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This came in a sampler box I received as a gift. It didn’t sound like something I’d enjoy (lavender can be pretty hit and miss for me), but I decided to give it a shot. What a pleasant surprise! I don’t actually get lavender from this at all…just very fresh, natural-tasting spearmint with a hint of lemon. Very smooth and refreshing…I’m guessing it would be delicious iced!

I received a free sample of this tea with my last purchase at Fava. They do fruit-flavored black teas really well, so I was excited to give it a try. The aroma was AMAZING…lots of tropical fruit!…but the flavor turned out to be just so-so. I think it’s the blackberry that brought it down for me. Somehow, it tasted more like blackberry leaves than actual blackberries and even though there were brighter notes from the other fruits popping through, it wasn’t the smooth, summery beverage I was looking for.

I got one sachet of this as a sample with my Bird & Blend holiday set and never got around to trying it until now. Although I love earl grey, the ones with vanilla added don’t tend to be my favorite, as the vanilla and bergamot flavors combined often comes across as soapy to me. This one was a pleasant surprise, though! The flavor is smooth and light (it actually worked for me without milk, which is rare for earl grey) and the vanilla and bergamot are well-balanced, with neither overwhelming the other and nothing that’s reminding me of body products (thankfully!). While it will never replace my beloved Letterbox Picadilly as my favorite earl grey ever, this may be the best earl grey cream tea I’ve tried!

Many of the pomegranate teas I’ve tried have been way too heavy on the hibiscus (makes sense…it is the right color) so I’m happy that TeaSource steered clear of that addition completely! I’m not sure the flavor is exactly reading pomegranate for me, but it’s definitely a pleasant fruity/berry flavor with a bit of tartness but no bitterness. It’s okay hot, but makes a lovely, refreshing iced tea. Not sure I would repurchase this one, but I’m glad they sent me this sample!

The story of my life seems to be having favorite teas discontinued and spending years searching for replacements. Does anyone else relate? Years ago, TeaSource in Minneapolis had a chai blend they called “Reena’s Chai” that was probably one of the top 10 teas I’ve ever had. From what I recall, it was heavier on the nutmeg than most chai blends I’ve tried and just seemed to hit the perfect balance between sweet and spicy. Since then, I’ve tried dozens of chai blends from all my favorite tea companies trying to find a suitable replacement. Fava has an herbal chai that I LOVE (their Roasted Almond Chai, if you’re curious) so I decided to give this more traditional blend a shot. It was…fine. Pretty much the basic spice blend I would expect from a Masala Chai on a CTC base. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but also nothing to make it special or memorable in any way. The search continues!

I’m always a sucker for a good Chinese black tea, so when this one was deeply discounted at TeaSource, I had to give it a try. No regrets, because this tea is delicious! The dry leaf is so pretty: tiny, delicately twisted golden leaves with a rich molasses aroma. The flavor is smooth and full-bodied with notes of malt and sweet potato. No bitterness or astringency at all and it re-steeps beautifully. Kinda wishing I’d grabbed more than 2oz in the sale!

I accidentally ordered 4oz of this tea, so it’s a good thing I ended up liking it! The green tea base is smooth and not too grassy and the ginger is strong without being overly spicy. I do wish the lemon flavor were a bit more prominent, so I may experiment with adding some lemon juice one of these days. It’s okay hot, but really shines as an iced tea on these hot summer days!

Wish Tazo hadn’t led me on with that “touch of pear” nonsense in the description. Trader Joe’s had an AMAZING bagged tea that was white ginger pear and I’ve been searching for a replacement since they discontinued it. This is not that. It honestly tastes more like a straight-up ginger tea; I’m not really getting much of the green tea base and I definitely don’t taste any kind of pear flavor here. Disappointing.

This was in the Golden Moon sampler pack I received as a hostess gift this summer. Although other teas in that assortment were really enjoyable, this one fell flat for me. The flavor is surprisingly mild (more like a lightly spiced black tea than a true chai) and not very well-balanced. Oddly, though big cardamom pods are quite prominent in the leaf, the flavor is mostly ginger and cinnamon along with the assertive and slightly bitter base tea (probably a CTC Ceylon, by the look and taste of it). Milk smooths things out, but diminishes the spices even further. It’s drinkable, but there are definitely much better chais out there!

I love almost all the teas I’ve tried from The London Tea Room, but this one was a rare miss for me. I was so excited to find a blueberry-flavored blend that didn’t have hibiscus in it…pretty much all the blueberry herbals I’ve ever tried have included it (presumably for the color?) and that flavor takes over. But while I’m glad this one doesn’t taste like hibiscus, it doesn’t really taste like blueberry either. The medicinal flavor of the rooibos base is front and center here and I actually taste more lemon than blueberry. While I’m excited to re-stock on some of their other blends next time I’m in St. Louis (hello Coconut Oolong and Maple Walnut Sencha!), this isn’t one I’ll be re-purchasing.