mixed in. I don’t see any strawberry pieces.

After brewing, the leaves are full in the sachet and I do see some plump strawberry pieces mixed in now that everything is hydrated. The tea liquid is a light amber color and smells fruity still. I do like these sachets – they seem to contain everything much better than regular tea bags. Or maybe it’s just that the leaf is in such big pieces that nothing is small enough to seep out.

Unsweetened, I only taste the green tea – no fruit. Even with honey, the tea is not bringing out any of the fruit flavors; it’s just vaguely sweet. The tea isn’t bad – I’m just missing the strawberries.

I’m feeling a little more encouraged by this cup than I was by the last. The fragrance isn’t nearly so overwhelming to me now, and it actually does smell like an Earl Grey. A strong Earl Grey but still an Earl Grey. I’m nursing a headache today, along with a bit of soreness from yesterday’s dental work, so I’m hoping this tea will help.

I steeped this one too long so it’s a little bitter. The added cream and honey help though. In fact, this is much, much better with cream and honey. The bergamot is still a bit strong, but it has definitely been tamed. Bumping my rating because it has the potential to be good.

The weather when I woke up this morning was 7°F which, if you’ve ever been to Alabama, is COLD. Those of you who live up north will laugh but they actually delayed opening schools this morning! No ice, no snow, just cold. I grabbed this tea out of the cupboard at the last minute because I knew it would be cold and I would need something strong and warming.

Upon opening the bag, the first and most prominent thing I noticed was the smell of bergamot. It was almost overwhelming. It had a bitter edge to it and still does now even after steeping. It is drying but sticky, and it leaves a burning sensation on my tongue. It’s also perfumy but not at all in a good way. I let this one cool and it’s a bit easier to drink now but not by much. It’s not like any bergamot I’ve experienced before. It’s too much, too harsh.

I was pretty excited about this tea, because I love chocolate covered strawberries. But when I brewed it up it just tasted like a black tea. No berries or sweetness. :( It was pretty disappointing. I don’t understand what went wrong…I steeped it for how long it said but it didn’t taste like chocolate or strawberry. Unless the chocolate tasted like the black tea base. But I am not sure that that’s the case. :/
Eh, oh well. One day I will find an amazing combo of those two flavors!
Thank you for the sample, Albertocanfly!

Floral notes this time around. This might be one of the best cups yet. A little astringent but very flavorful.

Of all the teas in this sample pack, this is probably the only one I would ever buy again. It smells of chocolate and malt and brews up the color of maple syrup. It’s strong, bold, and very flavorful. Also fruity. I’m attempting a re-steep of this one just because I like it so much.

Second Steep
8 ounces + 200 degrees + 10 minutes

The tea has opened up inside the sachet and looks like mulched leaves. I’m noticing a little oiliness in the liquid this time around and the color is much lighter than before. It’s still as dark as other black teas I’ve tried though. The flavor is lighter too but definitely still strong enough for this second steep.

The sachet is tea and blue petals. I’m not sure what the cornflowers offer to this mix unless it’s just for color. It smells like a strong black tea which is exactly what I need on this cold, frosty morning. This tea is dark and strong. It’s a touch drying but perfect for what I need today – I wish I had another. I would definitely buy a box of this.

I wanted something today that wouldn’t be too fussy, something I could pour a little hot water over and be on my way. An herbal tea in a sachet seemed like the best option. The sachet and tea appeared to be of good quality but it had the strangest smell. It was almost like feet. Once I made it past that initial “aroma”, the only other scent I noticed was that of berries.

After steeping, the liquid became a deep red color. It has something suspended throughout, something that looks quite a bit like citrus pulp. And I’m not sure if my sense of smell is off today or what, but the brewed tea smells like a wet dog. Something is off with this one. It’s not at all appetizing. Thankfully, the taste of the tea is better than the smell. It’s tart and astringent and has a generic berry taste. I’m not really picking up on the blueberries specifically though. This has little flavor to me and falls flat in my book. Thank goodness there were only two sachets in my sample pack.

I found a box of this tea for $3 at Ross the other day! Unfortunately, it was the only flavor they had. I would have loved to have seen some of their chocolate black there!

This tea is definitively fruity. The flavors all blend into one and I can’t pick out what types of fruit are in there. There is a little bit of that green bite on the back sides of my tongue at the end of each sip. The overall scent reminds me of a french fruity tea. I think I can pick out the rhubarb now that I have read that it is in there. This tea is nice enough, but not captivating me at the moment. It tastes like a tea that would be delicious cold brewed and sweetened, so I’ll have to try it like that sometime.

Pass the stash ttb. What a delightful tea! It smells wonderful and the flavors balance so nicely. This one is better hot.

I got a sample of this tea from mj and after having some brownie I decided that I would have this tea.

It’s really deep, dark chocolate in flavor. Not quite enough almondy goodness for me. Ah well. I wonder how this would be with milk, but I don’t have any here at work. I will take the rest of this sample back home and try with milk.

First off, this tea definitely smells amazing!
Not gonna lie, I ate a bunch of icees before I brewed up this cup of tea. So my tasting probably is just weird now. It doesn’t seem like most people taste cinnamon in this tea, but there’s a hint of it in there. Maybe that’s just the almond part I’m tasting? I’m not really sure. But I really like this tea! ^^ Thanks so much, mj1851!!

Awesome flavors, well balanced, with a nice black base. I love a chocolate tea with some real body to it. So often the chocolate seems like a afterthought. The leaves seem resteepable; dare I try when it is already after 5 pm. I’m going to throw caution to the wind and have some more!

Thank you mj1851 for a sample of this tea. I don’t know how you let this one out of your hands. It was very generous of you to share such a truly excellent tea!

I resteeped this tea this morning. Awesome! I was afraid it would water down too much. The chocolate almond remained beautifully. I plans to get more of this for my cupboard!

mj1851 sent this my way (Thxs guurl) and I have to say it’s pretty awesome. It’s more nutty than chocolatey and there is a nice maltiness (?) coming from the base. I’m sure I could develop cravings for this one. Nice :D

So I didn’t actually drink this last night, but while I was packing some of this up to send to Virginia I ate one of the almond pieces out of it….yeah…..don’t ever do that. Public service announcement.

LMAO I’m glad I just proofread this note because I had written pubic service announcement not public service announcement.

This tea sounded completely amazing, so maybe my expectations were a little too high. I’m pretty underwhelmed by it. It smells vaguely nutty both before and after brewing. The taste is a little chocolately and a little generically nutty. It’s a pleasant cup, but I probably won’t restock this tea once it’s gone. I’d be pleased to send some out for swaps if anyone is interested :)