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Teavivre generously shipped me this and other varieties in their line to sample. The little balls the leaves are hand rolled into are quite pretty. It has a lovely yellow-green colour brewed up and the leaves have a light toasted aroma to them. Overall, the aroma and flavour of the tea is more floral than toasted though. It has a nice elegance to it, a good merge of both floral and vegetal accents. My only point of critique is a minor aftertaste which seems just a little soapy or perfumey.

Wow I’m in awe at this tea. Pine is one of my favourite scents so when I saw this at the Tea Festival I was super excited for it. In the bag, douglas fir needles intermingle with loose strands of green tea leaves. As I draw the cup to my lips, the aroma of west coast pine pairs beautifully with the delicate green tea flavour. Although pine is a new flavour to me and I’d normally frown at the idea of drinking twigs or needles from a tree, it works wonderfully in this tea. There’s an amazing woodsy flavour to it that evokes a stroll through the forest. I’m in love with this wonderfully unique experience and have made a new spot for it in my top tier of teas dropping Cardamom French Toast down to a 94.

This is a pleasant tea that blends lavender, rooibos and coconut. The coconut adds a nice creamy flavour that helps to balance the rooibos. It’s a decent tea, but I wouldn’t rush out for it again. This often seems to be the case for me with rooibos teas though.

This was a nice treat courtesy of my DAVIDs frequent steepster points from last quarter. It’s been a lovely day of treating myself. I have the day off of work and started with a float tank session this morning. Tonight I’m taking in the performance of Ballet Boys so it’s a truly full-sensory day off.

This twisted leaf oolong has a delicate light texture before being brewed up (50 grams fills a whole DAVIDs tin) and smells just like you’d expect a standard oolong to. Once brewed though, there’s a distinct roasted flavour which emerges and is quite pleasant. There’s not a trace of bitterness and instead of a creamy profile the roasted and almost nutty flavour creates a more complex oolong than I’ve experienced. At $23 for 50 grams though, I think it’ll be reserved for points redemptions and treat days!

This one is definitely the weakest of the Celestial Seasonings Holiday teas I’ve tried so far. I still have to review Candy Cane Lane, but suffice to say, this one didn’t make the cut for me. It has a very heavy molasses taste that really overpowers any of the other spices and flavours in the mix. It has a lovely aroma brewed up, but the taste just doesn’t measure up. If you’re looking for a cookie in a cup, stick with the sugar cookie sleigh ride!

Received this one from a friend for Christmas. It’s quite a pretty looking tea in the tin. There’s rose petals and lavender mixed with the rooibos needles, blueberries, currants and raisins. There’s a lovely mingling of floral and fruit aromas with currant accents resting most prominently in the bouquet. Like the aroma, the flavour is both floral and fruity. A wonderfully relaxing afternoon tea heading into the home stretch at work.

This is a decent Sri Lankan green ceylon tea I picked up from the Lumbini Tea Lounge booth back at the Vancouver Tea Festival in 2015. It has an interesting flavour since I generally think of ceylon as a black tea. The flavour of this tea has a vegetal and grassy profile similar to other greens but it also has the ceylon notes I’d normally associate with a breakfast black tea. There’s some bitterness but not overwhelming so. I’d prefer it to be a bit more delicate in flavour for a green, but still an enjoyable tea overall.

The branding for this tea is awesome. The cow is super adorable and the name is definitely attention grabbing. Once brewed, the rooibos and caramel stand out prominently as the main aroma and flavours for this amber coloured tea. The tea has a nice creaminess to it benefiting from the milk ingredients. I still prefer the Cozy Caramel Rooibos tea from Murchie’s but this is a decent alternative.

This was my go to tea for several months when I was attending a mindfulness group in the afternoon once a week. So much so, that it became part of the ritual of attending the group. For a pre-packaged tea bag, even an artisan pouch as they term it, I was impressed with the consistent and complex flavour. The black tea is a nicely balanced Ceylon and Chinese blend. The Madagascar vanilla flavour is quite prominent and evokes a natural creaminess that is quite pleasant. Once the group ended, I picked up a box of the pouches. With each pouch individually packaged and sealed they are quite a handy and portable tea to take on the go.

I’m enjoying my break from work. The family and I drove up into the mountains yesterday and I came loaded with a good amount of tea. As I type this, the sun is shining, there’s a thick layer of sparkling white snow outside and I feel the contentment of not having a place I need to be or something I need to do. Enjoying and reviewing tea reminds me of the importance of the moment. Savouring life like I do tea is a practice that I return to daily.

This is an enjoyable rooibos for afternoon or evenings. There’s a nice sweetness to it that’s not too overpowering. It has a prominent maple and caramel flavour that stands out for me, not a lot of vanilla or creamy notes that I tasted though. There’s a bit of an aftertaste to it that detracted a bit from my enjoyment. Overall, a pleasant tea.