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Of the 20+ teas I ordered during T2’s closing sale, this one was my favorite! Unexpected, since the inclusion of both puerh and genmaicha in the same blend made me dubious of the result. But the blend turned out to be very creamy, rich, and coconut-forward with a nice richness coming from the genmaicha. The mouthfeel was smooth and buttery like an oolong and overall it gave off STRONG popcorn vibes…my husband always refers to it as “that popcorn tea”. Both of us love it and are hoping we can still find a way to order it from Australia in the future!

This blend smells lovely, but the flavor doesn’t live up to the aroma for me. I get hints of vanilla, maple, and cinnamon, but all the flavors are on the lighter side and the base tea is a bit smoother and less full-bodied than I expect with a breakfast tea. Adding milk mutes the flavors even more, leaving me with nothing but a milky black tea with a a hint of cinnamon. Disappointing overall, but the tin sure is cute!

Strange VariaTEA TTB #34

I grabbed one of these sachets from the box to take to work with me. I don’t usually brew green tea at work, since I don’t have access to a temperature-controlled kettle there. I was pleasantly surprised that, despite probably being brewed with too-hot water, this one was nice and smooth with no bitterness or astringency. It had a vegetal, slightly nutty flavor that reminded me of green beans. Never run across this brand before, but I would drink it again!

Strange VariaTEA TTB #33

I mostly get the anise from this one, but the vanilla and sarsaparilla come through in the aftertaste, leaving me with a lingering impression of root beer. This probably isn’t something I’d normally gravitate toward, but the licorice root is soothing my throat this morning and I’m enjoying it.

Strange VariaTEA TTB #32

This was a very straightforward vanilla green tea with no other flavors going on that I noticed. It was pretty well-balanced from what I could tell and with a touch of honey I found it very soothing for a sore throat this morning.

Strange VariaTEA TTB #31

I haven’t had many watermelon flavored teas, so I was curious to give this a try. The watermelon flavor was surprisingly authentic! There was some hibiscus in there too, but thankfully the watermelon predominated. The lemongrass came out mainly in the aftertaste. Overall, this was a very refreshing, fruity tea which I probably would have hung onto for summer iced tea if it were a different time of year.

Strange VariaTEA TTB #30

This blend had a strong cherry aroma when I opened the bag (almost like cough syrup), which made me a bit nervous. But I’m glad I gave it a try, because it’s actually quite delicious! Cherry is definitely the predominate flavor here, but there’s a nice rich dark chocolate note that comes in at the end of the sip and lingers in the aftertaste. I drank it straight today, but I’m guessing this would be absolutely decadent as a latte!

Strange VariaTEA TTB #29

This has more of a light, floral flavor profile than I’m used to with milk oolong. I might have thought it was just an unflavored green oolong drinking it blind. It’s pleasantly smooth and buttery, though, and re-steeps really nicely.

Strange VariaTEA TTB #28

I think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if they had used black tea in the base instead of puerh. It has a nice rich dark chocolate and almond flavor that reminds me of a candy bar. But the slightly funky note of the puerh base is unfortunately making me think of almonds that have gone rancid. I do appreciate how the blend fits the name/theme here; the flavor just missed the mark a bit for me personally.

Strange VariaTEA TTB #27

I was pretty surprised when this blend steeped up pink! Despite all the tropical-sounding teas that went into this tea, it had more of a berry/hibiscus flavor with just a bit of pineapple and coconut coming through. Thankfully the hibiscus was mild enough not to overwhelm the other fruity flavors, but this was still a bit of a letdown for me, as I was definitely hoping for more of a pina colada vibe.